March 27, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 3 Mahwah Township officials approve master plan update by Frank J. McMahon The updated master plan for the Township of Mahwah has been adopted by a unanimous vote of the township’s planning board. The 151-page draft of the document was released to the public on Aug. 27, 2012 and can be found on the township’s website at www.mahwahtwp.org. That document will now be amended to include all the changes to which the planning board has agreed following several public meetings during which extensive input from the public was heard by the board. The document describes the existing land uses in the township and the township’s land use goals, objectives, and policies, and points out that the overall intent of the plan is to respect much of the existing development pattern. It calls for the preservation of the rural character and larger tracts of land on the west side of the township while at the same time enhancing the more developed eastern side of the township. In addition, the master plan focuses on enhancing the commercial areas through specific changes to the township code and improving connectivity throughout the municipality. The master plan is organized into residential land use categories and non-residential land use categories with planning goals for each of those categories along with land use maps. One of the most significant concerns expressed by the public during the public hearings concerned the potential development of the B-10 zoned area located between East Ramapo Avenue and King Street behind the U.S. Post Office. To address that concern, the board added the following language to the master plan: “During the public hearings of the draft master plan, the board heard significant concerns from residents in the Miller Road area of Franklin Turnpike about traffic congestion and circulation due to restricted access points between areas of the township east and west of Route 17 and the awkward intersections of Miller Road and East Ramapo Avenue. “The planning board determined that, until circulation improvement had been made to alleviate those current problems, development in the area of Franklin Turnpike near the Mahwah train station should not include any higher density residential/commercial or mixed use development and that commercial development should be limited to two story buildings consistent with small business operations. Large chain or big box stores and supermarkets or large drug stores are also not approved in the train station area and will be considered inconsistent with the master plan’s objectives.” Prior to the adoption of the plan, professional planner Joseph Burgis, who was contracted in 2006 to develop an updated master plan for the township, reviewed some of the changes made during the public hearings. He and David Roberts, the township’s current professional planner, answered some additional questioned posed by members of the public. Some of the changes to the plan include the deletion of all language concerning the United Nations program known as Agenda 21, and the inclusion of additional historic sites recommended by the Mahwah Historic Preservation Committee. The updated plan also identifies the unused railroad spur that extends through the township as a bike path, and (continued on page 21)