Opposition group urges U.F., Allentown residents to attend
The next hearing on a controversial, proposed warehouse complex on the Upper Freehold border will occur next week.
The Washington Township Planning Board has scheduled a hearing on the proposed Matrix warehouse complex for Aug. 13 at 7:30 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Pond Road Middle School in Washington.
The July 24 Planning Board meeting on the application meeting drew a large crowd of residents from surrounding communities that would be affected by the development, including Upper Freehold and Allentown.
The 4.75 million square feet of warehouse space has been proposed on a site directly across the street from an Upper Freehold residential development along the border of Monmouth County and Mercer County. Residents of Lynwood Estates in Upper Freehold, along with residents of surrounding communities, have formed a grass-roots group opposing the project, Central Jersey Residents Against Matrix (CJRAM). CJRAM contends that traffic produced by the complex would clog Monmouth County, Upper Freehold, and Allentown roads, while having a minimal impact on Washington Township. Since the project is located in another municipality across the county line, the Monmouth County Planning Board and the local governing bodies in Upper Freehold and Allentown have no control over the application, local officials have said. According to a report produced by CJRAM, the warehouse development would produce 1,200 additional vehicles, many of them large trucks, on local roads.
The developer’s plan calls for three new traffic lights, one at the entrance to the complex on Route 539, one at the eastbound exit 8 of I-195, and one at the intersection of Routes 539 and 524.
Since the planned entrance is for trucks to come off I-195, and make a left into the warehouse complex, Allentown and Upper Freehold residents will be most affected by the traffic, according to CJRAM. A report by Washington Township’s traffic engineer states that "approval is not required from Monmouth County or Upper Freehold. However, these governments will be substantially impacted, and some improvements to their roads may be required."
The township’s traffic expert also found fault with the traffic counts presented by the applicant, which were taken in 1999. The counts measured the number of vehicles entering and exiting the ramps that access I-195. According to the plan on file with the Washington Township Planning Board, Matrix expects total build-out of the warehouse complex to occur over a six-year time period. Steve Alexander, of Upper Freehold, who is acting as the spokesman for CJRAM, has urged residents to attend Washington Township Planning Board and governing body meetings to make sure their voices are heard on the warehouse project.
"It is a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week operation. That is extreme. We’re looking for an alternative to keep traffic and trucks away from us," Alexander said previously.
—Alison Granito