BRIELLE — An application for a minor subdivision on Fisk Avenue aimed at turning two vacant lots into three buildable lots was rejected by the Brielle Planning Board at its Tuesday, April 9 board meeting. The lots are located at 323-325 and 329 Fisk Avenue.
The applicant, Manasquan Shore Properties, LLC, saw a continuation of its hearing at the April 9 planning meeting, where Michael R. Rubino, Jr., attorney for the applicant, spoke on the application. Testimony from Paul Grabowski of Virtuoso Architecture was also heard.
According to the application, the applicant requested to subdivide the existing two 15,000 square feet vacant premises into three lots, which would be developed into three single-family homes.
The applicant requested variances for minimum lot area and minimum lot frontage.
The minimum lot area for a home in the R-3 district is 11,250 square feet and the application had proposed two lots of 9,999 and one of 10,002 square feet.
The minimum lot frontage required in zone R-3 is 75 feet and the applicant proposed 66.66 feet on all three lots.
Part of the application was to request approval for maximum requirements that differ from representative dwelling shown on the plan.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Grabowski showed what elevated homes in a flood zone look like, with the ability to park underneath the home.
“By definition, a crawl space in a flood zone can be used for parking vehicles,” said Grabowski.
According to the testimony, each home would have had two living levels and an unfinished attic.
Corinne Trainor, chairperson of the Brielle Planning Board, opened the discussion on the application for members of the planning board.
Planning Board member James Priolo said, “The site plan shows a finished floor 10 feet up from the slab. You said the attic is an unfinished attic. How are you going to make the 35 feet (height requirement)?”
Grabowski said, “The site plan is just a representation right now. We’ll do our final plot plans and grading plans for each individual lot and the finished floor will be adjusted.”
After Grabowski’s testimony ended, the board moved onto comments about the application. Mayor Frank Garruzzo said, “I have some reservations about this application. Specifically, my concerns are that Fisk Avenue is a busy road, especially in the summertime and we all know that it is a main artery to the beach.”
Garruzzo also noted that a lot of bicycle traffic and foot traffic also goes through the area, and he has parking concerns as parking is “tight down there.”
“I realize there are some homes that have smaller lots, but I don’t think exasperating that is really going to help. I also have concerns because the bridge has been approved to be changed … that is going to cause quite a disturbance in the area for quite a while and to add more density to the area, I’m not sure if that is going to be in the best interest of the area,” said the mayor.
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