An application for an office building on the only remaining piece of vacant land on Clarksville Road next to the Village Square retail center will head to the Site Plan Review Advisory Board on Monday, February 8.
Approval was originally given in 1984 for three office buildings on the site, known as Princeton Junction Commons, at 201 Clarksville Road. Two of the buildings are already built. However, the third building was never built because demand diminished in the 1990s, said Sam Surtees, the township’s Division of Land Use manager.
“The approvals expired, and new regulations with regard to wetlands came into play,” said Surtees. The developer had to go back to the state to get a letter of interpretation, and the size of the proposed office building was decreased because of environmental constraints.
Plans originally called for a 39,000 square foot building, but the developer lowered the size to 33,000 square feet, which SPRAB members felt was not sufficient.
The developer has reduced the size of the building again, this time to 30,000. The developer still needs front-yard and side-yard setback variances as well as loading dock waivers. It also needs a waiver for the number of parking spaces it wants to build.
In addition, township zoning calls for 141 parking spaces at the site, which was reduced from 165, what they would have had to provide based on a 33,000 square foot building. But the developer only wants to build 122 parking spaces and bank the remaining 19, Surtees said.
“With the location of the wetlands, they had to move some of the parking,” said Surtees. “They’ve lost a number of parking spaces they originally could build and move the building away from the buffer area.”
For this reason, and because the developer shrunk the size of the building again, West Windsor staff supports granting waivers for the front and side-yard setbacks. “The board asked for a reduction in size of the building, limiting where the parking spaces can go,” Surtees explained. “This is a compromise between the township, the state, and the property owner,” Surtees said, adding that the township also wants to see some return on the property.
The developer is looking to attract medical and dental office uses as well as other professional offices. Once SPRAB is done with its review, the application will head to the Planning Board, which is expected to happen on Wednesday, March 3.
