Chiropractor in Holmdel Village, NJ

HOLMDEL - An Extra Space self-storage facility was approved by the zoning board Wednesday night after an extensive redesign by the developer Holmdel Storage Developers LLC.

“When we’re here last time, we heard a lot of comments and critiques and suggestions,” said Mitch Feldman, president of the Feldman Cos., parent company of the developer. “The size, the setbacks, everything was reduced. We created a new design that was more in line with what’s next door.”

Originally planned to be a 109,400-square-foot cube building, the developer shrunk the facility to 78,400 square feet and added gabled roofs.

Board member Demetri Orfanitopoulos said, “I appreciate what you did with that façade. … That made a big difference and it’s going to conform with the next-door neighbors.”

The facility will be three stories with a basement and it will contain 17 parking spaces.

It will be located at 2125 Route 35, across from Safeguard Self Storage and near the Holmdel Towne Center shopping mall. It will neighbor the yet-to-be constructed Brightview Senior Living facility approved in February.

Holmdel:Split board OKs dementia care village for old farm as neighbors divide

According to Christopher Muldoon, engineer for the developer, with the reduced size of the development, the site will be 93 feet from Route 35 in the front and will be 10 feet from the 50-foot wetlands buffer in the back, addressing concerns raised by the board in August.

Residents of Meadowood Estates living along Bayberry Drive expressed approval of the changes made, but asked about the visibility of the facility from their backyard.

Resident Anthony DeMarco said, “I do not want to look out my backyard and see the back of a storage facility.”

After similar concerns were voiced at the August meeting, the developer conducted a balloon test where the team deployed a handful of balloons to mark the back of the proposed facility. Members of the team then photographed the balloons through the wooded area while standing on Bayberry Drive. The developer’s report found the trees covered the balloons sufficiently and, due to the lack of lighting in the back of the facility, the building would be mostly screened.

Holmdel:Township picks new committeeman with just two members voting

Feldman also said the hours of operation will be from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The board approved the facility with a 6-0 vote.

Olivia Liu is a reporter covering transportation, Red Bank and western Monmouth County. She can be reached at oliu@gannett.com.

HOLMDEL - A $12,000-per-month fully enclosed dementia care village right off the Garden State Parkway at exit 114 was approved by the zoning board in a 5-2 vote Wednesday night, marking the end of an application that began more than a year ago and divided neighbors against each other.

The village will be built by the elder care nonprofit United Methodist Communities, not to be confused with the church.

The project was bought by the nonprofit for $5.5 million from a previous developer that dropped plans for a neighborhood with an affordable housing component. The land was known as The William Potter Homestead or Potter’s farm, which closed in 2020, after the Potter’s family, who had owned the land since 1920, moved to Upper Freehold.

According to chair of the zoning board Ralph Blumenthal, William Potter III, who had given statements to the board in favor of developing the farm into a dementia village, died two weeks ago.

Holmdel:Township picks new township committeeman with just two members voting

The village, modeled after the urban dementia village in the Netherlands called Hogeweyk, will include 11 one-story residential buildings, a pair of two-story residential buildings, a two-story administrative building and a recreation center. The entire village will be enclosed by a secure perimeter. A grocery store, restaurant and theater are planned to open with the site to mimic normalcy for its residents with dementia. A total of 105 beds could be available, with 10% being reserved for residents on Medicaid, which would help fulfill future affordable housing quotas for Holmdel.

Cindy Jacques, vice president of housing and community initiatives with the United Methodist Communities, said in April that there will be a staffing ratio of about one staff member for every eight residents. She said at night there will be four caregivers and two floaters for the four neighborhoods. A registered nurse and a security person will also be on site.

The original design would have had only one way in and out of the village, but after substantial revisions, the plan would include seven emergency gates in addition to the main entrance. Keys to the gates will be housed with the township’s various emergency response teams.

Holmdel:How a health scare led farm owners to strive to 'live more naturally'

Opposition to the plan questioned whether the plan should be built on the land it is located on.

Kevin Asadi, an attorney hired by certain residents in the adjacent County Woods neighborhood, said, “This project belongs in the Route 35 overlay district not in a rural R40-B zone.”

The opposition:Neighbors fear dementia care village could erase history, quiet

The Route 35 overlay district is Holmdel’s commercial district, where a three-story Brightview Senior Living Facility was approved in February. Asadi argued that the R40-B zone is for residential development that mimics the existing neighboring houses and not a dementia village.

