Three Businesses Planned For Narrow Land In Brick

BRICK – An application to build three, two-story contractor shops/offices at 345 Drum Point Road was approved at the Planning Board’s most recent meeting.

Albert Del Prete of Del Corp. Holdings LLC has owned the 2.3-acre property since 2001. The unique parcel is long and narrow, measuring 1,000 feet by 119 feet. It is located between the backyard homes on Huppert Drive and Leswing Drive in Sky Manor.

The length and narrow width of the undeveloped property has presented a hardship for Del Prete, who said he has tried to sell it to the homeowners on multiple occasions.

Most recently, Del Corp. Holdings applied to build a 175-unit self-storage facility, which was denied by the Board since it was not an approved use in the Village Zone, which encourages a mix of residential and commercial use.

Del Prete appeared before the Board during the recent meeting to review his efforts in selling the property or developing it.

On three separate occasions, in 2002, 2003 and 2017, “over and over again,” Del Prete reached out to the homeowners whose backyards were adjacent to the property asking if they wanted to buy “a piece or all of it.”

He got no responses, except for one in 2017, but that person never followed up on it, he said. He even tried to get the township to buy the land, he added.

In 2018, the parcel was being used as a playground, and one resident had even put up a swing set on Del Prete’s property behind their house.

“We came before the Board, and our application for a storage facility was denied – we thought it was an excellent idea, but the neighbors didn’t like it,” he said.

“So then we looked at the property, we looked at what are the possibilities being done there, and contractors’ offices are permitted in the zone,” he said. “The property is weird-shaped…it was part of the old airport.”

“I’ve done my share in trying to do the right thing by the neighbors and by the township,” Del Prete said.

Barlo, Governale & Associates Architects designed both the rejected storage facility and the now-approved three buildings that will be used as shops for a plumber, electrician, painter or similar tradesman.

The project’s site engineer and traffic expert testified at previous meetings.

“Anything we’ve been asked to comply with, we have, so I don’t know where else to go with this,” Del Prete said.

About a dozen of the surrounding homeowners attended the Planning Board meeting, and many of them spoke when they got the opportunity during public comments.

Amelia Cruszewski, who lives on Huppert Drive, asked why the project couldn’t have been made smaller. “Why are there so many buildings?” she asked.

Del Prete said that with over two acres of property, he wasn’t going to put just one building there.

Resident Jessica Decker asked the same thing. “Did you consider anything else on a smaller scale?”

Planning expert John Taikina said the project is conforming and permitted.

“Frankly, the ordinance allows for three times more building coverage,” he said. “We have 10.7 percent building coverage when 30 percent is allowed, so this is substantially below the development maximum.”

The contractor shops are residential in character, with peaked roofs and clapboard siding, so it echoes the surrounding residences, Taikina added.

“Many other uses would have had a much greater impact on the neighborhood,” the planner said.

The developer agreed to install a six foot high, board-on-board fence around the entire property.