Summary – Notes from 571 meeting
Prepared by Rita McGrath
November 8, 2009
Fifteen residents gathered today to discuss the prospects for improving the 571 ‘downtown’ of West Windsor (between Alexander and Cranbury Roads). What follows are some highlights from the discussion.
The attendees were a mix of long-time and newer residents. Most had in common a concern with the decline in appearance of the 571, frustration at the eroding retail base in the area (particularly the disappearance of a grocery store) and a desire for safer and more convenient bicycle and pedestrian access.
Presentation by Hemi Nae
Hemi Nae prepared a presentation, beginning with the history of many, many attempts to create a downtown, continuing to the Penns Neck EIS project and finally extending to the redevelopment plan in place now. He also described in detail the various properties that are on the road, what is known about their owners, and any future plans for their sites. He plans to post his presentation so that people can see the details.
One issue that people need to understand is that different governmental entities have jurisdiction over different parts of the road. The 571 is a county road, as is Cranbury Road. Wallace Road is a township road. The bridge over the railroad tracks is State Road 94. Pragmatically, this means that changes to the intersections need to bring these three constituencies together.
Status of sites on the road
Hemi went through a complete inventory of all the properties on the road.
Of particular concern are the boarded-up (“Plywood Junction”) buildings that were to have been torn down to make way for a new shopping area, anchored by a Rite Aid store and including a couple of restaurants / coffee shops. The Dreher Group had received approval for 14,673 square feet for a Rite Aid store and 6,000 square feet of retail. Although it was reported in both the Princeton Packet and the West Windsor paper that elected officials had evidence that there would soon be construction on the Dreher Property, contact was made directly with Mr. Dreher, who said, “What are you talking about?” Without more concrete information, it’s difficult to know what is going on there or what the timeframe for addressing the boarded-up buildings will be. It has also been reported that Dreher might seek permission to construct only the Rite Aid facility without the remaining retail buildings.
Schlumberger has received approval to add a second story to their Wallace Road property and to connect this building via a road or walkway to their building on the 571. Such a walkway is not thought to be planned to provide public access, meaning that people walking from the 571 to the train station will have to continue to make the loop around Wallace Road to get to the station. Years ago, the route beside Schlumberger was a popular shortcut for commuters which has since been walled off.
The Ellsworth’s II plaza (behind the current active Ellsworth location) is a mystery. It has languished for over 18 years and no one seems to know where the owner is or what their intentions are for the property.
The Valero gas station on the corner of Alexander and the 571 has been approved for a convenience store in addition to selling gas (after a lawsuit following their application for zoning permission in 2001, which they won). Their plan would realign the pumps, and add a convenience store. Once this construction started, the Township plans to create a mini park on land behind the Valero station.
The Windsor Plaza center (what many call the Acme plaza) is also in a grey area. It is owned by a family which doesn’t agree among its members what they wish to do with the property – apparently the younger generation of the family would like to sell the property or some portion of it, while the older generation does not wish to do so. In the meantime, a new management company (Silbert Real Estate) has been hired to manage the center and attempt to attract tenants. The tenants in the center now are on month-to-month leases. Among the challenges facing the property are that the footprint occupied formerly by the Acme is “unfashionably small” for a grocery store today (about 32,000 square feet). The Rite-Aid, at 8,000 square feet, is also very small for a modern pharmacy. Were the Rite-Aid to move to the proposed new location and the two areas combined, that might make a large enough space for a viable grocery store, although it would still be less than half the size of Wegman’s. Without the construction of the new space, however, Rite Aid can’t move (and the current owners of the center apparently would like to entice them to stay). The management company predicts that it will take at least a year to locate a new tenant, negotiate a lease, and make the place operational. No one knows if they are planning a face-lift for the center.
History of development initiatives
Hemi recalled many initiatives to change or improve the 571 area and adjoining areas. The “Princeton Junction” name comes from the 1865 establishment of the train station, which was followed 5 years later by the 1870 establishment of the Princeton Junction post office. In the 1950’s, Princeton Hightstown Road (the 571) was first paved as a two-lane road. At the time, the community was largely farming-based.
In 1991, the Princeton Junction Town Center plan was authored, which included plans to create a focal point around the train station. This was followed by a series of different plans and proposals, culminating in the West Windsor Master Plan of 2001.
