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JUST IN: BMG SUBMITS PLANS FOR 600 APARTMENTS ON GEORGIAN COURT LAND PURCHASE


Beth Medrash Govoha has submitted initial land use board applications for their planned expansion on land they are under contract to purchase from Georgian Court University, FAA News has learned.



According to the Site Plan, the project consists of a total of 600 residential apartments, playgrounds, and a child care center with a capacity of 300 children.


The project includes 6 multi-family buildings with 100 residential apartments in each, with a playground with separate equipment for children ages 2-5 and 5-12 outside in front of each building.

144 units will contain 2 bedrooms.

360 units will contain 3 bedrooms.

96 units will contain 4 bedrooms.


The project also includes a separate building for a child care center.


The road layout proposes a total of 3 new roadways which will likely be improved separately as each phase of the complex is constructed.


Carey Street will be improved from its existing terminus just west of Forest Avenue. This will connect to Cedarview Avenue which will be improved between its existing terminus at Fourteenth Street and Ninth Street. Both new roadways will be improved with complete curbing, sidewalk, and street lighting. There will also be dedicated off-road drop off areas along each building.

The roads are proposed to be 26 feet wide which will not provide room for on-street parking. The standard width for new roads in Lakewood is 32 feet.


The project will be built over the existing Georgian College University entranceway off Ninth Street. Their entranceway will likely be relocated closer to their existing exit near Lakewood Avenue.


The Site Plan, shown below, shows the new driveway from Carey Street in the middle of the left side. The extension of Cedarview Avenue is shown in the middle, with the Ninth Street side on top and the Fourteenth Street side on the bottom.


Georgian Court University previously sat on 150 acres of land. In March 2022 the university reached an agreement to sell 36 acres of their land to Beth Medrash Govoha for this expansion. BMG Board Member R' Meir Gelley, who also sits on Lakewood Township's Zoning Board, signed the Memorandum of Understanding of the sale agreement. Subsequently, in May 2022, a notice of pending contract was filed with the Ocean County Clerk. The pending sale remains under contract.


The property is located in the R-12 zoning district which permits only Single Family Homes on 12,000 sq feet lots. However, it appears that BMG's application will be presented as variance-free as these apartments and child care center will be a permitted use under the Township's Planned Educational Campus ordinance.


The Planned Educational Campus ordinance permits a "not for profit institution of higher education that is a not for profit entity that is fully accredited and licensed by the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education of the State of New Jersey and one that offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees and is devoted to higher education and no other forms of education" to construct a campus.


Campuses require a minimum of 3 acres of land. The campus may contain a variety of types of housing units, including residential apartment buildings, up to 28 units per acre.


The land and all structures including dwelling units shall be owned and developed only by the institution of higher education and not by or in partnership or in other arrangement with any investor group, construction company, a not for profit entity or any other third party.


An educational campus is intended only for faculty and students who will attend or staff the institution's educational facilities and that is adjoining to or within 500 feet of faculty and student housing so as to create a unified campus setting.


The occupancy of the residential uses in the institution of higher education must be limited to: (a) students, faculty or staff of the institution of higher education, or (b) the immediate families of faculty, staff or students.


In accordance with the ordinance, the entire land including the apartments will be fully owned by BMG, who may rent out the apartments only to their students, faculty or staff or their immediate families.


The Township ordinance permits day-care facilities in campuses "related to the needs of the residents of the development." It remains to be seen if children who do not reside in the campus would be permitted to attend this child care facility.


The project will provide a total of 1,295 parking spaces, which is actually in excess of the Township's parking requirements for campuses.


Typically, parking requirements for new residential units in New Jersey are governed by the New Jersey Residential Site Improvements Standards which require a minimum of 2 parking spaces per unit. However, an educational campus is governed by the Township ordinance and not by the RSIS. Therefore, the Township ordinance only requires 1 parking space per dwelling unit.


The project will provide 1,196 parking spaces for the residential units - more than the 600 required. A total of 90 parking spaces will be Electric Vehicle Ready.


The Township does not have a specific parking requirement for child care centers. Rather the Ordinance requires as follows:

"The development of a child care facility... shall require site plan review and will be subject to the standards of the district in which it is located.

"Parking requirements shall be based on evaluating the following factors: the maximum number of children for which the site is licensed; the number of employees present during the maximum shift; and the operational plan for the drop-off and pick-up of children during the school day."


The project will provide 99 parking spaces for the child care center. They calculate that they only require 69 spaces.


The buildings are proposed to be 58 feet high, less than 65 feet high permitted.


A total of 33% of Recreational Open Space will be provided. This is greater than the 5% the Township requires.


As such, it appears that this application is being presented as variance-free.


As first reported here on FAA News, in 2021, with support from Lakewood's Congressional Delegation, U.S. Senators Cory Booker, Bob Smith, and Congressman Chris Smith, BMG received a $3 million federal grant towards this land purchase, specifically earmarked because they proposed to eventually build the day care center on a portion of the land.


