Plainsboro Township Committee on Monday, September 10, is expected to consider the designation of a site targeted for a new hospital as an area in need of redevelopment.
Earlier this year, the township decided to study whether the 125-acre FMC site proposed by the University Medical Center at Princeton (UMCP) for a new hospital was eligible for redevelopment zone status, as outlined under state law.
After a review by a planning professional and township planning board, the Township Committee is ready to act on the proposal.##M:[more]##
According to Township Administrator Robert Sheehan, if the Township Committee okays the redevelopment zone on September 10, it would be sent to the state Department of Community Affairs for approval. Sheehan says the township anticipates no problem with getting the state’s approval. “We are in good standing with the state. We are a model community with regard to our planning practices.”
If the state grants its approval, the planning board would then be asked to prepare a redevelopment plan, and determine the framework for the planning and public review of the proposal. “The redevelopment approach will not reduce the public’s opportunity to participate in the planning process,” says a statement released by the township.
“The process will be coordinated by the township, its planning consultant, and (redevelopment) special counsel,” says Sheehan. “It will be done in part by the township’s master plan subcommittee.”
Sheehan says the fact that FMC and UMCP are on board with the plan will help the township avoid the problems and controversy that have plagued other area redevelopment projects, such as those in West Windsor, Hamilton, and Washington townships.
“This is an evolutionary process,” he says. “We’ve already done a fair amount of planning, and we know what’s on the hospital’s mind. There’s a good cooperation with the hospital and we have assembled a very fine professional team.”
“This should not be a contentious situation,” says Mayor Peter Cantu. “We are only looking at this single site. Issues that have troubled other redevelopment projects do not exist here.”
One advantage in attaining the redevelopment zone status is gaining more control over the direction of the project. According Sheehan, it would increase Plainsboro’s ability to “negotiate as a partner in the process,” as well as to enter into an agreement with the developer.
Cantu believes there are other advantages as well. “It could provide us greater flexibility in protecting the Plainsboro taxpayers from a fiscal impact point of view, and could represent an opportunity for dealing with the tax exempt portion of the property, he said.
If a hospital were to be built on the site, the building itself would be tax-exempt because UMCP is a non-profit. The redevelopment designation would allow the township to enter into an agreement for an annual payment in lieu of taxes with the developer of the site.
“In a payment in lieu of taxes agreement, the property taxes we get from the site will go to the township, not to the school district,” Sheehan has said. “Starting in 2009, the school district is being funded on a per-pupil basis. This will allow us to cordon off the taxes from this site and use them solely for municipal purposes.”
Earlier this year, the township hired Phillips Preiss Shapiro Associates of New York to conduct a report on whether the FMC site qualified as an area in need of redevelopment.
Last month, the planning board was presented with a 28-page report by the firm that said the site qualified as a redevelopment zone. The board voted 7-0 to recommend that the township committee declare the site an area in need of redevelopment.
UMCP plans include a 636,”000-square-foot hospital with the potential for 324,”000 square feet of expansion. The medical offices would be 120,”000 square feet, with a possible expansion of 120,”000 square feet. A long-term care facility would be 120,”000 square feet. The proposal includes a continuing care retirement community that would include up to 400 units of age-restricted housing.
The FMC tract is bounded by the Millstone River, Route 1, Scudders Mill Road, and the connector road between Scudders Mill and Plainsboro roads.
