Politics & Government

Land Surrounding Train Station Reaffirmed for Redevelopment

Aberdeen Township planner also explained process for developing land

The 62.81 acres of Aberdeen Township surrounding the was reaffirmed for redevelopment Wednesday night at the Aberdeen Township Planning Board meeting.

Planner Richard Coppola, of Coppola & Coppola, presented prior to a public hearing on the report.

Coppola explained that the preliminary investigation report was originally done in 1999 and was updated in 2001 when a little over 3 acres of land was added to the redevelopment area.

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"There have been some changes to the governing statute which is the redevelopment law and the governing body wanted to make sure that everything was up to date and accurate. It really doesn't change anything except to recheck whether or not the subject land area still meets the state criteria, which this report concludes it does," Coppola said.

The board voted to approve the report, which does not include any concept or site plans for the area. It only redesignated the land as an area in need of redevelopment as defined by the current law.

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Several residents who live close to the border of the redevelopment area shared their concerns during the public hearing portion of the meeting.

"It's a very residential area, it's very quiet. It's a dead end block. We have a lot of children running around there," said Michael Ledesma, of Dolan Avenue.

Gerry Crockett, a lifetime resident of Aberdeen who also lives on Dolan Avenue, had only one question for the board.

"We just want to know if our homes are going to affected. You have an idea of the area," Crockett said.

However, the planning board could not offer answers to these questions. Designating the land for redevelopment is only the first step in a lengthy process, Coppola explained.

Now that it has been redesignated, the township can hire a redeveloper to develop a concept plan and the planning board can create a redevelopment plan ordinance that will guide the site plan.

Next, a site plan with the actual details of the transit village can be submitted to NJ Transit and to the planning board for review. If the plan is approved by both entities, then construction can begin.

"It's not going to happen tomorrow," Coppola said in reference to the lengthy redevelopment process.


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