April 11, 2019

April 11, 2019
 
The April 11, 2018 Special Meeting of the Board of Adjustment opened at 7:30pm.  The clerk read the notice of compliance with the "Open public meetings act." Present were Board members:  Mr. Kelly, Vice Chair Reynolds, Mr. Dixon, Mr. Davis, Mr. McGee and Chairman Struncius

Absent – LePore, Schneider, DePolo and Crasper

Also present – Karen Mills, Dennis Galvin and Ray Savacool

Court Reporter – Denise Sweet

Memorialize minutes
 
Motion by Vice Chair Reynolds, second by Mr. Kelly to memorialize the minutes of March 14, 2019-

In favor:  Kelly, Dixon, Reynolds, McGee and Struncius
Opposed:  None

In favor:  Kelly, Reynolds, Dixon, Spader and Struncius
Opposed:  None

Memorialize resolutions

Motion by Vice Chair Reynolds, second by Mr. Kelly to memorialize the action and vote approving application #2019-08 Of Wolowitz Holdings LLC at 210 – 212 Ocean Avenue with conditions

In favor:  Kelly, Reynolds, Davis and Struncius

Opposed:  None
 
AGENDA

Application #2018- 05 – Point Pleasant Packing, Inc i/c/o – Daniel Cohen – 205 Channel Drive – Blocks 172/173: Lots 1,5, & 5.01/1, 2 & 2.01 – Applicant wishes to reconstruct existing fishery and make 2 stories and erect a new 109 room hotel/restaurant and banquet facility supported by parking and associated site amenities. 
 
Carried without notice from March 7, 2019
 
John Paul Doyle called his client John Hurler, sworn, objector, to testify. John Hurler stated he owns properties including 250 Broadway which is located across the street from subject property. John Hurler has attended all the meetings in relation to this application. John Hurler reviewed his concerns with this project – worried about how they are going to conduct their various services. Worried about the sound on the roof top area because they have guest in their place and they do not want to be disturbed. Believes this is going to be a big building; he likes it the way it is now. John Hurler believes there is not a need for this type of venue.
 
The Board discussed the restrictions for the trucks and the off-site parking lots. Ray Savacool explained that they will need CAFRA and County approvals.
 
John Paul Doyle gave closing objecting comments and suggestions in case it is approved.  Mentioned Dan Cohen and the sadness that he passed prior to the conclusion of the application. This is an extravagant application for this area and stated there is no testimony to substantiate this project; he believes this is more re-zoning. This is the largest single lot in this town. There are a lot of pretty pictures but is not in the board’s jurisdiction to change the zone. He doesn’t think the Board should be granting variances of this scope.  Doesn’t believe it should be 60 feet high with 109 hotel rooms. The Planner said the area is old and tired and should be rebranded. There isn’t a bad business in that area. When you think about redevelopment you have to follow the law. The way you redevelop is not by a variance. The town could have rezoned this but they didn’t; this does not follow the Master Plan. Hotels are not supposed to be in this district. A board member inquired how come so many rooms? Working and fitting means consistent with the scale and intensity of the existing development. If it ain’t broke – do not fix it.  You can’t possibly travel down Channel Drive and think this is consistent with the scale and intensity of surrounding properties. This will be the most out of scale development in the community. Violates the zone, the Master Plan, purposes of zoning, positive criteria that has not been found. It was acknowledged that what this use is particularly suited – there was no testimony for need – no testimony given. At the end of the day when you look at those questions – I ask you to ask yourself if they were really answered. A board member inquired how this operation can function with only 12 employees from a Planning perspective?  From a Planning perspective how does this hotel have anything to do with making a fishing industry better – this question was not answered. There are some things that the facts are as clear as the hand in front of your face.  Redevelopment should only go before the Planning Board for recommendation and then to the Governing Body for adoption. If that area is working well now – for which public does this assist besides the applicant. If it is just for the applicant for additional profit then it has no business being approved. The law hasn’t been met and good common reason would deny it.  If the board chooses to approve it, I have some suggestions. This is too big and too much on too little.
 
