Planner: Lake Club Catering 'Prohibited Use'

Lake Valhalla Club to renovate its property after a report from the board's planner said the club first would need to obtain a use variance—the type of variance that is hardest to get—because it offers catering services, which is not a permitted use of the site.

Planner Joseph Burgis said the club needed a D-1 use variance, which would have required the club to meet a stricter set of criteria than it needed to get the D-2 variance it initially sought. A D-2 variance is for applications that are expanding pre-existing nonconforming uses. A D-1 variance is for uses that are not allowed on a site.

Josh Mann, an attorney for two neighbors who opposed the plan, including one who is a club member, said it made sense for the club to withdraw its application after Burgis's report was sent on Aug. 29.

"We are not surprised, especially after the board's planner agreed with our legal analysis that the club failed to present any legal proofs justifying the past, present and future booking of the club for weddings and other banquets by non-members and the so-called auxiliary members," Mann said. "Those operations run contrary to local ordinances, and we expect that the town will act to enforce its own laws."

The club's attorney, Steven C. Schepis, declined to comment. His letter withdrawing the application was sent Sept. 7, the same day a hearing on the application was scheduled.

"I thank the Board for its kind consideration in this matter and the extensive amount of time put into reviewing this application," Schepis wrote.

Lake Valhalla Club encompasses 127.8 acres in the township, including a 90-acre private lake, and has been in operation since 1928.  According to Burgis's report, the clubhouse historically had a restaurant serving its membership, which was permitted as a pre-existing nonconforming use when land development laws went into effect in the 1950s. But when the club started being used as a catering facility some time after a new zoning ordinance was on the books in 1961, "LVC became a prohibited use," Burgis wrote.

"A review of prior zoning board resolutions indicates the board had not addressed the issue of catering in previous applications," he said. "Consequently, this use does not appear to have been given any legal sanction."

While the application has been withdrawn, a new set of standards for the club could be on the way. The Master Plan adopted in 2010 says a new Lake Recreation zone will be created for the Lake Valhalla Club. The Planning Board has been working on the creation of the zone and it is scheduled to be discussed at the board's meeting at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday in the municipal building.

The plan says the new zone should "protect the surrounding area’s established residential neighborhood" while acknowledging the site's historic use as a club. The zone should allow the club to provide maintenance and upgrade the facility while ensuring neighbors are not adversely affected by on-site activity, the plan says.