LONG BRANCH — A week after meeting with the City Council, the developer for the Beachfront North II zone received the first of several anticipated Planning Board approvals last week.
David Fisher, vice president of Matzel & Mumford, a K. Hovnanian company, was before the Planning Board on Feb. 16 seeking approval for a minor subdivision that would reconfigure three existing lots into five lots. The application was unanimously approved.
The properties are located on Seaview Avenue, across from Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park, in the Marine Terrace, Ocean Terrace and Seaview Avenue neighborhood known as MTOTSA.
“The proposed lots conform to the city’s zoning regulations and the design guidelines for Beachfront North,” Robert Curley, of Smith, Smith, & Curley, Shrewsbury, said.
Fisher gave the board an overview of long-term plans for the zone, explaining that the developer owns 19 properties in MTOTSA, 10 of which are scattered individual lots and would not require board approval to build on those lots.
“We could apply for building permits based on the conditions out there today without Planning Board approval,” Fisher said.
However, other applications will require approvals, he said.
“What does require Planning Board approval is a minor site plan and subdivision approval for three townhouses that are proposed along Ocean Boulevard,” he said. “That will be the subject of a later application.
“Tonight we are here for the three lots that will be modified to include two additional lots,” he added.
Fisher said expansion of the lots is in keeping with terms of a settlement between property owners in MTOTSA, the developer and the city.
“There were recently buildings on those, and as part of our settlement we demolished all of [the] homes,” he said.
The city also approved dividing up an abandoned right of way, he continued.
“It simply created a better perpendicular lot line along Seaview Avenue that benefited both our lot and the property next to us.”
Fisher described the five homes that are to be constructed.
“We have five lots, with the total area about 0.46 acres,” he said. “Each lot is about 4,000 square feet and … about 41 feet wide, except for the last one, which is about 49 feet wide.
“They are approximately 100 feet deep, with 10-foot-deep front yards, and the houses are typically 50 to 55 feet deep,” he added. “That is essentially a summary of what we are proposing to create.”
Fisher also explained that the homes would utilize common driveways in the rear with parking for two cars each.
He said the developer will seek any further approvals necessary to construct the homes.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, MTOTSA resident Denise Hoagland, who did not sign the settlement with the city, questioned whether the residents should have been notified of the application.
Planning Board Attorney Martin Arbus said that for the minor subdivision application, notification is not required, but it would be required for future applications.
“The other application will require notice because it is a site plan application,” he said. “[The application before the board] is a minor subdivision without any variances, so notice does not have to be given.”
The settlement between the city and the MTOTSA Alliance was formalized in court Sept. 15. Signed by all but six property owners in MTOTSA, the agreement required the property owners to waive their right to sue the city for compensatory damages. In return, the city agreed not to use its power of eminent domain to take properties in MTOTSA.
As part of the 14-point settlement, the city also agreed to pay $435,000 in legal fees the alliance accrued in fighting the taking of their homes and to have the developer demolish several vacant, boardedup houses in the neighborhood. In addition, the city agreed to pave the roads and fix lighting conditions in the area within two years, and allowed the property owners to improve their properties, which would make them eligible for five-year tax abatements.
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