By Jennifer Kohlhepp, Managing Editor
There are three goals township officials hope to achieve with the redevelopment of the Cheney, Hagerty and Kushner properties.
They hope to cleanup blighted property, add mixed-use (residential and commercial) development to the south end of town and add residential development without adversely affecting Cranbury Public School or the town’s relationship with Princeton High School. Cranbury does not have its own high school and sends its high school-aged students to Princeton.
While there are potential benefits of this project, residents, mainly residents of the adjacent housing development, are worried about the redevelopment of the lots, which are located along South Main Street, Old Trenton Road and Old Cranbury Road. Residents of Four Seasons, the neighboring housing development, mostly have traffic, lighting and parking concerns.
There is one other concern, though, regarding how many school pupils the new development will generate.
The developer has decreased the density of the project after hearing residents’ concerns at the last public meeting regarding the concept plan. The plan, which originally called for 61 three-bedroom townhouses, now proposes 54. Ten percent of the total units, which is 70 including apartments above the proposed retail stores, will be affordable housing, according to Township Planner Richard Preiss.
The seven units that would go toward helping the township meet its affordable housing obligation include two 3-bedroom, one one-bedroom and four two-bedroom apartments, Mr. Preiss said.
To try to reduce the number of schoolchildren the project will add to the local schools, the township is trying to create an age-targeted community by requiring the developer to include townhouse features, such as not having yard space, that would not be desirable to families with children. In particular, many of the units have first-floor bedrooms and no place to add a fourth bedroom. The development would not have amenities such as playgrounds, pools, tennis courts or a clubhouse. The price point, which is approximately $650,000 per unit, has also been set to deter families who could spend that much money on a single-family home with a yard, according to Mr. Preiss.
Township officials researched comparable developments in five towns throughout New Jersey and performed an analysis based on Rutgers data to determine that the 152-resident development would add about 17 school age children to the community.
Besides adding children to the school system, another main concern of the residents in attendance at the Planning Board’s concept plan meeting last Thursday was that the main entrances to both the residential and commercial portions of the property would be along Old Cranbury Road. There would not be access into the residential component of the development via South Main Street and there would only be a right-turn-in and right-turn-out opening into the commercial part of the development along South Main Street.
The plan, which originally called for the entrance into the development across from the Old Cranbury Road entrance into Four Seasons, has changed. Now the entrance is offset 100 feet from the existing Four Seasons development entrance to prevent vehicles from blocking one another.
Four Seasons residents said the entrance is still too close and suggested moving it down Old Cranbury Road near the pumping station. Area residents were also concerned about the traffic the development would produce.
According to the traffic study, the residential site would produce 24 vehicles during peak traffic hours from 7-9 a.m. on weekdays, 28 vehicles from 4-6 p.m. on weekdays and 25 vehicles from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.
The commercial site would produce 75 trips from 7-9 a.m. on weekdays, 268 trips from 4-6 p.m. on weekdays and 400 trips from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.
When asked about the tractor-trailer traffic the commercial development would produce, Mr. Preiss said there would be two to three tractor-trailer deliveries to the site per week and that most deliveries would be made via box trucks.
During the site plan application process, township planners could ask the developer to restrict delivery hours, according to Mr. Preiss.
When asked about lighting in and around the development, Mr. Preiss said that would also be discussed during the site plan application process but that there are some limitations to reduce the amount of light coming from the development.
“We’re looking to have down lights so there is no glare offsite from the retail area,” he said.
Some of the added benefits of the project include the addition of 50 jobs and a total tax surplus of $220,000 annually for the municipality and schools.
Another public meeting on the proposed concept plan will take place at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 8 in the school cafeteria. During that meeting, the Planning Board expects to recommend the plan to the Township Committee. The board is hopeful the Township Committee will review the plan and introduce it at its Oct. 12 meeting, which would result in a public hearing prior to a vote on its adoption at the Oct. 26 Township Committee meeting.
The concept plan is not a site plan. The developer of the property, which is currently High Point Development, would have to present a site plan to the Planning Board for review. That process will also include public hearings.
To review the redevelopment concept plan for this property, visit www.cranburytownship.org/Redevelopment-Plans/Proposed_Cheney-Hagerty-Kushner_RedevPlan_9-25-15.pdf.