Asadi also brought Joelle Winter, an administrator at a Cherry Hill-based dementia facility called Arden Court, in July. Winter said staffing for the 54 beds is difficult. In a three-month period, she said her facility received 234 job applications and interviewed 21 candidates who showed up. Of the 21, she only hired four who were qualified.

“I have staffing challenges,” she said. “That happens a lot since COVID and even before.”

For subscribers:Holmdel cops who muted audio during DUI arrest named in malicious prosecution suit

Other neighbors have spoken in favor of the dementia village’s construction.

Stephen Grywalski, who lives a few houses from the proposed property, said, “There’s no longer an option to save the farm. The Potter family sold the property a couple years ago and I’m concerned that if it’s not approved, the current owner will then be forced to sell and there’s many examples all around of what could happen. … There’s a need for housing and care of these people with dementia throughout the world. We should be honored to call this groundbreaking, state-of-the-art community our neighbor.”

Before a vote, board members gave statements explaining their reasoning.

Board members Valerie Avrin-Marchiano said the application was one of the hardest and, while many neighbors agreed with the application, others did not.

She said there are seven other assisted living facilities in Holmdel and the design of this property looks like army barracks. She ultimately voted against it.

The other board member to vote against the proposal was Irfan Lateef, who said with the cost of living increasing and the economy possibly going into a recession, he was afraid the township would be “saddled with a property that cannot be possibly used in (any) other suitable fashion.”

He said the proposal would change the bucolic atmosphere of that neighborhood. “I don’t think by putting (that) large facility there, we can mitigate this impact. It alters the character of the township.”

Board member Jason Buerkle said he moved to Holmdel because of the rural nature of the township, but said he believes property owners have a right to develop their land.

Board member Francine Campis said she would like to see the farm preserved “but honestly that ship sailed long ago.” She said she feared that if the board denied that application, another owner could propose another project that becomes more controversial.

Blumenthal, the board chair, said Holmdel’s population is aging. He said he was “very intrigued” by the proposal because the facility would feel less like a hospital.

Olivia Liu is a reporter covering transportation, Red Bank and western Monmouth County. She can be reached at oliu@gannett.com.

HOLMDEL - Stephanie Hanhan took it personally when the school district announced a surprise shake-up that will mean new principals at three of the district’s four schools next year, including Holmdel High School.

The mother of three has a child in each of the affected schools: Indian Hill Elementary School, Village Elementary School and Holmdel High School, which is still searching for its next principal.

“It's so frustrating,” said Hanhan. “It really decreases my confidence in the decision-making, and it isn’t transparent. They kind of blame it on the pandemic and that is potentially a weak excuse.”

Background:How are Holmdel schools coping with COVID 'lost learning'? Shuffling principals

Hanhan is one of many parents who are speaking out against the administrative changes revealed to parents in late April and to the wider community and the press last week.

Interim Superintendent Leroy Seitz has said the changes were done in part to create new programs to help students recover from so-called “lost learning” due to the pandemic.

More:Holmdel high school back to all-virtual classes after off-campus events, bout of 'impatience'

Experts have said for months that the disruption of COVID-19 — ranging from virtual learning limits to school closures and quarantining of students and staff — has had a detrimental effect on most students.

An October 2020 Pew Research Center survey found most parents of students who were learning online were concerned that they missed out. The study found that 68% of parents whose children are receiving at least some online learning are concerned they are falling behind. That rises to 74% among lower-income households, the study said.

“There is no question that some students have experienced varying degrees of learning loss over the last year due to pandemic-related school interruptions,” Seitz said in a release. “The District is committed to ensuring that any student who fell behind over the last year will get the specialized attention they need in order to catch up.”

Also:Holmdel teachers vote 'no-confidence' in superintendent; what's irking them?

Those affected by the changes include Brian Schillaci, who has served as Holmdel High School principal since 2018 and will be reassigned to Indian Hill School, which serves students in grades 4 to 6.

Story continues below gallery.

Indian Hill Principal Lisa Vitale will then be reassigned to Village Elementary School, which serves students from pre-school through third grade. She will become a co-principal with current Village School Principal Art Howard and will implement a new reading program to boost reading levels that had dropped during the pandemic there.

Under the co-principal approach, Vitale will be responsible for pre-school through first grade and Howard will oversee students in grades 2 and 3.

Holmdel High School, meanwhile, will get a new principal who has yet to be hired.

“I worry about not having a principal right now at the high school and they are searching for someone,” said Hanhan. “Maybe we’ll get somebody great but are we going to attract well if we keep shuffling people around?”

