Jones Lang LaSalle


Hamilton development visions collide
NJT wants station area plans back on track
Monday, February 27, 2006
By DARRYL R. ISHERWOOD
Staff Writer

HAMILTON -- Anxious township administrators and NJ Transit officials are trying to put back on track the proposed train station development threatened by Republican attempts to rescind the township's redevelopment plan.

But even as Mayor Glen D. Gilmore and his staff met late last week with NJT representatives to discuss redevelopment of the train station area, the three newly elected GOP councilmen vowed to press on with their plan introduced Tuesday to rescind the deal.

Councilmen David Kenny, Tom Goodwin and Dennis Pone have charged that public comment on the project was ignored during planning of the development.

NJ Transit officials said they always have counted on public participation in the train station development and still believe the proposed community is good for the township.

"We've anticipated a public process that gives opportunity for review of the plan in an open public setting. That hasn't changed," said NJ Transit spokesman Dan Stessel. "We would hope we would be given the opportunity to present the plan, and we maintain confidence that if given that opportunity, we would come up with a project that works for Hamilton and NJ Transit."
Gilmore has said the project is an economic boon for the township. And on Friday the mayor had strong words for the GOP plan.

"What the GOP majority on council has done by their ordinance, which to me seems nothing more than a shameless attempt to pander to a couple of streets in the township at the expense of the entire township, has already had a chilling effect on those who were looking at Hamilton as a place to call home and to invest," Gilmore said.

The mayor said NJ Transit is concerned about the Republicans' intentions with the repeal of the redevelopment plan.

"(NJT officials) have made a strong investment in this project," Gilmore said. "I think there is concern and some disbelief about what has occurred."

Transit officials have approached several local and state officials to try to ensure support for the plan, including Gilmore and Assemblyman Bill Baroni, R-Hamilton.

"NJ Transit is obviously very interested in Hamilton and its Transit Village, and they clearly want to keep the communication lines open with elected officials in Hamilton," Baroni said.
The township's redevelopment plan, adopted by the council in January 2004, directs development in the sprawling redevelopment zone, which covers 1,000 acres and some 190 properties in the northwestern portion of Hamilton.

There are three major developments planned or under construction in the zone, including a 680-unit condominium, apartment and town home development on the site of the former American Standard factory.

In addition, a mixed-use development proposed to include 300 homes, a 200-room hotel and about 325,000 square feet of retail and office space is planned for the area surrounding the NJ Transit station.

The Republican councilmen say that only by rescinding the existing plan and going back to the drawing board can officials get public opinion on the development and adopt a plan that works.
The project calls for too much housing on too small an area, the councilmen say, and will overburden roads in an already congested area. The GOP also has charged that the project was pushed through too quickly and despite bitter objections from hundreds of residents who live in the shadow of the proposed development.

Since the announcement of the Republicans' ordinance to rescind the development plan, township officials have called the GOP strategy a disaster and have sought to portray the move as financially devastating to the township.

The project would bring the township significant revenue, officials insist, and create an economic engine.

Pone and his Cornell Heights neighbors have fought the redevelopment plan from the start, even filing a suit against the developer of the homes at the American Standard site. Pone made rescinding the plan one of his first priorities. He said he is determined to see the plan rescinded.
"There is no wavering whatsoever in this," Pone said. "If the (American Standard housing project) gets upheld in court, we will have to take an even closer look at the NJ Transit site because of the total housing density. Whatever we can get back to the drawing board needs to go back."

Pone said the GOP councilmen don't feel the area should remain undeveloped but believe the plan needs to be changed and the public's opinions heard.

"I'm still confident that we can go back to the drawing board and make a project that actually makes sense and will actually work. What's there now won't work."

Despite the Republicans' bold move against the existing plan, Gilmore and the Democrats still have the upper hand. A veto of the proposed ordinance by Gilmore would require four council votes to overturn. Gilmore has said he is not in favor of scrapping the plan but did not say for certain that he would veto the ordinance.

The two Democratic members of council last week voted against introducing the ordinance and both have expressed reservations about the way the move was handled by the GOP.

Councilman Ed Pattik, who voted in favor of the plan in 2004 said his views on the redevelopment haven't changed.

"I believe strongly in this project," Pattik said. "I voted for it and I'm not going to run from that. I believe this is great for the whole township."

Pattik said his concerns were for the township's legal and financial standing given the revenue the new development could bring in.

Estimates provided by Lennar homes, the builder chosen by NJT to develop its property, show potential tax revenues of $4 million per year to the township.

The new ordinance is scheduled for a public hearing March 7.

Contact Darryl Isherwood at disherwood@njtimes.com or at (609) 989-5708.

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