NORTH BRUNSWICK — With a new train station and bus depot planned for the MainStreetNB transit village project, township officials want to get ahead of the curve with regard to taxi licenses in the township.
The council approved a resolution for a taxi owner’s license for Primos Taxi during a council meeting on March 18.
Councilwoman Shanti Narra asked at what point the township can simply stop approving taxi licenses.
“My concern is [that] all these taxi [services] are running around with different company names. … Where are these companies from?” she said, asking if there was any monitoring done.
Township Business Administrator Robert Lombard said the current ordinance does not set a limit on the number of cab companies that can be in the township. He said the council could change that.
Police Director Kenneth McCormick said there is no state-level monitoring of these taxi companies, and that beyond an initial inspection, the police department does not conduct further inspections.
Township officials said they have counted approximately seven to 14 taxi companies within the township that have multiple vehicles.
It was not clear if some of the drivers take the vehicles home, which township officials said they would look into.
Michael Hritz, director of the township’s department of community development, said the ordinance does not allow the taxi drivers to dispatch from their homes.
Some council members suggested the taxi companies in town should have a certain decal to let people know that the cab is coming from North Brunswick.
Mayor Francis “Mac” Womack said township officials will research, review and discuss the process of acquiring taxi licenses in the township.
Officials want to resolve the issue of the licenses prior to the construction of the transit village project in order to avoid complications once taxis are able to enter the property to service commuters and shoppers.
In January, NJ Transit went out to bid on the preliminary engineering, construction and design work of a new train station and “flyover” tracks for the former Johnson & Johnson property, located at 2300 Route 1 north.
When the entire transit village is completed, there will be 300,000 square feet of freestanding large retail establishments, 450,000 square feet of mixed-use retail and commercial space, 50,000 square feet of freestanding commercial space, 1,875 residential units, 195,000 square feet of office space and a 250,000-square-foot hotel — for a total of 1.25 million square feet of development on the property.
Costco and Target have committed to the site, with expected opening dates in early 2014. Contact Kathy Chang at [email protected].