Plans for 52 new apartments across the street from Morristown Medical Center may hinge on ownership of a cul-de-sac.
A developer affiliated with the hospital wants the town to hand over ownership of Todd Place, a spur off Franklin Street that ends in a cul-de-sac within the Franklin Village apartment complex.
The transfer would give the AHS Investment Corp. enough acreage to build a 52-unit building without requiring a density variance from the town zoning board, Willard Bergman Jr., attorney for the project, said on Tuesday.
Only 33 units are allowed on the site as it’s now configured, said the lawyer, who briefly addressed the town council. The apartments would add about $100,000 in annual tax revenues to town coffers, Bergman said.
Municipal officials said they need more details.
“We need to do our due diligence on that road,” Mayor Tim Dougherty, who serves on the planning board, said after the council meeting.
The three-story building proposed for the corner of Franklin Street and Route 287 would house a mix of studio-, one- and two bedroom apartments.
At least 50 percent of the tenants would be hospital employees, as stipulated by a town ordinance that enabled the corporation to construct the 256-unit Franklin Village complex in 1994, Bergman said. More than half the residents there are connected with the hospital, he said.
The AHS Investment Corp. is a for-profit company affiliated with the Atlantic Health System, parent of Morristown Medical Center.
Some of the new apartments would be designated as affordable housing, he said. The town mandates that 12.5 percent of new projects be set aside for low- and moderate-income tenants.
An application was filed with the town planning board in January, followed in February by a request to the council to “vacate” (transfer) Todd Place, said Bergman.
The Mayor said the planning board agreed the project would not proceed unless Todd Place was vacated–a decision for the council.
Council President Rebecca Feldman questioned whether closure of Todd Place would strain parking in a neighborhood already pressed for spaces. She indicated that the council may seek recommendations from the planning board.
Although the town owns Todd Place, the hospital has plowed and maintained it, said town Attorney Vij Pawar. So far, he told the council, there has been no discussion of the hospital buying the street from the town.
The developer had hoped to break ground in the fall, Bergman said.
what about the empty hole on Ann Street that has languished without buildings for almost a decade now? those 19th century houses, demolished with the blessings of the town-fathers for a greedy developer without the foresight of time?
The town has been looking for a new site for a firehouse or the ambulance Squa for years and yet AHS wants the town to help them maximize their profit by donating a street. I recall when the Town gave them Jefferson Road nd they promised their development of that street would pay more taxes than the homes they demolished there. Before that they eliminated a heavily used playground for another development. Their employees have been taking advantage of the Ford Avenue playground and park ever since. When they added the road to their square footage for their property it also permitted them to develop beyond what was permitted before. There are many implications involved to giving away Town property. Does that mean any developer can expect the same favors for their projects.
We’re are they going to put the cars it just won’t work. Big problems ahead you will see. Should turn the area into a park for the people.