BY TALI ISRAELI
Staff Writer
MARLBORO – The size of a proposed house of worship on Vanderburg Road is what residents say is their biggest concern with the pending application before the Planning Board.
Testimony to construct the 39,000-square-foot facility on a 24-acre parcel began in front of the board on Feb. 15. Representatives of the Monmouth Worship Center, Marlboro, are seeking site plan approval, major subdivision approval and several bulk variances.
The church is seeking relief from the following requirements:
+ No structure can be built within 150 feet of any front, side or rear lot line that abuts or is near the street line opposite a residential zone; 110 feet is proposed.
+ No parking area or driveway can be within 150 feet of any front, side or rear lot line that abuts or is near the street opposite a residential zone; 80 feet is proposed.
+ A loading zone is required and one has not been proposed by the applicant.
+ Parking spaces are required to be a minimum of 30 feet from the outer wall of any structure; 10 feet is proposed for the parking spaces along the western side of the church.
+ Stream corridors are required to have a 100-foot buffer on each side; a 70-foot buffer has been provided for a portion of the southern stream corridor.
The parcel proposed for the construction of the house of worship is in a light industrial (LI) zone on the north side of Vanderburg Road about a half-mile east of Route 79 (Main Street in the village of Marlboro). A house of worship is a permitted use in all zones in Marlboro.
Other permitted uses in the LI zone include warehouses, office buildings and research laboratories.
The Monmouth Worship Center presently has a building on Route 79, north of Route 520. The current facility is 17,000 square feet and holds 500 seats.
The applicant wants to subdivide the 24-acre Vanderburg Road property for the construction of the church on 13.7 acres and a two-story office building on 10.7 acres. The proposed office building is a separate application from the church and testimony has not yet been heard for that proposal.
If approved, the house of worship will hold 800 seats, several classrooms, multipurpose rooms and offices. Representatives of the applicant have testified that the additional rooms will not be used at the same time religious services are taking place.
The application to construct the 39,000-square-foot house of worship was originally proposed in two phases. The second phase, which included the construction of a second floor, an additional 10,000 square feet of usable space and an additional 200 seats has been withdrawn from the proposal.
The plan calls for a total of 345 parking spaces. According to township planner Jennifer Beahm, the required parking for the site according to the township ordinance is 267 spaces. However, Beahm included an additional 32 spaces (299 total spaces) to the parking requirement calculation because of the classrooms and offices proposed for the site.
During a public hearing for the application on April 5, residents expressed several concerns with the proposed facility, including the fact that the application does not comply with a pending municipal storm water ordinance.
The ordinance, which was adopted by the Township Council on March 16, involves regulations for water quality, water quantity – how much runoff there is – and a buffer which prohibits development within 300 feet of category one (C-1) streams.
Township Engineer Jim Priolo said C-1 streams have been designated by the state as critical bodies of water which need the highest level of environmental protection.
According to municipal officials, the application to construct the Monmouth Worship Center facility complies with all of the regulations in the storm water law except for the 300-foot buffer requirement.
Although the council has adopted the ordinance, the storm water law can not go into effect until it receives approval from Monmouth County.
According to Planning Board attorney Dennis Collins, the county is expected to
review and return the ordinance to the council in the beginning of May. Collins said if changes to the law are required, the council may have to reintroduce the ordinance, hold a second public hearing and send the ordinance back to the county for a second review.
According to Collins, the Planning Board is not required by law to vote on the Monmouth Worship Center application until June 16. Therefore, he recommended that although testimony and the public hearing for the application can continue, the board should not take any action until it is required to do so by law.
Collins said if the storm water ordinance is put into effect before the board is required to vote on the Monmouth Worship Center application, the law will apply to the plan.
If that is the case, Beahm has previously stated that without a grandfather clause for pending applications before local land use boards, the site plan for the Monmouth Worship Center would need to be completely redesigned.
If the board is required to vote on the application before the law takes effect, the board must vote as if the ordinance does not exist, Collins said. Due to this consideration, the attorney did not permit any residents who spoke during the public hearing to comment on the fact that the application does not comply with the pending ordinance.
As for the rest of the public hearing, residents Steve Pitchon, Jessica Jundef, Harold Martin and Bernette Nieb raised several concerns with the application, including a possible increase in traffic on Route 79 and Vanderburg Road; their belief that the proposed building is too large for the site; and the applicant’s need for a front yard setback variance.
Jundef’s biggest concern related to the fact that on Sunday mornings, when the house of worship holds its services, traffic at the intersection of Route 79 and Vanderburg Road will make it difficult for her family to leave their house. She also raised the issue of emergency vehicles having a problem getting through the traffic in a timely manner.
Pitchon agreed with Jundef and said, “I do believe the amount of traffic (Vanderburg Road) will see during services and special events will create a severe detriment to the public good.”
His other concerns included not hearing any testimony justifying why the applicant should receive relief from the setback variance and what other activities and events, aside from religious services, could take place at the proposed facility.
Pitchon ended his comments by saying he welcomes the house of worship as long as the application complies with all pertinent ordinances.
Martin said as long as the building complies with the rules and regulations of the neighborhood, he has no problem with the church being built.
However, he did question what the house of worship’s administrators plan to do – if the congregation grows – on major holidays such as Easter and Christmas. He believes the multipurpose rooms, which he said could be used for overflow during services, should be calculated into the parking requirement.
Ken Jasko, a pastor at the Monmouth Worship Center, said the facility currently experiences a 10 percent increase in its congregation on major holidays, which he noted is only once or twice a year.
According to Jasko, the church is not similar to other houses of worship in that most of its congregation attends services every Sunday, not just on major holidays.
Following comments by each resident, attorney Gerald Sonnenblick, representing the applicant, asked the residents if they were aware when they moved into their homes that the site across the street was in a light industrial zone. He also asked the residents if they knew what uses were permitted in the LI zone when they moved in to the neighborhood.
All of the residents said they were aware of the vacant parcel across the street and what type of buildings could be constructed on the site.
Although there were numerous complaints regarding the application, Phil Chiu, a neighbor to the proposed site and a member of the church, said he was in favor of approving the application. Chiu said the proposed building is aesthetically pleasing and he believes the church will improve the neighborhood.
In regard to a possible increase in traffic, Chiu said he believes this is an “extraordinary opportunity” to have a proposal that will not impede on peak hour traffic.
Residents will have another opportunity to comment on the Monmouth Worship Center application when the public hearing continues on May 3.