Planners OK Homes Just Over Hanover Border

Morris Plains' planning board signed off an a 60-unit townhouse development Monday night—though the development itself is in Hanover Township.

WaterView at Hanover will consist of two- and three-bedroom townhouses on a 23-acre tract primarily in Hanover Township. A small strip of Morris Plains land will be left in open space and will be deeded to Hanover Township—meaning WaterView also needed Morris Plains' OK—developer Gerald Forgione told the Morris Plains board.

Hanover Township had already approved the site plan, Forgione's attorney, Barry Mandlebaum said.

Morris Plains Mayor Frank Druetzler said if Hanover wants to assume responsibility for the 5.25 acres of borough open space, Hanover is welcome to it. There is quite a bit of open space in Hanover, including a pond.

American Road, which serves the development, is now under Morris Plains’ jurisdiction.

The site had previously gotten an approval for an 160-unit assisted living facility, but that project never came to fruition.

The developer’s traffic engineer, Eric Keller of Omland Associates, said there will not be much more traffic from 60 townhouses than from 160 assisted living units, but it will be more concentrated in the normal workday pattern. Most traffic in an assisted living community consists of part-time employees who generally don’t commute during standard hours.

Keller said the bottleneck at the intersection of Hanover and Speedwell Avenues won’t be much different.

The new plans will leave a half-acre less of impervious surface and less land that is cleared, developer’s engineer Wayne Corsey said.