The religious group Dayalbagh Radhasoami Satsang Association of North America (DRSANA) is rapidly presenting its case to the Old Bridge Zoning Board of Adjustment after changing its site plan.
DRSANA has undergone a grueling three-year application process, presenting testimony at over 15 hearings. However, with a revised site plan, the group is moving toward a decision, completing a second round of testimony for the new plan at a Dec. 2 Zoning Board meeting.
DRSANA has been seeking to construct a house of worship and residences across from Raceway Park on Pension Road. The Indian spiritual movement purchased 20 acres of property between Pension and Englishtown roads with plans to build an 18,240-square-foot prayer hall along with 16 residential units and eight religious quarter units for congregants and guests. The apartments would have housed members of the group, whose beliefs necessitate a lifestyle of selfless service and austerity. The other eight units would have been used as temporary quarters for guests.
A use variance was required from the board before plans could take shape, since zoning permitted the house of worship but not the number of residential units sought in the application.
The plan has been opposed primarily by the ownership of Raceway Park, whose attorney has argued the site is unsuitable both in composition and its proximity to the racetrack.
The main issue among board members has been the 16 residential units, which DRSANA argued were permitted under the accessory use section of the township’s land development ordinance (LDO). But since the Township Council adopted changes to the LDO on Oct. 25, several elements of the ordinance have been clarified and updated, including accessory uses, parking and building height. Many of the changes, written by Township Planner Sam Rizzo, were implemented in order to accommodate the growing religious diversity in Old Bridge.
With these revisions in place, DRSANA came back to the board on Nov. 4 with a new plan. At that hearing, applicant attorney David Himmelman said the dormitory units have been removed entirely and replaced with nine single-family homes. Two of those homes would be directly affiliated with the congregation, and therefore eligible for tax exemption. The remaining homes would be owned by DRSANA, which would pay the standard township property taxes for each unit. Himmelman said that all occupants would be followers of the faith, and that DRSANA would enter license agreements with each tenant.
The hearing included testimony from the applicant’s architect, Nidhip Mehta, who outlined changes to the house of worship. He said that the plans would be revised to add a second floor to the building in order to accommodate extra classrooms for religious education.
Mehta additionally proposed several “green” features, including sustainable energy, natural and recycled building materials and solar panels. He noted that the house of worship has been acoustically designed to minimize sound infiltration from Raceway Park.
The Dec. 2 hearing brought more testimony from DRSANA. Himmelman first requested that Raceway Park attorney Michael Leckstein refrain from speaking out in order to keep the hearings moving efficiently.
“At the last hearing, I felt there were several disruptions in the testimony from Mr. Leckstein that slowed it down,” he said. “would like to request that we let the applicant’s witnesses give their testimony, and then Mr. Leckstein can make his comments.”
Leckstein objected to this request, noting that damage to his argument could result from waiting to speak.
“For me to have to hide until this is over is ludicrous,” he said.
Zoning Board Chairman Kiran Desai agreed with Himmelman, noting that the board will try to keep the application moving along steadily while respecting the rights of Leckstein.
Following this initial exchange, Rahul Gupta, a trustee of the congregation, testified on behalf of DRSANA about the organization and the changes that have been made to the site plan. Gupta explained that the changes resulted from a meeting last March in which representatives of the organization received feedback from township professionals about elements of the former plan, as well as information about past site plans approved in the R-120 zone.
“Based on that meeting, we came to the conclusion to submit a proposal similar to what has been approved in the past in this zone,” Gupta said.
He outlined the importance of the three key components to the religion — prayer, selfless service and education — and emphasized the need for proximity in order to accomplish these tenets.
“Given the nature of our religion, it is important to reside as close as possible to the house of worship,” Gupta said. “The concept of selfless service, what we call ‘seva,’ is a critical component to our faith. Our spiritual aims cannot be realized without this component.”
He noted that the operation of the house of worship is almost entirely dependent on volunteers, who contribute to reciting hymns and readings, educating youth and maintaining the property.
“The members of the congregation are doing all of these types of tasks. We don’t hire outside contractors,” he said.
Gupta explained the typical activities that would take place each day at the worship center. He said the first service begins around 4:30 or 5 a.m., which is immediately followed by prayers and hymn recitation. Throughout the day, volunteers perform their respective tasks, and religious classes are held, as well as arts and crafts and Webbased seminars broadcast from India.
Gupta estimated the number of congregants who would attend each service. He said that between 25 and 35 would attend morning services, between 35 and 45 would attend evening services, and between 80 and 100 would attend Saturday services. On special occasions, which occur nine times per year, the attendance would increase, and an annual major event would draw about 400 members from throughout the country.
