Residents continue fight to block ice cream stand Resident: City ordinance prohibits Strollo's in residential neighborhood BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer LONG BRANCH - Critics of a Strollo's Lighthouse ice cream stand that is proposed to open on a residential block in the city plan to argue next week that the project is not a permitted use. OceanAvenue North resident Bob Allison said that a city ordinance prohibits the Strollo's establishment from opening at a site in his neighborhood. "An original ordinance [11-06] was passed in 1999," Allison said. "It was amended by council in 2006. "I presented it to our lawyers and it creates a whole new problem with this application," Allison said, adding, "This ordinance says you are not going to get a license to operate here." Allison and a group of residents are protesting the proposal to construct Strollo's Lighthouse in their residential neighborhood, which is zoned as RCI Beachfront mixed use. The zoning permits commercial uses. According to Ordinance 11-06, sidewalk cafes and restaurants are permitted uses in any commercial zone. The ordinance also states that a cafe or restaurant is prohibited on any property immediately adjacent to a residential use, unless the commercial entity was established prior to the residential use. "This becomes a major problem now for the applicant," Allison said. "It says you can put a building up, but you can't open the door because the ordinance doesn't permit a license." Testimony on the proposed application is scheduled to be heard at the March 18 Planning Board meeting. Applicant James Callano is seeking to relocate his homemade ice cream business from Seaview and Ocean avenues to a new site between Ocean Avenue and Ocean Boulevard, between the cross streets of Joline and Avenel avenues. Callano is proposing to close the 500- square-foot outdoor ice cream stand and reopen an 800-square-foot structure on a 33,000-square-foot tract of land surrounded by residential housing. The proposal calls for constructing the business in a lighthouse-shaped building to stand 40 feet high in a zone where only 35 feet high is permitted. Allison and residents in the surrounding neighborhood crowded the Jan. 30 Planning Board meeting to object to the plan. The residents are being represented by four attorneys. "I have a licensed appraiser that shows values of our homes could drop as high as 20 percent if this gets built," Allison said. "He is proposing to move to a block that has limited parking, no overflow parking and where there is no other commercial use. "There is something wrong with this picture. The business Mr. Callano has is geared towards a boardwalk, where people can walk by and stop in. "It is not meant in the middle of a residential neighborhood," Allison said, adding, "It is very poor planning." Allison said his hope is that city officials make a law to prohibit stand-alone commercial establishments in residential neighborhoods. "Let's assume that we are lucky and we beat this application and it is denied, and then down the road another business tries to go there," Allison said. "If an ordinance is passed, we won't have a potential builder trying to open a business there again." Plans call for Callano to construct the lighthouse-shaped structure on three lots in the Ocean Avenue North and Ocean Boulevard residential neighborhood. Callano currently owns two of the lots at the proposed site for the project. He is the contract purchaser for the third site, according to Steven J. Tripp, the attorney representing Callano. Callano is seeking three bulk variances for lot depth, lot area and lot frontage, according to Tripp, who said the applicant is not seeking a height variance for the lighthouse-shaped structure. Plans also include a 17-space parking lot at the site. The business would operate 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The business would also be open from April to May from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and from 2 to 10 p.m. after Labor Day. "How do people that have to work early in the morning, go to bed early?" Allison asked. "How are you going to be able to function if your neighbor is having a party seven nights a week? "It is a violation of our rights. Just becauseMr. Callano says he stops serving at 11 p.m. does not mean that the noise stops then. People could stay there and talk and have a good time for another hour. "There is something wrong here," Allison added. Allison said he does not blame Callano for proposing to open the business in the residential neighborhood. "It is the city," Allison said. "The city has not updated its master plan to reflect what is out there now. "Mr. Callano is just using the law against us. If the city can allow a restaurant to go up against residential property, everybody is at risk. "People should see that there is nothing on the books to stop someone fromhaving a commercial establishment up against a residential neighborhood," he said, adding, "This is a problem with the city."