An application for the expansion of the Princeton Arms Shopping Center, originally to be heard in mid-June, was delayed##M:[more]## to allow the developer time to work out concerns over the project expressed by Planning Board Chairman Marvin Gardner.
The board was originally scheduled to hear an amended site plan application by developer George Sands on Wednesday, June 15, that proposed increasing the shopping center in size from 30,”000 square feet to 67,”000 square feet.
Comments made by Gardner in an article in the June 10 issue of the News prompted the developer to request an adjournment.
“They said they were concerned with some of the material that was contained in the article,” says Gardner, “They felt it would be advisable for them to sit down with me — the developer, the engineer, his attorney — and other township officials to discuss the issues I raised. They felt that I might give them a hard time and preferred to try to resolve the issue prior to the public hearing.”
Gardner’s main concern was over the facade of the existing shopping center, which would not be upgraded under the current plan. “In my experience, in most instances where you have an existing building and have an expansion, generally developers will renovate the old facade,” said Gardner.
He also said that he had sought legal advice from township attorneys on the issue, and that there are instances where planning boards in New Jersey have required these types of upgrades in development approvals.
“The township professionals had been urging them to make these changes all along and they refused to do it,” says Gardner. “Only until they noted that they would have problems with me at the hearing did they decide to sit down and talk about them.”
The application has been rescheduled for a hearing on Wednesday, August 17.
