The Plainsboro Township Committee has unanimously voted to adopt a redevelopment plan for the 160-acre FMC site proposed by the University Medical Center at Princeton for a new hospital at the site.##M:[more]##
The move was made following a public hearing and presentation from planning consultant Richard Preiss on January 23. Plans call for a hospital-medical office component, a continuing care retirement community, and a skilled nursing facility. A general office and research complex will be located below Plainsboro Road, and south of Plainsboro Road, along the Millstone River, there will be a 32-acre public passive park.
The committee introduced the redevelopment plan during its January 9 meeting, following Planning Board approval in December.
The redevelopment will take place in phases, Preiss said in December. During the first phase, most of the hospital, including its medical offices, fitness center, and educational components, and the skilled nursing facility will be constructed. During the second phase, the continued care retirement community and the general office research complex will be developed. The final phase will consist of constructing any additional floors at the hospital or additional office development to take place. The total anticipated floor area of the site at maximum is 2.4 million feet.
Township Administrator Bob Sheehan said one resident was concerned that if the hospital project falls through, the area could fall subject to a large-scale office development. But Sheehan said that “if the existing project falls through, the existing zoning remains,” so it would not occur.
Now that the redevelopment plan has been adopted, the next step is that hospital officials would submit site plans to the Planning Board, and there will be a series of meetings once that happens. “We are expecting the site plans to come in shortly,” Sheehan said.
Truck Weight
Limits Considered
Officials in Plainsboro are putting on hold any initiatives looking into how, if possible, they can limit truck traffic on Dey Road.
The Township Committee had discussed the possibility after Committeeman Ed Yates raised the concern during the January 9 meeting, citing Governor Jon S. Corzine’s proposal to increase highway tolls by 50 percent every four years, and the concern that truckers will use the road to avoid tolls. Officials had said one option might include imposing weight restrictions.
Mayor Peter Cantu is planning on attending a meeting with other mayors from around the state in Trenton in February to discuss the truck issue, and “the committee agreed (at the January 23 meeting) to put on hold any major initiatives until we get a sense of what comes out of that meeting,” Township Administrator Bob Sheehan said.
In the prior meeting, Yates had said “the difficulty we’ve had is the road borders three towns, and we need approval from three townships to get this done, and the last time we met, South Brunswick was agreeable,” he said. “Cranbury was not.”
Mayor Peter Cantu, also mentioned that some truck traffic restrictions in other towns have been overturned in court. Township Attorney Mike Herbert also said he believed there had been some cases in federal court that have overturned.
But Yates said he believed those that limited weight of the trucks had not. “South Brunswick has had some success,” he said.
Township Administrator Bob Sheehan said during that meeting that the last time township officials looked into the matter, “I think we had recognized, but we were frustrated by, the fact that state regulation and the courts were not helping us in dealing with this issue.”
“At the time, there was a suggestion that we talk to the weight station and see if we can informally redirect these trucks,” he said. “We also stepped up our enforcement. I think the effect of that has had some positive impact on Dey Road. We can reconvene those discussions for a more permanent and more comprehensive effect. We can talk to the neighbors to see if they will come around.”
Cantu mentioned that in a meeting he and the other mayors had with the governor’s staff for a briefing on the proposal, some mayors said they were also concerned about diversions and the effect on traffic congestion a toll increase might have on local roads. But, “they seem to feel that based on their studies, that it’s not going to divert the truck traffic to these roads.”
He said one factor they mentioned was the inadequacy of traveling on Route 1 on a daily basis as opposed to the highways. “If there is a diversion, it would be short-lived,” he said, pointing out that he was just sharing with the committee what they had told him, and that he didn’t necessarily agree.
Committeeman Neil Lewis said he thought it was interesting that the road surface at Dey Road and Scotts Corner is showing “rippling and ridging like we have not seen before,” suggesting that the weights of the vehicles traveling on the road and the frequency in which they do so has increased.
“I don’t think there isn’t anyone who would not want to regulate the truck traffic on Dey Road,” Cantu said. “The question is not whether we’d like to — the question is whether we can, and how do we do it.”
Sheehan said after the January 23 meeting that concerns of truck traffic has been a concern of township officials and residents for some time and that officials will evaluate the situation once the meeting in Trenton is held. “It’s certainly on the radar,” he said.
— Cara Latham
