In West Windsor’s stalled redevelopment process, one of the many things that remains unclear is who, if anyone, is in control of getting the project back on track.##M:[more]##
Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh says he believes the planning board’s role in the redevelopment process must be more clearly defined. The mayor’s statement echoes a point made by planning board attorney Gerald Muller on August 8 when he said the planning board should be more involved in redevelopment decision-making.
“I don’t know who’s making decisions,” said Muller. “Hillier, the steering committee, or what. I just know it’s not us.”
Planning Board Chairman Marvin Gardner said, “At this point it doesn’t appear as if anyone is making any decisions.”
One decision made by council on August 6 was to create subcommittees that will research issues involved with the finance, infrastructure, and traffic of the redevelopment proposal. On August 8, the planning board asked Muller to make a formal request to the township council to include planning board members to sit on the subcommittees. The members would be selected by the planning board itself, according to Muller’s request.
Throughout the redevelopment process, council and the planning board have been engaged in a power struggle over which entity controls what parts of the redevelopment process.
Hsueh, who is a member of the planning board, says he will not make recommendations on who should sit on the committees. Rather, he says, the committees should be integrated, and the council should decide which council members will take part, and the planning board should decide which planning board members take part. He also says that experts in each of the fields should be invited to participate, as well as members of various state agencies.
“I have good communication with the state agencies,” said Hsueh. “I’m positive they will all be willing to get involved.”
Meanwhile, the steering committee, which consists of Hsueh, Gardner, and councilpersons Heidi Kleinman and George Borek, is reviewing a proposal by Hillier Architecture concerning the next phase of the redevelopment process. The township is undertaking a public education process that may include meetings to inform residents about various aspects of the plan, and the creation and distribution of a booklet that explains the land use plan created by Hillier after the charrettes held between February and April.
In the time since the final charrette, the project has stalled. Residents elected three opponents to new housing construction to council seats. Council has been at odds with the planning board over control of the process, and the township has yet to hire a special counsel for redevelopment (see related story.)