John Jackson closing argument – I would like to acknowledge Dan Cohen and his brother Barry- Had the honor of going to Dan’s funeral – he brought a joy to people and he had the ability to see things; he acquired these properties over a period of time. and had the vision of taking the largest parcel of land devoted to fishing and injecting it with another purpose that would compliment and enable the fishing fleet to succeed. It isn’t economically feasible to maintain the docks and the bulk head and the wharfs with this fishing fleet in the light of regulations, weather and all the things that affect a fishing fleet that in order to make it viable, to maintain the docks and to make the improvements, do the dredging etc.  – he had to find another use for this property. Respectfully disagree with Mr. Doyle with his statement on suitability. This site is particularly suited; we have a site on a major fishing port with deep water right by the inlet and ready access for a distribution facility. We have a very unique circumstance in that we have a large site that can handle the fishing operation as well as the proposed hotel, banquet and catering facility.  One of the questions is “is it a compatible”, are the people going to want to stay in the hotel and see the cranes, hear the boats, see the fork lifts and see the loading etc.?  The Wharfside patio is also right next to fishing – you can lean over the rail at the patio bar and have a conversation with the fisherman unloading the boats.  The fact is it is a very successful recreational opportunity for which many people find this a very interesting activity.  This will be very interesting for the people that want to stay at this hotel. This site has more parking than any other application in Point Pleasant Beach. Parking lots are permitted in this zone. The Lobster Shanty has remote lots in the vicinity. The cranes and the trucking are located on the other side of the lots away from the hotel operation.  Referenced the video – you can see the Atlantic Hotel and many of the other facilities – The Board needs to determine if this subject property is run down or as John Hurler describes.  The Master Plan talks about the importance of the commercial fishing – a lot has been said about hotels not being aloud in this zone but there are hotels right across the street; this isn’t completely incompatible with what goes on in this zone. What we have is some very creative elements – first of all the landscaping is a shot in the arm for this area – once you get some traction the is opportunity to spur regrowth.  We have the element of the fish processing, and the beautiful hotel – just a terrific place to have this.  This could be a 24-hour 365-day fishing operation – this scales that down.  Greg Cox design has taken in the character of the area and provided a pedestrian promenade.  Where else can you sit on a deck and watch the water and the fishing operation – many people will want to stay here and walk to the board walk – it is walkable to so many things.   There is really no hotel of this scale for weddings.  This will appeal to different demographics and markets and this will appeal to a market that Point Pleasant Beach should welcome. The people that stay here will patronize different businesses and make a positive impact.  To go from this facility to what is proposed is a tremendous upgrade and the only one that had the vision for this was Dan Cohen.  The Board was concerned about the safety of the off loading off the boats and the safety of the pedestrians on the promenade – Tim Lurie addressed that issue – with existing pilings, metal bollards and a four-foot high fence for safety. Plenty of room for pedestrians to not be in the way of the fishing operations. The public will be able to go there and have access to the water.  One of the design elements also relates to the height which helps provide parking and gets the building out of the flood zone. To the top of the parapet is 51 feet – majority of the roof is at elevation 42 feet – the height is not this extremely tall building – upper floor built into roof line. We have the benefit of being on a very large site. We have advanced many purposes of the Land Use Law. This is a great opportunity to provide amenities to this town. We hope that the Board finds this suitable and appropriate for this site.
Mr. Davis requested that John Jackson summarize some of the zoning criteria.
Dennis Galvin referenced the Supreme Court Case of Price vs Himej.
 
Conditions

1. The buildings must utilize the façade materials as described to the Board and shown on the material board submitted at the hearing of August 2, 2018.

1. The landscaping is to be planted exactly as presented to the Board.

1. The commercial facility is to be constructed and a certificate of occupancy is to be issued prior to obtaining a building permit for the hotel.

1. The applicant is to seek the County’s approval for the continuation of the promenade across Baltimore Avenue.

1. The restaurant is never to be used as a public dance hall or discotheque.

1. The lots are to be consolidated by means of a deed of consolidation prior to the issuance of a building permit.

1. The LED screen on the side of the building is to be limited to the depiction of the art, which may change from day to day, but must not change multiple times in a single day.

1. The applicant shall obtain a deed restriction for the offsite valet parking lots in order to ensure that they are dedicated to support the subject property. The deed restriction shall be reviewed and approved by the Board’s attorney and must be recorded prior to the issuance of the certificate of occupancy.  

1. All trucks will exit to the west of the property.

1. All signage is to be consistent with the current code.

1. The roof top pool is only to be used by hotel guests.

1. The plan is to be revised to show at least two electric car charging stations, an uber pick up location, and a lyft pick up location.

 
 
 
 
Deliberations
 
Kelly – Thanked the professionals for the presentation – personally commend the Planner – probably the best presentations of hers – doesn’t need to add to her testimony.  Mr. Doyle’s point was mentioned that no hotels are permitted – but he mentioned the Harbor Lights being taken down and replaced with condominiums. We have hotels and morels and restaurants at the east end of this zone.  I was in one of the restaurants last week and it was standing room only. I think some of the actions taken place in the zone are looked at – it is almost like zoning by variance which we are told not to do. I think the zoning should be changed and hotels should be allowed.   No one ever thought about it before in this area nor did they have the property. There have been major hotels through the years – we are lacking hotels in town.  No problem with this. Sometimes we have to approve variances to wake people up – the condition of the property now is not attractive – concrete slabs – time to put a hotel in there.
 
