PETERSBURG – Upper Township officials met this week with representatives of the development company that will be submitting plans for the future of Beesley’s Point.
At the Township Committee meeting on Monday, July 14, the mayor and administrator said that a subcommittee that included the solicitor and two members of the committee met with representatives of the Beesley’s Point Development Group earlier in the day to discuss the group’s hopes for developing the site of the former coal-fired power plant.
Business Administrator James Van Zlike said the focus of the discussion was what the group was proposing as it relates to the township’s master plan. He said the developers did not present a plan that the subcommittee could examine, but the township hopes to be able to see something tangible in September. He said the meeting had to do a lot with setbacks, roadways and maximum building heights, for example.
“There was really nothing new,” Van Zlike said. “We’re just trying to make sure where it is with the master plan.”
Van Zlike called the redevelopment a “unique opportunity” to bring ratables into the township and said it would give the area a new look, with a marina, hotels, restaurants and retail stores. He acknowledged that the new businesses will also bring tourism and high traffic into that part of the township.
Plans floated earlier for the roughly 350-acre property included 400 condos, a 180-room hotel and other businesses, as well as age-restricted housing and affordable housing.
Mayor Curtis Corson said the committee made some recommendations to get the best project they can for the township. He said the project was being looked at by the subcommittee before it goes to the Planning Board, which would then send its recommendations to the Township Committee for final approval.
Along the way, Corson said, there would be plenty of opportunity for public comment on the proposal.
“It’s a big project, and we have brought in special counsels to advise us,” the mayor said. “This is just one bite of the apple.”
According to Corson, there is some opposition to the project, including by those who would like to see a new power plant, perhaps even a nuclear power plant, built on the site of the former B.L. England electricity generating plant. But the mayor said: “The power plant won’t be rebuilt.”
“Things change,” he said. “The Upper Township of the past is not coming back. It’s all part of change.”
The plant, after it was purchased by the development group, was demolished in phases, attracting a lot of local attention, especially when the smokestack that was a local landmark was taken down.
Van Zlike said there were no renderings of plans for the development but those would be coming as the township works with the development group. He said he doesn’t expect the final plans to be hand-in-glove with the master plan, but with some fine-tuning the township would get something that works.
“Until then, we are doing a lot of back and forth,” he said.
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or call 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
