##VIDEO ID:C42F5O-ohT0## Philipsburg land use board meeting August 22nd 2024 has been provided in accordance with the open public meeting act by posting notice on the bulletin board in the municipal building by publishing in The Express Times And The Star Ledger the official newspapers of the town of Philipsburg by posting notice on the website of the town of Philipsburg filing set notice with the town clerk of Philipsburg as well as Furnishing said notice to those persons request un pursuing to the open public meeting act as advertised action may be taken at this meeting board policy of this town of Philipsburg land use board is not to hear any new cases after 10 p.m. and no new Witnesses after 10:30 [Music] p.m. flag United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all Mr Branch here Mr brsi here chairman Duffy here Mr no here councilwoman paus here Mr Penrose here may pza here Mr turnball here Mr zra W Miss wicker here n uh do I hear a motion on the minutes uh dated 725-24 you can Iain yeah okay second second are there any additions Corrections or deletions all those in favor say I I any against exensions I okay yes okay completeness I believe 88 techman and 64 uh 41 Hill Crest they not going to be heard tonight okay public hearing on 186 hag Avenue okay good evening uh members of the board my name is Brian Tipton I'm here on behalf of Sharon and Jerry Pandy and we're here for a minor site plan with varian's application 186 a road it's a 359 ft addition to a residential house and a residential Zone um we did our notice taxes are paid and I have two witnesses here tonight Mike dster architect and Sharon Pandi on behalf of the applicant would you like to square both of them at the same time or do them one at a time later do both okay you guys can stand Raise Your Right hands Square from the testimony you will give in this matter the truth to the best of your ability thank you okay at this time I'll call M D and have him provide you with his qualific and experience um we've already prev marked his um resume as A6 so um Mr chairman I think we can dispense with the qualifications I did have Mr TI provide me with his qualifications in advance and have reviewed them I recommend that the board adopt recognize him as an architectural expert anyone have any questions for okay second okay all those in favor thank you so we're going to move on to the existing conditions and I'm just going to have the witness um identified what been circulated as A1 through A4 so if you just take a look uh A1 is the front of the house 186 hag A2 essentially is looking on the right elevation you'll see the existing excuse me hold on a second could you go over to the Mike please thank you problem exhibit A2 you'll see is the existing front porch as well as the existing two story structure if you make your way to A3 you will see there's an existing Small Bump out it's a one story bump out I don't think it's home that okay sorry about that uh A3 is the rear elevation you'll see there is an existing one story bump out is part of the existing kitchenet making our way to A4 that is essentially the small concrete platform that is coming off of that Small Bump out you'll also see it is a small one story uh brick um garage structure sorry and then we're back to A1 the additional exhibits will be part of my drawing submissions which were sent to the board previously and we have marked uh the drawings that are blown up the ones that were in your package as A5 and they run from sd01 to sd04 so M can you take the uh give us uh you some of the um testimony on the existing conditions that you've shown your drawing sure I'm actually going to pull it up closer so I can read it um so if you look on the on the site survey you'll see that our lot is 65 ft wide on the right hand side we're approximately 102 ft deep on the left hand side we're 138 ft deep uh there is I guess that a two-story bricks brick dwelling there is a front porch which wraps around the front side as as well as the right hand side of the structure there's a single car asph um asphalt driveway leading to a brick garage we also have an existing shed structure to the rear of the lot you'll see there's also an existing blue stone patio paper patio which is Center between the garage and the home itself can you describe for the board uh what the the layout of the interior of the of the uh each floor sure so if we go to sheet A2 I'm sorry sd2 you will see the existing floor Pointes first floor itself the enter existing entry foer okay thank you to the left you'll see the the existing living room space to the rear of that is is an existing dining room uh on the far side you'll seeting kitchen and eating area there is a a partial finished basement with an office and and a powder run down there and the other half is unfinished with laundry on the second floor you'll see there are three bedrooms and one full finished bathroom and is the bathroom on the the second there's no bathroom on the first floor there are no bathrooms on the first floor now can you let flip this and provide the board with a description of the proposed addition sure so we're we're we're trying our us to leave the existing structure as it is um to the to the the farest extent possible we're essentially adding a proposed master bedroom and master bathroom area on the first floor you'll see the second floor will actually undergo no work that is existing to remain so once you come through here we're essentially extending we're doing a 14t x 14t master bedroom you then come down there's a smaller closet into your master bathroom space so the only additions or the only the only intention here is to create a bedroom and a bathroom on the first floor that is correct now can you uh tell us why you selected the location on the property for this addition sure given the fact that the lot is is on the narrow end um we were limited with our actual locations um we were hesitant to attach it to the existing garage so we essentially located it to the rear of the structure as well as the right hand side we were just being mindful of the right hands the the side yard setbacks as well as the grve yard setback so in our opinion where we essentially located it was what's the best location possible so basically the that right sidey yard setback if you're looking at the house from the road that keeps it within the setback and keeps it consistent with the porch we we're exact ex exactly correct we are essentially projecting no further than the existing ports you'll see and exhibit A1 and you feel that you know the manner in which you situated it and the uh amount of square footage was about the minimum you could have ADD to achieve the goal of having a bedroom and a bathroom on the first floor absolutely I think you know master bedrooms have gotten considerably larger in recent in recent times um I think a 14t by 14t is a is a very modest size and the bare minimum that we would do for a master bedroom all right let's shift to uh talking about the variances we have four variances here primarily due to the the size in the shape of a lock but let's walk through each one just so the board knows exactly what relief we're seeking here sure we uh we have a few existing non-conforming um conditions the first one being the minimum lot Frontage we require 75 ft we only have 65 ft and there's no change to that no change there's no change to that VAR the second one being the minimum front yard setback as you can see on the survey it is at 17.0 FT to the front porch our required setback is 25 ft we are not making that condition worse there's no change to that variance either the third one is the minimum floor area um which is a requirement of 12200 Square ft we have currently 743 ft for the first floor um so with our addition we're coming in at 1,12 so we're still under the minimum or may that condition better and then the final one would be the coverage we are essentially existing non-conforming requirement is 30% the current structure and house and and lot is at 31% we are going to increase that to 34.7% now do you believe that the location of the addition is minimized the need for any bar relief based on where you could have put it the the the only issue with the with the coverage essentially that that that condition really will would follow us where we would locate that addition so there's no place else you could put it to make the maximum coverage less ah no and there's no place that you could and and you already testified that the you basically made this as small as possible to minimize the Flor area that is correct and we try to be mindful of all of these setbacks are you aware of any detriment that may be caused by this the variances that we were seeking here to the neighborhood or to the zoning uh you know ordinance in general uh I mean essentially from the street perspective I don't think you will really even see the addition um with the front boards being there um so I do not see any detriment okay and shifting to the uh boards Engineers July 23rd 2024 letter which we went over briefly at the completen this hearing if you shift to page three the technical review there are five items listed and um we're in agreement to comply with all of those and we will do so in whatever is required by your engineer uh post hearing at this time that concludes uh Mike's testimony I if you have any questions for him at this time does anyone have any questions for ahead just based on the testimony provided um related to my technical comment number one just add verifying that there's a back flow preventor with the town code okay because of the bathroom located in the basement okay it anyone have any questions Mr Brian you want you re testimony is to need for any tree removal no there'll be uh one small dog wood