Mosque Traffic Expert Asked to Return With More Data in June

In a continuing back and forth over how many parking spaces would be needed at a proposed mosque at the edge of Church Street in Liberty Corner Village, an expert hired by the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge put the number at 60, a steep reduction from the 110 recommended by township professionals.

The which has been considering the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge's had asked Henry Ney to return with more information at the most recent hearing, on Thursday night.

Now, Ney has been asked to return again at the next board discussion on the proposal, scheduled for June 4.

Among other requests, the traffic expert has been asked to count the average number of occupants per vehicle attending the mosques, and also to present the credentials of and logs from independent traffic counters.

On Thursday, Ney said he had hired counters to track the number of cars attending Friday religious services, said to have the most worshippers of any service during the week, at four mosques around New Jersey.

The four mosques included two in Toms River, one in Franklin Township, and The Islamic Center of Morris County, located in a converted commercial building in Rockaway Borough.

Ney told the board that other mosques in the state were not comparable for various reasons, including that some were served by public transportation, or had access to on-street parking. That is not the case with the proposed mosque on four acres of property at 124 Church St., across the street from the Liberty Corner Firehouse, and not far from the four-way intersection with Somerville Road. The Islamic Society already owns the property, which has a home that would be demolished to build the new mosque.

Ney said that he had hired counters to track cars going into the mosques before and during the Friday services, and calculated the size of the prayer halls in the buildings as compared with the proposed size of the Liberty corner mosque.

Using that formula, Ney said he then had taken 85 percent of the maximum count, as he said was usual for traffic engineers. However, the board asked Ney to next time come back with the count at 100 percent.

Ney said he took into account the planned 1,588 prayer hall planned in Liberty Corner, and also added in the potential for another 500-square-foot general purpose area for worshippers.

Based on that data, "I think 60 is the right number in terms of parking," Ney told the board and public.

However, he said the new mosque is not expected to open at full capacity. At previous meetings, Ali Chaudry, the president of the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge, has put the ultimate number of attendees at 150 for the new mosque.

Ney said the applicant would like to open the mosque with 50 parking spaces in place — as would be required for a church — and perform engineering and prepare the property for 20 additional spaces, for a total of 70, that would be "banked" and built when required.

Neighbor Joseph Abbate, of Somerville Road, said that installing parking in such a two-step manner would bring additional disruption to neighbors. "How much do I need to take before the pain goes away?" he asked.

Another resident, Lori Caratzola said that the roads on which the other mosques are located, including Cedar Grove Lane in Franklin Township and Route 9 in Toms River, are not comparable to Church Street in small Liberty Corner Village.

"Since you couldn't find a mosque on a similar site in New Jersey, does that tell you anything?" she asked.

Ney said that he had sought out mosques in similar neighborhoods with on-site parking, not necessarily on the same type of roads.

Caratzola later said she had also again brought up the potential for stacked cars waiting to leave the facility to block emergency vehicles leaving the Liberty Corner Firehouse.

Rob Simon, an attorney for a new citizens group, said that if 100 percent of the cars parked at the other mosques during Friday services were counted, that would guarantee sufficient parking at the site.

At previous meetings, professionals for the township said that the reason the additional parking was requested above the 50 that would have been standard for a church was because males riding alone or with one other person tend to arrive at the Friday services, which multiple family members tend to show up together for weekend worship services.

At the meeting, Ney also said that if attendance grew too much at Friday services, an additional service could be added, with time in between for one group to leave, and the other arrive.

A walk-through and balloon test at the property, with the balloon to show the planned height of the building, including the decorative minaret, is scheduled for 9 a.m. on May 11.