Board of Adjustment — September 1, 2026

The Board of Adjustment’s minutes of this regular meeting, approved at its September 16 meeting, are on the Township’s Documents-On-Demand portal, linked from its Agendas/Minutes page, in the Board of Adjustment minutes folder. Chairman Andersen called the meeting to order at 7:34 p.m. Present were Chairman Andersen, Vice Chair Walch, Larry Fox, Michael Cuttitta, Vicki Cook, Richard Albanese, Sean Sullivan and Art Quade; Michael Pappas and Kenneth Iselin were absent. Also present were Township Engineer Doug Ball, Board Planner Kendra Lelie and Board Attorney Steve Warner.

22 Readington Road: an indoor sports facility

The Board heard Case No. 2026-006AUV PFSP, Commerce Park Investors XII LLC, Block 9.02, Lot 28, 22 Readington Road, represented by Michael E. Silbert, Esq., of Murphy, Schiller & Wilkes LLP. Board Attorney Warner said the notice was sufficient for a D(1) use variance for indoor recreation on the whole site and was timely served, and that the Board had jurisdiction.

The application. Mr. Silbert said the applicant seeks preliminary and final major site plan approval with a D(1) use variance, because recreation is not a permitted use in the I-1 Industrial zone, plus associated bulk variances and design waivers. The property, a corner lot fronting Readington Road and Meister Avenue, is about 9.95 acres with an existing single-story building of about 83,000 square feet, formerly used for industry, an 861-square-foot secondary building, parking areas and a man-made fire pond. He said the project was originally 70% recreational and 30% light industrial or manufacturing, and is now 100% recreational. He said the applicant would offer testimony based on the Township’s 2023 Master Plan reexamination report, which he said mentions repurposing some industrial properties for recreational, community-oriented uses. He said the Township has no ordinance standard for parking at recreational uses; the site plan shows 124 spaces, and the submitted traffic report calculated 109 needed.

Tenants. Mr. Silbert said two tenants have signed leases, Soccer World LLC and Onkar Ventures LLC, and a third, Evolution Training Center LLC, intends to sign; gymnastics, wrestling and similar uses are being considered for the rest, but not large membership gyms. Architect Benjamin Horten described four soccer fields (Soccer World, units C and F1), cricket batting cages and eight pickleball courts (Onkar Ventures, doing business as Yugo Sports Arena, units D and E, plus unit G for storage), and a possible cheerleading tenant in unit B; units A, F2 and the F2 basement have no tenants. Ricardo Mendez, Niket Desai, Harsh Patel and Michael K. Drulis spoke for the tenants.

Site work. Civil engineer Craig Stires said the applicant bought the property from Taylor Forge and renovated the building. He said the fire pond is no longer needed because the building is connected to Township water, must be filled in, and that the grading makes the project a major development requiring stormwater management. He proposed phasing, so leased tenants could operate while rear grading and stormwater work is finished. Mr. Warner, Board members and the professionals raised concerns that no phasing plan had been submitted and said they would want the applicant to return with a second phase covering grading, stormwater and the remaining tenants. Board Planner Lelie raised concerns about the lack of drop-off zones, walkways from parking to the building and defined entrances, which she called safety issues. Mr. Stires said the applicant will add a fire hydrant requested by the Fire Marshal, comply with the Fire Marshal’s requests, and work with the Township Engineer and the Planner on lighting, stormwater, signage and landscaping, including the Environmental Commission’s comments.

Parking and traffic. The applicant’s traffic engineer, Gary Dean, calculated 92 participant and 10 employee spaces at maximum use, or 102, against about 120 available, and 117 if the cheerleading tenant’s participants drive. Mr. Silbert presented a banked parking plan (Exhibit A1) adding 49 spaces on the northwest side, for 169 in all. Mr. Dean said the existing 22-foot drive aisle off Meister Avenue, below the 24-foot ordinance standard, safely carries two-way traffic, that new aisles will be 24 feet and that the Fire Marshal’s 26-foot width will be met where required. He said a connector road to Route 22, not yet built, should reduce traffic at Readington Road.

Mr. Fox said the applicant needs a comprehensive parking plan for the use, pointing to the Branchburg Sports Complex, where he said parking is insufficient on some days and people park in the yard and along the street; he said the Township does not want parking on Readington Road and that the traffic study did not include current traffic using Meister Avenue from North Branch Walk. The Board’s traffic consultant, Jay Troutman of McDonough & Rea Associates, said there are no standards for this use and that the facility “absolutely needs” all 170 spaces available; he later suggested a ratio of 2 spaces per 1,000 square feet, or about 166 spaces. Mr. Cuttitta said the permitted use should be defined so a later tenant cannot bring in a more intensive use; Mr. Warner said future tenants cannot be defined before they apply for a certificate of use, and Ms. Lelie suggested tying each tenant to a number of parking spaces.

Decision. Chairman Andersen recommended that the applicant return with revised plans showing all parking areas. The application was carried to December 1, 2026, without further notice, with an extension to December 31, 2026, so the applicant can provide a comprehensive parking plan including ADA parking, a fully developed site plan with variances and design waivers, signage and landscaping. The motion to carry was made by Mr. Cuttitta, seconded by Mr. Sullivan, and passed unanimously. Chairman Andersen opened the hearing to public questions and comments; the minutes record none.

A notice of continued hearing published October 26, 2026 in the Star-Ledger’s legal classifieds, after this meeting, sets a continued hearing on the application for November 10, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. It describes the revised proposal as interior fit-outs of the existing building units A–H on the approximately 433,510-square-foot tract, with no new buildings, and lists the D(1) use variance, possible relief from the multiple-principal-buildings requirement and a C variance for the 35-foot Meister Avenue frontage buffer.

Other business

The minutes of the July 7 regular meeting were approved on motion of Mr. Sullivan, seconded by Mr. Cuttitta, 7–0 (Ms. Cook not eligible). The Board received the May/June and July/August 2026 issues of The NJ Planner. Thirteen claims totaling $9,005.50 (to Savo, Schalk, Gillespie, Warner; Kyle, McManus Associates; and McDonough & Rea Associates, on several cases) were approved on motion of Mr. Albanese, seconded by Vice Chair Walch, 8–0. There were no resolutions. The meeting adjourned at 10:45 p.m.

See land-use applications.

Records

• Minutes and agenda: Agendas/Minutes page of the Township’s website, which links its Documents-On-Demand portal (Board of Adjustment folder)
• Meeting video on the Township’s Granicus archive
• Notice of continued hearing, 22 Readington Road (Star-Ledger legal classifieds, October 26, 2026)