and a a patch of tools will be removed and we will get cha tree approval if needed um if so needed okay we got and uh at this time I'll call Sharon Pandi very briefly just to give the reasons uh that she is seeking this uh addition for her home go ahead yes okay hi um basically we're just seeking the addition because we need a bathroom and a bedroom on our first floor so that we can stay there in age in place you know we like the neighborhood we're happy there we like living in Phillipsburg we don't want to have to move but we want be need that did you look at other options with trying to change what you have on site without the addition uh we had a couple of other uh think Mike and two other Architects come in and a couple of commers come in did see if there was anything we could do with our existing space and there just there's no room there's no room to put anything out okay so any questions for m v any thank you so just to uh conclude um we believe the applicant has satisfied the requirements for variance relief we think the project promotes uh general welfare and allows for appropriate population of people to stay in certain neighborhoods allowing the the applicant to age in place as she testified I think this is the least um intrusive way to do it the property small there's an existing house that has physical limitations and um you that makes it a unique situation um you know for this property for her to to again age in place for for them I should say again there's no detriment to the public goods Zing plan of ordinance um all four Varian is are pre-existing one is made better while the other is slightly worse but in the end it's more of a wash from a varant standpoint and we ask that you grant the Rel planner um I U yeah I think given the nature of the application planning testimony is needed I think you heard from the architect uh given the uniqueness um under njs 4055 d-7 C1 where by reason of exceptional narrowness shallowness or shape of a specific piece of property I think we' got adequate testimony uh as to that from the architect and he was qualified to testify as to that that and that's the the legal basis for the relief anybody else have questions public comment if anyone would like toh speak on this project at this time please step forward to the microphone uh state your name and address uh even this evening we're going to also ask you to spell your last name slowly excuse me my name is Robert Cole I live at 192 Hagerty right next to the pen offies um for me I'd like to see many acres around me but I live in town uh they're great neighbors there's a need of all the neighbors would impact my property the most and my wife and I had no problem thank you anyone else seeing no one else in closing public comment okay variances first okay we have four variances maximum lot coverage minimum lot uh lot Frontage minimum front yard setback and minimum floor area do I hear a motion on these I have a second Ernie I'm trying to help okay um anyone have any questions or comments concerning this roll call Mr Branch yes Mr Bradman yes Mr Penrose yes Mr terol yes Mr null yes councilwoman paus yes mayor pza yes Vice chairman Swicker yes and chairman Duffy yes that's nine thank you very we're not done yet that would help I have a motion for preliminary and final motion second John okay any discussion roll call Mr Branch Mr rman yes Mr Penrose yes Mr turnball yes Mr Mo yes Council paus yes mayor pza yes VI chairman swier yes and chairman Duff yes no [Music] [Music] [Music] yeah we don't have a build this right okay and old business public hearing for consistency review report for proposed amendment to the riverfront development plan I'm going to [Music] turn so uh before we proceed that are there any members of the board who wish to accuse themselves from this I did yes mayor p pa anybody else now it's all you chairman I submitted a report dated on August 7th 2024 um for a consistency review uh based on an amendment proposed uh by the town of billsburg governing body ordinance 20 [Music] 2414 um as I would just ask that the report that was submitted and on file with the town with the board you made a a record part of the record for this hearing okay jumping to the the summary of the report uh pursuant of 40 a 12a 7e a list of inconsistencies must be noted in recommendations for actions on those items however there there are not items which were determined to be inherently inconsistent with the current master plan re-exam a thorough analysis was provided within the study report report that reviewed each goal and objective for the latest master plan and found there was no inconsistencies um with the amendment and guiding documents with their review of the master plan documents documents and Redevelopment prior to Industrial with the review of our master plan documents and Redevelopment prior to Industrial zone change amendments we found the documents demonstrate clear desire to develop a a robust community Through revitalization to Spur economic growth economic growth for the community with considerations provide for all uses such as industrial residential and Commercial a number of the goals and objectives on cons considering consistency or inconsistency were reviewed on individual basis and considered as a part of a whole plan document Vision we further included in detailed analysis and basis for the position taken here where the item was recommended to be considered for consistent inconsistent or not appable to Aid the board members in the review and consideration of the governing body request to amend the the development plan um should the board find the reason to indicate uh items are inconsistent those items should be noted in their findings and recommendations Council uh with items that are found inconsistent the board may need to include reasons and recommendations to address the inconsistent item man um so the overview of the report summary was found that we did not find any items that were not uh consistent or inom um I can go through in a bit more detail through each of the items if desired anyone wishing to go through in more detail it's only 700 and some [Laughter] pages okay any questions comments thank you okay I'm not going to open this to public comment again please step up to the microphone stay your name address and we may ask you to spell your name we had some difficulty last month good evening David morette five Heights bisb New Jersey thank you I did send a um a memo note to the land's board with um things that I thought were uh in indiscrepancies and errors that were of a serious nature to the report um and I hope you had a chance to read them and consider them as you may remember you were provided a sack of 93 letters from residents of Philipsburg who believe allowing zoning of industrial on the Corone Howard Street property is is not consistent with the bisberg 2000 master plan revision report specifically they believe the master plan dictates the town should only be zoning or rezoning properties on Howard Street to Riverside residential Riverside commercial and or Riverside Heritage I encourage you uh Vice chairman to let any land use board members who have not yet had a chance to read the Howard Street specific portion of the 2013 master plan uh to request time to to read and process this section of the report before the landuse board takes any vote I there is we should have a copy of the 2013 master plan in front of you um the Howard Street section of the 2013 master plan revision report can be found starting on page 28 of this report and continues into page 29 upon reading the Howard Street specific section of the 2013 master plan revision report I believe members will see a few things are true the master plan indicates that the town should consider resoning the light industrial on the north side of Howard Street the Riverside residential Riverside commercial and or Riverside Heritage the master plan indicates the strip of property where there currently exist light industrial should evolve if possible into zoning that will allow transition to lower density along uh to the lower density neighborhood along Cherry alley Mercer Street and Cedar alley to the higher City development that would have been built on the perone Howard Street property there is no way zoning any properties along Howard Street to Industrial could be considered consistent with the master plan if the land use for thinks that industrial zoning now belongs on the Peron Howard Street property and the idea of Howard Street U not involving to Riverside residential Riverside commercial and Riverside Heritage and it's not what the Landes board wants I believe that is uh the message the land use board should send back to the council specifically the land use board does not find making the Howard Street property industrial is consistent with the master plan but the landu Ford is still in favor of making her own Howard Street property industrial of course I believe making the prone Howard Street property industrial is a bad idea for the residents of fisberg it is my hope that the land use board will just return a decision that indicates the warehouse ordinance is not consistent with the town's master plan as mentioned the landas board members each received 93 letters from residents indicating that they did not believe making the coron Howard Street property is consistent with the 2013 master plan additionally a number of residents that signed letters thanked us for our efforts but some said they thought we uh our efforts would be in vain some residents said they do not vote for local in local elections because they believe decisions are made behind the scenes and the decisions that are made are to benefit powerful people law firms and developers who pull strings of local politicians