Apartment Developers Ask For Local Zoning Changes

By Andrew Gorosko

A New Jersey development firm has proposed new zoning regulations to the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) that, if approved, would allow it to submit an application to build a 126-unit luxury rental apartment complex on the west side of Edmond Road, near Exit 10 of Interstate-84.

The firm simultaneously is pursuing an approval from the Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) to discharge wastewater generated by such an apartment complex into the municipal sewer system.

The proposed zoning regulations submitted to the P&Z by Princewood Properties, LLC, of Princeton, N.J., would create a new land use called a “multiple family housing development,” which would be allowed only in M-2 Industrial zones, such as the 27-acre site on the west side of Edmond where it wants to build the apartment complex. Town zoning regulations currently do not allow such apartment complexes in any zone.

In its regulatory proposal, Princewood describes minimum lot sizes, vehicular access, frontage, setbacks, construction density, waste disposal, building sizes, building separation distances, and design standards. The P&Z has scheduled a public hearing on the proposed zoning amendment for August 3.

Jeffrey Albert, managing member of Princewood Properties, said June 12, “We are trying to get a sewer allocation from the WPCA.”

Princewood representatives attended a June 8 WPCA meeting to discuss the development proposal, but because the WPCA did not achieve a quorum, discussion on the matter was postponed.

Mr Albert said Princewood is not interested in building a motel or hotel on the Edmond Road site. The firm mentioned that type of land use in a past letter to the WPCA only to illustrate that its proposed apartment complex would require less sewage treatment capacity than a 150-200 room motel or hotel, Mr Albert explained.

Princewood has estimated that its proposed apartment complex would require 18,000 gallons of daily sewage treatment capacity at the joint town-state sewage treatment plant on Commerce Road. A small section of the Edmond Road property is in the town’s sewer district.

“It’s a plan we are enthusiastic about,” Mr Albert said.

The complex would enclose approximately 130,000 square feet of space, he said. Based on a construction value of $125 per square foot, a complex that size would have a value of approximately $16.25 million.

Princewood recently submitted drawings to the WPCA depicting the high-density complex that it wants to build. The drawings indicate seven apartment buildings, plus a clubhouse/leasing office and an outdoor swimming pool, arrayed across the 27-acre property owned by Harriet B. Edwards and the Reid S. and Nancy L. Barker Family Limited Partnership. Princewood has an option to buy the land, which has long been discussed as a development site. The site, which has extensive wetlands, lies between the Shell gas station on Church Hill Road and the Rand-Whitney factory at the intersection of Edmond Road and Schoolhouse Hill Road.

At the site, Princewood proposes creating a total of 264 parking spaces, 81 of which would be in garages. Such a development project would require multiple approvals from town land use agencies, including the Conservation Commission serving as the town’s wetlands agency.

Mr Albert said Princewood wants to proceed as quickly as reasonably possible in obtaining town approvals for its apartment complex proposal. The firm needs positive responses from both the WPCA and the P&Z to continue with its planning, he said.

 In March, WPCA members asked Princewood to formulate conceptual plans for the apartment complex to provide members with a basis by which to evaluate the sewage treatment capacity requirements of the project.

Princewood has explained to WPCA members that the availability of sewer service would be a key aspect of the project, adding that unless the development firm is allocated sufficient sewage treatment capacity by the WPCA, it probably would not proceed with the project.

The Princewood project is one of the three high-density residential projects that have been proposed during the past several months for properties which are within the sewer district or near it. All three developers are seeking municipal sewer service.

The other proposals are Benchmark Assisted Living’s proposal for a 78-unit assisted living complex for the elderly on Church Hill Road at The Boulevard, which is within the sewer district; and Ginsburg Development Connecticut’s, proposal for 110 townhouse condominium units for people over age 55, for a site on Mt Pleasant Road, near Taunton Lake Drive. The Ginsburg site abuts the sewer district.

The municipal sewer system was designed with current town zoning regulations and zoning designations in mind. The WPCA has a development framework with which it decides how to allocate the town’s limited remaining sewage treatment capacity at the sewage treatment plant