Planning board considers Home Depot

Residents voice concern

By KRISTA GROMALSKI

WESTFALL — As Home Depot (HD) awaits a decision from the Westfall Township Planning Board on one of its stores proposed for a 20-acre parcel of forest behind the Best Western Inn at Hunt’s Landing, some residents are expressing concerns over possible environmental damage and traffic hazards.

The HD proposal has already been sent back twice for revisions, according to planning board member Joe Stacy. “There are problems like [an inadequate amount of] parking spaces… and safety is a major concern,” he said.

Resident Linda Klee, spokesperson of the Westfall HD opposition group Citizens to Protect Our Natural Resources, said many are “deeply disturbed” by the proposal. “We don’t want them here,” she said.

In March of 2001, amid similar protest, the company withdrew its plan to construct a store near the former Exit 10 on I-84 above Milford. “You think they would have gotten the message,” said Klee.

John Simley, spokesperson for the HD company said the Exit 10 location was the “exact center for demand,” but because of the inability of the company to reach an agreement with the landowner, the Westfall site was alternately chosen. “It’s not uncommon for a handful of people” to express opposition, he said.

No trees, more cars

The Westfall plan calls for a 115,000-square-foot store and 19,000-square-foot garden center, which Klee said would destroy “one of the last forested areas” near the site.

In addition, the store’s Bluebell Boulevard location is “less than one half mile from the Delaware River.”

For this reason, the group has been in contact with Bill Manner of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Water Management Program. “His concern is that the forested areas near the Delaware will change,” Klee said. Manner was unavailable for comment.

Simley said with thousands of acres of forests cut for housing developments each year, the Westfall acreage is “just a drop in the bucket.”

The fact is, he said, that Pike, Sussex and Orange Counties are the fastest growing in each of their respective states. “We’re not the cause of development. We’re a reaction to it,” he said.

Also, while the HD site would include access by secondary roads, Stacy said there could be 3,000 to 4,000 cars on a Saturday. “Upgrades to these secondary roads involved will still leave problems,” he said.

Simley said a traffic plan is part of HD’s application. “The fact that the roads are secondary doesn’t matter,” he said. “It’s whether they can handle the volume.”

Opponents on Rose Lane

Most affected by the proposed store is a group of 27 residents on Rose Lane. “They moved in for privacy, but will be looking at a Home Depot store,” said Klee. “You can imagine their emotions.”

Stacy said most realtors estimate that HD’s construction would decrease property values a minimum of 30 percent. “These are ordinary people whose homes are major investments. That’s a hell of a loss,” he said.

Going by studies done in Westchester County and Long Island, Smiley said home values are not affected.

Rose Lane resident Susan Walters, who has spent almost 10 years in the area, said, “everything around here will be affected” by the store. “I know I’ll hear it and see the lights. They expect to be open 24 hours a day and there will be deliveries at all hours.”

With 10 children ranging in age from 10 months to 17 years, Walters said safety is her major concern, and relocating at this point “would be a big undertaking.”

Adding to residents’ concerns is the newly constructed Heritage Point Senior Apartments due to open within the next few weeks. The proposed HD would be “smack in front of the senior home, which includes 90 apartments, 30 of which will face the store,” according to Stacy, who said there may be some difficulty renting apartments.

Sewage in the Delaware?

Complicating the issue are concerns that a sewage treatment plant currently owned by Hunt and Hunt would not withstand the addition of the commercial hook-ups of HD and the senior apartments.

Klee said a source from the National Park Service told her that the facility will have more and more commercial places hooked up to it. “This will increase the amount of sewage being put into the Delaware River,” which could change the fish, algae and wildlife.

“It’ s got to stop,” she said.

In disagreement, Stacy said the sewage plant, which the township is attempting to purchase, “does have the capacity for Home Depot and the senior home to tie into it.”

What next?

Klee’s group has two petitions out for signature, she said, and is waiting to hear from the Department of Environmental Protection. “There may be bald eagles in the forest there,” she said. Also, the group may be looking into legal council.

Stacy said the HD plan may not reach supervisors until August. A planning board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 12 at 7:30 p.m. “There may be some things that need to be corrected again,” he said.

Stacy said the opposition group has started a “slush fund” to be used if the supervisors approve the proposal. “There will be a lawsuit, either by Home Depot or the citizens,” he said.

“That’s the great thing about law suits,” Simley said. “You can charge anything, but it’s up to a judge to decide.”