BY SUE MORGAN
Staff Writer
West Long Branch WEST LONG BRANCH — Residents pressing the Borough Council to take the Zoning Board of Adjustment to court over its approval of Monmouth University’s application to construct a dormitory and other campus facilities in a residential zone may have to wait until late January to see if the governing body will agree to their wishes.
In the meantime, Borough Attorney Gregory Baxter says he is reserving any advice he would give to the council for or against seeking an appeal of the zoners’ Aug. 31 vote until an official notice of the Monmouth University decision is published in the local press.
Once the notice is published, anyone seeking an appeal of the zoners’ decision, will be allowed to do so in state Superior Court, Freehold, Baxter explained.
A handful of residents present at the council’s Dec. 21 meeting, who have also called on the governing body to appeal the decision displayed frustration with Baxter’s statements.
On Dec. 15, the Zoning Board voted to accept the formal resolution that summarized the decision granting the university numerous use and bulk variances to construct a three-story residence hall, two parking lots, six tennis courts and a detention basin in an area between Cedar and Hollywood avenues.
At the same meeting, the board also granted final site plan approval to the university’s application, which had dragged on throughout a series of hearings extending over 19 months.
It is now up to the either the university, as the applicant, or the board to publish notice of the approval in local newspapers within 45 days of Dec. 15, the date the resolution and final site plan were approved, Baxter explained.
Baxter directed his statements to resident Kathy Elfner, who addressed the matter during the public portion of the Dec. 21 council meeting where the borough attorney spoke.
Elfner and other residents, including Joseph Hughes, president of the West Long Branch Coalition of Neighbors, have called for the council to appeal the decision as a means of keeping the university from building in residential zones.
“I think we should go ahead with [the appeal],” Elfner said.
However, Baxter warned it could be as late as Jan. 30, which is 45 days from Dec. 15, before the council could file an appeal, if any to the zoners’ decision.
Jan. 30 is the deadline for the publishing of the notice, he noted.
To prepare his opinion, Baxter said that he has already requested a copy of the resolution document summarizing the lengthy hearings from Thomas Klein, Zoning Board attorney.
“[The council] will have one regular meeting between now and then,” Baxter said. “I will give my opinion as to the likelihood of success [in the appeal].”
“The council can file an appeal, but they have to get [the resolution] and talk about it,” he continued. “That will take place in executive session.”
In previous discussion on the matter, Baxter has said that challenging the zoners’ decision in a county courtroom would cost the borough between $5,000 to $10,000.
In the meantime, Hughes and his wife, Pamela, of Pinewood Avenue, who live across the street from the site of a 126-stall parking lot that is part of the approved application, have stated that they will proceed with an appeal regardless of whether or not the governing body backs them up.
The Hugheses, represented by Long Branch attorney James Siciliano, are the primary objectors to the university application. They have also led the charge for the borough government to battle the zoners’ decision.
Joseph Hughes has said that the approval is an attack on the borough’s master plan, which calls for the area around Pinewood, Beechwood and Hollywood avenues to be a residential, R-22 zone.
In addition, Hughes has stated that three Zoning Board members who voted in favor of the application should have recused themselves from the hearings and vote because they are Monmouth University graduates.

