Planning board approves Restoration Hardware's scaled-back Abbey redevelopment with conditions and monitoring

The Morris Township Planning Board voted to approve Restoration Hardware's amended site plan for the Abbey redevelopment after hearing testimony and receiving documentation from the applicant's legal, design and engineering teams. The application reduces the previously approved scale of the project, concentrates parking on-site, and removes previously proposed valet/tandem and some off-site parking arrangements. The board granted redevelopment-plan deviations with conditions intended to mitigate neighborhood impacts.

Applicant presentation and justification

Counsel for the applicant (Sales, Comas and Gross, speaking through attorney Vitola) and RH's witnesses told the board the project had been scaled down after construction cost escalation made the previously approved plan infeasible. Jared Stuhl, RH's chief real estate and development officer, said the reductions "were really all based with the intent of maintaining the architectural integrity and the design integrity, however, reducing the scale down from an operational perspective"

Civil engineer Afton Sabitz (Stonefield Engineering) presented plans showing the revised building footprint, parking layout and stormwater design. She testified the project now proposes 108 parking spaces on-site (with EV-ready spaces provided), removes tandem parking previously contemplated, increases setbacks from adjacent property lines in several locations, and reduces impervious coverage by approximately 7,000 square feet compared with the most recent approval. Sabitz said the stormwater design meets current major-development rules, adds porous pavement and an above-ground bioretention basin and is sized to meet enhanced water-quality standards.

Architect Russell Pacala described the design reductions and said the intention is to preserve the Abbey as the aesthetic focal point while using consistent, high-quality materials for the new wings. He confirmed removal of a structurally poor southern wing (referred to as the 'ruins') because reconstruction would be expensive and offer limited usable space; he said retained leaded/stained-glass windows will be handled under the historic-preservation conditions carried forward from earlier approvals.

Planner and traffic engineer Matthew Seckler (Stonefield) reviewed redevelopment-plan conformity and deviations. He said the proposal reduces overall building square footage (from about 51,655 square feet in the 2022 approval to about 35,339 square feet in the current plan ' roughly a 32% reduction), reduces restaurant seating and eliminates valet and off-site parking dependencies. Seckler described several deviations from the redevelopment plan (including parking bay locations along Madison and Canfield frontages, monument-sign dimensions and some specific interior-use square-foot allocations) but testified that the changes overall improved buffers to adjacent residential properties and reduced intensity compared with the prior approval.

Public questions and concerns

Several neighbors asked about parking, sightlines, buffering and lighting. Board members and applicant witnesses said the application provides the required spaces under the redevelopment plan and that a post-construction parking analysis will be performed beginning six months after opening and continue for six months, per the redevelopment plan; the plan requires returning to the board with mitigations if parking shortages are found. Afton Sabitz described perimeter hedging and proposed landscaping; neighbors asked that replacement trees be substantial at planting (witnesses said trees will be installed at substantial size consistent with the landscape plan and that dead material would be replaced). The applicant also agreed to ensure one of the EV-ready spaces will be accessible/ADA-compliant.

Conditions and stipulations

Board professionals and counsel recorded a series of conditions to be incorporated in any approval. Those include: - The applicant's agreement to memorialize and comply with prior applicable approval conditions to the extent they are not inconsistent with the amended plan, including historic-preservation handling of stained-glass windows and a post-occupancy noise audit. - A post-construction parking study beginning six months after opening and continuing per the redevelopment plan; the study must be submitted to the township and, if shortages or impacts are found, the applicant will return with mitigation proposals (off-site leasing, additional controls, or other measures). - Finalized lighting and landscaping plans showing perimeter screening and lighting reduced to security levels after closing (security lighting maintained per conditions); any blank building facades identified by the board will be softened with architectural detailing or planting subject to planner review. - Stormwater designs, EV-ready infrastructure and ADA EV parking compliance to meet Township and State requirements and to be finalized with the Township engineer as a pre-construction condition.

Board action

After public comment, a motion to approve the amended site plan and the list of redevelopment-plan deviations (with the stated conditions) was made and seconded. The board recorded the motion and completed a roll-call vote; the board approved the amended site plan and associated deviations, with conditions and agreed monitoring and reporting requirements.

What happens next

The applicant will finalize construction documents and obtain required permits; staff will incorporate the stated conditions into the memorializing resolution. The board will expect a post-construction parking analysis after the site opens and a post-occupancy noise audit per prior conditions. Historic-preservation and storage or reuse of any removed stained-glass elements will continue under the earlier established conditions and oversight by the appropriate historic-preservation reviewer.