By Kristine Snodgrass / Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR — The Township Council voted Monday night to send a draft plan for the redevelopment of the train station area to the Planning Board for completion.
Planners, who will begin work after the holiday, would then have a 45-day period to work before the plan is put before the council for a final vote.The controversial housing element of the plan calls for a total of 524 units in the 350-acre redevelopment area, according to a summary by township planner John Madden. Of that total, 307 would be market rate units, and 217 would be affordable housing units.
The figure includes 350 units on the 25-acre property on Washington Road owned by Intercap Holdings. It was determined at the Dec. 1 council meeting, where council voted 3-2 to limit the amount of housing on the site.
The majority of the units outside this site, 91, would be in a district that includes the Sarnnoff tract along Washington Road.
Council President Charlie Morgan cast the sole vote against the action, challenging Mr. Madden’s calculation of affordable housing requirements generated by the plan.”We have not finished our homework,” he said. Councilwoman Heidi Kleinman, who sided with Mr. Morgan at last week’s council meeting, had said the plan would not be built. But last night, she cast a vote in favor, declaring, “I am ready to vote yes to send this to the Planning Board.”
In an email to The Packet Tuesday, Ms. Kleinman said she has not changed her opinions from last week, and the number of housing units does not provide an economically viable project.
”I will have the opportunity to explain my perspective at the Planning Board meetings in the future,” she said.
