ROBBINSVILLE: Firm to prepare plans for Kushner tract

by Audrey Levine, The Packet Group
   ROBBINSVILLE — Despite one negative vote because of a concern of spending money before a budget has been finalized, the Township Council has approved a resolution to enter into a professional services agreement with Remington, Vernick & Arango Engineers to create conceptual plans for the township-owned 40-acre Kushner tract.
   ”We are trying to come up with suitable uses for this tract, but one thing we are finding is that not a lot of developers are interested in the entire tract,” said Jack West, director of community development. “We are looking to split it into four or five pieces.”
   The approximate $62,000 contract for the engineering company, Mr. West said, will allow for conceptual plans for the area that was supposed to function as part of the Town Center, off Route 33.
   Councilwoman Sonja Walter voted against the resolution at the March 26 meeting, saying she does not like the idea of authorizing a contract when the budget has not been finalized.
   Chief Finance Officer Debbie Bauer said the money would come from what already is available in the capital budget, not the appropriations used while the township prepares its 2009 budget.
   Still, according to Mayor Dave Fried, development on this tract of land is being held up by stalled plans for traffic relief on Route 33, which runs past the area on the south side of the Town Center.
   ”I think it would be a mistake to move forward until we know where we are with Route 33,” he said. “To put willy nilly density on the Kushner tract is a bad idea. Then the NJDOT (New Jersey Department of Transportation) could say that we put all this so now we need the highway.”
   According to Mayor Fried, the township has a signed letter from the DOT that it would build a Route 33 bypass to take traffic away from the Town Center.
   In a separate interview, Township Administrator Mary Caffrey said that, in addition to the bypass not being built, DOT has not created an alternate “access code” for Route 33 to allow for entrance into possible retail and other properties on the Kushner tract.
   ”The modern access code is supposed to look like Route 130 and Route 1,” she said. “We have to get this for property to have value.”
   With a consulting plan in place, Ms. Caffrey said, the township will be in a better position to go before the DOT and discuss the plans for the land and Route 33.
   ”The reasons why we are spending this money is not because we want to,” she said. “We can’t get anything out of the NJDOT without spending this money.”
   Ms. Caffrey said the town originally had tried to sell the land as a full tract, but was not pleased with the plans that were being submitted. Instead, she said, it would be beneficial to look into subdividing the land for retail in the front, residential in the back and possible recreation in other areas.
   All of these choices, however, depend on what can be done with Route 33, and the hope is paying for a conceptual plan will help move the process along.
   ”If we ever want to get the south side developed, we need to do this,” Councilman Rich Levesque said.