Fellowship Chapel, the site of a proposed school, at 170 Duchess Lane, Brick, N.J. (Photo: Shorebeat)
A fresh public notice announcing a hearing on a request by Fellowship Chapel of the Jersey Shore, located in a residential area along Duchess Road, to operate a private school in their facilities, sheds new light on how the school might operate.
Initially proposed in February, the church’s facilities would be used to bring children who are normally home-schooled into an environment where they would interact with their peers. Documents obtained by Shorebeat indicate the school, known as the Liberty School Association, has received numerous violations from the township’s code enforcement office for operating without a proper site plan in a location on Princeton Avenue, as well as the Duchess Lane location at the church. The school would be led by Rebeka Snegon, who heads the home-school group.
The May 1 meeting will see attorney Richard C. Sciria pitch the proposal to the township’s zoning board. Several local residents who have contacted Shorebeat about the hearing said that neighboring homeowners, likewise, will be represented by counsel.
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According to the updated notice, no changes will be made to the physical property at the church.
“The applicant will be leasing the accessory building to a private tenant for an educational group,” the notice said. “The accessory building is an existing approved building that was built to house bible study classes as part of the function of the applicant.”
There will be no buses transporting children to the school, the notice said, though Sciria told board members in February that there may be smaller vehicles transporting students. The updated notice was silent as to whether any vehicles other than buses would be transporting students.
The group will be limited to 40 children, according to the notice, in line with what Sciria told board members in February before the case was adjourned. At the time, he said “30 to 40” students would be participating in the school’s offerings. The educational group will have “limited meeting hours” Monday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., the notice said.
Fellowship Chapel, the site of a proposed school, at 170 Duchess Lane, Brick, N.J. (Photo: Shorebeat)
The Fellowship Chapel property on Duchess Lane, Brick, N.J. (Cedit: Google Earth)
“The educational group will not meet on site at any times outside these hours,” the notice went on to say. “The majority of the children present will be from the Township of Brick and the surrounding areas.”
Residents have voiced concern about traffic along the winding streets of their neighborhood, the potential for future expansion of the site, and the fact that once a school use is granted by the Board of Adjustment (also known as the zoning board), that use carries through the future groups who may, one day, wish to operate on the property.
The school in question has already generated some legal activity.
Snegon and another individual, Robert Colontino, are already suing the township after being ejected from the premises at 11 Princeton Avenue for running an unpermitted school in that location. Colontino, in their court papers (embedded below this article) described themselves as “sovereign living souls” and “Judicial Power Citizens by right of blood” who filed the court papers under a “non-domestic mail” address that traces back to an Italian takeout restaurant in Ortley Beach. The language in the lawsuit resembles that of court documents filed in the past by those who affiliate with the so-called “Sovereign Citizen” movement, though there was no direct reference to the controversial political ideology in any of the school’s documents.
According to county land records, the building is located in the R-10 zone, which calls for single-family residential uses on properties of at least 10,000 square feet in area. The Fellowship Chapel building spans 4 acres and was last sold in 2012 for $1.25 million. It is listed as a “church/parsonage” as its current allowed use.
Fellowship Chapel, the site of a proposed school, at 170 Duchess Lane, Brick, N.J. (Photo: Shorebeat)
Schools are considered a “conditional use” in residential areas in Brick, meaning that while they are not normally permitted in the zone, they may be sited there if certain conditions are met. In this case, the Fellowship Chapel property does not meet those conditions, therefore requiring a use variance. Also known colloquially as a “D” variance, approval requires a supermajority of board members voting in favor of proposal in order for it to be successful.
The conditions under the ordinance requires a school be located on a lot at least two acres in area with at least 200 feet of lot frontage. The ordinance also prohibits the principal building of any such school to be constructed within 40 feet of a public street or neighboring property. Additionally, schools would not be able to cover more than 30 percent of any lot, even if the other criteria were able to be met.
Schools, the ordinance states, also need ample space for a parking lot and the main access point of any school is prohibited from being located on a “lower order street” – which covers virtually all of the township’s residential roadways.
The meeting will be held May 1 at 7 p.m. at Civic Plaza, 270 Chambers Bridge Road. Civic Plaza is the largest municipally-owned room in Brick, and was reserved for the hearing due to the heightened public interest in the case.
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