Michael Kates, attorney for approximately 20 families in the Beechwood/Hawthorne area presented Eric Mendelsohn, a resident of Beechwood Road, who made a presentation (PDF) clearly demonstrating that the proposed project was not consistent with the current master plan and was not within the current zoning of 25 Deforest. The presentation was met with enthusiastic approval from an audience of about 100 residents. As a result, the planning board agreed that further testimony from the residents would be helpful in making a decision -- particularly testimony from their planner. Other residents also spoke about their concerns with the proposal and were met with support from the audience.
Attorney Bart Sheehan, his client, developer Mark Yeager, and their architect presented to the planning Board about why Gateway 1 zoning should be allowed and, in particular why the board and the community should be comfortable with a 4 story parking garage at the site. 25 Deforest currently has approximately 300 parking spots, which is insufficient to accommodate the parking needed if the building were fully leased up. At this point, the building has 45,000 square feet of unleased available space. Mark Yeager’s plan is to solve his problem by building a 4 story parking garage increasing the parking from 300 spaces to 590 spaces to be used by the proposed townhouses and the office workers with140 spaces offered to the City of Summit. His strategy is to have the rezoning recommended by the Planning Board and avoid a potential rejection by the Zoning Board.
The next meeting with the Planning Board is scheduled for December 21 at which Michael Kates will be presenting with a planner retained on behalf of the residents. This is an important hearing and the planning board needs to know that the residents are concerned about the over-development of this area -- especially on the heels of a long established residential neighborhood. We need your attendance at the meeting on December 21 and would encourage you to contribute to the legal fund. We are looking for $200 each from 40 families and have received commitments from approximately 20. To contribute, please send an email to info@25deforest.com.