Three, two-family homes will rise on New Brunswick Avenue where two dilapidated homes once stood.

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The Zoning Board of Adjustment, by a 9-1 vote, approved an application at its June 22 meeting for construction of three, two-family homes, on the conditions that the original application be reduced from three bedrooms to two bedrooms. The two-family homes would be for sale, according to the application. Commissioner Richard Zdan was the only member to vote against the application. The board memorialized its decision during a meeting on Monday night.

A dilapidated two-family home and single-family home at 1138 New Brunswick Ave. and 1152 New Brunswick Ave. were vacant for many years before being demolished. The applicant, Wanderlei DaSilva, proposed subdividing the existing properties into three lots to construct a two-family dwelling on each lot.

Each three two-family home would be 1,750 square feet, with a one-car garage and one space in the driveway.

Lot 31.01 is oversized but Lot 29.01 is undersized. Combining the two and subdividing into three lots, more consistent with lots in the area, according to the application. Block 309, Lot 31.01 was acquired in March 2017 for $150,000 and Lot 29.01 was acquired in December 2016 for $50,000. The two sites currently generate property taxes of about $4,362 and 2,933, respectively, on assessments of 43,800 and $32,900, respectively, for the land alone.

The applicant was seeking preliminary and final major site plan, preliminary and final major subdivision approval each with a use “d” and bulk “c” variance approval.

Zoning Board Engineer Jacqueline Dirmann said the prior structures were a single-family home and a two-family home, so it was two, not three structures. Architecturally, the two-family is the same, but for bathroom, and the layout is the same. “I think it’s more of an issue here because you see three of them,” she said.

The reason for three bedrooms instead of two was the applicant wanted to add a bathroom but the applicant is willing to go to two bedrooms, according to his attorney, Daniel Roma. His client is open to making all changes and accepting suggestions by the city engineer and planner. He’s “very willing and eager to abide by any concerns and questions that commissioners and city professionals would have,” he said. The subdivision to three lots is a reasonable and effective use of the property, added, merged into three instead of two.

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