Planning Board Meeting: September 3, 2025
The Lambertville Planning Board met at the Phillip L. Pittore Justice Center at 7pm on Wednesday, September 3, 2025.
The board went over the minutes and made some minor corrections such as misspellings in people’s names, and then the minutes were approved.
Link: Meeting Agenda
42 Swan Street (city records)
The Mayor recused himself due to the city architect. Richard Mongelli requested a 12-month extension for his client, who is seeking a minor subdivision. Mongelli joked that he is the guy who gets properties cleaned up, because [the yard at] Ota-Ya was cleaned up earlier that day. He told his client, “how can I go before the board if you don’t cut the lawn?” The board granted the extension.
New Member Voting
It was determined that Brittany, the who is new to the board, could vote before she goes to training, if she felt comfortable doing so.
80 Lambert Lane (city records)
Richard Mongelli playfully joked about being there to represent multiple applications. He said his wife told him to thank the board for putting up with him while she got him out of the house for the evening.
Jersey Girlz is working on building out their dispensary, but they discovered additional mold and a facilities pipe that has to be reconfigured and reconstructed. They haven’t completed construction and requested a time extension to get their CO. Mongelli asked for an additional six months or a year.
There was a lot of discussion about this request. The board talked about when the current extension expires, and if there are limitations on the amount of extensions they can get. They asked if the company would have to start over from the beginning if they did not approve the request. The timeline was discussed, and they talked about how long the traffic study took and how that impacted the process. A board member suggested they carry it.
The board was concerned, because the process has been going on for two years. Mongelli said this is the longest application he’s been involved with, and he invited the real estate manager, Alex P., to speak to the board.
Alex P. was sworn in. He explained that they have permits, and that the interior walls are framed. The second floor has a sewerage pipe running through it, and Jersey Girlz realized they don’t want sound of a flushing toilet going through middle of the store. They also have a mold concern. Construction permits only last 9 months. The space is just over 10,000 square feet and the project costs over $2 million dollars. Alex P. said he thinks it will happen within a year.
A board member explained that there are a limited amount of construction licenses for the city, and that revenue has not been coming in for the past four years. Their concern was that they keep giving extensions, but not getting anything back for the city.
Mayor Nowick reminded the board that cannabis applications are cumbersome, so he’d support six months with conditions even though he was not happy with the amount of time the project was taking. The board suggested the applicant bring every member of the team in next time, so they can answer questions and not just focus on the sewer pipe.
The applicant was granted a six month extension with the condition that they must report on their progress every thirty days, starting on October 1st.
63 Coryell Street (city records)
The applicant plans to reconfigure a mixed use building to include two new efficiency apartments and a redesigned retail space. The city engineer outlined the waivers that were requested. It’s all interior work. The board had no questions and they granted the waivers.
Michael Burns was sworn in. He went into detail about the various changes being made. The building is located in the CBD. It is an existing mixed use building. The applicant reached out to the D&R Canal. They are having trouble getting a will-serve letter from Veolia Water. Burns explained the details about the apartments. They are meeting the requirements, which include ingress and egress. The efficiency apartments are 450, and 551 square feet in size. The commercial space combined with the apartments reduces the parking load, because the current commercial has a larger requirement for parking spaces.
Burns said the apartments will have a fire sprinkler system, and he argued that Coryell Street has lots of mixed use, so this use fits the area. There is no parking on the site, but parking requirements are decreasing. An existing shed will continue to be used for trash and recycling. Rear yard set back is not effected.
The owner, Donald Heart from Stockton, NJ, was sworn in. He said they installed a new roof and are currently fixing damage from a leak. The board asked about affordable housing. Since they were only adding two apartments to an existing structure, they didn’t have to make anything officially affordable. Only if they built five new apartments would one have to be deed restricted. Heart said his current apartments are significantly below market value and he expected that spirit will continue here. Heart said he has tenants aging in place. The applicant will have to pay a residential development fee into the affordable housing fund.
There were no public comments. The board voted in favor, unanimously.
LHSR Redevelopment Plan
A court order is forcing the city to enter into a redeveloper agreement and the board was asked to decide on a plan for the former high school site that was nearly identical to the plan that had been introduced to them in 2024.
