VICTORY FOR SYLVAN COURT! LAKEWOOD PLANNING BOARD SHUTS DOWN DEVELOPER’S SECRET MOVE TO CUT CORNERS

In a bold stand for fairness and transparency, the Lakewood Township Planning Board exposed and swiftly shut down a developer’s underhanded attempt to gut parking requirements for a new duplex project on Sylvan Court — without alerting the very neighbors who had fought hard to protect their community. 

In Lakewood, where backroom shortcuts and corner-cutting run aplenty, the Planning Board’s no-nonsense action this week is a victory for the little guys.

Back on May 14, 2024, the Planning Board considered Application SD 2582, submitted by Mordechai Eichorn, to replace an existing single-family residential home on Sylvan Court with a duplex.

The minor subdivision application sought bulk variance relief for lot width of 50 feet where 75 feet is required, and minimum side yard setback of 7 feet where 10 feet is required.

The neighbors, who received the statutorily required public notice of the application, spoke up in opposition to the variances being sought, citing traffic and overcrowding concerns.

The Board noted that the application proposed stacked parking, and agreed that a granting of the variances would permit the new homes to be constructed with stacked parking, thus leading to an exacerbating the neighbors concerns.

The Board asked if by pushing the building back they could get 6 parking spaces for each unit plus a turnaround so no one must back out onto 

the street.

Engineer Brian Flannery told the Board they could fit either 6 parking spaces with no turnaround or 5 spaces with a turnaround.

The Board discussed the various options, and also considered that by adding parking in front the HVAC system would need to be moved to the rear (which the Board considered to be inefficient).

After hearing additional input from the neighbors, the Board ultimately approved the subdivision application with a specific condition that the developer provide a shared driveway with a turnaround, with 5 spaces per unit, 1 on street parking space, and the AC units behind the building. 

The Board's resolution of approval further states:

Applicant shall resubmit this entire proposal for re-approval should there be any deviation from the terms and conditions of this resolution or the documents submitted as part of this application, all of which are made a part hereof and shall be binding on the applicant.

Well... this week, the developer submitted "correspondence" to the Board seeking approval to cut back to only 4 parking spaces.

The "correspondence request" was not noticed to the neighbors who spoke up at the original public hearing.

The Board unanimously tossed out the correspondence request, stating it ran in clear contradiction to their condition of approval that the "Applicant shall resubmit this entire proposal for re-approval should there be any deviation from the terms and conditions of this resolution," - i.e. "correspondence" with no public notice is not considered "resubmitting this entire proposal for re-approval."

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