Middletown Township planners approved an application for an allgirls high school following six hours of testimony from supporters and opponents.
More than 100 people crowded into the meeting room at Town Hall on July 1 for the most recent hearing on Trinity Hall, with each side about equally represented.
At the hearing, Ron Gasiorowski, the attorney representing opponents of the application, focused his objections on the design of the two detention basins planned for the site and the location of the driveway along Chapel Hill Road, which previously was moved about 60 feet north of its initially proposed location at the behest of local residents.
Gasiorowski called engineer William Gregor to testify that the data gathered by the applicant’s engineer, Brian Decina, was not representative of the property and that his report contradicts itself in its appraisal of the soil types present on the property.
“The assumptions made by the applicant have resulted in incorrect and misleading conclusions,” Gregor told the board. “I think there are numerous inaccuracies in the report.”
He added the applicant’s plan does not include a recharge basin, which he said is required.
Despite those objections, the application did not require the granting of any variances from the township’s land use boards, according to the applicant’s attorney John Giunco, of the law firm Giordano, Halleran and Ciesla.
Decina, who testified as to what had changed in the most recent April 2015 application since August 2014, said the plan includes a new location for the Chapel Hill Road driveway; plans to widen Chapel Hill Road and improve line of sight; and alterations to drainage. Decina testified that the overall layout and bulk of the plan remains the same.
Just after 1 a.m. on July 2, more than six hours after the meeting began, the planners voted to approve the Trinity Hall site plan application 4 – 2.
The board’s numbers dwindled to six after board member Mark Davis departed five hours into the hearing.
“Trinity Hall has a home on Chapel Hill Road,” said Mary Sciarrillo, head of school in a July 2 press release. “I thank our community for their support and belief in the mission of Trinity Hall. “I do firmly believe the road improvements … will be appreciated by the neighbors as the widening of Chapel Hill Road will provide a safer road for all of us.
“Trinity Hall is and will continue to be a valuable asset to the Middletown community and to the Chapel Hill neighborhood,” she added. “In the years to come I expect to see a harmonious relationship between our school and this vibrant and engaged neighborhood.”
The application, which was a source of concern for local residents, has now been before the board three times.
In June 2014, the board denied the application on grounds that it did not satisfy a local ordinance governing conditional uses of the property. Trustees of Trinity Hall filed an appeal in state Superior Court seeking a reversal of the decision. After the denial was invalidated and remanded by Judge Paul Kapalko, the planning board approved the plan in November 2014, its reasons for originally denying it having been struck down.
Gasiorowski then filed an appeal of the approval on behalf of the opponents of the application. Judge Kapalko determined ample public notice had not been given prior to the November approval and the application was again remanded due to those procedural issues following April 23 oral arguments.
Planning Board Attorney James Gorman was visibly exasperated at the July 1 planning board meeting, consistently demanding that those giving testimony be as precise as possible.
“I just want the record to be clear if this ends up in front of a judge again,” Gorman said.
The Trinity Hall application would subdivide the 64-acre Chapel Hill property into two lots, leaving 26.3 acres undeveloped.
The remaining land would be developed in four stages to house academic and administrative buildings, a gym, an indoor pool, a soccer field and running track, tennis courts, a field hockey facility, locker rooms, and a performing arts and chapel facility.
The application sought preliminary approval for all phases and final approval for the first phase, which would involve constructing classrooms and a gym totaling 64,620 square feet.
The Diocese of Trenton does not recognize the school, which is described as educating students in the “Catholic tradition.” Enrollment was about 79 students for the 2014-15 year, up from 30 students the previous year.