HOLMDEL - An Extra Space self-storage facility was approved by the zoning board Wednesday night after an extensive redesign by the developer Holmdel Storage Developers LLC.

“When we’re here last time, we heard a lot of comments and critiques and suggestions,” said Mitch Feldman, president of the Feldman Cos., parent company of the developer. “The size, the setbacks, everything was reduced. We created a new design that was more in line with what’s next door.”

Originally planned to be a 109,400-square-foot cube building, the developer shrunk the facility to 78,400 square feet and added gabled roofs.

Board member Demetri Orfanitopoulos said, “I appreciate what you did with that façade. … That made a big difference and it’s going to conform with the next-door neighbors.”

The facility will be three stories with a basement and it will contain 17 parking spaces.

It will be located at 2125 Route 35, across from Safeguard Self Storage and near the Holmdel Towne Center shopping mall. It will neighbor the yet-to-be constructed Brightview Senior Living facility approved in February.

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According to Christopher Muldoon, engineer for the developer, with the reduced size of the development, the site will be 93 feet from Route 35 in the front and will be 10 feet from the 50-foot wetlands buffer in the back, addressing concerns raised by the board in August.

Residents of Meadowood Estates living along Bayberry Drive expressed approval of the changes made, but asked about the visibility of the facility from their backyard.

Resident Anthony DeMarco said, “I do not want to look out my backyard and see the back of a storage facility.”

After similar concerns were voiced at the August meeting, the developer conducted a balloon test where the team deployed a handful of balloons to mark the back of the proposed facility. Members of the team then photographed the balloons through the wooded area while standing on Bayberry Drive. The developer’s report found the trees covered the balloons sufficiently and, due to the lack of lighting in the back of the facility, the building would be mostly screened.

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Feldman also said the hours of operation will be from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The board approved the facility with a 6-0 vote.

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: Holmdel NJ approves self-storage facility on Route 35