As expected, the first Site Plan Review Advisory Board (SPRAB) meeting to review the 45-acre Maneely tract covered only a portion of the proposed site plan, Monday, December 8. Several residents from Old Bear Brook Road and the nearby area were in attendance to express their concerns regarding the mixed-use development’s impact. Parking space, pedestrian circulation, and residential housing were the main issues.
Pereira Investment, which owns the blighted property adjacent to the Ellsworth Center, was scheduled for a 30-minute slot but ultimately did not go before SPRAB due to the absence of one of their planning professionals.
“We only went through two reports. One was traffic, the other was landscaping,” said SPRAB vice chair Ted Begun. “There’s a lot to go through. It’s the beginning stages.”
Township land use manager Sam Surtees said after the meeting that Toll Brothers is moving quickly. Surtees estimates the company will be back before SPRAB by the end of February and will be before the Planning Board before April, with construction starting in the early summer.
Representing Toll Brothers, the owners of the site, attorney Henry Kent-Smith of Fox Rothschild LLP in Lawrenceville presented a site plan with modest changes from the concept plans circulated this past year. The property owners envision the mixed-use site as a single development: there will be 51 three-bedroom townhouses, 20,000 square feet of retail with 40 apartments built above, and 192 corporate suites, a slight increase from the previous figure of 188. Of the 40 apartments, eight will be affordable units. In addition 10 acres on the eastern part of the property are to be subdivided to the township in accordance with a concept plan that calls for a 72-unit affordable housing complex that is a separate site application.
The impact of a new development drew residents from the adjoining neighborhoods of Windsor Haven, the Estates at Princeton Junction, and Old Bear Brook Road. A rotary traffic circle, similar to the one at the end of Alexander Road, will be built where Bear Brook Road and Old Bear Brook Road currently intersect. Amira Scurato and Jack Chen, both residents of Old Bear Brook Road, questioned how the rotary would affect pedestrian safety and access. Both noted there is no sidewalk on the north side of the road, which is across from the Toll Brothers property.
Mark Mayhew, an engineer for ESE Consulting, a subsidiary of Toll, said there is no requirement for Toll Brothers to build a sidewalk on the north end. SPRAB member Jessica Kates Galatro also asked the residents whether the need for a sidewalk should be taken up with the township.
Chen, who is visually impaired, said a traffic circle would affect his access to both directions of Bear Brook Road. He currently turns right at the intersection to commute to the train station and crosses Bear Brook Road when heading in the other direction.
Members of SPRAB questioned the residential impact of the Toll Brothers’ development. The townhomes will have detached garages, and the developer plans on offering a loft bedroom option built over the garage. Responding to an inquiry from Galatro, Kent-Smith said the loft option could serve as storage space and he confirmed a bathroom could be attached to the loft bedroom.
SPRAB members Allen Schectel and Simon Pankove sought clarification on the corporate suites, which will be taxed like hotels. Kent-Smith said Toll Brothers would manage the suites, as opposed to leasing them to a hotel operator, which would include furniture, a kitchen, and other amenities for short term guests ranging from a few months to more than a year. SPRAB member Hemant Marathe confirmed that any corporate suite lessee with children would be eligible to enroll in the school district. Schectel said it would be important for the corporate suite floor plans to show bedrooms.
