Sayreville board approves amended site plan, subdivision for Journey Mill Road cold-storage development

The Sayreville Planning Board on April 2 approved an amended preliminary and final site plan and a subdivision (application BP-25-02) for CPMD Journey Mill Road Urban Renewal LLC to build a cold-storage facility on Journey Mill Road, approving waivers and variances and adding conditions tied to agency approvals.

Attorney representing CPMD told the board the current application covers Building 1 only — a 255,466-square-foot cold-storage building on the front parcel — and that an originally proposed second building was removed after New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection reviewers signaled they could not approve the rear building while wetlands and floodplain issues remained under review. The attorney said the applicant is proceeding with a technical subdivision to separate the front lot for financing and future phase work.

Dan Bush, a licensed professional planner and professional engineer, and Kevin Savage, a traffic expert and licensed professional engineer with Dynamic Traffic, testified for the applicant. Bush summarized engineering and planning reports (Morgan Municipal Engineering Services, March 2025; Acuity Consulting Services, March 2025), requested re-granting of previously approved design waivers, and sought several specific waivers and one de minimis variance. Among the items discussed: a request to continue two monument signs at the 25-foot setback called for in the redevelopment plan; a design waiver to allow steeper slopes in retaining-wall areas; and a request for a one-foot height variance to permit a 76-foot building profile to allow grading flexibility around the building perimeter. Bush testified the redevelopment plan amendment in 2024 raised allowable rear light-pole heights to 35 feet, so a waiver for pole height is not required.

Bush said the project is grandfathered under pre-July 2023 stormwater rules and will use green-infrastructure bioretention basins, and he confirmed submission of an NJDEP application (resubmitted in February 2025) that is still under review. He also told the board the applicant will add a short sidewalk segment to connect Journey Mill Road sidewalk to the site sidewalk and will provide access and utility easements to serve the rear lot.

Savage testified the removal of the second building reduces trip generation by about 25% from the prior approval; the revised peak-hour trips are estimated at about 30 (down from roughly 40). He said county review is ongoing and that the county has requested left-turn lanes into the central and northern driveways; those designs are under county review. Savage stated the reduced trip generation is well below the New Jersey Department of Transportation standard for a “significant increase” in traffic.

On parking, the applicant said a minor increase in office space inside Building 1 requires four additional passenger stalls, bringing the proposed total to 92; the applicant asked for board flexibility to “bank” some parking spaces subject to the board engineer’s later approval depending on tenant needs. On landscaping, the applicant proposed removing a previously planned landscaping strip between lots to avoid obstructing future phase 2 construction and offered to pay tree-replacement fees to the borough. The applicant said mechanical equipment is sited at the northwest corner behind the building and requested not to plant screening around that equipment for operational reasons.

Engineering and planning reports included routine “will comply” items and several points requiring testimony; the applicant agreed to most conditions and resisted only two items (plantings above underground stormwater basins and plantings around mechanical equipment), offering technical justification. The applicant confirmed coordination with Municipal Utilities Authority (MCUA) regarding a stormwater outfall located near an existing discharge and said MCUA has seen the plans and raised no objection.

After public comment supportive of the redevelopment and solar-ready roof provisions, the board voted to approve the application, including requested variances and waivers, subject to usual conditions and required agency approvals. The roll call showed unanimous support from members present.