East Brunswick approves temple expansion plan on Ryders Lane

EAST BRUNSWICK – The township Planning Board approved a Hindu temple’s plan to expand with a new place of worship and a nursery school on Ryders Lane and Perry Road.

During an almost four-hour meeting last week, the board granted approval to Sadhu Vaswani Center to demolition its main building at 110 Ryders Lane and two homes at 6-8 Perry Road to construct a new place of worship, which will also house a preschool. A parsonage will be in a residential structure at 4 Perry Road, and the plan also includes a meditation garden at the 2.46-acre site, located in a residential zone near the intersection of Ryders and Tices lanes.

The board approved the plan with conditions with members Mayor Brad Cohen, Council President James Wendell and Steve Phillips voting against the plan.

Wendell said he is still troubled with the lot coverage area.

"I don't think providing 50% lot coverage over the allowed maximum is something that should be done in a sensitive area such as that," he said.

Cohen talked about the changes made in the application, but said he believes the traffic issues will get worse in the area. He also expressed concern about the lot coverage.

Board member Charles Heppel, who voted in favor of the plan, said this is a difficult application.

"If this was an application and there was nothing on the property now, I wouldn't go along with this, but it's there and the applicant has made significant changes to improve the situation," he said.

Laurence Bravman, who also voted in favor of the plan, said he was not comfortable with the magnitude of this project as originally presented. But, he said, over the last year, the applicant has taken the bulk of the board's concerns and planning comments into consideration and have substantially revised their plan.

Bravman also said that religious land use and places of assembly, although nonresidential in nature, are permitted uses in residential zones.

Several residents in the area have voiced concerns about the project, citing issues like the additional traffic the project will bring to the area, parking in their neighborhoods, safety and noise concerns and the impact the project will have on the overall character of their neighborhood.

At last week’s meeting, Allen S. Lalwani, CEO of the temple, said they went back to the drawing board again and again in order to address concerns raised by neighbors, as well as positive interventions by township professionals and board members.

"As a result, we now have a largely compliant application, that if you approve, will blend in beautifully with the neighborhood," he said.

The revised plan

Landscape architect Richard Wiener said the latest changes include widening the driveway entrance on Ryders Lane, eliminating the 7,100-square-foot preschool building and incorporating the pre-K into the second floor of the main center building. The playground was relocated and will be protected from Perry Road frontage and the parking area by fencing, retaining walls and landscaping, he said

In addition, the parsonage, which was previously located on the second floor of the main center, will now be located at 4 Perry Road, Wiener said.

Earlier: Temple in East Brunswick unveils revised plan for expansion

Earlier: Here's what we know about the temple in East Brunswick looking to expand

The only remaining access to the site from Perry Road will be an alarmed, emergency access gate, which will only be used emergency personnel, Wiener added.

In order to incorporate the pre-K use into the main center building, the building was increased from 16,147 square feet to 18,754 square feet, Wiener said, adding the footprint of the building is unchanged and the increase in square footage is predominately on the second floor.

"As a result of these modifications, parking has been increased to 86 spaces from the previous 75, including six stacked green spaces, which can be utilized by volunteer staff during events and can serve as an area for snow storage during major snow events," Wiener said.

He also said the landscape buffer along the northern property line has increased from 25 feet to 50 feet.

The proposed plan changes have resulted in a reduction in the proposed impervious coverage from 46.7% to 45.2%. where the ordinance allows 30 percent, requiring a variance, according to testimony.

Kenneth Pape, attorney for the center, said flooding is always a concern and the applicant will also bring storm water management to the site. He also said the parsonage will be strictly residential.

The group also heard from the applicant's other professionals – traffic expert Scott Kennel, architect Yoshita Chandrani and professional planner Christine Bell.

The group discussed various other aspects of the project including access to the facility, U-turns and parking.

Board attorney Larry Sachs read several conditions, including that there would be a maximum of 50 students allowed in the pre-K facility, a maximum occupancy of 200 people in the hall and events would only be held inside. Other conditions include that no parking would be permitted in the Lawrence Brook neighborhood by the house of worship and all parking would be limited to the parking provided on site and at 1200 Tices Lane.

Residents speak out

Several area residents spoke out against the project.

Jeff Peck, whose backyard faces the temple's property, said he understands "you have to be reasonable," but said he has concerns about safety and flooding due to the scope of the plan.

Glenn Sandberg spoke about the traffic and accidents already occurring on Ryders Lane. He also spoke about visitors to the temple parking on surrounding streets.

Debbie Sandberg objected to how wide and deep the proposed building would be in comparison to their homes and the closeness of the project to Perry Road.

She said two homes will be demolished, land leveled, the structure built, trees and shrubs planted and then the long wait for them to mature. She said it was also mentioned that utilities would have to be turned off on Perry Road during part of the construction.

"Living through all of this is asking a lot of the residences and will impact our daily lives for years with absolutely no benefit to us at all," she said. "The neighborhood gains nothing from this temple being built, but we are being forced to deal with a lot."

Other township residents, some who said they attend the center, spoke in support of the temple and the plan.

Email: sloyer@gannettnj.com

Susan Loyer covers Middlesex County and more for MyCentralJersey.com. To get unlimited access to her work, please subscribe or activate your digital account today. 

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: East Brunswick NJ approves temple expansion plan on Ryders Lane