Snuff mill project slows with real estate market
New state COAH regulations may also affect redevelopment
BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer
The redeveloper of Helmetta's historic snuff mill is proceeding with the $70 million housing and retail project despite delays.

Highland Park-based Kaplan Cos. demolished nine buildings and an old water tower on the 32- acre former Helme Tobacco Co. site, which has been vacant since the snuff mill closed in 1993.

The plans call for an agerestricted community of 225 condominiums and two-bedroom flats, as well as 10,000 square feet of retail space and a civic center building to be donated to the borough. The new community is called Heritage at Helmetta.

Kaplan was hoping to have final approval from the borough Planning Board and have construction underway by now, but a market slowdown and other issues have delayed the process. The firm's president, Jason Kaplan, said the demolition work is finished, and the company is ready to build on the site once the permitting process is completed.

Helmetta Mayor Nancy Martin said she does not expect construction to begin this year, despite earlier expectations that development would commence this spring or summer. She noted that the market for age-restricted housing is poor at the moment, but the project is going forward.

"We are proceeding because we do not know how the economy is going to change," Martin said.

Martin refuted rumors that non-age-restricted apartments were going to be planned for the site. She said the redevelopment plan does not allow the developer to build that type of residences on the site. "I would like to diffuse the rumors," Martin said. "With the impact on school taxes, we would never allow apartments in there."

Kaplan confirmed that point. He added that any changes to the plan would have to be presented to the borough publicly for approval.

The state's fiscal problems and the economic downturn have presented new challenges for this project, but Kaplan said his firm is working with the same plan it had all along, only making changes as required by the Planning Board.

The developer is scheduled to appear before the Planning Board inMay, according to Martin. She said the permitting process is time consuming, since the developer has to apply to other municipalities that provide services such as water and sewer to the borough.

"There are other communities involved in the process," Martin said.

Just what part of the project is built first remains to be determined, and is partly based on the economy and market factors, Kaplan said.

"We are just going to finalize all of the permitting and approvals and then evaluate it at that point," Kaplan said.

Martin noted that while the state's new Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) regulations could increase the percentage of COAH units, the project remains unchanged for now.

"Nothing has changed as far as the redevelopment project," Martin said. Kaplan said the number of COAH units that would be built on the site and the percentage of those units that would be designated for seniors depends on the new regulations that the state comes up with.

"It really depends," Kaplan said. "The intention is still [to build units that are all] age-restricted."

If non-age-restricted housing has to be included, those units would be built on parcel five, along Main Street, Kaplan said. However, Martin said that one way the borough will attempt to meet the new COAH regulations is by renewing the affordable housing units that currently exist in the borough. She added that most towns would struggle to comply with increased COAH requirements, due to the tax burden they would present on residents.

"Most municipalities are not going to be able to comply with those requirements, because it has a huge impact on municipalities," Martin said.