Residents Express Concerns About Proposed Concrete Batch Plant

Testimony continued Thursday evening in front of the South Brunswick Zoning Board of Adjustments for a proposed concrete batch plant and oil storage warehouse on Fresh Ponds Road. The application from CJ & M Associates of South Brunswick calls for a concrete batch plant and a 23,323-square-foot warehouse with a storage tank for packaging and distribution of commercial oil products at 46 Fresh Ponds Road. 

The application has been carried and continued several times since its introduction in September, 2010. Residents of the surrounding area continued to raise their concerns during the public portion of the hearing last night.

The proposal calls for the plant to operate from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays, with projections that could bring up to 200 heavy truck trips to and from the concrete plant on a daily basis.

"At what point will our kids be awake when they don't hear the sounds of trucks backing up?" asked Fresh Ponds Road resident Nicolette Thorne.

The plant is proposed for the location of the former Weldon Asphalt site, which is located in an area zoned rural residential. The current asphalt plant was built in 1965, however no upgrades are planned for the site since it meets all state regulations, according to CJ & M testimony.

Residents also expressed concern about trucks operating on the roadway at the same time that school buses will be conducting pickups and dropoffs of children. CJ & M testimony stated that traffic improvements to the roadway would mitigate the issue and that there hasn't been an impact in the last 20 years from trucks headed to the asphalt plant, which has not operated in two years, according to witness testimony.

Concerns were also raised about the noise the plant would generate, even with sound barriers that the applicant plans to install.

"Imagine sitting around the dinner table with your kids talking about your day and all you hear is BEEP-BEEP-BEEP," said Fresh Ponds Road resident Michelle Phillips. 

The lot is also surrounded on three sides by Pigeon Swamp State Park, which is the headwaters of the Lawrence Brook, a drinking water source for New Brunswick, Milltown, and Franklin,

In addition, residents expressed concern about fire suppression on the exterior of the site and the potential for environmental hazards with the transporting and storage of oil and other pollutant fluids on top of an aquifer. 

CJ & M testimony stated that the company has spent over $1 million to address various concerns by residents to mitigate environmental and noise issues with the site.

Despite the promise of establishing noise barriers, testimony stated that trucks idling as they wait to turn on Fresh Ponds Road would generate up to 65 decibels, which residents stated would ruin the tranquility of the rural area.

"This will devalue my property and make it more difficult to sell," Phillips said during the hearing. "There are places in South Brunswick where warehouses stand empty and you want to build another.

"You wouldn't want this in your backyard, and I don't want it in mine."

The application is expected to return to the zoning board on Sept. 15, at which point a final vote on the application is expected.