By Lea Kahn
Another segment of the proposed Lawrence Hopewell Trail this time, along the perimeter of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. campus gained the Lawrence Township Planning Board’s approval Monday night.
The Planning Board approved a 2,500-foot portion of the 20-mile trail that would be installed along the Carson Road and Province Line Road frontages of the pharmaceutical company’s campus.
The segment on Carson Road would start opposite the portion of the trail that runs through the township-owned Carson Road Woods. It would meander along the perimeter of the BMS campus and stop at the edge of its property on Province Line Road, near Route 206.
John Murray, BMS’ director of facilities for the Lawrence campus, told the planners that the 8-foot-wide asphalt path would be built about 85 feet off the edge of the roadway and behind the tree line.
”This is a really exciting day for Bristol-Myers Squibb,” Mr. Murray said. He added that BMS and the Educational Testing Service proposed the Lawrence Hopewell Trail about 10 years ago, and now it will be built on BMS land.
When the meeting was opened for public comment, Carson Road resident Robert Hunsicker pointed out that the trail would be built within the 300-foot buffer zone. He also objected to the “excessive” number of signs that would be posted along the trail.
Planning Board attorney David Roskos said that according to the board’s 1996 approval of a 445,000-square-foot expansion to the BMS campus, the company agreed to allow for the creation of a greenway or path across its property.
Mr. Hunsicker replied that the Planning Board’s 1996 resolution of memorialization, which outlined the approval for the 445,000-square-foot expansion, did not explain exactly where that path would be located. In fact, the Carson Road Woods nature preserve did not exist in 1996, he added.
The Lawrence Hopewell Trail passes through the township-owned Carson Road Woods property. The BMS portion of the trail would connect with the segment of the trail through the township-owned property.
Township planning consultant Philip Caton pointed out that it would be different if the landscaping would be removed, but none of the trees will be cut down for the path. The visual buffer remains essentially intact, he said.
Planning Board member Doris Weisberg added that the board has routinely required applicants to provide an easement or a provision for a greenway path, although the Lawrence Hopewell Trail did not exist in 1996.
Voting to approve BMS’ minor site plan application for the Lawrence Hopewell Trail segment, Mayor Greg Puliti, who sits on the Planning Board, said the trail is the “jewel in the crown of Lawrence Township.
”We are very fortunate to have (the trail) for recreation and for the residents to use it,” Mayor Puliti said.

