Hillel School planning 5,000-sq.-ft. addition

Deal Road school will exceed 130,000 sq. ft. if expansion is approved

By carolyn o’connell

Staff Writer

OCEAN TOWNSHIP — Rain may not keep students at Hillel School of the Shore off the playground much longer.

The Deal Road school, which accommodated grades prekindergarten through high school, has an application before the township’s Zoning Board of Adjustment to build a one-room addition onto its three-story, 125,135-square-foot structure that will house an indoor playground. The public hearing on the application is slated for Aug. 8.

As proposed, the addition will be 5,130 square feet built onto the southeast corner of the existing early learning center.

The site plan for the enclosed playground depicts an addition with clerestory windows placed for extra lighting. The addition will not increase the impervious coverage on the site, as the room will be built over an existing paved playground area.

The playground will enclose a playroom, a jungle gym and swing set for the use of preschool children during inclement weather conditions.

The project is just one of the many expansions and alterations the school has added to its campus in recent years. The school was granted a variance in 1996 for a three-story addition to expand its high school, and last year the school added a day-care center and a new library, and the roof of the east wing was replaced.

The school also completed interior renovations of classrooms, new partitions, new ceilings and flooring, and updated its electrical, mechanical and plumbing systems in prior years.

The school also received zoning approval to alter the number of parking spaces from a required 1,200 spaces to 188 spaces.

Prior to the school receiving its final approval for the enclosed playground, a landscaping plan between the playroom and Deal Road must be submitted and approved.

According to records on file at the township planning office, the addition will not affect parking nor will it increase enrollment.

The matter is before the Zoning Board because it is an expansion of an existing nonconforming use.

Edward Radzely, an attorney with Giordano, Halleran, Ciesla, Tinton Falls, will represent the school before the Zoning Board. The architect for the project is Work Architecture and Design, New York City.

Abraham M. Beyda, the chief financial officer for the school, refused to comment for the story.