Transcript for Piscataway Planning meeting on September 10 2025
Note: Transcripts are generated by rev.ai and may not be fully accurate. Please listen to the recording (below) if you feel any text is inaccurate.
Speaker 0 00:00:06 The Piscataway Township Planning Board meeting will please come to order. Adequate notice of this meeting was provided in the following ways. Notice published in the Coer News notice posted on the bulletin board of the municipal building notice made available to the township clerk notice sent to the Coer News and the star ledger. Mr. Barlow, would you please call the role Ms. Ms. Buckley? Will you please call the role Speaker 1 00:00:33 One of us will Speaker 0 00:00:34 Mayor Speaker 1 00:00:35 Wahler present Councilwoman Cahill. Ms. Corcoran? Here. Ms. Saunders? Here. Reverend Kinneally? Here. Mr. Atkins? Here. Mr. Foster? Speaker 0 00:00:49 Here. Speaker 1 00:00:50 Mr. Aria here. And Madam Chair Speaker 0 00:00:54 Here. Mr. Barlow, would you read the open public meeting Notice? Speaker 2 00:00:58 Certainly. Madam Chair, this meeting is being conducted through the online meeting platform. In keeping with the guidelines that have been disseminated by the Department of Community Affairs, the planning board has tried its best to comply with the Open Public Meeting Act and the governor's guidelines as promulgated through the DCA. Anyone that wishes to be heard this evening, can they just have to raise their hand at the appropriate time? And Ms. Buckley will unmute you. Speaker 0 00:01:26 Thank you. The flag Speaker 1 00:01:28 I just for, for bookkeeping, if you're on a phone and not on a computer, you have to hit star six to unmute yourself and then we can hear you. Speaker 0 00:01:37 Okay. Thank you. The flag is visible over my right shoulder. Can we all recite the Pledge of Allegiance in unison please? I pledge allegiance all to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, which it stands. One nation. One nation. Under God, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Can we have the swearing in of the officials of the professionals? Speaker 3 00:02:12 Can you please raise your right hand? Do you swear that the testimony about the give will be truth and nothing but the truth? Speaker 1 00:02:19 I do. Speaker 3 00:02:20 Thank you Speaker 0 00:02:25 Mr. Barlow. Are there any changes to our agenda tonight? Speaker 2 00:02:29 Madam Chair number 1125 PB 3 0 4, not Torain, which is 83 International and two Arlington Place block 8 6 0 4 lots, 10.01 and 12 has been postponed to the February 8th, 2025 meeting so that they can perfect their notice. Is Speaker 0 00:02:49 That, is that 2026? Speaker 1 00:02:53 You said February, Tom, Speaker 2 00:02:55 I'm sorry. I apologize. October 8th, 2025. Okay. Speaker 1 00:03:00 Yay. Speaker 2 00:03:01 So anyone who's here for that matter, it's not going to be heard this evening. It'll be heard on October 8th, 2025. That is the only change, Madam Chair. Speaker 0 00:03:10 Okay. Thank you. Item number eight, adoption of resolution. Memo to memo to memorialize action taken on August 13th. Ms. Saunders, Speaker 3 00:03:25 I'm sorry, one second Speaker 1 00:03:27 There. There's no resolutions. Madam Chair. Speaker 0 00:03:30 Oh no. And you Speaker 1 00:03:30 Have, you have to pay the bills. Number seven. Okay. Speaker 0 00:03:33 Then we'll go back to seven. And can I get a motion to pay the duly audited bills, please? Speaker 1 00:03:39 Madam Chair Dawn Corcoran. I'll make that motion. Speaker 0 00:03:41 Thank. Second. Do I have a second? Speaker 1 00:03:44 Reverend Kinneally? I'll second Speaker 0 00:03:45 That. Thank you. Roll call please. Speaker 1 00:03:47 Mayor Wahler? Yes. Ms. Corcoran? Yes. Ms. Saunders? Yes. Reverend Kinneally. Yes. Mr. Atkins? Yes. Mr. Foster? Speaker 0 00:03:58 Yes. Speaker 1 00:03:59 Mr. Echeveria? Yes. And Madam Chair? Speaker 0 00:04:02 Yes. Item number nine minutes of the August 13th. Speaker 3 00:04:08 Madam Chairman, Carol Saunders, I'd like to adopt the minutes of the regular meeting of August 13th, 2025. Do Speaker 0 00:04:15 I have a second? Speaker 2 00:04:18 Mr. Atkins? Second. Speaker 0 00:04:19 Thank you. Roll call. Speaker 1 00:04:21 Mayor Wahler. Ms. Corcoran? Yes. Ms. Saunders? Yes. Yes. Reverend Kinneally. Yes. Mr. Atkins? Yes. Mr. Foster? Speaker 0 00:04:34 Yes. Speaker 1 00:04:34 Mr. Echeveria? Yes. And Madam Chair? Yes. Speaker 0 00:04:39 Item number 10. We have a discussion this evening. Speaker 2 00:04:45 Yes. Madam Chair by a referral from the Township