PARSIPPANY — A plan to build a warehouse off heavily traveled Parsippany Road is still meeting strong public opposition, as the developer’s application continues to be heard by the town planning board.
Following a marathon 2½-hour session on Monday, the board will resume its hearing on the application − and public comment − at its next meeting on July 22.
Property owner Lanidex LLC is seeking a permit to build a warehouse with office space on the lots at 20 and 30 Lanidex Plaza, currently home to a vacant office building.
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But questions arose Monday about increased tractor-trailer traffic on Parsippany Road, where a massive housing development is also under construction. Residents also cited environmental concerns as well as the added risks for students walking to and from Eastlake Elementary School, which borders the Lanidex properties.
“I can’t think of a worse place to put a warehouse,” said Wendy Altschul, who lives in Lake Parsippany. “So close to a school? Most of Parsippany Road is two lanes.”
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She said she was also “very concerned” about pollution, noting the neighborhood is already sandwiched between several major highways.
“We’re already trapped by Route 80, Route 46, Route 287 and Route 10,” Altschul said. “The effect of air pollution is in this neighborhood. I’ve never seen so many kids with asthma. The diesel fuel will only add to the air pollution here.”
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The three-story, 60,000-square-foot building currently on the site, which has been unoccupied for years, sits across Parsippany Road from the 626-unit PARQ housing development, which opened for its first occupants last month. That project is replacing seven demolished buildings that were once part of the original Lanidex office park.
Across from that project, township officials saw a good potential fit for a warehouse and, anticipating an applicant, the council voted last July to rezone the Lanidex West lots for warehousing and fulfillment operations.
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Mayor James Barberio said last year that one of two outcomes were likely for the property, either “warehouses or multifamily housing.”
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“We have way too many vacant office and antiquated office buildings in Parsippany,” Barberio said at the time. “These obsolete buildings are underutilized and cost our taxpayers money. Also, they create an unattractive nuisance. Bad things happen when buildings go vacant and properties are unsupervised.”
Repurposing the property could generate as much as $100,000 per year in property tax revenue, Barberio said last year.
But residents showed up in force on Monday to oppose the application.
“I have three children who go to Eastlake,” said Monica Barroqueiro, who lives nearby on Northfield Road. “My kids walk to school and there’s only one crossing guard. With tractor-trailers I would not allow them to ride their bikes or walk on Parsippany Road. You’re bringing something urban into a suburban area. Kids come first.”
“It’s horrible what you are doing,” Altschul added.
Environmentalist, developer’s attorney disagree
Elliot Ruga, policy director for the New Jersey Highlands Coalition, an environmental group, questioned whether the project conformed to the directives of the Highlands Council, a state agency that stewards drinking water for about 4 million North Jersey residents.
Parsippany, however, has not yet committed to adopting the Highlands Council land-use ordinance, which restricts development in the region.
Attorney John Iglesino, who represents the applicants for this and several other redevelopment projects in town, said he has met with representatives of the Highlands Council and “they had no objection” to the warehouse application.
“We don’t know that,” Ruga said.
“I was there,” Inglesino responded.
Encroaching on historic property
Another objection was raised by Julia Peterson who lives on an historic property in the neighborhood. The Livingston Benedict House is on the National Register of Historic Sites and served as a home to New Jersey’s first elected governor, William Livingston. The property contains historic houses, barns and an outhouse.
“Economic development is obviously an important goal, but not at the expense of neighborhood consistency,” Peterson continued. “Parsippany has a history of overdeveloping whatever is the current plan reported to help the tax base. First, garden apartments, then office buildings. Now, warehouses.”
Lanidex purchased the 5.67-acre property in 2019 for $4.7 million, including the single building at 20 Lanidex Plaza West, public tax records show. A building planned for the second lot on the combined properties was never built.
At Monday’s meeting, Barberio, who sits on the planning board, revisited what he sees as the town’s limited options, given the state-enforced obligation for New Jersey towns to provide affordable housing. That mandate often requires municipalities to approve what Berberio prefers to call “high-density housing.”
“I’d rather have a warehouse instead of affordable housing because the snowball starts then,” Barberio said. “The schools will get overcrowded. Maybe not one affordable housing unit, but when you get to 4,000 to 5,000 units, it’s going to bring a lot of school-age children.”
William Westhoven is a local reporter for DailyRecord.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com
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This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Parsippany warehouse plan panned at public hearing: ‘It’s horrible’
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