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[quote="anon-370q"]Some of the posters here seem to have a simplistic view of what a Township can legally do about development.  NJ laws and courts are incredibly developer friendly.  Just ask West Windsor that spent over a decade and millions of taxpayer dollars trying to limit a major housing development only to completely lose in court and get stuck with a thousand homes and almost no public infrastructure confessions from the developer.  Landowners can develop warehouses in the industrial zones of town as-of-right.  When they come to the Township for specific zoning and planing reviews, it's usually for relatively modest variances from what is already allowed and the legal standards are such that if the Township refused they usually could develop without them or if not sue and more often than not win in court.  So usually the whole approval process is a dance, an effort to negotiate concessions that developers consider cheaper and more expedient than fighting and eventually winning their rights in court.

Also, Cranbury doesn't exist in a bubble.  There are many warehouse projects in Monroe, South Brunswick and East Windsor that generate traffic through our town but that traffic brings nothing to our tax base. Even if our TC tried to obstruct legal development, the users would just move one town over and their trucks would still end up on Route 130, etc.

It's easy to armchair quarterback the idea that you can just say no to business development without any comprehension of the legal or tax implications of doing so. If you really think you have some magic bullet solution to prevent development, not impact our taxes and avoid expensive legal challenges from property owners, why not go to a meeting or volunteer for a board.  They usually have to beg people to take the positions, so I'm sure they would love to hear from someone with a great plan.  You could probably make a lot of money as a consultant for other township's too with your special plan, since most townships struggle with this.  Everyone wants to be small, resident-centric, traffic-lite and still have lower taxes.[/quote]

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