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Discussion of trucks’ use of overpass dominates Manalapan Planning Board hearing

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MANALAPAN – Large trucks using an overpass near the Village Grande adult community to access Route 33 west was the primary topic of the Manalapan Planning Board’s Sept. 24 meeting when a hearing on the proposed Manalapan Logistics Center continued.

Countryside Developers Inc. is proposing to build two warehouses on an 86-acre property on Route 33 just east of Pegasus Boulevard. The warehouses would be 294,560 square feet and 302,250 square feet in size.

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Warehouses are a permitted use in Manalapan’s Special Economic Development zone, according to previous testimony.

The warehouses are proposed for a site approximately across from the Four Seasons at Manalapan adult community. Pegasus Boulevard is an entrance to and an exit from Four Seasons.

The rear of the development tract is separated by a natural buffer from a residential development that includes Gramercy Lane and Astor Drive.

Countryside Developers is seeking preliminary and final major site plan approval for the Manalapan Logistics Center from the Planning Board.

Attorneys who represent parties objecting to the warehouses had an opportunity to cross-examine traffic engineer John Rea, who had previously testified on behalf of the applicant.

Attorney Ron Gasiorowski, who represents residents of Astor Drive, which is behind the proposed development site, and attorney Michael Lipari, who represents the Village Grande Neighborhood Association, questioned Rea.

Rea made several points during his give-and-take with the two attorneys:

• He said the New Jersey Department of Transportation, which has jurisdiction on Route 33, will not permit the developer to construct a traffic signal and a median cut on Route 33 at the entrance/exit to the warehouse site;

• He said the intersection of the overpass above the Route 33 bypass will be improved at the point it meets Business Route 33 near the Village Grande adult community;

• He said the geometry at a planned new traffic light on Route 33 at an entrance to the approved Manalapan Crossing commercial development will not permit trucks that leave the Manalapan Logistics Center heading east on Route 33 to make a U-turn to head west on the highway toward the New Jersey Turnpike.

Rea said approximately 75% of the trucks that leave the two warehouses will want to head west on Route 33 toward the New Jersey Turnpike. To do that, the trucks will have to travel east on Route 33 for about 1.5 miles and take the overpass that is just east of Sweetmans Lane.

The trucks will take the overpass to the point where it meets the two-lane Business Route 33, turn left, go past the entrance to the Village Grande community (Yates Road) and merge onto Route 33 (a divided highway) approximately in front of the Peking Pavilion restaurant.

Rea said that during a peak hour at the Manalapan Logistics Center, there will be 16 trips in and 16 trips out, and that of the 16 outbound trips, about 12 trips would require the use of the Route 33 overpass.

The number of trucks passing Yates Road and the proximity of the trucks to their homes are the primary concerns of the residents of the Village Grande. There is a children’s daycare facility on Business Route 33, across from Yates Road.

All of those details, as well as information that the developer has not leased space in the proposed warehouses to any tenants at this time, were discussed by Rea under questioning from Lipari and Gasiorowski.

Gasiorowski raised the question as to whether the proposed warehouses are or could be considered distribution centers; the issue was not technically defined or discussed in depth and was not resolved.

Residents had a chance to ask questions after Gasiorowski and Lipari concluded their discussions with Rea.

Anne Mazzara, who owns two properties on Business Route 33 near where the overpass meets the two-lane highway, said, “Pristine Route 33 will turn into Route 9” as a result of  the number of trucks coming from the warehouses and across the overpass.

Lori Polhamus, who lives behind the development site, posed questions about sound that would come from the property to Norm Dotti, an acoustic engineer who had testified on behalf of the applicant. Polhamus asked questions about sound that would be generated during a third shift at the warehouses, i.e., midnight to 8 a.m.

James Horne, who lives behind the development site, expressed concern that “people can leave that (warehouse) complex and walk right into our backyards. What kind of security will we have? This is not a safe thing this town should be having here.”

Attorney Salvatore Alfieri, who represents the applicant, said a 6-foot-tall solid fence would be placed at the rear of the property to separate the development site from the homes on the southern border.

Pat Sammarco, a resident of the Village Grande, asked questions about trucks turning from the highway overpass onto Business Route 33 and said, “My concern is a truck coming down an embankment into my home.”

Eileen Volpe, a resident of the Village Grande, asked how emergency vehicles would reach the adult community and the children’s daycare facility if a truck has an accident at the overpass, overturns and blocks Business Route 33.

“Business Route 33 is a narrow road. This is going to be a nightmare,” Volpe said.

The Manalapan Logistics Center application is scheduled to continue during the Planning Board’s Oct. 8 meeting. Instructions that describe how to attend the virtual meeting are posted on Manalapan’s municipal website.

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