Northern Burlington CARES was formed when residents found out about the proposed construction of nearly 1.8 million square feet of warehouse and office space on 200 acres of vacant farmland on Florence-Columbus Road in the winter of 2018. Township officials and developers had been working behind the scenes for years with a plan that would jeopardize the quiet and bucolic life enjoyed by residents of a quiet Mansfield neighborhood, as well as significant extra traffic going through Springfield, Bordentown and Florence with hundreds of tractor trailers and employee cars going up and down neighborhood streets 24 hours per day.
In this David vs. Goliath tale that spawned NBCares, a group of motivated locals took action to oppose the plan. Despite the county planning board signing off on what we felt was a completely unsafe and unrealistic set of plans from the developer, hundreds of motivated residents showed up and voiced concerns at the subsequent township planning, zoning and committee meetings, the likes that had never been seen before.
NBCares then spearheaded tremendous efforts of fundraising, mass mailings, flyers, lawn signs, traditional and social media PR, and a lawsuit challenging the validity of the redevelopment zone. Our voices were heard as concerns were raised through public forums, major news outlets, on TV and online through social media.
Two days before what could have been the deciding planning board meeting, the developers admirably reached out to NBCares to negotiate a solution that was good for everyone’s interests. Part of the agreement is that the developer and NBCares will continue to work together to make sure that all interested parties are satisfied with how their project is built.
While 2018 was a great success for NBCares and the residents of Northern Burlington County, in regards to responsible development, we continue to monitor the progress of the developer, VA Florence, and NBI across the street, Amazon down the street, and the many proposed developments in our neighboring towns. The fight is not over- as a matter of fact, where we live- it will likely never be over in our lifetime. We continue to be a watchdog and fight when we must.
This model for advocacy could have never been achieved without people like you donating your time and money to the worthy cause of ensuring responsible development in our community and preserving the quality-of-life valued by our neighbors and friends- Thank you!