To the editor:
As a resident of Pennington Point Community since 2000, I’ve enjoyed the beauty of our natural surroundings and become increasingly aware that this wonderful resource is a part of the Stony Brook Watershed. Water flows east from here past Railroad Place and the businesses and residences along North Main Street to Lewis Brook then to Stony Brook.
Following a heavy storm, it’s visually evident how much water can flow through this area by checking the detention basins at Pennington Point, Straube Center, Post Office, and Railroad Place and watching drainage ditches fill with water and flow into pipes and spillways and eventually filter into Pennington wells.
Last year, after the former Capital Health property was rezoned, the NJ developer, American Properties, proposed building 80 units (32 villas, 32 townhouses and 16 affordable flats) on this property bordered by Knowles Avenue to the east, Route 31 to the west, W. Franklin Avenue to the south and Pennington Point to the north. The former Capital Health property, about 13 acres, is now occupied by a home, a small office building, birds, wildlife, wetlands, brush and stately trees.
This site, as it is now, will be hard to lose, but as much as I value the woods and wildlife and enjoy walking past the property, I also understand that this is a prime area for development of much-needed mixed housing. This development could be beneficial to those of us living, working, and operating businesses in Pennington.
The Pennington Borough Planning Commission held hearings on Nov. 12 and Dec. 9 so that American Properties could present their plans to the Pennington community; many people attended and took part in those discussions. Although concerns were expressed about traffic, a corridor for wildlife, and buffer zones, many of the questions were about wetlands on the property and the design of a proposed detention basin. Suggestions have been offered about how best to ameliorate problems some see with the current wetland plans.
I hope these questions will be satisfactorily addressed, not only for the benefit of those who might be residing in the new community, but also for the rest of us who live in the area now and drink the water.
The next, and perhaps last hearing is Wednesday, Feb.10, at 7:30 p.m. at Pennington Borough Hall. My goal is not to prevent the project from being built but to enhance it and minimize any negative effects, not just for my community at Pennington Point, but for the larger community of Pennington.
If done properly, this development can benefit everyone.
Carole Allison
Pennington
