Franklin Township Council Meeting – November 10, 2022
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Franklin Township Council Meeting – November 10, 2022
The Franklin Township Council held its regular meeting on Thursday, November 10, 2022, at 7:00 PM in the municipal building council chambers. The meeting began with a unique invocation—a recitation of the "Stand Up for the Other" pledge led by community members and faith leaders. Key topics included public concerns over warehouse sprawl, the future of Rutgers Plaza, and council actions on consent agenda items, board appointments, and a conservation easement ordinance.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Juanita Paynson (President, Franklin Township Chamber of Commerce) expressed concern about the future of Rutgers Plaza, urging the council to avoid a "dead zone" at a key gateway and to continue dialogue for a mutually acceptable solution.
- A resident (farm owner) opposed a proposed warehouse, citing safety fears from coyotes and foxes, environmental harm, heavy truck traffic, and strain on volunteer firefighters. She urged the council to consider a youth center or park instead.
- Kiki Anastasis (Citizens Warehouse Action Group) read an open letter (dated November 9, 2022) signed by the group, requesting: (1) increase buffer zones between warehouses and residential areas/schools to 1,000 feet; (2) limit use of variances; (3) building height limits of 30 feet except hotels/multifamily; (4) a 10 PM–6 AM curfew for trucks within ¾ mile of residences; (5) an immediate moratorium on new warehouses until environmental, traffic, and existing warehouse studies are completed; (6) revise the master plan with community input. She noted a rally earlier that day drew an estimated 250–300 people.
- Bill Grippo (199 Pierce Street) congratulated election winners, praised the food bank, urged council focus on a YMCA (citing drowning prevention), and pushed for action on Rutgers Plaza, noting that the McDonald's relocation is coming but more is needed.
- Marlon Kwan (28 J's Corner) criticized the township manager’s previous dismissal of 18-wheeler traffic concerns, stating that the new truck ordinance is unenforceable due to delivery/pickup exceptions (including to warehouses). He asked for clarity on whether empty warehouses still pay taxes.
- Stabrian Eridis (400 Crossing Road) supported the Chamber of Commerce's comments and urged leadership to avoid a costly confrontation with the Rutgers Plaza landlord, arguing that the plaza must be revitalized to avoid a dead zone.
- Shirley Tallman (57 Tallman Lane) supported the rally and called for immediate action on warehouse limits, praised increased police patrols, and raised concerns about idling diesel trucks.
- Jim Johnston (34 Norwich Place) noted that three planning board members voted against a warehouse at 31 Schoolhouse Road—an unprecedented step—and corrected a claim about a warehouse near Elizabeth Avenue Elementary School, stating it would be 2–3 million square feet (later corrected by the manager).
- Alex Strauss (285 House Liveway) asked for Franklin’s rank among NJ municipalities in warehouse square footage (since 2018) and cited examples of other towns (Mansfield, Colton CA) that declared moratoriums.
- Ronald Lee Robinson (Seven Brive would drive) raised issues about leaning telephone poles on Hamilton Street, fireworks in Canal Walk, and poor Wi-Fi at Franklin High School (directed to appropriate agencies).
- A resident (Canal Walk) argued that warehouses are a dying business (citing Amazon closing and mobile warehouses) and that empty warehouses still pay taxes, but questioned the cost-benefit for the public.
Discussion Items
- Proposed 2023 Township Council Meeting Schedule: The clerk presented a draft schedule based on previous years, with meetings on second and fourth Tuesdays (except November moved to Monday due to League of Municipalities). No vote was taken; a resolution will be adopted at the next meeting.
- Cannabis License Resolutions (22-403 & 22-404): Councilman Potosnak asked for clarification on whether the council can limit the number of cannabis licenses. The township manager explained that the current ordinance has no limit, and the resolutions simply confirm the site is in a permitted zone for the state CRC. Changing the limit would require an ordinance amendment. Councilwoman Francois voiced earlier concerns about concentration on Hamilton Street. The resolutions were included in the consent agenda.
- Warehouse Development and Traffic Study: The township manager reported that the planning board will undertake a reexamination of the master plan, including a comprehensive traffic impact study of the BI zone. He noted a similar study was done in 1985 (Abington Nay study) when office buildings were the concern. He also corrected a misconception: the warehouse near Elizabeth Avenue Elementary School is 436,960 square feet (50,000 sq ft office, 386,960 sq ft warehouse), not 1–3 million square feet. The land area is ~3 million sq ft, but the building is not that size.
