Lumberton committee votes to back Southampton developer's NJDOT access-level petition

The Lumberton Township Committee voted unanimously on June 4 to send a letter of support to Southampton Township for a developer’s petition to the New Jersey Department of Transportation to change the access level on Route 38 near the intersection with Route 206.

Township Engineer Request Dargy told the committee the proposed development sits in Southampton and that the request would allow the developer to pursue a potential signalized access on Route 38. "My recommendation is that the township provide this a letter of support because that's the only chance that the developer has of possibly constructing a light and directing traffic up to 206 as opposed to all the traffic going down Route 38 and into Lumberton," Dargy said.

Residents asked whether Lumberton would incur any costs or lose control over local roads. Dargy replied the letter is purely supportive and would not obligate Lumberton to fund infrastructure. "It's simply just a letter of support to the DOT saying that Lumberton agrees with the DOT changing the access level on Route 38," he said.

After brief public comment and questions about traffic patterns and signal spacing, Deputy Mayor Fay moved to approve the letter; the motion passed on a roll-call vote with all members voting yes.

The committee did not adopt any infrastructure commitments at the meeting; officials said any road improvements would be the developer's responsibility and subject to DOT and county rules.

The committee's action was procedural: it sends a supporting letter to accompany the developer’s formal petition to NJDOT and does not itself change local ordinances or grant permits.