At a June 1, 2009 Metuchen borough council meeting, councilman William Waldron raised the issue of whether it was possible to provide the general public with more information on the specifics of applications that appear before the Planning Board.

As an example, he mentioned the increasing number of massage parlors that appeared to be opening up in the borough.

“I have noticed recently, and while I applaud business, tax revenues, and the growth of Metuchen, we seem to have become a Mecca for massage parlors,” Waldron said at the meeting. “While that may be a beneficial business, and one that works well within our healthcare system, I think a lot of residents would like to know if they could find out before these matters go before the Planning Board and if we could publicize what the precise application is.”

“Very frequently when someone looks at a Planning Board agenda, it is just ABC Corp. applying for a use variance or what-have-you,” he said. “It is only after we get the minutes that you find out after the fact that they are looking to convert from an insurance company to a massage parlor. I don’t mean to be singling out massage parlors, but I have seen at least two pop up recently. These are legitimate business, but a lot of people are raising eyebrows.”

Waldron stressed that as long as a business such as a massage parlor was a legitimate business that complied with all laws and ordinances, his concern was whether the borough could give more information to the general public regarding the details of applications that appear before the borough’s Planning Board. Mayor Thomas Vahalla explained that as long as the application for a business was compliant, there was no way to limit certain types of businesses in favor of others.

“If they are a permitted use in a business area, and a legitimate business, they may not even have to come to the Planning Board or Zoning Board,” Vahalla said. “They can go to the technical review committee (TRC) for their change. For example, it can be a question of how many pizzerias or banks we have. But if they are a permitted use in the zone, it is very difficult to say to a person that you can open up a pizzeria but I can’t.”

A TRC meeting is an informal meeting between the applicant and members of the regulating boards to review the concepts and proposals in the site.

Borough attorney David Frizell explained that part of the current problem had to do with the lack of “print press coverage” of local issues.

“As far as the notifications, the content of the notification for a Planning Board procedure is defined by the state municipal land use law,” Frizell said. “The whole country is now experiencing a situation where there is no longer print press coverage of anything. These are the kinds of things years ago that a local reporter would pick up and put in the paper. So it is a practical problem. Maybe there should be some vigilance on the part of some of the public officials if they think there is something particularly controversial.”

Frizell also cautioned that the borough should be careful about doing something that may be perceived as an obstacle towards starting a new business in town.

“I would ask Councilman Waldron to look into the substance behind your concerns,” Frizell said. “You may raise some questions that could deter legitimate businesses. There are a lot of complaints that Metuchen is not business-friendly and has been that way in the past. I don’t think we can target a particular business, so whatever we do is going to affect every new business in the town.”

Councilman Peter Cammarano said that it came down to a “balancing act” of trying to encourage new business development in town but still achieving a sense of variety in the types of businesses that operate in the borough.

“We should not have barriers or deterrents to new businesses coming in, but there is something of a balancing act,” Cammarano said. “We all want variety in the downtown, but unfortunately we cannot control that. [Massage parlors] are an industry that has become part of healthcare, and more often than not it is a legitimate business. I would say that I represent a group of massage professionals, so I do have some knowledge on this issue. We cannot single out one group, and the reality is we are encouraging business here. Though we want to maintain the character of downtown, we have to be careful to not discourage people and create barriers. We are actually going into the other direction of trying to make it easier for businesses. So we just need to be careful.”

Councilman Christopher Morrison asked if Planning Board meetings could be televised, but according to Mayor Vahalla the major problems with doing so were the cost and the level of interest from the general public.

“I think it is an added cost,” Vahalla said. “If we can find the money… but that is something, honestly, most times, though I only served on the Planning Board for a year, we don’t have many people coming out about an issue. The [District at Metuchen] was probably the biggest issue, but that was more because of us changing the ordinance. Most of the things on the Planning Board, we have very few [spectators]… except for the house we stopped on Orchard Avenue.”

Councilman Richard Weber said that he does his best to notify members of the public when he sees something on the Planning Board agenda that could be an issue.

“This year, the only things that I consider substantive are two subdivision applications,” Weber said. “For both I did things to make people aware. I have tried to tip people off and let people know what is coming down the line, and I can do it to the time and ability I have for other changes of use. The balancing act is between being business-friendly and at the same time trying to regulate what type of businesses we have.”