Board wants Pulda land for senior homes
Township Council to
introduce ordinance on July 6
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer

The North Brunswick Planning Board will recommend the Township Council change the master plan to allow senior housing on the Pulda farm.

Despite months of opposition from residents to its plan for rezoning the 70-acre property off Old Georges Road for a planned adult community, board members voted 9-0 Tuesday night in favor of proposing an ordinance that would allow a developer to build approximately 340 age-restricted dwellings on the land.

Board member Bill Goldstein, who acts as an alternate in the absence of another member, did not have a chance to vote but said he will continue to oppose the recommendation.

Resident Ben Galioto has a petition signed by more than 750 people who would prefer officials keep the land zoned R-1 for the development of single-family residential homes, if the township could not preserve the land as open space.

"I’m opposed to this rezoning more than ever, after seeing the developer’s plans for this site," Galioto, who lives in a housing development next to the farm, said.

Representatives from Edge-wood Properties, a real estate development company and contract purchaser of the Pulda farm, presented the company’s conceptual design for an adult community to board members last week.

The plan consisted of about 320 dwellings for active adults over the age of 55 in a mixture of buildings that include four-story apartment flats just off Old Georges Road, four-unit-long townhouse structures behind the flats, and single-family homes on the part of the property near Farrington Lake.

Edgewood Properties also included a village of retail stores on Old Georges Road in its conceptual plans.

When weighing in on the board’s proposed rezoning ordinance, Doug Wolfson, an attorney for Piscataway-based Edgewood Properties, told members.

"For the record, the developer would prefer to build single-family homes at this site."

Wolfson said a development of single-family homes would conform better to neighborhoods surrounding the Pulda Farm.

Galioto, who lives in one of the adjacent neighborhoods, said, "I would rather see them build the single-family homes. The condo­minium flats are going to be 57 feet high according to their plans."

Many residents argue a planned adult community on Old Georges Road would increase traffic on nearby roads and Route 130.

The board did engage an inde­pendent traffic consultant, who re­ported that the traffic generated by the proposed adult community would be slightly less than if the site were built out as single-family resi­dences.

"A development like the one the board is proposing will devalue ev­ery home in the surrounding area, without a doubt," Galioto said.

Most of those who have spoke at board and council meetings would prefer to see the township preserve one of the last large tracts of land in town as a farm or open space.

When township officials received word from Edgewood Properties in March that the company is under contract to purchase the farm, Mayor Francis "Mac" Womack said, "Since purchasing the land for open space is no longer an option, the next best thing is to rezone it for senior housing."

Council liaison and Board mem­ber Bob Davis said many residents support the development of senior housing in town.

"There is a need for senior hous­ing in North Brunswick," Davis said. "It wouldn’t be fair to ask our old­est residents, some of who built this town, to leave and go live in an adult community in another town."

Board Chairman Ralph Andrews said another bonus of building an adult community is the $2 million ratable it would provide for town­ship schools.

Morris Enyeart, a former North Brunswick Democratic councilman, supported the board’s recommenda­tion to rezone the land at the meet­ing.

"We need this type of facility," Enyeart said. "Just because it’s a great property does not mean se­niors don’t deserve to live there."

Previously, Enyeart said he did not want any development on the Pulda Farm.

In 1994, under the administration of Mayor Paul Matacera, he cast one of the only two votes in favor of amending the township’s master plan to disallow any potential de­velopment there.

The township’s Open Space Committee and Environmental Commission continue to urge offi­cials to try to obtain the property to fill the township’s open space deficit, as outlined in the 2000 Open Space Plan.

According to the plan, the town­ship needs at least 60 acres to meet the needs of the town population calculated in the last census.

The plan specifically cites the Pulda Farm as a means to fill the open space deficit.

Residents continue to allege that township officials will disregard their pleas for keeping the land as open space because of their ties to the contract purchaser of the farm.

Since 1997, Jack Morris, the principal of Edgewood Properties, and his companies donated nearly $700,000 to New Jersey Democrats, according to ELEC reports.

Last year, $144,500 of those funds went to a Middlesex County Demo­cratic Organization political action committee that bankrolled the suc­cessful campaign of the current mayor and his running mates, Carlo Socio and Rhonda Lyles.

Currently, Democrats fill all of the seats on the council.

"Whether it’s true or not, this should get all residents involved in this plan," Galioto said.

The council could introduce the ordinance for first reading as soon as its July 6 meeting.

Council members will meet in a workshop meeting at 7 p.m. on June 21 in the council room at the munic­ipal building.