Sewers Could Increase Development in Franklin Lakes Business District

Sewer installations along Franklin Avenue projected for a fall completion could expand the level of development in the district that contains many of the borough’s businesses, according to a planning study.

The project, which the Northwest Bergen County Utilities Authority began undertaking in May 2012, puts in place a trunk line along Franklin Avenue that connects to the authority’s Waldwick-based plant. The borough was not required to fund the $5.2 million project.

“The change from individual septic to sewer has the potential to open up development opportunities, but it’s not the only factor,” said Elizabeth McManus, a planning expert who completed a planning study of the Franklin Avenue Corridor for the borough.

The study, which suggests a series of improvements to circulation in the business district, was prepared because the sewer project was expected to shift expectations for future planning in the district, officials have said.

McManus told Patch that the type of development will not necessarily change, but that the sewer system presents the possibility that there will be more of it.

Septic systems, she explained, take up large amounts of land, and development in the area has been necessarily small in scale. The sewer system will potentially free up that land as the septic tanks become obsolete.

“I would venture to say it may make new construction or redevelopment more attractive to developers in that area,” said McManus, noting that the conditions for development will also be determined by zoning decisions made by the borough.

Septic removal can sometimes be a complicated task for construction crews, but McManus said that regulations and guidelines developed in the last few decades have made the process smoother. Furthermore, she expects the transition in Franklin Lakes would move gradually.

According to NBCUA executive director Howard Hurwitz, utility authority engineers met with property owners along Franklin Avenue to plan the location of sewer connections, which will make the process simple for those hooking up.

“It’s just plumbing work, that’s all,” he said.

The project had been slated for a July completion, but he said that complications removing groundwater in the final phase have pushed that back to September. Work continues on Pulis Avenue to connect the line to the county’s system, he said.

The borough plans to hook up municipal buildings to the line, and officials have said that future, borough initiated expansions from the county’s trunk line could bring residential properties beyond the Franklin Avenue Corridor into the system.