LAKE COMO, NJ-The planning board here has given its conditional approval for construction of the Villas at Lake Como, a $4.5-million mixed-use project in this community's Downtown area. The conditions, all 17 of them, relate to setbacks, lighting and other aesthetic factors.

The project is being done by Villas at Lake Como LLC, a Spring Lake-based partnership headed by Joseph Louro. According to Louro, who also has a chiropractic practice on the site, construction will start in March. Completion is slated for late this year.

As approved by the planning board, the site plan calls for three three-story buildings fronting on Main Street. The upper two floors of the cultured stone buildings will contain a total of 16 residential condominiums, and the ground floor will have eight retail spaces. Behind the three frontal buildings, the project will also include seven townhouses with an internal courtyard. The overall project will have 40 parking spaces, according to Louro.

This Monmouth County community was once known as South Belmar, but last fall voters approved a proposal to change the name to create a separate identity from neighboring Belmar, a larger oceanfront town.