Proposed warehouses in Mullica Hill voted down at meeting
MULLICA HILL, N.J. (CBS) -- Mullica Hill residents who oppose a proposed warehouse being built on farmland packed a zoning board meeting Thursday. They worry about what a warehouse of its size will do to noise, traffic, property values and the quality of their lives.
For more than three hours Thursday night, angry, frustrated and concerned Mullica Hill residents one by one stepped up to the microphone Harrison Township Joint Land Use Board hear why they object to building four warehouses totaling more than 2 million square feet in their neighborhood.
The meeting began with a request from the board's chairperson that all signs be removed, otherwise, police would escort residents with signs outside.
Cooler heads ultimately prevailed and signholders agreed to lower their signs, but that request and not permitting residents who spoke at a prior meeting to speak made for a contentious atmosphere.
The issue in Mullica Hill is one several other towns in South Jersey are also facing as developers look for land near highways.
Residents, however, young and old, say not here.
Stephanie Wallen-Fort's daycare center is next to the proposed development.
"I feel joy," Wallen-Fort said about the vote. "I feel very excited that it isn't this thing weighing on me; this worry that I've had for a long time."
The meeting ended with the board voting down the proposal.
The developers of the proposed project, Russo Development, told CBS Philadelphia in an emailed statement, "We are disappointed that the Harrison JLUB acted arbitrarily in failing to administer the applicable zoning of the property and approve our application which is fully compliant with zoning and the Redevelopment Plan governing the property. As property owners in the Township, we fully intend to pursue our vested rights to redevelop the property for this appropriate and expressly permitted use."
