Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Special Use Conditions topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Colonial Inn reaches agreement on outdoor ceremonies, sound limits and reporting
Summary
A joint stipulation for Ed & Ella's Colonial Inn will let the venue proceed with specified exterior improvements and operational limits: outdoor ceremonies limited to 45 minutes (max two per day), decibel limits at property lines (about 65–66 dB), annual sound testing and a requirement to provide sound‑check reports to the borough and interested parties.
Counsel for Ed & Ella's Colonial Inn presented a joint stipulation resolving objections to the operator’s proposed site improvements and limited expansions.
Matthew Dezi, speaking for the applicant, summarized the terms: a 720‑square‑foot cocktail room addition that will not increase seating in the main dining hall; operational limits on outdoor ceremonies; installation of sound attenuation walls and a sound limiter. He told the board, “The ceremony would be no more than 45 minutes in duration,” and said the parties had agreed on a requirement for a pre‑use sound check and annual testing.
Under the stipulation the outdoor ceremony season would be April 1 through November 15; ceremonies would end no later than 7:15 p.m. There are caps on amplified sound at the south and north property lines (near 65–66 decibels as described in the stipulation). The applicant also agreed to drainage design that complies with NJDEP stormwater rules and to provide a copy of the sound‑check report to the board and interested parties by July 31 of each year. The board marked the joint stipulation as an exhibit (J‑1) and discussed recording the stipulation or incorporating the operational conditions into a resolution.
Board counsel and members asked how enforcement would proceed if conditions were breached; the board’s zoning officer will have administrative enforcement authority and the applicant noted an additional private settlement agreement provides another enforcement mechanism for neighboring objectors. The item will be finalized consistent with the stipulation language as modified to include the missing sound‑report provision.
