Pallet refurbishing center gains planners' approval
BY TOYNETT HALL Staff Writer

HOWELL - The Planning Board has granted preliminary and final site plan approval to an application that proposed the construction of a business on Yellowbrook Road where wooden pallets will be refurbished.

Residents at the Nov. 1 meeting expressed concern that Northeast Pallet Recycling LLC's plan will cause noise pollution, create a potential breeding ground for vermin and harm Howell's rural character.

Planning Board engineer Ernest Peters prepared a report for the board which stated that "the applicant proposes to construct a screened, 3,600-square-foot, fenced pallet storage area at the rear of the site, along with a non-delineated trailer storage area. Additionally, a 6-foot high board on board fence is proposed at the property's rear yard. The applicant also intends to install two wall-mounted lights on the existing structure."

According to information provided by John Gallagher of Dynamic Engineering, the applicant's engineer, "the proposed site is at 133 Yellowbrook Road and is approximately 5.49 acres, with 249 feet of frontage along Yellowbrook Road. The property is in the Special Economic Development zone. The zones surrounding the site are ARE-2 and ARE-6 Agricultural Natural Resource."

Attorney Todd Cohen, who represented the applicant, stressed that the proposed operation for the Yellowbrook Road site is pallet refurbishing and not pallet recycling.

According to principal Enrique Martinez, Northeast Pallet Recycling LLC presently has a facility in Toms River. The firm distributes wood pallets to wholesale groceries, packaging companies and produce shops.

Resident Audrey Callahan said she was concerned about a facility such as the proposed pallet refurbishing center being built near her home. She said she is worried about the potential of rodents coming

the firm's property onto her property and the eyesore the operation would create.

Resident John Roberts said that what is discussed and agreed to during

Planning Board hearings is

not always what is carried

out once an application is

granted approval.

"The area we live in

has been bombarded

with businesses. You

have these businesses

come in and they say things to you guys and you approve them. At the time they may be genuine, but then, after the fact, things happen," Roberts told the board members.

"My main concern with this application is the serious noise that could come from it and the wooded buffer. That wooded buffer is a potential fire hazard. We pay a lot of taxes and I request that the board seriously consider the feelings of the residents in that area," Roberts said.

A different point of view was expressed by Don Smith, the vice chairman of the Howell Environmental Commission. He commended the applicant for proposing what he called an environmentally sound business.

"I have to commend you because I think this is a very valuable, cost effective, and certainly a very environmentally sound business to preserve these pallets," Smith said. "I have often thought what a waste [it is] when you see companies throwing pallets in front of their business and just hoping that somebody comes along and takes them to use in their fireplace or wood burning stoves. What a waste of trees. I do commend the applicant for this business."

Planning Board members Russell Bohlin, James Burgess, Thomas Frese, Michael Howell, Michael Morello, Robert Nicastro, Paul Sayah, Chairman Paul Schneider and Marlene West voted to grant preliminary and final site plan approval to Northeast Pallet Recycling LLC for the pallet refurbishing business.