Hillsborough Rejects Warehouse Proposed For Weston Road

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — The Hillsborough Planning Board unanimously rejected a proposal to build a 130,418-square-foot warehouse on Weston Road across from the 55+ community, Hearthstone of Hillsborough.

The Board voted at its Jan. 9 meeting following two-and-a-half years of hearings and testimony.

"There are three focal areas that honestly give me pause to the underlying application. And the three areas are: property access issues, master plan and warehouse use, and the technical issues revealed during this process," said Mayor John Ciccarelli at the meeting.

Additionally, the Board had an issue with the project's intended tenant Miracle Brands backing out. This changed the application to a "spec" plan.

"We no longer have a tenant and are addressing a spec building," said Ciccarelli. "I'm confident that I can make an informed decision and hereby make a motion to deny this application as presented."

Committeeman Shawn Lipani echoed Ciccarelli's concerns.

"What we are charged with here is to make sure it meets our scope of what we feel is good planning for Hillsborough, what is good for the residents, and also what is good for the property owner," said Lipani. "The vision of the Township is preserved to the best of our ability and the project fits the scope and intents of what we envision in the master plan for what these zones are for. And in my opinion, this building doesn’t meet that scope for a lot of the same reasons the Mayor suggested."

Planning Board Chairmen Carl Suraci also shared concerns over the lack of tenant being named to the property.

"We don't do spec warehousing and all because we want to know what we're going to get. Obviously, now we don't have a tenant," said Suraci.

The Board ultimately denied the application.

The Planning Board previously also denied an application in September 2024 proposing to build a 132,750-square-foot warehouse at 279 Homestead Road. Read More: Hillsborough Denies Warehouse Proposed For Homestead Road

The Board's next meeting will be held on Jan. 23.

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