and it does not matter what is good for the residents for all the residents who have signed letters saying that they believe industrial is inconsistent with the master plan and particularly those residents that have lost faith in the local government I would like to request that any land use board members who vote that industrial is consistent with the master plan explain why they are voting that industrial is consistent with the master plan I realize land use board members do not have to explain their votes but I believe if they vote industrial is consistent with the master plan they owe it to the residents to explain why thank you very [Applause] much anyone else good evening my name is Robert Hopkins 12 Ramsey Berg Road Columbia New Jersey I'm a lifelong resident of Warren County I'm the president of the Warren County building and construction trades I represent the men and women in the building construction trades living here in my whole life I had not a whole lot of opportunity to work on many projects in this waren County area I've been in carpenters union for 37 years very few times did I get opportunity to work in my own backyard I traveled great distances to go to work to provide and have a career in your construction trades I'm entrusted as of a Building Trades president and president of my local right now to find opportunity for young people and all my members that are current it's hard to look a member in the face and say to them you're traveling 60 70 miles to work each and every day to provide opportunity for yourself and a career it's hard to recruit people out the schools the high schools and the vocational schools that we work with on a daily base to try to recruit because I'm having to tell those folks they're not going to get opportunity to work on a Redevelopment Pro property or Redevelopment of an industrial site there's not many opportunities that come along to the Union Building Trades but when we see a good project come along where we can have opportunities for our members and their families to grow and grow in the community and be lifelong residents of the community I think that project is a good thing going forward more times than not our members are traveling great distances to go to work they're coming home they're leaving at 4: in the morning getting home 7 at night are they going to be good residents in your town no because they're wore out we want people we pride our members and we always tell them to be good stewards to your community growing up my dad was ahe of our Athletic Association for years was involved in coaching baseball always made time to come home and be with other kids and you know move the move the sport forward but our members aren't getting those opportunities because they're having to travel great distances and go to work when they're able to work in their own backyard and work on a project from 7:00 to 3:30 or 8 to 4:30 they can be better citizens to their community and help give back to the community I think the project is a good project and we're looking forward to Hope seeing the board pass the project and seeing our members from the community work on the project thank you very much for your time anyone else name is Janice h h d I live at 150 merer Street in Hillsburg this Warehouse is literally in my backyard do you want it in your backyard why are you putting it in mine also according to the master plan um there were road construction that were proposed in order to just handle the car traffic that was supposedly going to be created by housing back there these mention various things of changes of interceptions massive changes of interceptions widening buying up property and then having to demolish homes just so traffic could make right hand turns left hand turns what sort of traffic is now going to be allowed with trucks how many homes will have to be torn down just to widen the streets you can't do the Howard Street Extension simply because LMR I doubt will sell their property and that's the only pathway from a satellite map to go from Howard Street to Center Street the other option is right down M Street at the other end mcken you already have mcain de coming in with their trucks night that trucks coming down from a warehouse right at the same intersection what's going to happen what kind of traffic is going to be created and as for the improvements that were proposed by the land use board according to the last master plan uh let's see I was just curious who's going to pay for these Improvement is it the person selling the property the person building the warehouse or is this just going to be another tax bur on the taxpayer everyone here there is Phil are you going to be stuck paying the taxes for these Road improvements for a warehouse you don't thank [Applause] you thank you my name is Fred Stein S I work with the Delaware rep Network represent louder louder it's not on microphone's not on something happened as long as the board secretary is getting recording I talk loud okay let me know so we're keeper network is in the environmental advocacy organization we represent residents from Philipsburg Easton throughout New Jersey throughout Pennsylvania New York and Delaware um I'm here tonight to talk uh to about hoping hoping that you vote against uh the uh consistency the one thing I want I wanted to bring up two points and I'm on I'm on vacation usually I bring a printed cheet but I had to use my phone because I don't have access to preure so this will be a new experience but the one point I wanted to make about the The Building Trades and we all support jobs but my understanding is is a warehouse like they're proposing on Howard Street might take nine months or a year to build the impacts to a warehouse on Howard Street is going to be for long long way over much longer than that years decades my point is is you can support good paying jobs and cl but you shouldn't destroy your community at the same time especially when those jobs are only going to be here for a short amount of time nine months maybe a year I I'm sure I could be corrected but it's not very long uh the point I wanted to make two things is there's Economic Opportunity in Philipsburg that can can be supported without having the um without having the warehouse in the New Jersey open space provides a variety of in New Jersey open space provides an EnV a variety of environmental and economic benefits including protecting the Water Resources preservation of biodiversity and wildlife habitats creates Greenways and enhances Urban corridors uh to support recreational opportunity in addition to parks open space that's what we're talking about warehouses versus open space open space provides Public Health by encouraging active Lifestyles that improve physical and mental Wellness this is especially important um to successful Urban Redevelopment areas building a warehouse that results in thousands of tractor trailer tra tractor trailers driving through a community is in direct opposition of encouraging a healthy uh lifestyle and a healthy economic benefits most most of mostly a result of covid uh in the United States throughout the United States has seen res um has seen growth in residential participating in making uh parks and outdoor spaces taking advantage of outdoor spaces since March 2020 the number of Americans participating in outdoor recreation has increased 6.9% even as covid restrictions were lifted um the indoor the uh indoor and outdoor activities have become available have increased since 2021 participating in outdoor recreational um I'm sorry about this I lost my page the point is there's a lot of outdoor recreation taking place now as a result of Co and that trend is not only uh United States why throughout the US it's in New Jersey too in New Jersey just since just since the co uh Alor Recreation has produced 132,000 direct jobs it's created 11.7 billion dollar in outdoor outdoor recreational uh activity um it's in it's provided $6.2 billion in wages and salaries Philipsburg Philipsburg has the opportunity to take advantage of some of that outdoor activity and outdoor recreation and economic space you have the key Parts I know I'm talking to the choir here you have a great uh Riverfront uh access and you have a walkable downtown both of those are Key Parts to enhancing outdoor recreational activity if you build a warehouse if you cut down that forest and build a warehouse you're detracting from people wanting to paddle down the river and coming into felsburg you're going to want to go someplace else if you go up above the Water Gap you'll see uh dozens and dozens of delivery services and airb airbnbs and lots of outdoor recreational activity south of the Water Gap even now as far as rles bille it's it's there's very little outdoor recreational opportunity uh as far as Livery services and and that sort of thing my point is and I hope you here is that by preserving that open space you're helping Philipsburg become a destination for outdoor recreation thank you [Applause] I have a be officially record my name is Sarah and I am from you speak is the mic working I don't think so can you spell your last name please hair h a r it's in the letter thank you regarding this consistency [Music] [Music] that one works yeah good as someone who cares about the Delaware River its habitats and Wildlife and the quality of life for all of Warren County's citizens I implore you to consider seriously the local sorry the local and Regional negative impact of one more Warehouse in our County currently there are about nine warehouses I don't know about jobs building those warehouses but there are about nine warehouses up for sale or leav in Warren County from beler to hackstown to Philipsburg and Alpha that means they are currently or will soon be empty