Jones Lang LaSalle
Hindu group plans to build vast complex
E. Windsor plan features temple, shopping
Friday, May 12, 2006
By JOYCE J. PERSICO
Staff Writer
EAST WINDSOR -- A proposed $142 million spiritual and commercial complex planned by a Hindu sect on 152 undeveloped acres near the New Jersey Turnpike will get a public airing later this month.
The complex, in development for more than two years, could prove a powerful draw for central New Jersey's Indian population if plans suggested by the B.A.P.S. sect -- Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha -- are well received during the public meeting May 25.
Preliminary plans call for a house of worship, assembly hall, shopping center, food court, restaurant, library, research facility and monument as well as centers for conferences and exhibitions, youth, yoga and meditation.
"This is the first proposal of its kind in New Jersey," said Anthony "Skip" Cimino of the Manalapan-based Schoor DePalma Engineering, a firm hired by B.A.P.S.
"The organization has deep roots in India and wants to be a good community citizen," said Cimino, who is a former Hamilton school board member, Mercer County freeholder, state assemblyman and state personnel director.
Before plans for the complex on land near Turnpike Exit 8 are submitted to the township government, the B.A.P.S. sect wants township residents to ask questions, express concerns and learn what the project will involve.
According to the proposal, the complex would be open to the public, and more than half its land would be preserved as open space.
At the May 25 presentation, representatives of the Indian socio-spiritual organization, with 1 million members worldwide, will detail what is proposed for the farmland tract west of Milford Road along the Turnpike and the Rocky Brook. Access would be from Milford Road.
B.A.P.S. bought the land two years ago and now leases it to farmers. Last year, the group approached the township with its intentions, and Mayor Janice S. Mironov suggested a public presentation before plans are offered.
"They approached the township with some informal discussions," Mironov said. "At this point, they haven't even finalized enough of a concept to make a public presentation."
Mironov said the complex would be "much more than a house of worship" but the buildings would cover "only 20 of the 152 acres."
Currently zoned industrial, the project would require a zoning change. The Conair Corp. is to the south of the property, which is at the edge of the township's business park.
"We have a significant presence of Indians and Asians in the township," Mironov said.
According to the 2000 Census, Asians were the fastest growing racial group in New Jersey during the 1990s, up by 77.3 percent (209,437 people), representing 5.9 percent of the state's total population.
According to the documentary "Coming from India," New Jersey ranks third in the United States in Asian Indian population after California and New York.
"This is a large project in its very initial stages," Cimino said. "We agree with the mayor that it's important to receive public input regarding our concept from the initial stages."
He said the site near the Turnpike makes for easy access without disrupting the community.
Cimino said it was "too premature" to "roll out a timeline" on the project. He said representatives of B.A.P.S. and lawyers Mark Citron and Henry Kent Smith will "detail the benefits to the community."
The proposed cultural center campus would include landscaped areas with ponds, fountain and gardens, with various facilities available for public use.
B.A.P.S. has a center on Woodbourne Road in Levittown, Pa., and others in Metuchen, Clifton, Edison, North Bergen, Cherry Hill and Jersey City.
Officials at the Metuchen offices of B.A.P.S. Inc., a non-profit organization, could not be reached for comment.
The conceptual plan will be presented at the Ramada Inn on Monmouth Street in East Windsor at 7:30 p.m. on May 25.
Contact Joyce J. Persico at jpersico@njtimes.com or at (609) 989-5662.
© 2006 The Times of Trenton
© 2006 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.
Hindu group plans to build vast complex
E. Windsor plan features temple, shopping
Friday, May 12, 2006
By JOYCE J. PERSICO
Staff Writer
EAST WINDSOR -- A proposed $142 million spiritual and commercial complex planned by a Hindu sect on 152 undeveloped acres near the New Jersey Turnpike will get a public airing later this month.
The complex, in development for more than two years, could prove a powerful draw for central New Jersey's Indian population if plans suggested by the B.A.P.S. sect -- Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha -- are well received during the public meeting May 25.
Preliminary plans call for a house of worship, assembly hall, shopping center, food court, restaurant, library, research facility and monument as well as centers for conferences and exhibitions, youth, yoga and meditation.
"This is the first proposal of its kind in New Jersey," said Anthony "Skip" Cimino of the Manalapan-based Schoor DePalma Engineering, a firm hired by B.A.P.S.
"The organization has deep roots in India and wants to be a good community citizen," said Cimino, who is a former Hamilton school board member, Mercer County freeholder, state assemblyman and state personnel director.
Before plans for the complex on land near Turnpike Exit 8 are submitted to the township government, the B.A.P.S. sect wants township residents to ask questions, express concerns and learn what the project will involve.
According to the proposal, the complex would be open to the public, and more than half its land would be preserved as open space.
At the May 25 presentation, representatives of the Indian socio-spiritual organization, with 1 million members worldwide, will detail what is proposed for the farmland tract west of Milford Road along the Turnpike and the Rocky Brook. Access would be from Milford Road.
B.A.P.S. bought the land two years ago and now leases it to farmers. Last year, the group approached the township with its intentions, and Mayor Janice S. Mironov suggested a public presentation before plans are offered.
"They approached the township with some informal discussions," Mironov said. "At this point, they haven't even finalized enough of a concept to make a public presentation."
Mironov said the complex would be "much more than a house of worship" but the buildings would cover "only 20 of the 152 acres."
Currently zoned industrial, the project would require a zoning change. The Conair Corp. is to the south of the property, which is at the edge of the township's business park.
"We have a significant presence of Indians and Asians in the township," Mironov said.
According to the 2000 Census, Asians were the fastest growing racial group in New Jersey during the 1990s, up by 77.3 percent (209,437 people), representing 5.9 percent of the state's total population.
According to the documentary "Coming from India," New Jersey ranks third in the United States in Asian Indian population after California and New York.
"This is a large project in its very initial stages," Cimino said. "We agree with the mayor that it's important to receive public input regarding our concept from the initial stages."
He said the site near the Turnpike makes for easy access without disrupting the community.
Cimino said it was "too premature" to "roll out a timeline" on the project. He said representatives of B.A.P.S. and lawyers Mark Citron and Henry Kent Smith will "detail the benefits to the community."
The proposed cultural center campus would include landscaped areas with ponds, fountain and gardens, with various facilities available for public use.
B.A.P.S. has a center on Woodbourne Road in Levittown, Pa., and others in Metuchen, Clifton, Edison, North Bergen, Cherry Hill and Jersey City.
Officials at the Metuchen offices of B.A.P.S. Inc., a non-profit organization, could not be reached for comment.
The conceptual plan will be presented at the Ramada Inn on Monmouth Street in East Windsor at 7:30 p.m. on May 25.
Contact Joyce J. Persico at jpersico@njtimes.com or at (609) 989-5662.
© 2006 The Times of Trenton
© 2006 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.
posted by Jones Lang LaSalle NJ News Blog at 10:35 AM
<< Home