Cong. Toras Emes sent legal notice to their neighbors that they are seeking preliminary and final major site plan approval from Lakewood’s Planning Board "for the purpose of constructing improvements to an existing elementary school building."
The legal notice did not mention any proposed banquet hall.
The site plan for application # SP-2564 indicates that 118 new parking spaces will be provided.
Hmmm...
All that just for "constructing improvements to an existing elementary school building?"
A review of the architectural plans depicts a women's entrance, coatrooms, and separate restrooms in the basement adjacent to a large dining room.
Is the 118 new parking spaces for a secretly planned banquet hall?
That would be problematic for two reasons:
1) The site is located in the R-12 residential zoning district. The banquet hall ordinance enacted in December 2022 permits banquet halls in schools only in non-residential zoning districts.
2) The Township sold the two parcels to Toras Emes with deed restrictions which restrict banquet halls.
When someone wants to buy land from the Township, they need to get an appraisal of what the land is worth. The appraisal looks at the "best use" for the property based on all of the uses permitted in the zone and appraises the price as such.
When land can be used for many houses, the value of the land goes up.
A way to work around this high appraisal is by placing a deed restriction on the land so that it can only be used for specific purposes and this makes the appraisal go down as banks will look at the property at a lesser value (because if they ever need to foreclose and sell the property they are bound to the deed restriction and they can't sell it for a more valuable use).
The subject application is for Block 368 Lot 1 and Block 370 Lot 1. The Township sold Block 368 Lot 1 to Toras Emes "for school purposes only," and Block 370 Lot 1 for "educational purposes only." These deeds include clauses that if the property is ever used contrary to the restricted use, "title to the property automatically reverts back to the Township of Lakewood."
Either way, the Planning Board's application requires developers to submit a copy of all deed restrictions to the Board. It is quite troubling that the developers of Toras Emes did not submit a copy of their deed restrictions to the Board.
Fun fact: Toras Emes is also seeking a design waiver from providing a sidewalk along their Ridgeway Place frontage, along with numerous other variances and design waivers.
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1 comment:
Here’s how it will go. They will go before the planning board and will be granted an ok with a amendment that there will be no hall. They will break that agreement, still have a hall and hold events. The neighbors will contact mayor Coles, Jeremy Kuipers the head construction code enforcement official, the police, Fran Siegel, Steve Secare the township lawyer and many others. There will be excuses, reports requested, promises, pleas of ignorance and finally ignoring the neighbors emails. Nothing will be done even though with a little effort on the towns part the whole thing could be shut down. How do I know? Bnos Yaakov on Kent Rd has an illegal hall at its school. We’ve done all the above as well as provide pictures and videos inside and out during events to all the officials mentioned above except one. Yet over 8 months later nothing has been done. As recently as 7/21 they were still having events there. So the status quo just keeps going here in Lakewood no matter what the law states and the residents want. If the owner of this site would like a expose about this school backed with indisputable evidence , I would like to speak with you. I just don’t know how to reach you.
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