Beach Theatre Decision Delayed Until Dec. 23

CAPE MAY — Despite two and half hours of testimony and public comment before the city’s Planning Board Tuesday, Dec, 9, a hearing for preliminary site plan approval with variances to tear down the auditorium section of the Beach Theatre and build six condos was continued until a Dec. 23 meeting.
Board Solicitor George Neidig said he needed time to confirm with Board Engineer Craig Hurless what waivers were requested and what conditions would be placed if the board offered a positive vote for the project.
Neidig said no more testimony would be heard Dec. 23 and a vote would be taken.
Frank Investments, owner of the theater, submitted plans for building six, three-bedroom condominiums above nine existing retail stores fronting on Beach Avenue. The closing of the theater lobby would create one additional store.
The building’s front facade and retail space would remain. The retail section would be restored and reconfigured into 7,732 square feet of space. A 40-seat restaurant would remain.
The Dec. 9 hearing was a continuation of a Sept. 8 hearing.
Frank Investment’s attorney Stephen Nehmad noted the city’s Historic Preservation Commission approved a preliminary site plan and a demolition of the auditorium.
At issue, should the project be permitted to use stacked parking which a city ordinance only allows for Victorian hotels and are apartments permitted in the C-2 Beach Business Zone for use other than for merchants occupying shops on the floors below.
Hurless said the condos would require 13 parking spaces while the retail requires 39 spaces, the restaurant 10 spaces plus 16 employee spaces for a total of 66 required spaces. The applicant is proposing 26 spaces, which requires a variance. The current use of the theater complex requires 184 spaces while only 13 are provided.
Of those, 12 spaces would use stacked parking, where one car is blocked in by another. Hurless said the state Residential Site Improvement Standards (RSIS) “did not include any methodology for calculating stacked parking for those units.”
He said no previous applications for stacked parking involved using RSIS standards because none hade a residential component.
He said RSIS standards supersede local ordinances and apply for mixed use development with residential parking.
Cape May will submit its COAH affordable housing plans to the state by the end of the month. Hurless said the construction of six apartment units and alteration of a commercial development results in an affordable housing obligation. He said Frank Investments indicated it would make a “payment-in-lieu of construction,” but that was not permitted.
Nehmad said the COAH obligation would be met.
Attorney Eric Garrabrant, representing resident Barbara Skinner, who opposes the project, brought testimony from Richard Lipko, a professional planner, of Haddon Heights.
Lipko said Cape May’s zoning ordinance indicates stacking parking was only allowed at Victorian hotels: Congress Hall, the Chalfonte and the Inn of Cape May. He said stacked parking would double the amount of density normally allowed on the site.
Lipko said the C2 Zone allowed apartments above commercial uses to provide living quarters for the owner or manager of a commercial establishment but not other types of residential use.
On cross examination of Lipko, Nehmad said the city’s zoning ordinance did not specify only the use of accessory apartments in the C-2 Zone.
“You believe that allowing stacked parking will cause a substantial determent to the zone plan in the zoning ordinance?” asked Nehmad.
“Yes,” replied Lipko.
Nehmad noted the project reduced the extent of the parking non-conformity by 130 spaces.
Lipko said the rationale supporting prohibition of stacked parking was to control density, to have adequate access in and out of parking lots, to prevent traffic problems from drivers backing out into the street and to offer access for fire trucks.
During public comment: Barbara Bednar, owner of the adjacent Heritage Inn, said she was concerned the condos at the Beach Theatre would become weekly or monthly rentals with guests coming and going around the clock.
Resident Barbara Skinner said, “Legal arguments seemed to be crawling through a loophole that would open “a giant floodgate of over development in the city.”
Resident Michael O’Connor noted stacked parking was used only a Congress Hall which uses parking valets.
Resident Dr. Scott Maslow said stacked parking was used only by Victorian hotels with 100 or more units and was not permitted for new construction. He said the project “served no benefit accept for this developer and our zoning plan will be substantially impaired.”
Maslow said the theater acted like a “beacon store in a mall” and without the theatre, businesses in the area would suffer.
Resident Christine Miller said the condos were likely to be summer rentals bringing multiple cars with “not anywhere near the necessary parking spaces.”
Nehmad said the Frank’s had the right to demolish the entire complex. He said the Franks delayed action on redevelopment and gave the Beach Theatre Foundation a lease on the theater, which ends March 31, 2009.
He said the delay caused them to miss a good real estate market and be in the throes of a “real economic decline.”
“We are most significantly taking away from a very non-conforming condition in terms of parking,” said Nehmad.
He said “other than fear of precedence,” he heard no reason not to grant stacked parking for the project.Frank Investments is seeking waivers from a drainage structure report, solid waste recycling plan and environmental impact and traffic studies.
Nehmad agreed to remove a current non-conforming side yard setback on Stockton Place. A variance is needed for the building setback line due to the front canopy encroaching into Beach Avenue, a current non-conforming condition.