Developers and their professionals recently misrepresented to Lakewood's Zoning Board the broad road improvements contingency that the Planning Board specifically stuck into the Master Plan.
This misrepresentation appears to have been weighed heavily by the Board when they approved a major development, a FAA News investigation has revealed.
The Lakewood Township Zoning Board of Adjustment recently approved ZB No. 4307, submitted by Yanky Lipshitz of Chestnut Equity, LLC, and represented by Attorney Miriam Weinstein Esq. and Engineer Brian Flannery.
The application sought approval to construct a four-story, 74 unit multifamily building on the north side of Route 70 between New Hampshire Avenue and Vermont Avenue.
The site is located in the B-5 (Business) Zone. Multi-family housing is not permitted in this zone. Accordingly, Use Variance relief was necessary - and was granted by the Board.
As seen in the video clip below, a big selling point to the Board related to the road improvements contingency that the Planning Board worked fervently to squeeze into the 2017 master plan.
Engineer Brian Flannery testified under oath that while this site is located in the B-5 zone, the master plan recommends that this site be rezoned to B-5A which does permit for multifamily uses - "once the traffic is fixed."
At that point, Chairman Abe Halberstam asked him what road improvements are required to be implemented prior to the zone changes going into effect.
Mr. Flannery - still under oath - responded, "the master plan did not specify any specific road improvements, rather it states that multifamily development should be accessible only through Route 70 and not through Chestnut Street." He added that because the proposed development will only be right in / right out onto Route 70, with no access through Chestnut Street, the intent of the master plan is fulfilled.
Time to set the record straight!
Back in 2017, the Master Plan's Housing Density Subcommittee held closed door sessions - with absolutely no notice to the public - in which they approved recommendations for numerous properties in the Township to be rezoned for higher density.
Coincidentally, this Subcommittee mainly consisted of Planning Board member Justin Flancbaum and Attorney Adam Pfeffer Esq. who just so coincidentally happens to be the attorney representing developers before the Planning and Zoning boards.
Adam Pfeffer is also the attorney for the Lakewood Municipal Utilities Authority of which Justin Flancbaum is the Executive Director. After Mr. Pfeffer gets development applications approved at the Planning Board (on which Justin Flancbaum sits) the developers go to the MUA for their water approval.
There is also a very close personal connection as when Justin Flancbaum sold his Newport Avenue home to Yeshiva Gedola of South Jersey, Adam Pfeffer was his personal attorney. Justin also has ownership in several corporations which were registered by Adam Pfeffer.
Either way, after the Master Plan Committee - which also included Adam Pfeffer - adopted the Master Plan, including the recommendations for many properties to be rezoned for higher density, the Planning Board (urged mainly by Eli Rennert and Louis Folman) put the breaks on this happy plan by demanding that certain road improvements be undertaken prior to all the zone changes going into effect.
The final wording of this "road improvements contingency" states as follows:
The zoning recommendations of this section related specifically to changes that would result in an increase in density in the area of the Township located south of Central Avenue, south of Cedarbridge Avenue, west of New Hampshire, north of Route 70, to the borders of Jackson Township and Toms River Township, and not including the non-contiguous cluster ordinance, are intended to be enacted by the Township Committee only when traffic improvement fees have been established through the township and all the following road segments have been sufficiently widened or dualized to minimize congestion to ensure that Cross Street, US Route 9, Pine Street, James Street, Prospect Street (Ocean County Route No. 628), and Massachusetts Avenue (Ocean County Route No. 637) are improved such that they operate at a minimum of “C” in terms of the level of service they provide along the entire roadway as determined by the Township Engineer and as defined by the Institute of Traffic Engineers. Such analysis shall evaluate the total traffic buildout including potential basement apartments.
• Cross Street, from the border with Jackson Township to the intersection with River Avenue;
• US Route 9 from North Lake Drive to the Toms River Township boundary;
• Massachusetts Avenue from the intersection at Prospect Street to its intersection with
Cross Street;
• Pine Street from US Route 9 to New Hampshire Boulevard.
• James Street from Cross Street to River Avenue; and,
• Prospect Street from River Avenue to Cross Street.
In addition to the above, the Planning Board recommends that the Township Committee:
• Work with the New Jersey Department of Transportation to provide turning lanes, where needed, along US Route 9.
The important takeaway is that the Master Plan emphatically indicates that no zone changes south of the lake, which will result in an increase in density, shall take effect until all listed road segments have been sufficiently widened or dualized to minimize congestion. Specifically, the terminology of "sufficiently widened or dualized to minimize congestion" is stipulated to mean that the roads operate at a minimum of “C” in terms of the level of service they provide along the entire roadway as determined by the Township Engineer and as defined by the Institute of Traffic Engineers. Such analysis shall evaluate the total traffic buildout including potential basement apartments. Additionally, traffic improvement fees need to have been established through the township prior to the zone changes going into effect.
Accordingly, Mr. Flannery's sworn testimony appears to have been a misrepresentation for 3 reasons:
1) the Master Plan's road improvements contingency is that the zone change will not go into effect until all listed road segments have been sufficiently widened or dualized to minimize congestion - and not only that multifamily developments should be accessible only through Route 70 and not through Chestnut Street.
2) the terminology of "sufficiently widened or dualized to minimize congestion" is stipulated to mean that the roads operate at a minimum of “C” in terms of the level of service they provide along the entire roadway as determined by the Township Engineer and as defined by the Institute of Traffic Engineers. Such analysis shall evaluate the total traffic buildout including potential basement apartments
3) Additionally, traffic improvement fees need to have been established through the township. It appears that the Township Committee has enacted such fees in certain areas of the municipality, but not completely throughout the Township.
This apparent misrepresentation is even more egregious given that it appears that the Board weighed heavily on this testimony when deciding to approve this major development.
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1 comment:
So what happens now??
Nothing?
Flannery is a skilled and seasoned liar and the board does not have their own experts so they rely on him.
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