Click on image to the right to view the video of Michael Perrucci's reasoning for building a warehouse in the Flats of Phillipsburg:
Michael Perrucci, owner of Peron Construction, tells the Phillipsburg Land Use Board on January 6, 2022 that developers walked away from building homes in the Flats of Phillipsburg because of an open gun range and a junkyard.
In other words, the Flats of Phillipsburg is not a good place for people to live. Michael Perrucci's and the Town of Phillipsburg's solution to this is to build a warehouse instead of houses in downtown Phillipsburg in the largely residential area know at the Flats.
We believe that instead of building a warehouse and further degrading the area of the flats, the Phillipsburg Town government should reject building a warehouse in the Flats and improve the quality of life in this area. If, as Michael Perrucci states, that the gun range and the junkyard is degrading life in the Flats of Phillipsburg, then the Town of Phillipsburg should also be addressing these issues.
If a warehouse is built in the Flats of Phillipsburg, this will just make the Flats and even more undesirable place to live. I believe the Town of Phillipsburg should not endorse the building of ANY warehouse and fix issues Michael Perrucci has pointed out and make the Flats of Phillipsburg a good place for Phillipsburg residents to live.
Click on image to the right to see James Flynn's comments:
For context: Ordinance 2021-27 is an ordinance that revokes Ordinance 2021-14 and rezones the Peron Howard Street Property from residential to Industrial. On December 20, 2021, Town Council is doing the second and final reading of Ordinance 2021.
The rezoning of this property to industrial will open the way for a warehouse to be built in downtown Phillipsburg on the Delaware River riverfront.
Ordinance 2021-27 is an attempt to resolve conflicts of interest that many believe occurred when Ordinance 2021-14 was passed due to one or more of the members of Council having been represented by the law firm Florio, Perrucci, Steinhardt, Cappelli, Tipton and Taylor, and also then voting on legislation that would benefit Peron Construction. Michael Perrucci is the 100% owner of Peron Construction and is an owner of the law firm.
Councilman Randy Piazza Jr tired to silence James Flynn's comments, but James Flynn makes a point that the two meetings regarding the rezoning of the Peron Howard Street property is the subject of both meetings and his comments are relevant to Ordinance 2021-27.
Additionally, James Flynn, finds it curious how Attroney Wilhelm, the attorney for the Land Use Board, was able to turn around a letter or resolution to the Town Council on his letterhead in just minutes.
Click on image to see the the video of Robin Coe-Donaldson's comments:
Robyn discusses negative consequences regarding the warehouse that will be built in downtown Phillipsburg along the river. Robyn is a business owner. Some of the topics of her comments are;
- Truck traffic and safety issues
- More trucks will make the downtown less inviting than it aready is. Some people don't want to come downtown now because of the traffic, and adding a warehouse downtown will just make it worse.
- Thre are serious problems with flooding downtown
Click on image to see fill video of comments by Randy Piazza Jr:
Councilman Randy Piazza Jr says that Bethlehem has warehouses in its downtown and warehouses downtown will work just fine. Randy understands citizens' concerns and believes the concerns are legitimate.
Admin's note: If the concerns are legitimate, then why did Councilman Piazza Jr vote to zone the property industrial for a warehouse to be built there?
Click on image to see full video of David Morrisette's comments and Robert Fulper's response:
During the Public comments section of the September 23, 2021 Land Use Board meeting, David Morrisette asks the Land Use Board to take no further action on the Peron Construciton application for a warehouse. David reminds the Land Use Board of information that it is certain the Land Use Board is already aware of. There is a suit against the town, and one of the items challenged the validity of the votes that the Phillipsburg Town Council took regarding the changing of zoning at the end of April and the beginning of May 2021.
At issue is the fact that Michael Perrucci is a 100% owner of Peron Construction and Michael Perrucci is a Partner in the law firm Florio, Perrucci, Steinhardt, Cappelli, Tipton and Taylor. This makes Michael Perrucci an owner of both the company and the law firm. The question is if Councilmen have been represented by the law firm, then any representation or advocacy those Councilmen would be a conflict of interest and they should not have recused themselves from those votes and not advocated for Peron Construciton.
Randy Piazza Jr. and Robert Fulper have not answered the question as to whether they have been represented by the law firm. David Morrisette directly asked Robert Fulper at the Land Use Board Meeting if he had been represented by the law firm, and Robert Fulper said he would not answer the question due to the fact that the matter is currently in litigation. Interestingly, even when the matter was not in litigation, Robert Fulper would not answer the question either. So it is pretty much the case that under any circumstances Robert Fulper does not want to answer the question as to whether he has been represented by the law firm.