Advance Robbinsville
July 2023 FREE
Community educa�on and Be�er health Programs located on page 9
COMMUNITYNEWS.ORG
Fried: Town almost at full buildout Mayor Dave Fried talks about development in Robbinsville
INTERVIEW BY BILL SANSERVINO
Robbinsville residents Will Bercaw (above) and Steve Kowalski played on the Pennington School baseball team that won the NJISAA Prep B state title this year.
Robbinsville duo helps lead team to Prep B state title BY RICH FISHER
A couple of guys from Robbinsville helped bring the Pennington School baseball team its first NJISAA Prep B state title since 2018. Ironically, the two never knew they were neighbors until baseball brought
them together. With Steve Kowalski at the helm and Will Bercaw the team’s second leading hitter, the Red Hawks went 16-2 and defeated Rutgers Prep, 2-0, in the Prep B championship game. Kowalski is a 2011 RHS grad who played for two sectional
championsh ip teams and went on to forge a .333 average playing for Drew University. Bercaw is a former Robbinsville Little League standout who played in a District 12 championship game and also had success for numerous travel teams. See DUO, Page 11
Robbinsville Mayor Dave Fried recently sat down with the Robbinsville Advance to talk about issues impacting the township’s past and future. The first two parts of the Q&A resulting from that interview ran in the March and April issues of the Advance and addressed open space and Mercer County elections. In April, the mayor talked about the police department and difficulties facing law enforcement in 2023. To read those articles, go to communitynews.org. This month, Fried talks with Robbinsville Advance editor Bill Sanservino about the status of the Robbinsville Town Center development and the state of commercial real estate. The Q&A has been edited for length and clarity. *** Robbinsville Advance: So overall, how’s the ratable situation in Robbinsville Township? Dave Fried: You know, we’re good. I could use some more dirt. We’ve completely filled out
our warehouse park. There’s not a whole lot that I can do in that section. And that has been a boon for the town because we’ve constantly brought in new warehouses. They’re clean, they’re not near any residential, for the most part, they don’t bother anyone, but there are no more. Now we’re focusing on Route 130, and there’s just a limited number of things we can do there. The lots are very small. On one side, they’re backed up by the train tracks where they’ve got easements. We really can’t use them effectively. On the other side, I have a lot of wetlands. So, Route 130 is never going to turn into anything like a Route 1. It’ll be mostly small ratables, but it’s about all we have left. So, in terms of development, the town is very much approaching built out. RA: Do you have any kind of concern with the sizable number of warehouses that are being constructed throughout New Jersey? Last year, West Windsor approved 5.5 million square feet of warehouses on Route 1, and just about every community is looking to approve warehouses. Robbinsville is fortunate because the town is right on the top of the N.J. Turnpike and I-195, so that makes it a little bit more palatable for some warehouse development. But do you See FRIED, Page 7
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