In 2022, with support of Lakewood's Congressional Delegation, BMG received an additional $2 million federal grant to pay for construction of the Carey Street and Cedarview Avenue roadways, sidewalks, street lighting and associated improvements, sanitary sewer mains and infrastructure, drinking water mains and infrastructure, stormwater management and drainage infrastructure, and landscaping for this project. (With the Township Committee's endorsement, BMG requested $4 million. Ultimately however they received only $2 million.)


At the time of submission of the application, Lakewood's Township Committee supported application of the grant, saying that the project is anticipated to "alleviate the severe housing shortage present in the Township housing market, ease traffic congestion by taking commuters off the most congested roads, and open a new thoroughfare and exit roads from the College District."


 “Lakewood is one of the fastest growing cities in America and a growing economic engine for Ocean County, and there is an urgent need to lessen congestion on narrow streets that were designed and built in many cases over 100 years ago,” said Congressman Chris Smith. “This federal support will help create a thoroughfare that drivers can use to overt excessively congested local roadways to get to Interstate 195, the Garden State Parkway and other highways.”


In Fall 2021, the Township reconstructed portions of Carey Street, with new curb and sidewalk between Route 9 and the road's existing terminus past Forest Avenue.


BMG has submitted an initial application to Lakewood Township's Planning Board. No hearing date has yet been scheduled as the Board's professional staff are still reviewing the application.


The project has just received Ocean County Planning Board approval, contingent on certain conditions, including addressing the following traffic conditions:

• It appears the trip generation information is based on assumptions and operational information provided by the applicant. Demonstrate how the proposed trip generation was calculated. Provide ITE and RSIS criteria for Mid-Rise Residential Apartments for comparison with the information provided by the applicant.
• Analyze the County Line Road and Forest Avenue and County Line Road and Cedar View Avenue intersections. Determine impacts to westbound left turns from County Line Road at each intersection.


In 2010, Georgian Court University proposed to expand their college with new dormitories, a soccer field, 1,200 parking spaces and new driveways on Cedarview Avenue and Case Road.


An audio recording was sent out, urging residents of Fourteenth Street, Case Road and Forest Avenue to attend the public hearings to show objection to the expansion.


The audio recording stated: "Hundreds of cars will endanger our pedestrians and our children waiting for their school buses. Our lawyers feel a large show of support is extremely important."


Ultimately, after a number of public hearings which were attended by numerous neighbors, the Planning Board rejected the application.


As previously reported here on FAA News, BMG has also recently closed on an $18 million purchase of the 150 acres Woodlake Country Club Golf Course on New Hampshire Avenue between Ridge Avenue and Route 88. A specific Site Plan for that site has not yet been submitted to the Lakewood land use boards.


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10 comments:

Chaim Friedman said...

1,196 parking spaces for the apartments
99 parking spaces for the daycare

1,295 parking spaces total

That is more than the 1,200 parking spaces for the dormitories previously proposed by Georgian Court University.

However, GCU didn't have the connections to write the Planned Educational Campus ordinance as BMG did, and therefore, the Planning Board was able to deny GCU's application.

Chananya Goldman said...

Will the same powers that be send out an audio recording urging residents to oppose this application as well?

Seems to be pretty similar traffic and pedestrian safety concerns to me.

Anonymous said...

The neighbors have notified BMG that they obviously know that they can't challenge them. But they made it clear that they are not mochel BMG for destroying their homes and daily living. for the immediate neighbors on the 14th st side it will become impossible to live there.

Anonymous said...

Thos will have such a negative effect on the traffic in that area but who cares anyway.

Anonymous said...

Is BMG also proposing a new traffic light at 14th and Cedarview? This new entrance is expected to become a two-way major thruway to get to the 600 apartments, the multi-building BMG campus on 7th St. and the adjacent Georgian Court University Campus.

Anonymous said...

Legal doesn’t equal Moral

This will undoubtedly tarnish the name of the talmidim of BMG

Anonymous said...

Why is housing for married couples considered a college campus. I am sure this can be legally challenged. This is also not a non for profit when some people are getting rich from this nobody is doing this for hashems name.
The amount of traffic this will generate will be a huge chilul hashem.

Anonymous said...

How ironic that this project received a 3 million dollar grant from chris Smith to aleviate traffic in Lakewood as these new roads will make a getaway to the 195. This is how the politicians ignore the much needed infrastructure improvements for Lakewood and divert the funds to pet projects of the well connected. This will cause a traffic nightmare as all the wives will be commuting to work across Lakewood and others will dodtop offs at the day care center that also used grants that should have gone to the general lakewood population. This is how they use you and abuse your vote to squeeze politicians

Anonymous said...

Why don't they open that short street on Forest, it is bang opposite 2 Yeshiva building, think of all the time it would save especially pedestrian traffic. This must be brought up at any meeting, it will also lessen the 14th Street traffic.
It will be hard to stop the yeshiva build, seeing they are the reason the town started, but let us be fair.

Anonymous said...

This is not the way the town started. this town started with some of the first settlers in this area and some of the families still live here! GCU was here before BMG. Check the history of Lakewood and Northern Ocean county before you attack the diverse community that has supported your efforts to improve the town of Lakewood!
I will not put my information to this because I have already been injured by the dissident groups living in this town!