JACKSON ZONING BOARD SET TO HEAR WHITESVILLE ROAD SHUL APPLICATION

Planners for a new shul building at 26 Whitesville Road in Jackson are finally set to present their "upgraded" plans for a "real shul" at the Township Zoning Board's upcoming meeting next week.

Prayers for a Chanukah miracle and that "the third time is a charm".

The shul, which is managed by Mordechai Hirsch of 26 Whitesville Road, LLC, first appeared before the Board back in March, with a plan to convert the existing structures on the property - formerly a dog kennel - into a shul, with 12 parking spaces, and to retain the existing single family home on the property to be rented out for a residential use.

Mr. Hirsch represented that the shul would contain up to 35 congregants and he anticipated that there would be fewer than 20 cars parked on the property, and that he would post "no parking" signs along the road if required.

At the time, neighbors and board members pushed back, saying that the parking was insufficient.

Subsequently, as plans to build a 100-home development across the street were approved by the Township, the developers of the Whitesville Road changed course to more ambitiously plan for a real big shul building that could accommodate expected population in the area for the next ten years.

As such, the original "keep but convert the existing building plans" were upgraded to demolish all structures on the lot, including the former dog kennel and the single family home, and to build a 14,310 sq foot building with a shul and "party room" and warming kitchen in the basement, a separate building for a Shabbos mikva, and a large parking lot with 67 spaces.

The application was presented to the Board in August by Attorney Donna Jennings, Esq. of Wilentz Goldman & Spitzer, Engineer Ian Borden of PDS Engineering, and Traffic Engineer John Rea of McDonough & Rea.

The architectural plans submitted depicted a main sanctuary of 1,922 sq feet as well as an otzar / secondary rooms of 389 sq feet on the first floor, an Ezras Noshim of 1,391 sq feet on the second floor, and a 3,034 sq feet party room and 368 sq feet warming kitchen in the basement.

The Township's Land Use Ordinance requires 1 parking space for each 50 square feet of floor area within the main congregation seating area. The main sanctuary + the Ezras Noshim = 3,313 sq feet. 67 parking spaces are required and 67 off-street parking spaces were proposed.

Houses of Worship are conditionally permitted in the RG2 Zone in which the 2.6-acre, triangular lot is located. however, Conditional Use Variance relief was necessary as the application did not comply with all standards of the conditional use. These include a 79.6-foot front property line setback where 100 feet is required; a landscaped buffer of only 25 feet around the entire length of side and rear property lines from a residential use or district where 50 feet is required; and a 30-foot front parking setback where 100 feet is required.

The developers of the shul provided a Statement of Operations which included the following conditions:

The following are not permitted on the property:

• Weddings

• School or educational facility

• Daycare operations

• No person can reside in the house of worship

• The house of worship may not be rented to any individual or entity who is not a congregant of the house of worship

The property owner will be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the parking area, landscaping, lighting, utilities, and building. Refuse collection will be provided by private carter. The refuse enclosure will comply with the Township design standards and will contain separate areas for storage of refuse and recyclables.

At the time the application was bifurcated for Conditional Use Variance relief only, as this would grant the developers of the shul the initial approval before they need to spend thousands of dollars on Site Plans. However, the Board shied away from granting the Use Variance prior to seeing the full Site Plan.

This application also sought Use Variance relief to build two office buildings at the adjacent 40 Whitesville Road. The Board opined that by consolidating the shul lot together with the adjacent "proposed for office buildings lot", the need for the parking setback would be eliminated.

To grant favor in the Board's eyes, the developers of the shul are now returning armed with a fully engineered Site Plan, which also eliminates the previous office building request.

The architectural plans have been revised and now depict a slightly smaller main sanctuary of 1,812 sq feet as well as an otzar / secondary rooms of 382 sq feet on the first floor, an Ezras Noshim of 1,370 sq feet on the second floor, and a slightly larger party room of 3,227 sq feet and a 363 sq feet warming kitchen in the basement.

This comes to a total of 3,156 sq feet of main congregation seating area. The reduced plan requires only 64 parking spaces. The previously planned 67 spaces are still proposed as before.

The Site Plan still requires Conditional Use Variance relief for the 79.6-foot front property line setback where 100 feet is required; a landscaped buffer of only 25 feet around the entire length of side and rear property lines from a residential use or district where 50 feet is required; and a 30-foot front parking setback where 100 feet is required.

This application is scheduled for the Board's upcoming public hearing next Wednesday. The meeting will take place at the municipal building and it is open to the public.

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