As previously reported numerous times here on FAA News, Attorney John Jackson Esq., who the Lakewood Township Planning Board has appointed to serve as their Board Counsel, has been working extremely hard to sway the very Board who appointed him, to turn a blind eye regarding dormitories and continue to let them slip in to residential neighborhoods - despite that the Board has in the past made their feelings very clear to the contrary, and despite two court decisions that dormitories are not permitted in most schools in the Township.
At their recent public hearing, the Board again gave in Mr. Jackson's strong arming them on this matter.
As previously reported here on FAA News, back in January, Ocean County Superior Court Judge Marlene Ford overturned the Lakewood Planning Board's approval of Yeshiva Toras Chaim's dormitory expansion, saying that the Township Committee does not permit dormitories in residential zones and therefore the Planning Board lacks jurisdiction to approve this non-permitted use.
While this court decision was pending, Migdal Bais Yaakov submitted an application to the Planning Board for a dormitory.
Migdal Bais Yaakov, located at 541 Joe Parker Road, is a girls seminary which last year received Planning Board approval to change the use of a residential dwelling into their school for 25 students.
A few months ago, Migdal applied to the Planning Board for Major Site Plan approval to construct 2 school buildings.
Application SP 2499 is for construction of an approximately 16,572 sq foot elementary school building for 675 students, with a gymnasium and pool. The Board approved this application in January.
Application SP 2498 is for construction of an approximately 27,263 sq foot, 2-story building plus a finished basement for a seminary with a dormitory for 200 students, and a gymnasium, and pool.
As was first reported here on FAA News, as this application was scheduled to be presented to the Board just after Judge Ford's ruling that dormitories are not a permitted accessory use in schools in residential neighborhoods, neighbors of Migdal Bais Yaakov retained an attorney to oppose the application due to its inclusion of a dormitory.
Subsequently, as was previously reported here on FAA News, the Board approved SP 2499, but held off from hearing SP 2498 saying that they wanted to first see Judge Ford's written ruling that dormitories are not permitted in Lakewood. The Board adjourned hearing SP 2498 until February 3.
Following this pushback, as the news was first broken here on FAA News on January 31, Yeshiva Toras Chaim filed a Motion for Reconsideration of Judge Ford's ruling. The court hearing was scheduled for Friday, February 17.
As was reported here on FAA News on February 3, despite the Board's pushback against hearing Migdal's dormitory application, the Board attorney pushed in a different direction by concurring with Yeshiva Toras Chaim's Motion, arguing that the Planning Board is permitted to continue to approve dormitories everywhere.
Subsequently, at the public hearing on February 7th, as was reported here on FAA News, noting that Yeshiva Toras Chaim had recently filed a Motion for Reconsideration of the overturning of their dormitory approval, the Board again pushed back against hearing Migdal's dormitory application saying that they wanted to wait until after the outcome of Yeshiva Toras Chaim's pending Motion for Reconsideration. Astoundingly, Board Attorney John Jackson gave major pushback, opining that the Board is not bound by Judge Ford's ruling and that they could hear a dormitory application.
At the time, being that the hearing on the motion was scheduled for Friday, February 17, the Board adjourned Migdal's application until the following Tuesday, February 21.
Subsequently, the court hearing on Yeshiva Toras Chaim's Motion was adjourned until Friday, March 3, therefore Migdal's application landed on the Board's Tuesday, February 21 meeting agenda despite the fact that Yeshiva Toras Chaim's motion remained pending.
At that meeting, numerous Board members again opined that as Judge Ford did already rule that dormitories are not an accessory use, they felt uncomfortable approving a dormitory now. They noted that there is a Motion for Reconsideration which remains pending in court, and therefore, they suggested again adjourning hearing the dormitory application until the outcome of the Motion for Reconsideration.
Some Board members also suggested that they approve only the school use, with the condition that the dormitory rooms not be constructed until they receive a Use Variance from the Zoning Board.
Some Board members also suggested that they send the matter to the Township's Zoning Officer for a determination if dormitories are an accessory use.
Shockingly, instead of supporting the Board's will and either adjourning the matter completely pending the outcome of the Motion for Reconsideration, or approving the school use but not the dormitory use, as was previously reported here on FAA News, Board Attorney John Jackson strongly urged the Board to approve the dormitory that very night, saying that Judge Ford's ruling is "anyways not binding on the Board's future applications."
At the end of the matter, the Board did a compromise where they approved the dormitory as it was presented, with a stipulation that if Yeshiva Toras Chaim's pending Motion for Reconsideration is denied then Migdal Bais Yaakov will be required to seek Use Variance relief from the Zoning Board.
All board members ultimately approved the application, besides for Board Chairman Moshe Neiman who abstained from voting and Board Members David Helmreich and Moshe Raitzik who voted to deny the application.
Subsequently, on March 10, as was previously reported here on FAA News, Ocean County Assignment Judge Francis Hodgson denied to reconsider Judge Ford's previous ruling, concluding that a Motion for Reconsideration is appropriate only when the Court erred in its decision or misapplied the correct standard of review, and not simply when the losing party is dissatisfied with the court's ruling.
Shockingly, at the court hearing, Planning Board Attorney John Jackson revealed to Judge Hodgson that he has been pushing the Board to ignore Judge Ford's ruling and continue to approve dormitory applications simply because "the Township governing body wants the Planning Board to still have jurisdiction to approve dormitories as an accessory use!"
Following the Board's previous approval of Migdal's dormitory application - which was clearly with a stipulation that if Yeshiva Toras Chaim's pending Motion for Reconsideration is denied then Migdal Bais Yaakov will be required to seek Use Variance relief from the Zoning Board - the Board placed the adoption of Migdal's Resolution of Approval on their Tuesday March 28 meeting agenda.
The Board's resolutions are drafted by the Board Attorney.
As previously reported here on FAA News, the drafted Resolution of Approval simply states "After considerable deliberation, the Board ultimately made a motion to approve the application with the dormitory building as originally planned."
The resolution includes a list of conditions, however, the Board's expressly stated condition that if Yeshiva Toras Chaim's pending Motion for Reconsideration is denied then Migdal Bais Yaakov will be required to seek Use Variance relief from the Zoning Board, is, quite shockingly, not included in the draft resolution!
Additional curious points is that the resolution simply states "The proposed school building will contain a mixture of classrooms, tutor rooms, libraries, meeting rooms, offices, and bedrooms. A total of 50 bedrooms are proposed."
Instead of listing a "dormitory" as a separate use - which is specifically how the Board clearly deemed it to be, the resolution innocently lists "bedrooms" just like all other "rooms in the school."
Additionally, the resolution innocently states that "schools are a permitted use in the zone," without mentioning the dormitory as a separate use. This feigned innocence is deliberate as the Board Attorney knows that the zoning ordinances do not permit the use of a "dormitory."
Despite that 1) the Board has stated on numerous occasions that a dormitory is not an accessory use to a school, and 2) two Superior Court judges have ruled that a dormitory is not an accessory use to a school, at the recent public hearing, Board members did not fight back against the resolution that Mr. Jackson drafted.
The Board simply clarified a stipulation that because school buses can not fit in the school parking lot, the school can not be used in the summer for any day camp. The Board also stipulated that if the use of a dormitory of this particular approval is overturned by court order, the remainder of the approval shall remain in place.
Absurdly, the Board attorney strong armed the Board into changing an outright condition of their approval of this application!
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