While the headlines might suggest otherwise, West Windsor residents have more than redevelopment on their minds. ##M:[more]##
That was made clear last Monday, May 21, in an “open mike” session conducted by Township Council that attracted nearly 30 citizens eager to speak on a wide range of issues. Speakers were limited to three-minute statements — Gay Huber, deputy township clerk, flashed a sign when they had 30 seconds left to go and then sounded a bell when they reached their limit. But additional responses from Council and the professional staff plus several residents taking second rounds at the microphone resulted in a meeting that ran from 7 to nearly 10:30 p.m., an hour and a half beyond its scheduled ending point.
All five Council members were on hand, along with administrator Chris Marion, engineer James Parvesse, and attorney Michael Herbert. Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh was on vacation. Herewith an edited summary of the statements and the follow-up discussion:
Eugene Sersen, 47 Rainflower: My wife and I have been residents of the Village Grande for six years. One and a half years ago Centex announced they would be building a development basically across the street.
Twenty out of 150 houses in the development have sold, so they are providing more amenities to entice people to buy there. Among those is a fishing dock on the pond they’re building. That raises a number of problems, first of all there is increased liability, which will lead to higher insurance costs. The pond is far from other amenities, like public restrooms, which would make the pond an open latrine for people who decide to use it. We were told only residents can use the pond, but how do you keep others out? Now that there are these changes in the plans, will the development be reviewed by the planning board again?
Township Engineer Parvesse said the township is reviewing the changes, and will decide if they are significant enough to warrant going back to the Planning Board for review.
Dan Fabrizio, 8 Exeter Court: I support a main street concept for the redevelopment of Route 571. I think we currently have more than enough residents to support it. If you add a Wegman’s or a Whole Food’s Market there, think of the increase in foot traffic in the area, obviously we don’t need to add 1,”000 housing units.
I have spoken with many of my fellow resident commuters on the 6:15 train to New York, and many of us are upset at the idea of parking garages being built there. The structures would add 15 minutes to our commute in the morning. From a resident commuter’s perspective, don’t do it. The township could demolish the Polychrome building and add more surface parking there and in other places around the station to help the people on the waiting list.
Janet Lerner, 67 Rainflower Lane: I want to thank Franc Gambatese [outgoing council member]. Your performance on this council has been stellar. The community has benefited from your presence and your commitment to bipartisanship. We will continue to benefit from having you in the township.
Amira Scurato, 50 Bear Brook Road: The current Hillier plan calls for a connection that will make our road the main artery into the train station. I used to live in Berrien City, it’s a great neighborhood, and it should remain as it is. But we are a neighborhood on the other side of the tracks. The plan is proposing to have our road, which has no sidewalks, become the road into the station. There is development planned for the property right next to the redevelopment area. Nobody has mentioned that what goes into this area also impacts the schools and the taxes.
Councilwoman Heidi Kleinman: We do have that topic on our August agenda.
Scurato continued: We should use the open space funds to improve the fields for our township’s recreation teams. Some of the field conditions are intolerable.
Councilman Franc Gambatese: We had a referendum on that issue, and the voters demanded that we use 25 percent of the open space fund for maintenance of the parks and fields. That’s what they want us to do, and we need to make good on our promise.
Marion: We have been working with FOWWOS and the sports groups to come up with a list of potential projects. The other piece of the fund is to acquire new open space and to pay off the debt on previously acquired open space parcels.
Ed O’Mara, 28 Grande Boulevard: The transit village is a good idea if it is done right. I’m concerned for the traffic and for the schools and for its impact on our taxes. Security is paramount. A safe transit village is a successful transit village. If it’s done right, it will generate enough money to pay for the additional security needed, in the same way the Inner Harbor in Baltimore has for that city. There are gangs in Trenton, and they’re moving to the suburbs, to Hamilton, to Washington. I hope and pray we have none of them yet.
Gambatese: You don’t do anything in this plan unless the fire and police are already accounted for. It’s not a question, it’s a condition. We’ve been putting the cart before the horse with this redevelopment. If you think there’s not gangs in West Windsor now, you’re deluding yourself. We can’t run and hide from it, we need to learn how to deal with it.
O’Mara continued: I also want to address the turn from Clarksville onto North Post. There should be a left turn lane, you can wait through several lights waiting for the chance to turn there.
Susan Conlon, 98 Harris Road: There was an article in the New York Times about transit villages in New Jersey. I want to point out that we should disconnect the term transit oriented design from the term transit village. We’re not clear on what benefits we would get if we built something according to the transit oriented design. There was no state money earmarked for TODs in the current year.
