Franklin Township Land Use Board sets Aug. 26 special meeting to continue hearing on proposed 817,000-square-foot warehouse

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, N.J. (Warren County) — The Franklin Township Land Use Board will hold a special meeting Wednesday, Aug. 26, to continue testimony and the public hearing on a proposed warehouse at 380 Bloomsbury Road.

The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Franklin Township Elementary School, 52 Asbury Broadway Road. Formal action may be taken.

The application by 380 Bloomsbury Road LLC seeks preliminary major site plan approval for a warehouse on the property. According to Land Use Board meeting minutes from April, the property is in the township’s industrial zone, where a warehouse is a permitted use, and the applicant initially indicated no variances were being requested.

Plans presented to the board call for an approximately 817,068-square-foot warehouse on a 113-acre property that is currently actively farmed. The proposal includes about 8,000 square feet of office space on each side of the building.

During previous testimony, a representative for the applicant said the facility would be used for home furnishing products distributed throughout the Northeast and would be owner-occupied rather than leased or rented. The representative testified that the facility was expected to have about 50 employees and generally operate one shift, with extended hours possible during peak periods.

The representative estimated the facility could receive six to eight incoming containers and have four to six outgoing per day. Testimony also indicated trucks would use Route 78 and that there would be no overnight deliveries.

The site plan presented in April included 293 parking spaces, 10 accessible spaces and three electric-vehicle spaces, along with an on-site sewage system, wells for domestic water and fire suppression, and a proposed 175,000-gallon water tank for fire suppression. The applicant also proposed 312 trees and 831 shrubs as part of the site’s landscaping.

Truck traffic was among the issues discussed during the previous hearing. Board members raised concerns about preventing trucks from traveling toward Asbury Road, and the applicant’s engineer said the driveway could be redesigned with engineering controls to prevent trucks from making a left turn.

The board also voted during the April hearing to obtain an independent traffic professional to assist in its review of the application, with the cost to be paid by the applicant.

The Skylands Preservation Alliance is encouraging residents to attend Wednesday’s hearing. In a social media post, the organization referred to the proposal as Yaraghi Realty’s plan to build the warehouse and said it would destroy the 112-acre farm at 380 Bloomsbury Road. The group urged residents to attend the hearing and “protect what makes our community beautiful.”

The agenda states the meeting will automatically adjourn at 10 p.m.