Monroe Township Planning Board approves expanded contractor yard for topsoil storage with erosion controls

The Monroe Township Planning Board approved an amended preliminary site plan allowing G Paving to expand outdoor stockpiling of topsoil and related operations at its existing contractor yard.

Attorney Peter Klauser (Heilbron Pape) introduced the application and said the site has a history of approvals (use variance, preliminary and final approvals in 2014–2015). Civil engineer Sharif Ali described the proposed expansion of a stockpile area behind an existing ball barn, noting existing improvements (detention basin, parking, fencing) and that the use would remain limited to the applicant’s materials and vehicles. "So the application was up to the ball barn... the reason we are here is that the area behind the ball barn, we would like to expand the use and use that for a stockpile of topsoil along with about 8 equipment or trucks that will be in operation," Ali said.

Planner Mark A. Remsa reviewed municipal-lands-law criteria and told the board he found positive and negative criteria satisfied, describing the proposed stockpile location as well-buffered from residences and consistent with the 2020 master plan’s industrial-development objectives. Remsa cited NJSA 40:55D-2 in describing the special-reasons analysis for a use variance.

Professional staff raised oversight and implementation conditions: Chris (board planner) and the board engineer recommended showing additional plan details if needed, confirming site circulation for trucks, obtaining Freehold Soil Conservation District soil-erosion approval, installing silt fencing and perimeter fencing to prevent encroachment, and cleaning sediment from the existing stormwater basin. The applicant agreed to provide silt fencing, tracking pads for trucks and to maintain sediment control; Sharif Ali said topsoil would be from the applicant’s job sites and would be accompanied by paperwork certifying cleanliness when delivered.

Board members questioned testing and maintenance: members pressed how the township would verify the environmental quality of incoming topsoil and how erosion would be prevented; the engineer said soil-erosion controls and Freehold Soil Conservation District review would address that, and the applicant agreed to provide documentation for incoming soil.

During the public portion no speakers came forward. The board voted to approve the amended preliminary/site plan and waivers (including a waiver of the environmental-impact-statement requirement for no new impervious coverage), subject to conditions including environmental commission review of the EIS waiver, silt fencing, delineation fencing on the property line, and provision of annual stormwater-basin inspection and maintenance logs.

The applicant was instructed to produce revised compliance plans and documentation of topsoil certification; the engineer will confirm silt-fence and fencing details before memorialization.

Action: approval recorded on roll call with affirmative votes.