Traffic main concern
in dispute with VFW
By vincent todaro
Staff Writer
EAST BRUNSWICK — Residents who live near Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 133 are expected to continue testimony Sept. 5 on a plan they say would greatly increase traffic on their roads.
Residents from the Colonial Oaks Village homeowners association said if a proposal goes through to demolish the post, build a new one at the rear of the property and construct a 20,000-square-foot medical facility at the front of the Cranbury Road site, it will negatively affect their quality of life. A central issue in their opposition is the addition of a point of entry to the VFW property from Evergreen Boulevard, one of two main roads running through the Colonial Oaks development.
Currently, the only VFW access point opens onto Cranbury Road.
The applicant, Diversified Equities and Management Co., Linden, is seeking a use variance from the township’s Zoning Board of Adjustment in order to purchase the property — which is zoned as residential — and build the medical facility, as well as the new 4,500-square-foot VFW building.
The medical facility would be used by University Radiology Group and would be built on 1.93 acres. The VFW post would sit on slightly less than an acre.
Many area residents appeared at the board’s July 18 meeting to express opposition to the plans, and they are expected to return at the meeting Sept. 5 at 8 p.m.
Frank Kovacs, a resident of Vreeland Court, said the problem is that there would be too many vehicles traveling along Evergreen Boulevard in order to access or leave the property in question. He and other residents fear the increased traffic will create a safety hazard for children in the development.
The new point of entry on Evergreen Boulevard would also be located between two residential roads — Dobbs and Ogda courts, he said. The access point would not only create safety concerns on Evergreen Boulevard, but on all 17 roads in the development, he said. When drivers come out of the Evergreen Boulevard access point, they would try to get to other main roads by cutting through the development, though none of the courts lead anywhere.
"The only ways in and out (of our development) are Evergreen and Stonaker Drive," he said, adding that there are no sidewalks or curbs on those roads.
He said it is not marked anywhere that Evergreen Boulevard and Stonaker Drive are the only through streets, or that the courts are dead ends.
"So, they get onto the courts," he said. "They’re trying to get onto another main road, but don’t realize the courts don’t lead anywhere."
He noted that "signs would help" the situation.
Martin Michlik, commander of the VFW post, said the area of Evergreen Boulevard that exiting cars would need to travel before reaching Cranbury Road is very small.
"The whole drive-through is short," he said.
He acknowledged that there would be an increase in traffic with the new proposal, but said it will not be as bad as residents claim.
"It’s guess work on their part," he said.
Exactly how much traffic will be created will not be known until after the construction is actually completed, he said.
The University Radiology Group is located only a short distance away on Cranbury Road at present.
"Cranbury is already well-traveled," he said, in part due to the medical facility’s traffic.
He said the main sign for the VFW is on Cranbury Road, and it is more likely that vehicles leaving the site will go through the Cranbury Road exit rather than the exit on Evergreen Boulevard.
"Most of the traffic will go back onto Cranbury," he said.
However, Kovacs claims that residents of Colonial Oaks already have a problem with VFW traffic flowing onto their courts. They attribute this to the fact that there is no convenient way for those traveling north on Cranbury Road to get to the VFW post. They have to get onto the south side of Cranbury Road to access the VFW parking lot, but the U-turns are about a half-mile out of their way.
Thus, some drivers get off on Evergreen Boulevard and make an illegal U-turn through a court to get onto the south side of Cranbury Road, he said.
"People make illegal U-turns all day on Dobbs and Ogda," Kovacs said.
Michael Scharf, a member of the association’s board who lives on Stout Court, said residents are concerned about "the safety of kids in the area."
"It (the proposal) will increase traffic. I don’t really care what our friends at the VFW say," he said.
He added that the medical facility would be an "eyesore" amid a residential community.
Residents have stressed that they support and applaud the work the VFW does, but that they simply oppose this application.
The proposal would create other problems as well, Scharf said, noting noise and drainage concerns. Kovacs said residents on Dobbs and Ogda courts would also have an issue with car headlights shining through their windows as a result of the new buildings.
Residents and the VFW have butted heads before. During the 1990s, Colonial Oaks residents fought to close a makeshift exit from the VFW onto Evergreen Boulevard. Vehicles at the VFW would cross over a patch of grass near the parking lot to get onto the residential strip, Kovacs said.
The township made the VFW close the access point and put up a fence and plant trees there to make a natural barrier. However, members of the VFW cut down the trees to allow the egress to exist again, he said.
The post’s senior vice commander, Larry Mazzuchetti, testified at the July 18 zoning board hearing that he knew members reopened the egress.
"If they open up the entrance, it puts 400 cars a day" onto the road, Kovacs said. "That is the reason we’re opposed."
"We’re not opposed to radiology or the VFW," he said. "It’s so ironic that two groups that provide such a good social benefit would not listen to concerns."
Mazzuchetti has testified that the current VFW building, which is 50 years old, is in constant need of repairs and that the post cannot afford to make them. Being a two-story building without an elevator, the building is not accessible to people with disabilities.
The post, which has about 210 members, has been offered $250,000 for the property from the developer, which would fund the construction of the proposed one-story facility.