Landscaping biz OK'd amid storage concerns
Nearby residents air worries about chemicals, traffic
BY MARLENE CANTY
Staff Writer

OLD BRIDGE - A single-family home on Morristown Road will be demolished to make way for an office and warehouse that will house a landscaping business.

The proposal from Joseph and Cathy Vaccarella was unanimously approved by the Planning Board Oct. 3.

The Vaccarellas told the board that their intended use for the 4.7-acre property does not involve long-term storage of chemicals or pesticides used as part of their business, and that their construction design would not include on-site parking of tractor-trailer trucks. The office and warehouse would be a one-story building comprising 7,880 square feet.

Vaccarella, a landscaping contractor in Aberdeen for 34 years, said he wants to relocate because he would rather own property than continue to rent the Aberdeen site.

The new site is located at 524 Morristown Road adjacent to Brighton Drive and across from Disbrow Road. The SD-3 zone governing the property makes it eligible for residential or commercial uses.

Residents voiced a number of concerns during the meeting, including the number of on-site employees, whether the business would store mulch and other landscaping materials, what the facade of the building would look like, and what would happen to waste and runoff materials after equipment such as blowers, backhoes, trimmers, weed-wackers and other items are cleaned.

But the overwhelming concern expressed during the public segment was regarding the on-site storage of pesticides and chemical fertilizers.

"We use about 200 [cubic] yards of pesticides per year," Vaccarella said, "but we would stockpile no more than 50 to 75 [cubic] yards of pesticides on the site."

The company may store as much as 300 cubic yards of mulch in the warehouse, he said.

Planning Board Chairman Larry Redmond expressed concerns over whether mulch piles could present a fire hazard, and board member Gerard Haran and Township Planner Sam Rizzo asked specific questions about security measures Vaccarella had in place for the storage of equipment, fertilizer and other materials.

"Gasoline, fertilizer and pesticides all stored together, this scares me," Haran said. "Can you find a way of storing them in separate areas?"

Vaccarella responded that storing the materials 60 feet apart should dispel concerns about their proximity, but board members said they intended to bring the matter before the township's fire marshal.

Residents from the nearby Cheesequake Village retirement community were even more vociferous in their concerns about the use and storage of chemicals.

"You are putting a company that stores chemicals, oil and pesticides into our community," said Elizabeth Wulster, one of the residents who spoke during the public portion of the meeting. "Any leak through the stone or gravel on the property gets into the stream and into our park.

"Why are you not protecting us?" Wulster asked, turning to the board members.

Wulster said residents' privacy and health are already threatened by over-development.

"Please consider the danger of these chemicals seeping into the soil," she said.

Another resident, Mary Ann Fishler, told Vaccarella the property was an inappropriate choice for the business.

"Half the property is forested. Because of chemicals [related to the business] it's a tinderbox," she said.

Other residents expressed concerns about lighting, noise at all hours due to employees coming and going, and traffic concerns because of what they described as the need for an acceleration and deceleration lane for vehicles entering and exiting the property.

Vaccarella countered by saying that residents who care for their properties put more fertilizer on their lawns than he would have on his property.

Board member Jim Collender said that after consideration of issues such as traffic and storage safety, he felt Vaccarella's application would be a good use of the property.

Township Engineer James Cleary addressed traffic concerns, mentioning that the roadway comes under the jurisdiction of Middlesex County.

Vaccarella's attorney, Fred C. Kalma, told the residents present that his client was willing to discuss the issues with a spirit of compromise, but added, "... the only compromise I've heard is 'We don't want you on this site.' "

After pointing out that the applicant had testified that the amount of chemicals on the site would be minimal, Redmond put the matter to a vote, which resulted in the preliminary and final major site plan approval.