Franklin redevelopment plan changes

Published Aug 15, 2012 at 11:56 am (Updated Aug 15, 2012)

By Scott Baker

FRANKLIN — A controversial redevelopment plan in the borough has been altered. A 100-acre area on both sides of the Route 23 corridor is no longer in play, at least for now.
As per a request made by Franklin Borough Administrator Jim Kilduff, Kenneth Nelson of Nelson Consulting Group has made a basic redevelopment plan concerning what is now being referred to as “Area E East.” The original Area E, which was comprised of the Route 23 corridor on both the east and west sides of the highway and totaling approximately 100 acres, has been temporarily shrunken to four properties to concentrate on the area where development is already in progress, Nelson said. He was referring to Group 5 Development's installation of a Super Wal-Mart store on the largest of the properties in the development plan.

Eliminating two properties

Two of the properties on the east side of Route 23 were removed from the redevelopment plan, Nelson revealed at Tuesday night's regular Mayor and Council meeting.
The first of these properties, which is currently the site of the Hardyston Elementary School, was removed after several objections from the school's then-Superintendent Glen Sumpman and his school board attorney.
The second property no longer included in the plan is the residence of Patricia Rowett, a Democratic candidate for Franklin Borough Council, who also strongly objected to her property's inclusion in the study.
Nelson said that the Rowett property was removed from the plan because it shares a border with the Hardyston School property.
The council voted 3-1 to remove the two properties from the study, with Councilman Nicholas Giordano saying, “All we're really doing here is removing the areas that shouldn't have been included in the first place.”

What might happen

While these properties were omitted from the redevelopment plan, Nelson admitted that he included “speculation” as to what the properties might be used for if they ever were to be made a part of the plan. One of these speculations included turning the front part of the school property into a commercial zone and developing the rear of the property as residential.
Nelson also acknowledged the fact that these properties would be crucial for the eventual collector road that would run parallel to Route 23 from Route 517 to Weis Market, but, he said, “the borough may still take steps to include the collector road whether the school is include in the redevelopment plan or not.”

What remains

The remaining four properties that comprise the newly titled Area E East include the State Parks and Forestry building, located just past the intersection of Routes 23 and 517, the two residential properties directly east of that building, and the Group 5 site, which is currently home to a small strip mall across the street from Starbucks.
“The meat and potatoes of this is the Group 5 Development site,” said Franklin Mayor Paul Crowley, adding that the current Super Wal-Mart project is development of a scope that's being watched by both the county and the state.

What's next

After a 2-2 split vote that was broken by Mayor Crowley, planner Ken Nelson was authorized to do the study and his plan will be sent on to the borough planning board for approval on Monday, Aug. 20 at 7 p.m.
There, the plan will be discussed and either sent back to the council for final approval as-is, amended and sent back or rejected entirely.