Owner knocks rezoning

Says property ideal for warehouses

By: Stephanie Brown
   MONROE — The Township Council on Oct. 4 rezoned 46 acres on Prospect Plains Road to prevent warehouses from being built on the site despite objections from the property’s owner.
   Council members said changing the site from Light Industrial to Office Professional was in the best interest of residents. While building a warehouse on the site could generate tax revenue for the township, they said it would be disruptive to neighboring communities and increase truck traffic through town.
   "You can’t put a dollar amount on safety and quality of life," said Councilwoman Joanne Connolly.
   The parcel is located behind the Wynwood assisted living facility, which used to be The Chelsea at Monroe, on Forsgate Drive. It has frontage on the N.J. Turnpike to the west and is bordered by Rossmoor to the east.
   The site has street access via Stonaker Drive off Prospect Plains Road and is part of a larger 82-acre site shared with Cranbury.
   When the ordinance was introduced Sept. 6, council members said the rezoning would reflect actual use of the site and safeguard the site from large-scale development.
   The Light Industrial Zone is typically used for warehouses and requires a minimum lot size of 3 acres. An Office Professional Zone permits the use of professional and general offices, including law and accounting, medical, banks and research laboratories.
   The 14-building professional center, previously known as The Cranbury Center, located on the property, used to be the U.S. headquarters for Rhodia chemical research laboratories.
   Preferred Real Estate Investments Inc. of Conshohocken, Pa., began marketing the property in spring 2005 with intentions of redeveloping the area, said corporate spokesman Scott Tattar.
   Approximately 35,000 square feet of the site is occupied, leaving about 310,000 square feet vacant, said Preferred Real Estate Inc. officials. Innophos, an international producer and distributor of chemical grade phosphates, is the site’s only tenant.
   Several representatives speaking on behalf of the property’s owner, 259 Prospect Plains LLC, presented an argument against the rezoning to the council during a second hearing on the ordinance at the Oct. 4 meeting.
   Attorney Frank Petrino said rezoning the site to Office Professional was "unreasonable" for three reasons: The contiguous portion of the parcel in Cranbury is zoned for Light Industrial uses; Light Industrial uses are permitted throughout the township, and in many cases, are contiguous to planned retirement communities; and, restricting the use of the property to Office Professional would reduce the value of the property.
   Christine A Cofone, an associate with Schoor DePalma, an engineering firm in Manalapan; Paul Feaster, a broker for Preferred real Estate Investments, Inc.; and Jerry Fennelly, owner of NAI Fennelly Associates Inc., a commercial real estate company in Hamilton, spoke in detail on those three points.
   Ms. Cofone said there is significant case law precedence to follow the building patterns of surrounding communities and what have historically been the building patterns of a specific area.
   The site, which is bordered to the west by South Brunswick and to the south by Cranbury, is almost completely surrounded by existing industrial development, Ms. Cofone said.
   N.J. Turnpike Exit 8A is well known and well developed, she said.
   In terms of the development pattern in Monroe, Ms. Cofone said there are a number of industrial sites that abut planned retirement communities.
   "So I find that peculiar as to why this zone is being treated differently when there are certainly a number of other LI zones that directly abut PRCs," she said.
   She also said changing the zoning alone to prevent development was not "sound and proper planning."
   "If you’re going to change the property from LI to OP, the buffer requirements are going to substantially, substantially decrease," by about 80 percent, she said.
   Mr. Feaster gave testimony as to the poor marketability of the site to Office Professional tenants. He said he has been aggressively marketing the property as an Office Professional site, but has been unsuccessful. On the other hand, he said there has been a tremendous amount of interest for Light Industrial uses.
   "I think LI is absolutely the highest and best use," Mr. Feaster said, adding that rezoning to Office Professional would substantially reduce the value of the property.
   Mr. Feaster also said that the access to N.J. Turnpike Exit 8A is a convenience to warehouses for shipping materials.
   Councilman Irwin Nalitt said that would mean more truck traffic in town.
   "It would be beneficial to the company, but not necessarily to the neighbors," Mr. Nalitt said.
   Mr. Fennelly was the last speaker to argue against the zone change. He said the office market has taken a down turn due to companies moving out of the state, but the demand for warehouses continues to grow.
   A few residents of Rossmoor spoke in favor of the zoning change.
   "I think it would behoove the powers that be to think about the neighbors," said Rossmoor resident Phyllis Brown.
   The council voted 4 to 0 in favor of the rezoning.
   At the request of Mr. Petrino, Councilman Henry Miller recused himself from the voting process since he is a Rossmoor resident.