Zoning Revisions Proposed For Morristown At Council Meeting

MORRISTOWN, NJ — The Morristown Council voted on a zoning ordinance on Tuesday, April 25, which would allow for amendments to the Morristown zoning code.

Town Planner Phil Abramson provided a general overview of the proposals to the council and public with the intention of providing a more in-depth presentation at the Morristown Planning Board Master Plan Consistency Review on April 27.

The proposed changes are the result of a re-examination of the town's zoning master plan last year, following the development of the Land Use Ordinance in 2018. Morristown, according to Abramson, chose to re-examine the master plan in 2022 due to the high level of activity in Morristown.

As part of the amendment proposal, the town zoning map is anticipated to go through various changes, all of which are considered "down-zoning," according to Abramson.

"The town has been toying around with this idea for 20 years or more. We all recognize that the center of town, the green, is the height of intensity— the six stories and how do we step it down? What our code does currently, is we have five stories right around the green and the train station, and then it steps down to four stories as you head out of town," Abramson said.

The plan is to change that to a three-story limit along Speedwell Avenue, South and Washington Streets.

Other code changes include prohibiting "stacked" townhouses but allowing detached single-family homes in certain areas of the town map, according to Abramson. A regulated system for valet parking operations is also included.

All of the amendments, according to Abramson, are posted in detail on the town website.

"In places like Washington Street and Maple Avenue, we've created an incentive for people to keep the existing buildings and not demolish the buildings that are thereby granting extra coverage only for existing structures," Abramson said.

Following the presentation, Councilman Robert Iannaccone opposed changing the town's zoning code, despite his support for the majority of the proposed changes. He was the ordinance's lone no-vote.

"What I like about this is that you're encouraging the preservation of some of the historical nature of the town, and what you're also doing is you're encouraging restoration of some of the existing structures that are there," Iannaccone said.

Despite his agreement with the changes, Iannaccone questioned why the current zoning was kept for much of Morris Street and not updated with the new amendments. "What some of the residents have already told me is that originally they wanted that stretch from Kings Street all the way through... but at the very least I think you got to make it from Pine," Iannaccone said.

A more detailed presentation before the planning board is scheduled for Thursday to determine whether these changes are in accordance with the master plan and will be followed by the second reading and adoption on May 9.