Marlboro Planning Board
approves Goddard School
By jeanette M. eng
Staff Writer
MARLBORO — The proposal for a Goddard School to be built on Route 520 near the intersection of Route 9 was approved at the Jan. 15 Planning Board meeting.
The applicant, Building Blocks of Marlboro, LLC, proposed to build the 8,500-square-foot, one-story day care facility on a 1.65-acre tract on the north side of 520, about 500 feet east of Route 9.
The rectangular lot, zoned OPT-2 (Office Professional Transitional), sits to the east of a piece of property that will house a new Commerce Bank. An Exxon service station is at the corner of Route 520 and Route 9. Across Route 520 and about 250 feet west of the Goddard School location is a driveway to the Marlboro Plaza shopping center.
During a Dec. 18 hearing on the Goddard School application, board members decided they did not have enough information to make a decision on the plan.
Concerns were raised in regard to a proposed left-turn in and left-turn out of the Goddard School property and it was agreed that the board did not have jurisdiction over such a decision. Route 520 is a county road, putting the decision in the hands of the Monmouth County Planning Board, chairman Mario Guidice pointed out.
Objections from attorney Melvin I. Kenduck, representing the owners of the Marlboro Plaza, also prompted board members to schedule a continuation to hear Kenduck’s traffic expert.
Since the Dec. 18 hearing, Goddard School representatives, Kenduck and the board’s traffic consultant Michael Chasin met with representatives of the Monmouth County Planning Board.
According to Chasin, county authorities will not allow a left turn into the Goddard School from Route 520, but will allow a left turn out of the Goddard School onto Route 520.
"There are two possibilities that are being considered," explained Chasin. "If there is a traffic light put up at the intersection of Marlboro Plaza and the entrance to Commerce Bank, then the Goddard School will be allowed both a left in and left out."
If no traffic light is put up, the Goddard School will not be allowed a left in and will only be allowed a left out, Chasin said.
According to Chasin, the county will then monitor the situation for the Goddard School and Commerce Bank and if officials find it to be a problem they will prohibit the left turn out of the Goddard School as well and put a barrier up on Route 520 to ensure that turns can not be made.
During the public session on the application, Kiron Sinha of Monroe Township spoke out, saying that as an owner of Kiddie Academy, a child care center on Tennent Road, Marlboro, she wanted Marlboro officials to look into the other factors of such an application.
"We’ve been in operation for three years and are struggling," Sinha said. "Our school is the same size as the Goddard School and having one 200 yards from Kiddie Academy really presents a problem."
Attorney Salvatore Alfieri, representing the Goddard School, responded in defense of the application.
"What we are proposing is a permitted use and we do not have to explain the likelihood of success," Alfieri said. "We have done demographic studies and are satisfied" with the results.
Planning Board attorney Dennis Collins agreed with Alfieri and explained the policies to Sinha.
"The Goddard School is a permitted use in this area and the applicant does not have to convince the board of success," Collins said.
According to Collins, competition with other businesses is not the concern of the board members when they are considering an application.
Stanley Podstawski of Route 520 also objected to the application. Echoing his sentiments from the previous hearing, Podstawski reiterated his feelings that putting a Goddard School in the area was poor judgment.
"I live almost directly across the street and it’s a bad area," Podstawski said. "The owners should look at the safety of the children."
New Planning Board member Jack Zatz expressed concerns about the outcome of prohibiting a left turn into the Goddard School from Route 520.
"What is the recourse for those people who want to make a left?" Zatz asked.
Chasin said he believes people coming to the Goddard School will take Union Hill Road to Tennent Road, to Route 520 and then make a right turn into the school parking lot.
Guidice, Zatz, William Redmond and Stanley Young voted to approve the application. Board member Steven Gustman voted no. Board member Elio Dicosmo abstained.
Gustman said his vote was a reflection of his belief that the current standing of the application is not safe.
"There’s going to be a great deal of congestion in the area," Gustman said. "With the traffic from Marlboro Plaza, there’s going to be the potential for accidents."
Although Gustman said he did not have any problem with the application itself, he would feel much better, he said, "for safety purposes, if we can get the Department of Transportation or the county to promise to put a light up or a cement island to prevent people from making a left in or out [of the Goddard School]. I’m concerned with the traffic and safety of our town."