Questions for Matrix

Lester Ray of Dayton
To the editor:
    It is sad to read about Matrix’s need to create so much FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) with regard to its rejected warehouse proposal. When Matrix officials came to our house to talk about the project and how we could be good neighbors, I thought that they would have understood some of our concerns about having a 600-foot-by-1,200-foot-by-40-foot building 300 feet from my backyard. Yes, we did listen to how this warehouse would benefit our community and how Matrix has held on to this land for more than 20 years, waiting for just the right moment to reveal its plans.
   They even asked us to put our concerns in writing, which we faxed to Matrix the same day, after they said they would respond in 24 hours. Well, we are still waiting.
   Just because the Planning Board concluded that the company’s expert witnesses did not make a “complying” case, does not mean we cannot be good neighbors. Matrix has to admit that the last minute “noise expert witness” was a hoot. In fact, I am preparing a movie-like DVD of both Planning Board sessions with chapters markers so it can be watched over and over.
   But, let’s get back to the FUD. I have a strong math and science background and I’m having trouble understanding it.
   1. Could you please explain how taxes would go up when Matrix would be paying the same taxes that they do now for growing soy beans that end up feeding the local fauna?
   2. Regarding the so-called handful of people against the proposal. How could a person of normal strength hold in their hands more than 800 residents (Friends of Southern Middlesex County, Dayton Village Concerned Citizens Association, Friends of Friendship Road, Eastern Village Association, and the Wetherhill development) or were you just counting the 150-plus that showed up to the hearings? If someone could find that person, I would make a side bet that we could bring out many more handfuls.
   3. Given the size and complexity of the Matrix proposal, could you please explain to me how it can be considered a “clean” commercial ratable?
   4. Where in New Jersey’s smart planning principles does it advise that we should pave over pristine open-space?
   5. When does the term “adjacent” industrial space mean across Route 130, a four-lane highway with a 25-foot island? If you need help with the meaning, I can send you a dictionary.
   6. If the adjacent (meaning adjoining or having a common border) PARC development of Four Seasons brings in more than $2 million in taxes per year, and a 744,000-square-foot warehouse will bring $700,000, which would provide more tax relief?
   I do have more questions, but for another day, us old folks need our rest. Which reminds me, when we last met, we did bring up the idea of using the lots that Matrix owns for the development of an age-restricted community.
   I did read of a company that was very proud of its work in that area and other types of development. Oh, yes, now I remember, it was Matrix on www.matrixcompanies.com/.
   Look at the section link on the left “Property Listings,” then refer to the Forsgate Residential or Jumping Brook Residential or Octagon Center Resident or Wyngate Residential listings. Not only do they sound great, but I think South Brunswick residents would really enjoy the ratable it would bring. In fact, I wish you guys had built our development. We could be such good friends.