Basking Ridge Senior Community Set For New Fitness Center, Salon

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Fellowship Senior Living is set for a makeover. The Bernards Township Planning Board approved a proposal last week for the retirement community to build a new fitness center, salon and other recreational amenities.

Under the plan, Fellowship Village would build a two-floor building to suit the new fitness center and salon, relocating their current salon and massage services to the new location. Fellowship Village would also add outdoor amenities such as trails, a small dog park and courts for pickleball, bocce ball and shuffleboard.

Enhancements also include improvements to the "Spruce Grove" area and Ephesus Pond, adding a 14-by-16-foot deck by the water.

Fellowship Senior Living, a continuing care retirement community, provides services such as assisted and independent living. Non-residents can also sign up for memberships that allow them to use certain amenities.

Planning Board members asked at April 6's meeting which of the proposed facilities the public could access. But the answers weren't cut and dried. The outdoor amenities aren't completely closed off to the public, but they're really meant for members, according to CEO Brian Lawrence.

"We’re not going to sell tickets to the walking trails or pond deck," Lawrence said at the Planning Board meeting. "It’s available like anything else on our site. It’s not something that we invite the public to come in and utilize. But guests or residents and visitors with residents typically may use those accessory outdoor activities and amenities."

But it would be harder for features such as the dog park to accommodate the public, he said. The park is small, and many independent-living residents have pets, according to Lawrence.

"We don’t necessarily want people to walk onto our campus without us knowing it," he said. "But there’s neighbors that live in the area, they come and walk their dog. We’re friendly neighbors."

The board unanimously approved the plan, but the resolution is non-binding and allows for changes if the need arises. The planned trails still require state environmental permits and Township Committee approval, since they run through a conservation easement.

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