- Police Recruitment: The township manager reported that approximately 400 people took the written exam for 6 open positions. Physical fitness tests and interviews will follow on November 18, 21, and 22.
- Energy Aggregation: The manager clarified that no opt-out form exists yet because the program is not active; it will only be available after bidding occurs.
Key Outcomes
- Ordinance No. 4384-22 (Acceptance of Conservation Easement from SafStor Elizabeth LLC at 471 Elizabeth Avenue) was adopted after a public hearing with no comment. Roll call vote: all 9 council members present voted yes.
- Consent Agenda (Items A–N, minus Item E) was approved unanimously. Item E (Resolution #22-398, extending the contract with Central Jersey Housing Resource Center for affordable housing administrative services, amount not to exceed $66,000) was voted on separately and approved 8-0 (Councilman Potosnak abstained due to being a volunteer board member).
- Board Appointment: Jale Davis was nominated and unanimously appointed to the Cultural Arts Commission.
- Other: The council noted that the 2023 meeting schedule will be brought back for a vote at the next meeting. No executive session was held. The meeting adjourned.
Meeting Transcript
Thank you. I can explain. This regular meeting of the Franklin Township Council is called to order. Madam Clerk. In accordance with the open public meeting act of the state of New Jersey, adequate notice of this work session regular meeting of the Franklin Township Council was made by the posting on the bulletin board in the municipal building, the township website electronically transmitted to the officially designated newspapers indicating that this work session regular meeting would take place in the municipal building council chambers at 7 p.m. on Thursday, November 10, 2022. Thank you. If we could all stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, and this time you may sit for the invocation. I thought I'd do something a little different from the invocation. There's been a lot of hate speech in the country lately. And I thought as form of invocation, it might be better to cite the stand for the other pledge. Since the person who first introduced it to me was Mr. Karazi, I thought I'd ask him to come and give this uh repeat the speech. And I I understand you brought some friends. Good evening, everyone. Um Mr. Mayor, thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to read this stand-up for the other pledge. And I have a few faith leaders here that uh if uh if it's okay, I would like to invite them also to join me. I have uh Rabbi here, Rabbar, please come, and we have uh Mr. Rahman, who is the uh chairman of the uh the Dava to the Islamia of Somerset, and we also have Imam Rizvan Rizvi. Please come and join us. He's from Masida Ali. Uh while they coming, I'd like to give a little bit of a background about this uh stand-up for the other pledge. Uh actually the pledge was initiated in 2015 by Dr. Ali Chadri in one of the meetings of the interface advisory council of New Jersey of uh and Department of uh Department of Homeland Security. And the question was at that time is what is the responsibility of face leaders and community members to achieve the goal of creating harmony among our diverse communities and the conclusion after some long discussion was that we would know if we are succeeding in creating harmony when we see the day when people begin to confront in their own inner circles any bigotry and hate towards other groups, be they Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, Baha'i, Buddhist, or people of any faith or no faith at all. And so the stand-up for uh the other pledge, of course, is not new to Franklin Township. As Mayor mentioned in 2016, I stood in this chamber and shared the pledge and witnessed the council members to pledge. On Valentine's Day of 2017, under the leadership of Dr. Ravalli, our entire public school students and staff took the pledge. Later on, we had pledge was taken in Dr. Martha Luther King breakfast, as well as even at uh Ratga's prep. Although most of our community members know uh know or have taken the pledge, it is always a good idea to remind ourselves about our responsibility as a community member toward each other. With that in mind, may I ask all of you join us to renew or take the pledge? And the pledge is very simple. I'm just gonna go ahead and read the pledge, and you can repeat after me. While interacting with members of my own faith. While interacting with members of my own faith, or ethnic ethnic, or gender community or gender community, or with others, or with others if I hear hateful comments by hear hateful comments from anyone about members of any other community. From anyone by members of any other community, I pledge to stand up for the other. I pledge to stand up for the other, and speak up to challenge bigotry in any form. And speak up to challenge bigotry in any form. Thank you very much. I appreciate the mayor. I really appreciate for giving us the opportunity. Thanks all. Excellent. Thank you very much, gentlemen. Okay. Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Councilman M.
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