The controversial Medford Crossings development plan is slated to go before the planning board.
At a meeting over the summer, a special blue ribbon committee tasked with exploring the possibility of developing that area recommended the township not move forward.
One major determination was that the township should not float a $35 million bond to help pay for the development.
According to Lennar Corporation, the designated redeveloper of Medford Crossings, the site situated around the intersection of Route 70 and Eayrestown Road will be a mixed-use retail and residential project.
The plan includes 167 single-family homes, 260 apartments, 149 townhomes, 120 stacked townhomes, and 60 affordable housing units.
It also calls for about 600,000 square feet for commercial purposes.
The committee suggested the township not put out a bond for $35 million for project improvements. It said a more reasonable amount might be $10 million or nothing at all.
Mayor Chris Myers reacted to the assertion by some residents at a recent township council meeting who claim the council is rushing the project.
He said he wants to see if the planning board agrees that the development fits with the township’s master plan. Myers also said the township is negotiating in good faith and wants to follow the process.
“I really want to hear what the planning board has to say,” he said. “We don’t rubber stamp anything.”
Myers also said the council needs to hear from everyone in town, the blue ribbon committee, and township professionals.
“Our job is to balance all these opinions” and make a decision, he said. “If it doesn’t come together as a good deal we’re not going to do it.”
Myers said those present who are hostile to the Medford Crossings plan are usually the same people who are hostile regarding every issue.
“Unfortunately in this day and age you can’t disagree with someone without being disrespectful,” he said. “Reasonable people can disagree.”
Myers also responded to the assumption by some that the council is doing something improper.
“I just think that’s not right,” he said. “We’re trying to do the best thing for the town.”
Myers said he understands the philosophical differences between him and some of his critics. He said government invests in private projects at all levels.
“The question for me is: ‘Is it a good financial deal for that government?’” Myers said. “This concept of never spending government money on a private deal when you get a lot of benefit out of it — jobs, infrastructure — why would you not do that?”
James “Randy” Pace, who is running for a spot on the council, said he plans on attending the planning board meeting on Oct. 26. The meeting will start at 7:30 p.m. and will be held at 91 Union Street.
“I would hope that the planning board would take a hard look at it and consider its compliance with the master plan,” Pace said. “That’s their job.”
He said he thinks the board should consider the township’s sewer capacity and how it would be affected by a development like Medford Crossings.
Pace said financial mismanagement at all levels of government has resulted in a loss of public trust.
“People throughout this country are tired of government not being held accountable for the way it spends the tax payer’s dollar,” he said, adding that Meford’s present “significant” financial crisis is the result of poor management and oversight.
The township council will consider Medford Crossings at its Nov. 7 meeting.
