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Morristown residents press council for transparency on Atlantic Health project; officials say traffic study will precede more meetings
Summary
Residents voiced frustration at canceled or private developer meetings for the Atlantic Health proposal and pressed the council for a timeline on a traffic study; council leaders said meetings will be rescheduled after the traffic report and pledged to share updates with affected neighborhoods.
Debbie Ryce Laynan, a resident of 320 South Street, told the Morristown Town Council on Oct. 22 that neighbors in Parsons Village and nearby areas had struggled to find reliable information about the Atlantic Health development and that several meetings had been canceled or held privately. "So my sort of outstanding question at this point is, when will that traffic study be complete?" she asked.
Council President Umbria responded that the developer and administration have met privately with individual council members and that a preview presentation had taken place; he said the meetings were not canceled permanently and "they will be rescheduled." Umbria said many questions at earlier sessions focused on traffic and described the administration's decision to wait for a traffic report as "a good thing" so the public has more information before community meetings proceed.
An administration representative added that public meetings are open to everyone and no residents are excluded. Officials encouraged residents to remain engaged and promised to announce rescheduled community meetings as soon as the traffic information is available.
Why this matters: Neighbors said they want clearer, regular updates on schedule and findings for a project that could affect local traffic patterns and neighborhood character. Council leaders framed the pause as a fact-finding step intended to give the public and the council substantive data to review before resuming a formal series of community presentations.
What remains unresolved: No traffic study completion date was provided in the meeting transcript, and residents asking for transparency said they continue to watch the town website and local sources for updates. The administration’s account said community meetings will be re-announced after the report is ready.
Next steps: Council said it will share information about rescheduled meetings when the traffic study is complete and urged residents to use official town channels for updates.
