By John Burton
RED BANK – When the borough Planning Board reconvenes next Monday to again consider the Hampton Inn proposal, there will be a familiar face in the audience, offering a familiar refrain to the board.
“This piece of property is just not suited for a hotel of this size,” said Red Bank attorney Ron Gasiorowski this week, giving a sneak preview of his argument when he appears before the board on Dec. 19.
This is sort of déjà vu all over again – with a nod toward Yogi Berra – as Gasiorowski had been the attorney for objectors when this development proposal to construct the Hampton Inn had last appeared before land use boards in the borough more than four years ago.
RBank Capital, LLC is back seeking board approval to construct a six-story, 76-room Hampton Inn at the site of a former Exxon gas station at the southbound state Highway 35/Rector Place intersection, just south of the Coopers Bridge.
The site overlooking the Swimming River is dilapidated, has been vacant for the better part of two decades and continues to need some environmental remediation.
In a phone interview on Monday, were mostly the same ones he voiced when he last appeared in opposition to the plan. He maintained the site is too small to accommodate a facility of this size, citing, among others things, the lack of property line buffers, as required under borough ordinances; and concerns over traffic, with ingress and egress for the location being problematic. He pointed out that all traffic exiting the location would have to move south and would require a convoluted driving pattern to proceed north on the highway; traffic traveling north on Route 35, looking to turn left into the location, face challengers from a busy roadway, he stressed. The developer is seeking approval to allow that left-hand turn, petitioning the state Department of Transportation to have a designated left-turn lane.
RED BANK – When the borough Planning Board reconvenes next Monday to again consider the Hampton Inn proposal, there will be a familiar face in the audience, offering a familiar refrain to the board.
“This piece of property is just not suited for a hotel of this size,” said Red Bank attorney Ron Gasiorowski this week, giving a sneak preview of his argument when he appears before the board on Dec. 19.
This is sort of déjà vu all over again – with a nod toward Yogi Berra – as Gasiorowski had been the attorney for objectors when this development proposal to construct the Hampton Inn had last appeared before land use boards in the borough more than four years ago.
RBank Capital, LLC is back seeking board approval to construct a six-story, 76-room Hampton Inn at the site of a former Exxon gas station at the southbound state Highway 35/Rector Place intersection, just south of the Coopers Bridge.
The site overlooking the Swimming River is dilapidated, has been vacant for the better part of two decades and continues to need some environmental remediation.
In a phone interview on Monday, were mostly the same ones he voiced when he last appeared in opposition to the plan. He maintained the site is too small to accommodate a facility of this size, citing, among others things, the lack of property line buffers, as required under borough ordinances; and concerns over traffic, with ingress and egress for the location being problematic. He pointed out that all traffic exiting the location would have to move south and would require a convoluted driving pattern to proceed north on the highway; traffic traveling north on Route 35, looking to turn left into the location, face challengers from a busy roadway, he stressed. The developer is seeking approval to allow that left-hand turn, petitioning the state Department of Transportation to have a designated left-turn lane.
“So, instead of building an office building, or some other use that comports with the zone,” Gasiorowski said of the developer, “he’s just looking to create an elephant in the room, so to speak.”
Gasiorowski specializes in representing individuals and groups who oppose certain, often controversial, contentious and high profile development projects. Most recently he’s representing opponents to the large Village 35 project currently before the Middletown Planning Board. He declined to say who he’s representing in this go-around concerning the Hampton Inn project, other than to offer “I’ve been contacted by someone who has retained me to oppose the project at the next hearing.”
Gasiorowski specializes in representing individuals and groups who oppose certain, often controversial, contentious and high profile development projects. Most recently he’s representing opponents to the large Village 35 project currently before the Middletown Planning Board. He declined to say who he’s representing in this go-around concerning the Hampton Inn project, other than to offer “I’ve been contacted by someone who has retained me to oppose the project at the next hearing.”
He said he would tell the board who he’s representing at the Dec. 19 hearing: a client, he maintained, who has appropriate legal standing to oppose the application.
Back in 2012 Gasiorowski had represented the objectors Steve Mitchell, a borough resident, and Tinton Falls Lodging Realty, which owns and operates the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel, 700 Hope Road, Tinton Falls. He filed two lawsuits against the developer and borough arguing these points and asserting the application rightfully should appear before the Zoning Board of Adjustment for a use variance, given the proposed height of the structure. The applicant eventually withdrew the application.
Mitchell said this week he was not the objector. Attempts to contact Tinton Falls Lodging Realty were unsuccessful.
Martin A. McGann Jr., the attorney representing RBank Capital did not return a phone call seeking comment for this story.
Back in 2012 Gasiorowski had represented the objectors Steve Mitchell, a borough resident, and Tinton Falls Lodging Realty, which owns and operates the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel, 700 Hope Road, Tinton Falls. He filed two lawsuits against the developer and borough arguing these points and asserting the application rightfully should appear before the Zoning Board of Adjustment for a use variance, given the proposed height of the structure. The applicant eventually withdrew the application.
Mitchell said this week he was not the objector. Attempts to contact Tinton Falls Lodging Realty were unsuccessful.
Martin A. McGann Jr., the attorney representing RBank Capital did not return a phone call seeking comment for this story.
