Despite public opposition, a proposed 76,000-square-foot warehouse at Union Mill Road and Walton Avenue in Mount Laurel is a permitted use for the property, says the developer's lawyer.
"It bears focusing on the fact that a warehouse being located on this property is not introducing a foreign concept for the property," lawyer Robert S. Baranowski Jr. of the Hyland Levin Shapiro firm in Marlton told the Planning Board last Thursday.
Baranowski, representing applicant Union Mill Road LLC of Wilton, Connecticut, said Township zoning ordinances permit a warehouse on the site, which is zoned industrial.
Board planner Joseph Petrongolo agreed with Baranowski's appraisal and told board members they are "not looking at the use itself" and that warehouses are permitted in the industrial zone. He said the board should make sure the impacts from the use are being addressed by the developer.
Rendering of the warehouse.
The application for the warehouse, which would be built on nearly 25 acres of vacant wooded land neighboring the Brightview Senior Living complex, was first heard at the Planning Board's August meeting. The board spent nearly four hours on the plan last Thursday and continued the application for further consideration at its November 10 meeting.
Truck traffic would enter and exit the facility only from Walton Avenue and not from a second driveway on Fernbrooke Lane, which is a private road owned by the Brightview complex. Truck traffic also would be allowed only from the north on Walton Avenue. A Walton Avenue bridge with a low weight capacity south of the driveway would not be able to handle tractor-trailers.
No potential tenants have been named. The warehouse would have 21 tractor-trailer docks and the developer's traffic consultant projects 49 trucks would use the facility each weekday. The proposed building has 10,500 square feet of office space and 65,500 square feet of warehouse space. The parking lot would have 272 spaces for passenger cars.
» READ MORE: Warehouse proposal before Planning Board in August.
Resident Jodi Chattin, who lives on Union Mill Road nearly three miles from the site, testified that she had concerns about the quality of life if the warehouse is built. She noted the developer is from Connecticut.
"They don't have to drive our roads to and from work every day with tractor-trailers and potholes," Chattin told the board. "They don't have to worry about additional pollutants in the air when they send their kids to the soccer field around the corner. They don't have to think about the deer, birds and other wildlife that would be scared off by additional development."
Lawyer Baranowski, representing the applicant, told Chattin she was not on an expert witness on pollution or other matters and noted that "your property is nowhere near the subject site."
That prompted a warning from Mayor Stephen Steglik, who sits on the Planning Board.Â
"Please refrain from snarky or sarcastic comments to our residents," Steglik told Baranowski.
Baranowski replied that "darts" were being thrown at the project that "really have no foundation in fact."
Chattin said she was worried about "warehouse sprawl," which she said was a problem in Burlington County and elsewhere in New Jersey. "If this kind of development is allowed now or in the future, Mount Laurel will quickly lose its appeal and not be the wonderful place to live that it is now," she said.
Terry Hassett, who lives on Walton Avenue across from the site, said tractor-trailers now drive up Walton Avenue every day and ignore signs that warn them not to use that stretch of road. "The signage doesn't work," Hassett said.
"I don't think anybody would want this in their neighborhood," she said, adding that it will exacerbate an already-existing truck problem.
Margaret Shoe, who lives on Union Mill Road near the site, said her concern was about an increase in car traffic passing her home.
She noted the planned 272 car spaces at the warehouse, asking the developer to restrict car traffic to only the Walton Avenue driveways. The developer plans to allow car traffic on Fernbrooke Lane, a private road owned by the Brightview complex.
