By Donald Wittkowski
Behind the towering marsh reeds at the bay end of 81st Street in Sea Isle City sits private property that has been owned by the Kling and Crowley families for more than 60 years.
The families had hoped to finally build a vacation home on one of their lots, but the city’s zoning board has denied their request for a variance that was needed to encroach into a wetlands conservation zone.
The 5-1 vote against the variance culminated a lengthy zoning board meeting Monday night that included intense opposition to the proposed development of the property by homeowners in the neighborhood.
Amid the packed meeting room at City Hall, opponents lined up to testify against the proposed project. The line stretched out the door and into the hallway.
Opponents said they had nothing against the Kling or Crowley families, but did not want to see a new house built on property that is already prone to flooding. They fear flooding in the neighborhood could become even worse if a house was built there.
“This area is frequently inundated by water,” testified Barbara Allen Woolley-Dillon, a professional planner who represented the opposition.
Opponents of the project line up to testify against it during Monday night's zoning board meeting.
In refusing the request for a variance, the zoning board members also expressed concerns about flooding in the neighborhood. They also said they did not want to set a precedent by allowing a new home to be built in a wetlands conservation area.
Under Sea Isle’s zoning laws, areas that are designated for wetlands conservation are restricted to “recreational fishing and crabbing, boating, passive recreation and environmental study.” Home construction is not allowed in those areas.
The Kling and Crowley property, owned by the families since 1957, is unusual because half of it is zoned for housing construction and the other half lies within in the wetlands conservation area.
“(The) application is unique in that the parcel is located in two distinct zoning districts,” wrote Andrew Previti, the zoning board’s engineer, in a Feb. 18, 2019, report summarizing the proposed project.
Shirley A. Kling, of Southampton, N.J., and Terrance L. Crowley, of Cherry Hill, N.J., the property owners, wanted to build a single-family vacation home on one of two adjacent bayfront lots they own at the end of 81st Street. They plan to keep the second lot vacant.
The Kling and Crowley families hired an attorney and a professional planner to represent them at the zoning board meeting. The planner and attorney both argued that a variance should be granted to allow the home’s construction.
Their attorney, Richard M. Hluchan, of Marlton, N.J., told the zoning board that the Kling and Crowley families had offered to sell the property to homeowners living within 200 feet of the site, but there were no takers. That set the stage for the families to try to build their home.
Real estate documents trace ownership of the property by the Kling and Crowley families back to 1957.
Kling and Crowley came to the zoning board seeking local approval for the project after the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection gave its approval for a single-family home on the property. The DEP had previously denied granting a permit for residential construction on the land, but reconsidered after the families appealed.
Woolley-Dillon, the professional planner representing the opponents, said she was “stunned” that the DEP gave its approval for a home on the property because the land is below the high water line and vulnerable to flooding.
“This is just flying in the face of logic,” she told the zoning board.
