News-pourri

The Family Dollar Store on Hamilton Street will sport a new, larger sign when it reopens. The Zoning Board on Jan. 9 approved the placement of a new sign on the store that is about 13 square feet larger than the previous sign.

It was known last year as “Bike Without Fear” day, but this year the popular Canal Road event will be called “Canal Road Walk and Roll.”

The Zoning Board had Como Drive residents on its mind Jan. 9 when it approved a proposal to build a 3,935-square-foot church at the street’s intersection with Cedar Grove Lane. The unanimous approval came with a laundry list of restrictions:

The Planning Board on Jan. 8 approved applications for Trap Rock Industries to build a concrete plant, balconies for a Somerset Street housing development and an outdoor storage plan for a Randolph Road water tank manufacturer. Trap Rock got the OK from the board to construct a 2,400-square-foot concrete manufacturing plant on its property off Kingston-Rocky Hill Road in Kingston. …

U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, D-NJ/12, will hold “community Office Hours’ from 5-7 p.m. Feb. 20, 2014, at the Franklin Township Library, 485 DeMott Lane. Members of Holt’s staff will be available to assist residents who are having problems with Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the VA, U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services, or any other federal agency, according to a release about …

An application for a controversial digital billboard near Grant Street and Davidson Avenue was approved Dec. 18 by the Planning Board, but that’s not the final word in the matter. That’s because the issue of the Constitutionality of a township ordinance banning digital billboards is making its way through the state Appellate Court system, with a decision not expected to …

Franklin Township Redevelopment Agency commissioners seemed less than impressed Dec. 16 with an update on progress in the Churchill-Millstone Redevelopment Area. The redevelopment area is roughly 43 acres bordered by Route 27, Berry Street, Millstone Road and an area extending south of Churchill Avenue.

An application to build a 4,246-square-foot home on an undersized lot on Lenox Avenue was approved Nov. 13 by the Zoning Board of Adjustment. Builder Ronald Snyder will construct a bi-level home on a 75’x 100′ lot, which is half the required size for a home.

The two township residents running for state Legislative seats had mixed results Nov. 5. Democratic state Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula easily won re-election from the 17th Legislative District with his running mate, Joseph Egan. The two bested Republican challengers Carlo DiLalla of North Brunswick and Sanjay Patel of Piscataway.

Township voters returned to power Nov. 5 the five Democratic Township Council incumbents as well as current Board of Education president Julia Presley. Also elected to the school board were former board member Nancy LaCorte and newcomer Christine Danielson.