Hotel plan may return at later date

HOWELL - A public hearing on an applicant's plan to build a six-story hotel near the intersection of Route 9 and Interstate 195 was not heard by the Howell Zoning Board of Adjustment on Dec. 17.

A special meeting of the zoning board had been scheduled for that night to hear the hotel application.

Local real estate professional Jack Krupnick, who is the broker on the deal, told Greater Media Newspapers on Dec. 12 that the attorney representing the applicant had postponed the meeting.

The applicant, Northwoods Center LLC, was expected to propose building a six-story hotel with 126 rooms, a 6,100- square-foot restaurant and a 20,659- square-foot banquet hall on a 25-acre parcel in Howell's Highway Development (HD) zone near the two highways.

Although the project is a permitted conditional use in the HD zone, as proposed it would not have met all the requirements as a conditional use within the HD zone, according to a report prepared by zoning board engineer CME Associates, and therefore the applicant would have been required to obtain a use variance.

The applicant is being represented by attorney William Mehr.

In a conversation with Greater Media Newspapers, Krupnick said, "I know there are a lot of people who are in favor of this project. It will provide employment opportunities and it will be a ratable for the township. It won't really affect the (adjoining) neighborhood and we've got the maps to show that."

Krupnick said the applicant may come back before the zoning board in the spring.

The application proposing the hotel was on the board's Nov. 26 agenda but time constraints prevented it from being heard.

However, residents who showed up for the scheduled hearing criticized the plan to construct a hotel and banquet facility near their homes. In comments made outside the meeting room the residents expressed concern about a possible increase in motor vehicle traffic in their neighborhood and the applicant's plan to use a residential road as an entrance to the hotel site.