After sitting on the rolls for some 20 years, plans to double the size of the Princeton Arms shopping center in West Windsor finally seem to be moving forward.##M:[more]##
The township planning board on Wednesday, June 15, will hear an amended site plan application, submitted by developer George Sands, that proposes increasing the shopping center in size from some 30,”000 square feet to 67,”000 square feet, according to Sam Surtees, township manager of land use. The shopping center is located at the corner of Old Trenton Road and Dorchester Drive on the border with East Windsor township.
According to Surtees, the original Princeton Arms site plan, approved in the early 1980s, included the additional 37,”000 square feet, but the developer must still appear before the planning board because code requirements and regulations have changed since the original approval.
The new plans will include improved landscaping, street lighting, and an outdoor eating area. The zoning allows for numerous retail uses, and the economics of the area now may be such that the expansion could include some type of upscale restaurant, says Surtees. The developer has not proposed any specific businesses for the expansion.
Planning Board Chairman Marvin Gardner says he has several concerns with the proposal that he would like to see addressed. His main concern revolves around the facade of the existing shopping center, which Sands does not plan to upgrade. The application calls for the new section of the center to be connected to the old building.
“In my experience, in most instances where you have an existing building and have an expansion that contemplates annexation, generally developers will renovate the old facade to give the project a unitary look,” says Gardner. “In this case, he’s trying to duplicate the (old) brick facade. Unfortunately, with the passage of time, this design is esthetically unattractive. I feel the developer can make this center more visually appealing by renovating the facade and making it more consistent with a contemporary look.”
Gardner adds that not only would the renovation attract an expanded customer base, “it will also enhance the property values of that center. In doing so, it will enable the developer to secure increased rents, which will benefit the township by increased ratables.”
Gardner says he has sought legal advice from township attorneys on the issue and says that there are instances where planning boards in New Jersey have required these types of upgrades in development approvals. “We could require the facade upgrade as a condition of the approval, but if the developer doesn’t agree, it could become a point of litigation,” Gardner says.
He also laments the fact that the developer was not required to appear before the township’s Site Plan Review Advisory Board (SPRAB) before the application was heard by the planning board. SPRAB membership includes members of the planning board, zoning board, and environmental commission who work with township professionals to review technical aspects of a development plan before it advances to the planning or zoning boards.
In this case, according to Surtees, the application did not go to SPRAB because it was for an amendment to an already-approved application. Gardner argues that SPRAB would have dealt with issues like the facade, and he may still ask that the application be referred to the body.
“If this had gone before SPRAB, the issue of the facade would have been evaluated in far greater detail and the applicant would have been required to make significant modifications to the exterior of the center,” Gardner says. “I do not believe SPRAB should be circumvented.”
The expansion is the final of three phases approved by the board in the original plan. The first phase was the Little Szechwan Chinese restaurant, and the second was the existing strip mall retail currently on the site.
Surtees says that until now, development in that section of the township was long-hindered by a lack of sewer service. A new 156-unit age-restricted community — the Renaissance at West Windsor — will bring sewer lines to the area. Construction on the development, being built by Centex Homes across Old Trenton Road from the shopping center, is expected to begin in the near future.
For many years, businesses in the center have struggled due to a lack of residential population in that portion of the township, but officials hope that the Renaissance will remedy that problem as well.
The new sewer line could make the area a hub of activity. Last month the Zoning Board approved a new health and fitness club on Old Trenton Road adjacent to the shopping center. The West Windsor Health and Sports Club, expected to be open by summer, 2006, will feature tennis, swimming pool, children’s gym, beauty salon, day spa, cafe, and a nursery.
Also to be constructed in that area is a 220-unit apartment complex in the Bear Creek age-restricted community at the intersection of Old Trenton Road and Village Road East.
Surtees says Sands also owns a 25-acre tract across on Old Trenton Road on the other side of Dorchester Drive, currently zoned for research and office use, and is expected to come in with a plan for that property as well.
Gardner says he hopes to use the Princeton Arms application to address a traffic safety problem on the commercial tract. According to the chairman, shrubs and weeds near the roadline on the property obscure the view of motorists making a left turn from Dorchester Drive onto Old Trenton Road.
“The intersection is extremely hazardous,” says Gardner, pointing out that one of the conditions of the Renaissance approvals calls for a traffic light to be constructed at the intersection “at the earliest opportunity.”
“In addition you’re dealing with an obstruction of view. When construction begins on the Renaissance, you’re going to have heavy duty construction vehicles added to the mix on Old Trenton Road with the potential to cause much more serious injuries.”
