WEST WINDSOR: Council in push to conclude redevelopment plan

By Kristine Snodgrass, Staff Writer
    The Township Council discussed a new timeline for redevelopment of the train station area at its meeting Monday night that would push a vote on the plan to February.
   Council plans to vote on sending the draft redevelopment plan by architectural firm RMJM Hillier to the Planning Board at its meeting on Dec. 8, council President Charles Morgan said.
   Council will permit the Planning Board, which has canceled all its meetings in December, to wait until after the holidays to begin working on the draft.
   With a start date of Jan. 5, the Planning Board would have a 45-day review period before returning the document to the Township Council for a final vote. A vote would be expected by the end of February.
   Despite indecision on the scale of the project at meeting last week, council was eager to move forward with a plan.
   To that end, a sixth work session for council members to discuss revisions to the draft redevelopment plan will be held 7 p.m. Monday in the Municipal Building.
   ”We’ve got to bring closure,” Mr. Morgan said.
   Councilman George Borek concurred that the council needed to make a decision and “move forward to the next level. I’d like to vote on it sooner rather than later,” he said.
   Councilwoman Heidi Kleinman said the approval of a plan will allow the township to apply for state and federal funding for construction costs.
   Mr. Morgan said at Monday’s meeting he was working on a new proposal that would make the number of housing units “dramatically smaller.”
   On Wednesday, he said he completed a proposal that would reduce the number of housing units in the entire redevelopment area to about 100.
   This would be achieved by “down-zoning,” he said, to limit the amount of commercial office space and as a result reduce the affordable housing requirement.
   A proposal from Intercap Holdings Chairman Steve Goldin that included 935 housing units did not offer enough benefits to the community to overcome the disadvantages, Mr. Morgan said. Mr. Morgan formerly supported that plan as a solution to the township’s affordable housing obiligation.
   ”I just concluded the medicine was too bitter,” he said Wednesday.
   If other members of council agree with his proposal, it would require “major changes” in the draft plan, he said. Council members he has spoken to are split on his idea, he said.
   Township Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh said he continues to urge the council to make a decision on the redevelopment process. The council has enough information at their disposal to decide, he said.
   ”I personally will be very reluctant to approve any further money to be spent on redevelopment,” he said in reference to the current planning process.
   The township has approved spending $600,000 on consultant’s fees for the redevelopment plan.
   Also at the meeting, two ordinances were introduced related to the township purchasing about eight acres on Conover Road.
   The land would be turned into a community farm, Mayor Hsueh said. The purchase would increase the amount of open space in the township, he said, and prevent seven housing units from being built.
   A public hearing on the ordinances will be held Dec. 8.
   Council also heard proposals from the administration that would prohibit the hitting of golf balls in township parks, and the possible construction of a pond for public use at the Princeton Presbyterian Church on Meadow Road.
   Further discussion on the proposals will be held at a later date.