Changes could be coming to the Roosevelt Care Center site in Edison. A planning consultant was slated to present a rehabilitation plan to the township Planning Board on May 18 on behalf of Middlesex County.
The Township Council passed a resolution May 13 requesting that the Planning Board review the matter to determine if the site meets the criteria for rehabilitation.
However, officials at the meeting stressed that there is no formal site plan yet and they could not offer specifics. At the council’s workshop meeting on May 11, Council President Robert Diehl said the county had requested the council’s assistance.
“They are on a tight timeframe because they have certain tax credits that they will use to effect that rehabilitation,” he said, adding that because of the various requirements to get the site approved, the township has little time in which to act.
Diehl also clarified that the county would be working through a state tax program.
In 2012, the county attempted to advance a proposal for the site, but it met resident opposition. That proposal outlined plans for a facility under the government’s Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), as well as a historic renovation and adaptive reuse of the original 1937 hospital into senior affordable housing, a new construction mixed-income residential building and potentially a small medical office building.
At the time, the care center had 88 occupied independent units. Under the county plan, residents would have been moved to new accommodations. A county resolution on the plan was tabled.
Residents who spoke at the May 13 meeting were hesitant to support the effort.
“[Roosevelt] Park is getting smaller and smaller,” Lois Wolke said. “I don’t want this council to move on this until we get a plan from the county. I want you to protect the people of Edison.”
Resident Esther Nemetz voiced concern with the process, specifically that the public would not have an opportunity to weigh in with the Planning Board. She said she also wants to see documentation that demonstrates that the site meets the criteria for being in need of redevelopment.
Officials stressed that even though the issue is now in the hands of the Planning Board, the council will have the final say on the matter. They also said that no specific project plans would be made in the near future.
Council Vice President Sapana Shah said she would attend the May 18 Planning Board meeting and that she would get answers for Nemetz if she had any specific questions.
Councilman Dr. Sudhanshu Prasad joined members of the public in their concern about the process.
“I think the county should come here and talk to us even before they go to the Planning Board,” Prasad said.
Ultimately, the council approved the resolution, despite dissenting votes from Prasad and Councilman Wayne Mascola.