Final approval given to last two phases of Villages at Bear Creek in West Windsor
By: David M. Campbell
WEST WINDSOR The Township Planning Board approved the final two phases of the Villages at Bear Creek seniors community Wednesday night, marking the near conclusion of a project begun with preliminary approval in 1996.
The board voted 7-0, with members Richard Snedeker, Steven Jany, Drewe Schoenholtz and Bill Benfer absent, to approve phases four and five of the project, located on Old Trenton Road.
The development is divided into three sections: the 540-home Village Grand; The Hamlet, consisting of 61 Mount Laurel-designated affordable homes, 38 of which are for low-income residents and 23 aimed at moderate incomes; and the Esplanade at Bear Creek, an assisted-living facility consisting of a 20,000-square-foot commons building and a 10,500-square-foot outpatient clinic for residents and nonresidents. The Esplanade will house 220 seniors who do not require assistance and about 80 who need assistance.
The component granted final site plan approval Wednesday night are the last two phases of Village Grand, one consisting of 96 units, the other of 66 units.
According to Sam Surtees, township director of land use, two of five buildings making up the Esplanade are currently under construction, and the entire project is expected to be complete in the next two years.
The Hamlet will be finished by the end of this year, Mr. Surtees continued. Three of the units in the Village Grand are under construction and construction on the remaining two, approved Wednesday night, will begin in spring, with completion expected by the end of 2002, he said.
The ongoing project has been the subject of two recent news items.
Last March, new residents at Village Grand were overlooked by the U.S. Census Bureau, prompting Congressman Rush Holt (D-12) to lend his voice to the issue. He held a press conference at the site and promised action to correct the oversight.
The event highlighted the fact that the township has grown so quickly of late that Census Bureau maps hadn’t caught up. Bureau maps showed an open field where the development now stands, causing bureau officials to overlook the development and its roughly 200 residents.
In May, the Esplanade at Bear Creek was the site of controversy when more than 100 union protesters picketed the builder and claimed its subcontractor was cheating workers of hundreds of thousands of dollars in wages.
Cherry Hill-based firm Kay Construction, the protesters charged, hired subcontractors for the job who regularly violate state prevailing wage laws. According to the protesters, Mega Construction Corp., a carpentry subcontractor hired by Kay, had a history of cheating workers of a fair wage and falsifying wage records.
The protest promoted the state Economic Development Authority to intervene on behalf of the union workers.