Turtle Road developer gets 11th hour reprieve in Morristown

Attorney Larry Calli, right, confers with Blake Silverman of the Silverman Group. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Attorney Larry Calli, right, confers with Blake Silverman of the Silverman Group. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
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Attorney Larry Calli, right, confers with Blake Silverman of the Silverman Group. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Attorney Larry Calli, right, confers with Blake Silverman of the Silverman Group. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

By Kevin Coughlin

They don’t call it Turtle Road for nothing.

A proposal to build apartments there has been pending since April… and now it’s pending until Dec. 9, 2015.

The Morristown zoning board was on the brink of rejecting the 40-unit project on Wednesday night, when the developer agreed to consider modifying the plans, in hopes of satisfying board members’ concerns.

“We will certainly and gladly take you up on the offer to reconvene at a future meeting, attempting to mitigate and eliminate more of these concerns we’ve heard tonight. Maybe we can and maybe we can’t, but we’d like to try to do it,” said attorney Larry Calli, representing the Silverman Group.

Zoning board Chairman Cary Lloyd, left, listens as member Larry Cohen makes a point. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Zoning board Chairman Cary Lloyd, left, listens as member Larry Cohen makes a point. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

Board members commended the developer’s efforts  — which have included a  walking tour of the site, reducing the building height by one story, eliminating six apartments, and designing underground parking.

But many also expressed qualms about trying to shoehorn 40 apartments onto a vacant 1.44-acre parking lot zoned for a maximum of seven townhouses.

“Seems like we’re trying to jam a lot into a small lot,” said board member Lawrence Cohen.

As members stated their views, it became clear that a majority was poised to vote against granting variances for Turtle Road Commons.

That would have marked the second defeat on this property for the Silverman Group, which saw its  daycare center plans rebuffed last year after lengthy hearings. Questions about traffic backups at the Turtle Road/Madison Avenue intersection doomed the daycare.

Dueling traffic experts gave contrasting traffic projections for the apartments.  Board members quibbled about the building’s aesthetics, landscaping, and retention of tall trees to screen it from the neighboring Convent Mews and Village at Convent Station condos.

Board member Jim Bednarz exchanges views with Morristown planning consultant Phil Abramson. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Board member Jim Bednarz exchanges views with Morristown planning consultant Phil Abramson. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

“I think you’ve actually done a very good job of improving the buffering from the original plan we saw. I appreciate that,” trustee Jim Bednarz told the applicant.

“So I caution you not to move away from that, because that buys a lot of love from me, honestly, in terms of how I trade off things.”

Town planner Phil Abramson warned members against coaching the developer, however.

It would be illegal for the board to ask the Silverman Group to share its economic reasons for seeking to exceed the seven town homes allowed on the site, the planner said.

Some board members prefaced their comments by asserting that the town needs housing, and that a good project would enhance a fallow site.  Chairman Cary Lloyd described this as his toughest case in six years on the board.

“It’s a tough balance. This is the first one that’s been really hard for me to decide,” Lloyd said after the meeting.  The board has met twice this month on the application, with expectations of resolving the matter each time.

Had it come to a vote, Lloyd said, he would have supported the project, with conditions attached.  The developer needs permission to build apartments and to exceed the maximum impervious coverage on the site, among other things. By eliminating a fourth story, the Silverman Group no longer requires a height variance.

Greg Moller, one of many residents to speak against the project, viewed Wednesday’s back-to-the-drawing-board outcome as mostly positive.

“I’m happy to see the board have concerns about the density,” Moller said. Still, he contends the town should stick with the existing zoning — seven town houses, maximum — and board members should stop making “irrelevant” comparisons to an empty lot or a daycare center.

Residents have attended numerous zoning hearings for Turtle Road proposals since 2013. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Residents have attended numerous zoning hearings for Turtle Road proposals since 2013. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

The proposed apartments are smaller than town houses; three apartments would occupy the same square footage as one town home, according to attorney Harvey Gilbert’s interpretation of the developer’s presentation.

Such a formula should lead to a scaled-down project of between 21- and 25 units, said Gilbert, who represents one of the neighbors. His client would be satisfied with numbers in that range, he said.

Calli, the developer’s lawyer, could not predict how the proposal may evolve.

“It’s always productive to have dialogue with the board,” he said. “We’re looking forward to continuing that dialogue.”

MORE ABOUT TURTLE ROAD COMMONS

The Morristown zoning board has held two special meetings this month on a Turtle Road apartment proposal. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
The Morristown zoning board has held two special meetings this month on a Turtle Road apartment proposal. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

 

 

 

4 COMMENTS

  1. This town has got to stop with the tree cutting. Pavement up to your eye-balls and packing WAY more housing in that can be supported. The zoaning is what it is – keep it that way. Enough with bending over backwards to help out every developer that comes knocking in Town.

  2. Fallow sites.. hmmmmmmm. Ann Street… . Fallow sites… Ugly rat infested lots (the former lumberyard) at the entrance to our town. And that empty hole on Speedwell… Ahhhh. and they really want to do what on a heavily treed lot? there are plenty of open holes in Morristown waiting…… why cut down more trees? for greed?

  3. must we build on every single square inch of open space? And… If Morristown is so hell-bent on developing every single (taxed) inch, what the heck is going on with that big hole on Ann Street?

    If developers want it, I bet Morristown will get them a good deal on it! And since they took down all the 19th century homes that USED to stand here, there won’t be any pesky historic restrictions to worry about. Or trees… Darnit … they cut all the trees down already!

  4. The town let’s the hosp jam in another apt building on Franklin Street with not enough parking but they are giving these folks a hard time to build a apt building on turtle road.

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