MANALAPAN – An application that is before the Planning Board in neighboring Monroe Township has a Union Hill Road resident on high alert and seeking help from Manalapan officials.
Karen DelGrosso lives in Forest Hills Estates in Manalapan, on the border with Monroe. DelGrosso said she spoke with a representative of the state Department of Environmental Protection who confirmed that the Elite Granite Company, Englishtown, is seeking approval on a plan that would allow it to clear trees from a stream bank and add fill; and to construct a head wall at the stream that would feature paving on one side for the construction of a parking lot and building on the site.
The property is in Monroe near the Manalapan border.
DelGrosso, who has lived in her home for almost 20 years, said she is all too familiar with flooding problems that homeowners in the area already face. She claims those flooding problems will be exacerbated if Elite Granite’s application is approved by the Monroe Planning Board as submitted.
She said the project, if completed, will negatively impact Monroe homeowners as well as herself and her neighbors in the Forest Hills Estates development and along Union Hill Road.
DelGrosso said she has been in contact with almost 100 homeowners in Manalapan and Monroe. She said they have sent letters to officials in both towns and to the state asking that the application be denied.
DelGrosso said she was gratified by the response and intervention by state and local officials on her behalf.
Manalapan Committeeman Rick Klauber said that after he was contacted by DelGrosso he reached out to a member of the Monroe Planning Board. Klauber said that individual, who he declined to name, assured him DelGrosso’s concerns would be brought to the board’s attention in an effort to ensure that Elite Granite would be a “good neighbor.”
Klauber said he also brought the matter to the attention of Manalapan Deputy Mayor Michelle Roth.
Roth said she brought the issue to the attention of Township Clerk Rose Ann Weeden and Township Administrator Tara Lovrich.
Roth said that after learning from Weeden and Lovrich that Manalapan still has time to intervene in the matter, she asked them to contact the appropriate Monroe officials regarding DelGrosso’s concerns with Elite Granite’s pending application.
DelGrosso said she intends to be present at the Monroe Planning Board meeting when the Elite Granite application is on the agenda in order to address her concerns to the board in conjunction with the effort being made by Manalapan officials to assist her in this matter.