Politics & Government
Honeywell Change will go to Committee
Proposed amendment to master plan can be viewed on township website.
The will need to consider a recommendation from the township planning board for a master plan amendment to allow a proposed redevelopment of the headquarters site.
Honeywell says it wants wants a better use of its 147-acre world headquarters site. Currently, there is 1.1 million square feet of office and research space, about twice what the facility’s 1,200 employees need, according to a Honeywell press release.
The property was originally developed as a residential estate by financier Otto Kahn, who followed the lead of many New York City elite and created a country house in the Morristown area. Kahn never felt accepted by Morristown society, however, and moved his country house to Long Island. The property was taken over by Allied Chemical Corp.in 1946 and was used for testing of polymers, metals, ceramics and electronic materials and devices and for conducting biological and analytical science research, according to the supporting materials of the proposed master plan amendment.
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Environmental Concerns
Because of the previous use of the site, EcolSciences, an environmental consulting firm, studied the site and its history.
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Monitoring wells were drilled throughout the site, among detected contaminants were carbon tetrachloride, trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene. The migration of contaminated ground water is being controlled, according to Marie Raser of EcolSciences.
Certain pesticides were detected in soils at depths of up to six feet, and research is needed to make sure the soils in the proposed residential areas are clear.
EcolSciences’ report said the consultants don’t anticipate a problem from construction debris or historical debris on the site.
The current use of the site, headquarters of Honeywell International Inc., is the product of Honeywell’s merger into Allied Chamical/Allied Signal and now the buildings are used for offices.
Under current zoning, the property could be developed entire for offices. A total of 1,420,927 square feet could be utilized. A traffic review by the RBA Group, Inc., done for the township planning board, indicates this would produce the most traffic from the site.
Current Proposal
Honeywell’s current proposal, for offices, retail to serve the offices, townhouses and possibly a continuing care facility for senior citizens, will lead to less traffic than a build out of 100 percent office use, according to Gordon Meth of RBA.
In addition, the market for future office and research and development space is weak and projections call for that to remain so, according to township experts.
However, the current proposal does not fit the existing Office and Research Laboratory Zone. After a number of meetings with Honeywell officials and some significant changes to Honeywell’s first proposal, primarily the removal of a proposed hotel and conference center, the planning board agreed to consider changes to the master plan.
Those changes need to be approved by the township committee after proper notice and a public hearing, according to planning board attorney, Brian Burns.
Should the township committee approve the amendments to the master plan, either the planning board or township committee will have to draw up a change to the zoning ordinance which also must be approved after a public hearing, Burns said in a letter to the board.
Honeywell agreed to submit a general development plan to the township after any change to the zoning ordinance. A GDP must include general plans for utilities, stormwater management and similar improvements. After GDP approval, Honeywell would still have to get site plan approval, according to Burns.