From 2001 to 2004, a project called the “Penns Neck EIS” was initiated under the guidance of a team from Rutgers and the New Jersey Department of Transportation. The mission of the EIS (Environmental Impact Study) was to look at a broad range of engineering and environmental issues “in support of examining and identifying potential solutions to the problem of mobility in the Route 1/Penns Neck area and its environs.” Among their goals was to eliminate as many traffic lights and encumbrances to traffic on Route 1 as possible. After a huge amount of work, the most preferred option would have Route 1 traversing under the 571, just as it does under the Dinky crossings. The plan involved a proposal to change the flow of Vaughn Drive to connect Alexander to Washington Roads. A controversial part of this proposal was to include a Millstone by-pass from Wallace/Cranbury roads along the Millstone River. That part of the plan does not seem to be pursued at the moment. Improving Vaughn Drive, however, is an ongoing project. Unfortunately, the State, which was going to fund 100% of the Vaughn Drive project has scaled back its support to 50% of the project, meaning West Windsor township would have to pay for the remaining costs. The Penns Neck EIS project is on hold, although a coalition of six mayors from the area have requested that it be moved forward urgently.
From 2004 to the present, attention on the 571 was focused by several events, including neighborhood walks and traffic accidents involving cars and pedestrians on the road. On February 15, 2005, the Grundmans, a couple residing at the Gables, met with tragedy when they tried to cross the 571 to visit their daughter. Mrs. Grundman died and Mr. Grundman was critically injured. The incident created a significant commotion and once again moved the 571 to the front of the agenda.
In 2005, the Princeton Junction Vision Plan was sponsored by NJ Transit, but it did not propose changes to the 571. In 2005, the township hired planning firm Urbitran to design road improvements to the 571 whose main features are a 3-lane road with a much improved streetscape, better crossings for pedestrians and bike lanes. This is the plan that has been approved and is visible on the township website. The question of whether the plan involved burying the power lines on 571 came up. People thought that the plan did not involve burying them, but instead moving them back away from the street so that they were less visually intrusive. The Urbitran plan is currently with the County – according to a conversation Rita McGrath had with a County planner, it has progressed from planning to engineering. When the preliminary engineering is complete the plan will be presented for public comment. There was no information about the likely timeframe for this to occur presented. There is also no money in the County budget for this work – there are plans to apply for Federal funding once the engineering work is complete.
One issue which will emerge after engineering work is complete involves the right-of-ways to accommodate pavements and bike lanes, which would mean that property owners along the 571 would have to agree to give up a portion of their land for this purpose. At the moment, there doesn’t seem to be any information about whether this is going to be difficult or not.
On March 19, 2007, the Princeton Junction Overlay Ordinance was adopted (2007-23). This is so-called ‘form based’ zoning which specifies the look that a developer must adopt to achieve approval.
In December of 2005, West Windsor designated the 350 acres around the train station as an “area in need of redevelopment,” which considerably changes the rules for what the township can do in that area. Because of this designation, the township can issue bonds and hire a developer without a requirement for public approval (most people at the meeting found this surprising and asked how we might know what kind of bonding was being proposed for the area – there were some suggestions to start to more publicly track bonding funding). After a series of controversial events, including the selection of RM Hillier as the redevelopment planner (after an RFP process by the township), charettes which presented the plan, some proposals by local landowner and developer Steve Goldin and many many meetings, the Council adopted the West Windsor redevelopment plan on March 23, 2009.
Beautification of the 571 featured prominently in a number of redevelopment-related meetings, particularly in Goldin of Intercap’s presentations on what the area could look like. Goldin’s 25 acres of land are on the opposite side of the tracks from the 571 area. Public enthusiasm for a main street ran strong, with many residents remembering such outlets as Lucar hardware and the ‘Lick It’ ice cream stand which was very popular in the community. When the hardware store was sold and PNC bank purchased the property, there were high hopes that something along the lines of a Lick it would be established somewhere else, but this has not happened.
Assorted Issues and comments
In the course of Hemi’s presentation, a number of additional issues were flagged for further attention:
ï· The inadequacy of the pedestrian crossing at the 571 / Cranbury / Wallace Road corner (this has been the focus of a great deal of work by the WWBPA and is scheduled to be addressed)
ï· The dangerous pedestrian crossing from Sherbrooke to the Windsor Plaza area – motorists frequently fail to stop and don’t realize that pedestrians have the right of way there. We discussed adding flashing pedestrian crossing lights, similar to those on Washington Road in Princeton.
