Planning Board, Zoning Board Meetings and Cable TV Hearing Take Place in Lawrence Township This Week

Three important municipal government meetings will take place this week in Lawrence Township.

This evening, Monday, Jan. 23, the Lawrence Township Planning Board will convene its first meeting of 2012.

Tomorrow, Jan. 24, the Lawrence Township Council will conduct a “municipal consent hearing” in an effort to decide whether to approve a new agreement that would allow Comcast to continue providing cable TV services in the township.

And on Wednesday, Jan. 25, the Lawrence Township Zoning Board of Adjustment will hold its first meeting of 2012.

PDF copies of the agendas for the planning board and zoning board meetings and a public notice about the Comcast hearing can be viewed or printed from the media box at the right. 

Planning Board

The planning board meeting will begin today at 7 p.m. in the lower level conference room of the Municipal Building at 2207 Lawrence Rd. (Route 206). It should be noted that, effective this meeting, all panning board meetings this year will start at 7 p.m.

According to the planning board agenda, new and returning members appointed by township council earlier this month will be formally sworn into office, a chairperson and vice chairperson will be elected from among the board members, and various board assignments and consultant appointments will be made. 

Listed on the agenda for possible adoption are resolutions memorializing earlier planning board actions concerning, among other things, and the onto which six single-family homes will be built.

The planning board, according to the agenda, is expected to also consider a site plan application made by the Mercer Council on Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Inc., which wants to add a second-story to an existing 3,963-square-foot building at 1931 Brunswick Pike (Business Route 1) and expand the parking lot from 24 to 36 spaces.

Consent Hearing

The public hearing regarding the renewal of Comcast’s “municipal consent to own, operate, extend, and maintain a cable television and cable communications system in the Township of Lawrence” will begin at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the council meeting room at the Municipal Building.

The hearing is necessary because the prior 15-year agreement that existed between the township and Comcast is expiring.

“All interested parties are invited to attend and be heard with respect to this application. Copies of the application will be on file with the Lawrence Township Municipal Clerk and can be reviewed Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the Lawrence Township Municipal Building,” according to the public notice about the hearing.

Zoning Board

The zoning board meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Municipal Building’s lower level conference room.

Similar to the planning board, new and returning zoning board members will be sworn in, a chair and vice chair will be elected and various appointments – an attorney, planning consultant, traffic consultant and others – will be made.

The board will then, according to the agenda, consider a use variance application filed by Agape International Children’s Academy, which wants to relocate its day care center for 60-plus children into a vacant building at 2160 Brunswick Pike (Business Route 1) that was previously used as an office by the New Jersey Conference of Seventh Day Adventists.

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