Franklin Township Planning Board Meeting - October 15, 2025

The Franklin Township Planning Board held a regular meeting on October 15, 2025, to approve prior meeting minutes, memorialize resolutions, and conduct hearings on two major site plan applications: 500 Atrium LLC and Hamilton Street Management LLC. Both applicants returned after previous hearings with revised plans addressing board and staff feedback. The board unanimously approved both applications with conditions.

Consent Calendar

• Minutes Approval: The board approved the regular meeting minutes from September 3, 2025 (unanimous, with Councilman Barson and Jennifer Ragnow abstaining) and September 17, 2025 (unanimous, with Councilman Barson and Jennifer Ragnow abstaining).
• Resolution – B9 Schoolhouse Owner LLC: Approved unanimously (Councilman Barson, Ted Chase, Chairman Arsini voting yes) to memorialize conditions of approval.
• Resolution – Temple Beth El of Somerset: Approved unanimously (Ted Chase, Shaw Keller, Bob Thomas, Chairman Arsini voting yes; Councilman Barson, Jennifer Ragnow, Mark Dancy abstaining).

Public Comments & Testimony

• General Public Comments: No members of the public offered comments during the open portion for general planning matters.
• 500 Atrium LLC Hearing: No public comments were made during the dedicated public hearing period.
• Hamilton Street Management LLC Hearing: No public comments were made during the dedicated public hearing period.

Discussion Items

• 500 Atrium LLC / PLN-23-00005: The applicant sought preliminary and final major site plan approval to demolish an existing office building and construct two warehouses totaling 139,000 square feet (reduced from 161,000 sq ft) at 500 Atrium Drive. Key changes since the July 2025 hearing included reducing impervious coverage from 75% to 69.85% (below the board’s recommended 70%), eliminating a variance for the parking lot setback by reconfiguring drive aisles, and adding extensive landscaping (105 trees along Atrium Drive, 21 along the cul-de-sac, 315 shrubs). The applicant’s engineer, architect, traffic engineer, and planner testified that the project meets conditional use standards, requires three variances (impervious coverage C1, number of driveways C2, loading zone width C2), and advances master plan goals. The board discussed tree preservation, no-idling signs, and coordination with the adjacent property regarding stairs. The applicant agreed to comply with all staff reports.
• Hamilton Street Management LLC / PLN-24-00002: The applicant sought final major site plan approval for a 4,605 sq ft 3-story mixed-use building at 681-685 Hamilton Street. At the board’s request from the preliminary hearing, the architect added decorative towers to both ends of the building, which created two de minimis variances: building coverage increased from 50% to 50.52% and lot (impervious) coverage from 85% to 86%. The engineer testified these variances qualify as C2 variances, improving aesthetics and causing no detriment. The applicant also adjusted a driveway on North Dover Avenue to one-way exit to stay under the 85% impervious limit, but the board recommended keeping both driveways two-way, which would trigger a small additional variance. Other conditions included revising lighting to reduce spillage, adding street trees on Bear Avenue, and continuing coordination with Somerset County on a tighter curb radius. The applicant confirmed compliance with all staff reports.

Key Outcomes

• 500 Atrium LLC: Approved unanimously (all voting members in favor) with conditions: compliance with all outstanding staff reports (including technical comments from the engineer), installation of no-idling signs at every fourth loading dock and at the entrance to the car parking area, and coordination on the stair easement to the satisfaction of the township engineer. The motion carried with all voting members yes.
• Hamilton Street Management LLC: Approved unanimously (all voting members in favor) with the following variances: building coverage of 50.52% (C2 variance, de minimis) and lot (impervious) coverage of 86% (C2 variance, de minimis) – both justified as benefiting the community through enhanced design. Conditions include compliance with all staff reports, revision of lighting to eliminate spillage, addition of shade trees on Bear Avenue (coordinating with staff on species), keeping both driveways as two-way (accepting the small additional impervious variance), and forwarding the county-related email chain to the board engineer. The motion carried with all voting members yes.
• Next Meeting: The next regular meeting is scheduled for October 22, 2025. The meeting adjourned.