HELMETTA— There’s a new date and new location for the next hearing on the contentious plan to redevelop the former Helme Snuff Mill.

The borough Planning Board rescheduled its Feb. 8 meeting, during which Kaplan at Helmetta’s application to build 200 non-agerestricted one- and two-bedroom residences on the old mill property was to be heard.

The meeting will now take place March 1 at 7 p.m. at the Holy Trinity Parish Center, Main Street.

Residents of Spotswood and Helmetta packed the Helmetta municipal courtroom during the last Planning Board meeting, on Jan. 11, forcing police to clear some people from the room due to code concerns. Several members of the public who were moved to the hallways of Borough Hall complained that they could not hear the proceedings on the dais.

Attorney James Kinneally III, who is representing Spotswood in litigation against Helmetta over the Kaplan plan, suggested at the time that the next meeting be moved to a larger venue to accommodate the large number of residents and officials who came to the meeting. If not, he said, it could become another count against Helmetta in the lawsuit.

While Helmetta officials at first rebuffed the need to move, it was announced Monday that the meeting has been rescheduled to the new date and location.

“We wanted to have a larger space,” Helmetta Mayor Nancy Martin told the Sentinel.

The Helmetta Planning Board approved the housing project last July, ending a lawsuit from Kaplan, which sought to have the age restrictions removed from the plan that was previously approved. The board then chose to rehear the plan after Spotswood filed its lawsuit, charging that Helmetta failed to conduct public fairness hearings, did not satisfy requirements for the removal of age restrictions, and made procedural errors in approving the legal settlement with Kaplan.