Council. Mr. Clark's here to discuss his investigation as to whether or not block 6 2 0 1 lot 4.02, commonly known as 39th Bridge Road meets the criteria to be determined as a non condemnation area in need of redevelopment. Mr. Clarken, Speaker 4 00:05:08 Good evening everyone. Members of the board? Speaker 0 00:05:10 Good, Matt? Good evening. Evening Speaker 4 00:05:12 You share my screen and we'll get rolling. All right. So as Mr. Barlow noted, this is tonight I'm gonna present my report, my area need of redevelopment study for block 6 2 0 1 lot 4.02, better known as 30 Knight Bridge. Speaker 4 00:05:36 So to start off, you know, the council adopt a resolution number 25 dash 92 to conduct this in need, sorry, area in need of redevelopment study non condemnation. So I did a formal onsite inspection earlier this summer on June 24th and prepare this report for the board. So to start, I'm gonna do the typical background. So I'm gonna skip over to page five of my report. So this property is due west of where Knights Bridge Road intersects Ho Lane, or as we all know it, route 18, interstate 2 87 is very close. If you keep going up Knight Bridge Road, you'll run into the intersection with Centennial, right where the entrance and exit to 2 87 lies. So oddly enough, the study area is actually split between two of your zones. The BP business park zone and the light industrial zone. Speaker 4 00:06:37 Sorry, lemme just move this real quick. There we go. And so basically the way it is is that the office buildings and some of the parking areas are in the BP zone, and then there's a very large 1,500 parking space area is in the LI five. And this whole area covers about 44.8 acres in size. And the main use on it is a large office park complex as it is today with about 685,233 square feet of office space. So it's really a true office complex in that there are four buildings that are all connected by bridges to basically put it into one large complex. And then in total there are 2,170 parking spaces. Speaker 4 00:07:21 And I think that this is very significant 'cause that basically is one space for every over 300 feet square feet of office space. And I think that's an over park condition as most of your zones and redevelopment areas that we've done over the years really require one space per 200. But before I go any further, I do wanna show you the aerial so you can kinda orient yourselves. So as I said to the East Knights Bridge meets Route 18 and Skyway High School is on the other side of that. So here is the 1,500 parking space area, and this is about 22 acres size. So it's a really sizable portion, almost half of the entire lot. And then here you can kind of see 1, 2, 3, 4 of the office buildings that are all kind of connected as you can see. And so surrounding land uses to the north and along Knights Bridge are more office complex uses over to the west and south. You have an existing residential neighborhood. And then south here is the former Erickson site. Speaker 4 00:08:35 So I'm gonna go back to page five and we will keep on going. Let's see here. All right, you're right. So I went through the township building records as usual, and it looks like this was originally developed in 1990. Specifically it looks like TELCORDIA was the main anchor TE tenant at that time. But when you look at the building permits over the last few years, it's almost exclusively interior improvements like tenant fit outs, alarms technology, stuff like that. So there's no upgrades been to the overall building itself. Doesn't seem like any property improvements of any note. But definitely going through the historical occupancy, you can see a clear decline starting in the mid two thousands as there's less and less building permits pulled. And also when I went through the rent rolls from the owner or that the owner was Kinneally gave to me. So the last time I was fully occupied was in 2005 by at t and they continued to be the anchor tenant until about 2015. Speaker 4 00:09:45 And then that's when you really start to see the decline, especially over the last two years, there have been a, a significant vacancy in the overall complex, but particularly buildings five and six for whatever reason, they name the buildings 3, 4, 5, and six. So if you hear me say that, I'm just referring to one of the buildings in the complex. So that's a little bit of background on the overall state of where the building is, how big it is. As a as usual, I do my environmental review. Nothing came up, although there was one hit of two minor small