Most of the opposition surrounds the decision to relocate Vitale from Indian Hill School, where she has served as principal for four years and drawn rave reviews.

“We are not happy about this at all. It is not right for anyone and it is not fair to her because she is doing an exceptional job where she is at,” said Samantha Stone, a mother of three children, include two at Indian Hill. “I cannot say enough for this woman, she is very personable, she wants to find out about how they are doing and you can easily schedule with her on any issue.”

Kimberly Tuccillo, another Indian Hill parent, echoed that view.

“I am upset because it seems unnecessary,” she said of the Vitale transfer. “It is really hitting home because Indian Hill is a very successful school and all of the good things that have been happening in a year where teacher morale has not been high, in that school it has been very good and part of that is the staff, the administrative staff.”

More:Holmdel High School grad helping dramatic turnaround for Seton Hall men's soccer

Vitale declined to comment on the reassignment.

Several parents rallied to Vitale’s defense on April 30, designated Principals Day, just days after the changes were announced to parents and staff.

“I was totally shocked. Why would you do this? It doesn’t make sense,” said Josephine Fanciullo, whose son went through Indian Hill School and who worked there for 14 years until last year as a para-professional. “She came into Indian Hill when half of the people weren’t happy, she turned it into a family. She brought that building together and honestly cares about them, the students and can work with anyone.”

Meagan Solomon Rodgers, president of the Indian Hill Parent Liaison Group, penned a lengthy letter to Seitz and the Board of Education demanding Vitale be allowed to remain and claiming the reassignment was “a disruption” and sparked “tremendous concern” among parents and students.

“Lisa has selflessly poured her own blood, sweat and tears into those brick walls, into the text books and murals,” the letter said, in part. “Into each and every teacher and faculty member and most importantly - into each and every student that has walked the halls at Indian Hill School during her four-year tenure there.”

Seitz did not respond to requests for comment.

Joe Strupp is an award-winning journalist with 30 years’ experience who covers education and Monmouth County for APP.com and the Asbury Park Press. He is also the author of two books, including Killing Journalism on the state of the news media, and an adjunct media professor at Rutgers University and Fairleigh Dickinson University. Reach him at jstrupp@gannettnj.com and at 732-413-3840. Follow him on Twitter at @joestrupp

HOLMDEL — The planning board unanimously approved plans for a three-building apartment complex with 50 affordable units at 625 South Laurel Ave.

The development, dubbed the Holmdel Family Apartments, will be built and managed by the Walters Group, a Barnegat-based developer. The complex is part of the township’s 2019 affordable housing settlement agreement with the Fair Share Housing Center.

Because the complex is right along the municipal boundary with Hazlet, Hazlet sued Holmdel three separate times starting in August 2020 to stop the construction of the affordable housing complex. Last August, Holmdel reached a settlement agreement with Hazlet.

At Tuesday’s planning board meeting, the developer presented and agreed to plans that would move the complex 200 feet the municipal border and maintain a buffer of trees and plants between the apartment complex and the backyards of people’s houses in Hazlet.

“I don’t want to see dead trees and the loss of buffers for the Hazlet residents,” board member Joyce Ploussas said. “I want it maintained.”

Board member William Kastning asked about the contaminants found at the site during soil testing.

“There’s been contaminants associated with previous use that have been found that are being remediated and removed,” said Damien Del Duca, attorney for the developer.

The new plan would eliminate one of the driveways onto the site so there would be only one road leading into and out of the complex from Middle Road.

Development:Township could get 17 million-dollar homes on old farm across from Vonage

Upgrade:See the dramatic upgrades inside the township's new $4.2M firehouse

Board planner Jen Beahm expressed concern that having only one entry and exit could impede emergency services in the event that the road became blocked.

The developer agreed to add a bollard to the single entry and exit that would split the road in half, reducing the possibility of a completely blocked road. It also agreed to move two trees to allow emergency vehicles the ability to pull into the complex on the South Laurel Avenue side through the grass. It also agreed to plant trees with a minimum canopy of 12 feet around the parking lot to avoid branches impeding ambulances.

Edmond Speitel Jr., vice president of development for the developer, said in addition to apartments, the complex will house an indoor gym, a computer lab and an outdoor playground. Garbage will be picked up twice a week.

Holmdel:Crumbl Cookies bringing sweet treats to town

In response to a question by Kastning, Speitel said the developers will accept residents who don't have cars and said there is a bus stop within half a mile of the development. The nearest bus stop is a mile north at the intersection of Route 36 and South Laurel Avenue. Bus 817 from Perth Amboy to Middletown passes by stop 24642.

