We see green

Construction of two-family homes in a 12-lot section of Union Avenue would be permitted under a zoning do-over being considered by the Borough Council.

Two-family homes were banned there and in another section of Union Avenue further to the east, under a 2022 master plan amendment. But the council agreed on Tuesday, Dec. 16 to give the allowance of two-family homes a second look at the request of one affected parcel’s owner.

George Athanasopoulos, owner of 423 Union Ave., sought a variance to build a two-family home on his parcel in November 2024 but was rejected in a 7-0 vote by the Joint Land Use Board. The property is the former home to a pest control business.

Longtime Middlesex resident and former borough attorney Ed Johnson represented Athanasopoulos during the JLUB hearing. Over the past year, Johnson has sent two letters to the council advocating a zoning change. He pitched the allowance of two-family homes in person during the governing body’s Dec. 16 session.

The 12 properties being considered for rezoning lie on the north side of Union Avenue, running eastward from the intersection of Shepherd and Union avenues. The dozen parcels now comprise one commercial property, seven with single-family homes and four others with two-family homes. Two-family homes would continue to be prohibited on Union Avenue from the Vastola & Sullivan law office eastward.

Concerns about a potential proliferation of two-family home applications led the council and JLUB to prohibit them in the most recent master plan re-examination, according to officials.

Those concerns included the approval to tear down the historic Fisk home and build three two-family homes, the rejection of another application to build multiple duplexes on one lot elsewhere on Union Avenue, and fears that the former Ferris Brothers florist site could become home to two-family structures.

Officials acknowledged that zoning worries, including potential effects on neighborhoods and infrastructure, drove the past anti-two-family sentiment. A different issue, however, has spurred duplexes to get new consideration on certain lots. 

That matter is the municipality’s somewhat dicey tax revenue situation. Previously, officials noted that the Green Brook Flood Risk Management Project has removed numerous properties from the tax rolls. And this year, many commercial and industrial properties had their tax assessments cut to reflect their reduced market value.

Council President Michael Conahan chaired the JLUB when two-family homes were banned on Union Avenue. But Conahan acknowledged he now sees the matter differently as a council member.

Athanasopoulos proposes to upgrade “a rundown, old pest control place that looks horrific,” said Conahan. He also noted that generating revenue is part of the council’s job.

“The revenue portion? On the JLUB, we don’t get into that,” said Conahan. “Up here, that’s a pretty big focus.”

The intended allowance for two-family homes on the 12 lots, while simultaneously keeping the ban in place elsewhere on Union Avenue, was viewed as a compromise by several officials who commented at the council session.

The rezoning proposal will go to the JLUB for a recommendation. The JLUB members will be in the unique position of reviewing the reasons why they rejected an application more than a year ago.

The council can accept or reject the JLUB’s coming recommendation. If the JLUB opposes two-family zoning for the 12 lots, the council could disregard it and enact the change anyway. If that occurs, the council would need to formally state its reasons for doing so, Conahan said.

During his comments to the council, Johnson did not fault the JLUB for rejecting Athanasopoulos’ variance request in 2024, noting it was the proper move under the zoning then in place. 

“We should, however, own up to our mistakes,” Johnson added.

In his correspondence to the governing body, Johnson called the two-family ban a “knee-jerk reaction” to the Fisk application several years ago. That application included the removal of a historic home from the related property, located at the intersection of Union Avenue and Orchard Road.

JLUB members may have their own take on the two-family do-over. One of that panel’s members, former Mayor John Madden, commented briefly after the council’s discussion.

“Yes, we do need the revenue,” Madden said. The JLUB, however, will need to also consider whether the rezoning will change the character of the affected portion of Union Avenue, he added.

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