The proposed plan contains up to 200 multi-family dwelling units, including 40 affordable apartments. The advisory board only had to do a courtesy review to determine if the plan is consistent with the master plan or not.
Councilwoman Kominsky asked Michael Sullivan to explain the condition of our compliance. Sullivan explained about compliance and immunity. Councilwoman Kominsky pointed out that the city doesn’t have immunity right now.
The board tried to determine who was there for the first proposal, because not everyone present was on the board back then. A board member asked who owns the land that will be developed, and it was determined that Merrick Wilson is the owner. The board wondered who will own the responsibility for the PFAS and the landfill. It was said that the city is not responsible.
Councilwoman Kominsky was concerned and wanted more explanation. Sullivan said the zoning ordinance is a redevelopment plan as zoning. Sullivan said they could put other requirements in such as requiring a traffic study or examination of the ground water, and the redeveloper would have to do those things. The redeveloper will also still have to come before the planing board.
The board discussed their responsibilities. The previous plan had 28 affordable and 129 units, the new one has 200 units in total, with 40 as affordable.
On June 19, 2024 the board voted that the proposal was inconsistent with the master plan. A board member said she’d go with what the board previously recommended, and she pointed out that they were basically being presented with the same plan that had been previously rejected.
It will be up to Council to decide if the plan gets adopted or not. If Council doesn’t approve it, the city loses immunity. All the board needed to do was a consistency review. They act in an advisory role and cannot mandate anything.
Public Comments
🗣️ Jeff T. said that the sales contract between Merrill Wilson and K Hovnanian should be public, and the city should review it. He asked if anyone from the city had done a title search. Legal council said that was not part of the board’s responsibility. Jeff suggested the city check the deed, and he was told the only thing this board can look at is zoning ordinance.
Jeff asked the board, “Do you want to go on record as passing this?”
🗣️ Judy G. said she knows the board was advisory and couldn’t make the decision, but she hoped they had not forgotten what they stand for, and she asked the board to think about how hard they worked at it in the past. She urged the board to pay attention to what they did before.
🗣️ Peter H. wasn’t aware of the 200 total units. He asked the board not to ignore the potential for a hiking trail through the property.
The board said a trail could be part of the redeveloper agreement, and they talked with the city planner about adding the specification for a trail.
The board closed public comments. It was reiterated that the board only had to say if the plan was consistent with the master plan or not.
A motion was made that the proposed plan is not consistent, and the motion included all the same stuff from 2024, plus the added requirement for a trail.
The motion was seconded.
Brittany sat out, because she said she didn’t have all the information.
A ‘YES’ vote agreed that the proposed plan was inconsistent with the master plan, including the June 2024 letter, and adding a trail requirement.
Councilwoman Kominsky said, “Nobody is happy we are here.” She said that the governing body is under the gun to get immunity back, and that the courts put them in that position. She said she feels boxed in, and explained that her duty is to protect the city is a responsibility that is first and foremost for her. Councilwoman Kominsky said the Council’s words have been held against them in court.
Mayor Nowick said he’s a hard ‘NO,’ for the record. He said he finds the proposal consistent with the master plan, and he asked the board to make a good faith effort to “lean into that.” He also said that he deeply respects everyone’s views.
The final determination was 6-3, with six of the board members voting ‘YES,’ meaning they agreed that the proposed project was inconsistent with the master plan. Wells Winegar voted ‘NO.’ Mayor Nowick voted ‘NO.’ Councilwoman Kominsky reluctantly voted ‘NO.’
Parking Lot Trees on North Main
A board member said they looked at the trees by the parking lot on North Main Street, which is scheduled to be rehabilitated. The board member felt that the canopy of trees is very large, and quite attractive.
Mayor Nowick said the city is willing to take planting recommendations from Mary Anne Borge. An arborist has to come out and inspect the trees, then that information goes to the Shade Tree Commission.
The board member suggested they save the trees. Mayor Nowick said they will wait for the arborist. Wells Winegar joked the he is recusing himself, because lives next to the trees, and a joke was made about his car being under the trees.
The meeting adjourned.
The next Planning Board meeting is scheduled for October 1, 2025.
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