The Planning Board unanimously approved preliminary and final major site plans for a 487-unit rental development at the former Wheatena site on Elizabeth and West Grand avenues.
Continue reading Planning Board approves 487-unit Brownstones
Tag Archives: West Scott Avenue
Zoning Board approves variances for Koza’s site
The Zoning Board of Adjustment last night approved an application that will allow construction of a two-story, 10-unit rental complex at the former Koza’s Bar site.
Continue reading Zoning Board approves variances for Koza’s site
10-unit, 2-story plan considered for Koza’s site
A smaller plan for the former Koza’s Bar site will come before the Zoning Board next month, the fourth proposal in six years for the West Scott Avenue site (map).
Continue reading 10-unit, 2-story plan considered for Koza’s site
Zoning Board again rejects 12 units
The Zoning Board of Adjustment last night denied an application seeking three use variances to build a three-story, 12-unit apartment building on the site of the former Koza’s Bar on West Scott Avenue.
New plan for former Koza’s Bar site
Five years after a plan to build nine condominium units was approved for the former Koza’s Bar property, a new proposal seeks to construct 12 rental apartments. The Zoning Board of Adjustment is scheduled to hear the new application at its meeting Monday at 7 p.m.
Zoning Board rejects apartments for store
The Zoning Board of Adjustment narrowly rejected a proposal to convert a West Scott Avenue convenience store into three residential apartments.
After about two hours of testimony at its Feb. 27 meeting, the application for 497-503 W. Scott Ave. (Block 239, Lot 52) was not approved by the board, 4-3. Assessed at $189,000, the site had property taxes of almost $11,000 last year.
The Scott Ave. Grocery and Deli, formerly J&J Food Mart, is located at the corner of Oliver Street and West Scott Avenue, and is an existing, nonconforming commercial use in a single-family zone. The original plan called for two three-bedroom apartments of more than 900 square feet and one two-bedroom apartment of 800 to 822 square feet, which was eventually was changed to three two-bedroom units.
Several neighbors testified for and against the application. Those against the application worried that more tenants would bring more problems with loitering and exacerbate parking issues, considering a six-unit apartment complex across the street. Those in favor of the application preferred a residential use to alleviate existing issues of traffic and parking related to the single-story store, including customers using their driveway to turn around, as well as concerns about crime. The owners testified they had been robbed three times, twice around 1998 and once in 2008.
Board members expressed concerns about recreational space for potential tenants’ children as well as flooding issues. The property was flooded with about a foot of water during Hurricane Irene last summer and the application included plans to raise the existing three-bedroom apartment several feet as well as move utilities to the roof. Board members also feared the property would likely end up looking like a converted convenience store regardless of aesthetic renovations.
Owners of the property, who had owned the store between 1991 and 1998, testified that business is down since reacquiring the store in 2009. Witnesses for the applicant testified that ideally, someone would acquire the property, demolish the building and construct a single-family home for a better fit in the neighborhood. That’s not economically feasible, however, and presented this application as the best they could do with the site.
The three board members who voted in favor of the application were Egon Behrmann, Joseph Gibilisco and Ray Lopez. The four who voted against were Paula Braxton, James Pellettiere, James Heim and Adrian Zapotocky.
Tax appeals doubled in 2010
Refunds were approved for 52 tax appeals last year, twice as many as were filed and settled at the county Board of Taxation in the 2009 tax year.
The increase was not unexpected and primarily due to economic conditions, City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier said. In 2010, 20 of the 52 properties that were appealed were purchased in late 2008 or 2009, and three of them were brought by the city to correct assessments, he said.
The average tax refund among the 52 tax appeals was almost $1,900 while the average reduction on the appeal was $36,500. The largest appeals were industrial or commercial properties, such as more than $5,000 for 1072 Randolph Ave. and more than $15,000 for 670 E. Lincoln Ave., which saw its overall assessment reduced by a third. All 52 tax appeals can be found in this Google spreadsheet.
It’s much the same everywhere. This Bloomberg report from December indicated tax appeals are way up all over (“Tax appeals swamping U.S. cities, towns as property prices plunge”). Specifically, New Jersey homeowners filed 18,147 appeals in 2009, up from 10,067 the previous year — an increase of 80 percent.
Closer to home, there’s this story from MyCentralJersey.com, Piscataway budgets $500G for tax appeals, as well as this one from the Cranford Chronicle, Citing tax appeals, Cranford officials say surplus is down to $58,000 from previous estimates of $1 million.
In November,
the City Council approved a multi-year tax appeal settlement for 1510 Main St./90 E. Cherry St. (Block 318, Lot 12) that had been pending in Tax Court. (It was not among the 52 appeals in 2010).
The building, acquired by Pioneer Investment Corp. in Linden for $205,000 in February 2000, houses Skaff Pharmacy on the first floor and apartments on the second and third floors. It pays about $11,000 annually in property taxes. The assessment was dropped by $37,600 — from $202,600 to $165,000 — reducing property tax by $1,909 in 2008, $1,962 in 2009 and $2,054. The total $5,924 will be applied toward 2011 taxes, as per the Tax Court.
After more than an hour in closed session tonight, the City Council approved a tax appeal settlement with Merck that will affect the 2011 budget and tax bills. The settlement was approved by a 6-0-1 vote. We’ll have details later this week.
Former Koza’s Bar comes down this week
Demolition of Koza’s Bar started on Monday, two years after an initial proposal to build 12 units at the site was rejected.
The developer returned to the Zoning Board in October 2008 with a revised plan for nine units in a two-story structure at the West Scott Avenue site, which is about 0.88 acres. Final site plan approval was granted early this year and demolition was expected in the spring.
At that time, the developer hoped to put them on the market for about $350,000 but did not rule out renting the condos until the real estate market improves. The three-bedroom units will be about 1,600 square feet.
Thanks to reader Christine who tipped me off via the Rahway Rising Facebook page when demolition began on Monday.