MILLSTONE – The development of a warehouse at the site of the former Showplace Farms horse training and rehabilitation facility on Route 33 in Millstone Township will continue to progress with the endorsement of the building’s waste water management plan from the Township Committee.
On March 17, committee members endorsed a treatment works application for the planned warehouse that will total 1.2 million square feet at 505 Route 33, on the eastbound side of the state highway, approximately across from Dugans Grove Road.
According to a resolution, the warehouse will have an average daily flow of 19,985 gallons, which will require a permit from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for the proposed waste water treatment system.
To obtain the permit, the warehouse owner has designed a waste water treatment and disposal system for the facility. The DEP requires consent by the local municipality or local sewage authority as part of the permit application review.
After Township Engineer Matt Shafai reviewed and approved the warehouse’s report and plan for the waste water treatment and disposal system, the Township Committee members agreed with his recommendation.
The warehouse will be constructed on the former site of Showplace Farms. The business closed in 2015 and the 140-acre lot, which is still owned by Showplace Farms, LLC, has remained vacant since that time.
The development of the warehouse follows a settlement agreement among Millstone Township, the Fair Share Housing Center and Showplace Farms, LLC, regarding the municipality’s state mandated obligation to provide for the development of affordable housing in the community.
Showplace Farms, LLC, was an intervenor in Millstone’s affordable housing litigation and the property’s owner, Howard Schoor, previously sought to have Toll Brothers develop hundreds of market rate units and affordable housing units on Route 33.
With the settlement agreement in place, Schoor no longer intends to develop homes on Route 33 and the planned residential development at Showplace Farms will be replaced by the approved warehouse.
Municipal officials have said the warehouse will generate $1.9 million in affordable housing fees, although no housing will be built at the site, and add revenue to Millstone Township’s tax base.