By: Cara Latham
PLUMSTED Township officials say a $50,000 Smart Future grant the township received from the state this year is helping Plumsted move forward with its plans to redevelop the New Egypt business district.
The grant, from the Department of Community Affairs’ Office of Smart Growth, will help bring sewer service to the downtown, which businesses say needs a sewer system to keep the district afloat. The township’s downtown revitalization efforts so far have been stalled by the lack of public sewer and water service here, since businesses need a water supply, and there is not enough water to meet the growing demand.
The Township Committee voted July 18 to accept the grant, which provides funding to conduct a community design plan that will assess both its natural and built infrastructure capacity as well as the town’s vision for the downtown. Officials say they want a vibrant downtown that stays connected to Plumsted’s rural character.
The grant also allows the township to hire professionals for the studies and to develop a strategy to provide the necessary infrastructure, Mayor Ron Dancer said last week.
Downtown New Egypt was designated a town center by the DCA 10 years ago.
Sustaining the business district goes back to the Planned Residential Retirement Community the township has been working on as part of its redevelopment plan. The plan was approved in 2004, and revised later to allow developers to build condominiums or quadriplexes for seniors. The previous redevelopment plan only allowed for single-family homes on those pieces of land.It also allowed for new sewer system pumps (donated to the utilities authority by one of the developers) to be installed downtown. It forbade, however, the extension of sewer lines beyond the town center, which runs from Route 539 down Evergreen Road to the downtown Main Street area.
In March, Manalapan-based developer Centex Corp. dumped its plans to build a 509-unit senior citizen retirement community on 150 acres on Route 537 near Province Line Road, and, in turn, finance the construction of a sewer treatment plant downtown, in accordance with that redevelopment plan. Centex representatives said the project was taking longer than expected and that the process had been hindered by various local and state approvals it needed to move forward.
The proposed project was expected to generate a ratable base equity in excess of $250 million and expand the customer base for downtown business. But township officials have been working on getting another developer to complete the project.
According to Peter Ylvisaker, executive director of the Main Street New Egypt program, which has been working with the Township Committee, the organization will be making improvements in the district at the same time the township is going through the selection process for a new redeveloper to take on the project.
And the two go hand in hand. The grant allows the organization to make improvements to the business district particularly, creating more walkable neighborhoods and designing a better streetscape.
"But it all comes down to the sewer," he said. "The sewer is really at the heart of it."
Township Committeeman Mike McCue said last week township officials had put together an information package for about 10 developers who have submitted letters of interest for taking over the process. That information includes what the township has been expecting for the project.
All 10 of those developers were invited to pick up the information packages on Wednesday, and will have three weeks to submit their proposals for the project, he said.
"Presuming that every developer would submit a proposal, we would review the proposals. If necessary, we would look at having some interviews, maybe ask for some further information," he said. Then officials would "maybe select one developer to implement the project, but there’s no timetable on that," he added.
Mr. McCue declined to name the developers who submitted the letters of intent until after the township receives proposals from those developers. The deadline for developers to submit their proposals is August 15.
