Zoner does about-face; MAC approved
Reopened on technicality, application gets needed five votes
BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer

An architect's rendering of Monmouth University's MACcenter.

WEST LONG BRANCH - After reconsidering its initial rejection, the West Long Branch Zoning Board approved Monmouth University's application to construct a multipurpose sports arena on its campus.

It was standing room only at the Feb. 8 special Zoning Board meeting, when after almost five hours of testimony and discussion, the board overturned its earlier denial and approved plans for a scaled-down multipurpose activity center, or MAC.

"I believe there is potential for there to be a problem," said board member John M. Aria, who rejected the application in December.

"The reason I voted no was because I didn't know if there was a traffic plan in place," he said.

But after hearing testimony by West Long Branch Police Capt. Lawrence Mihlon at last Thursday's meeting, Aria changed his vote.

Mihlon presented a traffic and parking plan devised by the West Long Branch and Monmouth University police departments that would be used when events are held at the MAC.

"I think there will be problems, but I believe the West Long Branch Police Department will deal with it," he said.

Last month, Monmouth University failed to win approval for the MAC after the board voted 4-3 against approving the application. Due to use variances, five affirmative voted were needed for approval.

At the Jan. 25 Zoning Board meeting, the board voted unanimously to re-open the application and reconsider its rejection of the MAC.

At last Thursday's meeting, Chairman Rocco W. Christopher, board Secretary Irven Miller and board members Samuel Guidetti and James Meola, all of whom voted for the plan in December, again cast yes votes for the application.

With Aria changing his vote to yes after reconsidering changes in the application and the traffic plan, the project was approved.

The approval was followed by applause from the audience, in which the vast majority of attendees wore "Go Hawks" pins in support of the project.

Board members Ellen Anfuso and Douglas Bostwick, who voted against the project in December, again voted no after hearing the added testimony.

"I just have a hard time with the amount of events that could take place [at the MAC]," Bostwick said before voting no. "I am strongly against this application."

Mihlon presented a slide show to highlight the specifics of a traffic plan that would be in place for special events held at the MAC.

The plan will be applied to any scheduled event in the MAC when the anticipated attendance is expected to be in excess of 3,000 individuals, Mihlon said.

The plan also provides that the university will contact the borough police department no later than seven days before an event where more than 3,000 individuals are expected.

The Monmouth University Police Department has also agreed to assist with patrolling the surrounding borough streets, and the university has agreed to reimburse the borough for the costs of the borough police officers assigned to assist with the traffic detail, according to Mihlon.

Both the borough and university police departments will meet on a periodic basis to review the plan and will file annual reports on operations under the plan, Mihlon explained.

"When I got this plan, I looked at it," Mihlon said, "It is three pages. It allows for change with the need, and I like that."

The traffic plan was presented after the application was re-opened by the Zoning Board to correct a mistake made during the proceedings that may have affected the way board members voted, board Attorney Thomas Klein explained.

Klein said the mistake occurred when Bostwick said at the December meeting that he had talked to Police Chief Arthur N. Cosentino and was told a traffic plan for events at Monmouth University was not in place.

Monmouth University Attorney Wendell Smith said a written plan was never submitted but the borough and university police departments had an oral agreement.

"It was a mutual mistake," Klein said. "The mistake was what was perceived and not what was intended."

Although the mistake, which allowed for the application to re-open, was explained and corrected, Bostwick contended that he felt it was not a misunderstanding.

"There wasn't a mistake," Bostwick said at last week's meeting. "I was following their testimony, saying there is a plan on record and Chief Cosentino saying there wasn't."

But Klein said the misunderstanding was a legal mistake.

Hearings on the application began in May. Plans call for the 152,400-square-foot building to be connected to the 2,200-seat Boylan Gymnasium. The facility will be constructed in the center of the south campus, about 647 feet away from Larchwood Avenue.

According to the university, the uses for the MAC facility include basketball games, other sporting events, convocations, graduations and other campus events.

The center will contain a gymnasium, an indoor track, a bookstore, student classrooms and ancillary facilities.

In its new proposal, Monmouth University also proposed to reduce the total number of seats in the MAC by 720, bringing the total to 4,122.

The new proposal called for the university to limit capacity events to 12 per year, which is four less than the previous proposal for 16 events.

The MAC will also be open to the community for non-university events, strictly limited to athletics, education and graduation, which will require the approval of the Borough Council.

Klein said the non-university events will not be commercial events, like rock concerts or boat shows.

Before the vote by the board, Monmouth University President Paul G. Gaffney II addressed board members.

"I have noticed that we've been neighbors for 50 years," he said, "It is unlikely that West Long Branch is going to move and unlikely that Monmouth University is going to move.

"I think the MAC is a building that is going to be a destination in as close to the center of campus as possible," he said. "And this will help it bring better and better students."