Developers Still Seeking Multi-Family Complex on Kings Highway

After more than two years of planning board and township committee meetings, the last of which included a denial to rezone land for an apartment complex, a group representing developers are meeting again with a subcommittee of public officials to keep talks moving forward.

The issue at hand is the now unused land at the bottom of Kings Highway in Washington Township along the Musconetcong River, formerly used for the USR Optonix industrial complex. Kings Highway, LLC, a development company that owns the land, asked the town to consider rezoning the area from industrial to residential with the hopes of erecting a 208-unit apartment complex.

When that request was denied by the Township Committee, a subcommittee of planning board and committee members was created to begin meeting with Kings Highway, LLC to see if a different use or alternative development could be considered.

The sides sat down for the first time on April 2, but the meeting was uneventful, as township planner David Banisch summarized two years of proceedings while the property owner explained the research it had conducted to get to its apartment complex proposal.

Representing Kings Highway, attorney Michael Selvaggi is hoping for a more productive second meeting.

“[The owner] is hoping that the subcommittee will accept the evidence presented demonstrating that a high density multi-family complex is an appropriate use and begin working on ordinances to allow such a use while also respecting the concerns of the interested stakeholders,” Selvaggi said in an email to Patch.

When the concept had reached the desks of the township committeemen, residents of Kings Highway and neighboring roadways attended meetings by the dozen to voice their disapproval of the idea.

Many cited the developer’s evidence on traffic and market conditions as off base or inaccurate, while others were concerned about what a multi-family complex may do to housing values.

Related items:
208-Unit Apartment Complex Concept Struck Down by Township
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The subcommittee comprised of township officials includes committeemen Tracy Tobin and James LiaBraaten and planning board members Lou Mont and Charles DiSalvo.

The second meeting is scheduled for the Wednesday, April 30 at 6 p.m. at the municipal building on Schooley’s Mountain Road. The session is open to the public and residents are encouraged to attend.