SCOTCH PLAINS — The planning board will conduct an examination of a piece of property on Plainfield Avenue to determine whether it may be suitable for redevelopment, a move that could potentially make it available for the planned new first-responders headquarters.
The township council formally requested the investigation at its meeting on Tuesday. If the 1.04-acre lot— located to the east of township-owned property where the new 70,000-sq. ft. public safety complex is slated to be built—is deemed suitable, it could be used for part of the new building instead of a piece of the conservation zone located on the other side of the township property.
The proposal envisions a single two-story building extending across the length of the lot across from Memorial Field, with a small section of parking spaces extending into a small section of the adjoining lot, which has been designated as a C-Conservation zone since the early 2000s. A number of neighborhood residents over the past few years have expressed concerns that encroaching on the conservation zone would have negative effects on the wildlife that live there.
In other business, the council approved two resolutions authorizing feasibility studies relating to the potential relocation of the library when the existing facility is eventually torn down as part of the downtown redevelopment plan and rebuilt in the same location on Bartle Avenue. One part of the redevelopment calls for a new two-story library, with township government officers being relocated to a third floor of that building.
Mayor Joshua Losardo said onTuesday that the township’s flood-line application has been submitted to the state department of environmental protection. Last year, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued new flood hazard area rules for all new developments in New Jersey, and the township’s redevelopment plans for the downtown need to meet certain DEP requirements on building design and how flooding can be mitigated or controlled. The mayor said he expected the DEP to evaluate the application within the next several months, and approval would be a big step forward in the redevelopment process.
The council also gave its backing to an application by Weedies LLC for a cannabis delivery license from the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC). The service would be similar to food-delivery companies like DoorDash and GrubHub and deliver cannabis products from a local dispensary to the buyer’s door. Drivers will have to undergo a background check by the CRC.
At the beginning of the meeting, the council spent 75 minutes issuing various proclamations designating May 6-12 as National Nurses Week, May as Mental health Awareness Month and May 6 as Holocaust Remembrance Day. Students from Coles Elementary School were also honored for taking part in “Odyssey of the Minds,” a national creative problem- solving program. Officers from the Fanwood-Scotch Plains Rotary Club spoke about the club’s “Stigma-Free Community” campaign to raise awareness of mental health issues. The week of May 12-18 was declared as Police Week, and police chief Jeffrey Briel handed out commendations to a number of his officers for exemplary service over the past year.