Dixon – We have a large marine commercial area by the inlet which is no probably about 80% single family homes – people come before us to rebuild homes and we have been allowing it – so as far as maintaining an area strictly marine commercial we have already made a lot of exceptions on that.  One of the other problems people worried about is the height of the building – it is in a “V: zone which is 15 feet before it is even built. If it wasn’t in the “V” zone it would be almost down to 35 feet – they have enough room to support the hotel. Also worried about the noise – always going to have traffic around Point Pleasant Beach and the noise of the trucks was addressed by moving it west.  We heard a lot of testimony about this property being underdeveloped, run down and a dump for 50 years.  This would definitely be an improvement. This will maintain the fishing in Point Pleasant Beach and the owners want to maintain their fishing fleet.  The Clientele is different between the hotel and motel. The hotel is not a place to stay for a week – it more of an event. The motels are family run – this might help their occupancy rate and believe this will help them. Some people will not want to spend all of that money to come for an event and want to stay at a motel.  I like the educational aspect – school kids can come and get them interested. Overall, I like the plan – the area is long over due for development.
Reynolds –  I object that there are not hotels in the area – there are hotels across the street from this piece of property.  This property is perfectly suited for this application – it has the parking; square footage – the views to attract the higher end clientele.  I see this as a benefit to the revitalization of the surrounding area. I can see myself going there for a wedding and staying at the Atlantic Hotel that has a pool and is kept clean and comfortable. There are plenty destinations that will feed off of people staying here. If this were to be denied – somebody could build a boat production plant or marine safety – something that is considered marine commercial. It is not just this piece of property that is not in good shape – all the way down o the Wharfside. This will allow access to anyone to walk along the water and fish.
Davis – Start off by saying my compliments to the vision of Mr. Cohen and my condolences to his family. I had been aware of him and his businesses and advocacy prior to this application.  I have been an admirer of what he had done. Point Pleasant Beach has always struct me as a combination of hovels and mansions living side by side and everybody is fine with that. We all have become use to Channel Drive becoming a gritty area and we have been alright with that and the idea of this sparking thing can be frightening to all of us. I like things that are bold and this is a bold proposition – I think by virtue on how it hots the positive and negative criteria – we find something that allows us to say yes to this bold application. Our Master Plan is a long way from genius – I come from farm county in central California and have watched farms disappear under housing development and I think the genius of this proposal is that someone said finally that we don’t have to have a hotel that causes the fishing industry to disappear –  somebody actually looked at it and said we can have both – and that rubs up against some principals of zoning and that is where our struggle comes into play. We are gaining enhancement of the public to the water way – we are not stealing the visual aspects of the waterway. We are preserving the privacy of the zone which is primarily the commercial fishing industry. I struggled initially with this application and whether it should have been before town council for a zoning change (and could still make an argument for that)– but if you change the zoning here – chances are the economic viability of hotels trumps  the fishing industry and you might what left of the fishing industry selling out and we would having nothing but hotels on the water front and that would be a loss because a big part of our character is the fishing industry and that is the point of the zone. All that is to say that I am buying into the argument that this particular suitability of this application does give us a reason to go against what the Master Plan says and make this work in the zone.
McGee – I came in to the Zoning Board over a year ago – happy I came in when I did because I had the opportunity to hear Mr. Cohen and experience the passion that he had for what he did and what his vision was. I can’t help but think how proud his family must be – he came in with his presentation of how grand the hotels were and how he wants to keep it how it always has been. We are keeping it a destination – I am not sure what the argument is what are we turning this into as opposed to as are we continuing to have it be what is has always been. I think that is exactly what we are doing. It does belong – this town has always been a destination – Cook’s farm – everybody went fishing and we can thank Mr. Cook.   I had my son at the dock and it was dangerous – people are concerned.  Do the benefits outweigh the detriments – I think they do. Maybe the Planning Board maybe did not have the vision (with all do respect) that Mr. Cohen did that these two things can work simultaneously in a mutually beneficial situation – and I believe that they can. I look forward if this should pass to see that happen – for those reasons I am for it.
Struncius – I like when we come up here and we have to decide if a deck on the side of a house is too big it is a lot easier. One if the things I struggled with and then separated immediately was the whole notion of this hotel preserving the fishing industry. That is not how I can think of this – that I have to think of whether this can fit in the area – whether it can fit in this zone. I can probably sit and have to look at the books but make an argument for when I hear that almost every single brand of clam chowder soup – every single thing in stores across the northeast, Midwest across the United States and Canada has this stuff in it. I believe the fishing industry is probably doing ok and I know there a regulations and doing all that but I don’t know if I ever bought into the economic viability of this supporting that. I don’t need to – I have to look at what is happening with the site and what is happening with the zone. So lets start with what happens with the fishing industry when the commitment to this overall property and project happens. We see an improvement  in what they are going to do to continue to support  that industry – the building gets upgraded – the process