Fellowship Chapel, the site of a proposed school, at 170 Duchess Lane, Brick, N.J. (Photo: Shorebeat)
Brick officials have confirmed that a home-school group seeking to use a church for communal learning will continue to present its controversial application before the township’s zoning board next week.
A special meeting has been confirmed for Monday, Aug. 12 at Civic Plaza, 270 Chambers Bridge Road. Civic Plaza is being used for the meeting as it has a large gymnasium that can accommodate crowds of neighbors and other residents who are opposed to the school opening in the Fellowship Chapel of the Jersey Shore facility, located on Duchess Road and surrounded by a residential neighborhood. A legal notice confirming the meeting was published over the weekend.
Several neighbors have retained noted land use attorney Edward Liston to represent them in their objection to the facility being allowed to operate at the church. The residents say the school could bring additional traffic to the neighborhood, does not meet the conditions under the zoning ordinance to operate – thus requiring board approval – and could lead to even larger school facilities opening in the space in the future since a variance to allow a school usage would be grandfathered in permanently.
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The last hearing on the matter was held in June, and was contentious.
Fellowship Chapel of the Jersey Shore, located virtually completely within the confines of an existing residential neighborhood on Duchess Lane, wishes to lease its facilities out to a group known as the Liberty School Association, which describes itself as a group of parents who do not wish to send their children to public schools, but seek to “home school” their children together in a communal setting within the church.
Led by Rebeka Snegon, organizer of the Liberty School Association, the group already had been stopped from using a building on Princeton Avenue as a school – as well as the church property itself – after they failed to obtain zoning permits to operate schools in the respective zones in which the properties were located.
Fellowship Chapel, the site of a proposed school, at 170 Duchess Lane, Brick, N.J. (Photo: Shorebeat)
Fellowship Chapel, the site of a proposed school, at 170 Duchess Lane, Brick, N.J. (Photo: Shorebeat)
The school would operate with between 30 to 40 students, its applicant has said. At the June hearing, representatives for the school testified that the school itself would not provide busing or transportation, however it was not clear whether parents themselves could collectively hire a transportation company or not. Previously, the church’s attorney told board members that transportation vehicles “smaller than daycare buses” would serve the school, though this was shared at the initial, approximately five minute-long meeting last spring that was quickly adjourned without any further details being shared.
Testimony became heated as Liston challenged whether the church had filed a proper site plan before the board, arguing the applicant failed to do so and instead only submitted a “variance plan” to support their application.
Liston also said a previous variance granted to the church in 2012 had not been reviewed by the architect, who was subject to a cross-examination. At one point, Liston question whether buildings on the site had been modified without permits dating back several years. The architect, for his part, testified that he relied on church officials to inform him of the past history of the site.
Tara Paxton, the township planner, said the property itself may not be ready to be used as a school use, requiring access that does not appear to currently be available to some facilities.
“The access to the back of that property would need to be accessible to emergency vehicles,” Paxton said, also commenting on zoning codes that would cover the playground area of the site.
Additional testimony is expected on the site plan, handicap access, and an unresolved question over whether the church itself has a mortgage on the building.
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.
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
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