Franklin to reconsider 200 apartments at vacant Easton Avenue Kmart
FRANKLIN (Somerset) – For the second time, Levin Properties is going to the township Zoning Board of Adjustment with a plan to replace the vacant Kmart in Rutgers Plaza with a four-story 200-unit apartment building.
The development, renamed The Easton at Rutgers Plaza, met with opposition by neighbors and the Township Council the first time it was proposed in late 2021. A change.org petition opposing the project drew more than 1,300 signatures.
The proposal required a use variance from the Zoning Board of Adjustment because residential development is not allowed on the 27.4-acre property at the intersection of Easton Avenue and John F. Kennedy Boulevard. Receiving a use variance is a more onerous process than receiving Planning Board approval for a permitted use.
But when the Township Council passed a resolution opposing rezoning the property to permit residential development, the application was withdrawn.
In the new application, Levin Properties argues that if the Zoning Board of Adjustment doesn't approve the plan. "a large obsolete and vacant big box retail building will continue to lay fallow for the foreseeable future" and will have a "negative influence" on the shopping center's other tenants, including Stop & Shop.
The apartments, the application says, "will greatly enhance the viability of the entire site by providing a market for all other tenants, and will draw tenants to the existing strip mall."
The application says Stop & Shop is a "strong supporter" of the "viable solution" for the shuttered Kmart.
The plan calls for 69 one-bedroom, 123 two-bedroom and eight three-bedroom apartments. A fifth of the apartments will be affordable units.
A traffic study for Levin Properties concluded that the apartment building will generate less peak hour and daily traffic than the Kmart when it was open.
That, the traffic study said, "will result in a reduced traffic impact on the operations of the driveways and surrounding roadways and intersections, when compared to the retail store traffic impacts."
The development will include a community area, outdoor pool, fitness center, multiple elevators and on-site leasing and maintenance offices.
Besides the use variance, variances are also required for building height (30 feet maximum in the zoning ordinance and 47 feet proposed) floor area ratio and impervious coverage ratio.
McDonald's is completing a renovation in the corner of the property nearest Easton Avenue.
The Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. April 4.
Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com
Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Franklin NJ to reconsider 200 apartments at vacant Easton Avenue Kmart
