SOUTH BRUNSWICK – The South Brunswick Township Council introduced an ordinance that would rezone property along Route 130 and Friendship Road from industrial to residential use, over the objections of the lots’ owner.
During the same meeting, they also adopted an ordinance that changed a tract of land near Beekman Road from single-family use to senior communities.
The introduced ordinance, turning the industrial lots into residential ones, affects four tracts of land near the site of the controversial Matrix warehouse application, which was denied by the Planning Board last month.
If adopted, the developer would no longer be able to build the multistructure industrial park that it had been hoping would complement the defeated warehouse proposal. Overall, 70 acres of land would be affected. The rezone came amid fervent pleas from the Friends of Southern Middlesex County coalition (FSMC), who had mounted a massive campaign against the Matrix application and had celebrated its rejection by the board. Maintaining their momentum, it was suggested that the Township Council rezone the properties nearest to the residential areas – the industrial zones’ proximity to homes had become a sore point with the coalition.
Residents had previously wondered why the land was zoned industrial in the first place, when its close proximity to houses would make such development problematic.
During the workshop meeting last week, Township Manager Matthew Watkins said that until about 10 months ago, it was felt there was no need to rezone because the area in question was going to be absorbed by the controversial Route 92 toll road. With the road first defunded and then killed entirely by the Turnpike Authority, however, Watkins had said that now was the perfect time to modify the zoning.
During one of the meeting’s public portions, Joe Taylor, the president and CEO of Matrix Development Group, addressed the council and lodged his objections to the ordinance.
Mentioning that his firm had been investing in South Brunswick for over 30 years and was responsible for a great deal of tax money and jobs, he voiced concern that this rezone was being con- ducted rather hastily.
“From our perspective, this was a process that is a runaway train. This property does not deserve to be rezoned, and if we are proven wrong, certainly does not deserve to be rezoned in a fashion that is being railroaded through this town,” said Taylor.
He said that the rezoning should take the other land that the company owns into account, about 240 acres in all, according to Taylor, and should be done slowly and deliberately, with the input of Matrix. Taylor said he was not opposed to rezoning itself, but that he would appreciate it if more thought and input could go into it.
“We ask that you do
what this council and what previous councils had done and treat it as responsibly as you have the rest of the town, and treat it in a planning process that’s [beneficial to] all 40,000 residents, plus or minus, not the special interests of just a few,” said Taylor.
Mayor Frank Gambatese began by praising Matrix, saying that they have been a “good corporation,” and that the council wants to thank Matrix for investing so much in South Brunswick.
“That being said, this is something that the council takes very seriously, and we will continue to look at that,” said Gambatese.
The council, meanwhile, also adopted an ordinance that will rezone a tract of land near Beekman Road from single-family homes to age-restricted communities. Considered a test case by the Township Council, the land will be one of the first lots zoned as Age Restricted Residential Community (ARRC), a creation of the current administration to provide for low-cost housing for senior citizens looking to move into a smaller home. This is contrasted with the Planned Adult Residential Communities zone (PARC) which allows for bigger houses on larger lots.
The proposed rezoning had been the subject of concern for residents around the area worried about flooding, traffic and property values, though a meeting with the mayor and public affairs coordinator Ron Schmalz eased many of their concerns.
Councilman Chris Killmurray voted against it, since he had been a longtime opponent of the way the ordinance would be executed. While he said he appreciates the good intentions behind the zone, he was still concerned about what he felt was unaddressed density and buffering issues.
“But, hey, I’d love to be wrong,” said Killmurray.