as you know the Philipsburg mall and will be redeveloped as a warehouse possibly the Farmland behind it and a 450,000 ft Warehouse construction just broke BR in Alpha this is in addition to a 350,000 ft Warehouse just to Pro for construction in beler and a 70,000 ft Warehouse in Blairstown this presents the question how many warehouses does Warren County need and how will this one be filled if there are already so many empty warehouses nearby and the bigger question will it be sustainable since warehousing is plateauing in our area and around the country the issues of the diesel fuel truck traffic that these warehouses produce has been brought up in your meetings and in the Town Council meetings repeatedly not only should you be thinking about what has been reported to you regarding truck impact on the residents who will live on the nearby streets including the air pollution noise pollution traffic and safety and by the way there were two deaths in my town of Hope from truck accidents last year you should be thinking ethically about how more trucks from the explosion of warehouses in our area will affect all of us regionally even on routs 22 and 78 this advice is recommended in the state planning commission's Warehouse guidelines document and in the highlands council's Warehouse document designed to protect the highlands Watershed region of which Philipsburg is a part I ask you do the possible unsustainable and limited benefits of another Warehouse outweigh the long-term local and Regional costs as you consider whether to approve and or accept the consistency review for the amendment by vanle engineering please keep the following comments in mind and reconsider any decision to approve the review as a County College English instructor I can say that there are numerous and chairman Duffy you asked who has read that 900 page report well guess what I read good chunk of it and most of it is maps and charts and graphs but every single member of this land use board should have read that document because you will see that is not it is not professionally written every single item that says consistent consistent consistent has grammar and editing issues to them I'm shocked I can't believe it was submitted I can't I hope this it hasn't been paid for I hope you haven't paid van Clea engineering yet because that thing needs to be Rewritten it's horrifying so I go through and I guess I don't need to read everything here I'm going to jump to my last what I do is I go through a few of the consistence and I note the grammar and editing issues and I knowe where I have questions about content and I I am um I do believe that regarding content uh I can say that there are numerous format and other editing errors in this document but also I will point out um excuse me there are also statements that are not verified that start with would or could or May and other statements that imply that certain measures will automatically happen or be implemented without any reference to the mechanism or infrastructure uh needed to affect the action so I go through I'm just going to jump to my last one um so just as an example of the really confusing grammar and statements just in one of this these consistent statements it's subcategory a uh 17 under industrial and it was deemed consistent quote I'm just going to read from a land use aspect the master plan goal and objective recognizes the limitations of zoning influence of zoning influence has over the those items but recognizes the need to consider providing opportunity for jobs in the community whether renting purchasing homes or purchasing Goods as simple as meal on the way to from employment what at the location then the last sentence really kind of blows my mind there is also benefits of redeveloping existing industrial industrial sites for industrial Industrial what for industrial as this avoids the development of existing residential uses into industrial property that may result in displacement or significant change in community SL neighborhood well isn't that what this is doing all we needs to do to identify the severe grammar issues in that paragraph is to read it but regarding content the last sentence does not make any sense why would the town want to avoid development of residential uses how would changing an industrially zoned property into a residentially zoned property result in displacement or significant changes of a community or neighborhood even worse than or more than a warehouse would this whole Chain of Thought is so convoluted grammatically that it is totally unclear and then it leads one to question how adding a res residential Community to a location could result in the negative changes described and how would a warehouse not result in significant change to an adjacent neighborhood or community in far worse ways this does not make any sense as it is worded I could go on I thank you for taking my comments into consideration hope you will do what is best for the people of Philipsburg and Warren County thank you [Applause] there my name is Justin Henry h n r y I live at 164 Oakland Road I actually have nothing prepared for this and I didn't come here really for land use other than to drop off some paperwork um but I'm standing up now because I'm quite disappointed to hear that phur is thinking about adding a new Warehouse um phur is already well on its way to becoming Warehouse build as is the trucks are everywhere there's gray walls everywhere it's quite Bleak needless to say I support everything that I've heard tonight from this team in Orange and it moved me enough to stand up today and speak on something that I know very little about but I support them and I implore you to think about the next generation of bburg Youth here who will be growing up with gray walls all around them of the warehous houses that are in their backyards that's all I have to [Applause] say honorable chairman good evening honorable board members my name is Guy Citron and I'm from Califon North hunterton excuse me how do you spell your last name oh right sorry like lemon CIT r n CIT thank you m I wanted to make a uh ethical [Music] observation do you know why Jimmy Carter had to sell his Peanut Farm before he became the president it was because when you become an elected official you're supposed to be representative of the public that you serve and if you have a conflict of interest like something as silly as a Peanut Farm that might get in the way of your ability to to serve now I know that Mr peruchi and The Honorable Senator steinhardt are pillars of this community and they've done tremendous good but I also know that as of last week they're being investigated in South Jersey in connection to some kind of development of a warehouse from a a land deal and I'm sorry I'm not a lawyer and if I misrepresented that I I truly do apologize I've been following the warehouse scroll in waren county and the various land use boards where Arguments for and against have been made and to Sarah ha's Point who just spoke sorry I me today it looks like peanut Farms everywhere connected to people who have an interest in developing them sorry if the analogy is a little bit uh imperfect but I think you understand what I'm trying to say when I was here last month one of the very respected board members here posed an interesting question to me and I want to try to answer that question he said well what if Mr peruchi never sells the or doesn't do anything with it because he doesn't get what he wants and I'd like to try to answer that question with another question which is are we serving the public as elected officials here or are we serving conflicts of interest so thank you very much for your time and your [Applause] service I'll try not to spit uh sand moris at five Fair viiew Heights Philipsburg according to the law Governor Murphy signed in 2020 an overburdened Community where 35% of households are identified as lwi income or 40% identified as low income or excuse me 40% identified as minority tribal or indigenous Community or 40% of people have limited English proficiency the flats meet that criteria and that was confirmed as such by the New Jersey Department of environment enironmental protection commissioner sha lured in a June community meeting a few years ago at St Philip and James Mercy Hall commissioner larette referred attendees to the New Jersey Warehouse citing guidelines of which we've read several portions into public record in August 2018 Yale University and P King University in China released a joint research paper detailing the fact that long-term exposure to air pollution is linked to a huge reduction in intelligence the sample set was a panel of over 25,000 people across 162 randomly chosen counties in China this study targeted the older population they discovered that pollution also impacts cognitive abilities in older people now we know pollution affects children intelligence with an average impact equivalent to having lost a year in a child's valuable education another study found toxic air is linked to extremely high mortality with people with mental disorder ERS and also increased mental illness in children that was a British study this study was published in the well-known and well respected Journal proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and that study looked at 20,000 people in China between 2010 and 2014 and compared test results in records of nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide while some people have said pollution in New Jersey will decrease around warehouses because New Jersey has passed legislation stating that all trucks have to be electric by a certain date that's not what the law actually States it says and it mandates that in about 4 months for every 10 regular trucks diesel a regular heavyduty