HOWELL – Representatives of a company that is proposing to operate an asphalt manufacturing facility told the Howell Zoning Board of Adjustment the recycling portion of their application has been placed on hold by Monmouth County.
L&L Paving, 89 Yellowbrook Road, Howell, is proposing to remove an existing concrete manufacturing facility and to develop a bituminous (asphalt) concrete manufacturing facility at its property in a Special Economic Development (SED) zone. L&L Paving is seeking a use variance from the zoning board in order to proceed with its plan.
The firm plans to remove a portion of the existing concrete manufacturing facility, rehabilitate an existing storage building, construct a quality control building and weigh station, install an office trailer, and remove and replace approximately 13 acres of impervious coverage with landscaping, according to previous testimony.
Attorney Michael Butler, engineer James Kennedy and engineer Brook Crossan represented the applicant at the board’s Aug. 27 meeting. Butler provided an update on the proposed recycling use on the property.
“The application is on hold for the moment. Monmouth County has put a moratorium on all new or extended recycling licenses. They want to perform a study to see what recycling uses are needed in the county. So it is not just our application” that is on hold, the attorney said.
Butler said if the recycling permit is granted by the county, it would not affect the application on the municipal level.
He said if the recycling permit is denied, the operation would stay the same, but instead of the recycling use on the property, there would be a different aggregate used on-site.
An aggregate is a collective term for the mineral materials (i.e., sand, gravel, crushed stone) that are used with a binding medium (i.e., water, bitumen, lime) to form compound materials such as asphalt concrete.
The zoning board’s chairman, Wendell Nanson, asked Butler if any aggregates that come in right now are “going to be made into asphalt (or) will outside aggregates be shipped in to make the asphalt?
Butler said any aggregates that would currently enter the proposed site would be non-recycled materials in accordance with rules and regulations set forth by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
During his testimony, Kennedy said, “Of the 35 acres, 13 acres will be green, they will be turned from a broken stone, broken asphalt and broken concrete area into a green area. We are eliminating this existing non-conformance of lot coverage.”
As Kennedy was describing the property, he said a fence on the north side of the driveway was “protecting woods,” but the board’s certified tree expert, Shari Spero, took exception to that area being described as wooded.
“I have a hard time reconciling the aerial (plan) we were given that shows very, very limited vegetation at the location where the fence is, to say there is a 50-foot vegetative buffer,” Spero said.
Spero suggested that when the applicant returns in October there should be a plan that looks different because to her the plan looked clear and was not a buffer worthy of recognition.
“If you are representing there is a 50-foot solid buffer you are preserving, I need to see it photographically because this (aerial plan) is not telling me there is a buffer there. When you get closer to Yellowbrook Road, yes, I see vegetation. When you are back in the area where this fence is it looks very clear to me,” Spero said.
Crossan provided testimony regarding environmental and noise issues.
“There are no steep slopes on-site, there are no flood hazard areas on-site and many of the impacts of the project are positive. As Mr. Kennedy indicated, there will be a dramatic improvement in aesthetics with the addition of berms, landscaping, evergreens on top of the berms and the elimination of debris from the site,” Crossan said.
Crossan said the water runoff would be reduced by design.
“The quality of runoff will be improved because of the added vegetation and the landscaping,” he said, noting that the additional green area would add wildlife habitats to the site.
He said the plant would not manufacture asphalt after 10 p.m., as currently proposed. However, asphalt that is manufactured before 10 p.m. could be stored in heated silos, picked up by trucks and be in compliance with the noise ordinance.
Crossan said residents who live on Cranberry Road, which intersects Yellowbrook Road near the L&L Paving operation, would not be disturbed.
Nanson asked about residents who live on Yellowbrook Road. Crossan said he would provide testimony regarding Yellowbrook Road at the Oct. 22 meeting.