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Residents press for environmental, traffic reviews as council adopts amended redevelopment plan
Summary
After extended public comment urging environmental access and traffic studies, the Lambertville governing body adopted a resolution memorializing amendments to the Landerville High School redevelopment plan and signaled further negotiation of the redevelopment agreement before any pilot project proceeds.
Lambertville — Residents urged the City Council to require environmental and traffic studies and regulator access before finalizing a redevelopment agreement for the proposed 200-unit project on the high‑school site, speakers said at the council’s Oct. 23 meeting as the council adopted a resolution memorializing amendments to the redevelopment plan.
Paul Stevens, a resident, told the council it was “absolutely necessary that the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection be allowed to access … and perform a full environmental assessment of this area,” arguing third‑party testing is needed so the city and developer can properly define project scope and responsibilities. Several other residents echoed Stevens’s call for independent testing and for early, transparent review of draft agreement terms.
The council voted to adopt Resolution 172‑2025, a formal memorialization of the amended Landerville High School redevelopment plan. Council members said adopting the plan is a discrete step: they intend to continue negotiating the redevelopment agreement that will govern the project’s specific obligations and protections before any pilot or construction work is proposed.
“Everything that comes across our desk will be seriously considered for inclusion,” one member said during the meeting, adding that city staff and the council have already incorporated resident suggestions into draft language. The mayor and council president also told residents the city anticipates further closed‑session negotiations and a planned Nov. 6 closed session to continue work on the agreement.
Residents repeatedly raised contamination, stormwater and access concerns. Jeff Tiddle, another local resident, urged the city to retain an independent Licensed Site Remediation Professional to review cleanup plans and to require financial safeguards from the developer for off‑site improvements. “You should not go forward because you’re going to be doing something that could put people in danger,” he said, arguing the remediation and long‑term responsibility for cleanup should be explicit in any agreement.
Council members said the redevelopment agreement will include required studies and conditions where feasible, and that the planning board will review site plans once the redevelopment plan and agreement are in place. The city attorney confirmed that after the council adopts a redevelopment plan and a redevelopment agreement is executed, site‑plan review typically proceeds through the planning board under land‑use law.
What happens next: the council adopted the redevelopment‑plan resolution on voice vote that evening. Council members and staff said they will continue negotiating the redevelopment agreement, solicit and review required testing and engineering reports, and present a final agreement and public hearing as those materials are completed.
The council did not adopt a final redevelopment agreement at the Oct. 23 meeting; residents were encouraged to submit written comments and to attend future hearings for the agreement itself.