ï· The Central Jersey transportation forum is interested in east-west connections. We should be aware that there is still some pressure to make the 571 more “traffic efficient” which hopefully a united voice supporting the approved plan will avert.
ï· The township cannot force the owner of a vacant building to rent it – they have to board up the windows so that it isn’t a public hazard, but that’s it.
ï· The economic development agenda of the township was raised, but nobody had too much information about it. At one point, we believe there was an Economic Development Task force, but it has evidently not been active of late.
Report by Bonnie Bivins on the Sherbrooke “Barn” proposal
Following reports that the barn on Sherbrooke Road behind the Chase Manhattan Bank building (CDNJ Plaza) was to be torn down, Bonnie Bivins took action and reported on her findings to the group. She came equipped with photos and details from the township and the building owners. The proposal will be presented on November 23 at the Site Plan Review Advisory Board (SPRAB) meeting at the Municipal building (room C) at 7:30 and she encourages those concerned to attend.
As an aside, the Site Plan Review Advisory Board (SPRAB) is an entity that helps developers prepare to address concerns that might come up in planning or zoning board meetings when plans are still fairly easy to alter. It is credited with helping to create many positive developments in the neighborhood, including a much better design for the Dreher property.
Bivins has previous experience working with the township to address dangerous conditions in the area. She pointed out to the group that the township officials (Sam Surtees, for instance) have been extremely helpful, and that there is a great deal of information available to residents at the municipal building. She also suggested that residents can connect directly with property owners to discuss issues of concern, and that this process has been quite successful in the past.
She found out that contrary to the published reports, the owners are planning to preserve the footprint of the building, but in order to use the space for offices, need to reconstruct the back of it. It will only be two stories, not the reported three, and should not pose a visual or other problem for neighbors in surrounding houses. She also encouraged the group to liaise more effectively with building owners, and was positive about the willingness of township officials to respond to residents’ concerns.
The change to the barn is being talked about as a ‘redevelopment’ event, but the consensus of the people at the meeting was that it is a project related to the Chase site, with no relationship to redevelopment. It was underway long before the current redevelopment initiative.
What’s now and next steps
As a group, there was much discussion of how we would like to go forward. There was consensus that a non-political, unified organization which places priority on the 571 could make some real headway.
Among the issues the group would work on are:
ï· Approved road plan – how to move it forward
ï· Get property owners on board
ï· Bury power lines or move them
ï· Organize events
ï· Help Silbert find a customer, renovate the plaza
ï· Engage in dialogue with government officials to make sure things keep moving forward.
Virginia Manzari brought up some suggestions for businesses we might think about attracting to the Windsor Plaza site, including the Amish Market currently on Route 27, and businesses temporarily displaced by fire or other situations. Another suggestion was that Wegman’s might have an interest in a standalone ready-to-eat offering.
Next Saturday (November 14) is a Mayor’s Town Hall meeting at 2pm, and participants agreed that this would be a good forum to get updates on what is going on.
Specific tasks that various people agreed to take on:
1. Hemi Nae agreed to be a collection point for information regarding who owns what properties in the area and how to contact them.
2. Andrew Hersh will investigate what it would take to create a non-profit organization with the working name “571 First.” Ideally, it would operate in cooperation with organizations such as the WWBPA as an advocate for the 571.
3. Guiliano Chicco will set up a web site with links to as much information as we can find, perhaps repurposing an existing site to speed things up
4. Rita McGrath will provide notes from this meeting and circulate
5. Harriet Hudson will contact office building occupants at the Chase site and see if there is more information there.
6. Bonnie Bivins will reach out to the folks at Wegmans and see how much interest there might be in opening a takeout restaurant
7. Everyone that can will try to make the Town Hall meeting and see how many of the loose ends can be tied up.
8. Hemi will post his PowerPoint presentation after completing some edits that he would like to make.
9. There will probably be another gathering after the Town Hall meeting.
10. Andrew Hersh is organizing a rally for the 571 prior to the December 6th Christmas tree lighting (probably 4:30 to 6:30 in the Windsor Plaza parking lot). The thought was to have music, caroling, and so on which would conclude with participants walking to see the tree lit at the Rogers Arboretum.
