The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
A plan to widen the driveway at the Ukrainian Reformed Church on Easton Avenue and add more parking spaces received a conditional Certificate of Appropriateness from the Historic Preservation Advisory Commission at its April 1 meeting.
But that’s only part of the story.
The Church presented the first part of what will be a two-part redevelopment, the second part being the demolition of the Ukrainian Cultural Center on Davidson Avenue, to be replaced by a proposed 250,000-square-foot warehouse.
Plans for the project were deemed complete by the Township’s Planning Department on April 1, Daniel Miola, the project’s engineer, said after the Historic Commission meeting.
The church and cultural center are in the township’s Business and Industry Zone.
The Church has to get the Commission’s appropriateness certifications because its property is within 1,000 feet of the Delaware & Raritan Canal, which is considered a historic zone.
The overall plan includes an application to subdivide the Church’s property, cutting loose the parcel that will eventually house the proposed warehouse.
That will necessitate a widening of the Church’s driveway on Easton Avenue, allowing for two-way traffic, and an increase in parking slots around the church to an eventual maximum of 80 slots, Miola told the Commission.
The plan also includes the installation of two bioretention basins, as well as the planting of about 100 trees and 50 ornamental shrubs, Miola said.
Commission Chairman Andrew Burian suggested to Miola that some varieties of trees planned for the border along Easton Avenue – specifically arborvitaes – be changed for some native species that are not attractive to deer.
“I’d like to see some native Oaks thrown in there,” Burian said.
The Commission’s approval is dependent on the subdivision being approved.
Burian outlined the conditions attached to the approval.
“So the recommendation of the board will be approval, condition of more oak trees and native species being included, reduction of arborvitaes in lieu of deer-resistant species, relocation or reconfiguration of the stormwater basins to get away from the house, and that revisions are presented as part of the application for the future development,” he said. “And that this formal approval is conditioned on the actual subdivision of the property.”
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