Board approves plan for 644,000-square-foot warehouse on site of former Nabisco factory in Fair Lawn, New Jersey
FAIR LAWN, N.J. -- The fate of the old Nabisco factory in Fair Lawn, New Jersey had been in question ever since plans to implode it were scrapped in May.
Monday night, residents got one last chance to voice their opinions at a public meeting on the proposed 644,000-square-foot warehouse to go in its place.
The Nabisco plant closed more than two years ago and eventually the building along Route 208 will be gone too, but many who took the mic raised environmental concerns.
"Community impact and also long term result of cleaning up a toxic site so that it doesn't continue to impact other residents to rush a redevelopment," said Caitlin O'Rourke, of Tenafly.
Residents have been vocal about possible contaminants in the building.
Another sticking point - traffic in and out of the site.
"We're gonna wind up having a huge amount of traffic," said William Husking, of Glen Rock. "I'm concerned how they're going to deal with that."
The board engineer outlined two separate traffic studies that yielded similar results.
"The proposed warehouse building will not create any specific traffic impacts as compared to the industrial bakery facility on site," said the study by Langan Engineering and Environmental Services, Inc.
Union representatives for construction workers pledged support as it would bring back jobs.
"During the course of the project, it's gonna probably put at least 300 construction workers to work," said Enzo Scordo, with Bergen County Building Trades.
But the plea from several residents was for more time and research before moving forward.
"We need to take a pause on this site so we can be taken care of as a community. Multiple communities are involved in this," said Pam Coles, of Fair Lawn.
The board voted to approve the plan late Monday night.
