With an architectural design that boasts a village-esque shopping center, plans for the revitalization of the former Acme shopping center were welcomed, for the most part, by residents and officials on the township’s Site Plan Review Advisory Board.
But Cyzner Properties, which purchased the dilapidated 13.6-acre shopping center site on the corner of Princeton-Hightstown and Alexander roads last spring, is being challenged by residents and officials on at least two aspects of the new site design: plans to add a second driveway access to Alexander Road for delivery trucks, and the height of its front sign.
Those two issues generated the most discussion during the nearly three-hour discussion at the Site Plan Review Advisory Board (SPRAB) meeting on September 13 and are expected to be discussed when the application heads to the Planning Board. No date has been scheduled for the hearing.
Irv Cyzner, the developer, told SPRAB members that he was a “reasonable guy,” but said he was not going to invest a lot of money in a site that is laden with too many restrictions to make it successful.
The plans feature a facelift for the shopping center that include a cupola on the side of the building closest to Alexander Road. SPRAB members and residents applauded the design, which would make it nearly impossible to determine that an Acme supermarket had once stood there.
“This is the first round of improvements proposed,” explained Cyzner attorney Frank Petrino, of the Trenton-based firm of Sterns & Weinroth. Down the road, there is the “possibility and interest” to add square footage to the site, particularly with a building that fronts Route 571, Petrino said.
Although there are no current plans for additions to the center, there will be significant site landscaping, renovations, and esthetic improvements to the existing buildings.
The plans also call for the rear of the former supermarket to be divided into storefronts for businesses that require smaller spaces. Some examples include a dance academy, karate school, or insurance agency office.
“The footprints of the buildings will remain the same,” added Fred Coco, Cyzner’s engineer. “The intent is to redevelop the buildings and make them more attractive.”
The building itself would feature warm colors and architectural elements to create “curiosity and interest,” explained Albert Taus, the architect. “It pretty much looks like a village town shopping area.”
In talking about tenants for the center, Cyzner said, “We have pages of people who are looking at the building.” He said a gourmet produce market like Balducci’s — but not that store — based in New York City is interested in the site. There is also interest for a 3,000-square foot bakery, and Cyzner is looking for a couple of “white cloth restaurants” to occupy the space.
“Usually, we don’t lease these buildings until we get the site plan approval,” he added.
SPRAB members asked whether the Rite Aid would remain in the plaza. Cyzner responded that Rite Aid officials have indicated they would like to stay in the plaza until a planned new pharmacy to be built at the corner of Cranbury and Princeton-Hightstown roads is completed. He said he extended their lease for one year in July.
SPRAB member Susan Abbey asked whether a smaller-scale supermarket that is the trend in other areas of the country would have any interest in occupying the Rite Aid space once it is vacated.
Cyzner said, however, that trend has not spread to this area, and supermarkets are interested in space between 70,000 and 100,000 square feet, and not the estimated 37,000 square feet that the Rite Aid space occupies.
“They trend bigger and bigger,” he said.
According to Balducci’s website, the “gourmet powerhouse” started as a produce stand run by “Pop” Balducci and now has six stores located in Maryland, Virginia, New York, and Connecticut.
A major concern of SPRAB members and the public was about circulation improvements proposed for the rear of the building, and a new driveway on Alexander Road.
According to Coco, the loading areas in the back of the plaza would be removed to create a connection to the rear of the site for trucks to pass through, eliminating 1,400 square feet from the center. The road would then continue through the back of the site to a new driveway on Alexander Road near Harris Road.
The new driveway would allow deliveries to access the rear of the center and exit onto Alexander Road without driving through the main customer parking lot area. Right-hand turns would be prohibited for delivery trucks, but permitted for customers.
“We tried to correct some of the problems that were inherent in terms of circulation,” Cyzner said. The Acme building was originally constructed by itself, and the remaining buildings were added later. “Because it was piecemeal, they did not think about the process of getting the deliveries in the back.”
This created problems when it came to placement of dumpsters, and for trucks trying to navigate the area behind the shopping center. Because there is currently only one rear access point, delivery trucks have to make K-turns in a very narrow space to exit. “We realize that can’t be,” Cyzner said.
In coming up with a circulation plan that made it easier for all drivers, he called the process “idiot-proofing the site plan.”
SPRAB’s traffic consultant, Ted Ehrlich, said no traffic study was submitted as part of the plan because the center will not add additional traffic, and square footage will be decreasing due to the removal of loading docks.
