Many raise concerns about plan for bank

BY CHRISTINE GRIMALDI
Staff Writer

Milltown residents expecting to testify against the proposed Forney Clinic demolition hit a second delay last week when the applicant asked for a last-minute adjournment.

Valley National Bank, expected to present plans to build a branch on the historic building site, contacted the borough's Zoning Board of Adjustment the afternoon of its July 12 meeting to ask for the postponement. The applicant, which is seeking a use variance, bulk and sign variances, and preliminary and final site plan approval, was first scheduled to appear before the board in June.

Zoning Board Chairman Richard Ryan said the applicant may want to revise its plans based on ongoing discussions with the borough's professionals.

Valley National wants to build a bank with a drive-up on the site of the old Forney clinic building, an approximately 150-year-old Victorian house on North Main Street.

The old house was constructed in the 1850s by Joseph Evans, the father of Milltown's first mayor, and was used as a residence until about 1890, when it became the medical clinic of the Forney family, whose members were the town's doctors.

As proposed, the bank would be a one-story, 3,740-square-foot structure. Three drive-up lanes and one bypass lane would come together near the driveway at the property's southern side, detailed in a May 31 memo from Milltown's hired engineering firm, CME Associates of Parlin. Also planned are 19 parking spots and space for an additional 19 stalls if needed.

The property is located in a commercial zone, which does not allow drive-up lanes, according to information provided by the borough-contracted Master Consulting P.A., of Clinton. A use variance is therefore required.

The CME memo listed numerous recommendations for the applicant under the areas of site layout and traffic, grading and drainage, utilities and recycling, lighting and landscaping.

Schoor DePalma, Valley National's Manalapan-based engineering firm, released an environmental impact statement in February that assessed minor adverse effects to the site's natural resources.

Though historical concerns are prevalent among residents, several have brought up the technical impacts of having a new bank on Main Street.

In a letter dated June 29, a Milltown Shade Tree Commission member stated the group had "concerns about the completeness of the zoning variance application."

"For the few trees slated to remain on the site, [the applicant] provided no details of how these trees will be protected/preserved during and after construction," Commission Vice Chairman Michael Lewycky wrote.

He also cited the planned removal of a tree-lined buffer separating the Forney Clinic from the Joyce Kilmer School. This area would accommodate the 19 "phantom spaces" to be added later if needed, Lewycky wrote.

School officials also have concerns about the proposal. Milltown Superintendent of Schools Linda Madison sent a letter July 11 to the planning and zoning boards on behalf of the district, expressing concerns for the students.

With no buffer zone between the adjacent school and clinic properties, Madison wrote, there may be safety risks during demolition and construction, as well as classroom distractions once the bank is in operation.

And officials have even greater concerns about vehicular traffic interfering with school arrival and dismissal times.

"Ours is a walking school district," Madison stated. "The additional vehicles that will be using the bank facility may cause a safety risk for the large population of students who walk on Main Street and will pass by the bank parking lot and drive-through lanes each day."

School officials want a traffic study conducted on Main Street between West Church Street and Riva Avenue to examine traffic between 8 and 9 a.m., and 2:30 and 3:30 p.m.

Litwornia Associates Inc., of Medford Lakes, prepared a traffic impact assessment last year on the intersection of Main Street and Cottage Avenue/John Street, and the site driveway on Main Street.

The firm studied traffic from 4 to 7 p.m. on a Friday and 9 a.m. to noon on a Saturday last October.

"Our findings reveal that the proposed development will not result in any significant negative traffic impact to the surrounding roadway traffic. The studied intersection as well as the site driveway will be operating with acceptable levels of service," the report stated.

Alan Godber, chairman of Milltown's Environmental Commission, has conducted an ongoing traffic study since June.

"We're concerned about [the applicant's] traffic study, as to the completeness and accuracy of it, and as a result we've been getting anecdotal evidence from other people about traffic, and we've been observing traffic on Main Street for ourselves," Godber told the Sentinel.

He is also the contact listed on an informational flyer distributed in town regarding the Forney Clinic.

"Their numbers sound very reasonable," Godber said. But he questions the comprehensiveness of the report and the subsequent interpretations reached from the limited time frames studied.

His own study examines five to six time frames throughout the day, and each has been studied on one or two occasions to date.

Both followed the same measurement techniques of 15-minute segments.

Godber said the people of Milltown are generally well aware of the heavy traffic congestion on Main Street.

With the addition of the bank, he said, "It's not going to get any better, that's for sure."

The next zoning board meeting is scheduled for Aug. 2.

"Depending on the volume of evidence, it's not uncommon for these things to run several meetings," Ryan said.