Senior residences sought for Kennedy Drive tract Gillette Towers seeks change from office/industrial use BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer The owner of property in Sayreville's waterfront redevelopment zone is seeking approval to change its use from industrial to residential. Gillette Towers, which gave an informal presentation before the Planning Board in April, is asking that the borough amend its redevelopment plan for a 4.75-acre site on Kennedy Drive and allow 136 senior residences. Uses currently allowed on the site are warehousing, office space and public uses such as a parkand ride. Gillette Towers would like the town to permit singlebedroom residences for senior citizens on their site. For that to happen, the board would have to recommend the zone change to the Borough Council, which could then amend its zoning ordinance. Attorney Karl Meyertons, speaking for Gillette Towers, said the purpose of the change would be to provide adequate housing for area seniors, particularly widows, who may be on waiting lists for other senior housing communities. He noted that the location of the site near the Garden State Parkway makes it ideal for this use. Engineer Bhaskar Halari of Manalapan-based Concept Engineering Consultants also spoke, saying the borough granted site plan approval in 2002 for a three-story office building on this property, with an entrance onMain Street Extension and an exit on Kennedy Drive. If changed to residential, the layout of the site would remain mostly the same, Halari added. Single-family residences are located south of the site on Main Street, Halari said. He noted that the site offers an opportunity to provide "a good transition of uses" for the residential and industrial properties nearby. Gillette Towers is proposing 136 onebedroom units and 195 parking spaces, Halari said. Halari said this would be less impervious than the previous plan and would include a more residential-style of architecture. Planner James Higgins said a redevelopment plan is much more controlling than standard zoning ordinances, so the company needs the town to amend the plan, rather than the company applying to the Zoning Board of Adjustment for a use variance. He said the amended use would be consistent with the redevelopment plan adopted in 1999, and the project would add to the mix of uses permitted in the redevelopment plan. Though it is included in the redevelopment area, Gillette Towers is the farthest parcel from the waterfront, Higgins said. The senior housing, he said, would be a positive tax ratable for the municipality and would therefore advance one of the goals of the redevelopment plan, to increase the property-tax base of the borough. Higgins said the senior housing would have a limited impact on neighboring streets and would generate less traffic than the office use initially proposed. Borough Engineer Jay Cornell could not confirm how senior housing would affect traffic in the area, since he said that applicants do not submit traffic information to his office for informal hearings. Board Planner John Leoncavello said the senior housing could be a good transitional use, as the applicant said, since it would not generate school-age children. He agreed that senior housing would be unlikely to generate as much traffic as an office or a warehouse. "Traffic, generally speaking, is probably very slight and it is off-peak," Leoncavello said. Planning Board Chairman Dr. John Misiewicz said that while he wants to hear what neighboring residents have to say about the idea at the next hearing, he did not have any issues with the concept at this time. Planning Board Attorney James P. Hoebich noted that the board is not statutorily required to provide public notice of the hearing, since it is informal. He added that the board would provide advance notice to the public when the applicant requests a formal hearing on the matter. Planning Board Vice Chairman Thomas Tighe said that O'Neill Properties, of King of Prussia, Pa., should be notified as well, since it is the borough's designated redeveloper for the 400-plus-acre National Lead redevelopment site. As long as proper notice is given to residents for the formal hearing, he said he did not have a problem with the concept plan so far. Planning Board member Daniel Volosin, however, said the intent of the redevelopment plan was to have the Gillette Towers site be an industrial property. "I think it should remain that way," he said. Volosin said he is concerned that the proposed senior housing could negatively impact traffic in the area. "The density is going to increase quite a bit," Volosin said. Misiewicz said later that the number of residential units and other items proposed are subject to change as the process continues and the applicant seeks formal approval. The original owner of the property proposed two office buildings for the site, but financing trends caused him to reconsider the project and sell the property within the past year, Misiewicz said. The board is interested in hearing more about the proposal, as the concept plan becomes more detailed. The final plan could call for fewer residential units after the review process is completed for the formal application, Misiewicz said, adding that the board has not made any determination on the application at this point.