New building to go up along Prodelin Way
BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer

MILLSTONE - An 8,435-square-foot office building is expected to go up in front of theMoto Industrial Park along ProdelinWay.

At the June 11 Planning Board meeting, Benton Fibre andDrum's application to build the structure onRikeDrivewas unanimously approved.

Board member Thomas Pado, who owns land in the industrial park, recused himself from hearing the application.

The applicant's attorney, Kenneth Pape, recalled that he also represented the property owner, Dennis Rike, in the early 1990s when Rike "had the vision to do an industrial park on this property."

Pape said that Benton Fibre and Drum, which now operates in the park as the Greif Brothers,was therewhen the industrial park was created. The new office building would be built on a 10-acre lot in front of the existing industrial building, he said.

Three lots containing office buildings, including the office building of the applicant's engineer, Peter Strong of Crest Engineering, are located across the street from the site. Pape said there is a building similar to the one being built alongside the site and a Montessori School next to that building.

"All have high quality, expensive finishes," he said.

The new office building would have a 42- car parking lot on the north side of the building. The front of the newstructurewould face Rike Drive, Strong said.

Township PlannerRichardCoppola noted that the architecture of the new building is attractive andwill complement the buildings across the street in his report, according to Pape. The new building will be stucco with a stone veneer, he said.

Pape said the 8,435 square feet of office space would reduce impervious coverage, since "there is a sea of asphalt" in front of the industrial building, he said.

Between 10 and 15 trucks are currently staged at the site of the new building. Rike has been training Greif Brothers employees to stage the tractor-trailers on the other side of the building, according to Pape.

The application did not require any variances, Pape said.

Strong said the lot at the corner of Rike Drive and Prodelin Way contains a 60,000- square-foot manufacturing plant that has been there for more than 40 years. As the park developed over the past fewyears,most of the trucking operation has moved toward the back of the lot, he said.

Vice Chairman Christopher Pepe, who chaired the meeting because Chairman Mitchell Newman had a conflict of interest, asked Pape if the new building has a tenant. Pape said no, but the building next to Strong's was purchased by a medical group.

"We're excited about this," he said.

Trace elements of pesticides were found on the property, which was formerly farmed, Strong said. They are not enough to trigger a NewJerseyDepartment ofEnvironmentalProtection (DEP) review, and are similar to amounts foundonother lots inthepark,he said.

Board member Mary Pinney asked how much traffic the building would generate, noting theMontessori School andRising Star GymnasticsAcademy in the park.

Pape said there would be 13 trips per hour during peak traffic hours, but Pepe said that's guessing without knowing the tenant.