Bridge Street property would be brought into one zone
By John Tredrea, Special Writer
The introduction of a proposed ordinance that would change the zoning of the lot on which the Lambertville Music Hall is located was OK’d by the Lambertville City Council on Tuesday night. The hall is at 57 Bridge St.
Before the ordinance is adopted at a future meeting, a public hearing will he held.
“Adoption of the ordinance would bring all of the lot on which the Music Hall is located into the Central Business District,” Mayor David DelVecchio said.
Planning Board Chairman Tim Korzun said that lot proposed for rezoning “straddles the line of Central Business District. The idea of bringing that lot into one zone is that it would make it easier for things to happen there. It’s my understanding that the Music Hall is working on a plan that is significantly scaled down from what they proposed before.”
WITHDRAWN in June 2013 was a Music Hall application to the city Zoning Board of Adjustment that involved busing people to the hall from locations around the city. That plan drew considerable opposition from the public.
Music Hall spokeswoman Mandee Kuenzle said Monday that “we’re still conferring with the city on plans for the hall. It will be on a smaller scale than we proposed before. We want to come up with a solution that’s best for the community.”
Emily Goldman, the city’s planning consultant, said that the rezoning, if adopted, would remove the split zoning designation from the lot on which the building is located, so that the property would only be governed by the Central Business District regulations instead of both the CBD and the Downtown Residential 2 district.
“While the R-2 zone allows for educational uses, it does not allow any sort of commercial use, including commercial recreational use or office use,” Ms. Goldman said.
” If the rezoning is approved, the landowner would still require approval from the city for any future use of the building, but would be heard by the Planning Board instead of the Zoning Board of Adjustment.”
The Music Hall property is made up of two lots, Ms. Goldman said. “Their rear lot along Ferry Street would continue to be within the R-2 zone” if the zoning change is adopted, she said. The rezoning would only apply to the lot on which the Music Hall is located.
IN OTHER BUSINESS at Tuesday night’s meeting, City Council voted to introduce an amendment to the city ordinance on the licensing of taxicabs.
If adopted at a subsequent meeting, the ordinance would establish a procedure for filing complaints about cab service and would require training for taxicab drivers.
— Adopted by the council was an amendment that will add $55,000 to a previously adopted bond ordinance to fund installation of emergency generators at the library and Phillip Pittore Justice Center.
The city will be reimbursed for the cost of installing the generators by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The city is bringing the generators online to provide sources of power during outages that occur during severe weather and other emergencies.