Storage facility developer asks to pay less cash up front

BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer

UPPER FREEHOLD — The governing body does not want to set a precedent by allowing a developer to forgo paying 10 percent of a performance bond in cash.

Yong Sim appeared before the Feb. 4 meeting to ask the township not to hold over $100,000 in cash for his development project. In October, the Planning Board approved Sim’s site plan for a self-storage facility on the corner of Route 537 and Route 539. The plan calls for the construction of one office building and nine self-storage units on the 23- acre property.

In a letter to the committee, Sim, who has lived in the township since 1974, stated that Planning Board Engineer Glenn Gerken estimated the cost of the project at $961,484 and the performance bond amount at $1,153,781.

“It’s over $100,000 in a cash deposit,” Sim said. “That’s a lot of money. I see no justification here.”

He asked that the committee reduce the cash payment to 2 percent, or $23,075, and increase the bond amount. Sim said that a similar facility he built in nearby North Hanover permitted him to bond for the entirety of the project.

Township Attorney Granville Michael Magee said that the township adopted the ordinance requiring 10 percent

of a performance bond in cash years ago, and that the town requires a bonding company with an A rating or better. He did not recall anyone ever coming before the committee to ask for a reduction in the

cash portion of the payment before.

Mayor Stan Moslowski Jr. said that every township has different ordinances. He also noted that the township recently returned $460,000 in cash to a developer for a project that took several years to build.

Allowing Sim to bond for the total amount instead of paying cash for a portion is “not a good precedent for the township,” Moslowski said. The township has had developers in the past that started jobs they didn’t finish, he said.