By Matthew Sockol
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD – The Borough Council has awarded the Earle Asphalt Company of Farmingdale a $475,813 contract to complete road repairs in Freehold Borough.
The contract was awarded during the council’s Aug. 1 meeting.
According to the resolution awarding the company the contract, recent winters have taken a toll on municipal streets and sufficient funds have been budgeted to repair the roads. The resolution indicates that making the repairs will delay the need for the complete street replacement.
Bids for the project were advertised on June 23 and opened on July 14. Borough Engineer William Wentzien indicated that Earle Asphalt was qualified to perform the work required. According to the resolution, the company recently completed work in town that was similar in scope to the planned road repairs.
In other business, the council adopted an ordinance that prohibits parking on the south side of Monmouth Avenue beginning at its intersection with Throckmorton Street and running 147 feet in a westerly direction (the even numbered side of Monmouth Avenue).
According to officials, commuters who use the bus station at Throckmorton and Main streets were parking on Monmouth Avenue. In response, the street’s residents informed the council that the presence of the commuters’ vehicles made it difficult for them to park on their street.
Council members determined it was in the public interest to prohibit parking on the section of Monmouth Avenue discussed in the ordinance after a police investigation recommended that parking be prohibited, according to the ordinance.
In other business, the council introduced two ordinances related to parking and controlling development for businesses in the downtown district.
According to the two ordinances, the borough’s regulations for controlling development in various zones in town require off-street parking. As several businesses in the downtown district do not have on-site parking spaces, the first ordinance amends the regulations pertaining to off-street parking spaces to allow for a provision of off-site and shared parking, as well as the grandfathering of existing parking.
Retail sales and services will have one parking space for every 200 square feet of gross floor area of the building or a major fraction of the building. Places of assembly, including catering halls and banquet halls, will have one parking space for every four persons who may be legally admitted inside at one time under the state’s fire prevention laws. Exceptions are made to businesses specifically covered in the regulations, according to the first ordinance.
The first ordinance will also require additional parking when an existing building has a change of use and and the new use has higher parking requirements than those of the previous use.
A property’s parking requirement for a use may be satisfied through the provision of dedicated parking at an off-site location, which must be within a quarter-mile foot radius of the property, according to the first ordinance.
The second ordinance amends the Freehold Center Core Redevelopment Plan by adding the amendments being made to a building’s change of use and off-site parking locations in the first ordinance to the plan.
Additionally, the second ordinance requires any deviations from the borough’s parking requirements to have variance relief pursuant to the zoning ordinance. For applications for proposed developments that are deficient by 10 or more parking spaces, waivers or variances may only be addressed as an amendment to the redevelopment plan, according to the second ordinance.
The second ordinance also adds the businesses and properties in the downtown district as permitted principal uses in the Freehold Center Core Redevelopment Plan.
The ordinances are expected to have a public hearing and a vote for adoption at an upcoming meeting of the governing body. The council’s next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 6 (Tuesday, due to the Labor Day holiday).
Council President Jaye Sims and council members Sharon Shutzer, Kevin Kane and Ron Griffiths voted in favor of the resolution and the ordinances at the Aug. 1 meeting. Councilmen Michael DiBenedetto and George Schnurr were absent.
