5-Story Self-Storage Building Approved To Build On Route 206 In Somerville

SOMERVILLE, NJ — A proposed five-story self-storage facility on Route 206 was approved in Somerville after three hearings that drew extended debate over flooding, neighborhood impact and the size of the proposed building.

The Zoning Board of Adjustment approved the application by NAN Realty Holdings LLC to build the 85,740-square-foot building at 79 Route 206 on the Somerville and Raritan border.

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It will be located across from the Raritan Mall where the now-demolished Liberty Diner once sat, next to the Dunkin' drive-thru that is being constructed.

At the meeting, Jason Tuvel, attorney for NAN Realty, addressed the board's concerns about first-floor storage units in the floodplain, modifying a security gate and increasing plantings along the property buffer.

"We raised that entire area out of the flood 3 feet. So none of the storage units now are in the floodplain," said Tuval.

He also said exterior doors on the back of the first-floor units were removed, making those units inaccessible from outside.

The applicant also testified that the gated access was moved farther into the site to improve circulation, added evergreen buffering near the Dunkin' property and residential edge, and reduced the lighting temperature from 5,000 Kelvin to 3,500 Kelvin.

Public comment focused heavily on the scale of the proposal.

Mike Prothero of Washington Place told the board, "This building is just really big to be right next to a neighborhood."

Another speaker, who said he had been volunteering at the historic Wallace House during its restoration, told the board the southwest corner of that property is within roughly 500 to 700 feet of the project site.

"This application, in my opinion, is greatly detrimental to Somerville and to the quality of life of the neighborhood," he said.

Board members were split in their reasoning, though a majority supported the proposal.

Board member Rich O'Neill said the property's current condition "is an embarrassment" and called the storage use "a quiet use."

Another said Somerville needs ratables and described the proposal as less intensive than some uses otherwise permitted there.

Two members voted no.

One said, "I think it's too big. Height too big, too massive."

Another said he could not support the application without a rendering showing what the building would look like from the nearby neighborhood and Wallace House.

The board approved the application with a five-to-two vote.

NAN Realty Holdings has two more pending applications for self- storage buildings in nearby Bridgewater and Hillsborough.

A four-story self-storage facility is being proposed off Milltown Road in Bridgewater. Read More: Redesigned Self-Storage Plan Draws Fresh Debate Over Design, Size In Bridgewater

A three-story, 710-unit self-storage facility is being proposed to be built off Route 206 in Hillsborough. Read More: 3-Story, 710-Unit Self Storage Facility Proposed On Route 206 In Hillsborough

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