BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer
PHOTOS COURTESY OF FREEHOLD BOROUGH Men dine in the living room of a home on Mechanic Street, Freehold Borough, where the owner and tenant have been cited for operating an illegal restaurant. Photo below shows cases of juice and paper products stacked in the home. A Wall Township police officer who owns at least five properties in Freehold Borough has been cited for having an illegal restaurant operating at one of those properties. The restaurant was being operated by one of his tenants.
According to a Freehold Area Health Department report, the property at 58 Mechanic Street, which is owned by Wall Township police officer Douglas Borst, has been used as a retail food establishment and/or a community residential bed-and-breakfast retail food establishment without the approval of the Freehold Board of Health.
The report says this is in violation of regulations concerning food and beverage preparation. According to the report, the unlawful conditions must be corrected immediately.
Notice from the health department of the violations was sent to Borst and his tenant, Petra Hernandes, on Aug. 30, informing them of the results of a code enforcement inspection that was conducted on Aug. 18.
CLARE MARIE CELANO According to the Freehold Borough code enforcement report, an inspection revealed that a refrigerator at the rear of the building was being used to store meat. The report stated that upon inspection of the kitchen area, the inspector noticed the tenant was “running a restaurant out of her home.”
The inspector noted there was enough food to feed about 100 people.
“Inspection of the dining room/living room revealed three separate tables with a cup filled with utensils, paper towels and various sauces in the middle of the table. The dining room/living room also had two mini refrigerators, one stocked with alcohol and one stocked with soda,” according to the report.
At the time of the inspection, there were about 10 people eating dinner at the tables, according to the report.
In addition to what was found on the first floor of the home, one side of the basement was found to be stocked with gallons of oil and salt. Cases of beer and paper products were stacked up to the ceiling. The inspection determined that the basement was also being used for sleeping purposes.
After informing Hernandes that she had to remove the bed from the basement and that the house was overcrowded, the inspector notified the Freehold Area Health Department. According to the report, the residence had nine people living in a two-bedroom home.
Borst and Dan Mason, who is also a Wall Township police officer, operate Bormas LLC and, in addition to 58 Mechanic Street, own other properties in the borough, according to information provided by borough officials.
Jeffrey Palatini, who is the principal registered environmental health specialist with the Freehold Area Health Department, said that although Hernandes and Borst were both given notices of violation on Aug. 30, a second summons was served by Palatini on Sept. 15 to Hernandes, which was received by her sister, Rosabla. Borst was present when the second summons was delivered at the Mechanic Street home.
Women prepare meals in a Freehold home that was recently cited as an illegal restaurant. Palatini said he had observed the exterior of the property in the beginning of September and did not see any evidence to indicate that the home was again being used as a restaurant. He said his office was called on Sept. 7 by a person who said the restaurant was again operating from the home.
According to Palatini, the first notices that were issued did not carry any fines and did not require an appearance in court. Subsequent violations, however, carry a fine which can range from $5 to $500 and require an appearance in court.
Hernandes was issued a second summons and was expected to appear in municipal court on Sept. 26. Borst only received the initial notice of violation because, according to Palatini, he displayed every intention of making certain the restaurant operation would be shut down and that all of the equipment being used would be removed.
Palatini said he told Borst his responsibility did not end with those actions, but that as the owner of the home he would still be responsible to monitor the property. Palatini said he told Borst that if there was another occurrence of the restaurant operating, Borst would be subject to legal action.
Palatini said he will continue to monitor the property. He said his main concern is for the health and safety of residents who may be subjected to consuming food which, because of improper storage, preparation and handling, may become contaminated. According to the report, Palatini said the preparation and storage of the food being served in the Mechanic Street home was “in question.”
Hank Stryker III, the borough’s code enforcement official, said the illegal restaurant was discovered after someone called the code enforcement office with an anonymous tip. He said the department is following up on several other properties where illegal restaurants may be operating.
“We are concerned for our residents. This is not just a health hazard, it is also a safety hazard,” Stryker said, noting that private homes are not constructed to operate as food establishments.
He said a restaurant in a home is a fire hazard and that cooking a large amount of food without a special exhaust system is dangerous. He said homes do not have the proper exits for many people to escape if a fire occurs.
Borough Councilman Marc Le Vine said the idea of running an illegal restaurant in a home was “abysmal and unacceptable behavior on the part of the tenant.”
“Many of our laws and ordinances were disregarded, which constituted risks to the health and welfare of our entire community,” Le Vine said. “There is no way this absentee landlord could not have been aware of what was going on at his property, given the sophisticated restaurant set-up and the huge amount of food and alcohol found on the premises. There were even floral arrangements and condiments on each of the tables set up in the home’s living room. All that was missing was a sign out front and a Yellow Pages listing.”
Le Vine said he was aware that the landlord may be an active police officer in Monmouth County.
“Aren’t these the people we entrust to protect the public good? If this is true, it becomes a much different kind of investigation, hopefully involving the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office,” he said. “There are obviously some members of our underground community that are out of control and think they can do whatever they want to make a buck. They are quickly finding out they can not. There is no adequate defense for people involved in this sort of illegal activity.”
Le Vine praised the code enforcement office and health officials who investigated the Mechanic Street operation.
According to Borough Administrator Joseph Bellina, at least four Wall Township police officers own a total of 28 properties in town.
“We are hopeful that they (the Wall police officers) would respect all of Freehold Borough’s codes, ordinances and regulations as any other landlord who owns property in the town.”
A message left at the administrative offices of the Wall Township Police Department on Monday was not returned by press time.
On March 16, 2005, an Institute Street home owned by Wall Township police officer Greg Carpino was cited for overcrowding and for having no operating smoke detectors after a fire broke out in the residence.
According to Freehold Borough police, officers responded to the scene after residents reported smoke coming from the upstairs level of the home. The report states the fire was coming out of a heater and smoke was exiting from the wall.
Stryker said the cause of the fire was accidental and started under a mattress in the upstairs bedroom. The report said the fire was believed to have been started by an overloaded extension cord. No one was injured in the fire.
Officials said there were eight people in the home at the time of the fire. The overcrowding violation resulted from the fact that only six tenants were permitted to be in the home.
It would appear that police officers are not the only municipal employees buying property in Freehold Borough. Donald Forgione, who works in the Brick Township Code Enforcement Office as a rental inspector and property maintenance employee, was cited for overcrowding at his property on Haley Street in April 2005 after seven people were found sleeping in an apartment with a maximum capacity of five.
A message left on Forgione’s answering machine at work on Monday was not returned by press time.