By Allison Perrine
Property at 101 East River Road is currently being eyed as a future youth academic facility by The Peach Pit, LLC.
RUMSON – Plans to bring a youth academic facility to East River Road returned before the Rumson Zoning Board Tuesday, Oct. 19. No decisions were made and the application will be carried to a later meeting, currently set for Dec. 14. But officials got to hear some concerns about the proposal from a neighboring business owner and his professionals before adjourning the four-plus hour meeting.
The property at 101 East River Road currently contains a two-story office space with a parking lot behind it paved for nine vehicles. The applicant hopes to convert it into a facility that would provide “a safe and enriching environment” to meet children’s academic, social and emotional needs, and to be a place of support for parents and teachers, according to the presentation. As outlined during the last hearing in July, the first floor of the center would have a youth play café area with a kitchen, tables and counter seating. It would also include a lounge area with chairs, couches, a TV and games. The second floor will be a designated learning center with space for tutoring and studying. The center would be limited to members only and operate throughout the school year and in some capacity through the summer and on weekends. The Oct. 19 meeting opened with resumed questions for Tara D’Uva, director of operations of The Peach Pit, LLC, regarding the center’s projected profits, capacity limits and operations. Then the board heard from George Coffenberg, co-owner of Preferred Properties Real Estate at 105 East River Road, who shared some concerns about the Peach Pit’s potential approval.
According to Coffenberg, whose family has owned the property for decades, there are “blind spots” when exiting through the driveway at 101 East River Road. He fears that if children are “wandering back there, whether it’s on the bike, skateboard or walking, there’s a good chance someone’s going to get hit,” he said. He also expressed concern that the Peach Pit could produce high-volume traffic and inconvenience those visiting his business at 105 East River Road. The applicant’s attorney, Jennifer Krimko of Ansell Grimm & Aaron, PC, asked Coffenberg if he would have the same traffic concern if the property was transformed into a candy shop, restaurant, bar, convenience store or pharmacy. “You might have more foot traffic but I doubt you’re going to have more vehicle traffic for a candy store… because I would say most people that would buy candy would be children,” said Coffenberg. “And most people that go to a children’s-only café would be children as well, would you agree?” asked Krimko. “Right,” Coffenberg said. But the facility was used as a real estate office for 40 years and presented “no problems with the neighbors,” he said. “So a use like a professional office – which is what all these buildings have been used for, for decades” is the “right use” for the property. “Not a restaurant, not a daycare or whatever you want to call it,” he said.
At the previous hearing, the applicant brought traffic engineer John McCormack to testify on traffic generation projections at the site, which showed predicted peak activity to be during after school hours when homework help and classes begin at the center. However, being that the property is “in the heart of the borough” and is only about a block from Rumson-Fair Haven High School, Forrestdale Middle School and Deane-Porter Elementary School, he anticipated that a “majority” of children would walk or bike to the center. But Coffenberg’s concerns were backed by traffic engineer Lee D. Klein, principal of Klein Traffic Consulting LLC, at the Oct. 19 hearing. Klein said his “main concern is the incompatibility of the proposed use… mixed in with these two offices at 103 and 105 that have very low-intensity use” of the sites at any given time. He suggested that when parents drop their children off at the center during busier pickup and drop-off times, they will enter from West Street and, rather than K-turning and exiting from West Street, the Peach Pit will be “directing them and encouraging them” to exit through the easement shared by buildings 103 and 105 East River Road. “I think because of the intensity and the times, it really coincides with some of the peaks of Mr. Coffenberg’s business where he’s got employees that are ready to leave, he may have customers coming in after their workday,” said Klein. “I think there’s a way of making this work but it’s got to be separate from the 103, 105 (easement).”
Testimony followed from civil engineer Peter Steck, community planning consultant, who said after reviewing the borough’s master plan, under permitted and special uses, he finds the plans for the Peach Pit’s café component to be “akin to a restaurant.” “If anyone looks at this use or part of this use as a restaurant, recognizing the disruption that that could cause to the abutting home, the ordinance would require a 25-foot buffer; the applicant has no buffer in this instance,” he said. “This use is not a permitted use in the zone. It doesn’t permit tutoring centers; it doesn’t permit cafes; it doesn’t permit community centers.” Testimony is expected to continue at the Dec. 14 hearing.
This article originally appeared in the Oct. 28 – Nov. 3, 2021 print edition of The Two River Times.
