BY SUE M. MORGAN
Staff Writer

SEA BRIGHT — No matter that Sands Beach Club owner John Chimento insists he has no intention of increasing membership even if he legally gains up to 20 more parking spots across Ocean Avenue from his thriving business. A neighboring beach club owner remains unconvinced.

Questioning Chimento’s long-term intentions as well, the borough’s Planning/Zoning Board is delaying its decision until January on whether or not to grant a use variance that would effectively allow the Sands’ owners to park member vehicles in the vacant lot located at 858 Ocean Ave.

At the request of Board Attorney Kerry Higgins, Chimento’s attorney, Michael Leckstein of Little Silver, agreed at the Nov. 9 meeting to provide a revised site plan for the Sands’ building and the lot in question when the hearing on the application continues on Jan. 11.

That revised site plan, to be submitted to the borough’s planning office by the Sands’ managing corporation, O’Shea, Chimento and Rozinante Inc., will be reviewed by Borough Engineer David Hoder prior to the continued hearing, Higgins explained.

Chimento, representing the Sands’ corporate ownership, is seeking the use variance to allow him to park between 15 and 20 of his members’ vehicles in the lot which is co-owned by nearby resident Michael O’Shea.

During the height of the beach season, Chimento has been using about half of the lot for overflow parking once the lot at the Sands, 825 Ocean Ave., is filled to capacity.

The lot also contains a helistop that is now used as part of Sea Bright’s emergency management plan. That helistop was once used by deceased Rumson millionaire and Wall Street stockbroker John Mulheren, who died last December.

The lot fronts Ocean Avenue and backs up to the Shrewsbury River. It is located diagonally across from the Surfrider Beach Club, which is located directly to the south of the Sands.

The parking of vehicles or the helistop are pre-existing, non-approved uses according to borough zoning ordinances, Leckstein acknowledged.

Granting the use variance, however, would permit Chimento to park his members’ vehicles in an orderly fashion on peak business days and allow more availability of the helistop, he said. The board should also consider granting the use variance and effectively subdividing the lot in order to provide more open space adjacent to O’Shea’s residence, Leckstein added.

Chimento reiterated, as he had during the previous hearing on Sept. 14, that he plans to maintain his portion of the lot in its present unpaved, grass and gravel state.

Nonetheless, Jim LoBiondo, owner of the Surfrider Beach Club, maintained that Chimento’s application to legally use the lot could lead to future expansion of the Sands’ membership. Vehicles headed to the Sands on weekend days in the summer often back up on Ocean Avenue northbound, blocking the entrances and exits to Surfrider, LoBiondo told the board.

If Chimento is granted the use variance and allowed the overflow parking, he could increase his membership and as a result, hurt Surfrider’s business, LoBiondo predicted.

LoBiondo’s attorney, Thomas Hirsch of Ocean Township, backed up that claim and pressed for a new site plan to include any proposals for possible membership expansion.

The revised site plan should include the exact number and size of the spots, Hirsch added.

As they have before, Hirsch and LoBiondo reiterated that if the use variance is granted, property intended for residential use would instead be used for commercial out of compliance with local zoning laws.

A residence that stood on one portion of the lot was recently demolished by the Sands’ owners.