Stop Warehouse Takeover in Central New Jersey

Stacey Fox is organizing this fundraiser.

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Do you know that West Windsor, Lawrenceville & Princeton & Hamilton are about to become industrialized? With 200-800 tractor-trailers per hour pouring out of 910 loading docks onto our roads. The applicant forecasts a 62% traffic increase! Can you imagine? With truck-stop-sized gas stations with fast food drive-throughs, West Windsor is on its way to becoming the opposite of the award-winning "best places to live in the USA" type of hometown it is now. Bridge Point 8 was approved with no regard for our neighbors in Lawrenceville, Princeton, Hamilton or any other towns along the Route 1 corridor. It's time to pay attention. It's time to get involved.

Stop The Trucks is raising money to fund the legal battle to save this region from becoming an industrial zone. The $10k retainer has been paid, thanks to the generosity of our loyal community who made early donations to this GoFundMe drive. The estimate for an appeal is $30k, and we are considering every option. The goal may be updated if we learn that we must contract a complete traffic study or environmental impact study since the applicant did not perform adequate studies. We were fortunate that other organizations funded studies that have already helped our cause tremendously. For example, we anticipated having to do a wetlands study, but the Watershed Institute hired an expert, which saved us thousands! As a result, there is now another suit filed against this horrible mistake of a project! We are awaiting word on whether or not the wetlands permit will be granted. It is held up because the State Historic Preservation Office has taken issue with the fact that part of this parcel has historic relevance to our contry's history. We are also engaging the efforts of other organizations who may also contribute their time, resources and expertise. For now, please take comfort in that we are partnered with some influential philanthropic organizations who all want what's best for this region, New Jerseyans and the planet. When we reach our goal, we will stop fundraising in the name of BP8, and the small balance will be donated to the MCDL; to protect and preserve land commerce and community. At this time, we are thousands short of our goal and every dollar counts.

It seems obvious to all who live or work here that our current infrastructure cannot absorb the excess traffic that the applicant forecasts. Our ultimate goal is to preserve that land for open space, but we are well aware that there may be a middle ground that is amenable to all and not as destructive as Bridge Point 8, a project designed for storms of 1999, not today and not tomorrow. What will go there is work for another day. First, let's stop what is so obviously wrong for West Windsor and our neighbors.

The waning, Covid-inspired warehouse boom came on so fast, and big developers adapted faster than legislators could write protections into law. We have no choice but to push our leaders, on every level, to stop all warehouse development until the Garden State can get its footing and decide who we want to be, the Garden State or the "logistics state."

What can we do? We must write paper letters, send emails and make calls daily until the Governor acts on behalf of his constituents, NOT big-business lobbyists. Check the "What can we do?" tab on StopTheTrucks.info for more ideas about how you can help, or contact us directly through that site. Occasionally the site is unavailable during edits and updates so keep checking back.

Shop brick-and-mortar as much as possible too! Shut your laptops and shop local! Our local businesses will suffer tremendously as motorists avoid this area at all costs, including the cost of doing business locally. Folks have stated that they will NOT be crossing Route 1 or going to the mall anymore if the area is packed with tractor-trailers.

DONATE your time and money because the West Windsor planning board has approved the largest pending warehouse project in NJ. That's seven colossal warehouses with a minimum footprint of 5.5 million square feet (excluding the paved lots) on 653 acres of undeveloped land (basically 495 football fields), 165 acres of which are flood-prone and 65 acres of fragile wetlands. Speaking of wetlands adjacent to

Route 1 ...

[Route 1 in September 2021, when only remnants of Ida came to NJ. Why would we add more runoff to this?]

One hundred forty-seven loading docks were called for in the ordinance, but Bridge Point asked for 910, which were granted without further discussion. Nine hundred ten loading docks would appear similar to an Amazon-like or Walmart-style last-mile distribution facility. It is common practice for developers to conceal the intended tenant's identity, so we don't know what to expect until they move in! But don't despair! It is only the 2nd inning! It is a poorly conceived plan destined to fail, and we will see to it that it does.

[Image from the applicant's presentation. The only traffic study they did was on site, coming and going from the facility, not concerned with the impacts on those roads leading to and from BP8. They are not concerned about traffic through neighborhoods, past public schools, or our neighbors in Lawrence, Princeton or Hamilton. The poster above represents "rush hour," as we know it, when the trucks will be scarce. The trucks will be 24/7 and have more activity when it is NOT "rush hour." They only studied 2 hours of a 24-hour day! Truck traffic will be heavier when our young students are walking, and our teenagers will be driving home from school as the trucks head past Maurice Hawk and WWPS towards the Turnpike. The applicant stated their traffic estimates could be higher! Higher than 200-800 per hour!] Higher than a 62% increase in traffic as we know it now!

DONATE because They are inviting cancer-causing diesel fumes to permeate suburban areas instead of following the NJ State Planning Commission's Warehouse Siting Guidance. They approved an application wherein the applicant performed zero studies of VOCs, SOCs and other PM2s relative to diesel truck fumes. Besides the statistical likelihood of death to our friends and neighbors due to tractor-trailer accidents, there will be a predictable increase in asthma, COPD and cancers from exposure to diesel fumes.

DONATE to keep some semblance of "garden" in the Garden State! As we fight the big developer machinery that seeks to diminish the quality of life, property values and peace of mind that we once enjoyed.

[visit StopTheTrucks.info to learn how you can help]

DONATE because massive warehouses should be near ports or major highways, not interwoven into neighborhoods or bordering wetlands in areas prone to dangerous flooding. Often, these tractor-trailers will have no choice but to drive within feet of local public schools, possibly by the hundreds per hour. The lungs of our young athletes on fields and children on playgrounds will become compromised by particulate matter that will inevitably impact their health, development and longevity, all so big business can prosper. Even if all the trucks were to dispense only onto Route 1, particulates would travel far and wide into our neighboring towns, homes, schools and businesses.

DONATE because the homeowners on Clarksville Rd may be at risk of losing some of their property to the likely road widening to accommodate these diesel death machines. One sleepy driver nodding off can barrel into a home, taking out a family in one fell swoop. Did you know that the last administration relieved truck companies of the burden of installing lane-departure and front-end collision warnings? Trucking companyies save a couple of hundred bucks, and human lives are the collateral damage. An industrial hometown is not what taxpayers invested in when they chose this area to raise their families. Lawrenceville, Princeton, Hamilton and more will incur tax burdens in perpetuity for unplanned-for infrastructure costs like emergency services and road maintenance. It will result in Mercer Couty and State tax burdens, given the county and state roads woven into the plan, so all New Jerseyans will pay. Who benefits? The developers and no one else. The already-wealthy do not need to destroy this region for their wallets.