GLOUCESTER COUNTY, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — Officials in Harrison Township are set to vote Thursday night on a proposal to build a massive warehouse space on an old farm in Mullica Hill. Residents are banding together to try and block it.
“It’s not something we need. It’s not something we want, and we want our officials to listen to us,” said Adam Pennypacker, president of the Casella Farms Homeowners Association.
Filed with the township's Joint Land Use Board, a plan from WH Development out of North Jersey calls for a complex of four buildings, totaling 2.1 million square feet of space, and 1,400 parking spaces, along Route 322.
Pennypacker says he and more than a thousand other residents want to stop this in its tracks for a number of reasons, including more traffic, more noise and no added benefits.
“It’s a huge concern for our neighborhood on a ton of levels. There’s a day care that directly abuts this warehouse a little bit farther down from our development. Pollution, you know — all these trucks … 1,900 trips a day,” he said.
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“These cars have nowhere to go besides finding side streets to travel through. One of those is through the heart of our neighborhood. Our kids ride their bikes in the street. It’s a very tight-knit community. Every house in this community has at least two kids in it.”
Pennypacker says this project — known as the Kings Landing Redevelopment Plan — has apparently been in the works for two years. Neighbors say they just found out about it a few weeks ago.
“We’re fighting warehouses in New Jersey. New Jersey is becoming the warehouse state,” he said. “Unfortunately, this fight has finally been brought to our town.”
Pennypacker is very disappointed with the lack of communication from Harrison Township officials.
“They created the situation for this to happen. We had zoning in place that would have restricted this warehouse from being here.”
So far, more than 1,100 people have signed an online petition to stop the project. Pennypacker wants as many people as possible to show up to the township planning board vote on Thursday to voice their concerns.
Harrison Township officials and WH Development have not responded to a request for comment.