At Monday night’s Municipal Land Use Board (MLUB) meeting, the board passed a formal resolution that formally approves the development at the old Leberco Laboratory located on Hawthorne Street.
This is the last step in an application that had its initial hearing in March of this year.
The development originally called for a small apartment complex with commercial property on the bottom floor. A vote on whether or not to approve that proposed use was postponed after both residents in the area and MLUB members voiced concerns regarding parking. Local land use law required that the initial application would need 51 parking spaces but only had space for a little over 20 spaces.
In June the applicant returned with a new proposal that removed commercial space and – instead of apartments – was going to build townhouses. With only 28 spaces needed, the waiver for parking was approved. A few residents still voiced their concerns over the development and whether the townhouses would be owned outright or rented out like apartments.
The MLUB voted unanimously to approve the new application.
There will be a 45 day period that will allow for any legal appeals but after that period, the developer will be able to proceed with construction.
The property has been vacant since the turn of the century.