Zoning Board

The Zoning Board of Adjustment voted May 22 to grant retroactive approval to Dream On Me Industries for 16 signs installed on the company’s massive Veronica Avenue warehouse and distribution complex without the required permits, after Board members raised pointed questions about the size of two large wall-mounted signs, the proliferation of the company’s corporate logo on directional signs throughout …

SETTING THE SCENE – Church member Ingrid Blanco, seated next to attorney John DeLuca, gave the zoning board a brief history of Iglesia Christiana Refugio at the May 22 Board hearing. A congregation seeking to open a house of worship in a long-vacant corner office building ran into a wall of questions and concerns from the Zoning Board of Adjustment on …

DETAILING OBJECTIONS – Peter Steck, a planner hired by opponents to a plan to raze the Ukrainian Cultural Center, testifies about his objections to the application at the May 7 Zoning Board hearing. A planner testified May 7 that a proposal to demolish the Ukrainian Orthodox cultural center on Davidson Avenue and replace it with a 258,150-square-foot warehouse is riddled …

MORE TESTIMONY – Engineer Mitchell Ardman testifies on an application to build a mosque on South Middlebush Road at the April 16 zoning board meeting. The Franklin Township Zoning Board of Adjustment heard a third round of testimony April 16 on an application to build a 19,350-square-foot mosque on South Middlebush Road, with Board members pressing the applicant on the …

EXPLAINING THE NEED – Somerset Bible Baptist Church Pastor Brian Fisher tells the Zoning Board why the church needs the proposed gymnasium at the April 2 hearing. Variances that would help pave the way for construction of a 1-story gymnasium behind the Somerset Bible Baptist Church on Cedar Grove Lane were approved April 2 by the township Zoning Board of …

SIGN DETAILS – Clint Ehlers of Fast Signs talks about the positioning of a car wash sign on Route 27 at the April 2 Zoning Board meeting. The township Zoning Board of Adjustment April 2 approved a setback variance or a freestanding sign at the Wash King Car Wash on Route 27, with much of the discussion centering on the …

ENGINEERING TESTIMONY – Mitchell Ardman, the engineer for Tahweed Dahwah Center Masjid, testifies at the February 19 Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting. Zoning Board of Adjustment hearings on a proposal to build a 19,000-square-foot mosque on a 16-acre South Middlebush Road tract resumed on February 19, and all indications are that this will not be a smooth process. The project’s …

THE NEW PLAN – Jeffrey Haberman explains changes made to the plan for an outdoor storage site on Route 27 at the February 5 Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting. The second time proved to be the charm February 5 for a company that wants to create an outdoor commercial storage space on Route 27. JC IOS Acquisitions won Zoning Board …

PLAN WITHDRAWN – The property sheet for Rutgers Plaza shows that a lease is pending for the former K-Mart building and attached retail spaces. The owner of Rutgers Plaza on Easton Avenue has withdrawn a controversial application to build a 4-story apartment building in the footprint of the former K-Mart building. Levin Properties was scheduled to return to the Zoning …

INTRODUCING THE CONCEPT – John Grib, representing the developer of the proposed storage space, talks about it at the Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting. The developer of a proposed outdoor storage space on State Route 27 is reviewing its plans after appearing before the Zoning Board of Adjustment on January 8. The reconsideration came after it became apparent that Board …