'I'm angry': Residents fight against Revolutionary War site becoming warehouses

UPPER FREEHOLD ‐ A plea for help Thursday by residents trying to save farmland tied to the Revolutionary War from becoming warehouses was not answered, but it didn't completely fall on deaf ears.

Led by Sue Kozel, the former vice chair of the Upper Freehold Historic Farmland Scenic Byway Committee, three dozen or so sign-carrying people from mostly neighboring Allentown and the township marched up and down Route 524, or Old York Road as it is named locally, in front of the land in question. As they marched, many drivers slowed their vehicles and honked their horns in support.

Their message was clear: "No Warehouses."

"I am really worried. I'm angry. No one seems really interested in saving the land," said Kozel, who said she’s not afraid to kick a hornet’s nest to get people's attention to the matter.

Kozel and many of the people at the protest then marched right into the regular meeting of the five-member Upper Freehold Township Committee with hopes of securing a commitment from them to either spend township dollars to buy back the land from the developer or convince the Monmouth County commissioners to purchase the land and preserve it for open space.

What they got instead was contrary advice by a reluctant township attorney Dennis Collins, who advised the committee members not to speak or even listen to the matter less they jeopardize their chance to hear the application if it does get to the Planning Board, or give the developer potential ammunition for litigation if it’s plan was denied.

More: 'Kick in the stomach.' Warehouses on site of Revolutionary War fight? Allentown's aghast

Following the lawyer’s advice, Mayor Robert Frascella and Committeeman Robert Faber, who both sit on the board, excused themselves from the meeting. The three remaining committee members, who are not liaisons to the planning board, then sat and listened to about 75 minutes of impassioned pleas from residents to save the farmland from being diced up for warehouse facilities, which has become the sign of the times for the farming communities on the upper reaches of rural Monmouth County and neighboring Mercer County, located on the I-195 corridor.

The land caught in this latest tug-of-war is roughly 55 acres, located right on the border of the historic borough of Allentown and Upper Freehold. On the tax maps, it's Block 26, lots 1, 2 & 3 along with an additional two lots in Robbinsville in Mercer County. Lots 1 and 3 were purchased last year by AAESUF Property LLC — a developer based in West Nyack, New York, and Englewood — for $15 million, according to county tax records.

Lot 2 is a small 1.7-acre track belonging to a private homeowner with a ranch-style home on the property that is sandwiched between the two larger lots. However, the homeowner has signed legal documents agreeing to allow the property to be used in the development. The Press has not learned if the homeowner has sold to the developer. There was no change of deed on the land in the county's accessible online property records as of Friday.

What makes the development controversial is that in June of 1778, thousands of British soldiers camped on the land during the British evacuation of Philadelphia for New York as the conflict's theater would soon switch to the South. Gen. George Washington, fresh off a hard, but productive winter at Valley Forge, sought to engage the British under the command of Gen. Henry Clinton, along the route to Sandy Hook, where the British would pick up transports to take them across the harbor.

He dispatched famed rifleman Col. Daniel Morgan to locate the Redcoats. On June 25, Morgan found them encamped on the farm field in question, which borders Indian Run Creek. Morgan’s men engaged them in “near-constant skirmishing that cost the British almost 40 men killed, wounded or captured,” according to “Fatal Sunday,” a 2017 book about Washington’s Monmouth campaign.

Washington would nip them again three days later at the Battle of Monmouth Courthouse before the British left New Jersey.

Fast-forward 245 years, and portions of the land lay fallow while soy beans plants cover several acres. The land though, is in the township's Highway Development Zone, which permits warehouse usage.

Deputy Mayor Stanley Moslowski Jr., against the advice of Collins, was the only committee member to speak to the audience that had filed into the meeting. Moslowski said he and his father had farmed that land for 20 years for the prior landowner. As far as a commitment to buy the land, he offered little reassurance, other than to say, "the developer would have to be a willing seller," for that to even have a chance.

In May, AAESUF submitted its plans for two warehouses totaling close to 500,000-square feet and 108 loading bays for review to the township's Planning Board, the Monmouth County Planning Board, the Freehold Soil Conservation District and the state Department of Environmental Protection.

No public hearing has been scheduled yet by the township's Planning Board. Collins assured the anxious crowd that notices informing residents within 200 feet of the property would be mailed out well in advance of the meeting, should the application get that far.

As of now, the county has found flaws in the developer’s traffic study. For example, the county cited a discrepancy between the developers’ calculated trip generation versus the number of employees and parking spaces. The warehouses could add 2,200 trucks and cars to the roadway here, which locals say is already groaning under the weight of trucks.

Allentown's mayor Thomas Fritts said residents whose homes line the borough's quaint and historic Main Street have buckets full of plaster from trucks that use the road and rattle the walls of the homes, many of which predate 1860.

One hope Fritts has is the state DEP may shoot it down or significantly reduce the proposal due to its potential to exacerbate flooding on Indian Run Creek to the point that it’s not worth building.

"It's literally on my mind 24 hours a day. There are meetings, just ongoing conversations to try and protect our town and the greenbelt that surrounds it and our neighboring communities," Fritts said.

When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he is a history professor. Reach him @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; dradel@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: 'No warehouses': Residents dig in to save Revolutionary War site