Edison Will Apply For Grant To Purchase Warehouse Site

EDISON, NJ — The town council on Monday unanimously voted to obtain grant funding to acquire the site of the controversial warehouse in Silver Lake and preserve it as open space.

Two resolutions were brought before the council - one to obtain funding through the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Urban Parks Initiative, Green Acres Program in the amount of $500,000 and the other to get funds from the New Jersey Department of Environmental protection Green Acres Enabling Resolution in the amount of $7,000,000.

The council voted yes on both resolutions. The decision was met with cheers from residents of Silver Lake, who attended the meeting in large numbers.

In December last year, the council unanimously passed a resolution to purchase the site of the controversial warehouse and preserve it as open space, after the owner of the proposed warehouse indicated his willingness to sell the property to the township.

Since August last year, residents have been protesting the building of the warehouse at the intersection of Glendale and Silver Lake avenues.

They said that building the warehouse will result in increased vehicular traffic in the neighborhood, jeopardizing the safety of those who live there and affecting the overall quality of life.

Ahead of Monday’s meeting, Edison Greenways Group a non-profit organization, and The Edison Open Space Advisory Committee wrote letters to the council supporting “the preservation of 41 Glendale Ave.”

“The committee has identified the site in our 1999 plan and included it in our 2018 open space plan. Of all remaining vacant parcels in Edison, this has a lot going for it,” Walter R. Stochel Jr. Chair-Edison Open Space Advisory Committee, said at the meeting.

“In our built-up urban environment, we need natural places so we can breathe the fresh air, listen to the birds... see the night sky and just watch the river flow by.”

Edison will be applying to the Urban Parks Program for up to $500,000 in funding which does not require matching funds. The second resolution which includes the Green Acres grant will require matching funds of 50 percent, which the township hopes will be provided by the County.

Last year, Mayor Thomas Lankey wrote to freeholder director Ronald G Rios, formally requesting the county to purchase the land. Lankey said he was advised by County Commissioner Charles Tomaro, that Middlesex was in a "good position to help Edison residents" in the matter.

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