New organization forms to make the case that the warehouse would negatively affect the environment, health, safety and quality of life in the area.
By: Paul Koepp
The Planning Board is set to consider a site plan application to build a warehouse at the northwest corner of Route 130 and Friendship Road, abutting the Four Seasons senior community.
The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Municipal Building.
Residents of the development have formed a group to organize their opposition to the proposal, which they say would have negative impacts on the local environment, as well as on their health, safety and quality of life.
More than 75 Dayton residents have joined the new group, the Friends of Southern Middlesex County, in cooperation with the Friends of Friendship Road who opposed Route 92 and the Dayton Village Citizens’ Coalition, the group announced this week.
In a press release, the group said the construction of the 744,000-square-foot warehouse by Matrix Development Group, of Monroe, would threaten wildlife in wetlands on the site; worsen air, noise and light pollution; aggravate traffic problems at the intersection of Route 130 and Route 32; and reduce the value of nearby properties.
In addition, opponents of the plan have raised concerns about flooding in the area of the Drinking Brook, which runs along the north end of the site. They have also questioned whether there is enough demand for more warehouse space, and they have criticized the developer of the Four Seasons community, K. Hovnanian Homes, for not saying in a 2003 public offering statement that the land to the south was zoned for light industrial use.
The planned warehouse, which would cover the area of about 13 football fields on existing farmland, is part of a larger proposal by Matrix to build as much as 2 million square feet of warehouses in what would be called the Matrix Business Park at 8A.
Plans for three smaller warehouses extending to the west along the north side of Friendship Road are on file with the township, while Matrix officials say two more buildings on the south side of the road near the Route 130 park-and-ride are in the concept stage.
Matrix officials said at the July 25 Planning Board meeting that they were aware of local residents’ concerns and would respect all buffer areas and stormwater management requirements.
That meeting ended before all of the residents who were present had a chance to voice their concerns. They will be able to speak at Wednesday’s meeting.
Planning Board members, who expressed concerns mainly on traffic issues at the July 25 meeting, will then vote on whether to approve the plan, which requires a use variance for truck loading along Route 130.

