By Christina Whittington, Special Writer
HIGHTSTOWN — recommendation of Borough Engineer Carmela Roberts, the Planning Board unanimously deemed the use variance application complete for the former Minute Maid plant on Route 33 at its Aug 13 meeting.
”We have received a letter from our engineer on July 23 addressing completeness,” said Planning Board Chairman Steven Misiura.
The next step in the application process is a public hearing at the next planning board meeting, which is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Sept. 10.
The applicants, owners Bruckner Southern LLC and Mercer Street Warehouse LLC, are seeking a use variance that would allow for additional warehousing while adding manufacturing production at the plant.
Currently, this is not allowed because the area is zoned highway commercial, which does not permit these additional uses. To date, some warehousing is operational at the plant.
As previously reported by the Herald, the Planning Board held a special meeting June 25 regarding the former Minute Maid plant on Route 33, also known as Mercer Street. It sits near the East Windsor Township line.
That meeting was devoted to the application for the use variance, preliminary site plan approval and waiver of certain checklist completeness items submitted by the applicants.
At that meeting, the applicants also requested the Planning Board allow an abbreviated community impact statement (CIS), a tool used by planners to consider how a proposed project activity would affect the people, institutions, neighborhoods, communities, traffic, organizations and larger social and economic systems of the area of the proposed project.
The Planning Board did allow the applicants an abbreviated CIS, but only granted the waiver for the impact on schools.
The board unanimously voted that the application was incomplete at that June meeting and denied the waivers for floor plans and title certification.
”The clock will then run from this determination of completeness, so its 120 days for a decision from this day,” said Planning Board Attorney Gary Rosenweig at the Aug. 13 meeting.
”That doesn’t mean that the board or through its professionals can’t require additional information necessary for the board to make a decision on the application,” Mr. Rosenweig continued.
The East Windsor and Hightstown Route 33 Corridor Revitalization Plan, which impacts the area of the Minute Maid plant, was also briefly discussed at Monday’s meeting.
”Their next step as I said at the last meeting, was to come up with the drafts of whatever recommended master plan changes and zoning changes for both towns to adopt. We have not seen anything yet from them,” said Mr. Misiura.
”As sort of an outgrowth from that committee, representatives from the Planning Board, myself and Fred (Montferrat), as an alternate, were invited to participate and sit in on the grant that East Windsor was awarded that they are currently acting on,” said Mr. Misiura.
As previously reported in the Herald, at the July 31 East Windsor council meeting, the township received a new grant from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission in the amount of $100,000 to according to Mayor Janice Mironov, “undertake a study of circulation and potential development in the New Jersey Turnpike area of the town.”
The area to be studied by this initiative includes the commercial area west of Twin Rivers, bordered by Lake Drive, Milford Road, Etra Road, Cranbury Station Road and Monmouth Street.
”We are happy about this and would like to publicly thank East Windsor for allowing us to participate,” said Mr. Misiura.

