E.B. still waiting for redevelopment plan
Golden Triangle design awaits DEP approval, twp. attorney says
BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer

EAST BRUNSWICK - - Toll Brothers' plans for the Golden Triangle are three months past due, though the developer has met with township employees recently to discuss the concept plan and design.

The site plan was due to the township by Nov. 15 so that Planning Board hearings could begin on the matter. The redevelopment plan is to include a transit village of housing, retail and office space, along with a commuter parking deck, on the Route 18 property where Sam's Club is currently located.

Officials said they are not concerned about the lateness of the application.

Township Attorney Michael Baker attributed the delay to a required approval from the state Department of Environmental Protection for wetlands delineation near the proposed parking deck.

Mayor William Neary said the developer has submitted a "basic plan" to the Planning and Engineering Department.

"It's basically the same plan they've talked about," he said, noting that he does not actually learn about development applications until they are before the Planning Board, of which he is a member. He said the board should have the application within the next couple of months.

Baker said Toll Brothers has met and discussed the concept plan and design with the township's planning and engineering staff on several occasions, but it cannot submit a final plan until the DEP signs off on it. After the DEP approval is secured, he said, Toll Brothers will finalize the footprint and the location for the utilities.

The Planning Board phase is critical because the plans will show just how many residential units Toll Brothers wants to build, along with the amount of office, retail and parking being proposed. The board will ultimately vote on the plan's approval.

Toll Brothers originally proposed 210 units of age-restricted housing, but after negotiations with the township, the redevelopment plan was changed to allow 402 condominium units, without the age restriction. Neary has said the township received $5 million more from Toll Brothers for making the change. Toll Brothers ultimately paid the township $35 million for the property, and agreed to give the township one-time payments of $20,000 for each school-age child who moves into the new units and attends the township's schools.

Though it is not known just how much commercial and office space will be proposed, Toll Brothers' original plans called for 250,000 to 287,000 square feet of retail space and 250,000 square feet of office space.

Toll Brothers has declined to comment on the status of the application, but officials are confident the firm is moving forward with it. Baker said he believes that if Toll Brothers decided to sell its controlling interest in the property, rather than move forward with the redevelopment plan, it would need the governing body's consent. He stressed that the township has not received any indication the developer would want to do so.