Morristown board approves flood plain apartments, punts South Street offices; mayor reports COVID-like symptoms

Car sloshes through flood water on Martin Luther King Avenue, near site of proposed apartments, Aug. 23, 2021. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
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Morristown’s planning board on Thursday unanimously approved 15 apartments in a flood plain, and punted a South Street office project to the zoning board.

Mayor Tim Dougherty also told the planning board he’s experiencing COVID-like symptoms, despite testing negative.

Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty describes COVID-like symptoms at virtual planning board meeting, Aug. 26, 2021. Screenshot by Kevin Coughlin

“I never experienced anything like this fatigue,” the mayor said during the virtual meeting, noting “it’s been several days since I can smell anything.”

The mayor recused himself from the first half of the session, when the planning board decided the Silverman Group needs a use variance from the zoning board to layer two floors of offices above retail shops on South Street, across from the Presbyterian Parish House.

Developers don’t like the zoning board. Approvals there are arduous and expensive.

When town Planner Phil Abramson made the same recommendation in 2019, Silverman pitched several revisions in hopes of averting a trip to the zoning board. When that failed, the developer challenged Abramson’s findings in court.

Last month, a judge remanded the jurisdiction question to the planning board.

The Silverman Group wants to add two floors of offices above these South Street storefronts. Morristown virtual planning board meeting, Aug. 26, 2021. Screenshot by Kevin Coughlin

Dougherty bowed out of deliberations because Silverman is suing him in a related matter. Planning Board Attorney John Inglesino also recused himself on Thursday.

The developer claims the mayor steered the accounting firm Deloitte away from the South Street site; the Big Four company instead plans to move to the M Station project under construction on Morris Street.

The mayor has called that lawsuit frivolous.

RATIOS AND NONCONFORMITIES

Silverman’s application calls for 96,000 square feet of offices over 54-74 South St., stretching from the Aikou restaurant to the former Strawberry Fields yogurt shop at the corner of Pine Street. A five-level, 264-space mechanical parking garage is proposed for the back.

On Thursday, board members volleyed with Silverman’s lawyer and engineer over floor area ratios, exemptions from floor area ratios, “nonconformities,” and the number of  structures involved. (Is it one structure, or 13 structures? On one lot or two?)

Morristown virtual planning board, Aug. 26, 2021. Screenshot by Kevin Coughlin

The proposed mix of offices and retail conforms to the letter and spirit of the property’s zoning, contended Silverman Engineer Eric Keller. Keeping the existing businesses promotes downtown “walkability,” he said.

When Silverman attorney Nicole Dory proposed merging two lots to resolve technical discrepancies, the planning board’s acting attorney, Lisa John-Basta, cut her short. Any changes must be filed at least 10 days before a meeting, she said.

Planning board Chairman Joe Stanley, a licensed planner and engineer, said Silverman’s argument for an exemption from a density calculation “doesn’t make logical planning sense, or for that matter doesn’t make logical sense in my mind.”

He reminded the board this was not about “whether or not we think this is a good application or a bad application. It’s just strictly: Do we have the jurisdiction to hear it? And if it’s a D variance, we do not.”

The board agreed with Stanley.  A resolution to send the matter to the zoning board is scheduled for a vote at a special meeting on Sept. 1, 2021.

Rendering of 15 apartments coming to Martin Luther King Ave. Morristown virtual planning board meeting, Aug. 26, 2021. Screenshot by Kevin Coughlin

Site plan approval for a three-story apartment building at 81-87 Martin Luther King Ave. required less discussion on Thursday. Addressing prior concerns of planning board members,  Karen Luongo, architect for Scotto Holdings LLC, said windows would be enlarged and ceiling heights, raised.

The rear of the property sits in the Whippany River flood plain. On Monday, after Hurricane Henri sideswiped New Jersey, a portion of Martin Luther King Avenue in front of the tract was submerged.

That did not come up. Voting for the project were Stanley, Debra Gottsleben, Joe Kane, Susan Glover, Martha Ballard, Andrea Lekberg and the mayor, who rejoined the online meeting along with Inglesino, the board attorney.

‘PACKED’

Dougherty, 62, said he suspects he has a sinus infection. He urged residents to take the Delta variant seriously, by getting vaccinated, masking up in crowds, and washing your hands frequently.

He was following the protocols, he said, “but just slip up a little bit and that’s what happens.”

Someone in town hall may have infected him inadvertently, he speculated. For his job at Newark’s Prudential Center, he recently worked a monster truck show.

“It was packed with people with no masks,” Dougherty said. “Packed.”

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8 COMMENTS

  1. Around the corner on Coal Ave. the town has been currently (and for a few years) using the area from the MLK bridge to Bishop Nazary Way, from the riverbank to the street curb, as a construction staging area. Heavy equipment, hundreds of yards of bulk construction materials & the dumping of excavated debris (asphalt, concrete & soils) are despoiling the ground right up to the riverbank. Severe soil compaction, damage to riverbank vegetation & the possible leaching of contaminants are certainly degrading the Whippany River & likely exacerbating the current & potential risk of flooding in that area. I would hope that the Town discontinues that use of this sensitive riverside area & that it holds the contractor Reivax as well as the SMCMUA accountable for a complete site remediation.

  2. I stand by my original statement and the potential of future flooding in that area is an issue that remains a problem.

  3. Margret, they are two different words. An issue is a subject of debate. A problem is a negative that usually needs a solution. There is a tendency today to (mis)use “issue” because we don’t want to offend someone, or we don’t know what the words mean.
    Example. City council debates whether or not to enact a new ordinance. That’s an issue.
    MLK is flooded. That is a problem.

  4. The tendency to avoid flood plain issues in sensitive areas, especially in the 2nd ward, should be a warning as this problem will only become worse if ignored and years of remediation efforts compromised. Where were the local citizens and watchdogs?

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