Blocked warehouse builder taking local zoning body into state court
WESTAMPTON — A frustrated warehouse developer wants a state court to allow it to build two facilities at a controversial site here.
Woodlane Logistics LLC has sued Westampton's Land Development Board, which in December denied the firm's request to build on about 44 acres off Woodlane and Irick Roads.
The proposal had faced strong opposition from community members.
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The lawsuit asks for a court order reversing the board decision and approving variances and a site plan. It also wants the township to pay the developer's legal expenses.
Controversial warehouse plan
The proposed project would have gone on a property consisting largely of farmland and woods. The area is zoned for industrial use, which the developer stressed to local officials.
One of the proposed warehouses would have been 307,520 square feet in size and the second 205,140 square feet. IThe plan also called for 503 parking spaces, 92 loading docks, and 45 truck trailer parking spaces.
Residents raised determined opposition, expressing concern over traffic in their neighborhoods and the loss of open space. Some homeowners hired their own attorney and planning experts to investigate and testify.
The opponents unexpectedly uncovered the fact that the township in 1997 had approved a cell tower on the land and that, under township code, a property needs a use variance to have more than one business use.
The township board voted 5-2 to deny the variance to Woodlane Logistics.
In the lawsuit, the developer argues that turning farmland into warehousing should be seen simply as swapping one allowed use for another allowed use.
The lawsuit also claims that the five board members who voted against a use variance did not give sufficiently detailed explanations of their decisions, as required by law. And it further notes that the board chairman stated that, despite objections from residents, he did not think the project would be detrimental to Westampton.
Woodlane Logistics is the contract purchaser of the 44 acres. The corporation is part of MRP Industrial NE, based in Baltimore.
The suit was filed Feb. 27 in Superior Court in Mount Holly.
Attorney Michael Floyd, representing the developer,, on Tuesday declined to comment immediately. Township government did not respond immediately to a message left with its administrator.
Joe Smith is a N.E. Philly native transplanted to South Jersey more than 30 years ago, keeping an eye now on government in South Jersey. He is a former editor and current senior staff writer for The Daily Journal in Vineland, Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, and the Burlington County Times.
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This article originally appeared on Burlington County Times: Westampton warehouse complex zoning targeted in lawsuit