truck sold one electric heavy duty truck will be sold that will not impact the pollution that is been detailed heavily in the New Jersey Warehouse sighting guidelines that thank you for your attention I hope and pray that each of you look into your heart of hearts and think about the future of the children in this community pregnant women in this community because pollution increases child mortality and miscarriages as well as of course now we understand a bit more of how it affects older people thank you very much [Applause] anyone else um Robin cson That's c um I just want to read a couple of things uh I can't really add a lot to what's been said already um but these are from that 213 uh 2013 um reexamination report and there's nothing here that tells me that a warehouse is consistent um under industrial it says encourage and Aid in incompatible nonresidential uses to find alternate more appropriate locations in town as you expand on this what you're finding out is that the plan that was proposed the uh master plan proposes residential All Along The River this is the development that was put for um so they were looking to move that Industrial Area not grow it um same thing went all the way down to um down there by the uh sewer plan um housing it says review areas along the river to determine appropriate locations for new market rate housing explore programs to increase affordable home home ownership um reduce truck truck traffic on neighborhood residential streets start all these things I can read quickly for you create a Riverfront development plan for the entire length of the river Frontage providing for River related activities businesses housing and access plan for trails and View and view areas revise the zoning code to eliminate truck dependent uses from areas with limited access to major highway Network develop a recreation and open space plan to provide Parks and Recreation throughout the town with green anres this is with res specifically to Howard Street the block should be rezoned to encourage or accommodate the uses that would complement the surrounding residential neighborhood hoods new and old the riverfront Heritage trail system and overall Riverfront revitalization effort should provide a transition from the high density multif family development along the river to the single family neighborhood along merer Street and enhance the uh entrance to Delaware River Park to that end a townhouse option perhaps as a conditional use ought to be explored for the block with uh appropriate bulk and Design requirements I read through this one I read through the year before and the one before that but this is the plan which was residential that's what I would like to see I think that that town would be more would benefit more from additional residential than a commercial use that adds trucks in a residential areas thank you [Applause] J Pierce Prospect Street fburg Ladies and Gentlemen you got a big decision to make tonight some of these people in the audience just don't get it they really don't they're talked about pollution I seen pollution all my life like I said at Council couple weeks ago send out letters Clos down every Factory in this town shut down every gas station in this town stop mowing your grass stop weed whacking get out your bicycles ride to work because everything is pollution trucks come out of Atlantic states trucks run down South Main Street this poor man wants to put a warehouse there to give us jobs the union wants work give it to him my husband's been out of work a year those people there some of them aren't even from downtown where were they when Atlantic states was running around the clock when I was a kid waking me out of bed they were nowhere to be found now all of a sudden because they don't want to get their way they want to tell this gentleman what he can do with his property I hope you vote Yes for that warehouse because it's going to bring Revenue to this town jobs for our people and when the Union workers are done it's going to bring plenty of jobs here and all those warehouses up there at ingera Ram are giving jobs to our people and what that gentleman said about working and our people the kids having their fathers teach and football and whatnot is the honest godot's truth so I hope you all vote Yes for that warehouse thank you very much [Music] hey grer person street she was right it is a hard decision very hard but we have an example of this developers um past history with Philips as far as the warehouses up there bridg point 50% empty according to their website right now I'm saying it's not fair that he owns a property and can't develop it but I don't believe a warehouse is really necessary we have to look at what's good for Philipsburg with all the traffic that's going to be on Center Street all the warehouses around the area it's going to affect our streets everywhere I see trucks going around persel Hill that weren't there before and I've lived there quite a few years but it is a very very hard decision and I'm asking you to do what's best for Philipsburg I'm looking for I looked at different things and what can go down there that would suit both ends and I really I don't have an answer obviously nobody else does but I want to know if this Warehouse goes in what are we going to do about Center Street three schools of children have to cross that street and one is on it we have Green Street School the old Green Street the Middle School the kids have to be on it and learning center that is an issue and I don't believe the developer can deny that but again it is a very very hard decision my concern is how is this going to affect Philipsburg downtown downtown traffic the wear and tear and you you know there's going to be trucks going through the covert we're trying to as I say there's a very hard answer to this question so again think of what's good for filbur overall the maintenance and everything and the good I hope this bring good jobs in I hope a good company comes in and brings fantastic jobs for philb but as I say it's a very hard decision take care [Applause] uh Kurt r r o w l l 975 Mill Street uh right across the alley uh the Bulldogs were uh in uniform practice tonight cheerleaders are out there those are the kids that uh some of whom are coming up from the Mercer sit Greaves Main South Main Corridor to participate in this great sports program I'm a big Bulldog supporter and for the sake of those kids and their health I really implore the board to delay any motion Vote or recommendation until they've had a chance to go through David's document there's just an amazing outpouring of research and real concern for the community that's been expressed tonight and I'm so impressed it's not just commendable for citizens to step up here with the research facts observations they've made that it's actually extraordinary and I applaud them and I ask the board to uh delay look at these documents clo closely uh look at David's analysis and um come back to make a an informed decision thank you very much [Applause] [Music] good evening my name is gaale Rogers that's r o g e RS I'm a little new to this as I think I had mentioned once before but one of the things is I commend everyone good or bad their opinions on this whole entire issue but one of the facts is is that I agree with with the truck issue being a bad idea and Warehouse simply because I look at what's going on around town and I see so many trucks making illegal turns not caring about the people who are crossing the streets and if the warehouse comes there's going to be more trucks there'll be more Children at Risk more residents at risk regardless of their age because there's more people walking whe whether they're walking for exercise or walking because they don't have a vehicle or whatever I see them walking on the side of the road there's trucks coming down speeding making turns with their big old signs saying do not turn here and they turn anyway going up oneway streets that is not good so I think that we should consider whether or not a warehouse is good and how much truck track is going to be and one other thing I understand what the lady said about jobs but this is 2024 more and more you hear about robotics robotics are going to take the place of all of those jobs so we may say now in 2024 that yes we're going to have this explosion of work but in 2025 that may be totally different so we need to take into consideration that fact also thank you [Applause] my name is Charlie rockme ERX m i r I live on Barrymore Street in fburg New Jersey I just broke the 40-year mark this year so um and 40 years ago I walk downtown take a look at Center Square Union Square down there and go there today and 40 years later in my opinion the downtown area is kind of worse for the where it was 40 years ago every day I drive across the free bridge going to Easton drive home driving into Easton and then driving back is a very Stark difference in what the towns look like when you go it is I think Easton has the benefit of having government that was forward-looking that would work with entrepreneurs and developers who had visions and resources in order to develop what you see over there then I drive back at night it's why not Philipsburg okay so how is a project on a partiel of land on Howard Street connected to this and the battle over this project I think developers notice other developers and what happens to them when they go to certain areas to work developers notice so I'm hoping that in 20 years from now now when I'm looking to celebrate my 90th birthday I'm somewhere down in Union Square looking at something because our government has kept a forward look and worked with people who know how to create and to build up an area instead of having to drive across the bridge to East thanks