Redevelopment study draws fire from local businesses Owners say report does not treat local business community fairly BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer Ed Liberston, who owns the Building Supply Co. on New Brunswick Avenue in Hopelawn, said he and other business owners have put their blood, sweat and tears into their businesses and should be taken out as a designated area for Woodbridge Township's redevelopment study. "I have owned my business for 40 years," he said. "The information about my business in the study is totally unfair and biased." Liberston along with a dozen or so business owners appeared before the Planning Board on Feb. 20 to voice their opposition against their properties being named in the study. The Planning Board ultimately voted unanimously in favor of the Hopelawn North Redevelopment study, but excluded two parcels that the planning firm recommended on Feb. 20. The two parcels of land included Liberston's property and Neelkamal Realty Inc.'s property at 156 New Brunswick Ave., which is the former Woodbridge Pediatrics site. Susan S. Gruel, principal in the New Brunswick planning firm Heyer, Gruel & Associates, presented her firm's findings for the area to be designated as a redevelopment area. The study concluded that the Building Supply Co., 144 New Brunswick Ave., should be designated as a redevelopment area due to the D criteria of the Local Redevelopment and Housing Law, which has eight criteria to determine whether an area should be designated as a redevelopment area. D criteria states that areas with building or improvements, which by reason of dilapidation, obsolescence, overcrowding, faulty arrangement or design, lack of ventilation, light and sanitary facilities, excessive land coverage, deleterious land use or obsolete layout, or any combination of these other factors, are detrimental to the safety, health, morals or welfare of the community. Gruel in her findings cited that while on a site visit, she observed that most of the rear yard of the Building Supply Company was covered with loose piles of lumber, other building supplies and heavy equipment. The study also cited that between the periods of 2002 and 2006, police reports have indicated that seven motor vehicle accidents occurred there, including two with injuries and one hit-and-run. "My business did not cause these accidents," said Liberston in response to the police reports. "Speed is a problem on New Brunswick Avenue, and when my employees see something, they picked up the phone and called 911. Now, I have to tell my employees not to call 911 because of this … why me and not the business next door." Liberston added that most of the time, the lumber in his yard is neatly piled. "We're like any household … you [the planners] did not see us on a good day," he said. Liberston also had an answer for the "heavy equipment" cited in the study. "There's no heavy equipment on my site … we have a Ford van, a box van, a medium-duty fork lift, etc.," he said. The study cited that the shape and location of Liberston's business in relation to its driveway posed an inherent hazard to motorists and pedestrians along New Brunswick Avenue. "In my 32 years at my business, there have been no accidents leaving my store … my store is a destination area rather than a shopping area." Board member Philip Bujalski asked Gruel if the police reports were taken out of the township's study for the Building Supply Co., would she still recommend the company be part of the study? "Yes," Gruel replied. Kamal Charaipotra, owner of the Woodbridge Pediatrics at 156 New Brunswick Ave., who said he is in objection to his property being named in the township's study, said the reason for the dilapidation of his one-story building was due to a fire in January 2007. "I plan to rebuild and I'm in the process of getting all the permits for demolition," he said. "It took quite a bit of time with the insurance process, which was completed in September 2007. We are planning to restart building in the next month or so." The Hopelawn neighborhood is bound generally between the Garden State Parkway to the west, the city of Perth Amboy to the east, and the Lehigh Valley Railroad to the south. The Hopelawn North study area, which includes 37 parcels, is characterized in part by industrial and warehouse development. It is located primarily along both sides of New BrunswickAvenue from Route 440 to the east and Route 9 and the Garden State Parkway to the west. The board approved 14 of the 37 parcels named in the study to be part of the redevelopment study. Representatives fromthe Pathmark Supermarket, 101 New Brunswick Ave., also asked the board to exclude their parcel. "Pathmark has been a tenant of the area for 30 years," said JohnWoodson, an attorney for the supermarket. "We pay taxes and are good for the community. It does not make sense for us to be part of the study." The study includes the Pathmark parcel as a section three criteria of the Local Redevelopment and Housing Law, which permits the inclusion of parcels necessary for effective redevelopment of the area, stating: "a redevelopment area may include [lands], buildings, or improvements, which of themselves are not detrimental to the public health, safety or welfare, but the inclusion of which is found necessary with or without change in their condition for the effective redevelopment of their area in which they are part of. "The Pathmark does not fall in any specific criteria, but because of the central location of the Pathmark in the study area, we feel that it should be included in the study," said Gruel. For the same reason, Gruel testified that the area including the Burger King at 147 New Brunswick Ave. would be included in the study. Steven Bernhaut, owner of Hopelawn Properties at 43 New Brunswick Ave., objected to his parcel being included in the township's study. "We rent land to three tenants…Conrail has leased with us over 50 years, Home Depot has been with us for over two decades. … Why would a multimillion [dollar] business renew a lease for two decades with us?" he said. According to the study, Bernhaut's property fell under criteria E, which states that if a property falls under criteria E, it has a growing lack or total lack of proper utilization of areas caused by the condition of the title, diverse ownership of the real property therein or other conditions, resulting in a stagnant or not fully productive condition of land potentially useful and valuable for contributing to and serving the public health, safety and welfare. The study also stated that the police department responded to the property 71 times since 2002 with complaints of alarms, suspicious vehicles, threats, and stray animals. A representative from Plaza 75 LLC of Monroe, who objected to the property at 75 New Brunswick Ave. being in the study, testified that the property contains a chiropractor and a mortgage office and also a manufacturing business of sweaters, which the representative said was one of the few left in the area. The study cited that the property fell into the D criteria and since 2002, there were issues of criminal mischief, criminal activity, loitering, burglary, assault, battery, damage, and threats. The study also cited five motor vehicle accidents at the site. The Township Council adopted the resolution designating the 14 parcels of the Hopelawn North as an area of redevelopment on March 4. As the redevelopment process continues, the Planning Board is scheduled to hear the Heyer and Gruel firm's findings for the Pennval Road area, and area 15 of the Route 1 study in Avenel at the board meeting on March 12 at Town Hall. The board will also hear the township's findings for area 5 through 7 for the Route 27 study. At the March 19 board meeting, the Heyer and Gruel firm is scheduled to present its findings on New Brunswick Avenue in Fords and its findings for the original area of Keasbey.