‘Downtown feel’ lacking in mixed-use plan at Route 206 and Amwell Road
By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
Zoners held firm to the concept of a walker-friendly, compact town center when they rejected an application Wednesday, June 15, for more stores, offices and apartments at a key intersection.
The zoning Board of Adjustment voted, 5-1, to deny Hillsborough Towne Center Associates the right to build two mixed-use buildings behind the Shoppes at Woods Tavern strip mall on the northwest intersection corner of Amwell Road and Route 206.
Before the vote, board members cited reasons why the application didn’t meet the 2005 master plan amendment and 2007 zoning ordinance.
”There’s no town center fell there,” particularly encouraging walking and buildings close to the street, said member John Stamler.
The applicant sought two buildings in the rear with offices not retail stores on the ground floor, contrary to the ordinance. And, while the total number of 27 apartments on the 5.1-acre lot met the ordinance, all but one would have been in the new buildings, with none above the existing strip mall fronting on Route 206. The owners said to add more would be a structural impossibility.
Much of the testimony had centered on parking in front of a strip mall that sits back from Route 206. The town center concept calls for buildings within five to 10 feet of the curb, with sidewalks and parking on the street.
The owners said they couldn’t abrogate leases with store owners that guaranteed them spots in front of their stores.
William Savo, attorney for Woods Tavern, called the decision “unfortunate.”
”A lot of positive things that were part of the application will not happen,” he said.
He cited the elimination of one driveway onto Amwell Road, limiting turns to right-only onto and from Route 206, the start of a rear road parallel to Route 206, sidewalks around the property and more ratables to the township.
”Despite what they say, the only way you could achieve what they want is to knock down buildings,” said Mr. Savo.
Before the vote, Township Planner Robert Ringelheim reviewed the history of the town center concept, which followed as a logical progression from a rural, agricultural community to a suburban, residential one. The town center zone was approved in 2007 for the general area that includes the Hillsborough Elementary School and Nelson’s Corner and Bottle King shopping plazas on other corners.
’The applicant had suggested it would be willing to lessen the number of parking spaces facing to Route 206 by changing the slots from perpendicular to parallel and putting in sidewalks and a grass strip. In the future, if Route 206 was turned into more of a boulevard and parking was allowed on the street, other moves might be considered, they said.
A bypass of the busy state highway is being built east of the present road. When it’s opened, the state may hand over the present Route 206 to the township to recreate as a “Main Street.”
The proposal still encourages a strip mall feeling along Route 206, he said, and the rear buildings were simply mixed-use buildings on a more nicely designed parking lot, Mr. Ringelheim said.
”The application fails to provide a pedestrian friendly environment as the master plan envisioned,” he said.
In his summation, Mr. Savo said the application represented the start of implementation of the master plan by giving two- and three-story mixed-use buildings, street furniture, residences above stores, a common architectural theme, sidewalks and a better traffic pattern. He said pedestrian flow could be addressed in the engineering review of a more detailed plan.
”We begin to bring residents a great downtown,” he said.
After a 35-minute executive session, board member Leon Krals moved to deny the application.
He said the proposal didn’t substantially meet the intent of the zone. There were things he liked, he said, and was hoping for more compromises, but the only one proffered was parallel parking in the front of the lot along Route 206.
”I understand the building can’t be moved,” he said, “but maybe they could have pushed out a portion of the building to break up the façade.”
Board Chairwoman Helen “Chickie” Haines said she thought the developer failed to use many of the bonus incentives written into the ordinance.
”I think the applicant has chosen parts of the town center he wanted and ignored parts he didn’t want to comply with,” she said.
The “no” vote came from Vice Chairman Walter Dietz, who called the proposal “a great application.”
The Route 206 mall, which was renovated two years ago, “is totally different from what it was. It’s a total beautification of that corner,” he said, converting it from a “real ugly strip mall” to a “beautiful building that is architecturally pleasing.”
Two residents earlier had encouraged the board to find a way to approve the application as a transition to the master plan vision of a town center.
Thomas Greco said a rejection would send a message to “bigger players” and others who might want to develop in Hillsborough.
The town center was good, he said, but its demands on businesses would mean they would have to increase prices to consumers to cover costs. Taking parking away would force tenants to suffer, too, he said.
Paul Drake, a former township committeeman active when the town center idea was being discussed back to 1998, said a denial could send a negative message in a slow economy.
”The issue of parking in front is small potatoes compared to whether a developer or builder will look at Hillsborough seriously,” he said.