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Politics & Government

Residents Pack Meeting to Oppose Swim Facility

Residents from Warren and Berkeley Heights challenge plans for 52,000-square-foot Berkeley Aquatics Center.

Residents from Warren and Berkeley Heights packed the Susie B. Boyce meeting room for a chorus of opposition to a proposed swimming facility on Warren land bordering Berkeley Heights at the Planning Board meeting Monday night.

Jim Wood, the owner of Berkeley Aquatics Center who is looking to relocate his facility to expand his business, is proposing an approximately 51,940-square-foot building on 523,591-square-feet of land for a swimming pool facility containing three pools and including a competitive swim training pool and training facilities, a swimming school pool, an aqua therapy pool, locker rooms and other amenities, nestled between Hillcrest Road and Emerson Lane.

Wood said that when he started 33 years ago, the mission was to offer every athlete in all age groups the opportunity to reach their potential, adding his center has won 56 state championships.

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But in a room comprised largely of Berkeley Heights residents, the residents cited such their concerns, including facility programs and number of participants, parking accommodations and area traffic patterns.

“It seems like the board has already decided to go ahead with the facility,” said Johnathan Wishnia, a Warren resident who is leading opposition efforts. Prior to the meeting, Wishnia, who is an attorney, sent a letter to the Township Committee, Planning Board and chief of police detailing his opposition.

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“It’s frankly less important to get the community together than it is to get in front of a court,” Wishnia said after the meeting, telling Planning Board President Peter Villani and Mayor Gary Di Nardo that he believed he had no choice but to file a lawsuit against the town.

“The technical legal issue is that John Chadwick, the zoning officer for Warren, wrote in his March 8 memo that [building the facility] is permitted conditional use,” Wishnia said. "The next step is going to be going to the Somerset County Planning board next week and [figuratively] screaming at them.”

The residents based most of their concerns on the additional traffic the facility would bring to an already dangerous area. The residents said the proposed location is heavily trafficked, particularly during morning and evening rush hour, as traffic spills off exit 41 from Interstate 78.

And, residents said, fatalities have occurred at the intersection.

Wood has testified in the past that the reason for his move to Warren is that his current facility is too small and antiquated, which makes current training procedures challenging.  Hundreds of athletes, he said, are turned away as a result of the lack of facility, which is against the philosophy of the program.

When asked to characterize what capacity at the new facility would look like, Wood said 500 people. The response caused gasps in the room and then the residents turned up the heat.

“You are a local guy and you are familiar with the traffic pattern,” Berkeley Heights resident Greg Hewitt said while facing Wood. “You are going to add 200 cars on a weekend morning to the area. There have already been fatalities on Hillcrest. Why would you want to do that to your fellow residents?”

The room broke out in applause. Wood responded: “I don’t believe I am doing that.”

Wood and his legal team are not seeking variances. Instead, Berkeley Aquatic Center plans to request that it be able to merge five lots into a single lot for a total area of 14.889 acres, intended for recreational use under existing land use ordinance.

Because of the size of the facility, Wood said he has planned out 218 parking spaces. Discussions about traffic flow and parking, however, were tabled, as Wood’s traffic consultant was unable to attend the meeting.

But that did not stop residents from attempting to address parking as a key issue.

“So the town of Warren is not interested in hearing that our projections [for anticipated traffic] might be different,” Berkeley Heights resident Mara Cruwys said. “Is there something at the facility that will say 'no more parking?' Where do the residents park when there are 500 people at a meet? For some reason I feel that the board is taking his number and we live in a residential area. The town is not interested in hearing our opinion and our estimates.”

Villiani assured residents that the board is listening and that all opinions will be heard equally. Based on time constraints, however, the discussion was moved to the April 11 meeting.

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