Lengthy Public Hearing Pushes Vote on Catena Site

Three hours of public testimony at the Manalapan Planning Board meeting on Thursday pushed off a vote on a proposed amendment to the township's Master Plan which would allow car dealerships in certain zones along the Rt. 9 corridor.

The residents concerns were varied: traffic, pollution, quality of life, overdevelopment and unsightliess, but their conclusion was the same, amending the Master Plan to accomodate car dealerships on Rt. 9 is against the will of the people.

At the last meeting of the Planning Board, Township Planner Richard Cramer presented his new findings which indicated that car dealerships are appropriate in the OP-3 and OP-10 zones along Rt. 9, - which is something many of the opposed residents were hoping for.

One by one an organized group of residents addressed the Planning Board before a packed house at the , mostly reading from prepared statements. At the center of the night were resident Susan Hergenrother of Greenfield Road and Gerald Sonneblick, attorney for Ray Catena, the auto dealer.

In Hergenrother's lengthy testimony, which included photos, police and tax reports, she challenged Sonneblick's claims that if located on the site Catena's business would be a good neighbor to residents nearby. She also challenged his claims that the business would bring between $3-$4 million in taxes to the township. And she suggested that it would exacerbate already dangerous traffic conditions at the corner of Taylor Mills Road and Rt. 9.

Other residents, like Suzanne McManus who said she lives within 300 feet of Catena's proposed Audi dealership, said that the site would be hazardous to the health of her adult son who suffers from a lung disease that leaves him hospitalized regulalry.

Rhoda Chodosh claimed that there was no synergy between the properties proposed use the residential neighborhood.

Susan Finkelstein, speaking on behalf of her and her husband, called the move to amend the masterplan an "orchestrated reclassification" of the town. "We have not been presented with one reason to change," she said, other than "a vague promise of future tax revenue... We do not want a car dealership in Manalapan."

Throughout the public's testimony, Ray Catena sat in the front row alongside his attorneys looking visibly upset, and more than once leaned over to say to his advisor, "what they're saying just isn't true."

When Patch questioned Catena about what was untrue, he said that the taxes his business would pay would be much higher than Hergenrother claimed. He declined to comment further until the board reaches its decision.

Board attorney Ronald Cucchiaro said that with the amendment before it, the board had three options: approve, deny or approve portions and reevaluate at a later date.

Cucchiaro also encouraged the Board to listen to the testimony of the residents, but said that ultimately the Board must take action based on one criteria: "is this particular use suitable for this particular site?"

That question will have to wait to be answered in two weeks at the Board's

Resident Diane Padlo of Symmes Drive cautioned the board about the importance of their decision saying that this area on Rt. 9 is the last open corridor on a roadway marked by ugly strip malls.

"This is our last chance to do it right," Padlo said, adding that she thought the proposed changes to the plan are "blurring the lines of acceptable land uses."

"Go back and reread the current master plan," she said. "It's working."