FRANKLIN (Somerset) – As the township builds more off-campus housing that targets Rutgers University students in neighboring New Brunswick, the council and Hamilton Street Advisory Board will meet Monday to discuss parking and obtain public input for an economic development study.

The study by Todd Poole of New York City-based 4Ward Planning will help the Hamilton Street Special Improvement District continue to develop in the wake of $190 million in investments that followed 40 years of financial inactivity, said Vincent Dominach, the township's economic development director and executive director of Hamilton Street Advisory Board.

“We’re going to change the zoning to go from four to five stories in the portion of town closest to New Brunswick for student housing and put the commercial on the first floor further up the street,” Dominach said. “We also have no parking standard.”

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Student housing developer Alliance Realty Solution, which built two multi-use buildings each with three retail and 12 apartments, plans to build a 50,000-square-foot apartment complex that he will target to students with 172 units but no retail.

That project would come with 165 parking spaces, developer Dean Adi said.

“Parking we’ve provided will be more than sufficient because of the type of clientele,” Adi said. “Students have much lower parking ratios per unit than conventional tenants with multiple adults and families.”

Adi’s project will follow a soon-to-open apartment complex with 84 units and about 128 parking spaces, Dominach said. Built by Hamilton Street Associates, that building is fully leased to Rutgers students, the zoning officer said.

In addition to dealing with the parking for these student housing projects, the Monday meeting will allow township residents to weigh in on 4Ward’s economic development study, Dominach said.

“We want to get public input before finalizing the report,” he said. “Once we finalize the report, we will make changes with ordinances regarding parking with this type of development … to make sure it’s done properly and without issues. The township is proactive in getting developers to come and have them develop in an appropriate manner that is not negative.”

The joint meeting of the council and Hamilton Street Advisory Board will be 7 p.m. in council chambers at the municipal building at 475 DeMott Lane in the Somerset section.

Staff Writer Bob Makin: 732-565-7319; bmakin@gannett.com