750 Walnut Ave. Could Bring More Than 350 Students To Cranford

CRANFORD, NJ - Demographer Ross Haber and Cranford Public Schools' Superintendent Scott Rubin shared potential impact the development of 750 Walnut Ave. could have on the school system during a meeting of the Planning Board last Wednesday.

Haber said that approximately 353 school-aged children would be brought into the Cranford Schools if the much-maligned 750 Walnut Avenue development were to happen.

Hartz Mountain Industries has applied to build 905 apartment units on that property, which is currently a commercial zone. According to Dawn Beresford, one of the founding members of Cranford Residents Against Overdevelopment (CRAO) her group has numerous concerns, specifically about the infrastructure of the town being overwhelmed by having so many new residents.

"Our main goal is to stop the Planning Board from rezoning 750 Walnut Ave. We also want to make sure that if Hartz does get approval to build, we can keep the density down and ensure that the town does not give Hartz a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes)," Beresford said. "CRAO is also involved with a statewide group who are trying to get the state Senate to change the laws regarding Builder's Remedy lawsuits, which allow big developers to build high-density apartment buildings in the name of affordable housing."

Beresford said that the group began as a group of residents who live in the vicinity of 750 Walnut Ave. who were concerned about 905 apartments being built at that site.

During Wednesday's presentation, Haber said 35 would be high school age, 71 would be in grades 6-8 and 247 would be K-5. Haber said that currently the schools are "fully-utilized" and therefore to accommodate the new students a new school would have to be built or the current ones expanded.

The hearing on the matter is scheduled to continue at the next Planning Board meeting on April 3.

You can view the entire meeting and all of the testimony on the TV35 Facebook page here.

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