Aberdeen Seeks To Change Zoning On Controversial Cliffwood Property

ABERDEEN, NJ — Aberdeen Township seeks to make a zoning change on a highly controversial piece of land in the Cliffwood section of town. The move has been met with suspicion by some, but Mayor Fred Tagliarini, facing an upcoming election challenge over the issue, insists this could be a solution that makes all Aberdeen residents happy.

On Wednesday night, the Aberdeen Planning Board will be presented with an ordinance that seeks to change the zoning on a six-acre Meizner Street property from its existing R-100 single-family residential to R-65 single-family residential. You can read the ordinance here.

That's a map of the Meizner Street property in question. Part of those six acres are unbuildable wetlands.

If the change is approved, it essentially means a developer can one day build more homes on the parcel. According to Mayor Tagliarini, the owner of the property, Ruach Chaim Inc., has been in talks with a developer to potentially sell that land. He declined to name the developer, or developers.

"We are trying to find a solution here that works for all the residents and everybody in this town," he told Patch on Tuesday.

Ruach Chaim Inc. is an Orthodox Jewish organization that for the past 11 years has operated Yeshiva Gedola out of an old nursing home on Center Street off Rt. 35. They have been model citizens in Aberdeen, Mayor Tagliarini said. The controversy arose last year, when Ruach Chaim said they wanted to expand in Cliffwood and proposed building a campus-like yeshiva, or Jewish religious school, on Meizner Street.

Those who live nearby said the area could not handle the multiple dormitories, rec center and buildings the religious group was planning. They predicted that a thriving yeshiva could attract more than 300 people to the sleepy area, and clog its roads. In fact, Cliffwood resident Michael Canberg rose to prominence in town by leading the yeshiva opposition and is challenging Tagliarini for his seat in the upcoming November mayoral election.

"With Glassworks we are already looking at over-development of the area," said one Cliffwood resident who lives near Meizner Street and did not want to give her name. She is referring to the under-construction rental complex right down Cliffwood Avenue.

"I also have concerns regarding how it will affect our taxes since religious organizations are exempt," she added. "The way that Lakewood has been handled, in terms of irresponsibility on behalf of zoning laws, has made us all wary."

In Sept. of 2016, Ruach Chaim requested a variance to allow the yeshiva to be built. After much outcry from the community, Ruach Chaim eventually withdrew their application in February, but they still gave the Township eight new dates that they could potentially re-submit it, according to Mayor Tagliarini.

Ruach Chaim has since canceled those dates. But the yeshiva idea is not yet completely off the table.

"Until we get an unconditional withdrawal of the application it could come back," said Tagliarini. "So this application has been postponed indefinitely — unless certain actions take place to make it possible for the applicant to look for a developer to sell this land."

Under its current R-100 zoning, the Meizner Street property can hold single-family residential lots, which must be 100 by 100 feet. If the new R-65 zoning is approved, the residential lots that can be built there can become smaller, with just 65 feet of frontage and unspecified depth. Many property lots in Aberdeen are even smaller than that, at 50 by 50 feet.

"So instead of being able to build 7 or 8 homes, let's say you can build 11, roughly," said Tagliarini. "The land becomes more appealing to a developer."

When told this news on Tuesday, Canberg said he remained deeply skeptical.

"You always could build 6 or 8 homes on there, and now you're telling me the possibility of three more homes is going to turn it into a 'highly profitable' property all of a sudden?" he asked. "I just don't believe it."

And some say Aberdeen is giving everything and getting nothing in return from Ruach Chaim.

"If the developer places a lifetime deed restriction on the property preventing its development for anything other than single-family detached residential, most, if not all, of these objections would cease," said Jeff Sirot, an attorney with the law firm Curcio, Mirzaian, Sirot, which was hired by Canberg. "It is inappropriate to create a new zone for one developer without addressing any of the community's concerns."

The mayor said the religious Jewish group may just stay where they are on Center Street, with some improvements on the building, such as possibly a new roof.

The Aberdeen Township Council already approved the zoning change ordinance last week on first reading. The Planning Board meets tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall and will vote on the ordinance then. It then goes back to the Council at their Aug. 16 meeting for the second and final reading, and potential adoption. Several residents, including Canberg, said they will attend the Wednesday night meeting and voice their concerns about the yeshiva.