Hillsborough residents hire lawyer to oppose 'irresponsible' warehouse plan

HILLSBOROUGH – Residents of the Hearthstone at Hillsborough senior community have hired an attorney to oppose a proposal to build a warehouse across Weston Road from their home.

Jordan Asch, hired by the community's homeowner organization, told the Planning Board last week that the proposal by Weston Road LLC, of Franklin Park, to build the 140,155-square-foot warehouse is "irresponsible."

The Board had been scheduled to continue the public hearing on the project but delayed it until March 23.

Michael Ford, the project's engineer, is developing a new site plan for the project based on comments made by Board members and their professional consultants on the proposed stormwater management system at the first hearing in November. That plan has not been submitted to the township.

Ford, who was unable attend last week’s meeting because of illness, was scheduled to be cross-examined on the original plan.

Michael O'Grodnick, attorney for Weston Road LLC, told the Board he wanted to present testimony from the perspective tenant, Miracle Brand, a privately owned company based in Jacksonville, Florida, and a traffic expert.

Miracle Brands sells bedsheets and towels online. The company markets itself as selling the "first hygienic luxury sheets" with "natural bacteria fighting silver." The cotton is grown in India with the sheets made in Bahrain and the towels made in Turkey.

The tenant of the proposed warehouse was first reported by MyCentralJersey.com and the Courier News on Nov. 15 after reviewing the application documents filed with the township.

Asch said the Hearthstone residents were attracted to the 185-unit development because of Hillsborough’s "country-esque" atmosphere that is "threatened by this application."

The residents, Asch said, came to northeastern section of Hillsborough because it was a quiet, safe location with a "lack of traffic" on Weston Road.

Asch recently represented residents of the Green Hills community in opposition to a 107,366-square-foot warehouse at the southern end of Harvard Way off Route 206 next to the neighborhood.

The Planning Board turned down that proposal but the developer, also represented by O'Grodnick, has filed suit against the Board in Superior Court.

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Board Attorney Eric Bernstein also suggested a delay in the hearing because the Board and its professionals were "engaged in catch-up" because the developer had not submitted requested information to the Board.

Some of that information, Bernstein said, was on the nature of the tenant which he said the Board members did not know until "a very lovely article in the Courier News " was published in preview of the meeting.

Bernstein said the application was "disjointed" and Mayor Shawn Lipani, who sits on the Planning Board, said the applicant "was not prepared to proceed."

Though the Board said it was not going to hear comments about the six warehouse proposals before it, resident Brian Tarantino question why the developer of another warehouse on Amwell Road was allowed to speak before the Township Committee on Jan. 31

"The most interesting part was the tremendous gap between representations made before the Township Committee, and how this applicant has behaved regarding these applications," Tarantino said.

But Board Chairman Carl Suraci said the Board would not be affected by any comments before the Township Committee.

"Whatever was said was a waste of a person's breath and will not be considered," Suraci said.

He also said that letters sent to the Board by residents, which by state law cannot be entered into the official record, are "filed under 'S' for shred."

The next hearing on the Weston Road application is scheduled for March 23, but if the meeting room is not available because of renovations, the hearing could be delayed until May 5.

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Hillsborough residents hire lawyer to oppose warehouse plan