areas of wetlands, which I have to say was a little surprising because yeah, lemme go back to the map. It basically showed it along this border here. And when I was there, I did not see any standing water or anything that looks like a wetland. However, I'm obviously a planner and not an environmental specialist. So any redeveloper will have to work with DEP to confirm if there are wetlands. But I would be surprised that there are. Other than that, there were no environmental hits of note or associated with the property. All right. Hopefully enough jumping around for now. Speaker 4 00:11:00 All right, so went over surrounding land uses. So master plan, pers perspective, this definitely this area need of redevelopment study is consistent with your master plan. As it notes that as vacant, developable, land diminishes, redevelopment will become more important. And then this is definitely an older area of the township that was developed in 1990, but the residential neighborhood adjacent to that was definitely well established in the fifties and sixties. So I find that this didn't need study in any redevelopment plan would be consistent with your master plan. Okay, so now on to the statutory criteria of my investigation with respect to the property. So as I mentioned, we have four buildings. They're each three stories high and they're number 3, 4, 5, and six. I went there on a weekday prior to 5:00 PM So during working hours, and I would say the first thing that really stood out to me was the lack of cars there. So as you remember, I said 2,170 parking spaces. I think I counted a little under a hundred cars there at the time I arrived. So it's massively over parked half hour and I think may lead itself to the vacant condition of the property. But I went around the exterior building, there's no sign of dilapidation or anything like that. But when I went inside, I definitely found lots of examples of vacant office space or underused office space. Speaker 4 00:12:32 And these findings were consistent with those rent rolls that the owner provided me that I mentioned. So it's just about 51% vacant and 49% occupied. So it's just about 50 50. But I find that this is still statistically significant and this condition has been there for two years or more, which is a key purpose or key part of the B criteria, which I'll get to in a little bit. So now I'm just gonna go through some pictures and then I will go through the criteria in more depth. So this is building five. This was the most vacant. This was about, I think according to the rent roll, it was like 99% vacant. So no one has been in here for several years. So you can see just empty floor space or even just cubes with no people or equipment or computers in them. So clearly not being used. This is another photograph of building five. This is pretty typical where you just kind of walk into a floor and it's just open, you know, no one's been in there for a long time. Speaker 4 00:13:38 And then these are some of the pictures of the parking lot. So you can really see how many spaces are not being used and how few cars were there on the day of the site inspection. Here are a few others. I found some evidence of dilapidated pavement. Here's another good one. And then there were also lots that just were completely empty, which is to be expected. You only see a hundred cars out of 2000 spaces. This was at the south end of the large parking lot. It just shows, you know, non permitted storage materials and construction equipment since no one's really using the building, you know, people are finding space to use it for other purposes that may not be permitted. Here is building six. So this is another building where it had vac vacant spaces, no tenants, you know, vacant public space that wasn't being used at all. Speaker 4 00:14:32 So this is the top of building six, which is the American standard space. I do want you to note this, 'cause I, I'm gonna dive into this a little bit more. I, they spent a lot of money remodeling it and never occupied it. So it probably looks a little old 'cause it's been a couple years. But they spent a lot of money remodeling this and getting it ready but never occupied it. So these are more pictures of the space and a couple more. So basically the entire 60,000 square foot space on this third floor of building six was like this. So definitely a significant vacancy here. In building four. You see one space occupied tenant but no employees seen. And then this continues throughout all the buildings, 3, 4, 5, 6, lots