The Princeton Junction Neighborhood Coalition had a meeting and we came up with a list, which we submitted to council, on what we liked about the plan, what we didn’t like, and we generated questions we need answered before moving forward.
We’re missing a comprehensive traffic calming plan and a real charrette process. We haven’t had either. It’s not to late.
Bob Akens, 32 Windsor Drive: As you were campaigning and talking to your constituents, are people genuinely concerned that taxes are too high or do people want to improve the niceties of the township? Until you control discretionary spending, you can’t control the taxes. Do people want more, more, more, or do they want you to keep their taxes low?
Councilman Will Anklowitz: The closer you got to the train station, the more redevelopment was the main issue. If you go further out, people are more concerned with the taxes.
Councilman Charles Morgan: Discretionary is in the eye of the beholder. When we had a surplus from the Open Space fund, I voted to return it to the taxpayer, but there was a good argument on the other side for using it to pay off debt. Our biggest tax issue is in runaway costs like healthcare.
Gambatese: Only about one-third of our budget is not contractual — that’s less than $10 million for a town of 26,”000 people. It’s not a lot. I think our money is managed very well by our staff.
Patrick Boyle, 1252 Windsor Road: I’m here to urge you to use the open space funds on our sports fields. Our recreation program needs to be able to continue to grow. The township and FOWWOS has done a good job putting together a plan for balancing the money among different groups. Duck Pond Park and the bike paths? I’m all for it.
We have tremendous need for funds, and we need to do what’s right for the children of Wet Windsor. The recreation department seriously considered canceling soccer. We don’t have enough softball fields to play all the games if there are rain-outs. We might have to reduce the number of football teams in the rec program because there aren’t enough fields for them to play on. We’ve put together a plan to share space between the soccer, lacrosse, and football programs. I hope council will support and find funding for programs like that.
Guy Pierson, 241 Fisher Place: This township is 70/30 in terms of the split between residential taxes and commercial taxes. In the redevelopment, we will try to get closer to 50/50, and the area between the train tracks and Route 1 is going to absorb most of that new commercial development.
Anklowitz: This township has always been mostly residential. If you change the ratio, you’re altering what goes on here.
Gambatese: We had the chance to have McMaster Carr in the township. That would have been a $1 million commercial ratable. But nobody wanted it. We built senior homes instead, and they’re not selling. I don’t want to see that property on Quaker Bridge Road become another mall. Manufacturing might be a good ratable, or some sort of corporate campus. We have to be smart about it.
Pierson continued: Originally, the Vaughn Drive connection went all the way to the EIS bypass. Now we’re focused on the train station, but not on the Route 1 improvements. I don’t see that on the radar screen. I don’t see why the Penn’s Neck bypass isn’t a priority, especially with the hospital moving to Route 1.
Why isn’t the township building open one night a week? It’s important that the records be accessible to all people. Now if you want to do anything, you have to take a day off from work.
George Martch, 30 Wood Hollow Road: I want to offer congratulations on the council-driven town hall. The mayor will advocate the strong mayor form of government, which implies a weak council. I hope the council will do this semi-annually.
We should form an emergency committee. The community is not hearing what happened after 9/11. We have to have the concept of drills and preparation, and the community must be informed.
We have a valuable asset in Channel 27. We need more volunteers, there are not enough members to make this as good as it can be.
Council President Linda Geevers: The taped recordings of meetings broadcast just fine. It’s the live showings that have a problem, and that is a problem with Comcast. I think it would be a good idea to do this semi-annually, perhaps another one in November.
Martch continued: We need to find ways to bring commuters to the rail station, so we don’t have all the cars going through that section of town. At Mercer County Community College, there is a parking lot that rivals the size of what we have at the station. Imagine buses going back and forth. What could be better?.
Alison Miller, 41 Windsor Drive: Several years ago, we talked about the potential problem of flooding at Windsor Haven. The property was supposed to include some kind of detention facility. Has some portion of the property been set aside for that?
Morgan: The water table has dropped since Toll Brothers was put in. That water is going somewhere. We need to ask those questions. When they were proposing the development, we asked for guarantees and they refused. If there were a big problem in Windsor Haven I think we would have heard about it.
Miller continued: I would like a dedicated left turn lane at Penn Lyle and Clarksville roads. I had to wait through three lights tonight to get here.
Mike Curran, 30 Slayback Drive: We need to use our open space funds for recreation facilities. Over the past several years, people involved in the rec program have come together to help. My back still hurts when I look at the football field where I helped lay sod at community park.
I’m a member of the West Windsor Little League Board. My wife is involved with Lightning Lacrosse. We’re in full support of using those funds for our fields.