Ehrlich found that the new driveway “really is not going to change traffic patterns very much.”
Residents and SPRAB members disagreed, however, saying that drivers will use the opportunity to drive straight through onto Harris Road.
“There may be some people that will, but it’s primarily for delivery,” Cyzner said.
But, “the (current) parking area on the side of the building is extremely wide,” said Abbey. “Why do you need a second access?”
Coco explained that the developer was trying to separate the delivery area from the customer parking area.
However, SPRAB member Curtis Hoberman pointed out that the new area in the back of the building also provides some parking spaces for customers of the new rear storefronts and for those businesses’ employees, nullifying the idea of separation.
“We don’t live in the perfect world, and we’re trying to figure out what’s important,” Cyzner responded.
“I’d like there to be a more thorough investigation of this,” said Susan Conlon, a resident of Harris Road. “Harris is a residential road.” She also said she believed the current driveway could sustain the traffic from the delivery trucks. “I’m not convinced it wouldn’t be just as functional the way they (the driveways) currently are,” she said.
Most residents agreed with Conlon, who was happy to see any improvement at all on the site.
“Whatever we see, we’re thrilled because it’s so nice that something lovelier is going to happen there,” said Scott Avenue resident Julia Rhodes. But she also voiced concern about the extra driveway access, pointing out that it could create a more dangerous situation for both vehicles and pedestrians. “It’s a very scary place,” said Rhodes.
Cyzner said he felt that a majority of the traffic will continue to leave the shopping center the way is does now, regardless of the new driveway, although he acknowledged that people will “do what is easiest for them.”
“We try to make these sites easy for people to use,” he added.
“But you’re supposing that it is hard” the way it currently is, responded Abbey. “It’s not.”
Hoberman suggested Cyzner include a “thorough justification and necessity for having this road” when he heads to the Planning Board.
Questions also arose regarding the signage package proposed for the property, and the board pointed out that the township has a sign ordinance that sets guidelines for signage in shopping centers and other areas in town.
Most SPRAB members were curious to know how he planned to deal with strobe lights and other neon signs that tenants might want to bring on site.
Cyzner seemed to be on the same page in his disapproval of signs that used strobe lights or other flashing signs and said his policy is that tenants have to get approval from him for the signage above their space.
But the board raised concerns over the size of the two signs that would be located on opposite faces of the building. SPRAB members felt a monument sign on the Alexander Road side was entirely unnecessary and urged the developer to consider decreasing the height on the one facing Route 571.
Cyzner said he had already decreased the size down to 14 feet in height — but that is still above the height permitted by zoning.
SPRAB members advised him to come up with various size signs as backups, including one that would meet the requirements, because the Planning Board is usually strict when it comes to signage. They also told him the Planning Board may have a problem with allowing all the tenants’ names on the sign.
Cyzner said, however, that in order to make the site functional, all store owners will want — and need — to have their names on the signs to draw potential customers in.
“That’s a critical component. We’re not an anchored center,” he said. “Signs are critical, and the more times people drive by the signs, the more it registers about who is in the site.”
When SPRAB members emphasized they were simply warning him about the strict rules of the Planning Board, Cyzner responded: “I’m not about to invest millions and millions of dollars, and it’s not going to be successful,” he said, adding that he has been developing similar sites for over 30 years.
In other plans for the center, Cyzner explained he would prohibit the sale of merchandise on the sidewalk. “When you have a center and it’s nice and spotless,” it draws more people, he said. “It’s only when they junk it up that everything goes down the tube.”
To that end, he said he would also remove the newspaper stands from the property and sell the newspapers inside the store instead, which drew praise from residents and SPRAB members.
SPRAB members asked about outdoor seating for a restaurant. Cyzner said he discourages outdoor seating because it creates litter. SPRAB members expressed some disappointment, saying that they had hoped the village center could be similar to the outdoor seating areas the restaurants in Plainsboro’s Village Center provide.
“We try to keep their business activities inside the building,” said Cyzner. “We just don’t do outdoor eating areas.”
When SPRAB members also asked about providing a picnic area instead, Cyzner’s views were similar. “It becomes a health issue, a nuisance,” he said, mentioning that customers will often leave behind soda bottles, sandwich wrappers, and even half-eaten food.
The board also had some discussion with Cyzner about sidewalks, including the possibility of expansion in some areas. When Cyzner indicated he felt the sidewalks in front of the actual buildings should be kept as areas to pass through, some concerns were raised.
