Proposed are a 10,700-square-foot expansion to the mosque, a 40,000-square-foot office building, a 385-spot split-level parking deck, a 104,000-square-foot K-12 school and 22 to 26 senior citizen townhouses.
By: Joseph Harvie
The Islamic Society of Central Jersey wants to build a school, offices and a senior housing unit near its facility on Route 1 in Monmouth Junction.
The society is seeking preliminary and final site-plan approval with bulk and use variances from the Zoning Board of Adjustment. It proposes to build a 10,700-square-foot expansion to the mosque, a 40,000-square-foot office building, a 385-spot split-level parking deck, a 104,000-square-foot two-story kindergarten through 12 grade school and 22 to 26 senior citizen townhouses.
Some of the variances the society is seeking include approval to build a school in a zone that doesn’t allow it, to exceed the allowed impervious coverage for the office building, and to allow buildings and driveways to be built in buffer areas between the proposed construction and neighboring houses.
The zoning board is expected to hear testimony and public comment on the application tonight (Thursday) at 7:30.
If approved, the project would be built on eight lots covering 16.32 acres located in three different zones. The mosque is in the C-3 commercial zone, the office building would be in the OP or Office Park zone and the school and townhouses would be in the RM-3 zone, which allows three housing units per acre.
The mosque would be extended in its current location near Promenade Boulevard and Route 1, the office building would be northwest of the mosque near Richard Road, the school would be west of the mosque near the Princeton Walk community and the townhouses would be north of the school and west of the office building.
According to a memorandum on file at the Planning Department, the South Brunswick Police Traffic Safety Bureau has several concerns about the application and how it would effect traffic at the intersection of Route 522 (Promenade Boulevard) and Route 1.
One concern is about a new entrance and exit from the mosque on Route 1. The new exit would be about 120 feet from Richard Road, and police are worried that cars would have to decelerate in front of Richard Road, which police said was a traffic risk.
The police memorandum also had concerns about an exit from the mosque onto Promenade Boulevard. Police said the plans were not clear about whether the exit would be exclusively for right turns in and out of the complex or if left turns would be permitted, too. Police were concerned with allowing left turns to and from Promenade Boulevard. Police said if allowed it would increase dangers at the intersection.
In the memorandum, police stated that accidents at the intersection have increased between 1998 and 2003. In 1998 four accidents were reported; in 1999 six accidents; in 2000, 13 accidents; in 2001, 10 accidents; in 2002, 32 accidents; and in 2003, 55 accidents were reported.
The police were also concerned because a traffic study the society had compiled by consultants Schoor Depalma did not include information about the shopping center at the southeast corner of the intersection of Route 522 and Route 1 and the impact it would also have on traffic in the area. Construction at the shopping center is still ongoing. The center is expected to have a Target, Best Buy, a Pet Smart and a bank.
The police memorandum stated that the reverse jughandle south of the intersection of southbound Route 1 and Route 522 was not taken into account in the traffic study, which it said would change the traffic pattern of the intersection.
The plans also call for an exit from the proposed townhouse complex onto Richard Road.
According to a memorandum from Assistant Planner Brain Sullivan to the Zoning Board of Adjustment, the Islamic Society would also need a variance to construct a spire that would be 50 feet tall, the current dome is 32 feet tall. The plans for the mosque also includes 186 parking spots around the mosque, which does not meet the house of worship requirement, according to the memorandum.
The township requires one spot for every three seats in a house of worship, which means 334 spots would be needed for the mosque. The memorandum did state that the parking deck proposed for the office building could also be utilized for the mosque and would have 385 spots.
In addition, a variance would be needed for the office building because part of it would be used as a burial preparation house, where bodies are prepared to be buried, which is not permitted in the OP zone. According to the memorandum, burial preparation is important to the Islamic faith and would be beneficial to the congregants of the mosque.
A variance would also be needed for the building because the building is going to cover 35.18 percent of the land it is proposed to be built on, over the 25 percent allowed in the OP zone by the township.
A variance would also be needed to allow the office building and parking deck to exceed the maximum impervious coverage allowed in the OP zone. The society is proposing 70.2 percent impervious coverage when only 55 percent is allowed in the OP zone.
The kindergarten through 12th grade two-level school would replace the current facility, which consists of several trailers behind the mosque.
A variance would be needed to allow the school to be in the RM-3 zone. According to the memorandum, the Islamic Society was given a use variance for the school to operate in the OP zone, but since the proposal places the school in a different zone, a new variance would be needed.
Also a bulk variance is needed for the school because it would be within 200 feet of the Princeton Walk community. The plans also call for the play area to be in the buffer zone between Princeton Gate and the proposed school, which is not allowed in the township.
According to the memorandum in the application, the society needs to clarify whether 22 or 26 townhouses are going to be built because both numbers are in the plans.
A variance would also be needed for the townhouses because pitched roofs or facades are required. In addition, a variance is needed to allow driveways, parking, buildings and streets to be built in the buffer area.

