ARCHITECT SPEAKS – David Minno, the architect for the proposed 200-unit apartment building in Rutgers Plaza, testifies before the Zoning Board of Adjustment. The Rutgers Plaza retail center will get a complete facelift with the approval of a proposed 200-unit apartment building in the former K-Mart space, the Zoning Board of Adjustment was told during a contentious June 20 hearing. …
Read More »Five-Story Mixed-Use Building Approved For Hamilton Street
APARTMENTS APPROVED – An artist’s rendering of the 5-story, mixed-use Hamilton Street building approved by the Planning Board on June 19. A 120-unit apartment building and affordable day care center targeted for a tract in the Hamilton Street Business District was approved June 19 by the Township Planning Board. The Board vote was unanimous, although there was some reticence expressed …
Read More »Easton Avenue Issues Subject Of Community Forum
STREET WOES – Township Councilman James Vassanella said that he’s noticed that since Covid, overall conditions on the Easton Avenue corridor have declined. Some short-term “fixes” to Easton Avenue traffic issues my be put in place before major reconstruction work is set to begin later this decade. That was the upshot from a May 20 forum on safety issues with …
Read More »Zoning Board Holds First Hearing On Rutgers Plaza Apartment Building Proposal
TRYING TO MAKE HIS CASE – Sidney Singer, vice president of leasing for Levin Properties, testifies before the Zoning Board on April 4. Township residents packed the Council Chamber on April 4 for the first of what promises to be several Zoning Board of Adjustment hearings on a proposal to convert the former K-Mart building in Rutgers Plaza into a …
Read More »Historic Preservation Advisory Commission Wants Design Changes To Proposed Rutgers Plaza Apartment Building
PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT – An artist’s rendering of the proposed 4-story, 200-apartment building targeted for the former K-Mart building in Rutgers Plaza. The developer of a proposed 4-story apartment building targeted for Rutgers Plaza was told by the township Historic Preservation Advisory Commission to “soften up” their building’s styling at the April 2 Commission meeting. Representatives from Levin Properties appeared before …
Read More »Foundation’s Unauthorized Plan For Marconi Park Renovation Scuttled By Somerset County
COUNTY TAKES OVER – Somerset County will renovate Guglielmo Marconi Memorial Park after officials stopped unauthorized work being done by the Franklin Township Marconi Foundation. Plans by a private organization to refurbish the Guglielmo Marconi Memorial Park at Easton Avenue and JFK Boulevard have been scuttled by Somerset County officials, about two months after the Township ordered that work on …
Read More »Jain Center Wins Planning Board Approval For Driveway Arch
TIRED OF THE FIGHT – Planning Board member Robert Thomas said he just didn’t care any longer about a house of worship’s plans to construct an arch on their driveway on Cedar Grove Lane without realigning the driveway with one across the street. It took about eight months, but the Jain Center on Cedar Grove Lane won approval for a …
Read More »Jain Center Walks Away From Planning Board Empty Handed, Again
INSISTED ON REALIGNMENT – Planning Board member Robert Thomas told Jain Center representatives that they agreed to move their driveway alignment years ago, but had yet to do it. Representatives of a township temple were once again unsuccessful January 3 in getting Planning Board approvals for a decorative archway planned for the temple’s driveway on Cedar Grove Lane. The difficulty …
Read More »It’s Back: Levin Resubmits Apartment Building Plan For Rutgers Plaza
TRYING AGAIN – The owner of Rutgers Plaza on Easton Avenue is once again applying to the Township for approval to raze the former Big Kmart building and construct a 200-unit apartment complex in its place. The Levin Company has resubmitted its plan to turn the former Big Kmart building into a 200-unit apartment building. Plans were submitted to the …
Read More »Marconi Park Refurbishment Stopped; Needed Permissions Never Granted
WORK STOPPED – The Township construction department has issued violations and a stop work order on the refurbishment of the Guglielmo Marconi Memorial Park at Easton Avenue and John F. Kennedy Boulevard. Work has been stopped on the refurbishment of the Guglielmo Marconi Memorial Park on John F. Kennedy Boulevard after it was discovered that Somerset County had not approved …
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