Development

MAKING A POINT – Bob Smith, attorney for Parker at Somerset, speaks to the Zoning Board during the September 7 hearing. The Parker at Somerset rehabilitation center won Zoning Board of Adjustment approval for its plan to re-stripe its parking lot and create an outpatient rehabilitation facility at the September 7 Board meeting. Meanwhile, a township couple wishing to build a …

OPPOSITION IS HEARD – Mary Paist-Goldman testifies about the B9 Schoolhouse warehouse project’s water management plan while attorney Stuart Lieberman looks on. Opponents of a proposed two-warehouse development at Schoolhouse and Mettlers roads got the chance on July 19 to convince the Planning Board that the application should not be approved. The opponents, the majority of whom are Canal Walk …

PAYING RAPT ATTENTION – More than 200 people crowded into the Board of Education community room at its Route 27 administrative campus July 5 for the third hearing on the proposed B9 warehouses. Testimony on changes to a plan to build more than 200,000 square feet of warehouse space at Mettlers and Schoolhouse roads elicited sometimes aggressive questioning from members …

YMCA ANNOUNCEMENT – Township Councilman Ram Anbarasan announced that a feasibility study concluded the township would support a YMCA branch. An idea that was first broached about 20 years ago, but never materialized, is coming back in focus. Officials at the Greater Somerset YMCA announced June 27 that a feasibility study recommended they move forward with placing a YMCA branch …

ON THE HOT SEAT – Corey Chase, a traffic engineer for the developer of the proposed B9 Schoolhouse warehouse project, testifies during the June 21 Planning Board hearing. The traffic engineer for the proposed B9 warehouses at Schoolhouse and Mettlers roads came under prolonged questioning from the Planning Board and public during a continuation of the application’s hearing at the …

SUPPORTIVE WORDS – Attorney Howard Cohen, representing the Canal Walk Homeowners’ Association, speaks to the Township Council at its June 13 meeting. Amendments to the Township’s Noise Ordinance which restrict the time that industrial-related loading and unloading operations, as well as the use of vehicles with backup beepers, can be used on properties that abut Scenic Corridors which are adjacent …

Amendments to the township’s noise ordinance that elicited applause from some Canal Walk residents opposed to a nearby warehouse application was introduced at the Township Council’s May 23 meeting. The ordinance restricts the time that industrial-related loading and unloading operations, as well as the use of vehicles with backup beepers, can be used on properties that abut Scenic Corridors which …

Township Councilman James Vassanella said at the November 22 Council meeting that the Township should be more aggressive in limiting new warehouse development. Township government needs to be more aggressive in finding ways to stop the influx of warehouses in Franklin, a Township Councilman said on November 22. Councilman James Vassanella (D-Ward 5) made the comment during a Township Council …