Parking lot resolution needs township's okay

MILFORD - There will be no “backdoor” parking approvals for the GAIT Therapeutic Riding program, Milford Township solicitor Doug Jacobs said Monday. Jacobs commented after Planning Commission chair Kevin Stroyan said he had been advised by consulting planner Tom Shepstone that no further planning review was necessary to right a 12-space shortfall in the parking area promised when a conditional zoning use permit was approved. Noting that Milford Township has already been unsuccessfully sued by a neighbor of GAIT, for alleged procedural problems in granting that conditional use, Jacobs said Shepstone should talk to those involved with the issue, before giving advice. “This is an issue of people not getting the outcome they want and going to someone else to get a different answer,” Jacobs said. Missy Strub, a director on the GAIT board, said a survey error caused the parking shortage, and that pasture land or arena space would be made available if overflow parking was needed. She insisted there would be no parking along Foster Hill Road. Jacobs was unmoved, saying GAIT must either apply for a revised conditional use permit or seek a zoning variance.