Here's what's new and noteworthy in terms of local real estate:
144 FAIRMOUNT AVE --- “Not a snowball’s chance in hell.” That’s the talk around city hall regarding an application very recently filed to demolish a house on an oversized lot at 144 Fairmount Avenue and construct a 3-family dwelling. The zone is R50 (formerly known as R1A). The zone allows single-family houses on 50 x 100 lots or larger. The applicant is Colonelli, a prominent local builder, and their attorney is Michael Napolitan. Although Napolitan is notorious for appearing before the boards and asking for the moon, one would think that Colonelli would be a little more politically astute. The Zoning Board of Adjustment, which is seriously backlogged with cell tower applications and other cases, has to go through the motions of hearing the case.
SUNNYSIDE TERRACE, 184 BERDAN PLACE --- Another pending case that doesn’t have a prayer is Sunnyside Terrace. Developers have a proposal to make townhouses on an absurdly gerrymandered lot between Berdan Place and James Street in the Carver Park district. The zoning there is R2, two-family houses only. Most of the proposed units have no street frontage and are proposed to be constructed behind and between the existing houses. The neighbors are up in arms, and they have been attending every hearing, dozens strong with their own attorney to object. The case has been partly heard, and then postponed for at least 8 months due to the case backlog and other issues. The applicant is making the dubious case that the neighborhood itself is totally obsolete and needs to be rebuilt with multi-unit dwellings. This has even further antagonized the community.
436 SUMMIT AVE / SE CORNER OF HAMILTON PLACE--- There’s an application to expand a house so that it will have a 3’10” side yard; this will allow a garage and second floor addition to be built with a driveway accessing Summit Ave. This plan will be altered at the request of the Zoning Board. The applicant, a professional dancer on Broadway, has submitted new plans for the garage which will not impact on the required side yard setback. Her new driveway will be accessed from Hamilton Place. The case is to be completed on February 15th.
588 SUMMIT AVE / BETWEEN EUCLID AVE & ROSS AVE --- The board approved an application for a new homeowner to build an art gallery over his existing rear garage, which is 40 feet setback from the lot line. The art gallery will have a kitchen and bathroom, so technically it's a dwelling unit, and the board had a huge issue with that. He had to concede to deed restrictions that prevent it from ever being occupied as a housing unit. Also approved are his plans to complete a fence along Summit and Euclid Avenue. The fancy brick columns have been up for a year, now he can put the fence between them. This homeowner loves the beauty of Summit Ave, and that’s why he bought the house. He and his wife take great pleasure in investing several hundred thousand dollars to completely upgrade the estate, which was formerly the long-time residence of a professional artist, Mary Ortlip Krieger, who died several years back. She would be pleased, no doubt, to know another artist owns her house now. The zone there is R100, which is the city’s newly created estate zone (20,000 square foot lots at least 100 feet in width).
375 FIRST STREET --- The Zoning Board of Adjustment denied variances requested by the Martin Luther King Jr. Seniors Center to demolish a single-family house and construct a large multi-use complex housing a social hall on the first floor, six low-income apartments for seniors on the second floor, and 12 parking spaces for the entire project. The zone is R2. The non-profit organization is likely to file a Mt. Laurel lawsuit against the city. This would be the first such lawsuit ever filed.
BEECH & FIRST STREET PARKING TOWER--- An application is before the Zoning Board to build a parking tower at the SE corner of First and Beech Street, which will occupy almost the entire lot and will encase the existing Giovanni’s restaurant. The Board of Education has sent an attorney, Richard Salkin (former city attorney for 16 years), to object. They don’t want a parking tower next to the high school. The city has determined that a use variance is required. There’s talk of appealing any possible approval to the city council. In 1989, the city passed an ordinance allowing use variances to be appealed to the city council, but it has only been done once.
VACATE WATER STREET --- The Planning Board approved a resolution to vacate Water Street from River Street to the river because it is included in the siteplan of an approved townhouse complex. Removal of soil contamination is ongoing on this property, and the PSE&G property to the north. PSE&G is the cause of the contamination, they used to have a coal-fired facility there. Remediation has to be completed before any groundbreaking. It might be a year until groundbreaking. Nappa, which owns land hundreds of feet to the south, is preparing litigation to try and block the project. It’s just a petty feud between Nappa and Trobiano, but it’s going to cost taxpayers big bucks.. Once remediation is complete, PSE&G will likely subdivide their property east of River Street and sell their empty land for retail redevelopment.
JOHN STREET & RAILROAD AVE --- In January, the Planning Board approved demolition of an unsightly hundred year-old warehouse to construct a 3-story office building with a bank and a drive through. It’s very near Essex Street. That’s at the NE corner of the intersection, across John Street from Courthouse Auto Body. Previously, a 5-story self-storage tower was approved for the site, but never built.
310-312 ELM AVE --- Stephen Pace seeks approval from the Planning Board to subdivide a lot and build a house almost right on the bank of Coles Brook. There is an existing lawn area there now. This is in the flood zone, and will probably require a Stream Encroachment Permit from the NJDEP. The zoning was changed in June, 2005 to R75, which is 10,000 square foot lots at least 75 feet in width. This was done specifically for stream corridor preservation issues in the vicinity of Fairmount and Elm Avenues. The proposed lot along Coles Brook would be 58 feet wide. Board Chairman Fernando Garip knows the situation regarding the last lot on Fairmount Avenue (the Oliveri application). After an 18 year struggle, the NJDEP did not approve a house due to stream encroachment issues. Only two houses were built instead of three on the extension of Fairmount Ave. It will be interesting to see how this applicant on Elm Ave will make a case that his lot, only a block away and much CLOSER to the brook, would not have the same issue.
BP GAS STATION – SOUTH RIVER STREET --- After a contentious hearing that ended a year ago, BP has not broken ground on the triangular Puntasecca contractor’s yard just south of Costco. Time is running out, and they might have to go back to the Planning Board for a re-application. The city had originally sought the land for inclusion in the plan to relocate the County Police and other county facilities to the vicinity. The Puntasecca’s and their friends fought hard to get an approval for the BP, and took their complaints to the County Board of Chosen Freeholders on multiple occasions, forcing the County to back off from the acquisition plan. Now it looks like we’ll be stuck with the contractor yard there.