Somerville OKs 'beautiful' project that critics say is 'in the wrong spot'
SOMERVILLE – Despite opposition from neighborhood residents, the borough Planning Board has granted preliminary site plan approval to build 112 apartments in two four-story buildings on Fairview Avenue.
Board member Larry Cleveland cast the only vote against the proposal by Foundry Holdings, part of DGM Properties.
"This is a big building in a small-scale neighborhood," he said, adding, "I think it's a beautiful building, but it's in the wrong spot."
Foundry Holdings, named after the foundry that once occupied the site, is proposing 50 one-bedroom and 62 two-bedroom apartments.
The property, next to the Somerville Parc apartments, is in the borough's Kirby Avenue Redevelopment area that is already seeing the construction of a townhome community on the former Baker & Taylor site.
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Some Fairview Avenue residents agreed with Cleveland that the building did not belong in their neighborhood.
The proposal "takes away the small-town feel" of Somerville, Lauren Watson said.
"You wouldn't want it in front of your house," she told Board members. "We don't want it in front of our houses."
Greg Storms, the principle of DGM, told the Board that the firm, which has rehabilitated more than two dozen buildings and storefronts in Somerville, said he agreed with Mayor Brian Gallagher that the borough "needs to keep reinventing itself."
But that prompted Watson to quip that the apartment proposal, "doesn't feel like reinvention. It feels like regurgitation."
Catherine Santos, another Fairview Drive resident, said she found 42 apartments for rent in Somerville on a website.
"We have a lot of vacancies," she said. "Why do we need more?"
Former Borough Councilwoman Roberta Karpinecz also said the apartment proposal, which she said was "three times the size of the White House," did not fit into the neighborhood and "does not look like the rest of the street."
"If this project was proposed next to your house, would you say yes?" she asked Board members.
Former Mayor Dennis Sullivan said the Borough Council should review traffic and intersections in the neighborhood. He also suggested that landlords or the borough look into the possibility of starting shuttle bus service in the southeastern corner of the borough.
David Stires, the project engineer, said the plans were revised in response to suggestions by the borough's consultants, neighbors and board members at the Board's first public hearing on the plan in August.
Parking garages for 50 vehicles each will be in each building, allowing the size of surface parking to be reduced and the two buildings to be moved further back from Fairview Avenue and closer to the NJ Transit Raritan Valley Line tracks.
Mayor Gallagher, who also sits on the Planning Board, said the developer revised the plan to address the concerns voiced last summer.
"This is a plan that essentially conforms to what was created by the public," he said.
Gallagher said the borough will start reviewing its zoning ordinance this year.
"We have to change the playbook we've been using," he said.
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: Somerville NJ OKs project that critics say is 'in the wrong spot'
