MANALAPAN – The proposed construction of two buildings on Route 33 in Manalapan that would have been used as a distribution center for various products was halted by a unanimous Planning Board vote on Dec. 10.
A distribution center was defined as a location where goods and materials may be stored and then distributed to retailers and wholesalers, but not to the end users of the products being distributed (i.e., not a parcel distribution location).
Countryside Developers Inc. proposed to construct the Manalapan Logistics Center on an 86-acre property on Route 33 just east of Pegasus Boulevard. The two buildings were proposed at 294,560 square feet and 302,250 square feet in size.
The application was heard over the course of many months. In addition to the affirmative case presented by the applicant’s representatives, attorneys representing two objectors presented their own cases in opposition to the application.
In the end, the applicant’s request for a stream encroachment waiver was denied by the board in a unanimous vote. The board’s denial of the waiver meant that a vote on the applicant’s site plan was not needed.
Warehouses/distribution centers are a permitted use in the Special Economic Development zone on Route 33 and two environmental permits from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection had been secured, according to the applicant’s representatives.
Professional planner Creigh Rahenkamp, testifying on behalf of the applicant on Dec. 10, offered several reasons why, in his opinion, a stream encroachment waiver was not required at the site.
The board’s attorney, Ron Cucchiaro, offered his legal opinion to the board that a waiver was necessary.
In his summation of the application, attorney Salvatore Alfieri, who represents Countryside Developers, made several points.
“The applicant has a long history with this property,” Alfieri said. “We went before the Manalapan Zoning Board of Adjustment twice with (non-conforming) proposals and were denied. My client was told to build warehouses (at this site where warehouses are a permitted use) and we are here (before the Planning Board) for warehouses.
“During the application process, we revised our plan to lessen the (stream) encroachment and we reduced the size of one of the proposed buildings. There is a conservation easement proposed in the stream buffer area,” Alfieri said.
Although the number of trucks that would have entered and exited the Manalapan Logistics Center was a primary issue of discussion throughout the application process, Alfieri told the board members that “the board can’t consider off-site traffic as a basis of denial.”
Following Alfieri’s summation, Mayor Jack McNaboe, who sits on the board, said he did not believe the applicant had met the burden of proof that is needed to obtain the stream encroachment waiver. He made a motion to deny the application on that basis.
Board Chairwoman Kathryn Kwaak, Daria D’Agostino, Todd Brown, John Castronovo, Barry Fisher, Steven Kastell, Township Committeeman Barry Jacobson, Richard Hogan and McNaboe voted “yes” on the motion. That result denied the waiver and made a vote on the application’s site plan moot because without the waiver the project could not proceed.