HOWELL – A hearing on an applicant’s plan to build a six-story hotel near the intersection of Route 9 and Interstate 195 is scheduled to be heard by the Zoning Board of Adjustment at 8 p.m. Dec. 17.
The application was on the board’s Nov. 26 but time constraints prevented it from being heard.
However, that did not stop residents who showed up for the scheduled hearing from criticizing the plan to construct a hotel and banquet facility near their homes. Residents and representatives of the applicant discussed the plan outside the board’s meeting room.
The applicant, Northwoods Center LLC, is proposing to build a six-story hotel with 126 rooms, a 6,100-square-foot restaurant and a 20,659-square-foot banquet hall on a 25-acre parcel in Howell’s Highway Development (HD) zone.
Although the project is a permitted conditional use in the HD zone, it does not meet all the requirements as a conditional use within the HD zone, according to a report prepared by the zoning board’s engineer CME Associates, and therefore the applicant must obtain a use variance.
Due to the applicant’s proposal to build a six-story hotel that would be 70 feet tall, the request deviates from Howell’s zoning laws which require the maximum building height to be four stories, but not more than 50 feet tall.
In addition, the applicant is also requesting to have access to the hotel site from a residential street. That deviates from the zoning law which states that “hotels must have direct access to Route 9 or Route 33, and there shall be no ingress or egress from residential streets.”
Finally, the applicant is proposing to have exterior access to the banquet hall and to the restaurant in addition to breezeway connections to the hotel. Howell’s zoning law states that all accessory uses must only be accessible through the interior lobby of the hotel.
The applicant is being represented by attorney William Mehr, of Freehold.
Residents of the Land O’ Pines development were up in arms about the prospect of having a hotel near their homes.
Kathy Esposito said, “There are no industries or big companies here to use it as a meeting place to have any kind of educational services for their employees. There is none of that here. The need in our opinion is not here. It does not justify the means.”
Nick Anslinger said, “We are giving up a lot and you are not giving us anything. We got this white elephant that is going to be built and if nobody uses it, then what?” He said the project “will bring down the value of our homes. There is no benefit. No give and take.”
Residents expressed concern about a possible increase in motor vehicle traffic in their neighborhood and the applicant’s plan to use a residential road as an entrance to the hotel site.
Mehr said the hotel has benefits.
“It is relatively close to the shore on a direct route, there will be people from neighboring places such as Six Flags Great Adventure, and the fact of the matter is there are no hotels in Howell. There will also be people on the roads from Interstate 195 and Route 9 who do need a hotel.”
In addition to seeking the variances, the applicant also has the burden of proof to demonstrate “that the site is particularly suited to the use; that there are special reasons that allow a departure from the zoning regulations in this particular case; and that the variance can be granted without substantial detriment to the public good,” according to the report prepared by CME Associates.