NORTH BRUNSWICK – The relocation of a Hindu temple from Route 1 to Route 130 in North Brunswick has been approved.
Sai Pariwar is currently located near the MainStreetNB transit village at 2300 Route 1, a 5,000-square-foot house of worship that began in 2001 and has roughly 140 members.
The applicant received Zoning Board of Adjustment approval on Sept. 17 to demolish three existing residential structures at 2351, 2353 and 2355 Route 130 and to build a new 14,000-square-foot, two-level building with a basement, which would include a prayer hall, dining room, library, study rooms, meditation area, warmup kitchen and lobby.
The property is in a general office zone.
Since the last appearance of the applicant on June 11, a traffic study was conducted on Aug. 8 in which Jay Troutman, a principal with McDonough & Rea Associates, said there were five vehicles associated with the temple in the parking lot at 4 p.m.; the highest volume of ingress and egress occurred from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at an average of 50 cars in and out; and the average length of stay was 15-30 minutes. The peak number of parked cars was 25 at the same time. The study was conducted from 4-7:30 p.m.
Since 70 parking spaces were proposed, experts for the applicant said their plan is more than sufficient. Troutman also said the N.J. Department of Transportation allows for an additional 99 vehicles in a conforming application, such as this one, so there is no issue.
“It’s clear that we have plenty of parking for what I observed that day,” he said.
Civil engineer and professional planner Michael Junghans also said the realignment of the property from a previous version of the application accommodates enough space for a large firetruck or delivery truck.
According to the current plan, the hours of operation would be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 4-8:30 p.m. on weekdays, and from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends. Thursday is the holiest day of the week. There are 11 holy days observed during the year, about one per month. The estimation would be 140 congregants visiting over the course of a festival day.
Generally, congregants come to pray, worship and then leave, without having a formal, organized prayer service. There will be no wedding, funeral or other life cycle events.
“Clearly, houses of worship are an inherently positive use for a neighborhood,” Zoning Board Chairman Mark McGrath said after an unanimous approval by the six members of the board present during the meeting.
Contact Jennifer Amato at jamato@newspapermediagroup.com.
