Spaulding changes his position on rezoning
Board rejects rezoning
to commercial use
for Routes 1-130 tract
NORTH BRUNSWICK — Mayor David Spaulding changed his mind last week about a proposed rezoning change at the Routes 1 and 130 circle.
At a special July 27 Planning Board meeting, Spaulding, who sits on the board, announced that he would withdraw his support for a retail development at the former General Automotive site.
The board unanimously followed suit, agreeing to recommend to the Township Council that the 18-acre property be rezoned from industrial to office/research use instead of to commercial use.
The board voted 7-2 to recommend rezoning the vacant Route 1 DKM property from office/research commercial use, paving the way for the proposed Gateway Centre.
The council decided Monday to introduce separate ordinances to rezone the two sites for different uses, making a pending ordinance moot. The council had been scheduled to vote on the earlier ordinance which would have rezoned both sites commercial at its July 10 meeting, but because of public outcry, carried the hearing to Aug. 7.
At last week’s Planning Board meeting, Spaulding noted that he had been a proponent of rezoning the land for over two years, since Woodmont Corp., a Fort Worth, Texas, developer, appeared before the Township Council in 1998.
"I have also repeatedly said that although I support the idea, I wanted to hear from the public," Spaulding said. "Well, hear we did."
According to the mayor, he received "numerous phone calls, letters and e-mail messages offering reasons why we should and reasons why we shouldn’t rezone this parcel."
Woodmont has proposed constructing a 124,729-square-foot retail development at the site.
Spaulding laid out the reasons why he came to his decision.
He said that the original Woodmont plan was for an "upscale shopping center"; however, he would not characterize any of the stores that have been mentioned as potential tenants as "upscale."
Second, at last month’s council meeting, he discovered that one of the stores would be Staples and that the existing North Brunswick Staples store would move to the Woodmont location.
"I cannot support a new developer who would take a store away from an existing taxpayer," Spaulding said.
He also explained the traffic situation with the Department of Transportation’s improvement for the circle.
Spaulding said that he has "reflected a great deal on the design for the entrance and exit from Route 1, and feels that it doesn’t work well."
Support for the mayor by board
Following Spaulding’s comments, he received unanimous support from board members regarding the rezoning issue.
Members voted unanimously to recommend that the property be zoned office/research instead of commercial, which would be in line with the recommendations made in the township’s master plan, which the board adopted last June.
Board member Joe Fritsche said he was happy to see that Spaulding listened to the public on the rezoning issue.
"I appreciate this change of mind," he said.
Fritsche said that after witnessing how the state’s reconstruction of the Jersey Avenue overpass created "traffic havoc" in the surrounding neighborhoods, "I feel that adding a shopping mall in this area will only add to the confusion and traffic problems to the Route 130 neighborhoods.
"The traffic entrances and exits onto Route 130 will be dangerous during construction of the overpass and only add confusion to drivers," he said.
Board Chairman Ralph Andrews echoed Spaulding’s sentiments about the looming overpass construction, stating that the DOT keeps changing the traffic pattern.
"They don’t even know what the traffic pattern will look like," he said.
Board Vice Chairman Dan Distefano also cited the potential traffic impact on Routes 1 and 130 before the construction as a reason why he was not in favor of the plan.
"I had no intention of supporting rezoning of [the] Woodmont property," he said.
Majority recommends making
DKM site commercial
During his prepared comments, Spaulding continued his support for a retail development on the 55-acre vacant DKM property on Route 1 north, near DeVry Institute.
The board voted 7-2, with Fritsche and board alternate Patrick Melanson dissenting, to recommend that the council rezone the land from office-research use to commercial use, as the master plan recommends.
R. Berman Development Co., of Trenton, has proposed building a 485,000-square-foot retail complex, called the Gateway Centre, on the property.
"This property offers something unique to our area — something that will benefit our residents in many ways," Spaulding said. "The arguments I’ve heard so far have not altered my support."
He explained that the site will create "many new jobs to our area," along with "unique stores that will bring products and services that will benefit our residents" and significant increase in tax dollars.
During the developer’s presentation before the council in February, Dr. John Erickson, of Kean University, Union, said that the Gateway Centre would generate 650 jobs and yearly sales would be about $192.5 million in the first year of operation.
Spaulding explained that board members who were on the board last year suggested that they "would have likely supported the rezoning last year had the timing been better and because of the many benefits the rezoning will have on the community."
Robert Davis, one of those board members, agreed with Spaulding, stating that it was true that the developer came late; however, there was a feeling if they had appeared earlier, the result might have been different.
He noted that the ratables generated by the site would offset "other problems."
"I like the proposal they made," Davis said.
Andrews also voiced his support for the Berman plan.
"I think the stores that are going to be there are going to be high-quality stores," he said. "I think it is a good idea in that particular site."
He explained that, based on the way North Brunswick has been developed and "loaded up with housing," the township will need ratables to offset the impact, and the ratables generated by the plan will do that.
Melanson said that he has spoken to residents regarding this issue and has yet to hear from people who support the plan.
"I don’t think the residents are willing to make the bargain for ratables," he said.
In his opposition to the rezoning, Fritsche noted that office/research in the area, along with DeVry and Chubb Institute, will make the township "a leader in the Central Jersey area in technology."
"I would prefer this over being a follower in the chase for big box stores," he said.