Cranbury hopefuls talk about Unexcelled property

By Maria Prato-Gaines, Staff Writer
   CRANBURY — The two candidates vying for a three-year seat on the Township Committee have concerns over the possible development of the Unexcelled property, including how it will affect affordable housing obligations, the necessity for a cleanup and the owners’ right to build.
   The future of the Unexcelled property is still undecided as local officials negotiate the development of the land with owner Viridian Partners, a Colorado redevelopment firm that purchased the 395-acre site in 2006.
   One hurtle for Viridian, which has proposed to build three warehouses totaling 2.8 million square feet, is cleaning up the scattered and sometimes live munitions there as a result of a 1954 explosion that left two workers of the Unexcelled Chemical Corp. dead.
   Republican Win Cody said whatever direction local officials and developers decide to go, it needs to be balanced with the needs of the owner and of the community.
   ”It’s industrial (zoned) land they own and they have a right to build on it,” Mr. Cody said. “But it’s environmentally sensitive land. The cleanup has to come before you can put anything there.”
   Another issue for Mr. Cody is that the growth-share formula being proposed by COAH needs to be addressed. Under the COAH proposal, towns are to assume one job per 10,000 square feet of warehouse space, and one affordable housing unit for every 16 jobs.
   Since the change means Cranbury’s affordable housing obligations would increase, Mr. Cody said he would like to see Viridian scale-down its design.
   ”The plan they presented to the public is too big,” he said. “(Viridian) needs to come back with something more reasonable. There’s a lot of COAH obligations that go along with this. COAH is hurting the state of New Jersey, it’s inhibiting growth.”
   Aside from the tax revenue the township would receive from Viridian, Mr. Cody said he doesn’t see any obvious benefits from the development for the township.
   But he also said he trusts the judgment of Cranbury professionals and Planning Board members.
   Democrat John Ritter said Viridian’s plans should be downsized and the warehousing formula changed before the project moves forward.
   ”Viridian’s estimates of the tax benefits to the community from its 2.8 million square feet of warehouses were based on the initial third-round rules which would have required the creation of 22 affordable housing units,” Mr. Ritter said. “The current COAH regulations require the construction of 175 units of affordable housing.”
   Mr. Ritter estimated that it could cost taxpayers $26 million for construction of the 175 units. He said the annual tax revenue from the developer would not cover the cost to educate children who live in the units.
   ”This would place an unsustainable and unfair economic burden on Cranbury taxpayers,” he said. “It is clearly not in the interest of Cranbury taxpayers to have these warehouses built.”
   Mr. Ritter said he might be more open to the development if Viridians’ projection of 500 jobs were used, which would make the COAH requirement 31.25 units.
   ”The inaccurate state formula for the number of affordable housing units required by warehouse development must be changed,” Mr. Ritter said. “Cranbury taxpayers should not have to pay tens of millions of dollars in property tax increases as a result of the mistakes of a COAH consultant.”
   Mr. Ritter said it may be unfair if Viridian can’t build on the property, but he doesn’t believe the state Department of Environmental Protection should approve the plan.
   ”The NJDEP has to approve the cleanup and the plan for the site,” Mr. Ritter said. “The NJDEP will have to approve the construction of 2.8 million square feet of warehouses on an environmentally sensitive site. I don’t believe that the NJDEP should approve that much construction on this site. The project should be significantly scaled back.”