Referring to a group of retired citizens who meet at the Bagel Hole in the morning and chat outside on the sidewalk area in front of the store, Hoberman said: “The social function of the shopping center is happening and will happen with your revitalized center. I really bite my tongue when you say the sidewalks are for passing.”
However, Bonnie Bivins, a resident of Berkshire Drive, agreed with Cyzner. “I think the social sidewalk is going to have to be the one along Route 571,” she said. “This area between Alexander Road and Wallace Road has basically been designated as our downtown area, our Main Street.”
Responded Abbey: “This is a social center, and it is already inadequate. We do need to throw these ideas out and consider it.”
The most expensive part of renovated the site, Cyzner said, is the cleanup of contamination. Pollution from the Valero gas station on the opposite corner on Alexander Road has worsened the situation, he said. “Their plume is very severe and has migrated across the road and mixed with the plume from the Shell,” he said.
Work on those environmental issues began in the spring at the Shell gas station, which is located in front of the Acme on the corner of Princeton-Hightstown and Alexander Road. The station was closed through a portion of the summer because some contaminants at the gas station ran in a direction that took it through the shopping center property.
The work was part of the DEP clean-up program, township officials said then. DEP officials said that work required Shell to install an active treatment system for soil and groundwater remediation.
That included placing 15 dual-phase extraction points into the ground and using a vacuum-type device on the pipes to suck out volatile organic compounds. The plan was to tie all of the individual extraction points together into one connected system.
Cyzner officials have been pushing both the Shell and Valero property owners to remedy the situation and have convinced the Valero owners to hire a renowned company to help in clean-up efforts at the site. SPRAB members, however, said there was absolutely no documentation about the contamination or clean-up efforts at the site, and that the developer should include that in its application to the Planning Board.
Cyzner purchased the property from the McDowell family for $6.6 million in May. The Somerset-based developer lists more than 40 properties on its website, including many banks, pavilions, plazas, pharmacies, office parks, and Dunkin’ Donuts locations in towns including Chatham, Greenbrook, Cranford, Flemington, Berlin, North Brunswick, Edison, and Point Pleasant.
After the SPRAB meeting, the plans generated comments on a Google community group by some residents who attended the meeting, including Abbey, who asked during the meeting about bringing a grocery store into the site.
“I find it hard to believe that they can’t get a grocery store in there, since one is badly needed and the trend in retail right now is to build smaller community-sized stores in neighborhoods, leaving the big-box stores on the highways,” wrote Abbey. “There certainly is a market need for one there, but I believe the recession and difficulty in obtaining financing is what’s holding it back, not demand or desire for one on both the consumer and business side.”
Jerry Foster, of the West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance, expressed concern about the driveway. “It will create more conflicts with pedestrians, as Susan pointed out, and in my view, cause commuter traffic on the way to the station to become more delayed, due to drivers at Harris having to negotiate with traffic coming out of the new driveway,” he wrote. “Even if there isn’t much traffic on the driveway, it’s another look before deciding to go. I’d prefer to see the expense of a new driveway put toward wider sidewalks and outside seating (which the developer was against — too much potential for mess). They have excess parking available now, but the developer reported interest in adding a building along the street on 571, so he doesn’t want to give up parking yet, since that new building would require more parking and possibly use up some spaces for the building itself.”
Another resident, Meg Chicco, weighed in, agreeing with the idea that a traffic study is needed. “Personally, I think this is a terrible idea, and I would bet that a traffic study would highlight some of things that were already mentioned,” she wrote. “The intersection at Alexander and Harris is very narrow. Harris itself is a narrow street and only has a sidewalk on one side. The need for a sidewalk on both sides has been pointed out on many occasions but sidewalks are not a priority in this town. Kids use Harris to get to the shopping center at lunch time and to get to and from school. Creating a full intersection would increase traffic on Harris making is a thoroughfare and an even more dangerous road. This is moving in the wrong direction.”
She added: “Changing the crosswalk at Sherbrooke is a good idea, but we have to get a flashing light here.”
Resident Alison Miller, who has served on the Planning Board and Township Council, said she also through the new driveway proposal was a bad idea. “I also think that a traffic study conducted in the traditional way (how many cars turn each way during key hours) would not show just how bad an idea it is, because while at most intersections cars show up randomly (and sometimes in clumps) throughout the time period being studied, at this intersection cars show up in clumps when trains are expected,” she wrote. “Just as retail developments should have enough parking for Black Friday, intersections near train stations should have the capacity to handle train-time traffic.”
