East Brunswick ready to move ahead on Rt. 18 redevelopment

By MICHAEL NUNES
Staff Writer

EAST BRUNSWICK — The Township Council has taken the next step to revitalize deteriorating properties along Route 18 by designating the areas in need of redevelopment.

At the Sept. 28 meeting, council members Michael Hughes, James Wendell and Denise Contrino voted to accept the recommendation of the planning board to designate the area as in need of redevelopment.

Councilman Michael Spadafino abstained from the vote, questioning why the council would vote to label the area as in need of redevelopment without having a plan in place.

“I don’t think that the way we are going about this is the methodology that I would like to see take place,” he said.

Councilwoman Camille Clark was absent from the meeting.

Other council members explained why they believe the numerous properties along Route 18 are included in the planning board’s recommendation as being in need of redeveloped.

“All you have to do is drive through Loehmann’s Plaza or the old Gap shopping center to see that it needs to be redeveloped,” said Contrino.

“This is a way to move forward, and I think it would be good for East Brunswick.”

The council will form an ad hoc committee to create a redevelopment plan for the several areas along the Route 18 corridor.

“[The] plan is to have business representatives, people from different walks of life and different industries. I want a true cross section of the township, and I think that the makeup of the board will reflect that,” said council President Michael Hughes at the council’s Sept. 21 meeting.

Plans for the ad hoc committee are currently being firmed up and, according to Hughes, the group will come up with a plan for the redevelopment area.

He predicts that when the committee is assembled, it should take eight months to a year to come up with a plan.

“I trust the talents of the residents of this town will come up with some good ideas that can be put forward to council.”

“I think that if you were building Route 18 today, it would look nothing as it does now,” Hughes said.

The current state of some properties along the Route 18 corridor is outdated and in need of a fresh new look which would also attract businesses, he added.

“I think that retail is not what it once was when it was built and I think that we’re going to take a hard look at the properties that have fallen into disrepair.

“I think with some modernized façades out there and with new buildings, as opposed to retrofitting old ones, we can actually get quality retailers in,” Hughes said.

“If you look at the companies that people want, like Wegmans and Whole Foods, overwhelmingly they build their own new buildings. They don’t go into existing older ones. Those are the kinds of businesses we are looking to attract.”

At the meeting, resident Dr. Brad Cohen was critical of past redevelopment projects.

“The reason that there is such concern about what goes on Route 18 is because there is an example already out there of what the council and township did when it had an opportunity to consider redeveloping an area,” said Cohen, referring to an area along Tices Lane known as the “golden triangle.”

“We ended up with a Walmart and … an apartment complex,” Cohen continued.

He also criticized the use of tax incentives to encourage property owners to redevelop their properties.

“Incentive simply means you’re going to go up to the building owners and ask them to do something with their properties to make it better.

“That could mean either doing it themselves or being bought out by someone who has big money, and unless you have a printing press back there right now, the money isn’t coming from the town, it’ll be coming from developers who have an interest in themselves and not the town,” continued Cohen, who urged the council to make a commitment not to include more apartments on Route 18.

Hughes responded that the properties in the redevelopment zone are privately owned while the Walmart was constructed on property owned by the township.

The East Brunswick Planning Board voted unanimously to recommend to the council outlining seven areas along Route 18 as being in need of redevelopment.

Township officials have said this is a noncondemnation redevelopment project and property owners would have the final say on whether or not they want to participate.

In order to be designated as in need of redevelopment, a property must meet at least one of eight criteria including: dilapidation, excessive coverage, pavement unraveling, outdated design, or lack of proper utilization.

Participation is voluntary, and owners may opt not to redevelop their property.

In a report compiled by Banisch Associates Inc., Planning and Design, eight areas along Route 18 were found to meet the criteria for redevelopment including lots on the northern section of Route 18 between Ruth Street and Eggers Street; Ruth Street to the Edgeboro Road jughandle; north and south of Lake Avenue; the northern point of Old Bridge Turnpike and Route 18; strip malls north and south of Tices Lane, the corner of Tices Lane and Harts Lane; and the corner of Route 18 and West Ferris Street.

Contact Michael Nunes at [email protected].