Neighbors sing the blues at jazz club’s zoning review

Big crowd voices opposition to combined restaurant, bar and perfomance venue at Route 206 and Birch Avenue.

By: Rachel Silverman
   Princeton residents showed up in force Wednesday night to oppose what promises to be a contentious, multi-night hearing on the construction of a jazz club in Princeton Township.
   The club’s application calls for the building of a combination restaurant, bar and performance venue at Route 206 and Birch Avenue. It went through a nearly four-hour review at the Zoning Board of Adjustment, including repeated heckles and outbursts from the audience.
   During the hearing, Stephen Distler, the site applicant, provided lengthy testimony in which he highlighted what he referred to as the "considerable enhancements" made to the plans since a Feb. 2 Site Plan Review Advisory Board meeting.
   "We will valet park every car on site," Mr. Distler said, referring to one of the recent alterations. "We have made a firm commitment the maximum occupancy in this establishment is going to be 165 people," he said, citing another change.
   "The packaged-goods store component has been completely eliminated," added Robert Ridolfi, Mr. Distler’s attorney.
   In addition to Mr. Distler’s testimony, the hearing also included statements from two witnesses, architect Terri Smith and engineer Russ Smith of Hopewell Valley Engineering.
   According to Mr. Smith, the building would be "oriented along" Route 206, with the shorter façade facing Birch Avenue. The site would include curbing improvements, sidewalk installation and construction of a "concrete fence cast to look like a wood fence," the architect said.
   According to testimony by Mr. Smith, the 24,669-square- foot parcel would include a "thick, dense bed of landscaping," including 13 shade trees and five islands. A stormwater plan has been worked out for the site, Mr. Smith said, as have lighting fixture and utilities elements.
   In addition to the site-plan application, a considerable amount of time was expended dealing with issues such as the format and structure of the hearing itself.
   One issue that arose was that members of the public felt they did not have access to the latest information regarding Mr. Distler’s development plans.
   "I would ask you to ask the applicant to put on file all the documents I need to review his plans," said Peter Tracey, a resident of Duffield Place.
   Also, because of the sheer number of residents who showed up to protest, zoning board attorney Robert Casey suggested that speaking time should be reserved for those homeowners within 200 feet of the site or for those unable to attend the May 3 meeting.
   But after 45 residents signed up to make public comment, board Chairman Carlos Rodrigues relented and expanded the allotted time slot to an hour-long session in which concerned citizens raised a variety of issues.
   "I am disappointed, dismayed and a little concerned with everything I’ve heard tonight," Route 206 homeowner Art Hohmuth said. "We are talking about putting a nightclub in a quiet, residential area. Why does anything else have to be said?"
   "What if the business is not successful?" asked Mesut Cakir, who lives within 200 feet of Mr. Distler’s proposed jazz club. "What is the next thing in the space that can house 165 people?"
   Birch Avenue resident Lucy Hall said, "For those of us exiting Birch Avenue, going right or left, it is blind looking out 206 North. The landscaping will not make it easier, it will make it harder."
   She added, "You have no control of people parking on Birch Avenue."
   Harris Road resident and former Princeton Township Mayor James Floyd noted, "Neighbors don’t go through this too often," motioning around to the packed room. "This is a very vulnerable neighborhood. I urge you to look beyond the immediate. It must have benefit to someone other than the applicant."
   The jazz club application has already survived a legal challenge, which was filed against both the applicant and the Zoning Board of Adjustment this summer. According to the eight families involved, Mr. Distler and the board failed to properly notify neighbors about project construction plans, therefore violating the New Jersey Municipal Land Use Law, which states that property owners within 200 feet of the site must be notified of any plans for development. The plaintiffs also raised issues of noise, traffic and safety in the legal case, citing the club’s potentially negative influence on the community.
   In early March, however, Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg dismissed the case, ruling that Mr. Distler and the board did indeed notify neighbors in a timely and appropriate manner.
   According to attorney Lawrence Wohl, who represented the eight families in this previous litigation, an appeal on that ruling has been filed.
   "The use variance has been appealed," Mr. Wohl announced Wednesday night. "But in this trial, I’m representing Penny Baskerville, and David and Becky Goodman," he clarified, explaining his involvement in the two separate cases. The trial will continue May 3.