Questions left unanswered on application for variance
Residents complain about present situation at West Main St. home
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer

FREEHOLD - Zoning Board of Adjustment members were more than a little perplexed as they listened to an attorney present an application during the board's June 26 meeting.

The application seeks a use variance to permit a home-based business to operate out of a single-family home at 109 W. Main Street. The applicants are Elio and Elaine DiCosmo, of Marlboro.

At the same time, residents who live near the home that is the subject of the application complained about the present situation at the property.

Attorney Salvatore Alfieri, of Matawan, and planner John Leoncavallo, of Sayreville, presented testimony on behalf of the applicant, but board members had questions they could not answer.

Board member Connie Murray said that in 30 years she had "never seen two professional gentlemen come here with so little information." After 90 minutes of testimony the board decided to continue to hear the application at a later date.

The hearing drew residents who live near 109 W. Main St. and who object to the applicant's request for a use variance.

Neither Elio or Elaine DiCosmo was present and Alfieri and Leoncavallo could not definitively say how many rental units are in the home or how many people are living in the home now. The could not articulate exactly what kind of home-based business the applicant is seeking to operate.

Leoncavallo said the home is across the street from the First Presbyterian Church. He said other homes in the area have been converted to home-based businesses. He noted there are administrative offices in the church and said there are other homes for sale in the area that could benefit from RPO zoning (residential, professional, office).

Zoning board Chairman Kevin Mulligan asked Leoncavallo why he was referencing other homes that had nothing to do with the application before the board.

The application, which was filed in January, initially sought a mixed use variance to accommodate office and residential uses. Leoncavallo said that after researching Freehold Borough's master plan he determined that initial request would be inconsistent with the master plan. He said he believed the request for a use variance to permit a home-based business would have a better chance of being approved.

Leoncavallo said the conversion of the residence to a home-based business would offer less use and intensity with traffic and people than it does now.

When asked how many rental units the home presently has, neither Alfieri nor Leoncavallo could give an accurate number of tenants currently occupying the home.

Board members asked if the owners would live in the home with the home-based business if the application is approved. When Alfieri replied no, board members did not appear to be happy.

Mulligan asked why the owner wants to switch the home's use from purely rental to a business.

Alfieri said when the owner purchased the business at an auction he thought the use was commercial. The attorney said the owner was having problems with residents and believed it would be better to have a business owner living in the home rather than keeping the residence as a rental unit.

Board member William Barricelli asked how many people would be displaced if the application for the use variance is approved.

No definite answer was offered by the applicant's representatives.

Leoncavallo said the applicant's son

who is in college in an engineering program, planned to move in to the home and open a business, but he did not know when that would happen.

Board members looked to zoning officer Hank Stryker III when trying to ascertain how many rental units there are in the home.

Stryker said the residence is a single-family home.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, many residents offered comments on the application.

Lesley Stivale, of Yard Avenue, asked Leoncavallo, "If only 500 square feet is allowed for the business, what's the plan for the rest of the space in the house?" Stivale said she has seen many people coming and going at the house. She asked the zoning board to "reconsider [hearing] the application based on so many unknown factors and because it will not be owner-occupied."

Bobbie Brandao, of Oak Street, asked what would happen if the owner's son decided not to open a business and live in the home.

Mulligan explained that the use variance would go with the house.

Brandao expressed concern that any kind of business could come in at that point and was told that the zoning board could restrict that ahead of time. According to the home-based business ordinance, no medical, dental or real estate offices can be located in that area in a home-based business.

Nolan Higgins, of West Main Street, asked if there are existing visual issues at the home.

Leoncavallo said he had seen worn paint and some missing boards on the exterior of the residence as well as a piece of concrete missing from the property. There is also some type of open tank on the property which he could not identify.

Brian Quinn, of West Main Street, asked if the size of the house or the parking lot would be increased. He also asked how the owner was prepared to address the issue of noise.

Leoncavallo said a buffer, plantings and other methods to mitigate the impact of noise would be discussed.

Quinn got the board's attention when he said, "If you open this up to certain use will you consider a bail bondsman's business? Certain people will argue that they see themselves as professionals."

Zoning board attorney Vincent Halleran told Quinn that was a good question.

Diane Olszewski, of West Main Street, said the home is "going downhill and getting more rundown." She said it is not maintained properly and told the zoning board she sees people getting out of vans with Pennsylvania and North Carolina license plates at all hours.

"People are constantly moving in and out," Olszewski said.

Eileen Vanderbunte said she believes the home's owner is "running a boarding house and motel because there are so many people coming in and out, day and night. They line up along the house outside and smoke. I find this situation untenable."

The application is expected to be placed on the agenda of a future zoning board meeting.