"Biggest project ever" causes stir among nearby residents
By: Purvi Desai
UPPER FREEHOLD A 1.8 million-square-foot warehouse complex being proposed by a New York City developer has been billed by local officials as "the biggest project we’ve ever had" and is causing a stir among some nearby residents.
The project, a three-warehouse complex called Commerce Park that would go on Breza Road, is being proposed by the Rockerfeller Group Development Corp. Rockerfeller originally presented the plan in a PowerPoint presentation in March and answered questions from the public at a second Planning Board meeting on May 11.
According to the plan, the first warehouse would occupy 1.72 million square feet, the second 550,000 square feet and the third 195,350 square feet. The warehouses would occupy 79 acres, and 175 acres would go toward open space and conservation. The proposed plan includes 1,226 parking spaces and 325 trailer spaces near the buildings.
The complex would have its own sewage treatment plant, and new water, sanitary sewer, gas and telephone lines. The project would have six detention basins and construction would take six years.
In terms of the fiscal impact to the community, 1.8 million square feet of warehouse space has a market value of $82 million, which would generate $1.6 million a year in taxes for the township, according to the plan.
Susan Babbitt, land use administrator for Upper Freehold Township, said Monday that plans to develop the site have been applied for before and that the property has changed hands twice.
"Many, many years ago, this other owner submitted an application for a high-density housing project, and it went into litigation because the township didn’t want it," she said. The Planning Board heard plans for the new warehouses on March 28, held one public meeting last week and plans a second public meeting that will be held June 27, she said.
About 15 residents attended last week’s board meeting, voicing their opinions, mostly against, the plan.
"A good 90, maybe 95 percent, of the villagers are against it," said longtime Allentown resident Alice Wikoff, who added that her family has resided in the area since the 1700s. Officials, however, are being more cautious in assigning likes versus dislikes.
"I don’t know that everyone has the same opinion," Ms. Babbitt said. "It’s a ratable without any burden to the school system."
John Fabiano, president of the Allentown/Upper Freehold Historical Society, who attended the meeting, said he spoke as a resident, against the proposal.
"Because of the scale of this large development, it will diminish the quality of life not only in Allentown, but the entire surrounding area," he said in a phone interview Monday. "I hope an alternative is found to preserve the cultural and historic resources that exist in this area."
Ms. Wikoff said the development will "devour our town."
"Upper Freehold is considering ratables for their township," she said. "They don’t realize not only will it lower Allentown’s (property) values, it will also lower Upper Freehold’s.
"I’m against it for several reasons pollution, it would disrupt the town, the fact that trucks are going to be running 24 hours, seven days a week, it’s going to create so much noise and traffic," she said. She also worried about the possible degradation of historic artifacts. "Not only that, there had been a prehistoric Indian site on (the Breza) farm, a burial ground and wildlife on that property," she said.
Mr. Fabiano said he has evidence that a burial ground exists on the property proposed for development and the site is also a known Native American campsite.
"I have evidence of a 1757 deed restriction that was included in a 150-acre deed conveying the land from a Samuel Davenport, to Samuel Allen," he explained. "Within that deed there is a specific exception for what’s referred to as one half of a quarter of an acre of land known as ‘the Bury Ground.’ I suggest that they engage professionals to determine the location of that (burial ground) … and have an archaeological investigation performed."
He said information about the campsite appears in a book entitled "Archaeology of New Jersey" published in 1941 by Dorothy Cross, who was the state archaeologist at that time.
‘We’re getting entirely surrounded and we’re losing our border," Mr. Fabiano said.
"I’m deeply concerned about our village," Ms. Wikoff said. Township officials approved a general development plan for the 254-acre Breza Road tract in September 2004.
Allentown Borough officials refused to comment on the project.