Input on warehouse largely negative

By: Purvi Desai
   ALLENTOWN — The Sept. 26 Upper Freehold Planning Board meeting attracted neighboring Washington Township’s mayor, who informed Upper Freehold officials that he is not willing and able to provide police and emergency services for the $82 million warehouse complex on a 254-acre site on Breza Road.
   The meeting — the fourth of its kind held on a warehouse application by Rockefeller Group Development Corp. based in New York — drew a comparatively small crowd of approximately 150 people, but resulted in a lot of negative public feedback.
   Former mayors, farmers, Upper Freehold and Allentown residents sparred over the issue, with most opposing the development and requesting that it not be allowed into the area.
   The Planning Board did not take make a decision on the application at the last meeting, and will continue the public hearing on Nov. 30. It has not been decided if a vote will take place at the next meeting.
   In March, Rockefeller presented Part 1 of its plan, and answered questions from the public at a second meeting on May 11. The hearing continued to June 27, where Rockefeller adjusted its application according to public and Planning Board suggestions, and answered questions from the board.
   On Sept. 26, the board opened up to public comment for the first time. Just before the Sept. 26 hearing was opened to public comment, Washington Township Mayor Dave Fried and attorney, Michael Angelastro, chimed in with their thoughts on the application.
   Mayor Fried asked the Planning Board to deny the application because he said it is "poorly planned." He said Washington Township has built warehouses in the past, and met with its neighboring towns to discuss the project, but Upper Freehold officials did not return the favor.
   "No one has asked Washington Township what they think about it," he said. "It is too much, too large. It will cause traffic problems in Washington Township and Allentown." Mayor Fried said that as the director of public safety in his township, he is "alarmed" at the Planning Board’s lack of oversight on studying how the demand for police, fire and emergency services will increase and be handled.
   He said he heard that there has been previous testimony stating that since Washington Township is nearby, emergencies will be sufficiently handled by Washington’s police, fire and EMS workers.
   "It’s not fair to think that your township will be protected," Mayor Fried told Planning Board members. "Our township has had incidences where our Police Department has been so overwhelmed that we’ve had to call other townships for service."
   He further suggested to Planning Board members that they either create their own police force or think about regionalizing emergency services with neighboring towns. In closing his comments, Mayor Fried informed the Planning Board that there have been incidences in the past where mayors have pulled out their services to neighboring towns as a result of the burden laid on local.
   Mr. Angelastro, a Washington Township attorney, questioned how commercial traffic on Robbinsville-Allentown Road would be able to gain access westbound onto Interstate 195 when there currently is no entrance ramp.
   Mr. Angelastro requested the Planning Board evaluate the westbound exit ramp from the Robbinsville-Allentown Road onto Interstate 195. Previously, Allentown officials have raised concerns about truck access to 195. They have stated that there is no westbound exit from the Robbinsville-Allentown Road onto I-195 at Exit 7, and as a result, heavy truck traffic will be forced to go through Allentown’s downtown area to get to the westbound Exit 8 on Old York Road. Other alternatives include trucks taking the Exit 7 and then making a U-turn at the next exit, or going through Robbinsville to Route 130 on the Robbinsville-Allentown Road and getting on Interstate 195 near Washington.
   Mr. Angelastro said a new westbound ramp for vehicles coming out of Allentown, heading toward Robbinsville, must be built by the applicant alongside the project. He requested the board to leave Breza Road open to public traffic and align it with Circle Drive.
   Bill Miscoski, an Upper Freehold Township Committee member, told the Planning Board to disregard Mayor Fried’s remarks, as he said that when Mayor Fried was a council member in Washington Township several years back, he refused to get more information about commercial development in Upper Freehold Township when contacted.
   Former Upper Freehold Mayor Bob Abrams, of Millers Mill Road in Cream Ridge, said he sat on the Upper Freehold Planning Board for 20 years, and never before heard the kind of "threat" Mayor Fried made to the Planning Board.
   "This was not any fly-by-night dream," he said of the proposed warehouse. "This would offset the bedroom community we became. What we wanted was something that would offset the high cost of living in this community."
   Mr. Abrams said Upper Freehold has, in the past, given Allentown "the biggest breaks." He said Allentown residents strongly opposed all the bypasses that Upper Freehold Township paid for. "These truckers have a right to work," he said, and urged the Planning Board to make a decision for the township rather than the surrounding communities.
   Wayne Smith, of Lakeview Drive in Allentown, informed Planning Board officials that a single diesel emission from a truck is equal to that of 100 such emissions of a car.
   "The concentration of so many trucks should be of concern," he said. "This pollution will run off to nearby creeks and waterways. There will be sleep disturbance and noise pollution."
