EDISON — Residents for and against plans to construct a new building for a Hindu temple made emotional appeals to the township’s Zoning Board.
The June 16 hearing had been carried over from May 26 because of the large volume of public response on the issue.
After all the feedback, the result was a unanimous approval on the requested bulk and use variances associated with demolishing the existing Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) Shri Swaminarayan Mandir temple at 2500 Woodbridge Ave., and building a new twostory, 61-foot building that will be designed to accommodate about 2,000 people.
The existing temple has stood for 25 years on a site that is zoned for light industrial uses.
Residents against the project spoke about parking, traffic and construction-related concerns. Some said their concerns were based on their current experience with members of the temple; they complained about noise and said they have had members park in their driveways.
Resident Lois Bertha was one such dissenter. She said her experience has been that temple members’ parking during celebrations has caused a safety hazard.
“If we had needed an emergency vehicle, we would not have been able to get them to our homes,” she said,. She also said that she was also concerned that construction vehicles would be using the side streets for access to the temple site.
“What we’re trying to do … is, we’re trying to work out something that’s best for both sides — the community, the residents and the people in the temple,” the Zoning Board chairman, Leonard Sendelsky, said.
To move ahead with the project, the site’s status as a house of worship would have to be approved again — something with which Bertha did not agree. She said she also fought the building of the original temple 25 years ago.
“I would find it unthinkable that you would show total disregard for the residents of this town, and especially of our neighborhood, and allow this to go forward,” she said. “All we’re asking the board to do is enforce our zoning laws as they are on the books and serve the residents of Edison. We want no further disruption of our neighborhood. We deserve our concerns to be taken seriously.”
Members of the temple, including children, along with other neighbors from the surrounding area, spoke in support of both the temple and the proposal. Those residents said they’ve never encountered the traffic and parking issues others had cited, and said the temple is a family-friendly project preferable to alternatives and that it is aligned with Edison’s diverse nature.
Temple members spoke to the role the mandir has played in enriching their lives.
“Mandir was always there for me when I needed it,” said a resident and a member, Anandiben Patel. “And I want to make sure that the generation growing up nowadays also has this opportunity.”
Over the course of the hearing, the board and the applicant came to compromises regarding parking and occupancy.
At the hearing’s conclusion, the board acknowledged the resident opposition as well as existing problems related to traffic and parking. The project’s approval came with various conditions, some of which were designed to address those problems.
Conditions include a maximum occupancy of 1,760 people and designation of the rear entrance to the temple as an emergency entrance only — a condition designed to limit side-street traffic. In addition, police presence would be required during celebrations and at assigned times during the construction process.