Franklin Township planning board approves Cedar Grove subdivision but bars proposed gated entrance

The Franklin Township Planning Board voted to approve a 14‑lot subdivision application (PLN2400007) while explicitly excluding a proposed guard house and gated entrance from the approval. Chairman Orsini moved the plan, which passed on a roll call after the board imposed conditions intended to protect trees, clarify lot coverage and ensure outside approvals before site work.

The applicant's attorney, Tim Arch, presented the revised submission and called Gregory Oman, principal of Menlo Engineering, as the applicant's engineering witness. Oman testified that the arborist's updated inventory shows 2,649 trees on the site and that the proposed limit of disturbance would remove roughly 1,597 trees (about 60 percent). "Based on the arborist's updated numbers, we have a total of 2,649 trees on‑site," Oman said, and the applicant calculated a tree‑replacement obligation of 1,230 trees under township rules. The revised landscape plan proposes 895 planted trees on the site, with 865 counted toward replacement and a remaining deficit of 365 trees to be satisfied through payment to the township tree fund or equivalent measures.

Why it mattered: board members said the updated, tree‑by‑tree analysis persuaded them that the revised design preserves higher‑value trees along property lines better than an alternative cluster plan would. Chairman Orsini said the level of arborist detail "did more than I've ever seen" for a residential development and helped sway his vote.

What the board approved and the conditions: the motion approved the subdivision with several specific conditions: approval of two frontage variances and a lot‑coverage variance for the roadway parcel; a conservation easement to protect the 40‑foot buffer plantings; deed notices on each lot alerting future buyers to existing impervious/coverage limits; homeowners‑association responsibility for maintaining porous paver driveway surfaces where required; approval of specific tree plantings at the lot stage; and a prohibition on any clearing, site grading, or signatures on final plats until all outside approvals — including the Franklin Township Sewerage Authority and any required DEP or county permits — are obtained. The board also specified that the approval will include a black‑coated chain‑link perimeter fence rather than the applicant's earlier, more visually prominent PVC fence suggestion.

On the proposed gated entrance: applicant representatives Akshay Joshi and Vijay Raju asked the board to permit an unmanned gate for overnight security and marketability. Raju said the gate would "provide a sense of safety, security to the residents," and the applicants described vendor fail‑safes (automatic opening on power loss and emergency‑vehicle triggers). Several board members pressed for empirical evidence of localized crime trends and expressed concern about community image, queuing on Cedar Grove and enforceability of hours. The board concluded it would approve the subdivision but not the guard house/gated entrance; the motion as carried omitted the gate from the permitted site improvements.

Vote and next steps: the motion passed on a roll call with affirmative votes recorded from Councilman Embarison, Theodore Chase, Robert LaCourte, Mark Dancy, Jennifer Ragnell, Mahir Rafiq, Charles Brown, Robert Thomas and Chairman Orsini. The approval is conditioned on the technical items in the township staff and consultants' reports and on securing external agency approvals before any site clearing or final signatures.

Applicant comment and assurances: applicant counsel Tim Arch told the board the developer will not clear or grade the site until outside approvals are in hand: "we're not gonna clear... or grade the site if we don't have those approvals," he said. The board set specific plan notes and deed notifications to make lot‑level constraints transparent to future purchasers.

What to watch for: the record shows a remaining replacement obligation (365 trees) to satisfy the township tree fund or other mitigation, final engineering responses to Darren's basin and test‑pit comments, and confirmation of sewer authority approvals. The board also asked staff and the applicant to work out final fencing materials and plantings to preserve established trees.

Sources: Planning board hearing transcript (PLN2400007), testimony of Gregory Oman (Menlo Engineering), applicant counsel Tim Arch and applicant representatives Akshay Joshi and Vijay Raju.