Ward Road would finally be connected between North Post and Penn Lyle Roads under an application filed with the township.
Developer Aegle LLC is proposing a subdivision of its 28.84-acre parcel on Penn Lyle Road, adjacent to the West Windsor Little League fields, which the Site Plan Review Advisory Board (SPRAB) reviewed at its Oct. 24 meeting. At least one more SPRAB meeting is expected to discuss engineering details before the application is sent to the Planning Board.
Aegle’s proposal calls for six new single-family lots ranging from 1.25 to 2.8 acres in size. There is also an existing lot that will be enlarged. Aegle purchased the property for $990,000 in 2015 from Chicago-based Hanmi Bank.
The developer will also construct a new road that will extend Ward Road to Penn Lyle, thereby connecting the latter with North Post Road and fulfilling a Master Plan goal. The proposed houses will front onto Ward Road, and the extended road will have a roundabout to slow traffic. The road will also have a sidewalk on one side and an off-road bike path on the other side.
In other news, the owner of the blighted property behind the Ellsworth Center has lost its appeal against the township. On Oct. 25 the appellate division of the state’s superior court rejected an appeal by Pereira Investment Corporation and its owner, Newark-based developer Jacinto Rodrigues.
This ends the latest chapter in which Rodrigues was challenging zoning variances granted to two properties in the adjacent Ellsworth Center which his own application also required. Rodrigues was also challenging the township’s 2014 decision to add the two contested properties into the Princeton Junction redevelopment area.
The town so far has not made any action to initiate the condemnation process for Rodrigues’ blighted property — a half-completed and dilapidated shopping center — abutting the train tracks. Last year SPRAB rejected Rodrigues’ mixed-use proposal and it has yet to go before the Zoning Board.
Meanwhile, Ellsworth Center’s owner, Shawn Ellsworth, received zoning approvals back in 2013 to expand the existing 22,000-square-foot commercial space to 34,000 square feet. In addition, two one-bedroom apartments will be replaced by 20 one-bedroom units above the retail space. Now unencumbered by legal challenges, Ellsworth can begin developing. Alternatively he can submit a new mixed-use development application, this time before the Planning Board.
