By: centraljersey.com
Hillsborough’s long-term goal of a town center is being tested by a developer’s plan for stores and housing at the Amwell Road-Route 206 intersection.
A developer who wants to build stores and offices at the Shoppes at Woods Tavern at the northwest corner of the key area is asking for relief from zoning regulations that are intended to move toward a "livable," compact core area of the township.
The applicant would construct three mixed-use buildings behind the strip-center stores renovated in the last year. The new structures would feature retail stores on the first floor, with residences or offices and 27 residential apartment units on second and third floors. The applicant proposes a total of 11 units with one bedroom, 14 with two bedrooms and two with three bedrooms.
Township Planner Robert Ringelheim said the application challenges township incentives to encourage two- and three-story mixed-use buildings in a walkable, interconnected, tree-lined "livable" environment where buildings are closer to the street, have parking in the rear and hold housing above stores.
The Board of Adjustment will hold its first hearing on the plan at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 2, in the municipal courtroom.
The key disagreement between the wishes of the township and the applicant Hillsborough Towne Center Associates, which has its office at 390 Amwell Road, lies in how proposed residential units would be apportioned between buildings on the 5.1-acre parcel.
Shoppes at Woods Tavern wants to place 20 of the residential units on upper floors in a new 9,420-square-foot building, and only one unit on the second floor of the existing 18,324-square-foot, multi-store building that faces Route 206. Applicants are allowed one residential unit for each 1,000 square feet of building in the town center, but, according to Mr. Ringelheim’s interpretation of township regulations, must spread the housing between buildings based on their size. Concentrating nearly 80 percent of the housing in one building would be contrary to the spirit of a town center, said Mr. Ringelheim.
William Savo, a Somerville-based attorney representing the applicant, disagreed in a rebuttal memo that argues that state land-use law says that the size of the entire site should determine the housing density allowed on the site.
The Township Committee seemed to address the issue Tuesday night when it introduced an ordinance to clarify the wording of the township regulation. The change would eliminate the word "density" and clarify the number of permitted residential units goes with the size of the building, not the size of the tract. Public hearing and vote on the mater is scheduled for March 8.Mr. Ringelheim said town center guidelines also envision parking areas behind the stores, which could mean a plaza replaces parking fronting on the highway. Continuing the strip mall pattern along Route 206 and Amwell Road negates any benefits of the Town Center, wrote Mr. Ringelheim in a memo.
The existing 18,324- and 7,472-square-foot buildings hold a variety of businesses, including a paint store, pharmacy, various eating places, a private learning center and a hair/nail/tanning salon.
The township passed regulations in 2007 to carry out town center recommendations included in a 2005 Master Plan review, Mr. Ringelheim said.
The township town center zone concentrates on the area around the intersection, including the Nelson’s Corners, Stop & Shop and Bottle King shopping centers on two of the four corners. The Hillsborough Elementary School is opposite the Shoppes at Woods Tavern.
The Shoppes at Woods Tavern concept plan was first submitted for Planning Board review in December 2009. There were a number of meetings with the Master Plan Subcommittee over the next six months or so, said Mr. Ringelheim.
No buildings would be razed. Parking for 194 cars is shown on the plan.