of vacant space in open floors. Speaker 4 00:15:28 So how does this relate to the statutory criteria for the in indeed study? So B criteria reads the discontinuance of the use of a building or buildings used for commercial retail, office parks, manufacturing or industrial purposes. The abandonment of such, building your buildings significant vacancies for at least two consecutive years, or the same being allowed to fall into so great a state of disrepair as to be untenable. So based on the evidence gathered and the photos that you just saw, I feel that this meets the B criteria as you have over 50% vacancy, which is significant and also abandonment for at least two consecutive years in those buildings. Speaker 4 00:16:12 So I'm gonna go through a couple, I wanna hit at least five to six points and I'll try and be brief, but I just wanna make sure I get all this on the record. Oh, sorry, went a little too far. So I'm bottom of page 21 is where I'm starting. So I'm starting with the vacancy rate. So it should be noted that each building was in a different state of vacancy. So as I mentioned, building five had 90, 90% vacancy rate. Building six had 93% vacancy rate. So about 50,000 square feet being vacant out of the total 81,000. And then buildings three and four were the ones that were actually still mostly occupied but still had some vacant spaces. So that's why it's about a 51 49 split. But this condition has lasted for two consecutive years. So that meets the B criteria. But I found some other observations, observations that I wanted to bring to your attention. Speaker 4 00:17:03 Most specifically the fact that only, or really the overwhelming non-use of the 2000 space parking areas. I think combining that OB observation with very few office workers when I was there, shows that there's actually some possibly abandonment by either the company or even possibly employees. You know, they're clearly choosing to work from home and there's not nearly, there was not evidence of enough workers there to fill what the lease space was, which is about 340,000 square feet. So I think there's a case of employees abandoning their workspaces, even if partially since they can work from home. So I think that's significant because the true vacancy rate, so lease space versus what is actually being used is much different and very SI significant to such a degree that it reinforces meeting this B criteria. All right, so that's number two. Number three, back to American standards. Speaker 4 00:18:01 So I mentioned that they spent a lot of money, so unfortunately they're renovating the space during the COVID-19 pandemic and spent millions of dollars on it. And then as soon it was done, they promptly informed the property manager that they would never occupy the space. So no employee has stepped foot in there since 2021. So even though they're making their lease payments, it's clear that they've abandoned the space. You know, no employees ever moved in. They spent a lot of money, but it didn't matter. And they also informed the co, the property manager that they won't renew the lease. So I think this is a clear sign of abandonment, which is a key part of the beat criteria. Speaker 4 00:18:38 Three more quick facts that I want to get on the record. We've learned that this property is actually in foreclosure. So foreclosure documents were filed in New Jersey Superior Court because of alleged inability to make payments. So after reviewing the foreclosure documents that were filed, it seems that, so this was in March of this year. So it seems that they're alleging that $55 million is owed and only $2 million the loan have been paid back to the lender. So that is very significant and I think it really shows that the vacancy is so bad that they cannot pay the rent. The rent income is not covering the finances needed to make the loan payments back. So that's very significant. And unfortunately to exacerbate this foreclosure and vacancy rate even further is the fact that the property management company has been informed that several leases, at least four in this year and next will be terminated Not and not renewed. Speaker 4 00:19:39 Now this is technically a future condition, but I think what is true today, and it's, that's key because my investigation has to happen in the present, is that these are formal statements of intent that have happened today. And it really reflects the extremely stressed office space, real estate market. And the point being that, you know, this vacancy will not turn around. It's, you