The following is the Zoning Officer's determination on the issuance of a Certificate of Use to Har Haven LLC. for the use of the Mount Haven property as a Resort.
Determination of the Zoning Officer Regarding the Request to Issue a Certificate
of Use to Har Haven LLC to Operate a Resort at the Property Known as Mount Haven
The Question
There are two questions to consider in the determination of whether a Certificate of Use may be issued to Har Haven LLC for the use of the property known as
The
information concerning the
Har Haven
use
of the property
was submitted to the Township by Nathan Birnhack, president of Har Haven LLC. In
the event that the information provided is determined to be inaccurate or
incomplete
and
the Township
has based a determination on that information, the Township
may take
such
action
as may be permitted by law
such as revoking the certificate,
etc.
Information concerning the historic use of
Issuance or denial of a Certificate of Use will be
based solely on the provisions of the
Background:
In its earliest incarnation,
Circa 1966 the property was purchased by the Filone
family which developed the property into a resort consisting primarily of a
motel and restaurant. It provided various types of sleeping accommodations, a
restaurant, gift shops, and other amenities such as a gazebo, basketball courts,
pavilion, and swimming pools. There was also a large house referred to as “The
Mansion” that was used for banquets, guest accommodations, administrative
activities and as a residence. The restaurant served guests who stayed at the
resort and the general public. It provided both on-site and off-site catering
and specialized in banquets. Take out service was also available.
The Filone family advertised the property as
a “Country Resort and Restaurant”.
The Dingman Township Zoning Ordinance as in effect in
July 2016 places the
Breaking the Resort use into its constituent parts
(restaurant and motel), restaurants are defined as “food establishments” in the
zoning ordinance. The NC district permits food establishments but with a
limitation of no more than 30 seats. The
Motels are not listed as a use that may be issued a
zoning permit in the NC zoning district. The motel portion of the use consisted
of various rooming options described as “villas”, “suites”, “cottages”, etc. All
totaled the property was billed as being able to house 96 guests when utilizing
the sleeper couches.
Motels are listed as a use that may be permitted in
the RC (Resort Commercial) zoning District.
As the original Mount Haven Resort was an existing
use prior to the 1974 enactment of the Dingman Township Zoning Ordinance and
that such a use, if applied for today in either its current form or separately
in its constituent parts, could not be permitted in the subject zoning district.
The use could only be permitted in the RC zoning district. The property’s use
is therefore considered a non-conforming use with all the rights vested in such
status by state and township law.
In 2016, the
Concerns have been raised that a corporation known as
The School for Children with Hidden Intelligence (SCHI) had been advertising
that SCHI would be using
The Dingman Township Zoning Ordinance does not define
the word “camp’ and camps are not listed on the schedule of uses that may
receive a zoning permit in any of the zoning districts throughout the township.
Because of the concern over whether
Findings:
The
The Merriam – Webster Dictionary defines Resort as “A place providing recreation
and entertainment, especially to vacationers.”
The Filone’s use of the property would, by
this definition, be considered a Resort.
Har Haven LLC is a “for profit” entity and the
current owner of the
The School for Children with Hidden Intelligence is a
separate corporation.
Har Haven has, through its written response, stated
that it will operate the restaurant as an event venue and provide dining
services for various large group functions.
This is consistent with the former
Har Haven has, through its written response, stated
that the restaurant will not be open on a regular basis as a public
accommodation, but that it may do so in the future should economic circumstances
be amenable to such use.
This is a downgrade from the former
Har Haven has, through its written response, stated
that the various sleeping accommodations will remain guest sleeping
accommodations with the occupancy of the rooms to be limited to no more than ten
(10) days per guest visit. This is consistent with the former
Har Haven has, through its written response, stated
that it intends to restrict the usage of the property including the dining
facilities, sleeping accommodations, and other amenities for a period of four
(4) to six (6) weeks annually for the exclusive use of the School for Children
with Hidden Intelligence.
It is not the purpose of the zoning ordinance
to limit or restrict a business in the nature of whom they may open their
business to.
Therefore, this too is consistent with the
former
The word “camp” is commonly used for many activities that no longer take place
in a traditional children’s camp setting.
For example, sports camps and educational
camps such as a math camp are frequently held on college campuses or school
facilities.
If SCHI chooses to call the
time
it utilizes
Conclusions:
Resort as a use is not defined the Zoning Ordinance.
As Har Haven has not taken official action to
have the use defined, the proposed use must fall into the realm of the
activities that were previously conducted at the Resort by the Filone family.
Camp is not defined in the zoning ordinance.
The determination of the classification of a use is
based on how the use is conducted and not how the property owner or any other
party may refer to it.
Therefore, in this particular case, the
determination of whether
Furthermore, the classification of “Resort” does not
automatically confer the use to be open to the general public and there are
numerous resorts around the country that are restricted to a particular
clientele.
Such a business decision is that of the
property owner so long as it is consistent with state and federal law.
It is also expressly noted that any group that should
stay at
Determination:
With the above so noted, I hereby find that the
proposed use of the Mount Haven property by Har Haven
though different in some ways,
to be basically similar to that conducted
by the Filone family and do hereby issue a
Temporary Certificate of Use to Har Haven LLC
for a period of one (1) year subject to the following provisions:
Har
Haven must operate the facility as described in the written comments that were
provided to the Dingman Township Zoning Officer.
In the event that
the information provided is determined to be inaccurate or incomplete, the
Township may
revoke or fail to
renew the certificate or take other action as afforded by law.
Use of the property as a camp, school or similar use for more than
6 weeks (contiguous of otherwise) in one calendar year will require Har Haven to
apply for zoning approval to operate a
school, camp or other use as may be determined appropriate to the
situation.
There is no guarantee that such permit will be issued.
In the event that the restaurant
portion of the premises is not used for six (6) weeks or more (42 days) total in
a calendar year such use shall be considered incidental and the dominant use
will be found to be the school, camp or other use. (However, the time period that the
restaurant is used while the school, camp or other use is in operation shall not
be considered.) In that event a new permit for such use shall be required. There
is no guarantee that such a permit will be issued.
In order to ensure that the use
remains a Resort, the motel
portion must remain open to guests for a minimum of 183
days in a calendar year.
A temporary certificate is being issued rather than a permanent certificate of
use because the use of the subject property as a resort in the traditional
manner is not currently taking place. The only use in current operation is the
camp use. Since the resort use is to take place in the future the Township must
be assured that the property can and will be used in a manner consistent with
its land use regulations before a permanent certificate can be issued.
Should Har Haven fail to
operate the property as a
resort, either immediately or in the future,
or
operate the property in a manner other than that in which it has been described
to the Dingman Township Zoning Officer,
or fail to abide by the terms specified above, the Certificate of Use may
be revoked,
not renewed and/or other legal
actions taken by the Township.
Appeals:
Any party aggrieved by the issuance of the Certificate
of Use may appeal the determination to the Dingman Township Zoning Hearing Board
within 30 days of this announcement.
Chris Wood
August 31, 2016