West Windsor Gardens is on its way. The rental development the township tried to keep out has been approved after a court mandate ordered West Windsor to accept the 350-unit complex and its 71 affordable housing apartments.##M:[more]##
The West Windsor Planning Board conditionally approved the site plan for the Clarksville Road development. The vote came after a presentation that took three meetings marked by controversy over the number of bedrooms allowed and whether an office is an office and not just another bedroom.
Planning Board Chairman Marvin Gardner negotiated agreements concerning the design of the offices, the way the units are marketed, and lease restrictions, all measures the township is taking to guard against an influx of schoolchildren.
Akselrad Properties, the developer of the site, must now seek approval from the Coalition on Affordable Housing and other government agencies before construction begins. The developer was not available for comment on when construction would begin or when the units will be habitable.
The planning board also raised the issue of the construction of a sound barrier due to the site’s proximity to the train tracks.
The planning board also approved the council’s acceptance of a zoning overlay for the town center area. The gesture was largely ceremonial since the legislation originated with the Planning Board, and returned to the entity with no changes.
The overlay will prohibit developers building in the town center area contrary to the town’s wishes to turn the area near Cranbury and Princeton-Hightstown Roads into a village center-type area.
