Wayne Residents Question Stormwater Plan For Pingpong Facility

WAYNE, NJ — Several residents questioned a stormwater management engineer Monday night about a plan to properly manage water runoff around a proposed pingpong facility on Colfax Road.

Patrick McClellan testified at a Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting about how rain water would be managed and removed from the proposed Northeast Table Tennis Club's 10-acre site. Much of the site has been classified as wetlands.

McClellan said there will be two major ways stormwater runoff would be managed: With a detention basin on the property and with an underground system of pipes to supplement that basin.

The property has a steep hill at the back that slopes to a flatter area along Colfax Road.

McClellan said the stormwater management plan for the site complies with state regulations.

Some residents said at the meeting and previously that water already accumulates on Colfax Road and that this project, if approved, would make it worse.

About four dozen residents who are fighting the application hired attorney Nicholas Palma to represent their interests. (See related: Pingpong Application Draws Ire From Wayne Residents)

Palma asked McClellan what could happen if the drainage pipes got clogged with leaves.

McClellan said that the pipes could back up or, at worse case, could potentially cause small, temporary pools of water called "ponding."

Resident Marty Becker said he studied topography maps of the area, which indicate that water would drain off the property and onto nearby properties, including nearby Laurelwood Arboretum, through the wetlands portion of the property.

"The wetlands are a way for groundwater to be cleaned and introduced back into the ground again," McClellan said.

Megan Greene said she lives near some ponds at Laurlewood Arboretum. The ponds have to be dredged periodically because of sediment build up. Green wanted to know if dredging would need to be done more often if the facility is built.

McClellan said the property would contribute less sediment to that area.

Others were concerned that removing, and replacing, about 70 large trees from the property would also make flooding worse. Several trees were removed this past year.

The application was discussed until 11 p.m. when zoning board chairman William Van Gieson adjourned the meeting. The application was carried to the board's Aug. 19 meeting when testimony will continue. Van Gleson said it would be at least two more meetings before the board voted on the application.

Dr. Nader Fahimi of Franklin Lakes needs a use variance to construct the 27,000-square-foot business in a residential zone. The two-story facility would have 16 pingpong tables, bleachers, locker rooms, a large treatment room, and meeting rooms.

Fashimi also need approved from the Passaic County Planning Board because Colfax Road is a county-owned street.

In response to the application, residents started a Facebook group, "Keep Commercial Off Colfax" and littered their neighborhood with blue and white signs that say the same.

"This is just too much for the people on Colfax Road," Claudia Cece, a leader of the neighborhood resistance previously said. "They should not even be considering the application."

Fahimi told NorthJersey.com that he was "disappointed that these people don't see the benefits of this club. If it takes more attorneys, and more money, to fight these people, we'll do it."

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com