Warehouse To 'Drastically Increase' Water Runoff, Says Hillsborough Neighbors' Engineer

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — The soggy saga over a proposed application to build a 107,366 square foot warehouse in Hillsborough continues. A stormwater engineer hired by neighboring Hillsborough residents spoke about the possible impacts of the project at the April 14 Hillsborough Planning Board meeting.

"The development process here, the removal of the vegetation, the impervious surface that is going to be created is unequivocally going to drastically increase the amount, the volume of runoff this site generates," said Clay Emerson of Princeton Hydro.

The application by Harvard Way JMJ4, LLC (Redcom / SAI) located at the end of Harvard Way off Route 206, along with the warehouse building is looking to construct a cul-de-sac along with up to 42 parking spaces and 16 loading spaces. The warehouse is roughly the size of 2.3 acres and the entire project would require 421 trees to be cut down. Read More: Controversial Warehouse Raises Flooding Concerns In Hillsborough

Emerson submitted a 40-page report to the township after he was hired by a group of neighbors on Johanson Avenue, who are opposed to the project due to flooding concerns. Those same neighbors were flooded during Tropical Storm Ida.

Emerson's report contradicts the applicant's engineer's report that claimed flooding would lessen with the addition of a proposed drainage system.

Emerson said he found that the amount of runoff the site is going to generate and discharge is 2.6 times what it is under the existing condition or almost a factor of 3.

Overall, Emerson's report claimed the development does not comply with the State stormwater rules and "will further exacerbate flooding in the adjacent areas."

"Thou shall not flood thy neighbor. This is what is in the rules to protect people from the impacts of development. We all live in homes, drive cars on pavement but we want to do that and develop in a way that doesn’t harm people downstream. Because we all live ultimately downstream from someone," said Emerson.

The meeting lasted about three hours and Emerson's testimony will continue at the Hillsborough Township Planning Board meeting on June 9 at 7:30 p.m., in the Courtroom of the Municipal Complex, The Peter J. Biondi Building, 379 S Branch Rd.

Watch the April 14 Planning Board meeting below:

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