By maura dowgin
Staff Writer
KEYPORT— A standing-room-only crowd came out in support of a new Borough Council ordinance allowing a condominium complex to be built near the downtown area.
The March 27 meeting was held by the borough’s Unified Planning Board to get public input on the council’s ordinance.
Residents filled the council’s chambers to be heard at the public hearing of the new municipal ordinance that would allow construction of mixed residential and commercial buildings.
The ordinance is a result of a proposal before the Unified Planning Board calling for the construction of 42 single-family owner-occupied condominiums on the corner of First and Broad streets. The proposed name of the development is Woodmont at Keyport, said John Giordano, a lawyer for the project from Giordano, Halleran and Ciesla, Red Bank.
The new ordinance would allow residential condominiums and townhouses to be built in the general commercial district and the general marine commercial district. The area of the proposed condominium development is zoned general commercial district.
The proposed ordinance would amend the current zoning laws, according to Mayor John Merla.
Most of the public comment commended the borough for the foresight to combine the zoning.
The mixed-use zoning, reflected in the ordinance, "is what makes sense from the Keyport Business Alliance’s point of view," said Kathaleen Shaw, business advocate for the KBA.
The mixed-use concept "is vital to the town," said Jim Daley, a First Street resident.
"People might even live above where they work," Daley said.
"You want a walking town," said M.D. Abramowitz-Guerin, a resident of First Street.
Mixing residential and commercial spaces will increase the amount of foot traffic in the commercial areas, said Abramowitz-Guerin.
Many of the public comments at the meeting involved concerns regarding building facade features and maintaining the character of the neighborhood.
There should be efforts made to keep the neighborhood’s look, said First Street resident Terry Parker.
The ordinance calls for each building to be no more than five stories high and 60 feet tall. There were recommendations made by the unified board to reduce that height to three stories and 40 feet, Sessa said.
"The heights are key. You want to maintain the scale of the town," Daley said.
"Don’t allow big development to come in and block everyone else’s view [of the bay]. Just step it down a little bit and respect everyone else’s view," Daley said.
There should be areas set aside as open space easements near the new buildings, said Abramowitz-Guerin.
People who stood up against the ordinance thought it was in conflict with the master plan.
"The Keyport ordinance defines three or four units in a building as multi-family. This conflicts with a Keyport ordinance which doesn’t allow multi-family houses," said Michael Lane, resident of First Street.
"Condos are not in alignment with the master plan," Lane said.
Lane believes the new zoning would significantly change his neighborhood.
"We’re changing the characterization of this neighborhood," Lane said.
The borough should notify every resident surrounding the proposed development that the zoning change is being made, he said.
The borough is attempting to "rectify zoning irregularities" from the 1965 master plan the borough is still working from, Merla said.
Merla is recommending the borough hire a planner to help with the irregularities that exist in the borough, he said.
There is currently a council subcommittee and a board subcommittee reviewing the ordinance, Merla said.
The board subcommittee met twice to discuss the ordinance and come up with recommendations to make to the council, said Mark Sessa, board chairman.
The board’s subcommittee came up with a draft of recommendations it plans to formally share with the public at a future public meeting, Sessa said.
The two subcommittees will meet to discuss and make recommendations on the ordinance. The recommendations will then be shared with the council at a special public hearing on April 10 at the First Aid Building, 1927 Atlantic St., Merla said.
No decisions will be made on the ordinance before the April 10 meeting.