Zoning Board actions have negative effect on East Brunswick residents

I have been a resident of East Brunswick on Ruth Street for 48 years. As such, I’ve seen the township evolve from a rural community to what it is now.

Growth of a community requires careful and intelligent planning and zoning which, I am sure, was employed by the East Brunswick Planning Board and Zoning Board. Members of both boards would normally take into consideration how their actions will affect the residents.

Now, I am not so sure these boards consider their actions based upon the meeting of the Zoning Board on March 2. A consideration for a variance for the owners of the tennis club on Ruth Street was one of the topics of discussion. The owner of the building wants to change its use to a self-storage operation. The residents who attended objected to this variance because of the proximity of such an operation to residents.

Why is the Zoning Board even thinking about changing the existing zoning regulations when it is obvious that such a change will reduce the quality of life for the residents on Ruth Street and the residents in the apartment building directly behind the building under consideration. The present zoning forbids such an operation in that location. The current action of the board is creating extreme stress to all of the affected residents. The board should have denied the application based upon the existing zoning.

This letter is written to inform residents in East Brunswick that this could happen to you. Considering the tone of the March 2 meeting, it appeared that the members of the board were in favor of granting the variance regardless of the negative impact on the residents. Whatever happened to the rights of the individual and responsible government action?

East Brunswick