THE
HUNTERDON COUNTY NEWS |
TITLE: FIRST MEETING OF POTENTIAL MASSIVE TRUCK HUB - info and pics
THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who came out last night for the first open
hearing before the Land Use Board. Around 350 people attended - what a
great show of concern in our community! The next Land Use Board meeting
will be held 03 March at 7:30, and it will again be held at Franklin
Elementary School.
Here are the highlights of the night:
1) With the community donations and grant money we have received, SPA has
been able to retain an attorney, Bill Potter of Princeton, who made his
formal appearance last night.
2) Lud Bohler, a local landowner whose property abuts the Heritage
property to the west, also retained counsel.
3) Last night's meeting mainly consisted of two parts: the protocols for
the hearing with attorney appearances and an overview of the project by
the developer's team.
4) There was no time for public questioning of the developer's civil
engineer in regard to his outline of the project - his testimony went
through 10:30. He did not complete his overview, so he'll be back on 03
March.
5) Anyone who thought the project size was being exaggerated should have
come away with a sense of reality last night - the size of this project is
truly massive. One of the buildings with its parking lot sits on 24
ACRES.
And that is only one building - there are six in total from 19-24 acres
EACH. The buildings are large enough that semis can drive INTO the
building.
6) There was also a description of the "road to nowhere." It is a road
that dead ends at the adjoining property, also zoned light industrial.
The presence of this roadway raises concerns for a future building
project.
7) The engineer also described how the ingress and egress would work -
trucks could come in from either direction on Bloomsbury Road but would
only be allowed to turn right going out. There were concerns from
Franklin residents about truck traffic coming FROM 31.
8) As encouraging as the attendance from last night was, our greatest
concern is maintaining that momentum. I realize that much of the
testimony is dry and technical, but it is really important that we all
continue to send representatives from each our households every month that
hearings are being held. The presence of more than 300 people appearing
last night sent a message, loud and clear, to the Land Use Board and to
the developer. This is not an appropriate project for this community.
9) Please come to the fundraiser on the 13th. In order to be successful,
we will need significant funds to cover the attorney's and experts' fees.
If everyone chips in, the burden is lighter for everyone. In addition to
the social element, we will also have information about the project,
answer questions where we can, and raise awareness of the size and scope
of this project and its potential impacts in our community.
11) If you have skills or resources that you are willing to share, please
let us know. We are putting together an "expertise database" so we know
where to go for help for different needs. We could also use committee
members if you want to help with specific projects.
12) Thank you again for your opposition to this project and for coming
out in force. We at SPA are touched by so many people coming together for
a common cause - to preserve our communities. We have spent countless
hours on this project, as have so many of you, and for that we thank you.
If you came last night, the message "we're all in this together" should
ring loud and true to you. Let's keep it up!
Tracey, Sudha, Ann, Pat, and Jenn
SPA Board
THANKS TO Craig Smith
Stewartsville, NJ for supplying the photographs
