FREEHOLD – Several business owners in Freehold Borough have continued to voice their opposition to a banquet facility’s use of a valet parking lot.
Exquisite Caterers is seeking approval from the Planning Board to use a parking lot on Hudson Street as a valet parking lot for the vehicles of guests who attend events at the Aurum banquet hall in the Market Yard.
Attorney John Giunco continued to present Exquisite Caterers’ application to the board on Sept. 27, following three appearances earlier this year. No decision was made on Sept. 27 and the hearing was carried to Nov. 8.
The board granted approval for the use of the Hudson Street valet parking lot in early 2016 amid objections from business owners on Main Street. After legal action was filed by the objecting businesses, Exquisite Caterers filed a new application seeking use variance relief, which had not been sought in the previous application.
Attorney Edward Liston represents the owners of Main Street businesses which back up to the Market Yard parking lot – the American Hotel, Federici’s, the Court Jester and the Metropolitan Cafe.
Valet parking for events that are held at the Aurum banquet hall is available to guests. A valet brings a guest’s vehicle to the Hudson Street parking lot. Guests who do not opt for valet parking may park in the Market Yard parking lot.
Supporters of the valet parking lot on Hudson Street believe its use will alleviate parking difficulties in the Market Yard, and by extension, the borough.
The objecting business owners do not agree with the premise that having a valet parking lot available for the Aurum banquet facility will improve the parking situation in the Market Yard.
At the Sept. 27 hearing, the business owners – Steve Goldberg of the American Hotel, Michael Federici of Federici’s, Mike Page of the Court Jester and Rob Kash of the Metropolitan Cafe – testified why they believe the valet parking lot is detrimental to their businesses and Freehold Borough.
The four men said they consider a banquet facility to be the wrong use of the building that is occupied by Aurum because of the amount of activity it can generate.
“Aurum pushed us over the top,” Page said. “Congestion has increased and it is detrimental to everyone’s businesses. There is not enough parking.”
“A catering hall is the most intense use at the worst possible time,” Kash said. “Cars are parked at once, leave at once and are parked for hours.”
Federici said the banquet facility draws a large number of customers in a short period of time. He said their cars remain parked in the Market Yard for about five hours, which is significantly longer than cars that are parked by his customers.
Kash noted that the valet parking lot on Hudson Street is private and intended only to be used by Aurum employees and customers, which Goldberg emphasized in his testimony.
The Hudson Street property “is a privately controlled parking lot,” Goldberg said. “It is not for the community, it is only for clients. It is not open while (Aurum) is closed. Its sign says it is private.”
Although he acknowledged that the Hudson Street lot is closed when the banquet facility is closed, Dave Esquenazi of Exquisite Caterers previously testified that anyone can use the Hudson Street lot when it is open.
Goldberg asserted that the valet parking lot does not meet the requirements for a use variance because it is a detriment to the surrounding area.
He testified that vehicles that are driven by valets from the Aurum banquet hall in the Market Yard to Hudson Street would have to use either Mechanic Street, Main Street or Center Street, and pass by pedestrian crosswalks and stop signs in the process.
Board member William Barricelli asked if the American Hotel’s valet parking service is different from Aurum’s. He noted that one area the hotel’s valets took vehicles on was a street Goldberg said he could not remember the name of.
Responding to Goldberg’s testimony, Giunco asked Goldberg if he consulted with a traffic engineer, which the business owner said he did not, and Giunco asked why Goldberg did not respond to the applicant’s professional traffic testimony with professional testimony.
Goldberg said he did not have the knowledge regarding the traffic situation that he has now.
The business owners said they were concerned that smaller businesses in the area may close as a result of a loss of customers due to the alleged shortage of and congestion regarding parking.
When they were cross-examined by Giunco, the business owners acknowledged that they did not have parking lots of their own for employees and customers.
Giunco has said his client, Exquisite Caterers, has an obligation to provide valet parking under the terms of an approval granted by the Borough Council for the construction and operation of the Aurum banquet hall in the Market Yard.
Esquenazi previously testified that no other suitable site was found for valet parking.
Downtown Freehold Business Advocate Jeffrey Friedman testified on the behalf of his organization and as a member of the public. Friedman said Downtown Freehold is opposed to granting the use variance, echoing concerns raised by the business owners.
“The (Hudson Street) lot is an issue because it is a single use,” he said. “It does not alleviate congestion because (Exquisite Caterers) is not allowing other cars to use it.”
Friedman said one of Downtown Freehold’s concerns stems from the fact that Exquisite Caterers is seeking a D variance, which is permanent. Downtown Freehold is not opposed to granting the application a C variance, which is not permanent, he explained.
The board’s attorney, Ronald Cucchiaro, said that in his opinion, the use variance is required for bulk standards (physical standards) the valet parking lot does not meet, not that the lot is for a single use.
Friedman acknowledged that Downtown Freehold is not particularly concerned about bulk variances at the Hudson Street lot, but is concerned about traffic, which the organization believes is going to be negatively affected by approving the application as it is currently presented.
Downtown Freehold “is trying to prevent individual parking lots that do not benefit the downtown area,” he said. “Not everyone is going to use the valet during a party. [Downtown Freehold] has no problem with a catering hall, but we need a parking lot that is going to be available.”
When asked by Giunco if providing off-site parking would alleviate the traffic issues, Friedman said not all of the guests’ vehicles were going to the off-site parking lot.
When asked by Liston, Friedman said Downtown Freehold does not believe granting the variance would be beneficial.
Voicing support for the Exquisite Caterers application as a member of the public was Carl Steinberg, a local businessman and former borough councilman.
Steinberg noted that while the objecting business owners own property in the borough, none of them live and vote in the borough, and he said they did not improve the Market Yard parking lot when they had the opportunity to do so.
“The businesses will stay and weather the storm and we will work on solutions,” he said.
Steinberg said Exquisite Caterers is offering a solution by providing an off-site parking lot, while he and the other business owners did not have parking spots of their own.
