TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON—An application to construct an Apple Montessori preschool/daycare for up to 154 toddlers at 95 Linwood Ave. — where a defunct Charlie Brown’s restaurant stands — gets its first Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing on Monday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m.
The session format is hybrid, via Zoom and in-person at Town Hall.
Last year, the township pursued the site’s purchase only to back off after a consultant found remnants of piping linked to prior gas pumps housed at the site. However, Apple Montessori’s consultant expressed no concerns about the site, one of its officials told Pascack Press.
Apple Montessori Schools proposes to build a two–story structure comprising 18,743 square feet of gross space. The applicant requests a use variance to put a daycare/preschool on a site zoned “AA” for single-family residential, with a prior nonconforming use as a restaurant.
According to its public notice published March 3, the applicant seeks approval to demolish the existing building and construct a new two-story daycare center/early childhood education/school, along with related site improvements, including parking, pool, landscaping and lighting.
The applicant moreover seeks use variance relief for construction of a daycare center/early childhood education/school where same is not a permitted use.
Readers can find the public notice at njpublicnotices.com, a free service provided by the New Jersey Press Association. Digital application documents can be found by clicking the link by Zoning Board Applications Before The Board, and then Apple Montessori School on the Zoning Board web page.
The application seeks variances to local code:
- For building height greater than permitted (30 ft. permitted; 34.75 ft. proposed). The applicant also seeks bulk variance relief along with design waivers/exceptions, including: front yard setback less than required (50 ft. required; 31 ft. proposed on Hemlock Drive);
- Accessory building front-yard setback less than required (50 ft. required; 21.9 ft. proposed on Linwood Avenue);
- Minimum parking space size less than required (180 sq. ft. required; 162 sq. ft. proposed);
- Off-street parking prohibited in front yard where same is proposed; and
- Number of parking spaces less than required (108 spaces required; 34 spaces proposed).
Applicant attorney is Jason R. Tuvel. Apple Montesori Schools director of development is Erica Amon. We invited comment from both for this article.
Apple Montessori Schools has been operating in New Jersey for 50 years, Amon told us last year. She said then that 16 of its preschools operate in north and central New Jersey.
Township balked at purchase
In late fall 2022, Amon told Pascack Press that the applicant had submitted a preliminary and final site plan application for a 154-student preschool on the 1.45-acre site. The application was reviewed by township professionals late last year and in early 2023 before it could be deemed “complete” and the proposal was then set for hearings before the Zoning Board of Adjustment that begin March 13.
This followed an early 2022 attempt to purchase the site for $1.35 million that was interrupted when the township moved to purchase the site for the same price — under threat of condemnation — at first for a new location for its razed DPW facility, which was demolished due to longstanding toxic contamination on site.
When the effort to site a new DPW facility at 95 Linwood failed due to public resistance from township and neighboring Paramus residents, Mayor Peter Calamari suggested the site be used for a new police headquarters.
That effort petered out when remnants of an underground piping system were discovered from the site’s prior land use as a convenience store/gas station.
The Township is planning to build a $5 million DPW facility back at Town Hall, on top of its former footprint, while no plans for police department upgrades are ongoing.
Due to possible environmental contamination, the township council voted unanimously last June to withdraw its bid to purchase the property. However, within two months of the township’s decision to drop out, Apple Montessori Schools moved to restart efforts to purchase the property contingent upon site approval for a school.
Amon told us that the private school will educate infants and toddlers, and feature preschool programs for a maximum of 154 children.
She said the school will have a “residential feel” and include a swimming pool. She said last year that the plan was to keep the main school building “as far away from residents” as possible and nearer the highway side of the property.
Site renderings show the school positioned near the east side of the property that adjoins southbound lanes of the Garden State Parkway, and away from residences on Hemlock Drive, a cul-de-sac.