Bernards Twp. Zoning Board 'Confident' Allen Road Denial Will Be Upheld In Court

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — The Bernards Township Zoning Board of Adjustment is "confident" that its denial of Signature Acquisitions, LLC's application will be upheld in court following a lawsuit from the applicant.

"The Zoning Board of Adjustment is confident that its unanimous 6 to 0 denial of the Signature Acquisitions LLC application will be upheld by the Superior Court on appeal," said Zoning Board Attorney Steven K. Warner to Patch.

Specifically, Warner noted that the applicant failed to meet its burden of proving either the positive criteria, or either of the two prongs of the negative criteria, for either:

• (a) the subsection d(4) floor area variance (FAR) relief pertaining to subject Lot 3
• (b) the subsection d(1) use variance relief to permit 2 or more principal uses on adjacent Lot 2
• (c) the subsection d(1) use variance relief to permit the industrial access driveway use on the residentially zoned adjacent Lot 2
• Or (d) the 10 required bulk variances, the 7 design exceptions or the 3 specific approvals, all told some 25 deviations from the requirements of the Zoning Ordinance of the Township of Bernards

Signature's application was proposing to remove the existing 174,546-square-foot office building and build two new buildings at 150 Allen Road. The new buildings would consist of 97,185 square feet of light-industrial/manufacturing space and 30,792 square feet of office space.

The project was met with much pushback. A total of 70 residents spoke over a total of six hours at two different meetings expressing their opposition. Many residents specifically spoke about the impacts the traffic would have to the area.

Ultimately at that same meeting, all six members of the Bernards Township Zoning Board of Adjustment voted to deny the application, citing issues with the D-4 variance, which looked to exceed the allowable Floor Area Ratio(FAR) from 15 percent to 19.83 percent. Read More: Basking Ridge Denies Allen Road Manufacturing Building Application

Signature Acquisitions then filed a lawsuit against the Zoning Board in Somerset County Superior Court on March 27 claiming the Zoning Board "acted arbitrarily, capriciously, and unreasonably" when it denied the application. Read More: Lawsuit Filed Over Denial Of Allen Road Manufacturing Building In Basking Ridge

See below for the Zoning Board’s resolution of denial:

ZB22-028 Signature Acquisitions LLC - 150 Allen by Alexis Tarrazi on Scribd

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