Zoning Board News

7/12/18 Zoning Board Meeting

PERTH AMBOY – There were two topics of discussion at the 7/12/18 Zoning Board Meeting. The first topic dealt with the vacant parking lot on Sayre Avenue where a bus company was parking their small school buses. That bus company had been brought to court several times, but their attorney was able to get their client to have their time extended to park their vehicles. 

The bus company’s lawyer stated that the City did not have zoning ordinances in place when that lot was placed there. He showed pictures of vehicles from the 1947 to present that have parked on that lot whose length ranged from 18.75 ft. long all the way to 19.8 ft. long The school buses presently parked there are 19.3 ft long.

Residents in that area came up to speak who were against the parking because it encouraged homeless people to sleep in between them at night and that it also brought down their property values. 

When it came time for voting, it was decided that this matter had to be carried over to the next meeting to be held in August because the voting was 3 for and 3 against. One member of the Board had to recuse himself. The lawyer for the bus company had stated that they needed to have the full Board voting on this matter.

The second topic involved Antonio Abreu, who wanted to purchase property on Hanson Avenue, which had been abandoned and is an eyesore. He plans to build two houses on that property. People from the neighborhood came up to speak and were all for it. The existing structures have been boarded up for years which brought down their property values. 

The Zoning Board voted unanimously for the project to go forward.