There have been some social media posts that have either misrepresented or have not been truthful. You will find some clarification here.
I, David Morrisette, distributed the flyers and pamphlets, with associated Ordinances and Resolutions inside the pamphlet.
I, David Morrisette, did circulate information throughout the community on November 8, 2022 and November 9, 2022 regarding the plans for both the proposed warehouse and the proposed truck bypass route plan that has been sent to the New Jersey Department of Transportation for approval. As a member of Phillipsburg Environmental Watch, we felt it was necessary to present information to the residents and actions they could take to prevent a warehouse from being built on the Peron Howard Street Property.
On the dates that I circulated the information, it was my belief that Mayor Tersigni had not yet signed Ordinance 2022-30, the ordinance wihch rezones the Peron Howard Street property from riverside residential to industrial. As a member of Phillipsburg Environmental Watch, I spoke with many residents in various parts of town that would see the most significant harmful impacts from the proposed warehouse.
In regards to the social media posts, there was an original post from Angie Marie. She mentioned that they are looking to put more warehouses up in Phillipsburg, and that is true. Peron Corporation is looking to put a warehouse up in the largely residential area of the Flats. There are many reasons this is a bad idea, and I recommend you read the Letters to the Editor at TapInto Phillipsburg. The letters are under the opinion section which can be found at this link: https://www.tapinto.net/towns/phillipsburg/categories/letters-to-the-editor .
In reference to the skate park that existed on the Peron Howard Street Property, I did have a conversation with one household where the skate park was a small but significant portion of the conversation. The mother said she did not want a warehouse and asked me what would happen to the land. I told her that if Mayor Tersigni vetoed the ordinance and "i" won "my" lawsuit against the town (and ordinance 2021-14), then the property would return to riverside residential. The Mother said she was not for the houses being built back there (meaning the Peron Howard Street Property). She wanted to see the Peron Howard Street Property remain natural. I said that there are other members of the Phillipsburg Environmental Watch that would like to see the property be open space, but it would probably be manicured and paths made through the property for people to walk and enjoy the open space. She mentioned the kids had already created paths. I mentioned for it to be open space, the property would have to be purchased from the developer.
Sidenote: I personally think the best thing for Phillipsburg would be for the property to be open space. There would most likely have to be some kind of combination of funding from the town and state to purchase the property. The zoning I would like to see would be something that allowed open space, such as Delaware River Park. If not open space, the Riverside Comercial would be my next preference. With Riverside Comercial there could be something like a transportation museum built on the property, which would tie in with the focus on the rail and other historical and future facets of the town.
I did say for the property to become open space it would take involvement from the residents. I also said that if the property was open space, then a skate park would fit into that use. I never said that if the ordinance is overturned, that the "DIY" skate park would magically be restored.
I have mixed feelings about the DIY skate park that existed on the Peron Howard Street property. The negative thing about the skate park is that it involved trespassing to build and use. The positive thing about the skate park is that it appeared to be a tremendously positive thing for many of the younger people of Phillipsburg. If the weather was good, and I passed that area, there were many young folk in the skate park. The young folk appeard to be well mannered and enjoying a healthy and wholesome afternoon of athletic activity... (Healthy as long as you don't crash :) ) The skate park provided a real sense of community in the area, and it is a shame that it was torn down yesterday.
We do not want to get rid of the skate park at the Delaware River Park
The statement by Dan Boyce that we want to contact the Mayor to save the skate park on the Peron Howard Street Property and get rid of the skate park at Delaware River Park is totally untrue.
In fact, at the beginning of this process and when we (myself and other citizens) initially filed suit against Ordinance 2021-14 in June of 2021, it was partly due to the fact that the town wanted to take Delaware River Park and sell the park to Peron Construction. Peron Construction wanted to include the park in the warehouse property and build a 510,000 square foot warehouse. You can see a copy of the initial complaint regarding the lawsuit here: https://phillipsburg.nowarehouse.org/documents/CourtDocuments/06-25-2021-CivilCaseJacket/06-25-2021-CivilCaseJacket.pdf . If you read the linked document, you will see where we are suing the town, partly because the town wanted to take Delaware River Park and sell it to Peron Construction. We sued partly to save Delaware River Park, which includes the skate park. I challenge Dan Boyce to provide any evidence that we tried to get rid of the town skate park located at Delaware River Park. He won't be able to do so since it never happened.
