Transit village input sought

Home News Tribune Online 02/23/06

By RICHARD KHAVKINE
STAFF WRITER
rkhavkine@thnt.com

NORTH BRUNSWICK — The new owners of the sprawling, 212-acre Johnson & Johnson property off Route 1 will host a smart-growth workshop tonight.

Garden Commercial Properties, doing business as North Brunswick TOD Associates LLC, recently closed on the property, which was developed in the 1950s and expanded in later decades.

Depending on what takes the place of the 1.2 million square feet of manufacturing, warehouse and office campus, the impending redevelopment of the property could bring the most far-reaching changes the township has experienced in decades.

Although the workshop is not sponsored by the township, Mayor Francis "Mac" Womack said township officials will attend the meeting.

"We're not going to be making any decisions. We'll be listening like everybody else," he said.

Regardless of what's built on the sprawling campus, which is zoned for industrial uses, the final product will impact both the town's character and its tax base, Womack said.

Depending on what is envisioned for the J&J property, Garden Homes may need to seek approval for zoning changes, giving the township some leverage.

"We're certainly mindful of the fact that this developer, like any other developer, has a pretty clear idea of what it would like to see, and we will be listening to see that what eventually happens at the property is in accord with the best desires of the township and the residents," Womack said.

The mayor recently appointed an ad hoc committee to sift through the company's proposals.

One panelist, Pete Maimone, the township's Republican chairman, cautions that any blueprint for the property that includes high-density housing could spell chaos.

Maimone said the township's infrastructure, particularly its road system, and tax base can not support any significant additional influx of residents.

"The worst thing they could do is put more housing there," he said. "We're overbuilt, we're flat out overbuilt."

Maimone said Garden Commercial must give more than mere lip service to the concept of a transit village, a concept he and other Republicans have been pushing for years.

"We believe the transit village can happen and be a benefit to the developer . . . and to the community without additional housing," he said. "The town is pretty united in wanting this thing."

In September, Garden Commercial's director of planning and development, John E. Taikina, said the lack of housing — and potential train passengers — near the property could be a disadvantage when seeking state and federal approvals and funding for a transit center.

Womack, though, said high-density housing elsewhere in the township, such as the 1,900-home Renaissance development off Route 130, could well satisfy the state's requirements.

Smart-growth planning emphasizes mixed-use development, open-space preservation and increased dependence on public transportation.

Tonight's workshop is the first in a projected series of public forums on the future of the property. It begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Yellow Bird Reception Center, 2300 Route 1, off Aaron Road.

Garden Commercial has set up a Web site — www.ourtowncenter.info — with information on the property.

Richard Khavkine:
(732) 565-7263;
rkhavkine@thnt.com