of planned facility are
issues raised by board
Zoners have
questions on
sports center
Parking, traffic and use
of planned facility are
issues raised by board
By jeanette m. eng
Staff Writer
An application to construct a 103,350-square-foot recreational facility on the border of Marlboro and Colts Neck left Marlboro zoning board members with many questions at a March 3 special meeting.
The applicants, brothers Frank and Stephen Calandrino, are proposing a one- and two-story building with three distinct components, including a fieldhouse, a health club and a day spa. The 7.85-acre tract is at the intersection of Vanderburg and Boun-dary roads. The land is a light industrial (LI) zone and a use variance is needed to permit a recreational facility.
At a Feb. 12 hearing, Frank Calandrino presented board members with plans regarding general operations, parking and the projected image for Marlboro Sports Center.
On March 3, Stephen Calandrino presented board members with testimony on his area of expertise, which is the fieldhouse. The former New York athletic agent said that during his time as a representative of NFL football players, he was always looking for facilities such as their proposed Marlboro Sports Center to train them in. After working to start such a facility, he and his brother want to build their own. Thus, Calandrino explained, the thrust of the proposed sports center will be on youth athletics.
"70 percent of our facility is dedicated to the youth athletic training and the remaining 30 percent is dedicated to the health club and spa," he said.
According to Calandrino, the facility’s own staff of professional athletic trainers would focus on making young athletes stronger, more flexible and more agile. This would be done on a one-on-one or group basis. Skills training in various sports would also be provided, he said.
Calandrino testified that this attribute of the sports center is one that few facilities have, with perhaps not even 12 in the country.
Professional athletic agents might send their athletes to such a facility, he said, telling board members studies have shown there is a need for athletic training facilities such as this.
"We are confident this is the right place for it," he said.
At board member Steven Wexler’s inquiry, however, Calandrino confirmed that no complete market study had been conducted that was ready for presentation to the board. He was asked to return with one.
A small portion of the fieldhouse operations, Calandrino explained, would be dedicated to providing some after-hour adult leagues such as flag football or seven-on-seven football. He pointed out, however, that this would not be the bulk of the operations.
Zoning board Chairwoman Sherry Hoffer was concerned about the potential level of traffic she foresaw with league play. Stating that is was not an essential income source for operations, she asked, "How would you feel if we preclude league play from the facility?"
Calandrino maintained that league play would only be an asset to the community.
"This is going to be a beautiful artificial turf field," he said. "To prohibit league play would be detrimental to the community. I don’t know if that is the direction the board wants to go in."
That issue was tabled for further discussion.
Hoffer was concerned about what type of membership would be necessary to support such a facility.
Calandrino projected a monthly health club membership of about 3,000 members, but emphasized that the bulk of the facility’s income would come through the fieldhouse operations. Unlike the health club’s monthly membership, athletes desiring athletic training would pay for individual training sessions or a series of training sessions.
"According to the size of the facility, I can see 30 or 40 athletes training at any given time," he said, noting that this would take place from about 2:30-9 p.m.
Traffic consultant John Rea, representing the applicant, testified that the sports center was a new type of application for him and thus, he had encountered difficulty in finding a model with which to conduct traffic studies. As a result, Rea broke the two operations into the health club portion of 39,400 square feet and a basketball and soccer field facility.
"My projections are based on traffic counts made at [a] Gold’s Gym, a 40,000-square-foot facility, and the Institute of Transportation Engineers [ITE] data," Rea said.
In his studies of Gold’s Gym, Rea found the peak traffic hours to be from 6-8 p.m. and the secondary peak to be from 6-8 a.m.
"With the peak hours of the road running from 4-6 p.m., the peak hours for the health club will occur after that," Rea said, noting that this probably happens because the people commuting are also the health club members.
According to the traffic consultant, both Gold’s Gym and the proposed Marlboro Sports Center are in areas with typical commuter traffic patterns, peaking between 8-9 a.m. and 4:30-6:30 p.m. Thus, the traffic patterns would stagger compatibly, he said.
Rea researched traffic patterns of a recreational community center in ITE data that emulated the proposed fieldhouse’s multi-purpose uses.
"I counted 85 trips [56 in and 29 out] in the morning between the hours of 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. and 112 trips [38 in and 74 out] in the afternoon," he said. "On Saturdays, I counted 80 trips, [40 in and 40 out]."
According to Rea, the overall impact of the proposed Marlboro Sports Center on the intersection of Vanderburg and Boundary roads would not be dramatic.
Traffic levels are graded on a scale from "A" to "F," with "A" being the best and "F" being the worst. According to Rea, a "C" level is pretty good for central New Jersey and a level of service "E" is considered the level of acceptable delay.
"When the traffic from Marlboro Sports Center is added, the level of service will go from ‘B’ to ‘C’ for a.m. and p.m. peak street hours and will stay at ‘B’ for Saturday peak hours," he said.
Rea then reported parking studies to show that the applicant’s proposed 260 parking spaces was more than adequate.
Marlboro residents Harry Rosenstein and his son, Stewart, both experts in the field, testified on the parking situation. The two had owned four health club facilities [OVOX] in the area which have since been sold to New York Sports Club. They would be consulting on the proposed Marlboro Sports Center.
They said their facility on Route 9 had 157 parking spots, 4,000 members and was never maxed out. They said they had constant traffic in and out, but added that the 157 spots were more than adequate.
Rea told board members that the applicant has secured an agreement for additional parking with Hilman Industries, a neighboring business. Thus, in the case of an overflow at Marlboro Sports Center during evenings and weekends, visitors would be allowed to use some or all of the adjacent property’s 105 parking spaces.
It was later established by zoning board attorney James Kinneally that the parking agreement with the neighboring business has certain conditions.
"This is actually an agreement in theory pending that the applicant meets certain conditions," Kinneally clarified. "He [the neighbor] will only comply on Saturdays and Sundays should the need arise."
The applicant agreed to return with a more formal agreement regarding the parking situation.
Rea concluded his testimony by saying, "The use appears to be a good use. It fits in well with the soccer field [across the street], is compatible with the area and would not significantly impact roads in area."
Hoffer was concerned that a new municipal recreational swimming pool scheduled to be completed this summer on Vanderburg Road was not taken into consideration.
"This pool will be for children and senior citizens. It will generate buses and cars and traffic as well," she said, citing a need for a more in-depth traffic study.
"The amount of traffic generated in this area is exasperating. I wonder if the traffic increase would be greater if generated by another use or if this [sports center] is the greatest impact," she said, referring to an industrial building, which is a permitted use.
Although Rea said that any use would generate more traffic along Route 520 and Vanderburg Road, he was not sure which use would generate the most traffic and said he would look into it.
Hoffer requested that Rea return with an expanded traffic study to include the intersections at Route 520 and Boundary Road, about 2.5 miles north of the application site, and Route 79 and Vanderburg Road, about 1.5 miles west of the application site. She specifically requested a report on the effect of the application on the current traffic rating of "F" at the Vanderburg Road and Route 79 intersection. Hoffer also asked to know what the addition of Elite Gym on Route 9 in Marlboro had on its surrounding area of Gordons Corner and Tennent roads in neighboring Manalapan.
Board member Seth Goldzweig requested that a traffic study be done at a facility in Fair Lawn, Bergen County, which Calandrino referred to as a similar facility to the proposed Marlboro project.
The Marlboro Sports Center application is scheduled for continued hearing at the zoning board’s April 30 meeting.