Major Howell House Fire Prompts Township Action Against Owner

HOWELL, NJ — Following a major fire last month, township code enforcement has issued six summonses for various ordinance violations to the owners of 363 Lanes Pond Road, officials said.

Violations included illegal use, violation of short-term rental ordinance, advertisement of short-term rental amenities and over-occupancy, Howell Director of Community Development Matt Howard explained in an email. He added that all violations are alleged until they are heard in Municipal Court.

The fire was Jan. 23. No one was injured.

"The Building Department has issued an unsafe structure notice and violation due to the fire damage. They have also issued several violations for other construction code violations. The Construction Board of Appeals will hear any appeal to these violations, if necessary," Howard said in the email.

The issue of over occupancy was addressed at length by Howard at the Township Council meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 7.

At the meeting, Howard said that, since the fire, the township has received many complaints about "gatherings" at houses. But he emphasized that gatherings, for religious purposes or parties, for example, are not an ordinance violation.

"People have a right to gather," he said, adding that all gatherings will be treated the same way by the township.

But over-occupancy is an issue, he said, and township officials are reviewing its ordinances.

For example, based on state housing law, he said the town would make sure rental agreements specifically state occupancy restrictions, and the information would be posted in the rental home.

The ordinance updating Howell's rental and housing code to "specifically codify the occupancy requirements would apply to rentals and all other residential structures in town," Howard explained in the email.

"We are also looking at tightening up our ordinances regarding property maintenance for rental and non-rental properties in the near future," he said in the email.

The town banned short-term rentals and amenity rentals last summer, he added.

Minimum fines may be increased to $1,000 each for failure to obtain a certificate of occupancy and for failure to register a home being used by multiple occupants, he said at the meeting.

"Ultimately, the goal is compliance," he said at the meeting. The fines and summons would act as a deterrent, he added.

The meeting on Feb. 7 was led by Deputy Mayor Evelyn O'Donnell, with Councilmen Fred Gasior and Ian Nadel in attendance.

They heard comments from three members of the public who expressed frustration and concern about what they said were changes in their neighborhoods.

One resident from Addison Road, for example, a resident her entire life, said traffic is heavier, her neighbors change and she would like more of a police presence there. She also said parking on both sides of the street with a row of cars makes navigating the road dangerous.

A resident of another street said she is disturbed by people asking if her house is for sale. She moved there six years ago. She was informed of a "no-knock" ordinance the township approved last year, based upon which she can make a formal complaint.

Another man, a resident of Glen Arden, said he moved from Jersey City to Howell primarily because it wasn't a city. But he warned that if Howell "becomes a city" it will need to pay for more police and fire and emergency personnel.

Township Manager Joseph Clark said he wanted to thank the first responders who handled both the fire at Lanes Pond Road Jan. 23 and other fires in the past few weeks.

"There have been six structure fires in the last two and a half weeks," he noted.

He said that is a greater number than he can recall in many years. And he urged residents to be cautious in their homes with heaters near combustibles and with electrical equipment.

First responders have "worked around the clock" to deal with the fires, Clark said.

The official cause of the fire at Lanes Pond Road has not been released. There was also a fire on Tuesday morning at the Windmill Club, at two townhouses with only two adults each in the houses. There were no injuries in either fire.

Regarding the 363 Lanes Pond Road fire, the property owner is listed as Avraham Lebovitz, according to property information website NJ Parcels. He bought it in April 2022 for $1,375,000, the site says.

Various real estate sites showed the property as a large, five-bedroom brick house, over 7,000 square feet, set off from the road on nearly 5 acres.

The township Municipal Court would not provide information confirming the name of the property owner or other information regarding the summonses, such as when the case will be heard. An employee of the court said questions could be submitted on a state Judiciary Request Form.

Howard made it clear at the meeting that proper enforcement and prosecution of alleged code violations will ultimately - hopefully - correct the "bigger picture" problem, although that will take time, he added.

He said the township will "go by the book" in prosecuting violations.