for your [Applause] time anyone else hi good evening Michael peruchi um 2351 Washington Lane Bethlehem PA um so I'm I'm sitting here and and listening to all the particular comments and as I think the board knows and most of the people have been around town for a long time 20 years ago or thereabouts I tried to get this property changed from industrial to residential and I was excited to come to my hometown uh and do Residential because we were doing across both Pennsylvania and New Jersey so after almost 20 years I can't do it I've had every developer in New Jersey and Pennsylvania both national and local look at this site there's millions of dollars of environmental cleanup that no one's even thinking about that we could clean up um no residential person is going to come in here I found out and spend millions of dollars for the environmental cleanup that needs to be done on the site except for us and that's going to require probably a cold storage unit or something of that sort last year one of the councilman asked us to tie this property into rail so we just spent $300,000 redesigning this property shrinking it significantly over 100,000 square ft so we could accommodate rail um and we've worked with the short rail people here in Philipsburg we don't know how many trucks are going to come here we have no idea could be one one a day I mean we have to come back to the planning board when we do find a user and go through all of this in regard to that and everyone's presupposing that there's going to be a th000 trucks it's it's a 300,000 Plus warehouse it has to probably go for Cold Storage that's the only thing selling right now so I just want to jump around I want to answer Mr Citron so uh we are currently developing in vinand New Jersey 270,000 ft of coold storage so the city of violent wanted jobs for their people and wanted ratables because they were having the same difficulty that filbur has had they created a municipal Authority gave it a board of directors and gave it an executive director and they created 42 Lots averaging 20 30 Acres with air bouts every single developer all 42 and we're you know we were number 42 we all paid the exact same price to the authority $35,000 an acre we bought the last site there because nobody else wanted it because of the 33 Acres 11 of those Acres had Indian artifacts and wetlands and so all the local developers passed it and sat there for two years we came along and we purchased it we paid the 35,000 an acre even for the 11 acres we couldn't use and we developed it because we have some expertise with d we have expertise on historical artifacts and we use that and we spent a lot of money with geotechnical Engineers Architects historians to get this property now did we make some money on it absolutely and what the grievance is and all the other 41 uh developers did it but it turns out and I don't know this for a fact but the rumor is that the tax collector is upset and he's retiring and he wants to run for mayor against the mayor like I don't know violent politics to save my life and thankfully I've kind of forgot about fburg politics for quite a while um so yes have we been in the paper yeah I'm willing to tell you right now now I I don't think there's going to be anything of it other than some person felt hey there must be something wrong here they made a lot of money but they don't realize that we're still building the building and it will be done in the first quarter of 2025 a cold storage it will start with 80 jobs that are going to be paid from what I understand in the $50,000 range and go up to 120 jobs and that Authority was specifically designed not to make money on the land but to create jobs for people in vinet because they needed jobs down there don't forget we were an out District the 30 poest towns in New Jersey and you talk about pollution when I grew up here it was Engish all rant and all my neighbors and their fathers and my the uncles everybody worked at Engish all R they all had great jobs so you could eat off the street in Philipsburg back then but you want to talk about pollution compare that pollution to those warehouses up there who are paying taxes I don't see any pollution near that like when you had betham steel when we bought the betham steel property you want to talk about pollution now we don't have you know a bom steel anymore but we created over 2500 jobs there and I grew up in this town I'm not going to do anything to hurt it um but after trying almost 20 years there's not a lot I can do and I think Charlie was right and I I had a conversation when Robin some other people say I think P's missing the whole boat I mean we are building right now 540 apartment in East we're right across from the thir and Ferry Building 264 and we're about to start near to McDonald's another 270 and that town has worked with everyone um and when you go over to East you are invited in and to figure out how to do things I have no idea how we have not developed our downtown near the free bridge I give credit to the mayor they're just buying that red house finally and and I walked away from I had it under contract 68 months ago because it has 15 ft of contaminated fill and only the town is going to be able to get the grants needed to clean that up and if if they're successful and knock down that red house and clean it up and put a back entrance you could build 300 beautiful luxury apartments that are going to be nicer than e because you're going to be looking at the waterfall and the lighter bridge and you know time is a great restaurant over and they just open up but you can do the same thing in Philipsburg and there's so many other things uh I I talked to to my partner signer by the way I wasn't a senator when we went under contract on that property um you got to re you got to reverse the toll bridge you you got to change that you pay pay tolls um excuse me the opposite way that you have got to pay tolls coming into New Jersey in the morning you would get rid of all that traffic on South Main Street and I think Doug is working on it and they're the things I know Randy councilwoman are working on like I see this whole project with all the orange it's a misdirection okay Mr Stein who's you know the gatekeeper of the river I mean his offices across from the Amazon Burlington cuz I'm the redeveloper at next door to a million square ft smack on the river ours is not going to be anything like that you're not even going to be able to see this project and we're not going anywhere near Mercer Street um and we bought that property mcken it's not only going to help our traffic it's going to help the the pipe plants traffic and the issue of the of the trucks going the wrong direction well that's a police Enforcement issue in Center Street you can't have trucks on so you're not going to by schools and if a police officer has to sit there with a car then they're going to have to do that and you you can only take a right on M so the trucks are literally going to be in filbur for 1,400 ft um and I think a lot of it if we do cold storage which I'm hoping is probably what we can do a lot of that is railed um and we had a beautiful cold storage company that wanted to come in year and a half ago with their lawsuits and everything those jobs went away and it was they were telling me 250 jobs back then so you know we could sit here for another 20 years but it's the only thing I can do and maybe that's what they wanted just to we put a fence up and forget about it but the people that live down there with the homeless people with the drug issues in that Park you put a decent building next to that Park start to see people come down to the river park there hardly anyone there I mean I've been down there A lot of times and people are afraid to go down there and so you want to talk about you know cultural things and you want to talk about open space all four that I'm totally all for I've been involved in a lot of that um but you can't have a par that people are afraid to go to and I just think this is not the major issue of filbur the major issue of filbur which I know they're tackling is fix that Bridge Commission traffic develop there put a divider going into the free bridge so you kill all the Pennsylvania people coming for the cheap gas and don't create the traffic problem and there's so many things that could be done and I I think of football you know I think of this is this like a misdirection you know Easton used to be great at that against us Thanksgiving day it's like a misdirection it's not the core issue for Philipsburg and I will have to meet all the criteria not only for this town for the county for the D I mean it's just not going to let me go build a polluted polluted place and these trucks I just think it's it's not going to be what people think and you got millions of square feet in they all ran I do not see hundreds of trucks lined up and our property in Bethlehem is next to 10 million square ft over there and it floats I mean creates there's 6,000 jobs over there well paying jobs and that's what Philipsburg needs because there's no more inol rants there's no more Beth Steels there's there's no more of those big manufacturing companies our economy has changed the way people shop the way people purchase things it's all changed and you know it's nice when someone has a job and they can say well we don't want we don't want that kind kind of stuff in our town well maybe they have good jobs God bless them but maybe there are people in this town that could use good jobs jobs and we were working with Norwest capap to train Philipsburg residents to get their jobs first so it wasn't just like we're going to like just leave town in the middle of the night so um I know this um is an issue but like I said it was it was it was