By Kristine Snodgrass, Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR — The land use ordinance that enacts the redevelopment plan
for the train station area was adopted by council Monday night by a vote of
3-1.
The council voted shortly before midnight, following a public hearing where
more than 30 residents and stakeholders stood up to express their opinions
on redevelopment.
The dissenting vote was cast by Council President Charles Morgan, who
expressed doubts about the direction the plan would take West Windsor in
terms of urbanization.
The plan could result in a much higher number of housing units, he said,
while making township residents pay for the infrastructure needs of
surrounding communities that use the Princeton Junction Train Station.
“I worked to make it a good plan I support — I failed,” he said before
casting the vote, adding that regardless of the outcome he would continue to
try to make it work.
Introduced by council as an ordinance last month, the plan calls for just
fewer than 500 housing units, with 350 in the transit village, according to
a calculation by township planner John Madden.
Members of council each made remarks before casting their vote.
Councilman George Borek admitted the plan is not perfect, but it opens the
door for the township to work with state and county agencies to secure
infrastructure funding for the redevelopment area.
“This isn’t a deal that’s done today,” he said. “We have to work together
towards a middle ground where everybody’s happy.”
Council Vice President Heidi Kleinman, who made the motion to adopt the
plan, said the nearly five years she has worked on the project has included
a “tremendous” amount of discussion and work.
“This is a West Windsor-driven project,” she said. “This is not a
developer-driven project.”
The project is the type that the state will look to fund, she said.
“That’s a key way that we keep the costs down and benefit West Windsor
residents,” she said.
Councilwoman Linda Geevers said it will be years before a shovel is put
into the ground on the project, and it’s important that redevelopment
continues to be a transparent process.
“If approved, this plan will continue to evolve over the next decade or
two,” she said.
She said she was urged that morning by Intercap Holdings CEO Steve Goldin,
who owns the 25-acre property along Route 1 that would contain the transit
village, to vote against the plan.
“As long as I am on this dais, I will not be dictated by any developer,”
she said.
Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh, also speaking before the vote, said that if the
council voted yes, state and county agencies would finally be willing to sit
down with him to work on infrastructure in the redevelopment area.
“This is only the beginning of the process,” he said.