Holmdel Twp. Committee Declares Vonage Site In Need Of Redevelopment

HOLMDEL, NJ — The Holmdel Township Committee moved forward with plans to redevelop the former Vonage site, designating it an area in need of redevelopment and appointing a firm to oversee the work on Tuesday night.

At the Tuesday night meeting, Holmdel Mayor Rocco Impreveduto said the Committee has appointed Kyle + McManus as the site’s special redevelopment planner.

“We need someone that can operate with the gravity and magnitude of the project, and be solely focused on that,” Impreveduto said.

This resolution comes following the Holmdel Planning Board’s previous vote to approve the site as an area needing redevelopment. The Planning Board held their vote in late July after being presented with the results of the site’s redevelopment investigation.

The Committee voted to go forward with redevelopment of the former Vonage site despite opposition to the proposal, including a petition from a residents’ group that seeks to stop the plans.

Residents had plenty to say during the meeting, with some opposing the redevelopment and others agreeing with it.

Resident Concerns
Argyrios Milonas, the treasurer of Citizens for Informed Land Use, attended Tuesday night’s meeting and read from a CILU petition opposing high-density development of the Vonage site.

CILU specifically opposes plans for a potential retirement care community being developed at the former Vonage site. Plans for the community were previously presented at a July Township Committee meeting.

The petition had 583 signatures as of Thursday afternoon.

Milonas listed resident concerns about the redevelopment, ranging from increased traffic to water quality degradation and development that could endanger or destroy the drinking water supply.

Impreveduto asked Milonas for further clarification — questioning what traffic would be increasing from as it stands now, as well as how reducing impervious coverage could degrade the drinking water.

“If not this development, then what?” Impreveduto asked. “What would you propose? And what would happen if we didn’t have this property designated by the end of the year?”

“Those are the kinds of questions I have to counter with, because there’s a lot of incendiary verbiage in there [the petition] that doesn’t necessarily state with a factual basis why these things may happen,” Impreveduto said. “And I think it gets people a little bit riled up.”

Francine Campus, another Holmdel resident, questioned why redevelopment of the former Vonage site has to be such a large project.

“It seems like all the development in Monmouth County, nobody builds anything small,” she said. “It’s like they’re building cities in the middle of our suburbs. Why does it always have to be a monstrous project?”

In addition to the size of the redevelopment, Campus also voiced her concerns about traffic in the area should a retirement care community be built there.

“I lived there when Prudential was there,” she said. “...now, that place, with 300 homes, assisted living and skilled nursing, you not only have the people there going in and out all day, you have people coming to visit, you have workers … in concept, it’s a wonderful project. It’s just too big.”

Resident Support
Other residents voiced their approval of the site’s redevelopment, with some saying the retirement care community is the “best option.”

Regina Groysberg, the owner of the property next to the Vonage site on 15 Main Street, said the other options for redevelopment such as a college campus or private residences would be “way worse.”

“I understand the knee-jerk reaction to development here,” Groysberg said. “We all moved here for a reason…the land exists. The building is there, it will be developed. Business is business, money is money.”

“There needs to be huge developments to pay for that maintenance,” Groysberg continued. “And I far prefer it to be elderly people who do stay in their homes, or nurses that are coming in for a 12-hour shift.”

Jay Yanello, another Holmdel resident, was in a unique position at Tuesday night’s meeting as both a CILU member and a member of the ad-hoc committee assembled to assess the former Vonage site.

“I am one of, if not well known, the staunchest defenders of South Holmdel,” Yanello said. “I’ve spent, not hundreds — you can ask my family — but thousands of hours defending South Holmdel over the past 10 years.”

During the meeting, Yanello echoed Groysberg’s statement by reminding residents that they must “keep in mind” the other options for redevelopment.

“The CILU people are great people, and I know there are other people complaining…but if you have better ideas for this, realistic ideas, then please bring them forward,” Yanello said. “If not, I think this is a reasonable plan.”

To watch the recording of Tuesday night’s meeting, you can watch on Holmdel Township’s Facebook page.

Read Patch’s previous coverage on the Vonage site redevelopment:

• Care Facility Proposed For Vonage Site Gets First Look In Holmdel
• Holmdel Planning Board Approves Redevelopment Of Former Vonage Site