Plan to build 585 multi-family housing units in Franklin Lakes to be unveiled Wednesday
FRANKLIN LAKES — A proposal to build 585 multi-housing units on the 88.7 acres that once housed the IBM/Express Scripts office complex will be heard Wednesday night during a combined meeting of the Borough Council and the Planning Board.
The S. Hekemian Group, the contract purchaser of the property, is expected to present its concept plan for the site, currently owned by Cigna Corp.
The developer has also proposed donating a 3½-acre portion of the site for the borough to construct a 55-unit affordable housing complex previously planned for McCoy Road. The property is currently zoned for office building as well as research and laboratory use.
The hearing follows a Jan. 23 information session where borough officials outlined the proposal's complex background for the public. Residents can listen to an audio recording of that meeting, view a Power Point presentation and read other information about the Cigna proposal on the borough's website, franklinlakes.org.
Borough officials said the proposal does not include the adjacent 100-acre Parsons Pond Park, which was donated to the borough by Express Scripts in 2016 and designated a Green Acres site, which can't be developed.
No vote to authorize the proposal is expected during the hearing, billed as informational, as elected and appointed officials weigh its pros and cons. The borough's print materials characterize the meeting as "one of the initial steps in the process of working with the developer to find a solution that is acceptable to all parties."
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However, borough officials cautioned, "The developer has represented that, if we do not reach an agreement on this proposal ... it will pursue whatever legal recourse it believes it has."
Affordable issues
The property was not included in the borough's June 2019 affordable housing settlement agreement with the Fair Share Housing Center because it was not vacant and developable at the time.
Fair Share's senior staff attorney, Josh Bauers, said Monday that the center had not yet been consulted on the proposal.
Future questions
Borough questions center on whether the property meets criteria to qualify as an "area in need of redevelopment." The term was once limited to blighted urban areas, but it now has a wider interpretation that is still being legally debated.
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The borough has already completed the first two legal steps of this process by authorizing the Planning Board to conduct a preliminary investigation of the proposal on Dec. 6, and authorizing the borough planner to evaluate whether the property qualifies for redevelopment status on Dec. 21. The next step would be for the Planning Board to consider the borough planner's study, hold a public hearing, then provide a recommendation to Mayor and Council.
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Also under consideration is whether the borough should enter into a tax abatement agreement with the developer. If the developer is allowed to make a payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, it will be calculated using a different formula from the standard property tax assessment. The county would get 5%, the borough would 95%, part of which may be allocated to schools. Currently 67% of Franklin Lakes property taxes go to its highly rated schools.
The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the multipurpose room at the Franklin Avenue Middle School, 755 Franklin Ave. There will be no remote broadcast of the meeting. For more information, visit franklinlakes.org/news.
Editor's Note: This story has been updated and reflects additional affordable housing units proposed for a secondary site.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Plan to build 585 multi-family units in Franklin Lakes to be presented
