Local environmental groups are raising concerns about the proposed redevelopment plans for the 400-acre National Lead site in Sayreville.
Robert Spiegel, executive director of Edison Wetlands Association (EWA), addressed the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders at its meeting last week, saying that the current plan amounts to nothing more than increased urban sprawl along the Raritan River.
“We told the county pointblank: We are looking to make sure that this is done in a responsible way,” Spiegel said.
In October the Sayreville Economic Redevelopment Agency (SERA) designated O’Neill Properties, of King of Prussia, Pa., as redeveloper of the defunct factory site after the firm presented a proposal to buy the property from SERA for $91 million.
O’Neill’s proposal calls for 2,000 “age-targeted” residential units, along with 2.3 million square feet of lifestyle retail businesses, 800,000 square feet of “big box” retail, and office buildings. The builder also proposed a 48- slip marina, waterfront promenade, waterfront retail pavilion, performing arts center and outdoor amphitheater.
The county recently granted SERA another extension on paying back a $42 million loan the county granted several years ago so that SERA could condemn the National Lead site in court.
The extension requires that O’Neill close on the first National Lead parcel, which includes all portions of the site west of the Garden State Parkway, according to Randy Corman, executive director of SERA. He noted that the county is also requiring a payment of $29 million before March 1. The balance is due April 17.
Corman estimated that interest on the loan is approximately $6.6 million.
Environmental concerns
Spiegel said the EWA has been voicing concerns about the redevelopment of National Lead for several years, but has been met with resistance.
“Up to this point, SERAhas essentially blocked us from going into meetings [by] going into closed session,” he said.
Corman said the allegations that the environmental group was blocked fromattending public meetings are “absolutely and totally false.”
“Since I have been executive director, Bob Spiegel has not attended one single SERAmeeting,” Corman said.
Corman said he met with the EWA on one occasion, learned of its concerns and reported them to the designated redeveloper and SERAmembers.
“I haven’t heard from[EWA] since [that discussion], other than a letter they sent two days before the deadline that the freeholders have,” Corman added.
Spiegel and Andrew Willner, of the NY/NJ Baykeeper, wrote a letter to Freeholder Director David B. Crabiel, dated Jan. 15, saying that the National Lead site has enough space for a balanced redevelopment plan, but that O’Neill’s proposal is to develop as much of the property as possible.
“We don’t need to clog the roads with traffic,” Spiegel told GreaterMedia Newspapers. “We don’t need the density around the Raritan River.”
Middlesex County officials announced they are willing to commit $11 million in open space trust funds to preserve about 75 acres of the National Lead site, including the entire waterfront portion. Crabiel said he is hopeful that the state will pitch in $5 million in Green Acres funds for the same cause.
Spiegel raised concerns with that announcement, saying it will give $11million in county taxpayers’ money for land that he says would already have to be preserved due to coastal wetlands restrictions.
“The deal is getting worse, and not just from the environmental perspective, but from the [perspective of the] taxpayers of Middlesex County,” Spiegel said.
Corman said O’Neill will still be responsible for the cleanup of the entire site, even if part of it is preserved with public funding. He said negotiations are ongoing pertaining to O’Neill’s contribution to the purchase and preservation of that parcel. Corman added that the parcel in question is about half wetlands, half buildable.
“The more property you move from potential development, the less profitable you make the project, and the less money you have for remediation,” Corman said. “Much of the wetlands require cleanup. Much of those are contaminated. If the developer goes forward with this, he’s going to have to pay to clean up property that he is not able to build on, and he is not going to get any revenues [from that]. That makes the whole project less economically viable. We had one developer walk away from this because they didn’t think they couldmake anymoney on it. If it was easy, it would have been done already.”
O’Neill discussed methods of preservation with the NY/NJ Baykeeper, according to Corman.
“We knew that there would be some wetlands on that portion of the property, and we encouraged O’Neill to talk to the Baykeeper on various preservation strategies,” Corman said. “I know that our professionals and our engineers have been speaking to the Baykeeper on a regular basis. They have an open dialogue.”
Spiegel also raised concerns about the cleanup of the site, saying that his organization plans to be active throughout the redevelopment process to ensure that contamination issues are addressed.
On taxes and other concerns
On another note, Spiegel said the 2,000 residential units that the developer plans to build will raise taxes for residents and affect the school district.
“It’s just going to be really horrible for the taxpayers of Sayreville,” Spiegel said.
The potential compensation that the developer would pay to the school district in the event that too many school-age children move into the new housing should be a regular payment, not a one-time payment that will leave taxpayers with the remaining burden, Spiegel said.
“How is O’Neill going to compensate the town for that, and how much [are] the residents’ taxes going to go up before that [happens]?” Spiegel said.
Corman said the developer’s required contributions to the school facilities fund for additional classroomspace will be based on the number of school-age children the project generates. While the units will not be age-restricted, they will be designed so that there are not too many bedrooms, he added.
“Halfway through the project, if it is more than the estimated contribution [of school-age children], the rate will go up,” Corman said. “It is a built-in incentive to design and make units that will minimize school-age children.”
Spiegel said Sayreville taxpayers would have to foot the bill for a roughly $21 million deficit, after the annual cost of educating the site’s school-age children is deducted from the total revenue produced by the 2,000 residential units. Spiegel based his figures on the assumption that there will be 1.9 children per household, with the average cost of educating a child being $8,496, and the average taxes paid by each new home is $5,932.
Corman noted that other residential communities in Sayreville, such as Patriot Hill andWindingWoodApartments, do not have that many school-age children per household. He said one of the suggestions he has made to the developer is to build a high-rise luxury residential tower that would have a view of Atlantic Highlands, Raritan Bay and the New York City skyline. The high-rise penthouses would be expensive and would be unlikely to attract parents with school-age children.
“Even if they go to public school, the taxes on the condo would pay the rate to go to school,” Corman said.
Republican Mayor Kennedy O’Brien, when asked about the opposition to the project, first expressed frustration that the Democrats on the Borough Council have denied his attempts to be reappointed to SERA. But he said he is more concerned with the opinion of Sayreville residents than of environmental groups from out of town.
“This is a Sayreville project,” O’Brien said. “From the very beginning, it was a Sayreville project for the people, and it should remain so.”
“It’s not in Edison, it’s in Sayreville,” O’Brien added.
Corman said the redevelopment process is already further along than the last time the borough selected a redeveloper for the site. In the initial round, LNR Northeastern Investments was selected to redevelop National Lead, but withdrew fromthe project after reportedly being unable to negotiate a settlement with NL Industries regarding cleanup of contamination on the land. NL Industries remains responsible for the cleanup.
“We are a lot further along than LNR got,” Corman said. “Right now this project is closer than it has ever been. It is a matter of inches from the goal line, and there are some i’s that need to be dotted and t’s that need to be crossed, but they are very important i’s and very important t’s. If we are all to reach a comprehensive agreement, that will provide for a cleanup of one of the most contaminated sites in the state.”
He expressed frustration with the recent round of opposition.
“It’s just unbelievable that an environmental group would oppose a plan that would clean up one of themost heavily contaminated pieces of property in the state,” Corman added.