Oceanport Planning Board approves Seneca Place development

The Oceanport Planning Board has approved the application submitted by Darren Davis to remove the existing dwelling at 60 Seneca Pl. and construct a new dwelling slightly larger than the existing structure.

Davis and his surveyor/engineer Charles Surmont were present at Wednesday’s Planning Board meeting to seek relief for insufficient lot width. The property, which Davis recently purchased, is located in the R3 zone, which requires 120 feet of width, whereas the proposed structure has 100 feet of width.

“Adjacent to the subject property to the west is Lot 1, which also has only 100 feet of frontage, and adjacent to the subject property to the east, Lot 4, has only 50 feet of frontage,” said Surmont. “So it’s impossible to remedy the 20 foot shortfall in frontage in acquiring any properties from those adjoiners because those adjoining properties would then become not only deficient in width, but also deficient in lot area. So, based on that, we’re essentially confined to the 100 ft. width that the property currently has.”

“The house is quite a bit smaller than what we could have proposed on the lot,” Surmont noted. “This house only takes up 14.8 percent of the lot coverage. Mr. Davis certainly wasn’t looking to bring anything out of character with the neighborhood. The home to the right is a bi-level [and] the home to the left on Lot 4 [is] a two-story house, but it’s not a large house. So Mr. Davis tried to offer a house that was somewhat in character with the size and scale of the homes in the neighborhood.”

Before the Planning Board approved Davis’ request for a bulk variance in regards to lot width, member James Gervolino questioned Davis about the proposed dressing room located above the garage. “It almost looks like it could be a Rec. Room.”

“No, it’s a dressing room,” Davis replied. “My wife asked me for one thing.”