JACKSON-The Adventure Crossing Project in Jackson Township is bringing sports tourism to Jackson Township in the form of a sports dome, state of the art turf sports fields, an indoor training facility and plenty of restaurants and retail shopping opportunities. There’s even a possibility that Amazon could be opening up a distribution center within the massive complex adjacent to Six Flags Great Adventure.
The project was approved by Jackson Township and construction began but was quickly halted after nearby residents filed a lawsuit.
On Tuesday, the township council is expected to approve an ordinance that will change the zoning for Cardinale’s property to allow him to build a mixed-use commercial-residential city-like landscape. Carindale’s original plan was to build 600 apartment units spread out across 30 three-story units.
A new plan would have to be submitted before the township zoning board for approval and for review and questioning by the public. If the council approves the ordinance to convert the existing highway commercial zone set forth by the town planners for commercial-only development, it would allow Cardinale to build the apartment complex part of the project without the need to obtain a variance by the zoning board.
The township planners convened in 2019 to review the township’s master plan. The planners decided no revisions were necessary to the master plan created in 2019. There is no mention of a recommendation to convert Cardinale’s property to a mixed-use zone. It was adopted by the township governing body.
Cardinale Enterprises is represented by attorney Sal Alfieri, the same attorney who represented the now defeated Jackson Trails development.
On November 19th, Mayor Michael Reina attended a cocktail reception for political friends and professionals hosted by Alfieri at the Landshark Bar and Grill in the Resorts Casino during the annual League of Municipalities before having dinner with Cardinale later that evening at Bobby Flay’s restaurant at the Borgata Hotel and Casino.
Cardinale insists that nothing nefarious happened as a result of that night in Atlantic City and that he just wants to build his MS Research Facility in Jackson. He insisted that mixed-use highway commercial development is the future of America.
“These will be transient tenants,” Cardinale said. “These will be people who live at Adventure Crossing and get right on Interstate 195 to get to and from work. There will be no burden on the township and it will bring in ratables. This is what’s being built all along I-95.”
“The future of America is not developments with single-family homes,” he said. At the time of publication, no new plans of Cardinale’s project had yet been made available to the public.
Members of the Jackson Township Council were asked to comment on this ordinance but declined.
The township council is expected to approve this zoning change at the Tuesday, February 10th meeting of the township council. The meeting begins at 7:30 pm at town hall located at 95 Don Connor Boulevard.
Cardinale’s project is attempting to replicate the vision presented by the now-deceased developer and composer Mitch Leigh who promised downtown living along Interstate 195. Nearly ten years later, the project has built only high-density affordable housing projects. The commercial component of the project has not yet begun.
