Iwonder how many people living along Tennent Road in Marlboro are aware that Monmouth County has a longrange plan to widen the road. This concerns me because I would lose nearly half my front lawn and would be faced with a four-lane road a mere 20 feet from the front doorstep of my 150-year-old home.
This may not happen for years and the more that our township officials can do to keep traffic from jamming up the road, the longer it will be before the county acts.
Past Marlboro administrations have been guilty of allowing overdevelopment, and one result is more traffic. Our current mayor and Township Council have vowed to resist more development. Here comes a chance for them to live up to those promises.
On Oct. 17 the Marlboro Planning Board will conduct a hearing on an application by Ambten Associates to build a 23,000-square-foot, two-story warehouse and office building on Tennent and Amboy roads near the Route 18 overpass and Route 520 traffic light. This is one of the most congested stretches of Tennent Road.
The applicant wants to pave much of the existing residential property to allow for 65 parking spaces. That’s more parking than permitted for the 3.8-acre lot.
And excessive parking and an undersized lot are just two of an even dozen variances the applicant is seeking, including disregarding all of the safeguards the zoning ordinance calls for – 150-foot setbacks, 50- foot buffers and fences – in cases like this when the property abuts the residential zone across Tennent Road.
I hope others concerned about inappropriate development and its impact on our roads will join me in speaking out before the Planning Board.
Nadine Lawson
Morganville

