BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer
MILLSTONE — Both supporters and opponents of building a new veterinary clinic in the township spoke out at last week’s Zoning Board meeting.
The board held a public hearing March 23 on resident Sharon Gaboff’s proposal to put a nearly 10,000-square-foot veterinary clinic on her property at the intersection of Ely Harmony and Stagecoach roads.
Tony Modozelwski, a neighbor of the Gaboffs’, cited traffic hazards as a reason for not permitting the clinic. He said “two blind bends” in the area had already caused fatal accidents there in the past.
“Would anyone on the board here want to live next to a kennel?” Modozelwski asked.
Modozelwski said he didn’t have a problem now and called Gaboff a good neighbor, but he did not think her facility should increase tenfold.
Currently, Gaboff provides boarding and grooming on her property. The facility can now house about 15-20 animals, she said, whereas with approvals, it would have 23 holding places.
Another neighbor, Jerry Ostrander, said he does not think the proposed clinic belongs in a residential neighborhood. Ostrander said he has lived in his home since 1986. He said the Gaboff property changed hands several times before the Gaboffs bought it in 1993 and that none of the previous owners operated a kennel.
“If someone looked the other way at a nonconforming business,” Ostrander said, “just because the applicant is looking to expand doesn’t make it a conforming use.”
Robin Carney, of Millstone Road, supports Gaboff’s plan. She called Gaboff’s therapy dogs and dog-training classes “benefits to the community.” She also said Millstone has changed much in recent years and that it is no longer very agricultural.
In response to Modozelwski’s comment about accidents, Carney said, “Who was the first person at the scene of the fatal accident? Sharon. She did CPR [cardiopulmonary resuscitation]. How many of the other neighbors came running out?”
Gaboff is a certified emergency medical technician (EMT) and a member of the Millstone First Aid Squad.
George Green, who lives across the street from the entrance to the proposed facility, said he had no problems with the Gaboffs, but that he felt their proposal belonged in a community commercial zone. He said Stagecoach Road has been designated a scenic highway by the Monmouth County Planning Board.
State police Officer Richard Snyderite said police often bring animals to Gaboff. He said she acts as a backup for the township animal control officer.
Snyderite spoke about the capability of the roadway to handle extra traffic.
“I’ve seen fatal accidents on straight roadways in town,” Snyderite said. “Accidents are caused by drivers, not curves.”
Snyderite also said he has always been told that the large amount of building going on in Millstone is progress, and that he considered Gaboff’s veterinary clinic to be progress.
While William Fredericks, who has lived in his house across the street from the Gaboff residence since 1955, also testified that previous owners in the 1960s and ’70s had a grooming business but not a kennel, another longtime resident, Ronald Anderson, who has lived in the township for 52 years, said he remembered the property was once used as a kennel for show poodles.
Anderson said the area had once been all farms but was now almost all residential. He said the accidents mentioned had been the results of speeding or drunken driving.
“Sharon Gaboff is doing a good thing for the town,” Anderson told the board. “Listen to the good stuff.”
Joan Ostrom lives a quarter-mile away from the Gaboffs. She said the proposed facility’s pool would be very important for pet therapy, as it’s something that is not readily available elsewhere. She said the board should give Gaboff the approval to have two primary uses for her property. Ostrom also said that a number of other properties in town had two primary uses, such as the John Deere business off Paint Island Spring Road and the Anderson School Bus Depot near where the Gaboffs live.
With regard to potential traffic problems created by the facility, Ostrom said, “The real dangers are dump trucks, school buses and other commercial vehicles going around the corner.”
Neil Robinson, a neighbor of the Gaboffs’, will sell them a small amount of land to have their property conform to the minimal acreage requirements.
“I have no problem with their plans,” Robinson said. “It is an improvement to what is there.”
Robinson said Millstone shouldn’t force out people like Gaboff. He added that the Gaboffs hosted an open house last year to explain their plans and that he was the only one to show up.
Resident Diane Canzanella supported Gaboff’s plan and asked, “What farm in this town doesn’t have cats? What farm doesn’t have dogs?”
Canzanella said there are already veterinary clinics in residential areas, such as the one on Carrs Tavern Road.
Robert Richards, who owns property right next to the Gaboffs, said the new facility wouldn’t fit in the area.
“I’ve seen this town go from good to worse,” he said.
Gaboff’s attorney, William Mehr, asked Richards if he lived on the Stagecoach Road property. Richards responded by saying that he drove a truck and that his license was registered at 67 Stagecoach Road. Although he said it was his primary residence, he added, “I have other properties where I stay.”
Resident Shirley Petrella testified that Richards’ property was a junkyard.
“If anybody is saying that this [veterinary facility] will bring down property values, check out his property,” Petrella said.
The board will continue the hearing at its next meeting on April 27.