Wayne Council OKs General Development Plan At Former Toys "R" Us Site
WAYNE, NJ — Wayne Township council members approved a general development plan for the former Toys "R" Us site in Wayne after a lengthy discussion Wednesday night. That general development plan (GDP) and the site plan will now head to the township Planning Board for final approval. The GDP only outlines the site's zoning and maximum heights of the buildings, and does not include how many structures will be built or where parking will be. The township has long been expecting the 181-acre site to become a new residential complex, but officials only recently reached a preliminary agreement with the property owners over the exact placement of the apartment buildings, and how tall they would be. "(The owners) insisted on four eight-story buildings up until very recently," Mayor Chris Vergano said at the meeting. The GDP includes one eight-story building and several other buildings that can be between three and five stories tall. The final settlement agreement with Point View Wayne Properties has not yet been executed, officials said Wednesday; the Planning Board will discuss it in a closed session during their meeting on Oct. 28. The plan is for 1,360 residential units to be built on the mostly-vacant site, with 272 residences set aside for affordable housing. This number of units was set forth in a 2021 settlement agreement with the Fair Share Housing Center, and the township hosted a public information session about the Toys "R" Us site and a number of other ongoing housing projects in February of that year.During a public hearing Wednesday about the proposed development plan for the property, residents expressed concerns about increased traffic on Geoffrey Way, proposed environmental issues, added strain on existing sewer infrastructure, and potential stormwater runoff into the Point View Reservoir and other nearby waterways.Several people also asked for a greater "buffer zone" between the development and the nearby Lionshead Lake and Pines Lake neighborhoods, so the buildings were not so close to their homes. Township planners said that they could likely not re-negotiate that part of the settlement with Point View Wayne Properties, which set the buffer at 100 feet. Since the land is owned by a private company, and Wayne is constitutionally mandated to provide its "fair share" of affordable housing, Vergano and some other officials said the township was limited in what it could control on this project.The ordinance on the general development plan passed 5-2, with 5th Ward councilwoman Francine Ritter and 2nd Ward councilman Al Sadowski voting "no." Council members Jill Sasso and Jonathan Ettman were not present at the meeting. Ritter and Sadowski have both been critical of the process to pass the GDP, with Ritter saying again Wednesday that the township had ample time to prepare for the next round of Mount Laurel affordable housing obligations, and planned developments themselves rather than leaving it up to the courts. "What have we been doing the past 16, 20, 26 years? We knew we had an obligation," Ritter asked. "It seems we do a better job of negotiating with private developers' lawyers than we do with lawyers that serve our interests."Planner Chris Koch said that when Point View Wayne approached officials in 2019 about this particular project, the township was still far from meeting their third round obligation of 2,271 affordable units. "Until we meet the full (obligation), we can't turn anyone away," he said. "When they came forward, we had to engage with them. And if the projects met the criteria under the state — if it's developable, buildable, and so on — we had to work with them."In other business, council members also introduced two bond ordinances: One authorizing $1,638,750 for a new Pierce Pumper Truck for Fire Company #5, and another that would appropriate $1,435,000 for the resurfacing of West Belt Parkway. And, there will be a slight change in the fee structure for the soon-to-be Wayne Community Center, for standard monthly memberships: A "student" category has been added for residents between the ages of 14 and 17. So, for residents, the standard monthly memberships are priced as follows:Youth (ages 2-13): $10Student (ages 14-17): $25Adult (ages 18-61): $39Senior (ages 62+): 29Family: $79The article Wayne Council OKs General Development Plan At Former Toys "R" Us Site appeared first on Wayne, NJ Patch.
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