Residents living near a proposed development at the site of the former Bottle King location spoke again in opposition to the plan at the Monday, August 14, Township Council meeting.
On July 24, the Council held a public hearing for - and ultimately tabled - an ordinance adopting the 45 South Livingston Avenue district redevelopment plan, as prepared by Beacon Planning and Consulting Services. The redevelopment area is located along the eastern side of South Livingston Avenue between East Mt. Pleasant Avenue to the north and Arden Road to the south. The parcel is situated within a commercial area; surrounding the subject property to the north, south, and west are commercial uses, while singlefamily homes border the property to the east and southeast. If passed in its current state, the ordinance would clear the way for developers to construct a 276-unit rental property on the South Livingston Avenue site, which formerly housed Bottle King, among other businesses. Of those 276 units, 15 percent would be for low and moderate income tenants, the state minimum requirement on rental properties.
The development was not listed on the agenda for the August 14 meeting, but comments about it fromresidents continued. They echoed the same sentiments that were made at the July 24 meeting, when nearly 40 residents spoke about it. Concerns mentioned on Monday included increased traffic and the safety issues that result; the crowding of schools; the further taxing of school infrastructure; a growing lack of green space in town; flooding concerns if trees are removed to build the property; and height and density concerns of the proposed building. One resident suggested that the Council was within its rights to slow down the project due to potential environmental and traffic issues.
Sara Goldstein of Audubon Road shared suggestions made by a coalition of residents who live on streets near the proposed project, including Sherbrooke Parkway, Arden Road, and Audubon Road. These suggestions -which the group hoped would be shared with the developers and that Mayor Michael Vieira suggested could be the start of a negotiation with those developers – included: limiting the height of the building; including first floor retail space; retaining existing trees; adding more privacy tree lines and a fence; modifying traffic patterns with speed bumps and one way roads; installing a “Local Traffic Only” sign to the nearby roadways; significantly increasing the number of affordable units in the project; a preference of owned units as opposed to rentals; setting the building as far from existing homes as possible; ensuring all lighting conforms to dark-sky standards; conducting updated traffic and environment impact studies; and providing time for the public to review all documents that result from those studies before any vote.
“We’re smarter now,” said Howard Agriss of Sherbrooke Parkway, noting that residents returned to this meeting collectively more educated on the issues than they had been at the previous one.
A few of the residents acknowledged that the Council members were in a difficult position, and added that they appeared to not want to approve the project. These residents asked what they could do to change the underlying issues related to Fair Share Housing requirements and help the Council feel empowered to not approve the project. Council members did not offer a direct response to this.
In addition to hours of public comment at the last two Council meetings and discussions among a coalition of residents near the property, an online petition has also been created to “stop unnecessary development in Livingston.” It had about 1,800 signatures as of press time. The MoveOn petition, addressed to the Council and Mayor Vieira, requests that Council members vote against the redevelopment plan for 45 South Livingston Avenue.
During Monday’s meeting, Council member Rosy Bagolie responded to comments about the crowding of schools, and specifically about the use of modular units. She said that those units will not house classrooms, but rather make space for additional services for students.
Township attorney Jarrid Kantor assured the residents that “you were heard,” adding that, at the urging of the Council following public comment at the previous meeting, a public meeting will be set up for developers to hear from residents. The questions residents asked at the recent Council meetings will be sent to the developers prior to that meeting, so that they will have responses to them prepared in time for the meeting. While the Council will not lead the meeting, members said that they planned to attend as audience members.
The meeting will be officially noticed and announced once a date is set. There will be no vote taken on the 45 South Livingston Avenue development prior to that meeting, according to the Council.
Mayor Vieira added that the ordinance will not be on the agenda for the next meeting, to be held on Thursday, September 7.
