FREEHOLD – The Core Redevelopment Plan in Freehold Borough has been amended to allow an historic church on Throckmorton Street to move forward with a proposed construction project.
Borough Council members recently adopted an ordinance amending the plan to exempt existing churches, synagogues, houses of worship and similar religious facilities from being required to not have a deficiency of 10 or more parking spaces. The exemption only applies to facilities that are on their own site and not part of a mixed-use building or combined with any other use.
New churches, synagogues, houses of worship and similar religious facilities must comply with the parking requirements of the Freehold Center Core Redevelopment Zone, according to the ordinance.
The amendment was approved by the council following the submission of an application from St. Peter’s Church, Throckmorton Street, to remove a portion of the two-story main building area, referred to as the Parish House. The main church portion will remain and a new two-story parish hall will be constructed.
The ordinance states that St. Peter’s has been at its present site for hundreds of years and is an important historical and community asset.
The church is in the Core Redevelopment Zone. According to a municipal law, applications for projects in the zone must be brought before the borough engineer, who will determine if the application complies with the Core Redevelopment Plan.
If an application does not comply with the plan, council members may create an amendment to the plan so the application will become compliant.
According to the ordinance, the total parking demand for St. Peter’s is currently 105 spaces and the proposed development would create a demand of 147 spaces. The church can only accommodate four spaces and has 101 grandfathered spaces, leaving the application with a deficiency of 46 parking spaces. As a result, church officials had to seek an amendment to the Core Redevelopment Plan.
Council members reviewed the parking requirements as they relate to existing churches, synagogues, houses of worship and similar religious facilities and recognized the importance of such uses in the borough, according to the ordinance.
In their review, the council members found that such facilities have been in existence for many years and that their parking demands generally do not conflict with the parking demands for businesses, retail, office and other commercial types of uses in the zone.
After reviewing the matter with Borough Engineer William Wentzien, council members recommended amending the Core Redevelopment Plan to allow for existing churches, synagogues, houses of worship and similar religious facilities to be altered or expanded, provided the facility is on its own site and not part of a mixed use building or combined with any other use.
Alterations and expansions will be subject to approval from the Planning Board, according to the ordinance.
Following the recommendation, according to the ordinance, the council amended the Core Redevelopment Plan to allow existing churches, synagogues, houses of worship and similar religious facilities to add improvements and to expand without the parking demand as a requirement.
