MANALAPAN — Residents and a competitor have begun laying out their objections to a sports complex that has been proposed for a 22-acre site on Woodward Road.
The June 26 meeting of the Manalapan Planning Board included two hours of testimony and questions about a plan for Sportika. The applicant and owner, Fields of Dreams, LLC, is seeking municipal approval to construct the facility on Woodward Road, just north of Route 33 and adjacent to a Wawa convenience store.
The two closest residential sites are the Knob Hill development and the Four Seasons adult community, both on Route 33.
Testimony from the applicant’s professionals was heard on June 12. On June 26, residents and a local businessman had the opportunity to be heard.
Sportika is planned as an indoor-outdoor commercial recreation center with an outdoor grass soccer field with 40-foot-tall lights, and indoor facilities that include a soccer field, batting cages, a pool and basketball courts. The 54-foot-tall building would have a gross floor area of approximately 193,000 square feet.
The sports training facility is a permitted use in Manalapan’s SED-20 Special Economic Development zone, according to previous testimony.
Director of Operations Henry Rogan said that on weekdays, Sportika would offer programs for senior citizens and individuals who require special education. Sports training and games would take over in the late afternoon and evening. Rogan said Sportika would not host tournaments and would not provide bleacher seating for spectators.
Access to Sportika will be provided via two driveways from Woodward Road. There will not be access to the facility from Route 33.
Engineer John Ploskonka, who previously testified on behalf of the applicant, said the site will have 290 parking spaces, which he testified would be adequate to serve the needs of the business.
When the June 26 meeting was opened to public comment, resident Barbara Dalzell of the Four Seasons said, “I do not want this in my backyard. I paid a premium for my home eight years ago. We already have beautiful fields in Manalapan and Freehold, and I do not understand why we need more.”
Dalzell specifically expressed concern about the lights that will be installed to illuminate the outdoor soccer field.
Rogan said the lights at the soccer field would be turned off at 10 p.m.
Dalzell also said she was concerned about the vehicles heading to and from the site and the possibility of traffic congestion in the areas near Woodward, Millhurst and Tennent roads.
“We are concerned this facility will depress our property values. Build this in a nonresidential area,” she said.
Resident Gail Gnesin of the Four Seasons objected to Sportika and said, “We pay a tremendous amount of taxes … this gigantic facility on a secondary road shows a lack of respect for taxpayers.”
Gnesin, who called traffic on Tennent and Woodward roads “untenable” at certain times of the day, said the Four Seasons residents’ quality of life would be negatively impacted by the construction of Sportika.
Resident Jonathan Leiser said, “This ambitious project should not be squeezed in on this chosen lot.”
Turning to the members of the board, he said, “If this project [is built] and it is unsuccessful, how is this building going to be rented again?”
Leiser referred to the former Excelsior catering hall that stood vacant on Route 9 south near Gordons Corner Road for several years. The former banquet facility is currently being converted into a business that sells bridal gowns and prom dresses.
“I don’t think we want another eyesore [like the Excelsior] in Manalapan if [Sportika] is unsuccessful,” he said.
Attorney Fred Klatsky then came forward and told the board he is filling two roles. Klatsky said he is representing several residents of Woodward Road and he said he is the owner of the Monroe Sports Center on Jamesburg-Perrineville Road, just off Route 33, in Monroe Township.
The Monroe Sports Center is about 3 miles west of the Woodward Road site in Manalapan where Sportika is proposed to be built. One difference between the two facilities is that the Monroe Sports Center has tennis courts and Sportika would not have tennis courts. The Monroe Sports Center encompasses 78,000 square feet.
Attorney Gerald Sonnenblick represents the applicant and at one point during Klatsky’s cross examination of Sportika’s principals and professionals, Sonnenblick said, “Mr. Klatsky is a competitor who does not want us to be there.”
Klatsky focused much of his line of questioning on the number of people who will use each area of Sportika at any given time. He questioned Rogan as to the number of people who would be on the indoor soccer field, the outdoor soccer field, in the pool, in the batting cages, on the basketball courts, and in classroom space.
Klatsky argued that parking spaces would be needed for people who are using Sportika’s amenities, for example, from 4-5 p.m., and that parking would be needed as the next group of people arrives to use the amenities from 5-6 p.m. He did not offer a suggestion as to how many parking spaces he believes the facility should have.
The Sportika application is scheduled to be continued at the board’s July 24 meeting.