know, work from home. AI are definitely changing the way we work every day. And it's just, there's too much supply of office space and too little demand. And so I think, yeah, one more is that I went through the police records. There really was nothing there. Parking violations, alarms going off, nothing of note. But when you look at the permits that were pulled, there were only three in 2023 and no lieutenant work in the last two years. So I think that's just another affirmation that there's been no investment in this property and that the vacancy is very significant. There's been abandonment and the use has been discontinued over two years. So put all that together. I know that was a lot. I can answer questions at the end. I feel that this, it's my professional opinion that the study area meets the B criteria. Speaker 4 00:21:02 I also found that I met the D criteria, which is more about faulty arrangement obsolescence, other obsolete natures that it's so bad that it's having a negative impact on the community. And so I found that because I mentioned that it's roughly 22 acres of parking. I, so when you take, it's roughly 4% of those spaces were being used during normal business hours. So that's clearly over parked. It's obsolete, it's a faulty layout and it's really a under utilization of developable land. So since it's oversized, it's got excessive land coverage, the obsolete nature of the office building and its huge parking areas just means that the study area is obsolete and meets criteria D. And this condition, other property is detrimental to the welfare of the community because reasonable productivity has worsened, causing negative impacts on the economic wellbeing of the community. But also you have diminishing land values, declining rate tax, rateables, and a lack of employees using township businesses. So you put all that together, I think that the obsolete nature and faulting arrangement of this property is detrimental to the community. So therefore, I finally meets criteria D. Speaker 4 00:22:25 So in summation, I also said that the property meets the H criteria, which if you remember, is the smart planning one. I'm basing this on the fact that the study area can easily use existing infrastructure such as federal, state highways, availability of key utilities such as electric, natural gas, water, and sewer. And so redeveloping this would be very beneficial from a smart growth and planning perspective. So it's recommended that the s Skyway Township Planning Board and the township council determine that the study area is a non combination area, need of redevelopment based on the fact that this property meets criteria b, d and H of the local redevelopment and housing law. I know I went a little fast, but I'm happy to answer any questions. Stop sharing. Speaker 0 00:23:20 Okay. Members of the board, do you have any other questions for Speaker 6 00:23:24 Mr. Katy? I, I don't have a, a question Madam chair, but just a short comment that this site as well as the old Erickson site at one time had over 12 or 13,000 telecommunication employees. So I mean, we still, telecom telecommunications is still our primary revenue generator for the town and the, and the corporate community. But that just goes to show how much it has contracted over the last 25, 30 years because of improvements in technology. You know, you don't need that many employees anymore. I mean, we see it every day in our lives. So Speaker 0 00:24:10 Yeah, we call it progress. Speaker 6 00:24:12 Yeah. Speaker 0 00:24:14 Any other comments or questions from the board? Speaker 7 00:24:17 Just one comment I'd like to make. 'cause I go through there quite a bit every day for the last, well, 10, 10 years or so. And every time I go through I see the decline less and less cars and, and leaving Unbaked land is look how the parking lot, nobody takes care of it. The buildings are vacant and inside those buildings they get molded everything. But thank God he didn't find any mold or anything inside. So why should we have vacant land that can be usable for something else, a a new type of development? I think this is a good thing. We don't need to have vacant land in, in this community. I think redevelopments is in order. Speaker 6 00:24:57 No, I, Madam chair, I also wanna point out what Mr. Clarken said, the fact that American standards spent millions of dollars to renovate an area that they were gonna lease out and never stepped foot in. It says it all Yeah. Speaker 0 00:25:12 And paid the rent. Yeah. Speaker 6 