Tag Archives: Planning Board

Lennington Street project to break ground

Developers expect to break ground on a three-story, 13-unit townhouse complex on Lennington Street in the next month. Construction on Riverview Manor is expected to take 18 months or less. The current structure, commonly referred to as the Lennington Tea House and located at the end of Lennington Street, will be demolished.

The Planning Board Tuesday night gave approval for a minor variance for front/side yard setback, though the main hold-up to construction had been the state Department of Environmental Protection’s waterfront development permit. The state required a public access of some kind to the Rahway River, so there will be a 30-foot public easement and several public parking spaces. Public access will be contiguous from this property to a proposed Sleep Inn (.pdf) motel across the street.

Each two-bedroom unit will have a one-car garage and one parking space and is expected to be on the market in the $400,000 range. The homes will be some 40 feet from the Rahway River and two feet above — and out of — the flood zone, according to Dave Miele of GMM Associates.

GMM Associates also has constructed four new homes and rehabilitated a third, three-family home on Sterling Place (between Brookfield Place and East Hazelwood Avenue) and rehabilitated another on Main Street.

Third story to rise from ashes

Boarded-up windows and a charred facade could be transformed into a renovated three-story building along East Cherry Street by April. The Planning Board unanimously gave minor site plan approval Tuesday night for the former wig and beauty supply store that went up in flames in the summer of 2005.

The plan adds a third floor to the existing building, which would be set back to allow for a balcony, and also maintain the existing scale and proportion along East Cherry Street, said Michael Nelson, architect for Dornoch Rahway. It minimizes the impact of the addition, and gives more of a two-story look from street level, he added. Dornoch has two other projects downtown: The Savoy and The Westbury.

The first floor would have 1,402 square feet of retail, with another 2,863 square feet for three residential units on the second and third floors. A variance was necessary because zoning regulations require six parking spaces (1.8 per unit). The Rahway Parking Authority, which held ownership of the building until a plan was presented, will sell the property and as part of the sales agreement will designate the necessary parking spaces.

The second floor will have two 700-square-foot, studio-type apartments with “very open floor plans.” The remaining roughly 1,400+ square feet on the third floor will feature a two-bedroom, two-bath unit. All three units are expected to be for purchase, not rentals.

Planning Board potpourri

An upscale, sit-down Chinese restaurant is being eyed for Main Street. The Planning Board last month approved a zoning overlay that would allow the Sound-A-Rama building (1483 Main St.) to subdivide. Sound-A-Rama would use half the space and Main Street Barber Shop (1495 Main St.) would move into the other half while the Chinese restaurant would slide into the barber shop’s current location.
“It’s not a done deal,”
Director of Building, Engineering, Planning and Economic Development Lenore Slothower told the Planning Board, but it prompted the zoning move as the building owner is looking at possibly bringing in the Chinese restaurant.

Also approved for a zoning overlay last month was a tattoo shop at 209 W. Main St., among the storefronts as it approaches Irving Street. Nearby will be a Portuguese barbeque takeout joint (10 seats) at 205 W. Main St. that the Planning Board gave minor site plan approval to in September. The zoning overlays eventually will require final approval from City Council.
I was out of town for the holiday last week, but the Zoning Board of Adjustment was expected to take up a few applications at its meeting, including possibly one for the burned out former beauty supply store on East Cherry Street and site plan approval for 1500 Main St. (the corner of East Cherry), among others.