Office, warehouse space gains planners' approval
Zoning board members had earlier expressed objections to proposal
BY REBECCA MORTON Staff Writer

MARLBORO - Preliminary site plan approval has been granted to Ambten Road Associates LLC by the Planning Board for a two-story, 22,430-square-foot office and warehouse space on the north corner of Amboy and Tennent roads.

The facility will not include any retail space, which had been part of the application in an earlier incarnation before the Zoning Board of Adjustment.

The Planning Board gave its approval to the project on Feb. 20 in a 7-1 vote. Board member Mark Barenburg cast the dissenting vote. Vice Chairman Gerald Bergh abstained from voting.

Ambten's owner is listed as Sheldon Rodgers, according to planning documents. He owns Garden Irrigation, Route 9, Marlboro.

The 3.8-acre tract in an IOR (industrial office research) zone, which requires 5 acres, is currently used for residential purposes. The office and warehouse facility will bring a conforming use to the property, according to testimony provided by the applicant's professionals.

The building will have 7,730 square feet of warehouse space and 14,700 square feet of office space.

Engineer John Ploskonka, representing the applicant, testified that Rodgers would primarily use the building for his garden, irrigation and snow plow operation. The applicant estimated that he would occupy 50 percent of the warehouse space and 25 percent of the office space.

Nadine Lawson lives on Tennent Road diagonally across from the property in question and spoke against the plan during the public hearing. Lawson voiced concern about an increase in traffic that would occur along a road that she said already faces heavy traffic during rush hour.

Lawson went over the list of 11 variances being sought by the applicant, including those pertaining to setbacks from residential zones, such as the one in which she resides.

"The lot size, frontage, setbacks, buffer and fence requirements are all designed to protect adjacent residentially zoned homes from intrusive development, but the applicant wants to abide by none of them. This makes a mockery of the zoning ordinance," Lawson told the board members.

Having lived in her 150-year-old home for 36 years, Lawson said her family argued in vain when township officials decided to zone the western side of Tennent Road as an IOR zone while leaving her side as R-80 (residential, 2-acre lots).

"But at least we took some comfort in the safeguards built into the ordinance that we thought would soften the impact of industrial uses across the street. Please, do not strike down those safeguards," Lawson requested of the board.

In the end, Ambten Road Associates received several variances, including those pertaining to setback from a residential zone, lot frontage, lot width and area.M

ayor Jonathan Hornik, who sits on the board, asked the applicant if he had attempted to purchase additional land to make the lot conforming.

The applicant responded by saying that no additional adjacent property was for sale and that even if it had been for sale the land would have been wetlands, affecting the need for variances.

Lawson continued to ask the board to keep her concerns in mind, saying, "The applicant may plead hardship in seeking to waive the 5-acre lot size requirement. The fact is, the two lots adjacent to his property have both been up for sale and would give him more than the minimum lot size."

Board alternate Jennifer Bajar questioned the applicant's request for two signs identifying the facility on Tennent Road. Since the facility will have two access points - one from Amboy Road and a right turn only entering and exiting from Tennent Road - Bajar suggested that one sign be placed on Tennent Road and the other sign be placed near the Amboy Road entrance.

Township Councilman Frank LaRocca, who sits on the board, agreed with Bajar and said there was no need for two signs on Tennent Road. He said he believed one sign would be sufficient.

In the end the applicant's request for two signs on Tennent Road was denied.

Planner Christine Cofone, representing the applicant, testified that the application would not have a negative impact on the surrounding area. She said the residential zone that is across the street from the property under discussion is constrained by wetlands and would likely never be further developed.

LaRocca expressed concern about the proximity of the lot to Tennent Road and asked for an agreement that the applicant would provide a landscape buffer to protect children and to obstruct vehicle headlights.

The representatives for Ambten Road Associates agreed to provide such a buffer.

Lawson and her husband, Alex Ingham, were familiar with this application since they had spoken out against it when it first appeared before the Marlboro Zoning Board of Adjustment in 2005. At that time the plan included a variance seeking to use more than 15 percent gross floor area for retail use, according to previously published articles in the News Transcript.

The plan at that time called for a 23,400-square-foot building, but as zoning board members questioned the size of the facility, the building was decreased in size.

It was noted in the zoning board minutes that board member Robert Knight stated that if the size of the building was reduced it would eliminate a few of the variances requested, including the setbacks. The building continued to be decreased in size, but even when it was down to 20,450 square feet Michael Fishman, who was the zoning board's chairman at the time, called the application "overwhelmingly overbuilt."

In early 2007 the Ambten Road Associates application was withdrawn from the zoning board. It reappeared in a public notice for the Planning Board in August without the requested variance for retail space. Marlboro's zoning office confirmed that without that particular variance being sought the application was eligible to be heard before the Planning Board.

At the end of the Feb. 20 Planning Board hearing Ambten Road Associates received preliminary approval for the office and warehouse space, but it must meet certain conditions set by the board.

Among those conditions is that the office portion of the property may only be used or rented for general office space and not for medical offices. Also, the applicant is subject to affordable housing fees and will pay 2 percent of the final equalized assessed value of the property into the affordable housing fund.