ROUTE 33 CORRIDOR: Revitalization back on the agenda

Minute Maid land use, zoning changes up for discussion March 14

By Jen Samuel, Managing Editor
   Redevelopment options for the abandoned Minute Maid property — composed of 16 acres in Hightstown Borough and 21 acres in East Windsor Township — will be discussed next week at a special meeting set to showcase a revitalization plan for the Route 33 corridor.
   "The purpose of this meeting is for a presentation to the public by the consultant Heyer Gruel and Associates of findings and proposals to date of the ‘Route 33 Corridor Revitalization Plan,’” announced East Windsor and Hightstown in a joint release, prepared by the township.
   The meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. March 14. It will take place in the East Windsor Senior Center, 40 Lanning Blvd.
   "The public is of course invited,” said Hightstown Councilwoman Gail Doran at a March 6 Borough Council meeting.
   Consultant firm Heyer Gruel and Associates, which will give the will give the Route 33 Corridor Plan presentation on Wednesday, was hired by a East Windsor and Hightstown subcommittee to complete a planning initiative study per a Transportation and Community Development Initiative grant of $100,000.
   The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission awarded the grant to East Windsor and Hightstown in the beginning of 2010.
   East Windsor has been the lead agency on the grant and project, Township Mayor Janice Mironov said on Thursday.
   "We were a cosponsor of the grant,” said Hightstown Planning Board Chair Steve Misiura on Thursday.
   The subcommittee selected Heyer Gruel and Associates to perform the Route 33 corridor study in October of 2010, he said.
   The study set out to examine:
• Current zoning and existing uses along Route 33 from Route 130 in East Windsor to Summit Street in Hightstown; and
• With particular attention, the former Minute Maid property, which is divided between East Windsor and Hightstown and composed of nearly 40 acres.
   Heyer Gruel and Associates was tasked with determining the most appropriate uses and zone changes to enhance development and redevelopment opportunities within the area.
   The study also explored:
• Traffic circulation;
• Potential roadway and intersection improvements; and
• Available infrastructure to support development.
   The firm focused a study on the Route 33 and Airport Road intersection as well.
   On Wednesday, Heyer Gruel and Associates will present its overall findings for revitalization possibilities for the Route 33 corridor in which the Minute Maid property is located.
   The Minute Maid plant, located in Hightstown, shut down in 2003. That October, the borough’s largest employer, Coca-Cola North America, announced it was closing its plant that November. The facility had produced Minute Maid and Hi-C juices and fruit drinks and employed 275 people.
   At the time of the closing, 14 employees lived in Hightstown and 14 lived in East Windsor, as previously reported in the Herald.
   Back in October of 2003, Coca-Cola Spokesman Ray Crockett said the consolidation process began in January, when Minute Maid was integrated into Coca-Cola; although Coke owned Minute Maid since 1960, it operated independently until this year.
   Prior to 2003, Minute Maid had spent millions of dollars revamping its plant, as previously reported in the Herald.
   Better Beginnings Day Care and the Community Action Service Center were two borough-based organizations that stood to be dramatically affected by the loss of Minute Maid, which served as the main corporate sponsor of each entity, the Herald reported nearly a decade ago. Minute Maid donated $5,000 in 2001 toward the borough’s downtown revitalization project and $10,000 in 2000 toward the refurbishment of a borough fire truck.
   Better Beginnings has continued to thrive in the community, and will be holding its annual gala this spring.
   The Minute Maid plant opened in Hightstown in 1966.
   Some of the information gathered in this article derived from a Herald report by Mark Moffa published in October 2003 titled “Hightstown shocked by Minute Maid closure.” Former staff writers David Pescatore and Sarah Winkelman also contributed to the report.