Objector’s experts raise issues with hotel plan

By GREG KENNELTY
Staff Writer

HOWELL — A hotel analyst representing an objector to a proposal for a hotel in Howell has testified that he does not believe the proposed business will succeed in the community.

At the Sept. 23 meeting of the Zoning Board of Adjustment, hotel analyst Brian Tocci concluded his testimony on behalf of Carey Tajfel of Hotels Unlimited Inc., the objector to the application.

Hotels Unlimited owns hotels in East Windsor, Toms River, Tinton Falls-Eatontown, West Long Branch, Freehold, Lakewood, Neptune and West Palm Beach, Fla.

Tajfel is represented by attorney Ronald Gasiorowski. He is opposing an application submitted by Leonard Solandz that proposes the construction of a 109-room hotel in a Highway Development (HD) zone at Route 9 north and Northwoods Place, Howell. The building would include the hotel rooms, a conference center and a restaurant, according to previous testimony.

In his testimony, Tocci said he did not believe the hotel would be a success at the proposed location because of a lack of corporate demand for the banquet and meeting facilities the hotel would have.

“I feel as though the lack of demand just does not call for” the construction of the proposed hotel, Tocci said in response to board member Evelyn O’Donnell’s question about whether the hotel in Howell would be a success because of the fact there are no other hotels in the immediate area.

“You can’t rely on weddings and business meetings” to provide all the business for the hotel, he said.

Tocci cited the lack of corporate drivers in the area — such as large corporations, large office parks and training-related businesses — that would potentially use the hotel’s banquet facilities.

Traffic analyst Alexander Litwornia also testified on behalf of Tajfel. He began his testimony by noting that Route 9 southbound during and outside of peak traffic hours is consistently a problem. He said the area near Route 9, Northwoods Place and Interstate 195 is a high-accident zone, resulting in an accident every four to six days.

“The area is already over capacity,” Litwornia said. The proposed hotel “will only make it worse.”

Referring to testimony that was offered by the applicant’s traffic professional — who said traffic would be heavier but not problematic with the proposed hotel’s construction — Litwornia said the numbers that the individual offered as evidence work because they only examine the intersection of Northwoods Place and Route 9.

“People [heading south] get through that [Northwoods Place] intersection, but then get backed up at the intersection of Route 9 and Aldrich Road,” he said.

Board members asked Litwornia to provide them with a report of his findings at the next meeting.

The information is expected to include accident reports, photographs of traffic backups and any design manuals from the state Department of Transportation that would be pertinent to the highway’s design with the hotel in place.

The hotel application is expected to be heard by the zoning board on Nov. 18.

Contact Greg Kennelty at [email protected].