PLANS REVIVED FOR RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT AT PROSPECT & MASSACHUSETTS INTERSECTION


Plans have apparently been revived for a residential development with 32 duplex units and a shul and playground area at the Prospect Street & Massachusetts Avenue intersection.


Way back in 2016, Aron Mansour of ARM Developers presented plans to Lakewood's Planning Board for a total of 32 duplex units and a shul and playground area at the intersection of Prospect Street & Massachusetts Avenue.


Most of the units were to have frontage off of a private driveway with access off both Prospect Street and Massachusetts Avenue, or a private cul-de-sac bulb with access only off of Massachusetts Avenue. Two units were to have frontage directly on Prospect Street. All units were to have a minimum lot area of 10,000 sq feet.


At the request of a neighbor, because school buses will likely not fit down the narrow cul-de-sacs, the Board stipulated that the applicant should install a bus shelter on Massachusetts Avenue if feasible.




Since that time, an existing one-story frame dwelling, in-ground swimming pool, pool houses, and a shed on the property were all demolished and the entire 4 acres site have been cleared, but no actual construction has taken place. 


The proposed development has needed to be revised numerous times as the County took some land for the widening of Prospect Street.


On April 19, 2017 the Ocean County Planning Board deemed the project incomplete. The Board finally did grant a conditional approval on February 7, 2018. However, that approval has since expired.


It appears that now however, efforts are being made to revive this application.


The application was recently resubmitted to the Ocean County Planning Board. At their recent meeting on April 5, 2023, the deemed the resubmitted application incomplete because the applicant had not provided all the dimensions for the County road pavement and right-of-way, plus 16 other items.


Additionally, the developers recently submitted a request to the Township Planning Board seeking approval to eliminate the proposed street trees along Prospect Street as they would conflict with the drainage improvements.


The developers explained that the additional right-

of-way taking along Prospect Street now means that the proposed street trees will now conflict with proposed drainage improvements which were previously designed. To address this issue, the applicant requested a design waiver to eliminate the proposed street trees.


Board Engineer Dave Mangos told the Board that he can support eliminating the street trees as the alternative would be to keep the street trees and

redesign the proposed drainage improvements, however he felt that because the County Planning Board just deemed the application incomplete, it would be prudent to wait and see if they require any additional revisions to this design waiver.


In response, Shuie Shmuckler of NewLines Engineering told the Board that he preferred that they grant their approval now, conditioned on the County concurring.


The Board consented and granted approval now to the requested design waiver, conditioned on the County concurring at a later date.


Any construction is still a way off as the project still requires approval from a number of outside agencies.


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