Zoners agree to reopen nixed arena application

BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer

West Long WEST LONG BRANCH - The borough Zoning Board of Adjustment voted last week to reopen an application by Monmouth University for a proposed sports arena.

A special meeting to hear further testimony for a down-sized multipurpose activity center, or MAC, is scheduled to be held Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m.

At the Jan. 25 meeting, Monmouth University petitioned the Zoning Board for a reconsideration of its Dec. 14 denial of its application.

"When the decision was made [to reject the application], I was shocked and a little disappointed," said Wendell Smith, attorney for Monmouth University.

"It was a flat rejection with no compromise. That is why we are here tonight. To request some further dialogue," he said.

The board voted unanimously to vacate its rejection of the application, and additionally determined the scope of the rehearing.

After much discussion, the board decided to limit the scope of the rehearing to: the submission of a traffic plan; the proposed conditions upon approval of the application; and the correction of an error that occurred during the proceedings, which made a rehearing of the application possible.

Borough Attorney Thomas Klein explained, "A reconsideration ... is unusual.

"It is not normally used in zoning decisions. It is mainly used in court proceedings." Klein explained that in an administrative proceeding, the general rule is that once a decision is final, an application cannot be reopened unless fraud, perjury or a mistake occurred during the process that could impact a substantial change.

"The only exception the board could consider is if a mistake was made during the hearings," Klein said.

A mistake during the proceedings is what Smith said occurred.

"The mistake we are talking about [occurred] during last month's meeting," Smith said, referring to statements made by board member Douglas Bostwick prior to the board's vote.

Smith contends that Bostwick said at the December meeting that he had talked to borough Police Chief Arthur N. Cosentino and was told a traffic plan for events at Monmouth University was not in place.

A written plan was never submitted, according to Smith, who added that Cosentino and the borough police department had an oral agreement.

"The intention was to have a [written] agreement after approval," Smith said. "I said to put it in the [approved plans] as a condition.

"Ninety-nine percent of all problems in this world are caused by miscommunication and I feel that happened here," he said.

Although all board members voted unanimously to reopen the application, Bostwick voted against the scope of the rehearing.

"I just want to go where the mistake was made," Bostwick said. "They are trying to reopen this whole thing. We are giving them the opportunity to reopen the application."

At the special meeting, Monmouth University plans to present a scaled-down version of its original plan.

The university failed to get approval of the MAC last month when the board voted 4-3 to reject the application, which required five affirmative votes for approval due to use variances.

In its new proposal, the university is proposing to reduce the total number of seats in the MAC by 720, bringing the new total to 4,122.

The original proposal for the 152,400-square-foot building to be connected to the Boylan Gymnasium in the center of the south campus has not changed in its new proposal.

The new proposal for the MAC also calls for capacity events at the arena to be limited to 12 per year, four less than the previous proposal for 16 events.

Additionally, Monmouth plans establish an agreement with the West Long Branch Police Department for parking and traffic protocols when it anticipates the sale of at least 3,000 tickets.

Branch