Additionaly, I never said if anyone contacted the Mayor that the skate park would be "saved". The discussion was that if they contacted the Mayor, and the Mayor vetoed Ordinance 2022-30, that would stop this version of the warehouse. Also, if Ordinance 2022-30 was vetoed, then our lawsuit against Ordinance 2021-14 would remain active, and if we win as we expect to, then the Peron Construction land (where the DIY skate park existed) would be rezoned to Riverside Residential. Once a warehouse is stopped, there may be a possibility to convince the owner of the land, Peron Construction, to sell the land, or there may be some other avenue to make the land open space. If the property would be rezoned to the approprate zoning, then there is a possibity that a skate park could be built on what is now know as the Peron Howard Street Property. Again, this would be a process that would require community involvement.
If the Town of Phillipsburg and the developer, Peron Construction, had there way, which is specified under Ordinance 2021-14, both the DIY skate park and the skate park that exists in Delaware River Park would have disappeard. It was partly because of the efforts by the some members of the Phillipsburg Environmental Watch group, the Phillipsburg Riverview Organization, possibly the New Jersey Highlands Coalition and a specific Community Advocate working in the background to keep the NJ Green Acres folks informed ot the situation that saved Delaware River Park. The NJ Green Acres people refused to allow the town to sell the park to the developer.
Peron Corporation could only develop low income housing if the Phillipsburg Town Council approves it
So, here is the reasoning behind why a warehouse is being built in downtown Phillipsburg along the Delaware River riverside. Michael Perrucci, the 100% owner of Peron Construction has stated that he can't sell residential properties in the Flats because it is not a place where people would want to live. You have an open gun range at one end of the Flats and a junk yard at the other end of the Flats. Because of this "soccer mons" would not want to live there. So because the situation is so bad there and he can't sell residential properties he is going to build a warehouse there. In otherwords, he is saying that because the Flats is such an undesirable place to live, he is going to build a warehouse, which will further degrade the Flats and likely hurt Center Street in Phillipsburg since Center Street is likely to become a truck bypass route.
There are multiple recordings of Michael Perrucci saying various version of this. If you attended the DEP meeting at Saints Philip and James over the summer of 2022, you heard a simular version to the version that is posted here: https://youtu.be/5Qvc7yNUivo
Absolutely nobody affiliated with Phillipsburg Environmental Watch, or any of the associated groups, ever fought the establishment or continued support of Delaware River Park as Dan Boyce states. Nobody affiliated with Phillipsburg Environmental Watch, or any of the affiated groups, ever fought the establishment or continued support of the skate park at the Delaware River Park. Again, myself and some others have put thousands of dollars financing a lawsuit againt the Town of Phillipsburg that was initially going to sell this Delaare River Park to a developer. Lawsuit (initial writ): https://phillipsburg.nowarehouse.org/documents/CourtDocuments/06-25-2021-CivilCaseJacket/06-25-2021-CivilCaseJacket.pdf
Ordinance Here: https://phillipsburg.nowarehouse.org/documents/Ordinances/Ordinance2021-14-District-5-Amendment.pdf
I agree with Dan Boyce that Delaware River Park, as state Green Acres Encumbered Park, is a wonderful park. Delaware River Park is a great example of open space.
One thing that just does not seem like a good idea is to have a space like Delaware River Park partly encircled by a warehouse complex. This is exactly what will happen if the warehouse is built. The warehouse complex will encircle two sides of Delaware River Park.
The New Jersey September 7, 2022 Warehouse Siting Guidelines specifically state that a warehouse should not be built next to an active park. The warehouse violates many other guidelines in the Warehouse Siting Guidelines document, such as do not build in a residential area (The Flats is largely residential with a small strip of light industrial, do not build next to a protected natural resource, and only build warehouses next to highways and major arteries. For these reasons, and the fact that the warehouse noice, trucks, fumes and danger to children will lower the quality of live for folks in the Flats and along the truck bypass routes, this warehouse is a terrible idea.