Montgomery committee directs planning-board study of Kenview site after heated public comment

The Montgomery Township Committee voted on Sept. 17 to direct the planning board to conduct a preliminary investigation into whether property at 199 Grandview Road (the former Kenview/IM Pei campus) meets statutory criteria for designation as a non‑condemnation redevelopment area. Township Attorney David Manchalo told the committee the step "is the first step in a multi step process" and does not ‘‘green light any project.’'

The vote followed more than an hour of public comment in which residents called for preservation and questioned developer ownership and motives. "There is no lawsuit threat" and the widely circulated $300,000,000 figure is incorrect, Manchalo said when residents raised a reported demand figure. Public speakers urged alternatives ranging from cultural reuse to a hospital satellite and said the historic campus and nearby Saralen Mountain headwaters merited protection. "You cannot build a municipal action on the foundation of falsehood, deceit, and fabricated" claims, one resident told the committee.

Manchalo and others explained the procedural limits: the planning‑board study will be performed by the planning board and its retained professionals, reported at public meetings and available for public review; only after the planning board issues a recommendation would the township committee consider any designation. The committee also approved an escrow agreement so the developer funds review costs rather than taxpayers footing the bill. Mayor Mir Singh emphasized the study could conclude the site should be preserved: "Maybe the study says that the AM PI Building should stay," she said, adding the process gives the public an opportunity to weigh in at planning‑board hearings.

Next steps include the planning board's preliminary investigation and public hearings on the findings; the attorney warned the township needs to show engagement with the owner to proceed with a court compliance hearing on the township's affordable‑housing settlement.