Ho, ho, ho: Morristown daycare debate heads for Yule Spectacular

grinch zoning board
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grinch zoning board

In the days of over-the-air television, Christmas Specials were a staple of the holiday season.

Grownups faced a blizzard of shows from entertainers both famous and obscure, ranging from kitschy to bizarre. (Bing Crosby dueting with David Bowie, for example.) Kids looked forward to annual visits from Charlie Brown, Rudolph and Frosty.

Morristown’s version of the Christmas Special is the Daycare Hearing, brought to you by The Board of Adjustment.

Last year, it was a four-hour extravaganza on Dec. 18 for the ill-fated Rainbow Academy.

This year, it’s The Learning Experience, scheduled to return on Dec. 17, 2014, for its sixth zoning board appearance.

Fa La La La La, La La La La!

‘IT DOES NOT MOVE THE NEEDLE’

On Wednesday the board heard about two-and-a-half hours of testimony, mostly from Charles Olivo, a traffic engineer for the applicant who minimized the potential impact of the daycare center on local roads near the intersection of Normandy Parkway and Madison Avenue.

“It does not move the needle,” he said.

But the state Department of Transportation plans to widen that intersection, adding extra lanes, and board Chairman Cary Lloyd said more details are needed from the DOT to determine how this will affect access to the site at 170 Madison Ave.

Photos by Scott Schlosser and Kevin Coughlin. Please click icon below for captions.

Proposed for just under an acre at Normandy and Madison, the center would serve up to 175 children with a staff of 22.

A variance is required because the wooded tract, one of Morristown’s last undeveloped parcels, is zoned for residential use. Daycare centers enter such proceedings with an automatic advantage, however, because the state presumes they are “inherently beneficial” to society.

Still, this is a busy intersection, and residents worry that the right-turn-in, right-turn-out access to the proposed facility will result in many U-turns on neighboring streets, adversely affecting their quality of life.

They also have suggested that parking proposed for the site is insufficient, and may turn their streets into parking lots.

At Wednesday’s session, developer Sam Samman withdrew an offer to add five spaces, reverting to the original number of 30.  Citing patterns at three Learning Experience centers of comparable or larger size, Olivo testified that 30 spaces would be plenty– at peak periods, no more than 26 spots will be filled, he predicted.

Traffic engineer Charles Olivo answers questions from Patrick Galligan, a lawyer hired by a resident, at Morristown zoning board hearing. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Traffic engineer Charles Olivo answers questions from Patrick Galligan, a lawyer hired by a resident, at Morristown zoning board hearing. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

Based on data from a pair of local traffic counts conducted for the applicant, and on patterns of pupil drop-offs/pickups and staff arrivals/departures at other Learning Experience franchises, Olivo calculated there would not be an appreciable spike in traffic.

Some parents already travel these routes on their way to work, and thus would not represent an increase in vehicle volume, he said.

Under cross-examination by Patrick Galligan, a lawyer hired by resident Andrea Kelly, Olivo acknowledged that at least one of the traffic monitoring studies was conducted during a school vacation period, when traffic may have been lighter than usual.

Olivo said he compensated for this by factoring in three other area traffic studies, including one for Morris Township’s proposed redevelopment of the massive Honeywell tract.

By the same token, he asserted it’s not inappropriate to generate through-traffic.

“These are public roads, not private roads. They are not gated. They are open to the public,” he said in response to questions from town traffic consultant Thomas Phelan.

ISLANDS AND TREES

Cary Lloyd, the board chairman, noted that Olivo had not calculated the potential traffic impact on nearby Twombly Court.  Residents in the audience laughed when Olivo testified that he doubted motorists would use Washington Street as a cut-through to access the center.

There also was discussion about DOT line-of-sight rules for ramps and intersections; higher travel speeds require greater unobstructed views.  This could mandate removal of more trees along the site’s perimeter– a matter that concerns the town environmental commission.

And town fire officials have said that concrete traffic islands in Madison Avenue adjacent to the center’s proposed driveway could impede or endanger fire trucks responding to an emergency at the site.

Sam Samman, the developer, wrote to the zoning board that the DOT widening project should solve that problem by shrinking the traffic islands. But just in case, he said, his engineers have adjusted the center’s plans, widening the driveway and altering its angle.

Earlier this year, after many hours of hearings, the zoning board rejected Rainbow Academy’s proposed daycare center for Turtle Road, citing anticipated traffic bottlenecks at the intersection of Turtle and Madison Avenue.

Bah, humbug!

MORE ABOUT THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE APPLICATION

Developer Sam Samman speaks at Morristown zoning board hearing. Photo by Scott Schlosser
Developer Sam Samman speaks at Morristown zoning board hearing. Photo by Scott Schlosser

 

 

 

2 COMMENTS

  1. I’m in agreement with Townies remarks, though they are almost an understatement. The flippant responses from the applicant’s expert are insulting at best. This is one of the most ill conceived, self-serving, “line my wallet and I’m gone” projects I’ve ever seen. I and the hundred or so residents who LIVE HERE who have attended these meetings are in disbelief that such a faulty idea attempts at legitimacy with the presentation of ‘experts’.
    I have been driving cars for over 50 years. I LOVE driving for it’s own sake. I’ve also participated in a number of High Performance Driving Events, which have served to make me a better, more aware operator of a motor vehicle. I am always watching all parts of a thoroughfare for the safest way to anticipate and negotiate each upcoming situation in a way that does not endanger or compromise anyone, including myself and my passengers and pedestrians. Due to this concern, I am alarmed that access to a facility could be considered for what is essentially an ACCESS RAMP to a main highway. The speed limit on Normandy is 40 mph. When traveling towards Madison Ave, approaching the railroad overpass, one’s view beyond is impeded. Even if one slows down to 30 mph at that point, is already too fast to prepare for evasive maneuvers WHEN the ramp is backed up from from the normal rush hour activity, and now additionally, parents transporting their children to/from the facility, more accidents are inevitable.
    What about parents who do not have the “luxury” of proceeding southwest on Normandy as a regular part of their route? These people, perhaps traveling east or west on Madison will seek other ways to turn around to be on the section of the RAMP so they can access the facility. There’s only one way in/out to this facility, therefore the “other ways” will be sought out by occasionally desperate “because I’m late for work, etc.” parents trying to get their children to the facility on time and not be late for their following appointment, whatever it might be. These ‘other ways’ will be through our neighborhoods, resulting in further abuse of the 25 mph limit on Washington Ave and environs, use of Oak Lane, Twombly Court, Kenilworth Road, Normandy Blvd. as ‘jug handles” as well as desperate u-turns in every accessible driveway/parking lot or side street to allow the parent to get on the ‘right’ part of the RAMP.
    The Washington Avenue neighborhood is a quiet, family oriented area with (according to my own anecdotal count) a significant number of young families moving in over the last few years, even in the last few weeks. There are loads of young children, and many dog owners. We have enough problems with self indulgent drivers abusing our speed limit. We do not want additional traffic for no good reason. Just because someone owns a piece of property does not mean they have to ravage it and it’s neighborhood to line their own pockets. Enough is enough.

  2. Right in, right out? In a merger lane? over a bridge with cars traveling 40+ mph? Doesn’t sound like a place I’d want to bring my kid. Very dangerous to turn in and out! People already get rear-ended there when they slow to merge with on-coming traffic. It’s zoned residential for a reason.

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