Housing Development Decision Deferred By Madison Board

MADISON, NJ — At this week's planning board meeting, the discussion about the proposals for the development of two four-story mixed-use buildings in the historic district continued.

66 Main, LLC, the applicant, proposes to build two four-story mixed-use buildings on two properties that will be designed to look like a series of five buildings.

Since the proposal was first presented in October, the project has been a source of contention among the board members.

Steven Azzolini, speaking on behalf of the applicant, stated that since the last meeting, both the site engineer and the project architect have revised the site plans, addressing some of the board's concerns.

Board members praised the applicant for taking their feedback seriously and making changes, but some concerns remained, so the applications were deferred to a subsequent meeting in the new year.

One of the board's main concerns was the issue of parking and how it would be affected by the increased traffic in the area.

Patrick Downey, who presented a traffic and parking analysis of the site, stated that there would be no perceivable change in traffic conditions on the surrounding roads as a result of this project.

"When I need to park there, aren't any spaces available. I don't know where you're getting your numbers, but there is a shortage of parking, especially now that people are back to work and back to restaurants and back to shopping," planning board member Ann Huber said.

According to the application, the site plan does not call for adding any on-site parking for future residents, which Borough Council Member Astri Baillie believes the applicant should explain.

"It is also important that new residential development provide at least some parking on site for future residents. I think the applicant needs to explain why that's absolutely impossible. Maybe because the lot size is too small. I don't know what the explanation is," Baillie said.

Azzolini said that before the next meeting they would look at potential parking options and try to come up with additional plans. "We will also look at that opportunity, or maybe any anywhere else in town where we could get a more of a long term commitment for parking spots."

Architect Jeff Gertler, who designed the two properties appeared before the board with updated architectural renderings.

The new renderings show updated window designs, as well as cornices and columns to help distinguish the look of the buildings.

Board member Erin Range applauded the changes, saying, "I think this is a nice progression and a good improvement." However, Range did comment saying that he thinks the scale of building seems to be too tall.

"It's actually very stark in this rendering how a four-story building and its apparent size in relation to the firehouse property. It just seems very tall, right, and the street rhythm is kind of broken up there," Range said.

Susan Blickstein, the borough's consulting planner, stated that perhaps a 3-dimensional model would be more beneficial for the board to understand how the developments will appear from Central Avenue.

Due to the lengthy meeting, which went until almost 11 p.m., the board decided to carry the applications to the next scheduled meeting, which is planned for Jan. 17, 2023.