George Sands, the developer of the Princeton Arms shopping center, has agreed to esthetic and traffic safety changes in association with plans for an expansion of the center.##M:[more]##
In a recent meeting with Planning Board Chairman Marvin Gardner, the developer agreed to upgrade the facade on the existing portion of the shopping center, located on the northern corner of the intersection of Old Trenton Road and Dorchester Drive. Sands’ proposal calls for the center to increase in size from 30,”000 square feet to 67,”000 square feet.
“The developer will renovate the current facade and roofline to be consistent with the proposed addition,” says Gardner, who has said he had problems with the application because the developer did not plan to upgrade the facade on the current building. “The existing columns will also be redone to be consistent with rest of center.”
The developer also made traffic safety modifications on the site adjacent to the center, which is also owned by Sands. The property, a 25-acre tract on the southern corner of Old Trenton and Dorchester Drive, is currently zoned for research and office use and is expected to be the subject of a development application in the near future.
According to Gardner, the developer cleared a series of shrubs and weeds near the roadline of the property that was obscuring the view of motorists making a left turn from Dorchester Drive onto Old Trenton Road. “The most immediate action I requested they take, they have already acted on. The area has been cleared, and the unsafe condition has been eradicated.”
The expansion application was originally to have been heard in mid-June, but the developer delayed the hearing until Wednesday, August 17, after learning of Gardner’s concerns.
Meanwhile, the installation of a traffic signal at the intersection of Old Trenton Road and Dorchester Drive is imminent. The signal will be constructed in concert with an age-restricted community being built by Centex Homes on Old Trenton Road across from the shopping center. An entrance into the development will be constructed at the intersection of Old Trenton Road and Dorchester Drive.
Gardner reports that Centex has informed the township that it will begin site preparation work for the development, called the Renaissance, in late July. The traffic signal has received approvals from the county and state and installation with coincide with the commencement of site preparation.
In other business, the Planning Board held its annual reorganization meeting on July 6. Gardner was re-elected chair, and Steve Jany was elected vice chairman.
Alternate member Brad Walters was appointed to the one-year unexpired term held by Heidi Kleinman, who vacated her seat on the board to join township council. Kleinman now sits on the board as council representative. Appointed to fill Walters’ alternate seat was Barbara Pfeifer.
The board also voted to table an ordinance that would have amended setbacks and buffers in the ROM-1 zone in order for the draft to be reviewed by the board’s ordinance review subcommittee.
