Zoning Board denies bakery new parking lot Residents cite fumes from delivery trucks as main concern BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer WOODBRIDGE - Avenel residents living in the vicinity of Santos Bakery on Rahway Avenue were relieved when the Zoning Board of Adjustment denied Alblio Santos' proposal last week to construct a new parking lot adjacent to his bakery. The Zoning Board voted 6-1 against the application at the board meeting on Jan. 4. Board member Robert Anderson was the lone vote to approve the application. "My main objection to this proposal is the cause of fumes from the delivery trucks," said board member Frank D'Arcio. "The applicants have to be responsible neighbors, but they have not been. The parking lot will be a detriment for the area. The business has outgrown the area." Santos under the name AMS Associates Inc., (Santos Bakery), who appeared before the Zoning Board Dec. 14 and Jan. 4, proposed to continue to operate his bakery at 1050 Rahway Ave. and to create a parking lot for 10 vehicles, which are adjacent to his bakery. The parking spaces would be used in connection with the applicant's business. No buildings were proposed for the R-4 section of the property. All buildings exist on the B-1 section of the property. Areas of new sidewalk, curb and landscaping were also proposed. Santos~ property currently contains a rectangular 9,000-square-foot parcel of land located along the south side of Rahway Avenue and Homer Court. It includes the abutting 4,200-square-foot lot at the corner of Homer Court and Mereline Avenue. A two-story bakery building exists on the site and is located in the B-1 Neighborhood Commercial Zone. The 4,200-square-foot parcel of land is located in the R-4 high-density, single-family residential zone. Bakery uses and accessory parking lots are not permitted in the R-4 high-density, single-family residential zone, according to the Sheehan & Bignell report. Sheehan and Bignell are planning consultants for the township. "His [Santos] proposal is not consistent to the township's master plan," said Tabon. The 1990 master plan designates all lots in this application for high-density, single-family residential development. The 2003 Re-examination Report does not alter this land-use recommendation. The existing and proposed use does not reconcile with this land-use designation. The applicant had received prior site plan approval from the Planning Board on March 23, 2005, for improvements to the bakery site. T&M Associates, professional engineers for the township, said in its report that the items from the prior approval have not been completed; however, the conditions of the application to the Planning Board meet the conditions of the board's approval. Henry Bignell, a planning consultant for the township, said when the Planning Board approved Santos' minor site plan application, one of the conditions promised with the approval was to pull their tractor-trailer onto their property so the truck would not be in the right of way. "It's been testified [by residents] that the truck blocks the roadway completely," said Bignell. "It's been almost two years and it has not been enforced." The proposed parking lot, which will be in the R-4 zone, will be closer to the residents' homes. "The trucks will be in my front yard," said Edna Tabon, who lives across the street from the bakery on Mereline Avenue. "The area is in a dilapidated condition. The proposal does not appear to be in the best interest of my neighbors and my family's quality of life." Tabon presented the board with more than a dozen photographs showing the condition of parking on Rahway Avenue. "There are 10 diesel trucks that emit diesel fumes that already affect our quality of air and life," said Tabon. "The trucks illegally park on Homer Court and Rahway Avenue. The trucks load and unload between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. I have to wake up at 3 a.m. and shut my window because of the fumes." Board members brought up the question of a township's idling ordinance that prevents trucks from idling in one spot for an extended period of time, but the board's attorney said the board has no authority on the idling ordinance - the issue had to go through the police department. "The police have issued many summonses," said Tabon. "The applicants were granted site plan approval in March 2005 with conditions, but there has been very little progress by them on complying with conditions on curbing and defining right of ways." Board member David Ortmann said it would be better if the delivery trucks park off the bakery's premise. "The parking lot will be in a residential area," said Ortmann. "The trucks should not idle near the houses. The trucks parking off the premises will be beneficial to the people in the neighborhood." At one time, the applicants did park their vehicles off the site's premises. Tabon and her neighbors said the problem is not only fumes from the trucks, but also the garbage that is littered in the bakery's front yard. "Their Dumpster gets packed and they don't close the lid," said Tabon. "The Dumpsters and debris face our homes. I continuously have to notify the police department." Robert Fair, who also lives in the area, was worried about the site's drainage system. He provided the board with four pictures of the runoff that runs from the site into the neighborhood streets. "Mr. [Angelo] Valettuto's previous testimony said the application would have no adverse effect or changes on drainage," he said. "Even without the additional paving, runoff from the site goes onto Homer Court and all the water goes down the hill on Mereline Avenue and turns the corner and runs along the curb that forms puddles and ponds of water on Homer Avenue. In the winter, the water forms a coat of ice." An issue was brought up for the first time during the board meeting on whether the bakery shop was a permitted use for the B-1 zone since the bakery had closed their front store and went from a commercial to a wholesale use. However, officials made a consent judgment that the bakery was a proper use for the site in prior applications to the Planning Board and state Superior Court. The issue was never brought up in the Planning Board or state Superior Court. Francis Betsko, who has worked in the bakery for 17 years under the previous owner and the current owner, said the front store had to close because the Woodbridge Health Department was giving the business a hard time. "We do bake the bread on site," said Betsko, who has worked under Santos for the last five years. "The business has increased. We had four trucks with the previous owner and now we're up to 10 trucks making deliveries. We have a state inspector inspect the place every year." Board Chairman Bernie McLaughlin believed the proposal of the 10 parking spaces was no benefit to the neighborhood. "The parking lot is closer to the residents," he said. "And that will cause a detriment to the neighborhood and provide no benefits for the residents."