Mayor calls for end to redevelopment
Council considers selling vacant school property
BY MICHAEL ACKER
Staff Writer

SOUTH RIVER - Officials may put an end to the redevelopment process for three sites in the borough, after residents voiced opposition to the measure.

The municipality's proposal to redevelop three separate sites includes a 3.3-acre site at the intersection of Old Bridge Turnpike and Prospect Street, which is the current location of Witty's Liquors; a 1-acre parcel on Main Street near Thomas Street, where the former Eckerd building stands; and the vacant Lincoln School and surrounding properties.

The borough owns the Lincoln School property, which Democratic Mayor Robert Szegeti recommended that the council put up for sale, at their June 11 public meeting. Szegeti asked that the council seek out an updated and current appraisal of the property, removing the property from the redevelopment plan.

"This will put the building back on the tax rolls, so [the municipality] can start collecting taxes from that," Szegeti said.

Szegeti scaled the wish list for redevelopment down in July 2006, after residents voiced opposition to the proposal. The properties that were eliminated were all of the properties on the 1.5-acre site of the vacant Lincoln School, except for the school itself, which is borough-owned.

Also removed from the proposal was the Krauszer's store and the retail, residential and religious properties adjacent to it in the area of Main Street. Only the vacant Eckerd building and a parking lot remain in the proposal for redevelopment in that zone.

Szegeti said that the owners of the Witty's property are still discussing their plans for the site. He added that despite his call for an end to the redevelopment process, he believes that the stalled redevelopment proposal would have been good for the borough.

"I think redevelopment does work," Szegeti said.

Republican Councilman Raymond Eppinger, who is running against Szegeti for mayor in November, noted that the Lincoln School property is still in a redevelopment zone, adding that he would like to see a review of the appraisal by the attorney before making a decision.

"I'd be more inclined to go along with this if we got rid of the redevelopment zone [designation]," Eppinger said.

Republican Councilman John Krenzel said that the council will be in a better position to make a decision once the proper research is done. He added that the idea of making the property a tax producer is an appealing one.

"Anything we can get on the tax rolls is wonderful," Krenzel said.

The Department of Recreation was moved from the Lincoln School, Business Administrator Andrew Salerno told the Sentinel, adding that the municipality is currently in the process of moving the food bank and emergency management services out of the site as well.

"We are not going to be utilizing it, so it makes sense to turn it into a property-tax-producing property," Salerno said.

"For municipalities or the public sector, just generally speaking, vacant buildings are not an asset to a municipality," Salerno added. "You have to secure it, insure it, take care of it."

Council President David Sliker elaborated on the mayor's call for the sale of the Lincoln School property.

"We are asking the [borough] attorney to get the appraisal updated, so that we can have it sent out to auction sometime shortly," Sliker told the Sentinel.

The motion that was originally requested by the mayor was to send it directly out to auction, but the motion was amended to have the attorney review the last appraisal of the property before the council makes a decision, Sliker said. He added that the attorney, the tax assessor and the tax collector will discuss their review at the council's public meeting on June 25.

Sliker said that the council also asked the attorney to review rescinding the redevelopment ordinance altogether at the July 2 meeting, thereby ending the redevelopment process in the borough.

"Redevelopment will no longer be viable in South River," Sliker said. "That was the proposal."

The council will render a decision based on the attorney's report, Sliker said.

"Redevelopment has met some resistance," Sliker said, adding that the decision to rescind the redevelopment ordinance would be based on public resistance to the measure. This action would rescind redevelopment for all three zones, he said.

"The government will not be involved in any form of redevelopment," Sliker said of the possibility of another redevelopment proposal in the future. "It's clearly obvious that the community doesn't want it and does not support it."

Eppinger said that he was surprised by Szegeti's recent statements regarding the redevelopment proposal.

"The whole council needs to discuss this and decide," Eppinger told the Sentinel. "Why are we deciding today that we are going to sell it, and why do the members of the governing body and the business administrator not have any idea what is going on?"

Eppinger and fellow Republicans have opposed redevelopment as Szegeti has proposed it since early 2006, saying that there has not been enough input from residents and members of the council throughout the process.

Eppinger said that while selling the Lincoln School may be in the borough's best interests, he wants to know more, including whether the ordinance designating the property a redevelopment zone will be rescinded. He added that he would also like to know what the money earned from the sale of the school will go toward.

"It's not that anybody is against doing this," Eppinger said, "but it would be nice if, before having votes, maybe we could discuss this."

Szegeti told the Sentinel that the purpose he had for expediting the process of selling the Lincoln School property is to get it on the tax rolls as soon as possible.

"I think it is a beautiful piece of property and I would want to see a commercial piece of property there," Szegeti said.

Szegeti reiterated his belief that redevelopment is beneficial for municipalities and would have been good for South River. He added that the council may consider revitalization rather than redevelopment.

"The sooner we can get the appraisal completed and we can put [the Lincoln School] up for sale, the better, because, one, it will beautify the neighborhood and two it will add to the tax rolls."