EAST BRUNSWICK — Going into the election, Republicans contend the Golden Triangle has become the Bermuda Triangle, and Democrats say it will take time for the project to reap all of its rewards.
The election has had Democrats on the defensive regarding the redevelopment project on Route 18. Councilman and Democratic mayoral candidate David Stahl, who has criticized the way the plan has materialized, is saying he believes Toll Brothers will eventually carry forth with its plans for housing and retail.
Republican mayoral candidate Christi Calvano, an opponent of the deal when she was a councilwoman, said if the project does not come to fruition, the township will have to find a way to pay Toll Brothers back, plus 8 percent interest.
“It was speculation and poor planning,” Calvano said of the deal, whereby the township sold the property that it leased to three large businesses including Sam’s Club. The lease money is now being collected by Toll Brothers.
“They are giving us our own money,” she said. “The sale money from Toll Brothers is rent from Sam’s Club.”
Toll Brothers is paying the township more than $30 million in yearly installments of $4 million. When those payments cease in 2011, and the proposed tax ratables may not yet be functioning. The Township Council last year agreed to extend the deadline for construction until 2015.
Calvano believes the town is in a bad position because Toll Brothers could walk away from the project or build something else, such as a strip mall.
“This is the biggest fiasco, I think, our town has faced,” she said.
Stahl has discussed various ideas on how the township can handle the potential budget shortfall when the property payments end. He said he is considering ways to close the budget gap, including less capital spending and some debt restructuring.
He said Toll Brothers would be entitled to interest if it pulls out of the deal, but noted that the company has a “strong cash position.” He also said it would be hard for the developer to sell the property because of the credit crunch.
Independent mayoral candidate and Democratic Councilman Donald Klemp remains supportive of the deal.
“Oh yes, absolutely,” he said, “It is moving along, not as quickly as planned.”
He said Toll Brothers wants to wait until the real estate markets rebounds before building the residential units.
Klemp disputed the others’ belief that the town would have to pay interest if it has to pay money back to Toll Brothers. Klemp also said Toll Brothers would have to find a buyer for the land, but the township would have the right of first refusal on any such a deal.
“We are not on the hook for 8 percent interest anymore,” Klemp said. “That is a misconception out there.”
And the project will happen, he said.
“Now they have Planning Board approvals, so there is nothing holding them back,” Klemp said.
Stahl said he was not opposed to the town’s sale to Toll Brothers and the proposal itself, but with the town’s “implementation” of it, including an agreement where the township’s claim to the land is subordinate to that of the bank that loaned Toll Brothers the money.
Stahl said East Brunswick needs tax ratables such as those proposed by Toll Brothers.
And the sale helped to fill a budget shortfall that emerged in 2004.
“I do not feel we should get out of the deal,” Stahl said. However, he added, “I would be naive not to worry. All you have to do is look at the economy

