Wynwood Estate residents voice their concern about Home Depot.
By: Joseph Harvie
Some residents of Wynwood Estates aired their concerns about a new Home Depot being built in the South Brunswick Square Mall on Route 1, adjacent to their development with township officials.
Member’s of Wynwood’s homeowners association and some Wynwood residents met April 20 with Mayor Frank Gambatese, township public affairs coordinator Ron Schmalz, and township engineer Jay Cornell to discuss their concerns about truck traffic, noise and safety problems they say will come once the home improvement store is open for business. The store is scheduled to open in the fall.
Mr. Schmalz said township officials would meet with representatives from WP Realty, the mall’s owners, and with Home Depot to discuss the complaints. Mr. Schmalz said the meeting would take place soon, but would not say when.
Home Depot has started construction of a 104,664-square-foot building with a 17,833-square-foot garden center. The company demolished a majority of 14 storefronts containing a total of 177,455 feet of space on the south side of the mall between the former Macy’s site and Family Dentistry of South Brunswick to make room for additional parking.
Mr. Schmalz said one resident in attendance told him they were concerned that an existing berm behind the Home Depot will not block all of the noise coming from the store’s freight traffic.
In addition, Mr. Schmalz said residents are asking that a fence be placed on the berm, instead of a sound wall.
Residents had requested at the April 12 Township Council meeting that a sound wall be put up behind the store to block noise from forklifts and freight trucks.
He said the residents told him the fence would absorb some of the sound and would look nicer than a sound wall.
The residents also said they are concerned that delivery truck traffic would enter and leave the shopping center near the mall entrance closest to the development.
They were also concerned that the intersection may be too small for the delivery trucks to get in and out of, and since the intersection has no stop signs or signals, it is not the safest option for delivery trucks.

