Many voice opposition to retail center

BY SETH MANDEL
Staff Writer

An estimated 100 residents came out Tuesday to air their feelings about a shopping center proposed at a central Monroe intersection.

The crowd, with many against and some in favor of the proposal, attended Tuesday’s Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing on Crossroads Plaza LLC, which is seeking a use variance to build a shopping center on the northeast side of Route 522, also known as Buckelew Avenue, where it intersects with School House Road.

The land is currently zoned R-30 for the construction of single-family homes, and therefore a use variance is required for the proposed neighborhood commercial use.

“We believe that there are special reasons why this property is particularly well-suited for development as proposed, and particularly ill-suited for development as presently zoned,” said Jonathan Heilbrunn, attorney for the developer.

The proposed plaza, he said, would not encroach on any nearby residences.

“The sites are generally isolated from other residential developments. Surrounding both of the sites is a vast amount of open space. So there are very few residences that are impacted in any fashion by this proposal,” he said.

The developer seeks to build a bank and a day-care facility on one side of the 13.2-acre parcel, and about 30,000 square feet of retail and office space on the other, Heilbrunn said. About 75 percent of that space would be retail, and the rest office space.

The developer also agreed to install sidewalks along Route 522 from the nearby Heritage Chase development to School House Road. Sidewalks would also be installed along School House Road in the area of the plaza.

In addition, Heilbrunn said the developer would connect the Heritage Chase development to the township’s sanitary sewer system. The residents are currently using septic systems.

Angelo Tanzi, a resident of Heritage Chase, said the offer came a little late.

“Heritage Chase already agreed to pay for the sewers, and we’re getting them. It’s a done deal,” Tanzi said.

Tanzi also objected to Heilbrunn’s statement that commercial buildings had already been constructed in the area. Both the Board of Education offices and a firehouse — which would be improved by the developer — are currently in the vicinity of the proposed center.

“We have the Board of Ed., we have the firehouse, we appreciate that. We thought they were public entities, and it was OK, but now they’re being used against us to call it commercial?”

Tanzi asked if the retail space was going to be one large store, or if it would be subdivided and rented to several store owners. The developer responded that it would be subdivided.

Buckelew Avenue resident Darren Kutz said safety was his foremost concern with the proposal, and that the plaza would hinder the efforts of firefighters to minimize their response time should there be an emergency.

“I don’t see how anyone conceivably can say that this is not going to create more traffic, more congestion in that immediate area, which is only going to increase the chances of those fire trucks not getting out there fast enough,” Kutz said.

He also expressed concern that noise and lighting would affect the quality of life for residents in surrounding developments.

“That’s the very reason that most of us either stayed here or moved here, because we wanted a rural type of environment,” he said.

Kutz said a day-care facility was not needed, as there are several already in town.

Zoning Board Chairman Alan Plans responded that there is a growing demand for day care in the area, and it would be inconvenient for parents to have to drive five miles to the nearest establishment.

“There are plenty of people that live in Monroe Knolls that are couples who now find themselves in a situation where they need two-family participants to carry their homes and mortgage expenses,” Plans said. “They are looking for a facility in which to have their children in a safe environment, and this is what this applicant is bringing to the table.”

David DeYoung, a resident of School House Road, said he moved to Monroe from New Brunswick to be in a more rural setting and to get away from the congestion of a city atmosphere. He said he is against bringing in a shopping center and the traffic that comes with it.

McFarlane Circle resident Yasmine DeYoung moved to the township from North Brunswick. She said her husband was killed when he was hit by a car, and that she wanted her son to have the “safety and tranquillity” offered in a town like Monroe.

DeYoung added her belief that building a residential development in the area would increase the value of the nearby homes, whereas a commercial plaza would prevent such an increase and possibly cause a slight property depreciation.

Local resident Joyce Reguchi protested the arrangement of the plans and the developer’s decision to put a day care center near a firehouse, where sirens will often be blaring.

“You have to be careful that rather than teaching kids to hear sounds and be a little bit concerned about them, we’re going to teach them to ignore them,” she said.

Camelot development resident Michele Arminio protested what he perceived as the board’s sympathy for the proposal.

“These people are entitled to come before the board, but they are not entitled for you to necessarily vote yes,” Arminio said, adding that the application seemed incomplete and it would be “inappropriate” for the board to vote on the application at all.

Plans responded that township technical review committees have reviewed the application before it went to the board.

“And it’s an advantage that developers have that the citizens do not have,” Arminio said. “We are not party to those meetings.”

“And neither is the board, so we’re not tainted,” Plans said. “We are hearing this application for the first time, just like the public.”

Arminio said she doubted the sincerity of Plans’ claim, after which he asked the next member of the public to come forward.

“I just want to put on the record that I object to the fact that you have not allowed me free speech,” Arminio said before stepping down.

Not all in attendance were opposed to the application, however.

Leonard Levene, a member of the Board of Fire Officials of Fire District 3, voiced support for the project on behalf of the district.

“We support it because it is an advantage to the citizens of the township of Monroe, because the [nearby] firehouse will be improved as part of the application,” Levene said, adding that he supports it as a fire official and as a citizen.

He said having a shopping center at the location would be “easy and convenient” for nearby residents.

Harvey Abramson said the site must be developed and that this plan was the most beneficial to the township and its residents.

“[Of] the two choices that are offered right now, the residential choice simply increases the tax burden on everybody else in the community. The advantages to having the site developed as the applicant asks, is that it provides resources for the community. It also goes a long way toward starting to preserve the groundwater around here,” he said.

Resident Bill Orpen said his house was probably the closest to the proposed shopping center and that he would appreciate having food stores in such an advantageous location.

“The township is growing, growing, growing. The streets are not growing, and what do we have to do to get a quart of milk? We have to go to Jamesburg, Spotswood or Concordia. I think it is about time that the board did wake up and allow something like this to happen, as long as it’s in a controlled environment,” Orpen said.

School House Road resident Ron Murrell said the land will eventually be developed, and the current proposal seemed to be the best option. He also said the proposed center itself did not appear to be an eyesore, and would not damage the appearance of the neighborhood.

“This is a nice site. It doesn’t look like a regular strip plaza,” he said, adding that the developer has been accessible and willing to work with the community to ensure that whatever is constructed conforms to the atmosphere of the neighborhood.

Plans agreed that the shopping center did not look like most other strip malls, and that it seemed to be a vast improvement from plazas mistakenly approved in the past.

“In the two shopping areas of Suburban Plaza, we erred, because there’s no berm, there’s no buffer, there’s no foliage, there’s no trees, there’s no shrubs. And what I see here — this is the first time I’m seeing it — I’m also concurring with a statement that was just made. Why not get the best for the township, and so far I haven’t seen anything better than this.”