New 5-Story Mixed-Use Building May Come To Morristown 

MORRISTOWN, NJ — Next week, the Morristown Zoning Board will be reviewing the concept plan for a proposal to build a mixed-use building within the town.

The applicant, Morris Blue, LLC, has proposed a five-story structure at 1 and 1.5 Maple Avenue.

The site is currently developed with two residential units above the ground floor retail space, as well as a separate commercial building that was previously occupied by a nail salon.

Morris Blue, LLC, has proposed to demolish both existing structures and build a single structure with eight residential units above 2,090 square feet of street-level commercial and retail space.

According to zoning board documents, the structure would have eight apartments on the upper levels of the building, alternating between two- and three-bedroom apartments. The proposed basement level will house mechanical and utility rooms.

The subject property is in the TC—Town Center Zone, which allows for 5+ family and café/coffee shop/retail uses. Because the project is a permitted use in the TC Zone, no use variance is required. However, building height, rear yard setback, density, and parking variances will be requested.

Currently, parking is restricted to the surrounding streets; however, off-site parking is proposed as a solution in the proposal.

The site is close to the Ann-Bank Parking Garage and across Maple Avenue from the DeHart Street Parking Garage. The Morristown Parking Authority provided historical parking counts to determine the general parking availability within the garages.

According to a traffic study, parking occupancy has yet to return to pre-COVID-19 levels as of February 2022. As a result, newer data may not accurately reflect expected parking availability.

The DeHart Street Garage has a reported capacity of 706 vehicles, while the Ann-Bank Garage has a reported capacity of 495 vehicles. The maximum occupancy in the Dehart Street Garage was 629 vehicles at 6 p.m. during the two parking count periods.

The Ann-Bank Garage reached its maximum occupancy of 408 vehicles at 2 p.m.

"All other times of day had lower occupancy and therefore more parking availability, which is more than sufficient to accommodate the minimal increase in parking demand associated with the proposed site redevelopment," the traffic study said.

The Zoning Board meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 7, at 7:30 p.m.

To access the proposal documents, click here.