Developer wants to build three-story medical buildings in Holmdel residential zone

HOLMDEL - Could a pair of three-story medical buildings be built in a residential zone in Holmdel?

Plans before the township’s zoning board call for the building of two 14,880-square-foot buildings right off the Garden State Parkway’s exit 114.

A previous proposal for a 66,381-square-foot recreation facility went before the zoning board for a completeness waiver in 2022. It was withdrawn before being formally presented.

Both the recreation facility and the medical building proposal have faced opposition by neighboring residents surrounding 125-127 Red Hill Road, the address of the proposed site.

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Andrew Piscatelli with Andrews Management Group LLC is the contract-purchaser of the property. He said his company owns seven other medical facilities that range from nursing homes to outpatient facilities. The current proposal is for a “simple” medical office that would exclude inpatient and overnight stays.

He said while the number of doctors varies with shifting schedules, there would be no more than six practices per building.

The current proposal went before the zoning board on Wednesday for a use variance. If the zoning board approves the use variance, the board would allowing a pair of three-story medical buildings to be built on that site. However, the developer would still need to return for final approval of the proposal’s specific details.

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When the developer returns for final approval it “may include similar concept plans to this (proposal),” the board’s planner Kate Keller said. However, the developer cannot return with different plan that completely deviates from the proposal approved for a use variance.

A use variance approval would only approve “this medical office building on this property,” she said.

Residents spoke out against the property being used for commercial purposes, which they argued would increase traffic in the area. While the proposed site is in a residential and agricultural zone, Piscatelli argued that the site would “logical” for the proposed medical buildings, as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center is directly across Red Hill Road in Middletown.

“Clearly in the last 50-some-odd years, I’ve seen a lot of development,” said Piscatelli, who lives in Holmdel. “I’ve seen the farms that I’ve played on, hunted on, turn into developments and you know, that’s progress.”

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He continued, “There’s been a lot of development over the last five to 10 years of assisted living, congregate living for seniors. … The age of our residents has increased dramatically since I first moved in here.”

When questioned by the board about the potential traffic and height, Piscatelli said he believes the road can accommodate the traffic and that three stories would give the proposal its “maximum efficiency.”

He described the plans as a place to set up outpatient doctor’s offices while hospitals free up space for inpatient care.

Directly across the Garden State Parkway, a similar project in a residential neighborhood raised neighbors' eyebrows. The healthcare nonprofit United Methodist Communities received zoning board approval in 2022 to build a dementia center. Neighbors sued and lost. Holmdel’s governing body then announced in August that it is looking to buy the site from the nonprofit.

The next zoning board meeting for the pair of medical offices will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 18 at Holmdel Town Hall.

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

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Three-story medical buildings proposed for Holmdel residential zone