Builder opts to replace existing office building

BY SETH MANDEL
Staff Writer

MONROE — A builder who pledged to replace an unattractive building with a brand-new office building has received approval from the Zoning Board of Adjustment.

The applicant, Jonkat Construction LLC, had previously been given approval to rehabilitate the existing building on Spotswood Englishtown Road, but according to Jonkat’s attorney, Jonathan Heilbrunn, both the town and the applicant will benefit from the new plans.

“In tearing down the existing building, the A-frame building, and building the new building … we have the ability to add an additional office to the upstairs of this building, which gives us an additional 1,278 square feet of office space that we did not previously have,” Heilbrunn said.

The site is at the intersection of Spotswood Englishtown Road and 10th Avenue, with some additional frontage on Dartmouth Road.

The new building will allow for the removal of the existing building’s exterior support beams and enable the developer to move the parking spaces at the rear of the building closer to the building itself. Heilbrunn said this will increase the buffer between the building and a proposed residential unit on an adjacent lot.

The only catch, he said, is that a variance will be necessary because the extra office space would require three additional parking spaces, according to a township ordinance.

“The trade-off for us is that it is functionally in our best interest, and we think in your best interest, to give you a brand-new building instead of a rehabbed A-frame,” Heilbrunn said. “But it’s also functionally in our best interest to gain the 1,200 square feet of additional office space that we will get if we build this new building, even though that triggers a request for a variance for three parking spaces.”

The multiple office use of the new building will give rise to shared parking, thereby eliminating the need for extra parking spaces, Heilbrunn said.

The proposed two-story building will be used for offices, excluding dental or medical offices, and will be about 5,900 square feet. The height of the building will be close to 35 feet, and there will be a fenced-in area for garbage that will not be visible from the street.

The .7-acre site will be subdivided into two lots, one of which will house the office building; the other will be used for a single-family residence that is already under construction.

Half the property is zoned for neighborhood commercial use and the other half is in the R-10 residential zone. A variance was needed since some of the office parking area encroaches on the R-10 section of the property.

The board granted the use variance, along with a variance allowing only 19 parking spaces instead of the required 23. It also approved a variance for total lot size, which fell almost 20,000 square feet short of the requirement.

The parking is on the eastern portion of the site, with access from 10th Avenue.

Resident Elwood Harbaugh, who lives next to the property, said he had no objection to the proposal as long as the applicant builds sufficient fencing around the property, something that the applicant is planning to do.

Board member William Allen asked the applicant why he requested approval of plans to rehabilitate the existing building, if its professionals knew they could not make the building look presentable.

The applicant responded that he intended to make the building look presentable, but was advised by his planner and architect that the building would be an eyesore no matter what improvements they attempted to make.

Allen then asked if the applicant will be satisfied with the new application.

“What guarantee will we get, now, that this is going to work?” Allen asked.

The applicant responded that he has applied for this approval on the advice of his architect, and that it will be an improvement over anything that could have been done with the existing structure.

The variances and approval were granted, with Allen being the only board member to vote against the proposal.