Del Duca said Walters Group applied to the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency “in order for this community to be a reality … to get tax credit financing.”

He said the developer applied in conjunction with the township and “was able to score well enough to get the tax credit award” in late 2020.

He said, a condition of receiving the tax credit, the developer has to complete construction and “get our first certificate of occupancy” by late 2023.

“This has been a long process,” Del Duca said. “We’re very anxious to start work so we can put this community into service, comply with our obligations and help Holmdel comply with its obligations.”

Olivia Liu is a reporter covering transportation, Red Bank and western Monmouth County. She can be reached at oliu@gannett.com.

Patch is asking school board candidates to share their views on the issues. Candidate Elizabeth Urbanski presents her ideas.

HOLMDEL, NJ — Elizabeth Urbanski is one of eight candidates seeking three full-term seats on the Holmdel Board of Education in the Nov. 8 general election.

In these profiles, based on questions provided, the candidates give voters background about themselves and their positions on the issues. Patch is publishing individual profiles leading up to the election.

Urbanski is the current school board president and cited her experience on the board and its accomplishments. She said her goals for the district include continuing academic excellence in the district. "I firmly believe that the Holmdel Board of educated should be focused on student success," she says.

Read more from candidate Elizabeth Urbanski:

Name: Elizabeth Urbanski

Find out what's happening in Holmdel-Hazletwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Residence: Holmdel

Office sought: Re-election to the Holmdel Township Board of Education; current president

Campaign website: www.urbanskiforholmdelboe.net

Education: I graduated from Smith College and have a master's degree from both New York University and Columbia University.

Occupation: I run my own professional art advisory firm, Elizabeth A Urbanski Associates, Inc. from Holmdel.

Why do you want to run for the school board and what in your experience or background prepares you for election?:

Since being sworn in in January 2020, I have been a very active and committed member of the board and have worked to support the many positive changes in the schools.

These include a newly appointed full-time superintendent, a focus on improving rankings, consistency and quality of education, completion of the $40 million dollar referendum, a fiscally responsible flat budget, and a successful navigation through the pandemic with a strongemphasis on keeping the schools open for the students.

I have had the honor of serving as the head of the Curriculum and Instruction committee and currently serve as the president of the school board.

If re-elected I will continue to work to elevate all aspects of the educational experience for students and families. I am an advocate for citizens, parents and children and remain focused on them and the Holmdel school district. I firmly believe that the Holmdel Board of Education should be focused on student success.

The candidate presented her goals for the district:

The board and district are currently launching a five-year strategic plan, which I personally sponsored. At this critical junction in our district, experience matters and I am the only candidate who can continue to bring this to the table.

Excellence: I have worked to increase the number of students taking AP exams, providing positive outcomes for students and the district which will have a positive impact on our rankings. In the last two years pre-school classes have been grown from two to six. The guidance and special services departments have both been reorganized. Making up for learning loss has been big focal point for me with the district creating a Summer Enrichment program for students in need that are identified through common assessments.

The rise of anxiety and bullying has been another area of my concern and it is directly addressed as one of the district goals for this school year.

Accountability: As the head of the Curriculum and Instruction Committee, I have supportedinitiatives to focus on data driven decision making in the evaluation of student performance,the new requirement that teachers prepare lesson plans (which has not been the casepreviously), and proper evaluations for teachers and staff.

Fiscal responsibility: Holmdel's schools are facing a dramatic increase in costs in areas suchas transportation, employee healthcare, and the new four-year teachers' contract. I amcommitted to doing what is possible to maintain our flat budget since the school district budget impacts all taxpayers, not just those whose children are currently in school.

The candidate discussed her personal background:

My grandfather purchased property in Holmdel in the 1930's as he was attracted tothe unique, rural character of what was then a much smaller town. My children are fourth-generation Holmdel residents and I am a third-generation resident and taxpayer. All of our three children have attended Holmdel Schools and we have had direct experience of the entiresystem, from the Village School to the High School.

We reside on our family’s organic tree farm in Holmdel, which is where I grew up and where we are raising our children.

I was previously a trustee of the Monmouth County Historical Association and have taught Art History at Brookdale Community College. I understand the unique history of Holmdel Township and the Holmdel School system which combines both academic excellence, and engaged and educated parents, within a pastoral environment.

Candidates for Holmdel Township Board of Education:

Full Term - Vote for Three