WAYNE — Competitive pingpong players would have a spot to practice in the township, if a plan to build a large training facility on Colfax Road is approved by the Zoning Board of Adjustment.

But, the applicant, Dr. Nader Fahimi, first must overcome objections from residents who live across the street from the 9.7-acre wooded plot where the club would be built.

Fahimi also needs a use variance because the property, at 225 Colfax Road, is in a residential zone.

The zoning board is scheduled to hear arguments by Fahimi's team of experts at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the township hall.

"We want to have an academy, where we train kids and make champions out of them," said Fahimi, 48, an orthopedic surgeon from Franklin Lakes. About pingpong, he said: "It's a very popular sport. It's just that kids aren't exposed to it. Our goal, at the end of the day, isn't to make money. We just want to give back something to the community."

The proposed two-story facility, to be called the Northeast Table Tennis Club, would be 27,100 square feet. It would have 16 pingpong tables, bleachers, a fitness room and locker rooms on the first floor; and, on the second floor, a parents' lounge, a pro shop, two rooms designated for studying and a 900-square-foot treatment room.

Sixty-seven trees would be felled to make way for the facility, but a drawing on file with the township's building department shows they would be replaced by 77 trees.

The facility would provide parking spots for 61 vehicles, according to the plan.

Fahimi said he hopes to attract world-class — potentially Olympic-bound — pingpong players to his facility, but that beginners also would be welcome to practice there. He also stressed the club would be ideal for senior citizens who want to stay active.

"I think there's a big need for the geriatric population that people are forgetting about," Fahimi said. "That was one of the driving forces behind the club."

Fahimi said he learned to play pingpong in his native Iran — he emigrated to the U.S. in 1985 — and that he taught his two children how to play the sport. He said they train on weekdays at a club, called the Westchester Table Tennis Center in Pleasantville, New York, which has 150 members and up to 50 people playing there each day, according to its website.

The next-closest club, the Lily Yip Table Tennis Center, is about 50 miles south in Dunellen.

Yip, a former Olympian, who competed at the 1992 and 1996 games, was on the coaching staff for the 2016 U.S. Olympics table tennis team, which did not medal.

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Neighbors' criticism

Residents who live close to the subject property say the proposed use of the land does not fit the character of their neighborhood.

Nearby uses include the New Apostolic Church and Wayne Racquet Club, featuring six outdoor tennis courts. However, residents say, neither use causes distress to their quiet neighborhood.

Claudia Cece, a Colfax Road resident for 32 years, said she was most concerned about the proposed facility's impact on traffic safety. "I'd be directly across the street from the building," she said. "The parking lot would be in front of my house, and right now, it's a very natural setting."

Cece's neighbor, Evelyn Babyak, who has lived on Colfax Road for 25 years, said she "always assumed" the property would be developed for private residences.

Comparing the proposed facility to the church and tennis courts, Babyak said, "This is something altogether different. This is something that would be attended every day of the week. I really don't think we should have to look at a lit parking lot, with 60 parking spaces, 365 days a year."

Babyak also questioned the demand for a pingpong club in Passaic County, saying she was concerned what the facility could become if Fahimi's business were to go bust.

"That's what I'm really worried about," she said. "Because once it's grandfathered in — you know, anything could happen. And, that would really ruin the neighborhood."

Email: devencentis@northjersey.com

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