BERKELEY – The site of an old gas station and mechanic’s shop has sat idle for more than a decade, and township officials want to attract a builder to make a ratable on this land.
The Kurnel property’s official address is 821 Route 9. It’s just south of the post office.
Currently, there’s only a red-front building with a few bays at the location. A large, overgrown field is in the back of the property, surrounded by an old fence. A Google Maps search shows tons of cars in this field years ago.
The area is 3.6 acres with potential ground contamination, officials said. The building on site is dilapidated and unsafe.
The Township Council asked the Planning Board to see if this area could be seen as “in need of redevelopment.” This is a technical term in land use. Normally, a developer would clear trees and construct a building. Redevelopment is when there’s already something on the land, but it is not being used. In this case, it’s an abandoned service station.
When land is designated in need of redevelopment, local officials have more control over what can be built there, and some state funding might be available to help the redeveloper clean up environmental issues, for example.
Ashton Jones, a planner with Remington & Vernick Engineers, made a presentation to the township’s planning board at a recent meeting.
The property had been a gas station and auto shop until 2008, when the town took control of it due to unpaid taxes, Jones said.
Township Planner James Oris said highway business, medical, and professional uses would be appropriate there.
There’s a state lien of approximately $3 million on the property due to groundwater contamination. However, the property itself isn’t worth $3 million, so potential developers are not likely to take on that price, he said.
Even though the town owns the property now, the town is protected by law from any contamination that is found, he said.
“The responsible party is the Kurnel family in the eyes of the State and the law,” he said.
A resident asked how the taxpayers of town would benefit from this.
Oris answered that there would be no taxpayer funds going to this project. Rather, when the property gets rebuilt, there would be a new ratable bringing taxes in.
The township would work with the state to reduce the fine, he said. They would get grant funding to investigate the extent of contamination. Then the new owner would pay for the remediation.
The grant that pays for the investigation does not come from state taxes, Oris explained. It is fueled by the State’s Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund. When a company is found to be polluting, they are fined and the money goes into that fund. That money then goes to clean up areas as needed.
The Planning Board voted to recommend to the Township Council that the property should be “an area in need of redevelopment for non-condemnation purposes.” The Council agreed with them at their next meeting.
