It’ll be easier for customers to tote laundry to and from a Belleville laundromat now that the owner has gotten the OK to expand his on-site parking.
The Belleville Zoning Board of Adjustment voted unanimously last Thursday night to approve an application by 34 Franklin Street LLC to knock down a shuttered dessert stand at 34-38 Franklin St. next to Spin Central, a self-service facility, and develop the vacant lot for extra parking.
Under questioning by his attorney Robert Gaccione, Shane Berger, principal of 34 Franklin St. LLC and owner of the laundry facility, told the board he has a 20-year lease for the laundry property at Franklin and N. Eighth Sts. and is the contract-purchaser of the adjoining lot at 34-38 Franklin St.
Berger, who serves as vice president of the Bloomfield Board of Education, has been operating the Franklin St. business for the past five years with limited and cramped parking on-site, accessible via Franklin St.
To provide more room and easier traffic flow for laundry patrons driving to and from the location, Berger proposes to demolish the old Rita’s Italian Ice and merge the two adjacent lots.
Berger said that reconfiguration would accommodate a total of 33 parking spaces, three of which would be reserved for laundry employees and two for disabled motorists.
Drivers would be able to enter and exit the property via Franklin St., he said.
Business hours will be from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays and from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekends, he said.
Bulk variances required for the project were approved by the zoning board with the condition that the applicant confer with Town Engineer Tom Herits on plans for stormwater drainage.
– Ron Leir
