By Michael Lovito
The Morristown planning board chugged along with locomotive-like efficiency on Thursday night, approving a pair of large mixed-use developments near the train station.
At One Lackawanna Place, Bijou Properties will construct a “gateway” building consisting of 89 residential units and 5,118 square feet of retail space.
Only a short walk away, the current Staples strip mall, on 22 Lafayette Ave., will become home to The Metro, a Morristown Associates LLC property that will include 126 rental apartments, subsidized retail spaces, and Morristown’s first 100 extended-stay units.
The two projects represent an important step forward in Morristown’s ongoing plans to redevelop the area around the train station. Members of the planning board said they hope the buildings serve as effective advertisements for the community to travelers taking the train or driving into town for the first time.
“When people come into a town or city, sometimes their first impression is what’s going to be lasting on them,” town council liaison Chris Russo said.
“Now, coming off 287 and Lafayette, they’re going to see these two beautiful buildings, and it’s going to wow people. They’ll say, ‘all this stuff I heard about Morristown must be true, look at these two unbelievable pieces of architecture.’”
ADA MARKS THE SPOT
The approval of One Lackawanna Place was vindicating for both the applicant and the town. Project attorney Frank Vitolo said his client had been through “hell and back” trying to get the project off the ground, an 18-year process held up by protracted litigation between the property owner, NJ Transit, and the Morristown Parking Authority.
“Given the constraints and all the things you heard about, I think he’s done a wonderful job making the site work, and I think it’s going to be very successful,” Vitolo said.
That project did face one more snag, though, as the board questioned whether adequate amenities were provided for disabled pedestrians.
Initial site plans had proposed two ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) parking spaces on Lumber Street, near a staircase that leads to the residential units. In a revised plan, they were moved closer to the train station.
While discussing why the applicant moved the spaces instead of providing additional ADA accommodations such as a lift or a ramp, town Planner Phil Abramson posed a blunt question to traffic engineer Kerry Pehnke.
“Can you have too many handicapped spaces?” he asked.
“I don’t know what your definition of too many is, but you provide what’s required by law to meet what’s necessary to serve the public,” Pehnke said.
Noting that the settlement between the applicant, MPA, and NJ Transit put constraints on the site’s parking design, Vitolo eventually committed to restoring the ADA parking spaces to their original location, with added accommodations.
“Listen, we will put the ADA spaces back up top at the top, and we’ll build a ramp or a lift, okay?” Vitolo said with a hint of frustration. “And we’ll submit it to the town engineer to their satisfaction.”
Despite this minor dispute, the application was passed unanimously and received universal praise from the board.
“You’re going to see something really special in our train station when you pull in from New York. You’re going to be coming into what looks like a grand hotel,” Mayor Tim Dougherty said.
“Hopefully transit will start recognizing the importance of investing in our rails, because these are the type of projects that make not just here, but all communities on the railway, successful.”
TALL TREES MAKE GOOD NEIGHBORS
Thursday’s testimony regarding The Metro primarily was about tying up loose ends. Civil engineer Afton Savitz detailed a new sidewalk on Abbett Avenue requested by board member Stefan Armington, while architect Bruce Stieve described the operations of the extended-stay facility.
The extended-stay units, approved in an ordinance last year, will operate similarly to a hotel, with a maximum stay of 182 days and an estimated minimum of five days. They’ll also include laundry and housekeeping services.
Vitolo suggested such units would entice more Fortune 500 companies to move to Morristown and help those already in town do business.
“I represented Deloitte. These guys, all the time they say, ‘we need places for our people to come and stay,’” Vitolo said. “So, it’s really a unique and creative way to utilize the site.”
Perhaps the most heavily discussed aspect of The Metro site was the retaining wall separating the property from residences on Jardine Road.
Landscape architect Paul DeVitto said the applicant planned to clear invasive vegetation currently on the wall and replace it with a steep slope seed mix to fortify its integrity, and that they would plant one large evergreen shrub for every 50 linear feet, to provide screening for the adjacent residences.
Jardine resident Scott Wilson presented a counter-proposal prepared by himself and Paul Capar that called for green giant arborvitae, a large evergreen tree, to be planted instead. Vitolo said they wouldn’t be able to plant every tree proposed, but the applicant would “intersperse” green giant arborvitae with its proposed shrubs.
“I’m very supportive, and so are most of our neighbors, that something had to happen at the Staples site,” Wilson said. “But we just want to see that our investment in our homes is protected.”
During the public comment section of the meeting, Randy Kaplan, another Jardine resident, said he was concerned the project increase traffic on both Jardine and Lafayette Avenue.
“We’re adding what I estimate is 300 units between Lackawanna Place and the Staples project. So that’s at least 300 additional cars,” Kaplan said. “It seems to me that we are proceeding with two big developments that are going to increase traffic immensely.”
Dougherty said the town was working with Morris County, which has jurisdiction over Lafayette, to alleviate traffic on the road. But he also noted that, given Florham Park’s positive experience with the AVE extended stay facility, he didn’t think the two projects would add to the town’s traffic problem.
“This is a bold project,” Dougherty said of The Metro. “It’s going to be a great asset to the town of Morristown.”
The next planning board meeting is on Feb. 20, 2025, at 7:30 pm.
