Oakwood Drive Hearing Delayed Until October 11

You know it’s a quiet summer night for the Planning Board when most of the noise during a meeting comes from the yoga class being held on the other side of the Council Chamber’s dividers.

After last Tuesday’s meeting was cancelled, five members of the Planning Board and its attorney met for a swift and smooth meeting last night at the Municipal Center, their only August gathering and one that was less than 15 minutes long.

Board members expected the meeting to be especially expedient once they found out earlier Tuesday that the night’s main issue – a subdivision approval for the property at 25 Oakwood Drive – was no longer going to be heard and would be carried to a meeting in October.

Chairman Bob Lesnewich announced that he had received an email Tuesday afternoon alerting him that the Oakwood Drive matter was being postponed for “personal reasons involving the applicant.” The matter, originally scheduled to be discussed during the public hearing segment last night, will now be heard at the board’s meeting on October 11. Board members emphasized that no further public notice will be given for the October hearing, unless the date has to be changed again.

The Oakwood Drive application involves a minor subdivision approval on Block 283, Lot 11, R-1 Zone. It includes a proposal to raze the existing single-family house in order to subdivide the lot into three separate single family parcels. The only three residents who attended last night’s meeting came to partake in the Oakwood Drive discussion, apparently not receiving notice of its postponement.

Board attorney Bill Robertson confirmed that the notice given by the applicant was proper and in compliance with statutory requirements. He also said that, as required by law, all property owners within 200 feet of the property would be notified of the postponed hearing.

One resident told the board that a neighbor had been posting notes on people’s front doors claiming that the 25 Oakwood Drive property owner’s builders had withdrawn their plans to partake in the project, suggesting that such a decision may have had something to do with yesterday’s postponement. However, board members declined to comment on such an occurrence, claiming it was not their place to respond to the private matter.

Other than the Oakwood Drive adjournment, the board moved quickly through the night’s otherwise barren agenda. Lesnewich said he will have to recuse himself from a hearing planned for the board’s September 6 meeting dealing with an application from the First Presbyterian Church.

Board members offered slight changes to the minutes of their July 5 and July 12 meetings before quickly voting for their approval. The board also briefly discussed the opening night football game on Friday, Sept. 9, which will be the

Absent from the meeting were board members Daniel Henn, Robert Sartorius, Vince Vyzas and Mayor J. Brooke Hern.

The Planning Board’s next meeting will be Tuesday, Sept. 6 at the Municipal Center.