Public asks if proposed
rezoning is a done deal
By karl vilacoba
Staff Writer

News that the owners of the Marlboro Airport, Route 79, Marlboro, planned to officially close the facility didn’t deter local pilots from airing their opposition to a possible rezoning of the property Thursday night.

About 100 members of the public attended the latest Marlboro Township Council meeting at which the master plan amendment was discussed. Once again, participation during the citizens’ voice segment of the meeting was heavy.

Airport owners Marlboro Holdings, LLC, of Staten Island, N.Y., have asked the council to rezone the 50-acre airport property in order to allow the construction of an age-restricted housing development on 60-by-120-foot lots. Currently, the airport property is zoned for residential development on 2-acre lots.

In the final adopted draft of the master plan amendment, the Planning Board recommended adding 100 acres of adjacent properties to create an expanded zone for the potential adult community project. Reasons for the expansion included the opportunity to provide a substantial amenities package for the development and meeting the 75-acre minimum needed to qualify as a Planned Adult Community (PAC) district. The string of connected properties targeted by the Planning Board runs from the airport boundary on the New Jersey Transit right of way, crosses Harbor Road to the south and eventually reaches Tennent Road.

Marlboro Mayor Matthew Scannapieco, who sits on the Planning Board, said the board’s aim is to have about 20 percent senior housing in place by the time Marlboro is "built out." The combination of age-restricted developments already existing, those on the way and those proposed in the amendment "puts us where we want to be for the future," the mayor said.

Many professional planners believe senior housing is an outstanding tax ratable because it produces no school children and negates several municipal service needs through self-sufficient homeowners’ associations. But some council members, citing already congested roads and other problems, said they had their doubts.

"I heard 12 years ago that Marlboro was almost built out. Yet, I see the bulldozers around here every day," said Councilwoman Mary Singer. "Every time I read the paper in my mailbox, I get the shivers."

Some council members, stunned by the recommended addition of another 100 acres to the airport zone, said they wanted further explanation on the project.

Council President Paul Kovalski Jr. said he would like to question Planning Board Chairman Mario Giudice and board member Stanley Young, who is credited with first proposing the extra lots, at the next hearing to explain "why this is a good deal for the township."

It was a question that provoked emotional responses from some members of the public, who at times wondered aloud if the added acreage around the airport amounted to collusion between the administration and developers.

Pilot Jay Thorpe asked Scannapieco if the rezoning request was "a done deal" or "a rubber stamp ... ready to be passed through."

The mayor said all rezoning issues are exclusively decided by the council, to which Thorpe replied, "Mr. Mayor, with all due respect, perception is reality."

Several members of the public spoke against the possible Route 79 adult community project on the grounds that it would cause traffic congestion, strain municipal services, damage wetlands in the area and contribute to overdevelopment in general.

To others, the matter was more personal. One man said he wished the owners would "put a ‘for sale’ sign" on the property and "go back to Staten Island." Another reasoned that Marlboro Holdings, LLC, stood for "liar, liar ... and I can’t tell you what the ‘C’ stands for."

Pilot Stanley Berger said reasons to cease airport operations cited by Marlboro Holdings, LLC, regarding recent crashes and the facility’s proximity to the Marlboro Early Learning Center at Tennent and Harbor roads were "diluted." The true reason for the closing was money, he said, and a vote for increased zoning would net the owners millions of dollars in property value.

"The owners of this property are holding a lottery ticket and they want you to pick their number in the worst way," Berger told municipal officials.