Roxbury residents to be asked for input on 1,200-acre tract

By Matt Manochio, Daily Record

ROXBURY -- Hercules Inc. recently hired Zogby International to poll township residents about what development, if any, they would like to see at the former gunpowder plant site.

"It's just part of an overall due diligence process that we're going through," said John Riley, director of public affairs for Hercules, based in Wilmington, Del.

"We thought it was very important to get community input."

Riley said he'd have to confer with Hercules officials to see if and when the Zogby poll results will be released to the public.

"I haven't discussed it with them yet in terms of the information," Riley said during a recent phone interview.

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"The environmental analysis is ongoing, we're going through market studies, and this survey of the community is one component of it," Riley said.

"This is a long process and this is one step. A lot of them are concurrent. Analysis is one step that's a part of it."

Hercules wants to transform the site, off Howard Boulevard in the Kenvil section of Roxbury, so it can be sold and safely used. Manufacturing operations ceased at the gunpowder plant in 1996. While only one of the facility's 300 buildings remain standing, substantial work remains. The entire property consists of 1,200 acres.

The property was rezoned for light industrial use in 2000. Its zoning now calls for something similar to the buildings and stores at the International Trade Center in Mount Olive.

Current zoning calls for some warehousing, office space, and possibly a hotel.

The Hercules site is undergoing remediation, a process that likely will take a long time, as will any future development.

Riley said he would like to give Roxbury officials an update on Hercules' plans later this year.

"I don't have a time table, but in the coming months," Riley said.

Township manager Christopher Raths said he was aware of the Zogby survey, and said he'd welcome another visit from the company.

"We're always open to meet with Hercules," he said. "We've always expressed a desire to work together within the current zoning."

Raths said the site still is being cleaned, as it has been for years.

"They still have a long way to go with the process," he said.

Roxbury and Hercules officials worked together early last year to request that the state planning commission classify 498 acres of the Hercules property as suitable for redevelopment, which the commission eventually did. Prior to the township's request, 298 acres of land were classified as developable.

The state allowed municipalities last year to resubmit data to update the state planning map.

"We support the cleanup of this brownfield site and believe the map change will allow them to reclaim the site for future use," said state Department of Community Affairs spokesman E.J. Miranda.

In addition to Hercules working with the township, Roxbury officials expect to have a memorial plaque in place by Sept. 12 at Horseshoe Lake to commemorate the 65th anniversary of a plant explosion that killed 51 people in 1940.

All 51 names of those who died in 1940 will be listed on the plaque, with an additional 26 names of Hercules employees who died at the plant from 1917 to 1967.