Strathmere Hotel Meeting Rescheduled Due to Tech Issues

PETERSBURG – March 11 could’ve been the day that Strathmere and construction applicant Stephen Maloney turned the corner on a months-long process to figure out whethera hotel project should receive the green light from the Upper Township Zoning Board.   
Mention of the application’s final resolution was uppermost after the Feb. 11 and March 11 meetings.
Maloney’s application was before the board for many months. He is requesting preliminary and final site plan approval, a use variance for the expansion of a non-conforming use and a variance for the structure’s height, and possible bulk variances to construct a 15-unit hotel, at 513 Commonwealth Avenue, in Strathmere. 
The Zoning Board had this project before it for this length of time, given the complexity of variousissues and numerous residents opposing the project, who have been waiting to speak during public comment. 
Town residents, hundreds of them who joined previous meetings, strongly oppose the project because, they say, the hotel will create traffic, parking, safety, environmental, community cohesion and historic preservation problems.
However, even before the 6:30 p.m. start time March 11, many would-be participants, including board members, couldn’t log on through the link published on the Zoning Board’s homepage, with many receiving error messages, as they tried to do so. 
Municipal Engineer Paul Dietrich worked for nearly 30 minutes to fix the connection issues, with no success. Worries began to arise that if even one person couldn’t join the meeting and offer comments, the validity of the board’s determination would be called into question. 
Although dozens of people could join through phone or other means, past agendas, which included Maloney’s application, drew, on average, about 120 individuals seeking to provide their viewpoints.  
Lawyers for the board and the applicant likened the connection problem to the publication of a wrong address, which would cause interested parties to go to the wrong location. 
To cure the problem, it was unanimously agreed to cancel the meeting, as “not appropriate to continue.” The board agreed to hold the next iteration of consideration of Maloney’s application April 21, at 6:30 p.m. 
Proper and ample notification of the new date, per legal requirements, will be done by the municipality’s Zoning Officer Shelley Lea. 
The next regular meeting of the Zoning Board would have been April 1, but due to scheduling conflicts, the later date was chosen.  
To contact Camille Sailer, email csailer@cmcherald.com.