   Betsy Poinsett, of South Main Street in Allentown, said people have chosen to live in this area because of the community character and compact development. She urged officials to protect the rural character of the town, and contain development.
   "To allow a development of this size in this sensitive area is an outrage and will cause an insult to the residents of your own township," Dan Zorovich, of Sandbury Drive in Allentown, said. "It will cause destruction of a 300-year-old historic village." He said the people who are supporting the project live far away and would not likely support it "if it was in their backyards."
   Micah Rasmussen, of North Main Street, in Allentown said, "closing the Breza Road is a threat to the residents of Allentown." He said even with the berms and trees proposed, the warehouse will "tower over the other houses and buildings in the community."
   Steve Coyle, of Potts Road in Upper Freehold, said he researched and discovered that the Rockefeller has previously never built a warehouse in a residential area, and it "displays a lack of experience."
   Joy Brody, of Rose Road in Upper Freehold, said people are still buying expensive homes in the area, just so they can see that stars at night. She said it would be a detriment to put a warehouse in "this beautiful community."
   Diane Sterner, of Lakeview Drive in Allentown, said she and her husband moved to the area 14 years ago and now enjoy the rural atmosphere with their 11-year-old son. "It will change the character of Allentown," she said of the warehouse. "There will be serious consequences for the residents of Allentown. There are hidden costs of this development, like fire and police services."
   Elizabeth Rogers, who said she has lived in Allentown for 33 years, expressed concern for the blue herring, toads and red foxes in the area, which will most likely be affected by the development. She also voiced her concern about adequate emergency services and water and sewage facilities. "I really think that area would be great for the (middle) school."
   Upper Freehold Regional School District officials have faced opposition in their selection of a middle school site on Ellisdale Road, which tested positive for contaminants dieldrin and arsenic in April and November 2004. Several residents have suggested the school be built instead on Breza Road, in place of the warehouse.
   Ann Garrison, of High Street in Allentown, told Upper Freehold officials that just as their primary township asset is its farms, so is the historic village the primary asset to Allentown.
   "We care as much about our historical district, as you do of your farms," she said. "No other community is similar to Allentown in the state. I am incensed when we keep referring to Cranbury, when their development is right across Route 130. Where is the justice for this historic district?"
   Gerald Nathanson, of Powderhorn Way in Upper Freehold, told the Planning Board that the township does not have the infrastructure to support this development, and added that he highly doubts a westbound ramp from Allentown onto Interstate 195 will get built. He also raised concern about the likely increase in taxes that could follow if the development goes through?. "This will the only township to have a development of this sort in it without a police force," he said.
   Alex Knights, of Plantation Way in Upper Freehold, asked Planning Board officials if they were simply looking for a tax ratable "that will yield a net income to the township."
   "What’s the cost of police services and fire protection?" he asked. "What’s the cost of maintaining the roads and berms? What’s the cost of providing education and municipal services to COAH residents (there)? What about services to truckers and warehouse workers?"
   Mr. Knights said that residents need to know the costs of all these services before the Planning Board makes a decision.
   Jim Sadley, of Circle Drive in Upper Freehold, said more than $2 million will be needed annually to support police and fire services to accommodate this project. "It is the wrong site for the wrong project," he said. "I second the nomination for building the school on this site."
   Rockefeller Group spokesman Clark Machemer said Tuesday, "I think I’m most pleased that we finally got to the public comment part. Itwas what we expected. We’ve had a number of hearings, my hope would be thatwe would get a vote from the board (at the next meeting)."When asked what the chances are that Commerce park would be approved, Mr. Machemersaid, "I think we put in a strong case for it.I would hope that the board votes in our favor. We followed the planningprocess that exists at the state. This is something that the town had zonedthe land about 10 years ago. We’re just following the policies andprocedures that were put in place with the approval of the state.There’s always going to be opposition. Just because we’re seeing some peopleopposing, it doesn’t reflect the entire opinion of the community."
   Commerce Park is worth $82 million, and would occupy 254 acres on Breza Road, divided among three warehouses. The first warehouse would cover 1.72 million square feet, the second 550,000 square feet and the third 193,350 square feet. The remaining property encompassing 175 acres would go toward open space and conservation.
   The plan includes 1,173 parking spaces, 325 trailer spaces near the buildings, six drainage basins, its own sewage treatment plant, and new water, sanitary sewer, gas and telephone lines. Rockefeller has said it will donate 19 acres to Upper Freehold Township, that could possibly be used for affordable housing.
   Rockefeller estimates that the proposed warehouse project will generate $1.6 million total in tax revenue, with $1.2 million going toward the school district.
   The public hearing on the warehouse application will be continued on Thursday, Nov. 30.