Fifth Ward resident gets approval for use variance
The New Brunswick Zoning Board met last night with an almost empty agenda and few members of the public present.
The board voted 7-0 on the only item on their agenda to allow Stanley Kubiak of the 5th Ward to apply a use variance in order to turn his property on 10 Maple St. from a two-family to a three-family residence.
Tom Bogdan, the city planner and a witness for Kubiak, said the residence on 10 Maple St. is inefficient as a two-family household, seeing as the layout of the building is not made for such a structure, and it would also reduce the occupancy.
"So it makes no sense the way that it was set up [for a two-family residence]," he said. "In my opinion, it makes sense as a [three-family residence] and it's better for the city because you have less people and less of a parking demand."
Bogdan continued by recognizing the common reaction for a New Brunswick resident when they see a two-family residence being converted into a three-family residence.
"They automatically think about overcrowding and too many people in there," he said. "But what is actually happening is we are converting a two-family that is good for 11 people into a three-family residence that is good for seven people."
Bogdan said it makes sense to reduce the legal occupancy for the residency because if it were a single household, it could only mean trouble for the city of New Brunswick.
"Everybody on this board and everybody in those neighborhoods know that the more people that you have in one house as one group tends to cause some problems and is difficult to manage," he said. "You get police problems and sometimes you get fraternities or sometimes you get sororities, which is something nobody wants to see."
Although Bogdan assured the board it would be beneficial to execute a use variance on Kubiak's household, one member of the public showed she was in clear opposition.
Michelle Drulis, a resident of the 5th Ward, said the idea of changing a two-family residence to a three-family residence is a dangerous precedence with many negative consequences.
"I've heard what [Bogdan] had to say and it all sounded wonderful, but in our neighborhood, we live in reality," she said. "If you have a three-family household, you're going to get three families. It's not going to be two people in one unit, it is going to be a family."
Drulis said on Somerset Street, they have 50 children and not enough space to hold them. But they still live there, she said.
"So we are asking that you please consider that when you vote on this," she said.
She also said parking is a hassle and dangerous on that particular street.
"We already feel that we are so cramped, there is no parking. You have to worry about a taxi coming 50 mph down the street just when you leave your spot," she said. "We are not happy about this variance application at all, and we hope you consider our remarks."
Although the use variance on the property of 10 Maple St. was the only issue discussed, the zoning board continued to delay a public hearing on the plan to create an apartment complex on the corner of Sicard and Senior Streets.
According to development plans, the proposed three-story apartment complex would provide housing for 82 University students, with an underground garage with 29 parking spots.
The applicant had to postpone the hearing because they had an issue with notifications, Director of Planning and Development Glenn Patterson said.
But Charlie Kratovil, a resident of the 5th Ward, said this has been a continuing issue, which has delayed a public hearing affecting both the New Brunswick and University community.
"It was first heard and it actually passed, but with not enough votes, in March," he said. "So they pretty much pushed it back five or six times or every month since."
The applicant must get the notice for the public hearing out two weeks before the zoning board meets, notifying residents within 200 feet of the proposed building, Kratovil said.
"If they are unable to notify the residents, they cannot have the hearing," he said. "They just legally can't."
Although a public hearing has not yet approved the plans for the building, Kratovil said if the apartment complex were constructed, it would create parking difficulties in a city already plagued with this problem.
"It would exacerbate a really bad block for parking," he said. "The tenants are likely to have a car, and if you have 82 people legally occupying the building ... you are going to have way more than 29 cars in this building and no place to park them."
