Townhouse Complex Again To Go Before Berkeley Planning Board

BERKELEY, NJ — A 17-unit townhouse development on Louis Avenue will go before the Berkeley Township Planning Board again this week.

A hearing is set for the Jan. 16 reorganization meeting.

This proposal would put 17 townhouses in two three-story buildings at 171 Louis Ave., on the border of Bayville and Ocean Gate near Jeffrey's Creek.

The development has gone before the board several times, but has repeatedly been adjourned. Recently, the board threatened to dismiss the application without prejudice if the developer had adjourned again.

However, at the Dec. 19 meeting, the developer asked for the meeting to be carried again. It was the fourth time adjourning. This was because their company was hosting a holiday party that evening.

This was met with dismay from a room full of residents, who were at the meeting to speak on the application but couldn't without the developers present.

The developers did say they would send notices to neighbors again if they were allowed to carry the hearing, which if they were forced to reapply to the board may not happen. It was possible that the applicant could reapply with the same proposal as before (that is, without changes requested by the board) which would mean that they would not have to send out notices of the upcoming meeting to neighbors.

"We're people too, and we get a little agitated," Chairman Nick Mackres said of the repeated adjournment requests.

Ultimately, the board decided to allow this additional request. They said they were worried that residents would miss out on the next meeting.

The meeting is set for Jan. 16 at 6 p.m. in the Berkeley Township Municipal Building, 627 Pinewald Keswick Road.