Manalapan water treatment business to move into U.F.

BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

UPPER FREEHOLD - The Planning Board unanimously granted a site plan waiver for a small business on a Route 537 property at its April 12 meeting.

Michael Discepolo has a water treatment and filtering business on Route 33 in Manalapan. He said that he started the business in 1992 and moved it to its current location in 1997.

"I'm looking to move the business here [Upper Freehold]," said Discepolo, a Freehold Township resident. "I think this is a growing area, and that it would do well. It could help people in the community."

Discepolo said he would like to move his business to a property at 790 Monmouth Road (also known as County Route 537). The site currently consists of a house, which has been vacant for at least three years, and a former kennel, he said.

His business would have sales offices upstairs and a reception area downstairs. An outside storage shed would hold salt in plastic bags for water softening systems, he said.

Discepolo said he took down a 16-foot-by-20-foot shed on the tract because it was in dilapidated condition.

"I'm looking to build a bigger shed but will conform to whatever is permissible in the township," he said.

Discepolo said the house has a circular, gravel driveway and that he would put additional gravel on one side of the shed for deliveries. He would also like to replace a chain-link fence on the property with PVC fencing.

There was a leaking underground oil tank on the property, which has been remediated. Discepolo has received a no-further-action (NFA) letter from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and has put in a new above-ground tank.

Discepolo plans to remove two of the four pine trees along both sides of the driveway, which create sight hazards for vehicles pulling out onto the road.

His operation has few walk-in customers, he said. According to Discepolo, the majority of his business consists of going to houses and providing services.

Board member Jennifer Coffey asked if it was legal for the board to waive a site plan for a small business. Township Planner Mark Remsa said the board could do so on a case-by-case basis.

Remsa said the board should question whether the applicant would increase the intensity of a site's use when deciding whether to waive a site plan. He said that in this case the intensity is not increasing.

Board member Bob Freiberger said that all Discepolo plans to do is renovate the interior of the house for office use and build a new shed.

Vice Chairman Barry Wright said the proposal is for the proper zone. He considered the business an ideal use for the property.