Leo Donner, 47 Ketley Place: I want to bring attention to the safety of people crossing at Vaughn and Alexander roads. No little white figure is protection from the cars that drive by that crosswalk. Mayor Hsueh said something would be done, but nothing has been done. I spoke with Jim Parvesse and Pat Ward, I even contributed my own diagram. I saw there is something in the budget for traffic signals. How is this going to be used?
Parvesse: We just awarded a contract for the traffic signals, and that intersection is included. We’re just in the starting stage, but the company hired will come out with recommendations on what to do. We hope to have something constructed by the end of this year or early 2008.
Morgan: Referring back to Bob Akens question about spending, here’s an example of discretionary spending. One constraint is the staffing resources. We have wonderful people working for the township, but they can only do so much.
Hemi Nae, 11 Wycombe Way: I saw that the mayor said Hillier made a political mistake with the plans. It was the mayor who made the political mistake.
First, there was no charrette process. Every time I turn on the meetings on Channel 27, I see Hillier himself, not residents talking about what they want. I have the feeling we’re following in the footsteps of Hamilton and Washington townships. Hillier’s own numbers show disaster for this town. I suggest we declare the plan not satisfactory, and start again. The mayor said we have plenty of time. I think we have plenty of time to do it again, and this time make it open, transparent, and have the studies done beforehand.
Nae continued later: We have a communication problem on the township’s website, there is nothing about the election. You can’t even find out who won on there. We don’t know that the mayor was appointed to the State Planning Commission. We have the council agenda’s on there, but we never see what the decisions were.
Pete Weale, 144 Fisher Place. Weale gave an impassioned statement criticizing the administration and council for failing to follow through to completion on several township projects (see letter, page 3). Weale immediately left the room, but council members discussed his criticism.
Morgan: Thanks to Mr. Weale’s sensitizing me, I have harassed Mr. Marion about illegal signs around the town.
Gambatese: He’s very passionate, but a lot of the time he is not off the mark in what he is saying. And you will see him on his John Deere tractor cutting grass that the county or the state should be cutting.
Kleinman: I’m disappointed Mr. Weale has left. Because of his comments we have taken a second look at how we present comments at the Planning Board and we are now changing so that people coming into a Planning Board meeting have better access to materials.
Julia Rhodes, 31 Scott Avenue: I’m speaking for my neighbor, Susan Abbey, who couldn’t be here. She wrote this. There has been much talk of giving Hillier guidelines before the plans began, but we didn’t want to tie our hands. There was one predetermined condition, that we build a designated transit village, that must include retail. So much retail that we must build housing. To support it all, we must build between 8 and 11 parking garages.
We know the state won’t be paying for this. There are 19 transit villages ahead of us with their hands out. If other towns can get money for brownfield remediation without a transit village, so can West Windsor. Let’s get rid of the 800 pound gorilla in the room. Let’s get rid of the Transit Village designation.
Steve Meersma, 23 Berkshire Drive: I support a main street for Route 571. The current plan doesn’t have that being built until the conclusion of the whole process. Let’s put aside the current plan and start over. We need an honest, open process. That never occurred, and if we move forward, I don’t think we’ll have a good outcome.
Participants weren’t given the opportunity to state whether they wanted a transit village or not. I’m outraged with the concept of 1,”000 units minimum. I’m outraged with the concept of realigning Alexander Road to meet with Sherbrooke. I’m outraged with the intent of the town to push so quickly for an approved plan. There needs to be a lot of dialogue, the silence in response to our requests has been deafening. There has been no feedback whatsoever.
Morgan: We had a resolution to fully engage the public. We are faced now with some questions. Did we get charrettes? Did Hillier live up to their contract? If we’re going to have something totally new, should that have been presented on March 16?
The planning board wanted to be part of this meeting, but they canceled their own meeting this week. They have a responsibility, but where have they been? It’s possible that these volunteers have failed you.
Geevers: Hillier says he has heard the residents, and will be giving us a plan with more options for less housing. We still have a long way to go.
Meersma continued: I also want to talk about the crosswalk and signs that were put up to help people cross from Sherbrooke to the Acme. I waited there with my family one day and 20 cars whizzed past. The state law is that if someone is in the crosswalk cars have to stop.
I swear on a stack of bibles, one of the cars that drove past us was a police car (from West Windsor). I think this crossing would be improved if there was some enforcement by the police. If there was a police car there, even occasionally, people would pay more attention.
