concerts, picnics
likely until the fall
Birch Hill to host
concerts, picnics
likely until the fall
By sue m. morgan
Staff Writer
OLD BRIDGE — The Birch Hill Nite Club will rock on through one more summer, says club owner Art Stock.
And unless you are an ant, legendary entertainment impresario Stock invites you to book a picnic on the grounds of the Route 9 entertainment complex anytime between now and the fall.
Although sale negotiations between Stock and East-Brunswick-based developer Kara Homes are ongoing, patrons of the night club, picnic grounds and assorted other recreational facilities need not be intimidated by engineers or other workers who might be conducting environmental studies in or around the triangular-shaped site.
In fact, patrons of the alcohol-free night club and picnic grounds will probably not even see those testing the grounds. The developer’s engineering consultants will probably do the bulk of their work on weekdays, Stock explained.
However, most picnickers will be visiting the grounds on weekends, while the night clubbers will typically be reveling after dark, he added.
In a telephone interview Friday, Stock confirmed that the picnic grounds at his property, known collectively as the Birch Hill Entertainment Complex, are being booked through September by schools and social groups.
Presently, Stock does not expect Kara Homes to close on the sale of the 55-acre property, which includes five acres in neighboring Marlboro Township, until sometime in the fall.
Meanwhile, the buyer is still working on the preliminary site plan for an age-restricted community to be known as Birch Hill Estates and also does not expect to complete the sale until fall.
That site plan could be ready for submission to the Old Bridge Zoning Board of Adjustment by mid-June, said Robert McGowan, an executive vice president and in-house attorney for Kara Homes.
Although the developer has received two use variances from the Zoning Board to construct the upscale 285-unit, no hearing date for the preliminary site plan has been set, McGowan said Wednesday.
No hearing on that application can be scheduled until the township’s planning professionals deem it complete, McGowan said.
The Birch Hill site is bordered by Route 9 southbound, Texas Road and Marlboro Road.
However, a recent misunderstanding between Kara Homes and Concerts East, the Red Bank-based concert promoter that contracts with Stock to provide entertainment at the night club, has created a bit of confusion for the club and picnic ground patrons, Stock acknowledged.
Apparently, Kara Homes had sent Concerts East correspondence last month asking the promoter to vacate Birch Hill’s premises by the end of May. The developer had indicated that the promoter must leave so that environmental studies could be conducted on the site, Stock noted.
"The developer thought they could not work around them," Stock said.
Concerts East subsequently began advertising a concert event titled "The Last Hurrah" to be staged at the nightclub on June 1. On its Web site, the promoter advertised a May 31 date for the final show at Birch Hill.
Regardless of the date, panic set in among social groups that had reserved the picnic grounds for various dates during the summer, Stock said. Telephone calls from patrons flooded Birch Hill’s business office, and Stock’s employees tried to assure them that the impending sale would not keep them from holding their events.
"You never want to close the door," Stock said, adding that the picnic business brings in a sizable portion of his revenues.
However, Kara Homes and Concerts East representatives did eventually realize that they would probably not be on the premises at the same time, Stock said.
"[The developer] won’t interfere with the nightclub," Stock said. "They’ll work it out."
Concerts East has a lease with Birch Hill to book and promote rock shows at the club through September, Stock said. He acknowledged that with the confusion, the promoter might now be scrambling to book music acts through the end of August.
"They’re playing catch-up," he said.
Representatives of Concerts East did not return repeated telephone calls from Greater Media Newspapers seeking comment.
An announcement on www.concertseast.com shows that a concert by Armor for Sleep is scheduled at Birch Hill June 27. No other concerts were listed on the promoter’s Web site at press time.
McGowan indicated that he had not been in touch with representatives from Concerts East for approximately a month.
Nonetheless, testing and cleanup of the site should go off without a hitch as the concert and picnic businesses go on, McGowan noted.
"If [Concerts East’s] schedule keeps them there till the end of August, we’ll work around them," McGowan said. "The stuff that will be going on won’t interfere with the picnics or concerts."
Because the Route 9 southbound access to the age-restricted community and a detention pond will be physically located in Marlboro, officials there must approve the developer’s plans, McGowan said.
If Old Bridge approves the forthcoming preliminary site plan, the developer will then be ready to present that plan to Marlboro officials, he explained.
"We really don’t have anything in Marlboro, but in order to give them a concept of what the project will entail, [we] want to submit the site plan for their review as well," McGowan said.
One of the two use variances already granted by Old Bridge allows for a residential property to be constructed in the commercial office industrial (COI) zone designated by the township’s master plan.
The other use variance allows for the density of the units, which the board determined is not to exceed five units per acre.
As a condition of approval, Kara Homes has agreed to provide the water and sewer connections now lacking at the Birch Hill site, as well as to several nearby homes along Texas and Marlboro roads.
The developer is now working with the township’s Economic Development Corp. (EDC) to try to get approval from the Old Bridge Municipal Utilities Authority (OBMUA) to construct water and sewer lines to the Birch Hill site, as well as the nearby Olympia and York (O&Y) property at Routes 9 and 18, McGowan said.
The O&Y property, now owned by the township, has been designated a redevelopment zone. The EDC is hoping to attract a commercial ratable to that 500-acre site.
Besides the 285 residential units, the developer’s plans call for a 7,500-square-foot recreational center as well as a swimming pool, putting green and two tennis courts.
In accordance with the federal government’s guidelines for age-restricted housing, prospective buyers and residents would have to be at least 55 years old, McGowan has said.
No one under age 19 would be permitted to live with homeowners in the complex, the applicant has stated.
Besides the night club and picnic grounds, the 30-year old complex also sports two swimming pools, baseball fields, tennis courts and a volleyball court.
Business, according to Stock, is booming at the night club, which has been operating without a liquor license since September 2001. At that time, the state division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) revoked Stock’s liquor license due to a 1990 horse racing fraud conviction.
Nonetheless, the night club remains popular with its all-ages clientele. The patrons enjoy seeing up-and-coming bands in a non-threatening environment, Stock said.
"The night club business is better than it’s ever been, even without alcohol," Stock said.
In previous years, Stock owned numerous nightclubs in both New Jersey and Florida, including the former Playpen Lounge in Sayreville. He put the Birch Hill property up for sale in January 2001.