East Nassau Zoning Change Unlikely in 2011

Property owners on East Nassau Street seeking a zoning change may have to wait until 2012 to get approval from Borough Council.

A promised October meeting to discuss zoning in the Service Business zone between Olden Street and Murray Place never happened and Council President Kevin Wilkes said Tuesday changes are unlikely to be approved before a new council is seated in January.

Councilwoman Joe Butler said the council’s inaction likely cost local businesses money.

“By not doing what we agreed to do on Sept. 13, we have set back the development the businesses have had in mind for months,” she said.

The Service Business zone covers eight properties, including the shuttered Wild Oats and West Coast Video locations.

Linda Fahmie, development manager representing the Carnevale property at 255 Nassau (formerly Wild Oats), said the property owners want to be included in the Neighborhood Business zone, which covers the other side of Nassau Street.

Fahmie told Borough Council she didn’t understand why Princeton Future was on the evening's agenda to discuss the Service Business zone, but none of the affected property owners were notified.

Jim Constantine, a member of Princeton Future, presented possible neighborhood improvement ideas for what was once known as “Gasoline Alley,” an area that housed car dealerships and auto repair shops.

A 2010 survey of about 600 registered voters in the neighborhood yielded 224 responses, he said. Residents said they would prefer development to include a Reading terminal-style market, supermarket or restaurant but do not want a fast food restaurant, bank or laundromat.

Neighborhood improvements might include better parking, outdoor tables, rearranged benches and small kiosks to create pedestrian-friendly areas.

How those changes might happen- through an ordinance change or property owner incentives is still to be determined, Borough Engineer Lee Solow said.

“The exciting part is there are things you can encourage through regulation,” Solow said.

Fahmie said many of Princeton Future’s ideas have been incorporated into her client’s development plan and now is the time to discuss possible zoning changes.

Solow said he arrange a meeting with the affected property owners in the next couple of weeks.

“What’s I’m really hearing tonight is we need to sit down with property owners and hear their concerns,” he said.