Council approves plan to guide development
By Jessica Noll, Special Writer
ROBBINSVILLE The Township Council has adopted the Town Center South Redevelopment Plan, which sets guidelines for what redevelopers can build on 90 acres of vacant land and modest businesses that line the south side of Route 33.
The next step is to publish the required legal notices early this summer requesting proposals from potential redevelopers, Council President Christine Ciaccio said. The proposals will be vetted and then a final plan selected.
”We’re looking for something that’s exciting; we want people to think outside the box,” Ms. Ciaccio said Monday.
The redevelopment plan approved at the March 22 council meeting is designed to be flexible, but sets guidelines for what the township would like to see built. The redevelopment area along Route 33, which stretches from Washington Boulevard to Robbinsville-Edinburg Road, permits duplexes, townhouses, garden apartments, parks, community centers, restaurants, bars, shops, offices, and solar energy generating facilities. Single-family homes are not permitted in order to minimize new students moving into the school district.
The redevelopment plan requires the four large lots fronting Route 33, across from the existing Town Center, to be reserved for mixed use-buildings containing residential units above ground-floor restaurants, offices or shops. These buildings must have the same architectural look as the existing Town Center.
At the March 22 Township Council meeting, redevelopment planner Stuart Wiser fielded questions from residents about the plan and some of the ideas that have already been informally pitched to the council’s redevelopment subcommittee.
In response to questions about parking locations and Department of Transportation regulations, Mr. Wiser said the goal was to be flexible and that parking details could be changed by resolution as the project planning progresses.
”I don’t know that I’ve ever been part of an amendment plan that did not involve a resolution at some point,” Mr. Wiser said.
Ms. Ciaccio said the township was looking to have ample parking in Town Center South. Establishing large parking lots for the new 20-acre park that the mayor proposed last week, for example, would also help businesses in the area because customers could park in these lots and walk to the nearby stores and restaurants.
At last week’s council meeting, some residents expressed concerns about the school tax implications of more families with children moving into Town Center South, and asked whether single-family homes would be built.
”We deleted single family housing,” Mr. Wiser said. “We have retained duplex structures and we have residential townhouses, garden apartments … with a minimum dwelling size of 600 (square) feet.”
Mr. Wiser said there are no limits set on the number of permitted residential units and their square footage would be market-driven, based on what developers believe they will be able to sell.
Ms. Ciaccio said numerous developers have already expressed an interest in being part of the project, even though the town has not yet advertised the “request for proposals,” known in legal parlance as RFPs.
”We just had eight developers that came in, half of them for the garden apartments,” Ms. Ciaccio said. Ms. Ciaccio said the council would prefer the apartment units to be leased as corporate-managed rentals.
Council member Vince Calcagno asked Mr. Wiser whether a fiscal impact statement could be included with the final redevelopment plan.
”I would like to make sure a fiscal impact statement is included, something that gives us an idea because that is one of the biggest concerns that we hear … what’s the impact that this development that they’re planning will have on facilities like the township, the roads, the schools, and so on,” Mr. Calcagno said.
The township designated 70 lots on the south side of Route 33 that have 15 different owners as an area in need of redevelopment in 2010. Mr. Wisner’s firm, Remington, Vernick & Arango, finished drafting the redevelopment plan in December and then public hearings were held in January and February before the Planning Board and Township Council, which resulted in amendments.
Under state law, a township that declares an area in need of redevelopment maintains extensive control over the redevelopment process, including the power to use eminent domain to force the sale of private properties if needed.
There are also a broader range of financing options available in a redevelopment area than traditional bank loans, including state Economic Development Authority loans, bonds and tax increment financing, which diverts future tax revenues to finance current redevelopment expenses.
At the council meeting, members of the public expressed concern about the potential cost of the project to taxpayers and the possible condemnation of private properties. The council said the township would be negotiating with property owners in the redevelopment area to purchase their land, not condemn their properties.

