Hillsborough warehouse proposals held up by environmental investigations
HILLSBOROUGH – Testimony on revised plans to build a half million square feet of warehouse space on Homestead Road between the Route 206 Bypass and Willow Road will not be heard by the Planning Board until April at the earliest.
The Planning Board decided on March 2 to delay reviewing the revised site plans for the warehouses proposed by Homestead Road LLC until the state Department of Environmental Protection clarifies its three investigations into conditions on the two properties at 189 and 203 Homestead Road.
The next hearing on the proposal is scheduled for April 13. But if the necessary documents are not submitted to the township 10 days before that, the next hearing date is May 25.
The deadline for the Board to decide on the application, which has generated a groundswell of opposition from neighbors, is June 30. Peter Wolfson, the new attorney for Homestead Road LLC, said the developer will not grant the Board an extension for a decision.
Board Chairman Carl Suraci said the outcome of the DEP investigations could affect the site plan for the warehouses and if their location encroaches on wetlands or stream corridors.
"What may come of that investigation could render the site plan appropriate or inadequate," he said.
Mayor Shawn Lipani, who also sits on the Planning Board, agreed, saying there are "too many unanswered questions."
Wolfson argued by citing the state's Municipal Law Use Law that the Board should continue hearing the testimony and make a decision with the condition that the developer has to comply with whatever the DEP determines and recommends.
"It's time to move this application forward," he said.
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But, Board Attorney Eric Bernstein said, the DEP might not even allow the property to be developed.
"We are waiting for the DEP to tell us what can go on that property," Bernstein said, adding that while the investigations are continuing, the Board is in "the proverbial dark."
Wolfson said he was prepared to present the testimony of Mike Ford, the project engineer, on the new site plan which would require no variances from the Board.
Wolfson also said he would offer testimony from a traffic expert and a planner, but Saraci said their testimony could depend on the outcome of the DEP investigations.
The environmental issues arose when David Kois, the township's planning director, visited the site last August and found disturbances of "critical areas" of wetlands and a stream corridor.
Kois also discovered several large trees had been cut down, an inoperable school bus, debris and trash on the property owned by Mid-State Industrial Park.
After Kois' visit to the site, the potential disturbance of wetlands and stream encroachment was reported to the DEP.
In a Sept. 21 memo to the Board, Kois said he met with the farmer who cultivates the site. The farmer told him about "disturbing past practices" on the property that included food waste with garbage deposited throughout the site.
More than 2,400 people have signed an online petition opposing the proposal by Homestead Road LLC to build the warehouses.
A group, Stop Warehouses and Trucking, was formed to oppose the project, but the group's mission has expanded to opposing other warehouse proposals at 279 Homestead Road, 303 Amwell Road, and 1170 Millstone River Road.
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 warehouse plans held up by DEP investigations
