Officials: No progress on bringing ballpark Marketplace idea lost momentum; Rt. 33 panel stopped meeting BY JESSICA SMITH Staff Writer MONROE - Despite township officials' efforts to cover all bases in planning for a ballpark complex on Route 33, bringing the project to fruition has proven to be a whole other ballgame. "At some point, it just didn't make any sense," said Township Council President Gerald Tamburro. "The ballpark, if it isn't on life support, it is probably dead." Township Environmental Protection Manager John Riggs said the minor league baseball stadium was supposed to be built with no public funds from the township or county. According to Tamburro, the developers ended up looking for money from both entities, for infrastructure and other components of the project. Steve Kalafer, owner of the Somerset Patriots and Newark Bears minor league baseball teams, wanted to establish a team in southern Middlesex County, Riggs said. The ballpark was to be the central feature of what would be called Monroe Marketplace, located on westbound Route 33 near Applegarth and Perrineville roads. The overall project was to include high-end retail establishments, luxury condominiums, a park-and-ride facility and a performing arts center. The Make-A-Wish Foundation Headquarters, which will be built to look like a castle, is the one component of the project that Riggs said is a sure thing. The Route 33 Land Use Task Force was headed by former Planning Board member and Environmental Protection Manager Joe Montanti, who died in April 2006. It was the goal of the task force to work out plans and guidelines for the future development of both sides of Monroe's two-and-a-half mile stretch of Route 33. The most intensive portion would be planned for between Perrineville and Applegarth roads, Riggs said. "The driving force of the task force was really Mr. Montanti," Tamburro said. "We kind of just kept things in limbo [since his death]." Tamburro said township officials will now look to Riggs for guidance on the project. Township Engineer Ernie Feist was chosen by Mayor Richard Pucci to replace Montanti as chairman of the task force. According to both Riggs and Feist, the project will most likely be addressed as part of the town's new master plan analysis, which will be worked on over next year. A new master plan is slated for adoption in 2009. The task force has not convened in over a year, according to Feist. He said the group's work will likely be absorbed by the master plan subcommittee when it is formed later in the year. "The task force hasn't met since that time, because ... interest seems to have waned, and I think it has to do with the housing market taking a downturn," Feist said. Riggs said the task force will have to be reformulated before further plans take shape. "I don't think this task force has been dissolved, I just think it's been put on the back burner," said David DeMarco, chairman of the Planning Board and a task force member. In 2005, a community impact statement and analysis was conducted to determine whether the project was a prudent move for the township, Riggs said. Further studies that were in the works, however, were not completed after Montanti's death. Before the project moves forward, Riggs said, community impact statements done by the town and the developers would be necessary, as such studies are time-sensitive. Public input would also be sought, he said. "We don't want to make decisions that are going to have a negative impact on our community," Riggs said. The ballpark complex plans aimed to enhance the community by creating a destination that would be both aesthetically pleasing and profitable for the town. Though the plans remain unclear, Riggs said, officials' vision for the Route 33 corridor is the same. "We want to do upscale development," Riggs said. "We don't want our Route 33 to turn into another Route 9 or Route 18. Anybody can put up a store, but to make it look attractive is what our goal is." Riggs said the plan is to have retail establishments with greater setbacks from the road, and to include "blue and green" in their landscaping. The greenery and water features on the properties would help create a mixed-use scenario there, where people would not only come to shop, but also to walk or jog and enjoy the grounds, Riggs said. The corridor is zoned for highway development use, which includes retail and light industrial. For the residential portion of the project to materialize, a change in zoning would be necessary. According to Riggs, the new zoning would likely bring higher land values. When the community impact studies were conducted, Tamburro said, the developers could not prove that the residential portion of the plans would not create a burden for taxpayers. At the time, the developers wanted non-age-restricted housing there, which would have brought more students into the school district, Tamburro said. "We weren't adequately prepared at that point to deal with that," Tamburro said. Since no zoning changes have taken place yet, Riggs said it is possible that some property owners between Applegarth Road and Twin Rivers are exercising their legal option to proceed with development there. Though most of the plans are uncertain, there has been talk of a warehouse and a strip mall in the works for the area, he said. The only definite retail development in the works under current zoning is a strip mall at the former location of Over Billy's Inn at Route 33 and Butcher Road, which Riggs said is slated to come before the Planning Board soon. Officials said in the past that they did not want the corridor to be developed in a piecemeal fashion, as that would mar the goals for the area.