BORDENTOWN TOWNSHIP: Committee maps out redevelopment zones

By David Kilby, Special Writer
   BORDENTOWN TOWNSHIP — There are a variety of areas in town categorized as “redevelopment zones.”
   At the Nov. 13 Township Committee meeting, Deputy Mayor Michael Dauber presented a map, which designates six redevelopment zones within the municipality.
   ”Redevelopment has to do with bringing in ratables with a higher concentration on development properties,” Mr. Dauber later said in a phone interview. “Most developments are along the (Route 130 and Route 206) highway corridors.”
   The only exception is the section on Hedding Road where there are warehouses, however, that area is not in a redevelopment zone.
   Mr. Dauber said redevelopment areas help the township with zoning and PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreements and also makes it more affordable for people and businesses to come in.
   ”If an area meets the necessary criteria, it can be considered an area in need of redevelopment,” he said, adding the criteria are too hard to explain.
   Once a redevelopment plan is submitted, it is looked at against the township’s Master Plan by the Planning Board, which sees how the redevelopment plan fits in. If it doesn’t fit into what the Master Plan says, the redevelopment plan doesn’t happen.
   The Bordentown Township Committee is the redevelopment committee and makes suggestions to the Planning Board regarding the redevelopment zones.
   Areas that have been designated as redevelopment zones are the Waterfront in the southwest end of the township, Edgewood Motel on Route 206 North, the old landfill between Duns Mill Road, Route 206 and Interstate 295, the “Southern Gateway” or “town center” area, the Team 85 site on Route 130 and the Goodwill and ShopRite commercial complexes in the northern end of the township.
   The Waterfront zone already has an extensive plan for redevelopment that includes a light rail station along the River Line, a boathouse, apartments and shops. The entire 125-acre Waterfront Redevelopment Project will cost almost $400 million once fully built.
   An approved Holiday Inn Express and a 7,200-square-foot restaurant has been planned for the Edgewood Motel zone, which also used to have a trailer park on it.
   ”We’re just waiting for them to start building,” Mr. Dauber said regarding the zone.
   The Southern Gateway plans have been drawn up and sent to the Planning Board for review.
   The plans include a direct connection from Interstate 295 and the truck stop on Route 206 and a connection between Rising Sun Road and Dunns Mill Road, which will help take truck traffic off of Farnsworth Avenue, Committeeman Jim Cann said in September when reviewing the plans before presenting them to the Planning Board.
   He said the plans also call for more commercial development, barring tattoo parlors, adult bookstores and, possibly, grocery stores.
   Mr. Cann was concerned that the amount of commercial planned for the zone wouldn’t be consistent enough with the Master Plan.
   The old landfill zone, sitting on about 90 acres, has been dormant for about 10 years, and no redevelopment plan has been put together for the site yet, Mr. Dauber added.
   The strip mall with Goodwill and Jarons Furniture, owned by Jules Nissim; and the strip mall with ShopRite and the abandoned Bradlees, owned by the Vornado Corporation, doesn’t have a redevelopment plan yet, either.
   The Team 85 site — owned by former NFL wide receiver Kevin Johnson — will be the location of an outpatient facility for St. Francis Medical Center, which likely will open this spring, Mr. Dauber said.