industrial before I had the grand scheme of doing residential and I just haven't been able to do it in 18 years I just I you know I pay 120125 $140,000 a year in taxes insurance and everything it's not something that I didn't try you know I probably have paid close to $3 million in taxes on that property to date um I paid 700,000 for sure we also agreed to redo the water line of Howard Street which doesn't even impact us but it's to help the residents of mercher Street have a loop so they have better pressure um so we're willing to work with the town but I think everyone's kind of jumping ahead as to what is expected and the whole excuse me the whole uh the Whole Thing Down South Jersey I mean you could look it up eventually you'll read about it we we paid what everybody else paid we we did all the bells and wles we went through all the hearings we did everything correctly and I think we're getting caught up in local politics so you know but you you could do some research and find out about that thank you hello my name is Amari poo last name p is and Peter UI Diaz and David O this is my first time doing any speaking at a meeting even though I've been to plenty throughout the war 100 in Mera counties uh seeing as both PRI and Citron mentioned certain things I'd like to comment on uh I actually wrote a letter to the editor of tap into Philipsburg that was published yesterday and it has to do with what we're talking about today it has to do with Warehouse bra all and potential conflicts of interest which simply can't be ignored and pushed to as side and referred to as local politics so I'm simply going to read what was published on August 15th political Pro reported an FBI investigation into two New Jersey Senators including our legislative district 23 senators duck steinhart the real estate deal under investigation involved public land that was then flipped for a whopping 700% profit the land is being used for I heard this phrase tonight a cold storage Warehouse similar to the many warehouses we see coming in throughout Warren County and the highlands and the Lehigh Valley locals may remember there is the jandal multi-million foot Warehouse application in White Township that was ultimately bought and protected by the state agriculture development committee after four years of protesting I wrote a letter to the editor about that as well now we see residents protesting similar uses of land here in Philipsburg and pacon Warehouse sprl over our Farmland people are afraid that it could threaten their property values you've heard time again how people are concerned about increased truck traffic noise harm to Wildlife environmental pollution and these are all valid concerns to have so whether legally purchased and developed or not I wonder who really benefits from the land being used for these warehouses that we keep seeing coming in all over one of the companies that flipped the property was doia Investments registered by go chairman steinhardt and he was Senator when the property was sold that was mentioned earlier as well he was Senator when the property was sold several of steinhart ball Partners including Michael kuchi uh he recently said last month that Resident concerns here are L is guided was also involved in flipping the land being investigated the parcel was sold to four llc's for 1.15 million and then they were sold for 8.4 million a 700% profit which to me is not small the NJ Department of Environmental Protection did have to come in and protect Native American artifacts found on the land despite all of the concerns mentioned the companies and individuals involved believe their deal was e ethical the director director of economic development for the vinand industrial commission commented that yes they made money but everything was done by the book the FBI investigation raises a suspicion of this even if the tees are crossed and the eyes are dotted there seem to be some clear conflicts of interest my question that I wrote Into the letter is was specific to steinhart but I want this just to be interpreted in the case of land use boards real estate development and politic and residents how can anyone operate as a legislator a chairman an attorney representing various land use boards a real estate developer and a warehouse industrialist how are those conflicts of interest ethical many suspect that these elected officials and their friends in business can speculate on land until a business deal comes along regardless of public interest I hope this is something you take into consideration if legal speculation is soft corruption regardless of if the FBI finds that they're guilty of anything or not I still think these conflicts of interest need to be considered thank [Applause] [Music] you anyone else [Music] hello uh thank you for having this meeting tonight James Bloom from East Pennsylvania uh Bar Street and as previous planning commissioner was on the East uh uh Planning Commission a lot of things I heard spoken about about East and its development and the jobs being uh generated there are because of some of the highrises that Mr pelli has has built and we have a a very good booming econ economy now I've been there for 40 years so I've seen uh the issues with uh with e as well as our sister city uh Philipsburg which we try to work with uh frequently um and as a planning uh commissioner following our comprehensive plan was always key to our our decision making and I hope this board uh takes that fully into consideration of the which which was read earlier here today um so you know the I think the jobs and the building issues and uh work building a highrise of Apartments here on that site would create an an enormous amount of construction work for the uh the fair people of New Jersey not to mention the tax base and whenever you have a number of residents that are going to be living there long term or even coming and going you then create a much more economic uh viability for your town and I I just bicycle through the town I bicycle and Hike a lot of places my wife and I come through Philipsburg quite often and and I see a main street that has so much potential to be uh so much more than it is your train uh is is part of that and it'll be going right past this Warehouse which is is a you know a a recreational issue you also have a a canoeing rental place which again is a recreational thing that's being impacted and we use the Del Canal on the Pennsylvania side quite often and I see a number of people from uh New Jersey also using that as a recreation source and I'm also surprised that we don't have one of our developers here tonight planning on building a hotel directly across from that uh uh that's been on our docket for a number of years now and that would greatly impact his hotel uh dreams here um in terms of river quality you know runoff and other issues become important there for fishing for boating and and those sorts of issues so um I I think the uh concerns about work and and tax bases the number of people living in a high-rise there could provide quite a bit of tax base as well so uh that's I hope as a sister city and a neighbor uh you take you know um our side of the East and which has been referenced here into consideration thank you for your time anyone [Music] else I'm closing public comment at this time go ahead Mr okay um thank you Mr chairman as the attorney for the land use board my job is to Simply advise the board on what the law is I'm either an opponent or a proponent of anything that's been said here tonight but I just want to educate again the board members and the public as to the role of the land use board the land use board is a board that has limited jurisdiction its jurisdiction is derived completely from the New Jersey New Jersey uh Municipal land and what it can and cannot do is confined to to that statute also under the New Jersey uh Redevelopment and Housing law when the Town Council uh wishes to uh refer something to the L use board the L use board must address it and I want to read this part of the statute because I think it's very important this is njs 40a 12 a-7e quote prior to the adoption of a Redevelopment plan or revision or amend theto the planning board that's us shall transmit to the governing body within 45 days after referral a report containing its recommendation concerning the Redevelopment plan this report shall include an identification of any provisions in the proposed Redevelopment plan which are inconsistent with the master plan and recommendations concerning these inconsistencies and any other matters as the board deems appropriate the governing body when considering the adoption of a Redevelopment plan or revision or Amendment thereof shall review the report of the planning board and may approve or disapprove or change any recommendation by a vote of majority of its full authorized membership as I said last time nobody on here to my knowledge is a professional engineer or professional planner so collectively the luse board has uh asked their professional engineer and planner to undertake this study on their behalf he has undertaken that study and he has made his opinions conclusions and recommendations that is now for the the landage board to deliberate upon and as members of the board you have four choices that I see one is you can table or adjourn this for further investigation you can ask Mr O'Brien to do other things you can conduct your investigation but you don't have to vote on it tonight you can table it number two you can approve it tonight as authored without any changes number three you can disapprove it as authored without any changes or number four you can approve it with your own recommendations and revisions that you would like those are your options the only option that I see you have a fiduciary