By Kathy Shwiff
An architect and an engineer outlined plans for a 118-unit townhome community at 300 Madison Ave. during Monday’s Morris Township Planning Board meeting.
The board will hear testimony about the project’s potential effect on traffic as well as comments from the public at its meeting on Oct. 19, 2026.
The board could vote on the project, which meets all Township zoning requirements, at that meeting.
The developer, Toll Brothers, is not requesting variances for the community, which would have 24 units, or 20 percent, deemed affordable housing. The other 94 units would be sold at market rates. All the units, in 16 buildings, would be for sale.
The development is part of the township’s fourth-round affordable housing plan, which is mandated by the state.
At an informational meeting Sept. 1, Toll Brothers officials said the stacked townhomes likely will cost from $600,000 to $800,000 and the three-story townhomes from $1.1 million to $1.2 million.
The project includes demolishing the former JCP&L building and two-story parking garage on the eight-acre site.
Joshua Koodray, an attorney representing Toll Brothers, said the company would consider issues raised by board members and residents at the nearly four-hour meeting Monday.
Among them: Which units would have garages, which materials would be used on the buildings’ exteriors and whether garbage trucks would have space to turn around on dead-end streets.
“We’re doing our best within the realm of possibility to respond to all these comments that we’ve heard tonight,” Koodray said, adding, “But the development is going to happen.”
CAN’T SAVE TREES
It’s unlikely that a huge old cherry tree at the corner of Madison Avenue and Punch Bowl Road could be saved because the tree’s roots would interfere with construction of the townhomes, he noted.
Toll Brothers plans to remove 70 trees during construction and to plant 147 new trees.
After residents asked Toll Brothers officials on Sept. 1 to save some of the trees along Punch Bowl, the company looked at whether that would be possible, said Eric Ballou, an engineer working for Toll Brothers.
“Based upon our review, based upon the needed grading and the drainage and the utilities and also the inclusion of sidewalks, unfortunately we can’t save the existing trees,” he said.
At the meeting Monday, resident Bill Henry added his plea to save the big cherry tree. “You wouldn’t know it now, but it is a gorgeous tree for about six weeks in the spring. It’s a landmark.”
Board member Linda Murphy urged the developer to move the planned children’s playground closer to the center of the development and farther from the vehicle entrance on Punch Bowl.
Toll Brothers’ plans include an in-ground pool and a pool house containing two bathrooms.
Board member Edward Benoit opposed using vinyl on the building exteriors or fences, saying, “It’s like the pre-eminent site in the Township. It really needs to be a showcase.”
EMERGENCY ENTRANCE PLANNED
Ballou said the community would have two entrances off Old Turnpike Road and one off Punch Bowl. One of the two dead-end streets would have an emergency entrance for firetrucks off Old Turnpike.
Sidewalks would be placed along Old Turnpike and Punch Bowl as well as along Madison Avenue.
A six-foot-high retaining wall with a fence to prevent falls on top would be built near the corner of Punch Bowl and Old Turnpike. A sign with the community’s name would be attached to the retaining wall and another sign would go at the intersection of Punch Bowl and Madison.
A six-foot-high vinyl fence is planned along the development’s western border, which is next to parking for a medical office building. A four-foot-high decorative aluminum fence would go along Madison with openings connecting the sidewalks inside and outside the community.
The development could connect to the Township’s sewer system and no pump station is required, Ballou said.
All the buildings would have fire sprinklers and no garbage dumpsters are planned, he said.
For parking, 327 spaces are planned, 72 more than required, he said. The three-story townhomes would have two-car garages and most of the stacked townhomes would have one-car garages.
Units without garages would have designated parking spaces on the street, Ballou said.
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