Wesley Mostello, 168 Penn Lyle Road: This redevelopment process is frightening. I have concerns with regard to the feedback we have been getting. I offered to meet with Hillier, and I got no response. I went to the open house, I had a specific question to ask, and he told me that 1,”000 units were needed to support the retail. Why do we need this to support retail if we have a plan with 150,”000 square feet of retail. A study showed that West Windsor’s residents, as of now, could support 300,”000 square feet of new retail.
I’ve been a licensed engineer and planner for more than 40 years, and there are many disturbing things. We’re in a process that projects a $7 million surplus, but doesn’t address taxes lost from what’s demolished, and that surplus is used as a down payment for a bond.
A lot of this should have been done in feasibility studies up front. Why should the township go along with a plan that has mundane housing on the most valuable land in the township?
Beth Feehan, 429 Clarksville Road: I was one of the people that started the Farmer’s Market. When I did, I got negativity on the WW-P Today message boards, people saying, “I don’t want to pass your dirty vegetables on my way to work.” When you’re doing anything in this town, you have to take into consideration the long-time residents. I haven’t been here as long as many people, I make my home where my feet are, and I bring all those other places where I’ve lived with me.
The “Not In My Back Yard” attitude in the town is the reason we have a Route 571 that looks the way it does now. There is a lot of room for weighing in long term residents with the new ones. I think this process has been more open than people give it credit for.
Curtis Hoberman, 175 Washington Road: West Windsor is celebrating 210 years since it first incorporated. We are losing our past. We should establish a Historical Preservation Advisory Board to oversee the care and preservation of our historical homes. Consider it like the Site Plan Review Advisory Board.
Gambatese: I share your sentiments. When I came onto this council four years ago, we approved money for the old school house, and now four years later, I’m sorry to say nothing has been done. That’s the problem with government. I’d like to be involved with that. I have time on my hands now.
David Siegel, 17 Berrien Avenue: I think this workshop process has some serious problems. There was too much time spent on residents choosing among minor variants, like items on a menu, and there was no time for people to suggest things that weren’t on the menu. I’m concerned about the financial assumptions that implied $0 expense to the township for commercial establishments. The analysis implies that the infrastructure will be paid for by tax anticipation bonds, and the assumptions for the income generated are on the rosy side.
If we go back and start again, I hope we have true charrettes, where people suggest ideas, and see work-ups of their idea, however rough, in that meeting.
At the June 4 presentation, I hope there will be the opportunity for the public to ask questions, and follow-up questions.
Ruth Potts, 11 Penn Lyle Road: As a member of the Arts Council, I want to thank council and administration for their support. I want to thank the public for attending our events. We have had 9, and there are 14 more to come this year. I urge the public to join us, and volunteer.
I was pleased to hear so many people in the workshops suggest so many arts-oriented amenities in the redevelopment. I’m pleased to see a community center with a performance space, and a town green for the Farmer’s Market.
Princeton University has an arts zone at one end of the Dinky line. We should too. It would be nice for people to say, “I’m going to West Windsor for an arts program” instead of “I’m going to Princeton.”
Nantanee Koppstein, 7 Suffolk Lane: I agree that 1,”000 units is too high. We are told it is the number developers need to make a profit by building here. I think we need to start the process by identifying what we really need. We need to think outside the box to minimize the negative and tax impact.
In the final plan, 571 is the last phase of the redevelopment that would be addressed. I think we need to start again with a process where we have more transparency and greater control.
Alvin Lerner, 67 Rainflower Lane: What is a charrette? The speaker at the Princeton Junction Neighborhood Coalition the other night said it’s something held night after night until the public reaches consensus. What we see now is the hors d’oeuvres. The main course is yet to be served. Just wait.
Last October the census bureau said the U.S. population hit 300 million. What was lost in that is that in 20 years, it’s going to be 400 million. In 20 years there will be 10,”000 more people in West Windsor. If you’re worried about crowding, it’s going to happen, you have to get used to it.
Mary Ann Pedee-Siegel, 17 Berrien Avenue: Pedee-Siegel posed two questions with respect to the compost heap — why is it still there and can the township be sure that the activity there is legal?
Attorney Herbert replied that the township has a lease that has expired and that the matter involves restitution of payments. We may have to be in litigation.
Parvesse, the engineer, added that the township is monitoring the site closely.
Elane Gutterman, 35 Arnold Drive: We need to move forward, not backward, in the direction that we’ve chosen. Maybe we need more time to put together the plan. Is there any flexibility in the contract to allow for a better planning process? How will we know when we have enough agreement. We need to develop the infrastructure in the community.
Alison Miller, taking a second turn at the microphone: This has been a great process. I commend you all for doing it. I have a suggestion. When you do this again, just as we are timed, you on council should be timed in your responses.