obligation to the uh town or Philipsburg residents to carry out your job you know what your job is on this but you have a limited role so reminding the the public all the things that were said here for and against are all valid issues but they are also issues that are more appropriately in my view raised at the Redevelopment Authority which in this town is the Town Council there is not a site plan here there is just a question that was asked of the Town Council of the lub is this proposed change that the Town Council is considering can consistent or inconsistent with master plan and the Zone ordinances and that's all that you're going to vote on and again you have and then it goes however we vote however they vote excuse me I'm not wait however they vote it goes to the governing body and the governing body can ignore it throw it in the garbage or they could do whatever they wish with it but we're following here you're following the statutory law you're required to do this and that's what you've done so those are your four options Mr chairman table for further investigation approve in its current format disapprove in its current format or approve with any recommendations or amendments thank you thank you okay does anybody have any questions or comments or sorry public comments closed yes anybody have any questions comments I have a comment yes we've sat here and listen to a lot of people talking and U I've I've went to school 60 years ago down there and a lot of people here don't live in this town but they have their opinion and we listen to lot of people just came here and haven't lived here 60 70 years when I was going to school downtown there was my uncle's Oil Business was back there there was there was Chopper back there there was General Supply back there there was tiping wood there was a railroad company there was more truck traffic than you're ever going to see coming out there there was an S&P that had 65 trucks parked back there there was a junkyard that Iron and Metal was going in and out of there every single day so I guess you're going to know how I'm voting I'm I'm I want to see some jobs I pay taxes in this town I looked out there and there a lot of people out there don't pay taxes in this town a lot of people don't worry about what's going up and down South Main Street that people aren't working that maybe want a job can happen y so Mr chairman let's call for a vote okay thank you anyone else okay do I have a motion I make a motion what what's your motion to accept or propose the consistency for the court okay I have a second second than okay are there any further comments before we take a vote I would like to state that I will be voting for this because the development of this land which has been vacant for 60 years is needed in this town it complements the other side of the Howard Street no matter how much we wanted back in 2013 to try and make it residential it hasn't worked in the past 11 years 12 years it will provide economic stimulus and jobs for the town and as Mr bruchi said will provide the cleanup of that property cra brok just to clarify the motion is to adopt the report has written without any modifications correct and second it thank you roll mranch yes Mr rman yes Mr Penrose yes Mr turnball yes Mr Mo yes Council councilwoman PA you don't you don't ask you don't ask accus um Vice chairman Swit yes and chairman Duppy yes seven [Music] yeses okay now open com excuse us meeting's not over yet [Music] set by fairw Heights pH New Jersey um two questions um chairman Duffy one is um I'm curious in past um hearings and votes for the warehouse uh you recused yourself and you didn't recuse yourself in uh this I recused myself on a site plan I have this is not a site plan this is a consistency report okay so um and the second um um the second question I have uh chairman Dy is uh I wonder if uh any of the members of the land board that uh voted that this is consistent would be willing to make a statement to the residents of the flats where the trucks are going to be increasing and traveling through uh in regards if they would make a statement as to why they think that's a good idea well well excuse me but I made my statement the vice chair made their statement those are the statements that have been made I was just asking I was wondering if I could ask they've been made so so you're saying public record hold on second uh let me try and find a Middle Road here your question is appropriate you're allowed to ask it and each you heard he's allowed to say no correct and anybody here they can speak if they choose to or they don't have to okay so they can speak if they they can if they choose it's an individual uh decision they have no obligation to but they are also allow okay what is it that you're asking specifically address uh Mr Branch what I'm asking is if any of the members of the land use board that voted that this is consistent and we will positively move this forward to the council have any comments they would like to make to the residents of Cedar alley Mercer Street Cherry alley South Main where trucks are going to be passing I'm not even mentioning the trucks that will illegally be using Center Street and and continuing to use Center Street over uh and the other other roads throughout fellsburg uh do you have any comments you would like to make regarding the increased truck traffic that we're going to have you don't know that for the residents you don't know that no everybody else be quiet can I speak you can you can if you wish to but you don't have to understood where I live at trucks accidentally make turns and come up my road as well and it annoys the it annoys me but I think what annoys me the most from what I've heard is the facts they that disregard for the fact that you know literally there needs to be something developed there I haven't heard anything from anyone giving a perspective of what should be developed there that can be it sounds like from whatever what I've heard and I'm new to this it sounds like from what I've heard it's going to take Monumental effort to turn it into a residential area I would love that I would absolutely love that but it would not limit TR traffic it wouldn't limit traffic larger traffic yeah trucks are large but that's it it it still be cars there and people coming there even if even if you developed a uh an outdoor space there still going to be traffic people are going to potentially get hurt in traffic it's the nature of the Beast right so for me it's it's it's really difficult like I'm listening to this I'm really trying to put this together and I'm trying to make sure I make the right decision because it does affect me and my family I have an autistic son and you know this I don't want him to venture out into traffic especially you know if if it's disregarded you know it yourself that the police need to be more involved with making sure that the traffic is I think someone had mentioned earlier about you know monitoring uh the police need to be in these places to make sure that these things happen that's a whole another issue that's not this issue that's a whole different issue because even without the trucks here people still getting into accidents still traffic up and down these goddam on roads I thought that was going to be a problem for me this truck traffic truck traffic and then it just didn't turn into that it turned into something else it turned into like trying to save it for the Wildlife and I'm confused I'm really really confused because I think that if something goes there as long as it takes care of the septics and all of these other things I I I'm just confused at what your what Your what your real end game is cuz I don't think I hear it all right I don't want this to go too far a foul everybody has to come back to what I said you the board has a limited jurisdiction I don't think your question is fair because the question wasn't please explain why you did you voted that this uh is consistent with the master plan and I don't think your answer was fair either because you didn't talk about that about so hold on hold on he answer the question I asked okay I but I don't think it was appropriate now this board already voted they voted that this plan they're recommending this plan this a consistency report go to the council you're asking why he voted that way I don't think he answered it but you know I think it's time to move on no chairman well or attorney Willam I wasn't asking why he voted I was asking if they had anything to say and and Mr Branch I thank you from the bottom of my heart for responding you are the first public official that has well maybe a second I think there was one on the council but the uh you had the courage to answer the question and provide information for the public on your thoughts I thank you from the bottom of my heart you're welcome um so real quickly um there's varying opinions in the orange shirts and uh most of the orange shirts would like to see the property developed as would most of the people who live on Mercer Street but they want to see it developed in the way that the master plan indicates right uh Riverside residential Riverside commercial or or Heritage um and it would like it be to be developed in a way that complement as per the master plan plan uses those exact words complements the existing residential area um but uh but I do thank you for your comments thank you very much guess that's it anybody El thank you have a good night anyone else I'm closing public comment any need for executive session no no need for executive session anything for the good the board John it's good to have you back thanks it's good to be back thank you for everybody for your concern and well app I hear a motion for [Music] adjournment second all those in favor say