MIDDLETOWN – Trinity Hall girls school is preparing to move forward with its permanent campus with the latest approval of the planning board in hand, over the continuing objections of area residents and possibly more litigation.
After a six-hour public hearing last week, filled to a standing-room only capacity for much of the hearing, the planning board reaffirmed its prior approval of the all girls religious school proposed for Chapel Hill Road. Following the school’s approval – coming after 1 a.m. on Thursday – with a 4-2 vote, the school’s co-founder, Victoria Gmelich said, “We’re ready to break ground.”
No date, however, has been set to commence construction.
Ron Gasiorowski, the Red Bank lawyer representing an area resident opposed to the project, said this week, “I was obviously disappointed with the decision. I think there are a multitude of issues that remain open and my client and I will be meeting and discussing options and making a determination of what to do next.”
Previously, Gasiorowski has said his client of record, Linda Glowzenski, would continue the legal battle opposing the project.
In addition, there are two other lawsuits stemming from the project, involving similar objections, said Gasiorowski, who is representing those plaintiffs as well.
Last Wednesday’s hearing was the third separate time the planning board addressed this application. Last August, the board initially denied the application, citing traffic safety and other concerns. A Superior Court judge remanded it back to the board after the judge invalidated a portion of a township ordinance. On the second occasion the board approved it but the judge again remanded it, ruling the board acted incorrectly by not allowing public comment for the second-round hearing. That precipitated last week’s hearing and this approval.
Trinity Hall is a private all-girls secondary education, Roman Catholic-based school, that is planning on constructing its permanent campus on about 37 acres of an approximately 60-acre undeveloped and largely wooded property on Chapel Hill Road at the Kings Highway intersection that could eventually accommodate as many as 500 students. The project has been a local hot button for area homeowners who continued to voice objections to the proposal, saying a large intense use for the residential area is out of place and would increase traffic creating a public safety concern, and negatively impacts the area’s environment and the homeowner’s quality of life.
Gasiorowski at last week’s hearing argued there continues to be environmental and traffic safety concerns involving the project. He presented an engineer, who alleged the school project’s storm water management plan did not meet state Department of Environmental Protection’s or the township’s requirements under its ordinance and would pose a flooding threat given the area’s high water table.
Gasiorowski told the board it should have its engineer take another look at the storm water plan before rendering its decision.
John Giunco, Trinity Hall’s lawyer, called those assertions “incredible,” telling the board the project has received permits from the Department of Environmental Protection. Giunco also reminded the board in his closing the project is a conditional permitted use in the zone and required no variances. “I think you have more than a substantial reason to approve it,” Giunco told the board.
The project continued to have its detractors, with Farm Road resident Peter Tommaso calling it “A square peg in a round hole.”
“It doesn’t fit here. It doesn’t belong here,” Tommaso added. “In essence this will destroy the way of life as we know it.”
But township resident Susan Meehan offered her support for the school saying “It has proven to be a good neighbor,” by revising its construction plans to make improvements to Chapel Hill Road and other accommodations.
Trinity Hall issued a release on its victory, in which Gmelich stated, “We have prevailed after a long, arduous and often contentious process in which we maintained grace under pressure. We have kept our heads up and behaved aboveboard and I am proud of that.”
Trinity Hall currently leases space from the township’s Croydon Hall facility, located in the Leonardo section.
