Bowing to pressure from Lakewood developers and Yechiel Herzl, the Township Planning Board tonight voted to withdrawing their pending appeal on the Besadar Holdings application.
Viggy Blech has responded by vowing to file a federal lawsuit against the Board.
As first reported here on FAA News, back in June 2022, Solomon Halpern of Besadar Holdings, represented by Attorney Robert C. Shea, Esq. and Engineer Brian Flannery, presented a "mostly conforming" application for 9 new single family homes on a cul-de-sac road along the southwest side of Fourteenth Street, southeast of Curtis Lane.
Many neighbors, represented by Attorney Ron Gasiorowski Esq. and Engineer Gordon Gemma, opposed the application.
The Planning Board typically approves new developments easily, especially if they are technically fully conforming. However, this application got very special treatment.
The Board cited concerns that there would be insufficient parking both off and on-street due to the "possibility" that there would be basements.
Board Chairman Moshe Neiman explained that his hesitations with this application were due to the "uniqueness" and "specific clientele" of the Fourteenth Street neighborhood.
Ultimately, the Board voted nearly unanimously to deny the application. Only Chairman Neiman and Mr. Yair Stern abstained from voting.
As previously reported here on FAA News, back in August 2022, the developer returned to the Board seeking reconsideration.
Despite renewed pushback from the developer, the Board again uncharacteristically advocated strongly on behalf of this "unique" neighborhood.
Chairman Neiman uncharacteristically sided strongly with the neighbors, stating, "yes, the application is conforming, and therefore, in a court of law a judge might side with you, however, this board needs to take into account the exclusivity of this neighborhood."
"We can't deny this application solely due to traffic, and if we could do that, we would deny every application because there is traffic everywhere in Lakewood. However, this is a very exclusive neighborhood, with neighbors who have lived here a long time and there are no basements in this area, therefore, this application would change the look of this whole neighborhood and that's why the neighbors fought so strongly against this application," Chairman Neiman added.
The Board voted to deny the reconsideration request.
As first reported here on FAA News, represented by Attorney Shea, back in November 2022, the developer filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the Board's denial, asserting that "though there was one single design waiver, the application was "effectively as of right."
As previously reported here on FAA News, following the filing of the lawsuit, Viggy Blech retained Attorney Ed Liston Esq. to join the lawsuit as intervenor and help defend the Board.
Ultimately, as previously reported here on FAA News, at a plenary hearing held on November 2, 2023, Judge Wellerson overturned the Board's denial, saying that he is constrained and compelled to reverse the Board's denial of the application because "the Township Committee is the one with the authority to look at an undeveloped piece of property and determine what the appropriate use of the property should be. Unfortunately, it's not in the Planning Board's discretion to question the density permitted by the Township Committee."
"I'm not substituting my own judgement for what is best for Lakewood. I'm saying that I need to consider what is reasonable under the circumstances. Was the reason for the denial based on the waiver or based on other reasons, such as the "uniqueness" and "specific clientele" of the Fourteenth Street neighborhood.
"There is no record before the Board that an approval of this application would create a dangerous situation. Therefore, the question here simply is 'does Lakewood permit this type of development?' That is the question. The answer is yes. Therefore, the Board simply can't enact its own zoning plan," Judge Wellerson concluded.
Subsequently, the neighbors decided to appeal the decision. In January 2024, they filed an initial Notice of Appeal to the Appellate Division.
At the time, the Planning Board agreed to join the appeal.
However, as previously reported in this bombshell report, back in June 2024, the Board's participation in the appeal nearly got thrown away due to pressure from Yechiel Herzl.
At the time, the Board held strong and continued their appeal.
However, since that point, pressure on the Board has strengthened.
On Tuesday night, following a closed session on the matter, the Board formally announced they are withdrawing from their appeal.
Mr. Liston who is representing Viggy Blech, called out the Board for daring to cave in to this pressure, noting that ironically, Mr. Herzl was not even a member of the Board when they denied this application so he shouldn't now have any basis to meddle with the Board's prior actions.
Mr. Liston also questioned if Yechiel Herzl's pressure is perhaps really coming from Mayor Ray Coles.
Mr. Liston vowed to file a federal lawsuit against the Board for "violating Mr. Blech's constitutional rights."
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3 comments:
Ironic how the same person complaining about the development has a shop on a “residential” street and uses the street parking as his shops personal driveway to store smashed cars. The shop also frequently double parks… and causes havoc in the neighborhood.
He set up shop there way before the neighborhood turned over.
Ironic to me; is that there would be such push back from the planning board on lots that are over 12000 sf. when it is permitted by township ordinance. I guess the “elite” in Lakewood have more rights than the plain yeshiva people. Or maybe someone on the board lives ( or is very close friends with the neighbors) there as well which really makes it a conflict of interest. Dunno it seems so many crowded development proposals that require major variances are being approved daily why would this application merit a different treatment? I would think it’s in all of our best interest to cut down legal expenses and make housing more available in accordance to the township ordinance.I live on a new block in Lakewood that has houses 5 feet away from each other and the township gave approvals without a hiccup. How is that fair? Never mind that the housing shortage has contributed to the soaring prices.
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