By jane meggitt
Staff Writer
Conflicting interests of residents from three different municipalities have come to the forefront of a debate over a proposed warehouse complex.
Washington Township residents favor the proposed Matrix warehouse development. They outnumbered the anti-warehouse speakers from Allentown and Upper Freehold at the public hearing before the Planning Board, held at the Pond Road Middle School in Washington on Aug. 28.
Matrix representatives gave an overview of changes to the project, which included the addition of 60,000 square feet of office space amid the 5.85 million square feet of warehouse space. The warehouse will be located across the street from the Lynwood Estates subdivision in Upper Freehold.
Members of Central Jersey Residents Against Matrix (CJRAM) claimed that Washington Township was violating its own ordinances in regard to Matrix because the property is zoned as a Type I and Type II mixed-use development.
Alec Taylor, chief operating officer and a principal of Matrix, said, "We have not had one significant offer from office tenants. Statewide, there are high office vacancies. There’s no solid office market at this time for traditional areas, yet alone pioneering areas. If I could market offices, I would. It is a more lucrative part of the business. This location is not appropriate for large offices."
Taylor said that a building with 100 percent warehouse space and zero-percent office space "is an appropriate way to develop this park. After giving it some thought, I believe some office tenants may want to be involved in the park. They could be corporate or regional tenants," thus the addition of the 60,000 square feet of office space.
Kathy Goodwine, Washington, told the Planning Board, "Upper Freehold residents have concerns. Washington Township residents have concerns. I know when I purchased my home 11 years ago, I knew [this property] was zoned for warehouses. I think Lynwood Estates residents should have known. It’s not fair to deny Washington Township the ability to develop the land, knowing that it would help with our ratables."
Walt Ulinski, Washington, said, "[Washington Township] has had an unnatural evolution. You can’t force things to happen in three years that ordinarily would take 20 years. Now we’re desperate for ratables. I hate to see senior citizens lose their houses."
Greg Westfall, a member of the Allentown Environmental Commission, expressed concerns that nearly 52 percent of the site would be impervious, creating a great amount of run-off into the Indian Run Watershed. "If the water treatment facility flooded in 1989 when this was 0 percent developed, we’re concerned."
He also spoke about Allentown and Washington Township being part of a regional greenways planning group, and suggested Matrix and the municipality donate stream corridors adjacent to Indian Run to be part of a regional trail system, possibly connecting Walnford Park in Upper Freehold to Heritage Park in Allentown and the community park in Washington.
Upper Freehold’s Dennis McCarthy said, "You haven’t taken into consideration all the traffic. There are bicyclists and farm tractors that slow down traffic on [Old York] Road. Cars can go around them, 18-wheelers can’t." He added that the landscaping in the area Matrix has already developed is not controlled, with weeds growing taller than some trees.
"The volume of traffic, using Matrix’s numbers, 1,319 vehicles, mostly trucks, going into the complex — that’s 22 trucks per minute, one every three seconds," said Robert Pinto of Allentown. "The left-turn lane is 375 feet. It can only hold six trucks waiting to make the turn. There are school buses on that road. Traffic will back up."
He then calculated at lesser numbers: "At 900 [vehicles], trucks will turn every four seconds. A traffic light holding up traffic will make it worse. It will be a major problem.
"It’s not our issue that Washington Township has a problem with debt," he continued. "To break your own ordinances to accommodate this is not right and you shouldn’t do it."
Jim Rudy of Robbinsville, a former member of the Washington Township Planning Board, said, "This development is not a new and unique concept. It has been on the master plan for 20 years. It’s the most logical place for it to exist, and it affects the quality of life the least. Without this project there is no fiscal responsibility and tax stability. Matrix equals 50 percent of the volume of ratables of the whole town."
Don Noviello of Lynwood Estates, whose house is directly across from the proposed warehouse’s driveway, asked Taylor if this would be "a 24/7 operation."
Taylor replied that it possibly would be. Steve Herbert Schneider, Robbinsville, said, "New schools are coming. This site is part of a plan to pay for them."
Anthony Muscente, Upper Freehold, said that while he respected Washington’s right to home rule and Matrix’s right to develop the property, "in my view, there’s no reasonable mix. Seven warehouse buildings and 60,000 square feet of office space is not a reasonable mix. Washington Township’s revenue and budgetary problems are not a good or legally valid reason to disregard your own ordinances."
Maureen Novozinky, Upper Freehold, told the Planning Board that she was "personally offended [at the accusation] that people in Lynwood did not do their homework. We knew it was zoned Planned Community Development. We read the ordinances. The ordinance says reasonable mix. That’s how I made the decision to purchase my home."
With regard to the Northeast Business Park, the land has been zoned industrial for over a dozen years. Over the course of the summer, Matrix met with the residents of Lynwood Estates on several occasions to address their concerns. As a result, Matrix made several changes to its development plan, according to a company statement released last week.
According to the company statement, Matrix went to extraordinary lengths to ensure it had planned the development in such as way as to have a minimal impact on the surrounding area.
The company said it is building a responsible development that would greatly benefit Washington Township.
It said the Northeast Business Park would generate more than $300,000 a year in revenue for Washington Township, and more than $3 million annually for the school district.