Appeal filed in Edison zoning approval of Charlie Brown's redevelopment
EDISON – A resident has appealed to the Township Council after the Zoning Board of Adjustment recently approved a developer's application for a use variance to build seven duplexes on the site of the shuttered Charlie Brown's on Plainfield Road.
In a letter to the township clerk, township resident Joel Bassoff has requested the council reverse, vacate and deny the use variance granted by the zoning board in late June to Markim Developers.
It's unclear when or if the appeal will be heard. The Township Council has a meeting scheduled for Monday, but the agenda wasn’t yet available.
Bassoff said the appeal hearing will not involve witnesses or new testimony or exhibits. The council's decision will be based on the record established at the zoning board hearings, including transcripts and exhibits. The parties, including Bassoff, Markim and the zoning board, may submit a written argument and may make an oral argument to the council, he said.
The Municipal Land Use Law gives the Township Council 95 days from the resolution's publishing date to decide on appeal. Bassoff's letter indicates the resolution was published in the Home News Tribune on July 29. If the council declines to hear the appeal, the zoning board's decision stands.
The appeal was not unexpected. Residents fought plans to build townhouses on the 2-acre site at 222 Plainfield Road for more than a year. The property, located adjacent to a neighborhood of single-family homes and the Metuchen Golf and Country Club, is zoned for a golf course and had been used by the restaurant for years before the business closed about two years ago.
Neighborhood residents, who cited the Municipal Land Use Law and Edison Master Plan in their opposition, had sought single-family homes on the property.
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The zoning board's approval allows Markim Developers to build seven two-bedroom, age-restricted duplexes for the project called The Links at Edison. The plan was modified from a 2021 proposal which called for 23 three-story, three-bedroom townhouses on the property, as well as an earlier plan this year for eight duplexes.
The duplex plans show each unit with a garage, equipped with an electric vehicle charging station, dining room, family room, powder room, kitchen and dinette on the first floor. A main bedroom with a walk-in closet and bathroom, a second bedroom, sitting area, another bathroom and laundry area are planned for the second floor, along with an office area in the attic and a basement. The units will have elevators in the kitchen behind the staircase. The zoning board restricted the attic from being converted into a bedroom.
The project is planned for a section of heavily traveled Plainfield Road near Woodrow Wilson Middle School and Woodbrook Elementary School in Edison and St. Joseph High School in Metuchen.
In the notice of appeal, Bassoff states the applicant failed to show the use variance will not substantially impair the intent and purpose of the zone plan and failed to prove the site is suitable for a multi-family townhouse among other arguments.
The notice also states the zoning board impaired the intent and purpose of the zoning ordinance and master plan, usurped the Township Council's authority in determining the appropriate zoning regulations for the parcel and engaged in illegal spot zoning.
Email: srussell@gannettnj.com
Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Edison Charlie Brown's redevelopment approval appealed
