Residents raise concerns about train station plans

Aberdeen Township officials have designated the area surrounding the Aberdeen-Matawan Train Station as an area in need of redevelopment. ABERDEEN — Traffic, environmental impacts and eminent domain were among the concerns raised during a public hearing on redevelopment of the area surrounding the Aberdeen-Matawan Train Station.

During the Feb. 15 Planning Board meeting, officials approved the preliminary investigative report by Coppola & Coppola Associates designating the 62.81 acres surrounding the Aberdeen portion of the train station as in need of redevelopment.

“There have been changes to the governing statute, which is the redevelopment law, and the governing body wanted to be certain that anything that was of record in the township for this redevelopment area was up to date and accurate,” Richard Coppola, township planner, said.

“It doesn’t change anything but to recheck that the subject land area still meets the statutory criteria, which this report concludes it does.”

Residents who live within 200 feet of the train station redevelopment area were notified of the meeting, and some came to voice their concerns.

“How is this redevelopment going to affect me? I live up the block from the area,” Michael Ledesma, a resident of Dolan Avenue, asked.

Coppola explained that at this time there is no redevelopment plan, but residents would get a better idea when the governing body begins the next phase.

“When the ordinance is adopted, this board and the governing body like to have a concept plan included in a redevelopment plan ordinance in order to afford the opportunity for interested parties, neighbors, to take a look and get a feel for what might be the result,” Coppola said. “It is a concept plan, not a site plan, but it will include a layout.”

Ledesma said he is concerned about possible traffic impacts from the redevelopment.

“My main concern is that it is a very residential area, it is very quiet, it is a dead-end street. We have children in the neighborhood who run, and the street is very narrow, so I don’t know if the traffic can handle such a complex that is proposed.”

Resident Mark Teichman told the board that a stipulation should be made that eminent domain would not be used.

“My concern with any redevelopment zone is that it opens the possibility for use of eminent domain. Pass any ordinance or plan, but put a stipulation into it that eminent domain won’t be used to accomplish the goal,” he said. “I would rather not live in a town where eminent domain is going to be taken for a purpose where it is not necessarily justified.”

Teichman said residents need to know whether the township would exercise its power to condemn properties.

“If after the study you find that eminent domain is warranted, then pass that power as a separate act and draw light on it so that everyone in the town knows that in order to achieve this goal, you have to take this significant step.”

Coppola said the board could make that decision in the future.

“You don’t make that decision now, but according to the statute, once you designate an area as an area in need of redevelopment, powers of eminent domain are an option given to you,” he said.

“Obviously, it is meant to be used judiciously, fairly — only used by a municipality when it would bring about the better plan for the residents of the community.”

According to Coppola, the study is the first step of a three-step process, and the next step would be for the Planning Board to prepare a redevelopment plan ordinance.

“That is the ordinance provision that will govern the development of the portion, at least of the redevelopment area,” Coppola said.

The final phase would be to designate a developer who will submit a site plan, which will include the structures, landscaping, parking, open space and other details .

Chris Mularadelis, a member of theAberdeen Shade Tree Commission, raised concerns about the wildlife and greenery that might be affected with the development.

“It is wonderful that we are shedding light on the property,” Mularadelis said. “Just shed light on the wildlife that is there, the trees, if somehow we can be conscious of that. Maybe some of the more mature trees we could save; maybe we could have some recreational purposes there.”

Coppola said that the report includes environmentally fragile lands such as freshwater wetlands to be considered.

“It talks about the logical basis of these lands for open space preservation, protect the flora and fauna which currently occupies the land and also provide passive recreation amid the area,” he said.

The original transit village study in 1999 examined the entire redevelopment area, including land in Matawan. The new study examines only land in Aberdeen.

Coppola explained that the study in 1999 was updated in 2001 to include additional lands, and since that time, the land has not changed.

“The block numbers have changed a bit because the lands have been consolidated with each other, but the amount of land and the borders of the land area is identical as before,” Coppola said.

According to the report, approximately 23 lots are part of the Aberdeen redevelopment area, including the Aberdeen Township Superfund site and the SPC/Matawan site, two abandoned industrial and warehouse buildings.

Plans for a transit village area at the train station date to 1999 when Aberdeen designated a 59.5-acre area surrounding the station as a redevelopment area. Matawan followed suit in July 2000, designating 44.23 acres of land surrounding the Matawan portion of the train station for redevelopment.

The Matawan and Aberdeen partnership on the train station redevelopment ended in litigation.

Originally, Aberdeen was designated the lead agency for the project and retained Silver Oak Properties to act as redeveloper.

However, when Matawan hired the Columbia Group as redeveloper, Silver Oak sued the borough.

The Appellate Division of the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled on July 14, 2008, that Matawan and its Borough Council did not act improperly when they designated the Columbia Group as the redeveloper for the train station.

Aberdeen Mayor Fred Tagliarini could not determine when the next phase would begin, because NJ Transit, who owns more than half of the property, must give its approval.

“This whole thing is hinging on NJ Transit,” he said.

Tagliarini did reveal that several developers have come forward, but declined to give further information.