Activity Report
September and October 2004

• Wal-Mart;

  We continue to attend LET's Stop Wal-Mart meetings. Laura Lynch will discuss the environmental impact of the proposed store, and of Wal-Marts in general, at a November 20 informational forum.

• Route 92:

  Franklin Township has agreed to give $10,000 towards the legal fees for Route 92 opposition.

  Princeton Borough has passed a resolution (at the urging of the Princeton Environmental Commission and Lincoln Hollister) to ask for conflict resolution. Their reasoning was based on the EPA's letter to the Army Corps that panned the DEIS. The EPA letter was released to the public after the public hearing.

  Public hearing transcripts are available online. Steve Masticola and Laura have been speaking with Martin Bierbaum of TCNJ's Municipal Land Use Center. Steve, Laura, Lincoln, and several other members of the Route 92 opposition, met with Mr. Bierbaum to explain the need for conflict mediation. We told him about the Penns Neck Area EIS Partners Roundtable process, and of the conflicts surrounding Route 92. Mr. Bierbaum appeared to be convinced that Route 92 needs mediation, but he was concerned about obtaining funding and approval from his Board of Directors.

• Hamilton Township:

  Hamilton is hiring Banesh Services to study downzoning and clustering for rezoning (they've been successful in East Amwell and Bedminster). Clustering will allow preservation of open space.

  Rocky Swingle, with Save Hamilton Open Space (SHOS), is involved in several projects:

  • Hamilton Transit Village:
    In addition to the planned Transit Village, a large housing development behind the station won approval from the Hamilton Township Planning Board.

    From Rocky Swingle's Save Hamilton Open Space update:

    "The largest buildings (the 5 apartment buildings and 4 condo buildings) will be what amounts to five stories - a garage level plus four residential stories. The 29 townhouse buildings will be 3 stories plus attic space.

    The "back" entrance onto Basin Rd. will be for emergency vehicles only.

    Residents asked for that. All traffic will be routed onto American Metro Dr. that will be shared with the American Metro office complex. That road will intersect Sloan at a new, signaled intersection being built now.

    Roads immediately adjacent to the project will be repaved but not widened. Upgrades to local sewers will be required.

    The traffic study did not include the impact of the real transit village planned for the NJT station across the tracks from this project. It's planned to have 300 housing units and another 500,000 square feet of retail and commercial space. We have asked numerous times for a regional traffic study to be done, to no avail.

    The property is owned by American Standard Properties. Steve Goldin is a 'contract purchaser'."

    Steve Goldin has contributed large amounts of money to Mayor Gilmore's campaign.

    Ed Pfeiffer testified at the Planning Board hearing. From Ed: "Last night, at the planning board I essentially said what we've been saying at our last group meeting and before. I said it's a good idea but that this particular development leaves a lot to be desired vis a vis access to the railway, density too high for the area generating the creation of more road infrastructure. I praised the idea, complimented them for cleaning up the brownfields, but criticized the development and urged the planning board not to rush into this and more careful review and a comprehensive traffic study that would look at area-wide implications."

  • Braghelli Tract
    Hamilton Township voted to preserve the tract behind Veteran's Park.

• Mercer County Greenway
  Pat Sayles and Dave Mattek have proposed the creation of a greenway across Mercer County. They are speaking with the County's planners and local groups, such as the Lawrence Township Conservation Foundation, to determine which parcels of land are available and whether or not the plan is feasible.

• Shrimp Farm
  Ed wrote a letter to Assemblyman Bob Smith concerning the bill to outlaw shrimp farming on preserved farmland; the letter requests that the bill be broadened to include all industrial uses on preserved farmland. Ed wrote,

  "This letter is a follow-up to my phone call to your office. I am writing to express my concerns over the permitted use of preserved farmlands for 'large scale industrialized farming' ventures. We do not believe that this in keeping with the original intent of the farmland preservation program. Assemblywoman Greenstein’s bill A-3074 addresses these concerns as they relate to an aquaculture development proposed for preserved farmland in Hamilton Township, Mercer County. While this bill is a very good first step towards resolving that inappropriate use for preserved farmland, I think that it does not go far enough in defining other inappropriate uses better restricted to industrialized zones.

  We at the Sierra Club are very concerned about the statewide implications of this issue and would like to address those concerns directly to your committee. We would also like to see an effective bill that restricts diverse industrialized uses - which might be mistaken for agricultural in name only. However, in process, scale, and area of land covered by structures, these practices could be defined as industrial and be suitably located in appropriate industrialized zones and not on preserved farmland. Additionally, we are very concerned about the potential for diversion of preserved farmland away from the intent of the program through bills such as A- 559 which would permit non-farming use of the land."