Tuesday, January 15, 2013
The township is 'Bergen County's Parkland,' and according to a document planning for Mahwah's future, the town wants to continue growing areas of open space. But, residents questioned how open space should be balanced with future development.
The new Master Plan, which lays out the future planning and development goals for the township, is almost complete. The document outlines goals for the future of Mahwah – promoting designs that will ease traffic, improving the aesthetics of various areas of the township, encouraging business development in certain areas of town and discouraging it in others, and continuing to preserve open space - are all mentioned as future aspirations in the township. At a public hearing on the document Monday night, residents questioned just how much open space “Bergen County’s Parkland” would eventually have. The answer from the Planning Board, which has been overseeing the document’s creation, was that there is no end-goal amount of open space the …
Monday, December 17, 2012
The ongoing testimony in front of the township's Planning Board is not slated to discuss traffic concerns Monday night
The year’s final session of an ongoing public hearing on the Crossroads Town Center, a 600,000 square foot retail, restaurant and movie theater development proposed at the intersection of Routes 17 and 287, is Monday night. At the last session, the developer presented an updated plan for the traffic patterns surrounding the Crossroads land. Though the traffic testimony was not completed at the Dec. 3 meeting, a discussion on traffic is expected to be carried to 2013. Another aspect of the Crossroads proposal will be discussed, and subject to Planning Board and public questioning, at a meeting at town hall at 7 p.m. Monday.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
A new Delta gas station on Franklin Turnpike took over for a Lukoil that created some controversy last year before going out of business
The new Delta gas station on Franklin Turnpike appeared to have a strange grand opening plan – at the end of last week it was open, the beginning of this week, it had been shut down, and by the end of this week, it had reopened. At Monday night’s planning board meeting, Chairman Todd Sherer revealed the business had been cited by township construction official Gary Montroy for opening before its tenant application was officially approved by the town. When Sherer asked why the signage at 147 Franklin Turnpike had been changed from the station’s previous occupant – Lukoil – to Delta signs, and the station started operating before getting the proper approvals, Kuldip Singh, the applicant representing station owner Westfield Consultants, told …
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Latest version of the traffic plan for the 600,000 square foot shopping center is a response to board, resident concerns, developer says
A new proposal for the traffic configuration at the Crossroads shopping center development had members of the Mahwah Planning Board and the public question whether one entrance to the shopping center, or two, would be best. Crossroads traffic expert Daniel Disario presented the latest iteration of the road improvement plan at the site of a proposed 600,000 square foot Crossroads Town Center shopping development at a public hearing Monday night. According to Disario, the changes proposed were in response to comments and concerns raised by the Planning Board, township engineering professionals and residents at previous public hearings. The new plan calls for the main entrance to the proposed shopping center to move from Leisure Lane up to …
Monday, December 3, 2012
Experts are expected to testify about traffic at the planned development
The ongoing public hearing on the plans for a 600,000 sq. foot shopping center at the Crossroads land at the intersection of Routes 17 and 287 continues Monday night at a 7 p.m. Planning Board meeting. At the last Planning Board Crossroads hearing, in October, residents and board members questioned the feasibility of a plan to build a ball field at the back of the Crossroads property. The hearing started in February, and has since laid out initial plans for architecture, design, traffic patterns and environmental concerns at the Crossroads site. According to a NorthJersey.com report, an ongoing presentation on traffic is expected to continue Monday night. Thus far, experts working on behalf of Crossroads Developer, LLC have presented …
Monday, November 19, 2012
At the last Master Plan public hearing, residents and professionals discussed the need for more senior housing in Mahwah
Mahwah’s Planning Board is hosting a public hearing on the final draft of the township’s newly revised Master Plan, a document that outlines the future goals of the municipality, Monday. Suggestions made in the Master Plan proposal include a town-wide shuttle system, traffic improvements to highways running through Mahwah, improvements to encourage mass transit usage, promoting unified development along Route 17 and a downtown area along Franklin Turnpike. [See the entire Master Plan here]. At previous Master Plan public hearings, residents focused on the need for more bike trails in the township, and planners pointed out a recommendation for no “big box store” developments in Mahwah, and concerns about the increasing need for more senior …
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Additional environmental data must be collected before experts can determine whether or not a loop added to the Mountainside Ave. overpass over Route 17 could be part of proposed shopping center traffic improvements
A cloverleaf-like design being considered as a possible Route 17 traffic pattern improvement may not be possible due to environmental and feasibility issues, Crossroads traffic expert Dan Disario said at a public hearing earlier this week. The design is part of a possible traffic plan that would be implemented with the Crossroads Town Center, a 600,000 square foot shopping center proposed for the intersection of Routes 17, 87 and 287. At a hearing in April, Disario presented the design, saying Crossroads developers may be able to construct a new traffic loop off of the Mountainside Avenue overpass to allow for easier access to Route 17 South when leaving the center. The loop was also proposed as a way to alleviate anticipated increased …
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Board members decide one, well-advertised public hearing on the new Mahwah Master Plan will be more effective than five separate hearings in different township neighborhoods
Mahwah is getting a new plan for its future. The township’s Master Plan, which surveys current development and land conditions in Mahwah and makes recommendations on future plans, is being completely redone for the first time in over 20 years. At a planning board meeting earlier this month, the board, which will eventually adopt the retooled document, discussed whether or not residents would be interested in having input in the plan, and how it could best get people involved in making recommendations for the document. “It is an important document, so we want to get as much public input as possible,” Board Chairman Todd Sherer said. The Master Plan, a 130-page document covering land use, traffic, historic preservation and an inventory of …
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Environmental Commission says new component of township's Master Plan may help make Mahwah more environmentally-aware
The township’s new Master Plan, which is designed to detail an ideal development plan for at least the next ten-plus years, may be used in the future to make Mahwah a more environmentally-conscious community, Environmental Commission Chair Richard Wolf said at a planning board meeting discussing the plan’s revision Monday night. The township’s Master Plan is undergoing its first complete revision since 1989. Mahwah has been compiling and revising Master Plans since 1975, however the current proposed version is the first to create sustainability standards in the township, the board said. “The rest of the [new] Master Plan is updating concepts that were already there," Planning Board Chairman Todd Sherer said. “The sustainability aspect is …
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
There is currently no law regarding them; board discusses whether or not there should be
Should LED-lit billboards line Route 17 in Mahwah? The township’s planning board pondered that question Monday night as part of its reworking of Mahwah’s Master Plan. The document, which lays out the town’s goals and objectives, makes suggestions for future development. According to Board Attorney Peter Scandariato, the recommendations made in the Master Plan have no legal weight, unless the town council takes the suggestions put forth in the document and crafts new laws that are in line with them. After Monday’s meeting, the board decided to include in the new Master Plan a clause urging the council to create a new sign ordinance that is sensitive to light pollution on billboards and other similar signs. The discussion came up after board…
WHAT?
1:18 pm on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Thanks, I will try and search for it. I am not sure about the open space connection to the mall. I think it has more to do with the mantra, "green is good." Who on the surface can argue with that - unless you think it through, which you have, and realize the reality of what it will mean for the town long term. more ›