Jones Lang LaSalle
Ex-Superfund site in Mt. Olive may get Target
Former landfill location eyed for shopping complex
BY ZENAIDA MENDEZ
DAILY RECORD
MOUNT OLIVE -- A Superfund site taken off the federal Environmental Protection Agency's National Priorities List two years ago may become the home of 400,000-square-foot shopping complex, including a Target store.
Township council President Robert Greenbaum said that Target Corp. has expressed interest in building a store at the 102-acre Combe Fill North site on Gold Mine Road.
Greenbaum said that he and council Vice President Steven Rattner have been in negotiations with attorney Glenn C. Geiger, who is representing Target, for a year, and, at its public meeting next week, the council will consider a resolution outlining the proposal's terms and conditions.
"It's very complicated,"Greenbaum said Wednesday. "They need to do a significant amount of due diligence in terms of 'What's in the landfill?, What are the risks associated with building on a landfill?' There are a lot of contingencies involved."
Ex-garbage dump
Combe Fill North landfill occupies 65 acres of a 102-acre property on Gold Mine Road. That land is predominantly surrounded by commercial properties. The site operated as a sanitary municipal landfill from 1966 to 1978, accepting municipal and industrial waste and small amounts of dry sewage sludge. Combe Fill Corporation purchased the landfill in 1978. The following year, groundwater contamination was found beneath the site. The landfill was closed in 1981. It was declared a Superfund site in 1982. In 1991, the state Department of Environmental Protection completed remedial work, including installation of a clay cap, landfill gas venting system, and perimeter fencing.
Should Target Corp. acquire the property and build, it would need approvals from the township and the state.
Greenbaum said that it is a viable option for a site that currently is not on the tax roll but, if developed by Target, could infuse a significant amount of money into the municipality.
"This would result immediately -- once all of the contingencies have been met and there is building approval from the planning board -- in between $750,000 to one million in back taxes owed to the township," Greenbaum said.
There also is an environmental tax lien on the property by the state, which is seeking to recoup past clean-up costs, Greenbaum said.
The municipality will hold a sale of the tax certificate, and Target is expected to be the high bidder, Greenbaum said. Once sold, the new owner will pay property taxes from then onward, Greenbaum added.
Geiger referred questions to Target Corp.'s public relations department. That department did not respond Wednesday.
According to its Web site, Target operates more than 1,300 stores, including 34 stores in New Jersey. There are two Target stores in Morris County: East Hanover, on Route 10, and Rockaway Township on Mount Hope Avenue.
Mayor Richard De La Roche said that he would welcome Target to Mount Olive if the environmental and legal issues can be resolved.
"All these things can be worked out, but it's early in the process" to say definitively, he said.
"This would seem to be a good use for it," De La Roche said, regarding the Combe Fill North property. "We always are looking to bring in commercial enterprises."
In February, 2005, Target Corp. presented a concept plan which proposed construction of a single-level, 127,000 square foot store in Sutton Plaza, on Route 206, to the township planning board. That building would've replaced the 55,000 square foot building which formerly housed Ames.
Target Corp. never submitted a site plan to the planning board for approval.
Flanders resident Don Markey, who opposed construction of Target in Sutton Plaza, said that building the store on the Combe Fill site, near the ITC shopping center, is more suitable.
"Our whole goal in Mount Olive is to get more ratables to offset taxes but not ruin the ambiance of the community,"he explained.
"There is a need here (for retail such as Target), but they have to be put in the proper place," he added. "What better than a large corporation coming in, taking unusable land, and turning it back into usable space that benefits the community?"
Ex-Superfund site in Mt. Olive may get Target
Former landfill location eyed for shopping complex
BY ZENAIDA MENDEZ
DAILY RECORD
MOUNT OLIVE -- A Superfund site taken off the federal Environmental Protection Agency's National Priorities List two years ago may become the home of 400,000-square-foot shopping complex, including a Target store.
Township council President Robert Greenbaum said that Target Corp. has expressed interest in building a store at the 102-acre Combe Fill North site on Gold Mine Road.
Greenbaum said that he and council Vice President Steven Rattner have been in negotiations with attorney Glenn C. Geiger, who is representing Target, for a year, and, at its public meeting next week, the council will consider a resolution outlining the proposal's terms and conditions.
"It's very complicated,"Greenbaum said Wednesday. "They need to do a significant amount of due diligence in terms of 'What's in the landfill?, What are the risks associated with building on a landfill?' There are a lot of contingencies involved."
Ex-garbage dump
Combe Fill North landfill occupies 65 acres of a 102-acre property on Gold Mine Road. That land is predominantly surrounded by commercial properties. The site operated as a sanitary municipal landfill from 1966 to 1978, accepting municipal and industrial waste and small amounts of dry sewage sludge. Combe Fill Corporation purchased the landfill in 1978. The following year, groundwater contamination was found beneath the site. The landfill was closed in 1981. It was declared a Superfund site in 1982. In 1991, the state Department of Environmental Protection completed remedial work, including installation of a clay cap, landfill gas venting system, and perimeter fencing.
Should Target Corp. acquire the property and build, it would need approvals from the township and the state.
Greenbaum said that it is a viable option for a site that currently is not on the tax roll but, if developed by Target, could infuse a significant amount of money into the municipality.
"This would result immediately -- once all of the contingencies have been met and there is building approval from the planning board -- in between $750,000 to one million in back taxes owed to the township," Greenbaum said.
There also is an environmental tax lien on the property by the state, which is seeking to recoup past clean-up costs, Greenbaum said.
The municipality will hold a sale of the tax certificate, and Target is expected to be the high bidder, Greenbaum said. Once sold, the new owner will pay property taxes from then onward, Greenbaum added.
Geiger referred questions to Target Corp.'s public relations department. That department did not respond Wednesday.
According to its Web site, Target operates more than 1,300 stores, including 34 stores in New Jersey. There are two Target stores in Morris County: East Hanover, on Route 10, and Rockaway Township on Mount Hope Avenue.
Mayor Richard De La Roche said that he would welcome Target to Mount Olive if the environmental and legal issues can be resolved.
"All these things can be worked out, but it's early in the process" to say definitively, he said.
"This would seem to be a good use for it," De La Roche said, regarding the Combe Fill North property. "We always are looking to bring in commercial enterprises."
In February, 2005, Target Corp. presented a concept plan which proposed construction of a single-level, 127,000 square foot store in Sutton Plaza, on Route 206, to the township planning board. That building would've replaced the 55,000 square foot building which formerly housed Ames.
Target Corp. never submitted a site plan to the planning board for approval.
Flanders resident Don Markey, who opposed construction of Target in Sutton Plaza, said that building the store on the Combe Fill site, near the ITC shopping center, is more suitable.
"Our whole goal in Mount Olive is to get more ratables to offset taxes but not ruin the ambiance of the community,"he explained.
"There is a need here (for retail such as Target), but they have to be put in the proper place," he added. "What better than a large corporation coming in, taking unusable land, and turning it back into usable space that benefits the community?"
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