Religious group planning campus next to drag strip

OLD BRIDGE - Meditation involves quieting the mind and bringing oneself to a place of peace and serenity, where outside thoughts and distractions can melt away.

Members of Dayalbagh Radhasoami Satsang Association of North America, an Indian spiritual movement, are willing to try the ancient practice in close proximity to a place known for making a ruckus.

The group has an application before the Old Bridge Zoning Board of Adjustment to build a spiritual center, complete with prayer hall and residences, directly neighboring Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, Pension Road.

"It's just ironic," saidMichael Napp, an owner of Raceway Park. "You could say there could be a better place for this. I look at it like, you could not find a worse place."

The association purchased the 19.5- acre site at Pension and Englishtown roads last January, in hopes to build the 18,240-square-foot prayer hall, along with 16 residential units and eight units of dormitory style accommodations for visitors. If built, the center would be the group's first headquarters outside of India.

"[Meditation and prayer] does require a quiet and serene environment, yes," said Rahul Gupta, who represented the group at a Dec. 6 zoning board hearing. "Obviously, we were quite concerned, being right across the street from Raceway Park ... but we feel we can overcome the noise generated there."

Gupta said the woods on the property would help to provide a buffer from the noise, and buildings there would be constructed in a way that would block out some of the outside sounds.

Michael Leckstein, a Little Silverbased attorney representing Raceway Park, cross-examined Gupta after testimony was presented, questioning various aspects of the project. Napp said he is opposed to the group bringing its headquarters there because of the numerous noise complaints his racing facility has gotten over the years.

"We've been on the ugly end of noise complaints for over 30 years," Napp said. "Historically, we know that people move in next door, spend some time there and realize it wasn't what they bargained for."

According to Napp, Raceway Park has gone as far as having new homeowners in the area sign documents stating that they would not lodge noise complaints against the facility, but residents have tried to draft petitions against them anyway. Over the years, the track's owners have had to devise bigger and better noise barriers to combat the complaints.

Though Raceway Park has what Leckstein referred to as "18 loud racing days" per year, and there are regulations as to what types of racing can take place at certain hours of the day, Napp said the facility has some type of racing going on 365 days a year.

Homeowners Gabriela and James Sorge have lived in the shadow of Raceway Park for 24 years.Also opposed to the Dayalbagh Radhasoami Satsang project, they stressed the level of noise coming from the facility.

"They rock my house," James said. "Motocross runs every day."

Though the Sorges said they have no complaints about Raceway Park since they went into the rural neighborhood aware of it, the idea of having residential development behind their property is not something they expected or wanted.

"It's our way of life, and that would change it," Gabriela said.

In his testimony, Gupta said the buildings would take up only a fraction of the property, and would be constructed in such a way as to blend with the environment. The style of the structures would also align itself with the group's tenets of simplicity and humility, he said.

The Sorges also said they do not think the group should be allowed tax-exempt status for the 24 residents slated to live there. Churches are given such status as a rule, but the residential aspect of this group's application raises questions for some.

"I've lived here 25 years, and I've got to pay taxes," James Sorge said. "That's not right. How many churches run every day without 24 people on-site? I think it's just a way to get out of paying taxes."

Although the question of taxes will not be addressed until the group's next hearing, scheduled for Feb.7, the group's attorney, New Brunswick-based David Himelman, mentioned a possible payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement with the township.

"My client's position is that they don't want to become a burden on the community," Himelman later told Greater Media Newspapers.

Gupta explained that volunteering plays an integral role in the group's spiritual beliefs and practices, thereby requiring a core group of members to reside at the site and take part in daily activities.

"I can't emphasize strongly enough how important this is in our faith," Gupta said. "They're not there just to perform these tasks for logistical reasons. This concept of volunteerism is actually at the same level as the worship."

Members residing on-site would take part in an austere lifestyle, with their day beginning at 4:30 a.m. for meditation, and continuing with various structured activities until 9 p.m. Religious services for about 40 attendees would take place twice daily, Gupta said, with a weekly service drawing between 100 and 150 church members on Saturday evenings.

Education also plays a large role in the group's practices, with classes in such areas as arts and crafts, vocational, distance learning, physical education, music, dance, language, culture and theology, Gupta said. Resident members would serve as teachers and mentors for the classes, which would also be open to the general public.

"Our organization is by no means closed off to the community at large," Gupta said.

According to Gupta, the group will attempt to create a model community in order to live by example, as opposed to actively going out into the world seeking to convert individuals to subscribe to their beliefs.

The majority of residents would be retired individuals, as their lifestyle lends itself to the ability to perform volunteer duties, Gupta said, adding that there would be a few families. Most residents would not hold outside jobs, and would be required to pay a nominal licensing fee in order to live there. Gupta said the fee would only be enough to allow the church to break even, with no profit involved.

Upon being questioned, Gupta said there could be a few public school students brought to the district by the project.

Residents would live on the site on a permanent basis, having made a commitment to the work of the church, Gupta said.

"The volunteers who would be living here are carefully chosen," Gupta said. "You have a group of committed members who are united in a single purpose."

About 400 group members from throughout the tri-state area come together for an annual gathering, which usually takes place on a holiday weekend, Gupta said. Attendees normally stay at the homes of other local members, and if the project is built, some would stay onsite at the dormitory-style facility.

The group is seeking a use variance for the residential density of the project, as well as variances for the building heights and the number of parking spaces proposed.

Plans call for a main entrance off Pension Road, and a second access point at Old Bridge-Englishtown Road.

In order to move forward with the project, the group would also need approvals from Middlesex County, which owns both Pension and Englishtown roads. There are also wetlands issues to be resolved with the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

An engineer, traffic consultant, planner and other professionals are expected to provide testimony for the application at the Feb. 7 meeting.

Napp and his attorney will be there to make their case, as well.

"This project will be the closest project in the history of any racetrack in the country," Napp said. "If it results in a lawsuit, taxpayers end up paying for it."