Development

SUPPORTING THE ORDINANCE – Township resident Dave Robinson lays out the reasons behind his support of the ordinance restricting warehouse development and banning data centers at the June 9 Township Council meeting. The Franklin Township Council voted 6-3 Tuesday night to give final approval to an ordinance that severely restricts where warehouses can be built in the township and bans …

The Zoning Board of Adjustment voted May 22 to grant retroactive approval to Dream On Me Industries for 16 signs installed on the company’s massive Veronica Avenue warehouse and distribution complex without the required permits, after Board members raised pointed questions about the size of two large wall-mounted signs, the proliferation of the company’s corporate logo on directional signs throughout …

SETTING THE SCENE – Church member Ingrid Blanco, seated next to attorney John DeLuca, gave the zoning board a brief history of Iglesia Christiana Refugio at the May 22 Board hearing. A congregation seeking to open a house of worship in a long-vacant corner office building ran into a wall of questions and concerns from the Zoning Board of Adjustment on …

PLEASANTLY SURPRISED – Township resident Dave Robinson said he was pleasantly surprised by the proposed ordinance amendment limiting warehouses and banning data centers. The Township Council on May 12 made it’s latest attempt to limit the impact of warehouses in the township with the introduction of an ordinance amendment creating design standards for warehouses. Don’t Miss Out! No other media …

DETAILING OBJECTIONS – Peter Steck, a planner hired by opponents to a plan to raze the Ukrainian Cultural Center, testifies about his objections to the application at the May 7 Zoning Board hearing. A planner testified May 7 that a proposal to demolish the Ukrainian Orthodox cultural center on Davidson Avenue and replace it with a 258,150-square-foot warehouse is riddled …

GUIDING THE DISCUSSION – Township Planner Mark Healey led the Planning Board in its initial review of recommendations made in the 2026 Master Plan Reexamination Report at the May 6 meeting. The Franklin Township Planning Board on May 6 began its review of a series of proposed zoning ordinance changes drawn from the township’s 2026 Master Plan Reexamination, with Board members …

MORE TESTIMONY – Engineer Mitchell Ardman testifies on an application to build a mosque on South Middlebush Road at the April 16 zoning board meeting. The Franklin Township Zoning Board of Adjustment heard a third round of testimony April 16 on an application to build a 19,350-square-foot mosque on South Middlebush Road, with Board members pressing the applicant on the …

DESIGN EXPLANATION – Architect Bill Feinberg talks about the materials that will be used on the proposed shopping center at Route 27 and Clover Place. A proposed shopping center and restaurant on a site that once housed Somerset County’s first courthouse drew scrutiny from the Township Historic Preservation Advisory Commission on April 7, with members calling for ground-penetrating radar surveys, …

EXPLAINING THE NEED – Somerset Bible Baptist Church Pastor Brian Fisher tells the Zoning Board why the church needs the proposed gymnasium at the April 2 hearing. Variances that would help pave the way for construction of a 1-story gymnasium behind the Somerset Bible Baptist Church on Cedar Grove Lane were approved April 2 by the township Zoning Board of …

MAKING THE CASE – Engineer Michael Ford, foreground, testifies for a minor subdivision application at the April 1 Planning Board hearing. The township Planning Board on April 1 approved a minor subdivision application that will carve out a 1-acre residential lot from a preserved farm along Skillman’s Lane, though not before a lively exchange over whether a future fence might …