for which the building operates improves by moving the trucks to the westerly side of the building – have a bigger, better designated area, docking system, stacking system – operationally it is improving – aesthetically the building is improving – operationally the ice maker is going up on the roof. We have tubes that fish are going to fly through – ice is going to fly through – its just becoming something that is coming up to speed with technology of today – all the things that are saying the fishing operation itself is becoming better than what there now. Which I have heard from most of the board members and I have been here for 52 years and know that area very well and frequent that area quite often- but that whole area of what that fishing building has become and what it looks like – it is not a great site. Part of this project is going to make that a better place. It is going to improve what is happening with the fishing industry and that building and the operation itself so I hope as we say its not controllable in the future and when we talk about Point Beach and the Master Plan to support that and all those things – I hope that viability continues. One of the things that Mr. Doyle started with was that this is a large project, the largest for the town. Well when these lots become combined it gives us an opportunity, and I think this fit special reason “G” which is space that it is giving us the opportunity to have the space to potentially do something like this. Improve the fishing operation and then look at a hotel and an industry on the water that can be a destination place for people to come and stay. I was surprised to hear the number of hotel rooms which includes the Driftwood , which we heard might go away is 558 rooms in the town. I was like “Wow”, we only have 558 hotel rooms in the town. So, what I hear in my mind is the need there. I am not a hotel expert, I will admit, but it seems like when I see there is no vacancy through out the whole season, potentially I think there could be a need for it. So, then we go to different things within the hotel – and one of the things that scares everybody about this is you got this bar coming in you have this banquet facility coming in – you got all this and what’s it going to do to the neighborhood. The very nature of the design of the building is it pouts all of those things to the interior – closest to the water – away from the neighborhood – shielded by the living quarters of the building, the pools on the back, so most of the things that could potentially be a little more intense in its use are not street facing, there not into any neighborhood, we now with having the lot across the street being part of this property  and to the west is the clam plant, and then shielded to where there could be some residences or the objectors hotel potentially is the living quarters of this building, so there is some separation of the thing that operationally are happening on the site with the hotel itself. So, I think when Mr. Doyle says how do you have two (2) principal structures that are on one lot – I think the size of the parcel itself gives us that opportunity to have two(2) principal structures that can operate in tandem and it’s the very nature of this available piece of land in town that gives us that. Again, I think the location of this does go to the proper use of Special Reason “A” where we do gain employment opportunity here all the other things that do help general welfare people who will be able to work here and the things that it can support economically – not just for the owner – but for general welfare. Certainly, one of the reasons that I sited before is not the main one but you want to have something that looks good, the building is beautiful from an architecture standpoint, to Mr. Dixon’s point to where a building starts 13 feet up, 15 feet when you add the free board, and then you drop that third (3rd) floor down coming into the roof of the building, you are making efforts minimizing at what could be the height.  Those condos down the street, when they initially went in everybody said look at those buildings here, but then they became part of the character. This will evolve into becoming something very similar and then you add in the landscaping and the ingress and egress – it is all very well organized and works from an architecture aesthetic point of view and the space point of view and then the safety point of view being out of the flood area. One of the things Mr. Doyle said if its not broke- don’t fix it – right – that potential means that I would be playing with my golf clubs from 1988,they are not broken and I could still use them, technology says that I like the ones that I have because that technology is better – the design and use are better – so things evolve overtime and we are at a time now where we see our town as a destination place where visitors want to come, towns people want to be able to walk to the water, have the things that integrate this property to make it a mixed use in a very successful way. So I think there are a lot of positive things that have been mentioned and I think just because things were the way they always were in a town that I grew up doesn’t me that they always have to be – even if they may seem to be operating ok – I think that you heard a lot of the board really feel that the conditions and how the area is viewed by how that area is currently looking and can be vastly improved by something like this and again when we bring in other things like schools and all that kind of stuff we have talked about throughout this case to make it a very viable integrated improved area. I do say to the operator all those things and the safety concerns are the things that are going to have to be watched over and carefully looked at because when you do integrate things (I work in a building with a fork lift)everybody’s beeping their horns all the time – it’s the way of the world when you are in a building that when you walk out it is an operational place. This is going to be an operation – so to Mr. Jackson’s point – people are going to want to come here to be part of that –  we always have to keep that in the forefront that we are bringing two uses of a hotel and a industry model together – I think it can work – I obviously feel supportive for the reasons stated.
Motion by Mr. Kelly, second by Mr. McGee to approve application #2018- 05 – Point Pleasant Packing, Inc i/c/o – Daniel Cohen – 205 Channel Drive with conditions
In favor:  Kelly, Dixon, Reynolds, Davis, McGee and Struncius
Opposed:  None
Application approved with conditions
 
Meeting adjourned at 11:22pm
           
Attest: Karen L. Mills, Clerk of the Board