Gupta acknowledged the site’s proximity to Raceway Park, but noted that the property was chosen carefully.
“This location chose us. We were looking all over the state, and this is an area close to where many members of the congregation lived,” he said. “We received a lot of positive information about the township. That gave us hope that we could set up our roots here, and we think we can bring vibrancy to the environment. We’re fully aware of what’s surrounding it, and we did not choose this place lightly.”
Gupta said DRSANA could coexist with Raceway Park, noting that the religion’s worship centers have been built in cities with varying degrees of busyness.
“India is our headquarters, and there are worship centers in New Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta — some of the busiest cities in the world,” he said.
“One very important misunderstanding here is the continued assertion that we would not be able to properly practice our faith with the proximity to Raceway Park. I want to dispel any notions people have to prove we can easily coexist with Raceway Park.”
Gupta said that in a given year, the congregation has 730 services, as well as the nine special occasion services and one annual event. Factoring in Raceway Park’s daily hours of operation and winter closure, Gupta said only 116 services are affected by the noise from Raceway Park.
“Eighty-four percent of the time there is no conflict with Raceway Park, and I’m not even factoring in cancellations, inclement weather or muffled cars, which make considerably less noise than typical racing cars,” he said. “In reality, I hope you can see that this supposed conflict doesn’t exist.”
Gupta also noted that DRSANA could adjust service times to accommodate the bigger events at Raceway Park and reduce their presence on the roads.
Additionally, Gupta touched upon the single-family homes, noting that while design plans have not been finalized, DRSANA plans to construct homes consistent with those in the surrounding area.
When questioned about this aspect by Rizzo, Himmelman elaborated, assuring the board that the designs would be fleshed out and meet all requirements if and when a preliminary site plan application is filed.
“With regard to the lots, we would need to meet regulations, but no determination has been made about the size of the houses and the number of bedrooms at this point,” he said.
Rizzo also questioned a lack of connectivity between the homes and the house of worship, considering the importance of proximity to the applicant.
Himmelman, however, said that a connective path was being considered, but that the applicant would like to work with the board in order create a design they would agree with.
“We’ve been looking at it and thinking about putting something in place to make a connection, but we weren’t sure how the board would react, so we left it open-ended,” he said.
Following comments from township professionals, Leckstein spoke in opposition to the plan.
“My client believes this is inappropriate. Our reasons do not have to be defended. When all else fails, we need to follow the law,” he said. “We hope to demonstrate that this is not appropriate. They’re putting this center in the worst possible place in the township. This has nothing to do with religion or anything we have against these people.”
Leckstein went on to object to a meeting held between the township professionals and DRSANA representative in March, claiming that advising the applicant about its site plan is illegal.
However, since the meeting was informational, Zoning Board attorney Lawrence Sachs objected to Leckstein’s claims.
“Mr. Leckstein is completely incorrect. The meeting was strictly informational. It’s not the position of the township professionals to ever give advice on how to proceed with their site plans,” he said.
Himmelman was distressed by Leckstein’s statements.
“Mr. Leckstein is trying to delay these hearings, and frankly, my client is tired,” he said. The board then opened public comment, during which nearby resident James Sorge spoke about the inconvenience of vehicles on the road in the early morning. He said that the early services may be disruptive to residents who live on the road.
While Himmelman pointed out that Sorge also lives near Raceway Park, and that the disturbance created by DRSANA pales in comparison, Gupta said that the congregation could adjust the hours of services to accommodate residents.
Traffic engineer Maurice Rached also testified, reporting that the congregation will have a minimal traffic impact.
Rached said the morning peak hour would generate five trips in and four trips out, the evening peak hour would generate 13 trips in and 11 out, and the Saturday peak hour would generate 62 trips in and 27 out. He noted that these traffic estimations were taken for a month from April to May, Raceway Park’s prime months, in order to properly estimate the traffic impact.
Rached also said that due to a number of factors, the worship center would only need approximately 30 to 50 parking spaces. Though the plan provides 56 parking spaces, the township standard requires 146 spaces.
Since township professionals have expressed opposition to the small number of parking spaces, Rached said that a grassy area that was originally intended to hold banked parking spaces could be paved.
“There’s an area dedicated for parking covered in grass and is to be used for parking for big events,” he said. “We’ve been advised to keep it green as much as possible, but if you prefer asphalt, then the applicant is OK with that.”
Rached also spoke about the need for a full access road to the worship center from Route 527. Currently, the road is dedicated as an entrance road only, and all vehicle egress is directed out to Pension Road. Rached said DRSANA is currently in talks with the county to allow for exiting onto Route 527.