FEBRUARY 2023 FREE
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West Windsor residents sue to stop warehouse complex BY BiLL SANserViNO
Two West Windsor residents have filed a lawsuit against the township in an effort to stop construction of a large warehouse and distribution complex on the former American Cyanamid site. The project, named Bridge Point 8, calls for the construction of seven warehouses totaling more than 5.5 million square feet on the 653-acre tract located at the corner of Clarksville and Quakerbridge Roads. The project was approved
by the West Windsor Planning Board in July. Also named as defendants the in the court filing were: the West Windsor Planning Board; site operator Bridge Development Partners of Itasca, Illinois, via its subsidiary the Bridge Point West Windsor LLC; and land owner Atlantic Realty Development Corp. of Woodbridge, via its subsidiary, Clarksville Center LLC. The case will be heard by state Superior Court Judge Robert T. Lougy. In the lawsuit, residents Justino
Gonzalez and Stacey Joy are challenging the validity of an ordinance approved in November 2020 by Township Council that rezoned the tract for warehousing and all subsequent approvals by the Planning Board. The plaintiffs are being represented by Robert F. Simon of the Warren Township-based law firm Herold Law. The lawsuit seeks to invalidate the ordinance’s rezoning, the Planning Board’s approval and to halt See LAWSuIT, Page 2
Explore history at area libraries BY DAN AUBreY
WW-P High School South’s Ben Jaclin has helped power the boys’ basketball team to a winning record. To read more about Jaclin and the team, turn to page 7.
Libraries are safe places that connect to the world of ideas and human memory and are always on the front lines of combatting censorship. Yet they are often the physical representations of past values and designs — if one just takes the time to check them out. So, let’s take a quick tour of some of the region’s vintage libraries. First stop, the Trenton Free Public Library on Academy Street in Trenton. It’s the oldest organized library in New Jersey and the embodiment of
a particular American movement. Founded in 1750 as the subscription-styled Trenton Library Company, it allegedly started with 50 books purchased by Benjamin Franklin. Yet the person who turned that first page in Trenton’s history was Dr. Thomas Cadwalader, who served as the town’s first chief Burgess and contributed 500 pounds. The collection was housed in rented spaces or subscribers’ homes until the British arrived in 1776 and destroyed the building that housed the collection. The library was back and running
by 1781 and by 1797 had 240 items in its collection. By 1804 the library collection was at 700 volumes and still growing without a permanent home. That need was addressed in 1900, when the organization became the free public library, and Ferdinand W. Roebling served as its first board president. The library board purchased the property that had housed the street’s namesake, the Trenton Academy, since 1782, and hired architect Spencer Roberts. Roberts (1873-1958) was a Philadelphia-based architect who had See LIBRARIES, Page 1
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