Gloucester City Zoning/Planning Board Stops Bail Bond Business from Opening on North Broadway
Thursday, September 19, 2013
BY BILL CLEARY
CNBNEWS.NET
GLOUCESTER CITY NJ--The Gloucester City Zoning/Planning Board voted against the
opening of a bail bond business on Wednesday night by a vote of 4-2.
Joe Feldman, owner of Boardwalk Bail Bonds had applied to the city housing code official in July and was given a green light to proceed with his plans to open an office at 112 N. Broadway,
Once given the okay Feldman started to fix up the rental office. He erected a sign out in front of the property which had been vacant for the past two years.
But that opening was put on hold when the president of the Gloucester City Business Association, Robert Booth, filed an appeal to stop it.
Booth appeared at the August council meeting and asked council for a hearing with the zoning/planning board to air objections to the certificate of occupancy for the business.
“We are not really against a new business smack in the middle of the town, we just want to know if the use is permitted in the code,” Booth said, according to a newspaper report on the meeting.
Booth’s written objections stated in part, “A bail bond store is not an expressly permitted use in a Retail and Commercial (RC2) Zone.” Booth objection implied that he had the full support of the GCBA’s membership as he signed the document, Robert C. Booth, president, GCBA.
Feldman said his company, Boardwalk Bail Bonds is licensed by the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance. The certificate he received is dated June 1, 2013. It is signed by Commissioner Kenneth E. Kobylowski. Feldman argued that the City’s Schedule of District Regulations allows for an insurance business to open in a RC2 Zone.
Feldman said in a earlier interview, “My attorney, [Andrew R. Imperiale, of Ventor NJ] also looked at the city’s zoning laws and agreed that I was in compliance with the code.” Asked how much this delay in opening his office has cost him, “Approximately $10,000 a week.”
But the Board on Wednesday night, after hearing both sides of the argument, decided that Stecklair was wrong in allowing Feldman to proceed with his plans.
In a telephone interview after the meeting Feldman said he intends to file a lawsuit against the city because of the denial. " I am also going to file a lawsuit against the Gloucester City Business Association."
In recent years the city has also stopped the opening of two taxi-cab businesses and a check cashing store. All three owners found homes in nearby Brooklawn and Westville.
