Holmdel zoning board carries proposal to convert 24 Shank Road into outdoor learning center after questions about on-site daycare and zoning status

The Holmdel Zoning Board of Adjustment carried the application to convert 24 Shank Road into a private outdoor learning center and related childcare functions to its Oct. 21, 2026 meeting after extended testimony and questioning on July 15.

Jill Perez, who identified herself as the principal of the applicant organization Tranquil Inspirations, told the board the nonprofit’s mission is to provide an outdoor learning and garden space that ‘‘encourages a return to connection, purpose, and the simple act of creating with our hands.’’ Perez said the proposal envisions short, class-based outdoor sessions — described as ‘‘mud kitchen’’ classes for children ages roughly 1 to 5 — plus weekend workshops and after-school activities. ‘‘Two teachers and then 10 families attending those events’’ would be accommodated by a proposed parking area the applicant described as having space for about 12 vehicles, Perez said.

Board planner Kate Keller and other members focused questioning on how the proposed instructional, appointment-style classes differ from an all-day childcare center and on the legal consequences of changing the property’s residential use. Keller told the board the application is properly framed as a D(1) use variance request and said the outdoor learning center resembles a class-based instructional use that municipalities sometimes treat differently from a traditional daycare. ‘‘It’s almost like appointment-based,’’ Keller said, adding the board could consider a temporary or ‘‘sunset’’ condition for any childcare function if it wanted to permit a limited transition period.

Members raised significant concerns about earlier and current activity at the property. Perez confirmed she does not currently live at the residence and acknowledged that children have been meeting there. Board members and staff noted a zoning notice in the file: a January 2025 violation alleging operation of a daycare from a single-family dwelling without required approvals. The planner and several members asked Perez to provide any written zoning permits, prior approvals or communications with the township zoning office and with the Monmouth County Department of Health; Perez said she had met with county staff and had an email indicating privately paid classes might not trigger state licensing but acknowledged the board should see the documentation.

Board members repeatedly emphasized that approving an outdoor learning center while an unresolved separate daycare use remains on the property complicates review. One member said permitting both uses in the same approval could ‘‘legitimize’’ activity that might not comply with family-daycare rules, which require the provider to reside at the dwelling. Another urged the applicant and counsel to clarify whether the current use is a family day-care home or a different business-type daycare, noting that the latter would require licensing and different site improvements.

Applicant counsel Dante Alfieri asked the board for time to revise plans and address the board’s questions; he said the team would return with a clearer, consolidated application. The board agreed to carry the matter for renotice and requested an updated 200-foot notice list. The motion to carry the application to Oct. 21, 2026, with renotice passed on roll call.

What’s next: The board asked the applicant to supply revised site plans, a clarified statement of proposed uses (including whether the daycare will be temporary and any proposed sunset period), and any prior zoning approvals or correspondence that relate to the property’s current use. The matter will be renoticed to adjoining property owners and is scheduled for the Oct. 21, 2026 Zoning Board hearing.