on controversial
building proposal
Council moves ahead
on Crossroads plan
Members vote 6-3
on controversial
building proposal
BY SUE M. MORGAN
Staff Writer
A much-debated proposal to develop 500 acres at routes 9 and 18 in Old Bridge has taken a major step forward.
With its proponents saying the municipality has waited long enough to develop the land it has owned for seven years as a tax-revenue-producing ratable, the Township Council voted Monday to move forward with the building proposal known as the Old Bridge Crossroads Redevelopment Plan.
However, three members of the council continued to insist that the plan, highlighted by 875 units of age-restricted housing, is moving too quickly with little public input.
Those sentiments were reflected in Monday night’s 6-3 vote to introduce an ordinance that pursues the Crossroads plan, which has been endorsed by the township’s Economic Development Corp. (EDC).
The public-private EDC, which has been charged with developing the land as a clean tax ratable, presented the plan, which calls for a mix of residential and commercial uses.
The housing, limited to residents age 55 and older who have no school-age children, is the plan’s major component, according to the plans submitted by Schoor DePalma, a Manalapan engineering firm that developed the proposal for the EDC.
A separate ordinance authorizing the creation of the Old Bridge Township Redevelopment Agency was also introduced Monday, with the same three council members — Ward 4 Councilman G. Kevin Calogera, Ward 5 Councilman Richard Greene and Ward 6 Councilwoman Lucille Panos — objecting.
The public hearing and final vote on both ordinances is scheduled for the council’s next meeting on Aug. 16.
Countering the three council members’ statements that public input on the Crossroads plan has been minimal to date, Mayor Jim Phillips, a leading proponent of the proposal, promised an open hearing at the August meeting.
"There will be a public debate on this issue on Aug. 16," Phillips said. "This project will have a public hearing and this hearing will proceed in an orderly manner."
Council Vice President Patrick Gillespie, who also serves as EDC president, agreed.
"We will have a full-blown hearing on this," Gillespie said. "I expect we should approve this."
Gillespie defended the EDC’s plan to construct age-restricted housing rather than focusing on bringing in commercial development. The township has waited seven years in vain for a major corporation to express interest in constructing an office complex on the land, Gillespie said.
"We’ve been waiting for Microsoft to come in from Washington State to locate here in Old Bridge," he said. "They never came."
Real estate market conditions have not favored commercial development, Gillespie stressed, pointing to the vacant Globespan building located off Exit 120 of the Garden State Parkway in the Laurence Harbor section.
"We’re not going to propose that commercial space be built on a purely speculative basis when we have a building sitting at Exit 120 of the Garden State Parkway that we cannot fill," Gillespie said.
Calogera said he does not believe that holding a public hearing on the Crossroads plan prior to a vote allows residents enough of an opportunity to express input on the issue. A development of the size suggested for the Crossroads needs more public debate, he said.
Details such as increased traffic generated by the housing, infrastructure improvements, and the staffing of the expected redevelopment agency have not been addressed by the administration, he added.
"This is huge. This is something that can’t be done in one or two council meetings," Calogera said.
Though she would prefer to see the council and administration conduct workshop meetings or more public hearings, Panos indicated that she would pursue putting the issue before voters in the form of a referendum if the council approves the Crossroads ordinances next month.
"If this ordinance goes through without public input, I want there to be a referendum," Panos said.
The EDC plan for the Crossroads tract is proceeding too quickly, without any consideration given to any other possibilities, Greene stated.
"I’m expecting to turn around tomorrow and see houses being built on that property; it’s moving so fast," said Greene, a Republican.
If the land cannot be used for commercial development, it should remain as open space, according to Greene.
"We have lies and distortion to push this project through," Greene said. "Let’s keep it open space."
Phillips, a Democrat, has maintained that the Crossroads tract could generate up to $20 million in tax revenue if it is developed. A hotel/conference center is also proposed for a 30-acre site on the tract’s northern end, now occupied by the Legends Golf Center.