NORTH BRUNSWICK – Municipal officials in North Brunswick are concerned about a warehouse complex that is being considered in neighboring Franklin Township.
Mayor Francis “Mac” Womack said a location on Route 27 across from the John Adams Elementary School and Seneca Road is an open property slated for review by the Franklin Township Zoning Board of Adjustment.
Ciras Realty LLC of Englewood, on behalf of the estate of Sally Chase of Englewood, is applying to the Franklin Township zoning board for a D-1 variance, a D-6 variance, preliminary and final major site plan approval, and a C-2 variance approval to construct a 117,119-square-foot warehouse, associated asphalt/concrete parking/circulation areas, sidewalks, landscaping, utilities, and storm water management facilities at 1423 Route 27, Block 85, Lot 38 in the G-B and R-40 zones.
The approximate lot size is 9 acres totaling 392,916 square feet.
“I think we can all envision if this is going to be a lot of big trucks going into a big warehouse the impact that can have on North Brunswick,” Womack said during the Feb. 28 Township Council meeting. “I don’t know how this is going to be good for us.”
Michael Hritz, the director of the North Brunswick Department of Community Development, said the large undeveloped wooded lot is near a convenience store. He clarified that the area on the corner of Sinclair Boulevard is under construction for homes.
He said the warehouse property is opposite North Brunswick’s Huron and Osage roads.
Hritz said he is not certain how much objection to the proposal will come from Franklin Township residents, since no one lives within the 200-foot zone who would have to receive a legal notice about the application before the zoning board.
However, he said Brunswick Knolls and the John Adams school on the North Brunswick side are directly opposite the property. Hritz said the proposed site plan includes about three dozen truck bays and two driveways onto Route 27.
“We need to mobilize,” Womack said, since most trucks on Route 27 come through North Brunswick.
The Franklin Township zoning board is scheduled to review the application at 7:30 p.m. March 17. For instructions on how to access the meeting, and for associated plan documents, visit www.franklintwpnj.org/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/19234/2193