Development

LEGAL ROADBLOCK – Township Attorney Lou Rainone explains why the Township Council cannot gt involved in Zoning Bord of Adjustment applications. Residents hoping to enlist the Township Council in their fight against a proposed mosque on South Middlebush Road ran into an obstacle Oct. 27: The New Jersey Municipal Land Use Law.

MOUNTING AN OPPOSITION – Martina Bailie, attorney for the project objectors, questions her traffic engineer, Lee Klein, during the October 22 Zoning Board hearing. A proposal to sharply reduce the number of parking spaces at a planned South Middlebush Road mosque emerged during a sometimes-contentious, more than three-hour Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing Oct. 22, as Board Chairman Robert Thomas …

PRESSING HIS POINT – Zoning Board Chairman Robert Thomas pressed the attorney representing the Tawheed Dawah Center to lobby Somerset County for a left-turn lane into its property on South Middlebush Road if their application is approved. A proposal to build a mosque on South Middlebush Road faced another round of intense questioning from residents October 15, as the township …

DEFENDING THE PLAN – Township Attorney Lou Rainone on defended the location of an affordable housing project during the Township Council’s October 13 meeting. The Township Council unanimously approved a tax incentive program October 13 for the conversion of a former Davidson Avenue hotel into 142 affordable apartments, despite concerns raised by residents about truck traffic, air pollution and access …

LEADING THE WAY — Township Planner mark Healey steered the Planning Board through the changes to the Master Plan’s cluster ordinance at the Board’s October 7 meeting. The Franklin Township Planning Board voted unanimously October 7 to endorse proposed changes to the township’s cluster subdivision regulations, following a discussion about the potential drawbacks of clustering homes and the responsibilities associated …

NEW PLANNER TESTIFIES – Planner Spach Trahan testifies on behalf of the Tawheed Dawah Center’s application to build a mosque on South Middlebush Road. (Screenshot of Zoning Board meeting). The township Zoning Board of Adjustment chairman said Sept. 25 he is not convinced that a mosque holding prayers five times a day, seven days a week, belongs on a South …

SELLING THE SALE – Township manager Robert Vornlocker told the Township Council on September 8 that the three parcels up for sale serve no purpose for the Township. The Township Council gave final approval Sept. 8 to the sale of three township-owned lots to Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity for the construction of low-income homes, over the objections of a …

LEGAL ADVICE – Township Attorney Lou Rainone told the Township Council on September 8 that it would be “in the public interest” to settle the Williams-TRANSCO eminent domain matter. The Township Council has agreed to accept a total of $600,000 from Williams-Transco for a township-owned easement the Houston-based natural gas company needs to construct a planned natural gas compressor station, …

DETAILING THE PLAN – Steven Katz of Cal-Sterling Franklin, center, brings the Planning Board up-to-date on his project at the August 5 Planning Board meeting. The Township Planning Board voted unanimously Aug. 5 to let Cal-Sterling Franklin build the second of two 30-unit apartment buildings at its Sterling Point development, clearing the way for construction that had been stalled for …

NEW PLAN DETAILS – Bill Feinberg, the project’s architect, told the Commission of the changes made to the plan during the July 7 hearing. The township’s Historic Preservation Advisory Commission on July 7 approved a certificate of appropriateness for a two-building retail center planned for Route 27, on the site of Somerset County’s original courthouse, clearing the way for a …