Redevelopment in store for old Foodtown site BY DANIELLE MEDINA Correspondent BRICK TOWNSHIP - Planning Board members have unanimously agreed that the old Foodtown site on Route 70 is an area in need of redevelopment - the first step in the property's rejuvenation. If the Township Council agrees with the Planning Board's recommendation and passes a similar resolution, a plan for the property's redevelopment would follow. Township planner Michael Fowler presented the board members with a preliminary report on the site at the July 12 board meeting. "A redevelopment plan won't allow a big-box Home Depot development," Fowler said. "We'd be looking for a type of development that would be environmentally friendly." By declaring the site a redevelopment zone, the Planning Board will be able to set specific standards - such as the purpose and developer - for the property. "It's legal spot zoning," Fowler said. And there are no eminent-domain issues, since the township owns the site, he said. "This process can be contentious if there are houses and businesses that are affected," said Fowler. If the township opted to sell the property to a redeveloper, the redeveloper would be bound by the redevelopment plan for the site. Either way, the Planning Board would have a lot of input in the plan that eventually developed for the property, Fowler said. The township purchased the property in 2003 from a developer for $6.1 million, after public outcry against the home-improvement giant occupying the 11-acre Metedeconk Riverfront property. The intensity of the development, the chemicals at use on the site and Home Depot's incompatibility with its potential neighbors - St. Thomas Church and school - were some of the reasons why residents fought against Home Depot occupying the site. The township's intent at the time of the purchase was to put a recreation center on the site. But that idea was nixed late last year because of the traffic concerns on Route 70. More recently, a hotel on the site has become a more popular option.