Fellowship Chapel, the site of a proposed school, at 170 Duchess Lane, Brick, N.J. (Photo: Shorebeat)
A year-long land use saga that saw residents of one Brick community fighting a proposal to operate a school from a church building in the center of a residential neighborhood reached its end Thursday night, with the township’s Zoning Board of Adjustment voting 7-0 to deny the application.
Residents gathered at Civic Plaza – used instead of town hall due to space constraints – applauded after the vote, which followed a last-ditch effort by Fellowship Chapel and their would-be tenant, the Liberty School Association, to impose conditions on themselves in exchange for approval. Liberty School Association sought to operate some form of a “home-school” cooperative from the church, which is located in the center of a neighborhood of single-family homes on Duchess Lane. Neighbors argued that the approval of a school at the site would lead to increased traffic and noise – a problem that would only worsen if a new tenant (or owner) were to open a larger facility at the same site after receiving permission from the board.
It was never clear as to whether Liberty School Association, which was found to have previously violated zoning laws in another location in Brick, was affiliated with a religious institution or whether it was what was legally considered to be a home school cooperative, each of which is governed by its own standards under the law. But the board ultimately heard the application as if it qualified under state land use laws as an “inherently beneficial use,” which would be the designation given to religious schools. Under that qualification, the burden largely shifts from the property owner having to prove compliance to objectors having to demonstrate that approval would constitute a “substantial detriment” to their neighborhood. Nearly all of the board members put forth some semblance of an explanation as to why they felt the school operating in the residential zone would, indeed, be a substantial detriment to neighbors.
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Fellowship Chapel, the site of a proposed school, at 170 Duchess Lane, Brick, N.J. (Photo: Shorebeat)
“For me personally, I’m very familiar with the neighborhood,” said board member Darren Caffrey. “The streets are the streets. Unless we can change those streets, I believe there is a significant impact and a daily disruption on these lower order streets, which each day is going to impose a significant impact to safety, noise and traffic – and in addition, is going to already exacerbate some at-times disruptive conditions. That’s the reality.”
Representatives from the school testified that between 30 and 40 students would come to the location daily for classes, which would consist of parents and volunteers leading curriculum purchased from a provider. While the daily shuttling of students gave rise to concerns among neighbors, the precedent that would be set by finding that the Duchess Lane property met the conditions of the zoning ordinance and would not constitute a detriment weighed heavily on the minds of residents, who foresaw the potential for future expansion.
“I don’t think any conditions we put on the layout would mitigate the safety and noise concerns,” said board member Brian Formica. “The neighborhood changes, and not for the positive.”
Board members were counseled by an attorney before casting their votes, which was also coupled with an explanation of members’ duties by Chairman David Chadwick.
“The question for the board [is], ‘Do you think it is appropriate to have a school on a lower-order street? Is safety a concern'” asked Chadwick.
Several board members responded that they had concerns over traffic and the specific location of the property in question.
Fellowship Chapel, the site of a proposed school, at 170 Duchess Lane, Brick, N.J. (Photo: Shorebeat)
“Do you have any serious concerns or reservations about the proposed use, the conditions of approval the applicant has agreed to at this point, and do you feel that the detrimental impact on the neighborhood in terms of safety and neighborhood character are still substantially impacted?” he then asked.
Ultimately, a motion to deny garnered a second, followed by a roll call vote that ended with a unanimous decision to deny the application.
