ROBBINSVILLE: Sports complex proposed on open space nixed

By Joanne Degnan, Managing Editor
   ROBBINSVILLE — The developer made a pitch, the residents cried foul, and before anyone knew it, the game ended, and open space got the save.
   Less than 24 hours after dozens of residents packed a Township Council meeting to protest a plan to build a 22-field athletic complex on 153 acres of township-preserved open space, the lead developer said he would go elsewhere.
   Tom Troy, senior vice president of Sharbell Development Corp., informed the mayor and council in a letter Nov. 30 that “given the reaction of neighboring property owners,” both Sharbell and Elite Showcase LLC “have elected to terminate further pursuit of this project in this location.”
   Monday, Mr. Troy said Sharbell/Elite now was looking at three other potential locations outside of Robbinsville for the sports complex.
   Sharbell/Elite originally pitched its concept plan to the council in October for a multi-sport outdoor complex suitable for hosting national tournaments for youth, high school and college sports teams on a swath of open space along Robbinsville-Edinburg Road (Route 526) and Line Road near the West Windsor border.
   The proposal called for 12 softball fields, five soccer fields, five lacrosse fields, an 8,000-square foot building for administrative offices, five concession stand buildings and gravel parking lots for 2,027 vehicles.
   The developers were asking the town to lease them the land needed for the project, which they said would pump millions of dollars into the local economy and serve as a catalyst for the development of new hotels, restaurants and other businesses in the area.
   There was little public reaction until two weeks ago when the developers sent letters to people living near the site to invite them to a presentation at Sharbell’s offices in Town Center. The residents, most of whom apparently had not read previous news coverage about the plans, were shocked and began mobilizing against it with a Facebook page and a large turnout at the Nov. 29 council meeting.
   Lainie Potter, of Line Road, told Mayor Dave Fried and the Township Council she was “in disbelief that our Town Council would entertain a proposal of this scope and nature to be built on township-owned preserved land.”
   ”Apparently, the letter of the law can be manipulated or reinterpreted to allow this to happen to our open space, but, surely, you must recognize that the spirit of the law does not promote turning open space into a Disney-like compound,” she said.
   Joe Karkut, of Sara Drive, said when voters approved open space bond referendums, it was for farmland preservation, open space and recreational facilities such as parks, not huge commercial sports enterprises.
   ”Yeah, it’s ballfields, but it is a commercial enterprise,” Mr. Karkut said. “When I voted ‘yes’ for open space funding, it was for open space.”
   Gregg Ziliani, of Line Road, told the mayor and council he left the Sharbell meeting “flabbergasted and angry.”
   ”One of the things I heard at the (Sharbell) meeting is that people are coming to Robbinsville because of our outstanding athletics,” Mr. Ziliani said. “The athletics in this area are top-notch, but that’s not why people move here.”
   Mr. Ziliani said residents he’s spoken to say they’ve made Robbinsville their home — not because of sports or shopping — but because it is a safe, peaceful town without traffic congestion, pollution and a constant influx of out-of-towners.
   ”The residents don’t want Robbinsville to be on the map for the reasons that you think they do,” Mr. Ziliani said. “Please think long and hard before entertaining a proposal like this because, if it goes through, the voters will remember come November.”
   Mayor Dave Fried emphasized that no formal plans had been submitted to township land use boards, and the outdoor sports complex was only a proposal at this point. He said the developers held the meeting at the Sharbell offices with residents to get feedback before they spent a substantial amount of money on engineering work and creating formal plans.
   ”I don’t ever want to stop someone from coming in and pitching an idea, and at the same time, I don’t want residents to ever feel like they don’t have the opportunity to be heard,” Mayor Fried said. “Not every idea is a good idea, and not every idea is a bad idea. As you vet things, you learn, you listen.”
   The controversy over the outdoor sports mega-complex now apparently is moot with Mr. Troy’s announcement Sharbell/Elite will not pursue it on the township-owned property, known locally as the Thompson tract, on Robbinsville-Edinburg Road north of the high school.
   Sharbell and Elite still are moving forward, however, with separate plans for an indoor 200,000-square-foot sport and entertainment complex with 1,400 parking space on the south side of Route 33 in the Town Center South Redevelopment Area. The developers are proposing Elite lease the township-owned property needed for the project, which does not yet have final approval.