EDITORIAL
By:
The Planning Board is recommending that the Township Council keep a promise made nearly a decade ago to residents of Davidsons Mill Road.
The board voted unanimously Feb. 16 against a proposal to rezone 220 acres on Davidsons Mill Road at the N.J. Turnpike from rural residential to industrial to allow for a massive warehouse complex.
Now it’s up to the council to follow its recommendation and end talk of this rezoning for good.
The warehouse proposal floated by Joe Morris Co. of Rutherford for property owner Walter Pulda of Piscataway would pave the way for three warehouses totaling 3.3 million square feet on the parcel and could result in a significant amount of tax revenue for the township. While no official estimates have been offered, it appears that such a project could generate more than $750,000 annually, which is the equivalent of about two tax points in the township.
That may be a lot of money, but it should not blind the council to the damage such a warehouse complex would do to the quiet northeastern corner of the township.
The presence of the Turnpike in the area has meant that the eastern end of Davidsons Mill Road has become home to several warehouses, as has the eastern end of Deans Rhode Hall Road.
After several proposals in the early 1990s to allow for more warehouse space on Davidsons Mill Road including a short-lived one that would have created a new Turnpike exit, 8B, in the area residents were successful in getting the township to agree to preserve the residential character of the area.
The Turnpike would be a hard border; the area east of the Turnpike would be zoned for warehouses, while the area west of it would remain rural residential, or one housing unit per 2 acres. In addition, warehouses on Davidsons Mill would be required to route truck traffic east to Route 535 and not send it west along the narrow, winding road to Route 130.
It was a useful compromise that allowed the township to attract some warehouses and the tax money they bring without placing an undue burden on the residents of the Davidsons Mill Road neighborhoods of Cottageville and Fresh Ponds.
The Morris/Pulda proposal would present a dangerous incursion into the rural residential zone, effectively erasing the Turnpike as the hard border between residential and industrial use. That could open other properties west of the Turnpike to industrial use, an encroachment that would damage the area’s rural character.
The tax dollars that this kind of industrial development could bring are attractive, but not every zoning decision can come down to dollars and cents. It is just as important to safeguard the quality of life for residents.
While the council can choose to let this warehouse proposal die quietly, we encourage it to consider bringing it to a vote. That would send a strong signal that the council intends to keep its promises to its residents.