Following are excerpts from a letter written by West Windsor Township lawyer Michael Herbert to Mark Solomon, representing the Howard Hughes Corporation, and excerpts from Solomon’s response.
Dear Howard Hughes:
At a recent West Windsor Council meeting, your client, the Howard Hughes Corporation, asked that the Township Council refer their property to the Township Planning Board for an investigation as to whether or not the property should qualify as an area in need of redevelopment.
At this time, the Council does not believe your client’ s property is a candidate for examination as to whether it can be redeveloped due to a lack of information. The Township Council advises that your client consider bringing to the Planning Board “a Concept Plan” for informal review so that more information can be given as to what is planned for the property.
The Township Council believes that the Planning Board, with its expertise in land use, is best equipped to review the specifics of your client’ s plans for the site.
— Michael W. Herbert
Dear West Windsor:
Your letter raises many questions concerning the Council’s intent. Just so Council is aware, we were a bit surprised to receive a response by letter. We have been following the Township Council meetings and are not aware that Council has had any substantive public discussion of HHC’s request since the date of HHC’s appearance. Our hope was that Council would have had some public discussion during which Council members would have identified any questions they had or indicated further information about HHC’s proposal they might find useful.
Your letter says that the Council reached the conclusion that HHC’s property is not a candidate for examination as to whether it can be redeveloped due to a lack of information.” I note that my client’s presentation made a compelling case that the buildings on the property are substandard, unsafe, dilapidated, and obsolete — all of which are criteria under New Jersey law for designating an area in need of redevelopment.
As the Township’s own redevelopment counsel would advise them, in our case the redevelopment process offers so many advantages to both parties beyond those available under traditional rezoning, that we think it would be a terrible misstep and a missed opportunity not to at least explore whether the redevelopment process is suited for our property. This factor weighs heavily on how HHC may choose to proceed with the development of its property.
We also are somewhat confused by the direction your letter offers. At this point, we have no real understanding as to the information that the Council believes is missing. Your letter suggests that HHC present a concept plan to the Planning Board “so that more information can be given as to what is planned for the property.”
But showing the Planning Board what may or may not be planned for the property has no relation to the question of whether the property qualifies as an area in need of redevelopment. We proposed a “tool kit” for how to approach reuse and redevelopment of the property. With no disrespect intended, the Council’s response appears to be, “first tell us what you want to do, then we’ll decide whether to consider your request.” We do not see how a concept land use process before the Planning Board answers the fundamental question of whether the property qualifies as an area in need of redevelopment.
In order to make the requested exercise meaningful to all, we ask that the Council commit to a two-pronged approach to the consideration of HHC’ s property, viz: HHC will engage in a concept plan development and review process with the Planning Board. We will ask the Planning Board for guidance as to the nature and extent of the information it will find useful for a productive discussion. Along with the concept plan review process, we ask that the Council simultaneously authorize the Planning Board to conduct an investigation as to whether the property qualifies as an area in need of redevelopment.
The Planning Board would then engage in parallel processes — the investigation and the concept review. Upon completion, the Planning Board would report its findings and recommendations to Council for appropriate Council action. Council then would be in a position to make an informed decision about our request.
For everyone’ s peace of mind, I remind you that designating the property an area in need of redevelopment in no way would be approving any concept plan. Preparation and consideration of an actual redevelopment plan would be a wholly separate step controlled by the Planning Board and Township Council that would come later.
As we have stated, designating the property an area in need of redevelopment simply provides the Township a tool box not otherwise available that can help provide an alignment of interests of the Township, the School Board, and my client, and can assist everyone in jointly developing a mutually beneficial plan for the responsible development of HHC’s property. We have a sense of the issues which arise out of HHC’s desire to redevelop its property, and recognize that development of the property may concern some people in the community. We remain committed to addressing all of these concerns in a fair, open, and responsible manner.
— Mark Solomon
