BY SHERRY CONOHAN
Staff Writer
An artist’s rendering of a proposed 196-student dorm at Monmouth University, West Long Branch.
WEST LONG BRANCH — A proposed detention basin replacement and plans for a new parking lot were the subject of a lengthy discussion at a recent Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting.
William E. Fitzgerald, the engineer for Monmouth University for its application to build a new three-story residence hall at the corner of Cedar and Pinewood avenues, presented information about those plans, as well as plans to build tennis courts on Beechwood Avenue, at a March 4 meeting.
James Siciliano, an attorney who represents Joseph and Pam Hughes of Pinewood Avenue, questioned many components of the detention basin replacement plan. The couple lives across the street from the present detention basin on Pinewood, which would be replaced with additional parking for the dorms under the university’s proposal.
Siciliano asked how many square feet the new detention basin on Hollywood Avenue would be, how deep it would be and how high the fence going around it was.
Fitzgerald said it would be 63,700 square feet, water would be about 7 feet high when the basin is full, although it would be dry most of the time, and the fence around it would be 5 feet high.
Most students at the university are 17 to 22 years old, Siciliano said, suggesting that the students can be rambunctious at times. He asked how the school plans to keep them out of the basin.
"How do you keep them out of the Shrewsbury River?" an irritated Fitzgerald snapped in reply.
In response to other questions, Fitzgerald said the basin was designed so no one could be sucked down into it. He said it had a 3-inch orifice at the bottom to let the water "trickle" out.
The present detention basin has a 5-inch orifice at the bottom, he said.
When members of the audience got their turn to question Fitzgerald, several also asked about the detention basin, beginning with Councilman Richard F. Cooper Jr. Cooper who asked what assurances the borough has that the detention basin will be maintained properly.
Fitzgerald said it has to be deed restricted as to who’s responsible — per a state requirement.
Cooper asked how much of the dirt that would be removed to build the new detention basin would be used to fill the old detention basin and how much would be hauled away. Fitzgerald said about 50 percent would be used to fill the existing basin and the other half would be hauled away.
Cooper then asked how the damage to roads done by trucks hauling the dirt would be gauged.
The engineer said the borough can designate the streets that should be used by the trucks. Fitzgerald said he would have the streets photographed before the hauling begins, and the university would pay for any repairs needed if there is any damage.
Cooper also expressed concern about mosquito control and asked how long it would take for the detention basin to drain after a big storm. Fitzgerald said it would be five to six days.
Mary Kinslow, Locust Avenue, asked whether the basin would have any filtration system.
Fitzgerald said it would have a sand filter capable of removing 80 percent of the solids. He said there would be a maintenance program to care for the sand filter.
John O’Brien of Lawrence Avenue expressed concern that the basin would be an attractive nuisance and pose a danger to children in the neighborhood.
Fitzgerald pointed out that in addition to the 5-foot fence around the detention basin, there would be a 6-foot fence around the perimeter of the Kilkare Farm property that lies between Hollywood and Beechwood avenues at Pinewood. The only opening — which is 40 feet wide — would be on Beechwood.
Turning to another area of the university’s plans, Fitzgerald brought a revised set of plans to the hearing, the second on Monmouth’s application, which showed a stand-alone building with bathrooms for use by those at the tennis courts.
However, Fitzgerald began his testimony by saying the university didn’t plan to construct the building shown. Instead, he said, it was proposing to put a single unisex bathroom in the westerly side of a building next to the site proposed for the tennis courts. The bathroom would only be accessible from the outside.
The university added a public bathroom to its plans in response to comments from residents at an earlier hearing, Fitzgerald explained. If the board wanted both a ladies’ and a men’s bathroom, the university would have no problem accommodating that request, he added, although he thought one would be adequate.
In response to a question from the board, Fitzgerald said the bathroom would have to be policed and would be closed and locked when the tennis courts are not in use. He noted the tennis courts would have no lighting.
But after questioning by Siciliano, Fitzgerald volunteered to take the bathroom out of the plans.
In response to other questions from Siciliano, Fitzgerald said there would be no stands for seating to watch games on the tennis courts and no sound system to broadcast them.
Fitzgerald told the board that the revisions he was submitting included removing the six westernmost parking stalls proposed for the present detention basin site, thereby increasing the distance of the setback from the parking lot to Pinewood Avenue to more 57 feet. He said additional plantings also have been added to the buffer between the parking lot and the street.
The plans already called for installation of a board-on-board fence, plus the landscaping buffer, between the parking lot and the street to shield car headlights from the street.
Siciliano said his clients have a two-story house, with the bedrooms on the second floor, and the couple is bothered now by headlights from cars in the existing parking lot.
Fitzgerald said that in addition to providing room for a bigger buffer, moving the parking lot further back from Pinewood would ensure that some nice maple trees there would be saved.
"I thought we could save them," he said. "Now I’m sure we can save them."
Fitzgerald said one other parking stall, further over by Beechwood Avenue, would also be eliminated, for a total loss of seven — reducing the total number of new parking spaces to 152.
The proposed new dormitory is designed to house 196 students.
Fitzgerald readily agreed to a request from Irven Miller, secretary of the board, to add landscaping by a house owned by the university at the northwest corner of the dorm block at Pinewood and Beechwood and to replace several trees in the complex that have died.
The hearing was continued until another special meeting of the board at 7:30 p.m. April 15.