Approved warehouse project will get another review Applicant aims to comply with new stormwater regulations BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer UPPER FREEHOLD - A court-ordered Planning Board hearing on a controversial warehouse application has been postponed until June 26. On Jan. 12, state Superior Court Judge Alexander D. Lehrer remanded the warehouse application back before the board so the applicant, Freehold's JAC Rawland Co., could address how the project would affect stormwater runoff, water quality, and threatened and endangered species. The hearing was scheduled for the Planning Board's April 12 meeting but was canceled due to a letter from the applicant's attorney, Joshua Levy. According to the letter, Township Engineer Glenn Gerken recommended that the applicant "utilize good faith efforts" to comply with the township's new stormwater control ordinance, although it has not been formally adopted." The letter states that since JAC Rawland Co. agrees to abide by the new regulations, the applicant could not appear before the Planning Board on April 12 or for the trial date Lehrer scheduled for April 27. The court will now reschedule the continuation of the trial for sometime in August. At its April 25, 2006, meeting, the Planning Board voted 7-2 to approve JAC Rawland Co.'s application to build an 18,098-square-foot building at the intersection of Meirs Road and Route 537. The 2.43-acre tract would contain 13,500 square feet of warehouse space, 5,200 square feet of office space, 40 parking spaces and a loading dock. Mayor Stephen Fleischacker and then-Committeeman Sal Diecidue voted against the application. Before the board voted on the project, neighboring resident Phil Sinicropi said, "You can't vote on this thing tonight. This thing is dirty." He urged the board not to vote on the matter that night. After the vote, Sinicropi and about a dozen other residents formed a group called Meirs Road Residents Against Warehousing and filed a complaint in the Monmouth County Courthouse on June 23, 2006, against the Planning Board and JAC Rawland Co. The resident group alleged that the public was not treated fairly when the applicant submitted a revised Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the project the night the board voted in favor of the application. With regard to the recent postponement and letter from Levy, Sinicropi said he is "real excited" by the turn of events. He cited an April 10 letter from Gerken to the Planning Board in which Gerken recommended that the applicant consider updating the proposed stormwater management system to conform to new state stormwater requirements. Gerken's letter states, "At this time, compliance with these requirements is not explicitly required, but there is a potential that future litigation may result in the implementation of the current NJAC 7:8 requirements as a result of the time of decision rule." The letter continues, "The applicant is asked to consider this request to avoid future conflict." Sinicropi said it makes sense for JAC Rawland Co. to comply with the new stormwater requirements in order "to protect the environment and the residents in our area." He added that he is confident that the Planning Board will now be able to reach an "open-minded evaluation" of the application. He said it is unfortunate that it took the aid of professionals and tens of thousands of dollars to bring the stormwater issue to fruition. "We had to do it to protect our families from being violated environmentally," Sinicropi said.