Bridgewater planners say 32-acre yard waste site on Foothill Road should be redeveloped

BRIDGEWATER – The township has taken another step in the long process of possibly redeveloping 31.82 acres it owns north of the Bridgewater Promenade, which a portion is used as the municipal yard waste recycling facility.

The Planning Board has voted to recommend to the Township Council that the property should be named as a redevelopment area because it meets the state criteria for that designation.

Michael Sullivan, the township's redevelopment planner, told the Planning Board earlier this month that most of the property, about 27.7 acres, is wooded wetlands. The 3.43-acre yard waste recycling facility is the largest portion of the property that is buildable.

The property is zoned for retail commercial uses, including stores, manufacturing, research labs, essential services and agriculture.

Township Administrator Michael Pappas, who also sits on the Planning Board, said the township's plan "is to maintain a yard waste site somewhere on the parcel."

"We would be very unpopular very quickly if we did not offer that," said Councilman Michael Kirsh, also a Planning Board member.

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Sullivan said one of the goals of redevelopment is to get "unproductive property" onto the property tax rolls. No taxes are collected on the property because it is owned by the municipality.

The property, which used to be owned by American Cyanamid, extends from Foothill Road south of Route 28 to the Bridgewater Promenade on the south and east to the Hilton Garden Inn and Promenade Boulevard. Across Foothill Road is St. Joseph Cemetery.

"It's beautiful woods," Sullivan said.

A redeveloper has the possibility of filling in some of the wetlands, Sullivan said, if the state Department of Environmental Protection gives approval.

If the Township Council designates the property as a redevelopment area, then the Planning Board will be asked to draft a redevelopment plan, which then has to be approved by the governing body. Then the township will seek a redeveloper and once the redeveloper is selected, a development agreement has to be signed and then a site plan must be approved by the Planning Board.

At every step in the process, Kirsh said, the public will have an opportunity to offer input.

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Bridgewater planners say 32-acre yard waste site on Foothill Road should be redeveloped