HOWELL – An applicant seeking a use variance from the Howell Zoning Board of Adjustment has been asked to redesign its plan and return before the panel.
Sea Free Plaza LLC is seeking municipal approval to construct a mixed use office, warehouse and commercial building with a gross floor area of 24,881 square feet at Route 33 and Okerson Road.
The property to be developed is in a Special Economic Development zone and the applicant needs a use variance because it is proposing a multi-use space with office/warehouse and retail uses.
Officials said the office and warehouse spaces are principal permitted uses in the SED zone, but said a use variance is required for the retail use. Retail is only permitted as an accessory use and is limited to 1,000 square feet or 5 percent of the gross floor area, whichever is less, and the applicant is proposing 7,460 square feet of retail space.
The applicant was represented by attorney Thomas Hirsch and engineer William Fitzgerald at the zoning board’s April 9 meeting.
“This site was previously approved for development (in 2006 or 2007) … for just under 15,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor and 2,000 square feet based on the second floor,” Hirsch said.
Hirsch said his client was not part of the application a decade ago, but is the subsequent owner of the property. He said the applicant believes the current plan is more in conformance with what is permitted at the location.
Fitzgerald said the previous approval “essentially had the same constraints we did, which is three frontages and a triangular shape. That makes it a challenge to come up with something nice on the site.”
The engineer said there would be access to the site from Okerson Road.
The proposed building is comprised of a two-story office space on its west corner, one story of warehouse space in the middle and 7,460 square feet of commercial space along Route 33. The commercial portion of the building would be divided into a maximum of four units, Fitzgerald said.
“This (proposal) is substantially less division of space than the prior approval, but it does require a variance because if my recollection is correct, a building must be 40,000 square feet or more in gross floor area before it can be subdivided into different tenancies or uses, and this total building is 25,000 square feet,” Fitzgerald said.
The zoning board’s chairman, Wendell Nanson, asked Fitzgerald how much truck traffic will be generated by the collection of garbage and recyclables at the site.
Fitzgerald said collections necessary to accommodate the building’s tenants would be scheduled.
Nanson suggested there could be an issue with a restaurant, which led Fitzgerald to explain that certain issues regarding the site would appear to preclude a restaurant from operating at the location.
Board member James Moretti said no loading areas were indicated on the plans and he said such details could be important in the board members’ deliberations on the application.
The zoning board’s engineer, Jack Mallon, and planner, Jennifer Beahm, raised other issues regarding the application. Beahm said the applicant has had letters from the board’s professionals since December, but appeared to be “testifying on the fly about all these changes.”
“I feel like we are redesigning this site on the fly and it is a use variance … it is not our responsibility to do that, it is their responsibility, they are here for a use variance,” Beahm said. “If we are going to be redesigning the site, they should redesign it and come back to us.”
The Sea Free Plaza application was carried to the board’s June 11 meeting. Mallon asked for revised plans to be submitted by May 21 so there is time for the board’s professionals to review them.
