Compromised building plan gets thumbs down
Sides disagree on density of proposed housing at Krome site
BY JOHN DUNPHY
Staff Writer

Sayreville officials and many residents held firm last week to their stance that a proposed community on Route 35 cannot include more than 144 units.

About 50 people packed the Morgan Firehouse April 20 to offer opinions on the future of the Krome nightclub site at Old Spye Road and Route 35.

In February, the Planning Board rejected a builder’s proposal to allow 264 units across eight buildings in the proposed age-restricted community on the 31-acre parcel of land. The board recommended that developer Zigga Roshanski, a partner in Continental Properties, Woodbridge, reduce the density to 144 units.

Last week — after two hours of heated discourse, occasional shouting and one brief power outage at the firehouse — the board rejected the builder’s updated plan seeking 198 units. Board members want to keep the density capped at 144 units and sent a nonbinding recommendation to the Borough Council that it include that figure in the redevelopment plan for the site.

Donna Jennings, the lawyer representing Continental Properties, said the density sought by the builder and property owner is less than existing conditions in the area. She noted that 264 units would have amounted to 8.97 units per acre, whereas the board’s recommended 144 units would equal 5 units per acre. She said the revised plan, with 198 units, would be 6.43 units per acre — a lower density than the 7.4 units per acre that can be found in the immediate area around Krome.

“We believe the site can handle more than 144 units,” she said.

Despite the developer’s assurances that the site is more than capable of handling the newly proposed 198 units, as well as a marina, clubhouse, tennis courts and a small retail store, most board members were still skeptical whether the property was suited for that many units, citing quality-of-life issues for existing residents in the area.

Liz Jobmann, an Old Spye Road resident for five years, said traffic conditions in the area are already bad and will only worsen with development. A greater number of units on the site, she added, will also be an eyesore for those living nearby.

“It’s just too big for the footprint,” she said. “Just because you can stuff that many people in, doesn’t mean you have to.”

“It’s going to change the character of the community totally,” she added.

Debra Jackson, who has lived next to the night club for 26 years, said she was trying to look at the issue of density in the area from both sides. While she said fewer units would be favorable, she noted that residents recently voted in favor of the Board of Education’s $66 million 2005-06 school budget and a $47 million referendum to renovate Sayreville War Memorial High School, meaning taxes will be going up.

Plus, she said, anything beats one of the alternatives.

“Yes, it will create traffic, but nothing compares to 900 teenagers driving out at the same time,” she said. “To me, traffic is not an issue.”

Property owner Tom Beninato, whose family ran the former Club Bene and then Krome for over 40 years, said the site was more than capable of handling not only 198 units, but even as many as 264.

“Two hundred sixty-four units would have worked. That’s why SERA [Sayreville Economic Redevelopment Agency] sponsored the site,” he said, referring to a redevelopment plan approved by the agency.

“The Planning Board obviously took that book and threw it in the garbage,” Beninato said. “Not only are they on different pages, they’re in different libraries.”

As the property owner, Beninato said he would obviously garner more profit from the higher number of units, but he noted that the borough would also benefit from increased tax revenue.

“By cutting it so drastically, the town has lost $1 million a year in property taxes,” he added.

Councilman Thomas Pollando, who is also a member of the Planning Board, said quality of life for area residents was the reason he favors the lower number of units.

“We get asked, why are we putting up so many houses,” he said, noting that many developments under construction today were approved years before the current board members had been appointed.

“We have an opportunity [now] to reduce density,” he said.

Though most Planning Board members echoed Pollando’s statements, board member Michael D’Addio bucked the trend, saying he felt the site could handle the 198 units.

“This is not a bad project,” he said. “I have no problem with 198 units.”

D’Addio, who is also a member of SERA, said other potential projects in the borough, including redevelopment of the 400-acre National Lead property along the Raritan River, could also hold the potential for large structures and increased traffic.

“The National Lead [property] is going to have tall buildings,” he said. “The town should get used to things like that.”

D’Addio said the Planning Board was not in a position to approve or deny a plan based on traffic unless it proved to be a nuisance.

“We have a willing applicant,” he said. “If this doesn’t go, you better be prepared that [Krome] will open again.”

Krome ceased operations in September after a recent history riddled with controversy, some of it centering around its “teen night” promotions. The club reached its nadir with the murder of Che Broadus, an 18-year-old Union Township man, outside the club. The club never reopened after the shooting.

Board member Thomas Tighe said D’Addio’s inference that the club could re-open was being used as a scare tactic to change opinions.

“From the time I was 3, I wasn’t afraid of the boogeyman,” he said. “I’m not afraid of the boogeyman now.”

“Scare tactics that the club may re-open have nothing to do with this board,” added fellow member Frank Bella.

Cesar Moreira, a Feary Place resident who moved into the area in December, said that although he was not around when Krome was open, he was familiar with the events that led to its closure. A club manager in Manhattan, he said one of his security employees at the club is the mother of a passenger who was in Broadus’ car when he was killed.

He did not see a problem with a compromise that allows a higher number of units.

“You want to bring a better quality of life here,” he said. “There’s got to be a balance. You have to break some eggs to make an omelet.”

Though Beninato said he would prefer the board agree on either the 198 units or the original 264, he is aware that at this point the majority of board members may not be willing to change their minds.

“I was hoping they would be able to listen to a compromise,” he said. “If they stay with 144, we’ll just have to live with it.”

When asked if re-opening the club was a real possibility should talks break down on the proposal, Beninato said it is always a possibility, albeit a slim one.

“If it was up to me, it could happen tomorrow,” he said. “But, I’m afraid it’s not up to me. The town wants it to stay closed.”