By Frank Mustac, Special Writer
HOPEWELL TWP. — What to do with the township-owned Pennytown property was a topic of debate for Township Committee members at Monday’s meeting on the municipal budget.
Pennytown is a tract of about 25 acres located at the junction of routes 31 and 654. In 2008, a previous Hopewell Township Committee voted to buy Pennytown, formerly a shopping center, for $6.65 million with the intent to use the land for affordable housing.
Since the later part of 2015, the property is no longer part of the township’s affordable housing plan. Township taxpayers are still paying interest on the debt to buy the site.
The majority of the discussion was between Township Committee members Vanessa Sandom and John Hart.
Speaking directly to Ms. Sandom, Mr. Hart described the decision to purchase Pennytown as “your baby.” Ms. Sandom served on the Township Committee when the property was acquired by the township.
“I’ve been saying for two years, ’Sell it.’ Put a for-sale sign out there and sell it,” Mr. Hart said. “Every day, it costs you money.”
He cautioned, however, that if sold, “you’re not going to get that money back that you paid for it.”
Ms. Sandom agreed with Mr. Hart on selling Pennytown, but also insisted the township sell another piece of land, known as the Zaitz-Hutchinson property between Route 31 and Reed Road, near the ShopRite grocery store.
“I’ve been trying to sell Pennytown now for three years, but there are some members of this committee who didn’t want to do that,” said Ms. Sandom, not indicating to which members she was referring.
“Let’s make a decision this year whether or not we want to keep any property whatsoever. We can make that decision,” she said.
At one point during the discussion, she asked Mr. Hart a direct question.
“Are you proposing that we sell Zaitz-Hutchinson?” Ms Sandom asked.
“No, I ’m proposing selling Pennytown,” Hart responded.
What started as spirited discussion diminished into a kind of awkward silence for a few moments, with no consensus reached.
