I think Marlboro has come up with a good solution to clean up the contaminated Entron Industries site on Route 79.
This blighted property which constructs rocket launcher parts for the U.S. Department of Defense virtually surrounds the Frank Defino Central School. There is no way the township can afford the $5 million to clean up the land; luckily they found a developer who is willing to do it.
Kaplan Companies of Highland Park has said it is willing to take over this eyesore. They want to invest $100 million in the property to clean it up and to construct a mix of market rate, age-restricted housing, affordable senior units and affordable standard homes. I say let them do it.
Such a plan would help bail Marlboro out of its current jam — to find a way to provide the state-mandated amount of affordable housing it is required to build. Also, such a project would be an amenity for Marlboro, which, I think, needs more active adult housing.
The worst thing that could be done with that property would be to construct a slathering of single-family homes, which would fill that elementary school to the brink with more students, jacking school taxes for all of us.
While I always hoped the Entron Industries site could be cleaned by the state or county and then used for passive recreation, such as a park, that isn’t realistic because the property value in this town is just too high.
So this plan — an active adult community with some affordable housing — seems to be the best deal we can get for the land. I am glad the Township Council and Planning Board have
supported what Kaplan Companies has proposed.
Eric Morrell
Marlboro