Manalapan adopts redevelopment plan. Could warehouses, ice rinks replace Gaitway Farm?
MANALAPAN – The township committee has adopted a redevelopment plan that would allow developers to build warehouses and indoor recreation centers on a large tract of mostly vacant land that includes the horse-training facility Gaitway Farm and the former assisted-living facility Manalapan Manor.
Manalapan Manor closed in 2020 after years of health violations and pedestrian deaths. The assisted-living facility was located on Route 33 and four residents died walking along or across the road since 2014.
Township lawyer Roger McLaughlin said the redevelopment plan will expand potential uses for the property, including allowing warehouses and skating rinks.
He said the current property is zoned as a Special Economic District, which allows for commercial development.
The new permitted uses could include light manufacturing, distribution, wholesales, indoor recreation centers, scientific research and agriculture as well. Warehouses are considered by the planning board as being distinct from fulfillment centers, which would preclude Amazon facilities.
The plan states that more than 40% of the redevelopment area must be preserved and reforested.
The plan also contains a map titled “Concept Plan (WORKING DRAFT).” Two large warehouses estimated at 1.01 million square feet and 568,950 square feet, respectively, and an indoor skating rink are drawn on the map. The plan covers the properties owned by Gaitway Farm and Manalapan Manor.
In a planning board meeting in early December, township board planner Jennifer Beahm said she has been in talks with a proposed developer.
COVID-19: A year after the COVID vaccine, Shore health workers are hopeful but weary of new variant
McLaughlin said that there is a non-condemnation designation in the ordinance, meaning the township will not use the power of eminent domain to acquire the land.
“The township is not involved, will not be involved in acquiring any property in the redevelopment area. It will not be involved in acquiring property for a developer for redevelopment," McLaughlin said.
He added: “It is left to the owner of the property in the area to decide if and when they wish to either redevelop their property for (a potential) client or sell the property to a redeveloper. … So, it is purely a voluntary situation, it is not a force issue. And not something that the township will be involved (in).”
Some members of the public decried the inclusion of the farm in the redevelopment plan.
Nancy Grbelja, committee member in neighboring Millstone Township, said, “Gaitway has been the premiere training location in the state and in the entire area.”
She said she had visited Gaitway Farm to train her standard-bred horses for 20 years. If the farm closes, she said, it will create an economic ripple effect to surrounding businesses that take care of or race the horses.
Alan Poliner, a resident of the neighborhood Knob Hill opposite the redevelopment area, said, “This was a rural community 10 years ago, 15 years ago. ... This was farm, everywhere. …Enough construction is enough. …There are just too many warehouses, we don’t need anymore.”
A representative for Gaitway Farm was not immediately available for comment.
Quarantine: Marlboro schools to launch COVID testing to reduce 'ludicrous' quarantine rate
Beahm said, “I understand the angst that the public has put forth this evening. …And as we’ve stated, it’s an overlay zone. The underlying zoning is still in place. This is an additional zoning layer that’s on top of it.”
She added: “There’s nothing the township is doing that’s forcing Gaitway Farm to terminate their occupancy of this property. Nor are they forcing them out of business and all these secondary businesses.
"It is simply an overlay zone. The owners have the opportunity to evaluate potential offers if they so choose to do so. … If Gaitway Farm does not want to sell their property, nothing that is happening this evening is obligating them to do so.”
Mayor Jack McNaboe said, “I’m all in favor of that staying a horse farm, but let’s face it folks. I don’t see that happening. …Three major players within two miles of this farm have closed in my 35 plus years of being here. …I have to be realistic.”
Olivia Liu is a reporter covering transportation, Red Bank and western Monmouth County. She can be reached at oliu@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Manalapan NJ Gaitway Farm, Manor redevelopment plan adopted
