Morris Township planning board approves six-lot subdivision at 257 Mount Kimball Ave., 8–1 vote

The Morris Township Planning Board on March 17 approved preliminary and final major-subdivision PB 07-23 for 257 Mount Kimball Ave., voting 8–1 to create four buildable single‑family lots and two municipal open‑space parcels that will include a trailhead and public parking.

The board’s approval followed testimony from the applicant’s team and extensive public comment from nearby residents concerned about retaining walls, lighting and proximity of the new roadway to existing back yards. The board attached a package of conditions to the approval, including recorded stormwater operation-and‑maintenance paperwork, homeowner‑association maintenance for the detention facility and certain retaining walls, dark‑sky compliant lighting coordinated with JCP&L, and a post‑construction on‑site meeting with the nearest neighbor to consider supplemental screening plantings.

The subdivision creates six lots from one 5.53‑acre parcel (Block 5401, Lot 2): four conforming residential lots in the RA‑15 zone and two lots to be dedicated to the township as open space (one of those will include a 3‑ to 4‑space trailhead parking area). Engineer Alfred Stewart described the layout and infrastructure during the hearing, including a 40‑foot right of way (22‑foot cartway), a hammerhead turnaround sized for the township’s ladder truck, public utilities tying to Mount Kimball Avenue, a detention basin on Lot 2.06, and retaining walls required by the steep topography.

“The walls do decrease the amount of disturbance on the properties, and they do, basically, reduce the grading issues on the site,” said Alfred Stewart, the applicant’s civil engineer, explaining that walls minimize grading and limit disturbance on slopes that average roughly 22 percent across the parcel.

Applicant attorney Rosemary Stone…