Office building OK'd next to real estate business
BY JESSICA SMITH
Staff Writer

MILLTOWN - A new office building will be going up on South Main Street next spring.

The Planning Board granted approval to Main Street Real Estate to subdivide the property and construct a building for commercial office use at its meeting Nov. 8.

The 2,160-square-foot building will consist of two stories and will be situated on the same lot as Gabrielle Realty Inc. Two tenants will occupy the new office space.

Main Street Real Estate submitted a revised proposal that eliminated the originally proposed residential component of the project because it would have required too many variances.

Another revision to the original site plan relates to the size of the proposed building. It was reduced to create more space for parking, as well as for the buffer on the south side of the site, which is adjacent to residential property.

While the proposed 18 parking spaces would not be enough to meet the borough's ordinance if the two buildings on the site are considered separately, when the square footage of the two buildings is combined and rounded to the nearest number, the spaces are sufficient. Borough professionals recommended deed restrictions for future purchasers of the property regarding the shared parking arrangement, as well as for the nonresidential status.

Even with the revised plan, Main Street Realty requested several variances. One dealt with the front-yard setback of the building, which is required by the town's ordinance to be farther back from existing structures, but will be set at the same distance for the purpose of uniformity.

The board granted a waiver for a truck loading area, as it was not deemed necessary for this type of development, and Borough Planner Raymond Liotta pointed out that not having one would decrease the amount of impervious coverage. Another waiver granted was for a place to hold trash and recycling.

The applicant agreed, because of limited parking, not to have medical offices there. It also agreed to revise the lighting and signage plans to adhere to borough ordinance, and at the request of the board agreed to use vinyl fencing.

The building is designed to have a residential appearance, which will meet with the stated goal of making it uniform with the nearby residential structures.