00:25:14 Yeah. It was definitely the most surprising finding. Speaker 0 00:25:17 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then they're walking away. Yeah. Speaker 3 00:25:22 Yeah. I used to work in that building for until about 2007 and we left because it was outdated. Speaker 0 00:25:31 Wow. Yeah. There you go. I think we should open it up to the public then members of the public. If you have any comments or questions of Mr. Clark's testimony, would you indicate by either raising your hand or Speaker 1 00:25:48 Calling any, you can on mute by hitting star six if you're on the phone or raise your hand on the bottom. Here we go. Okay. We have Tomas. Speaker 0 00:25:59 Hello, sir. Speaker 8 00:25:59 Hello everybody. I, it looks like I cannot turn on my camera, so apologize for that, but I don't see an option here for that. So, Mr. Clarkin? I'm not Speaker 2 00:26:09 Sir, sir, just real quick, just so we have it for the minutes, could you state your name and your address for the record? Speaker 8 00:26:15 Sure. Sorry, I, I thought it was already said. My name is Thomas Glazer and I live at 8 1 7 Shirley Parkway. Very close to the, to the study area. Speaker 2 00:26:26 Okay, thank you. What would you like to say, sir? Speaker 8 00:26:29 It's a question. Just curiosity. So, Mr. Clarky, I'm, I'm not disputing anything you said because as I said, I live next door, so I I I know exactly that what you said this through. But just out of curiosity, what day of the week was that when you visited the site? Speaker 4 00:26:43 Ooh, I wanna say a third here. You know what, why don't I just look at the calendar? Yeah. I was just instead of guessing. Looks like a Tuesday. Tuesday. Thank you very much. Yep. Thank you everyone. Speaker 0 00:26:57 Mm, thank you. Oh, thank you. Any other members of the public wish to ask a question or give a statement at this time? Speaker 1 00:27:06 No. Madam Chair, Speaker 0 00:27:08 Thank you. Close to the public. While you've heard this testimony, is there anyone who would like to make a motion as to whether this is an area, a non condemnation area in need of development? Speaker 9 00:27:26 Madam Chair, Dawn Corcoran. I'd like to make that motion recommending that the property be designated as a non-con condemnation area. Need redevelopment. Speaker 3 00:27:36 Carol Saunders. Second. Speaker 0 00:27:38 Thank you. Let's have a, a roll call please. Speaker 1 00:27:41 Mayor Wahler? Yes. Ms. Corcoran? Yes. Ms. Saunders? Speaker 3 00:27:46 Yes. Speaker 1 00:27:47 Reverend Kinneally? Speaker 4 00:27:48 Yes. Speaker 1 00:27:49 Mr. Atkins? Yes. Mr. Foster? Speaker 0 00:27:53 Yes. Speaker 1 00:27:53 Mr. Aria? Yes. And Madam Chair? Speaker 0 00:27:57 Yes. Speaker 2 00:27:58 Madam Chair. I believe there's also a resolution with regards to saying, recommending that to the township Council. Ms. Saunders? Speaker 0 00:28:08 Ms. Saunders, do you have a rec resolution? Okay, Speaker 3 00:28:12 Gimme one sec. Speaker 2 00:28:17 That property reminded me of something at a severance. If any of you watched that show on Apple, Speaker 1 00:28:25 I watched that one yet. I've heard of it. Speaker 3 00:28:26 Oh, okay. Yes, I do. Okay. Madam Chair, I'd like to memorialize the resolution recommending non condemnation and area of in need of redevelopment. Speaker 0 00:28:38 Do I have a Speaker 3 00:28:38 Second for 30 nights? Bridge. Speaker 0 00:28:40 Okay. Do I have a second? Speaker 7 00:28:43 Reverend Kinneally. Madam Chair, I'll second it. Speaker 0 00:28:46 Thank you. Roll call please. Speaker 1 00:28:48 Mayor Wahler? Yes. Ms. Corcoran? Yes. Ms. Saunders? Yes. Reverend Kinneally? Speaker 4 00:28:55 Yes. Speaker 1 00:28:56 Mr. Atkins? Yes. Mr. Foster? Speaker 0 00:28:59 Yes. Speaker 1 00:29:00 Mr. ChEVAR? Yes. And Madam Chair? Speaker 0 00:29:03 Yes. Okay. I think we are at the end of our agenda. We've paid the bills. Our next site plan meeting will be on September the fourth. Do I have a motion to, excuse me? Do we have a motion? 24th Speaker 1 00:29:20 Chair. Speaker 0 00:29:21 Adjourn. Speaker 1 00:29:24 Yeah. The next pla the next workshop meeting. September 24th. Speaker 0 00:29:28 September the 24th. I didn't say, I thought I said that. Speaker 1 00:29:30 Yeah, you said the fourth. We passed that. Speaker 0 00:29:31 Sorry. 24th. Okay. Do we have a motion to adjourn? Speaker 3 00:29:36 Carol Sign? Does I make a motion to adjourn? Speaker 0 00:29:40 Do I I have a second. Second. A second. Okay. All in favor? Most meeting adjourned. Adjourned. Have a good night everyone.