Board gets first look at proposed office building
BY TALI ISRAELI
Staff Writer

MARLBORO - Testimony has opened on an application that seeks to construct a three-story office building at Tennent Road and Route 520.

Representatives of Marlboro 18 LLC appeared before the Planning Board on March 7 seeking site plan approval for a three-story, 92,125-square-foot office building, a parking lot and a stormwater detention basin on Tennent Road between Route 18 and Route 520.

The 12.5-acre parcel is in an industrial office research (IOR) zone in which the proposed structure is a permitted use. The applicant is not requesting any variances or waivers from the board.

The property is surrounded on four of its five sides by roads; to the east is Route 18, to the south is Tennent Road, to the southwest is Route 520 and to the west is Hartman Road. To the north of the proposed site is a vacant lot.

Lorali Totten, the engineer representing the applicant, said the location of the site made it a challenge to design the structure, especially for a project that is fully conforming. She added that the property's unusual shape was created by the construction of Route 18.

The building will have two access points, both on Hartman Road, which is a dead end and used as an off-ramp for Route 18. The applicant is proposing to provide 380 parking spaces (eight of which will be for handicapped parking), where 369 spaces are required by the township.

According to Totten, 300 employees are expected to occupy the building and the hours of operation would be regular business hours between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

The applicant is proposing to construct a wet detention basin at the front of the building, which will include a retaining wall with decorative stone and plantings around the basin. Totten noted that the basin meets all of the recently adopted stormwater management regulations.

The applicant has received preliminary approval from the Western Monmouth Utilities Authority for sewer service to the site, and an approval for water service from the Marlboro Township Municipal Utilities Authority is pending, according to Totten.

The Planning Board's professionals did not disagree with Totten's testimony regarding the engineering aspects of the site.

Gary Dean provided the board with testimony regarding the traffic patterns, impact and improvements needed for the proposed site.

The applicant's professionals said they have been collecting data for about four years to understand the traffic patterns and to come up with solutions for some of the concerns in that area.

According to Dean, Hartman Road carries considerable traffic throughout the day in a southbound direction. He said the Marlboro administration and police department have made several requests to the state Department of Transportation (DOT) for improvements to that location (Hartman Road and Route 520), such as a traffic light.

The DOT denied requests for a traffic light, stating that the traffic light at Tennent Road and Route 520 is too close and would cause a detriment to vehicular movement in that area, Dean said.

Due to the response from the state, Dean said, the applicant had to look at other ways to improve the traffic conditions. The applicant is proposing an additional lane on Hartman Road to alleviate some of the traffic that backs up as cars approach Route 520.

As for the site's traffic impact on Tennent Road, Dean said the proposed structure would only be adding roughly 3 percent more vehicles in that area, depending on peak hours.

Dean said the applicant would provide its pro rata share for any improvements made to Tennent Road and Route 520, which would be 3 percent given the site's impact on those roads.

Due to the lateness of the hour, the Planning Board's professionals did not have an opportunity to respond to the traffic testimony given by the applicant.

Further testimony and a public hearing for the application is expected to continue on April 18.