Commercial Use Variance Sought For Residence In Shrewsbury

SHREWSBURY, NJ — An application for a use variance for a property on Broad Street will come before the borough Land Use Board when its meets Wednesday night.

Martelli Development Group, 942 Broad St., is seeking use variance relief, according to the agenda. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. and this matter is later in the new business part of the agenda, according to borough documents. See the documents here.

At least one resident of the nearby Thornbrooke active adult community is concerned about the environmental and traffic impact, should a use variance be granted.

Resident Mike Nugent said in an email that, should the site be developed for a commercial use, "it will impact New Jersey-regulated freshwater wetlands, the Thornbrooke Senior Living community and potentially the Shrewsbury Historic District downtown." He said he is also concerned about the impact on Mason Field.

According to borough documents, the application for the use variance is part of a "bifurcated" application to "renovate the present dwelling structure for commercial office use."

The borough documents say the project would "construct a 3 1/2-car garage with attic storage space and construct off-street parking for 11 vehicles."

The intended use of the premises is prohibited in the residential R-1A zone, the documents say, "therefore necessitating use variance relief and subsequent site plan approval."

Nugent said he believes a traffic study is needed, and a study on the impact of the environment, and he plans to attend the meeting.

This stretch of Broad Street where the house is located recently saw the speed limit reduced to 35 mph and is lined by many older, often historic, homes, leading north to what is referred to as the Historic Four Corners of Shrewsbury, the intersection of Broad Street and Sycamore Avenue.

The site includes the Christ Episcopal Church (1769); the Quaker Meeting House, rebuilt in 1816 from a Friends Society dating to the late 1600s; and the Allen House, built in 1710 and the site of a British raid in the Revolutionary War when it was a tavern.