TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON—An applicant approved to build a 44-unit rental apartment complex off of Van Emburgh Avenue — including seven affordable units — will appear before the Planning Board to eliminate one of two single-family homes approved.
Franklin Court Management LLC, was approved 4-1 on Feb. 2, 2022, to build a 44-unit apartment complex and two single-family homes off of Van Emburgh Avenue. Franklin Court Management LLC is based in Roselle.
Applicant attorney Donna Jennings told Pascack Press, “The NJDEP wetlands area and buffer were greater than originally anticipated leaving too small of a building envelope to construct two single family homes. The project should be an improvement as many of the neighbors on the cul-de-sac preferred one lot over two during the original hearing.”
The matter next comes before the Planning Board on Wednesday, on Zoom, Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m.
The applicant’s amended request seeks permission to subdivide the four existing lots into two new lots (instead of three) as follows: “Proposed Lot 1.04 to contain a multifamily residential inclusionary building approved by Resolution PB 22-09 and Proposed Lot 1.05 to contain a single-family home.”
The amended application seeks variance relief from ordinance sections 580-33 and 580-35 with regard to the minimum street frontage and minimum front yard setback with respect to Lot 1.05 and the proposed single family home.
Jennings said, “The application should be approved; there is no change to the 44-unit multifamily inclusionary building and by reducing the single family lots to one there are less variances and so an improved plan overall.”
The controversial application to construct the 44-unit complex, which was part of the township’s affordable housing settlement, included seven affordable units and also required the developer to pay $250,000 to the township’s affordable trust fund in lieu of construction of additional units.
In a memo she wrote in early 2022 to summarize issues for the Planning Board, Jennings highlighted details of the site plan application, subdivision application and bulk variances, approval by outside agencies, and offered conclusions.
Jennings said that should the Planning Board deny the application, “The Township risks losing its immunity from builder’s remedy lawsuits.”
The same thinking would likely apply to revisions of the proposal.
Jennings said, “The board’s review of the site plan application is generally limited to determining whether the plan conforms to the ordinance and the board may not request the applicant go above and beyond what is required by the ordinance. The Board also may not deny the site plan application based upon off-site conditions such as traffic.”
Since Planning Board hearings started, a host of legal, building code, variance and safety issues had loomed over Franklin Court Management LLC’s proposal to build its 44-unit apartment complex and two single-family homes off of Van Emburgh Avenue.
The applicant’s nearly 3 1⁄2-hour third hearing in November 2021 focused on variances, fire vehicles’ access, setbacks, stormwater, traffic and a host of criticisms from four adjacent homeowners. The homeowners had appeared at most other hearings to testify against what they alleged were the development’s shortcomings.
The four opposed residents included Dan Sharma, Eric Uderitz, Richard Horwitz, and Darius Oggioni, who cited dozens of potential negative impacts.
These included loss of privacy, lack of fire vehicle access and fire protection, runoff impacts, improper landscape screening from the 44-unit development, building height, water pressure, parking, and traffic.
At the hearing, Oggioni read a detailed list of nearly five dozen concerns into the record. A copy is filed under the application’s Planning Board documents.
Uderitz questioned the safety of pedestrians needing to walk from the 44 apartment units out onto Van Emburgh Avenue. He said no nearby bus stop exists, and no access to mass transit.
Uderitz said then that the complex would add traffic to the “dangerous” Van Emburgh Avenue–Washington Avenue intersection, add pollution, decrease privacy, and have a negative impact on his property value.
No documents for the amended Franklin Court application could be found online as of Oct. 24. Officials said the materials should be posted soon.
On Thursday, Nov. 3, the Planning Board will hear an amended major soil movement permit and final subdivision approval for 34 Maple Avenue LLC, which was approved for an eight-lot subdivision in Sept. 2021 on about 5 acres off of Wearimus Road.
The permit is to allow 7,567 cubic yards of fill, about 544 cubic yards to be exported, for a total of 7,023 yards.
Moreover, it requests 111 trees to be removed and 268 trees to be planted.