SEPTEMBER 26, 2025 

PRO PROPOSES AN EXPANSION OF PBURG’s DELAWARE RIVER PARK INSTEAD OF A MAMOUTH WAREHOUSE ON THE 32 ACRES 

Website: proriverview.org 
Email: proriverview@gmail.com 

 DOWNTOWN PHILLIPSBURG’s NEIGHBORHOOD NEEDS AN EXPANDED PARK

The new tree lined entrance in PRO's proposal would be at Howard St./Stockton St., just a few hundred feet from the Mercer St. neighborhood. 

• (FOOTNOTE) The Mercer Street neighborhood has been labeled by the State NJDEP as environmentally overburdened partially because of the lack of trees.

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OFFER TO PURCHASE
The Delaware Riverkeeper Network has reached out to Mike Perucci of the 32-acre property about a possible purchase by a prominent land conservation organization, but the owner flatly turned that offer down

 

• Mike Perucci, the owner, likely believes that they can get more money out of building this massive, unwanted warehouse. However, alternatives are better for our town.

• Specifically, we see an opportunity to increase tourist visitation and quality of life for residents through an expanded park. 

 

Significantly, visitors in the expanded park will be able to directly access the Morris Canal Trail transversing through the expanded Delaware River Park. The trail culminates at the Morris Canal Arch, formerly used to prevent flooding of the inclined plane. It was the portal for getting goods across the Delaware River to the Delaware and Lehigh Canals in Easton and the USA industrial heartland.

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An after dark light show, at the Morris Canal Arch, showcasing historic canal life and the growth of industrial Lehigh Valley is envisioned for tourists.

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ALSO CONSIDER 
This Morris Canal Trail usage would not be possible with a 420,000 square-foot warehouse on this property.

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ALSO NOTE 
The warehouse would have a nearly 55-foot wall along the present border of Delaware River Park. Town Council proponents argue that a warehouse will bring employment to Phillipsburg residents but there already exists in excess of 4,000,000 ft.² of warehouse space in Pburg and Lopatcong with only a handful of jobs for Phillipsburg residents.

 

Proponents also argue that the town would benefit from rateables but we answer that a revitalized downtown would bring more ratables and more jobs than a warehouse

 

PLEASE CONSIDER 
The downtown can be revitalized benefiting from the ecotourism recreational opportunities available on the Delaware River. It will be hurt by a warehouse which will possibly send hundreds of trucks day and night from Rt 22, via New Brunswick Ave. down S. Main St. through neighborhoods to McKeen Street and to Howard Street

To placate the downtown business Community’ when Council voted by 3 to 2 vote to approve a 510,000 square-foot warehouse on Howard Street, Pburg applied to NJDOT and NJDOT has approved P’burg’s application to not allow through truck traffic between McKeen St and Union Square, except for local deliveries. 

 

NO THROUGH TRUCK TRAFFIC ON S MAIN STREET 
Activating this through traffic truck ban along S Main Street is not dependent on the warehouse being built and if implemented will greatly benefit the downtown business environment. The town has to put up signage to begin enforcement. In Union Square, the trucks will be directed to Riverside Way to turn around.

 

Approaching from the north trucks will make a left from South Main Street and a second left onto Mercer Street and return to S. Main towards Rt 22. It’s not clear when the town will put up the needed signage. 

 

INDUSTRIAL USE OF THE SITE

The proposed 32 acre addition to DRP was “an industrial area called Tippett and Wood which was founded in 1868 in Phillipsburg, NJ. They primarily manufactured steel components for water towers and standpipes. It went out of business around 1901”
(Thank you, google) 

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Delaware River Park is currently undergoing an evaluation of possible contamination using US government funds. These 32 acres would also need testing because of its industrial past as Tippett and Wood. 

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RECENT HISTORY OF THE SITE 
Through the 1990’s, Pburg historians focused on locating a Transportation Museum on the site and applied for State Funding. Those plans ended when the acres were purchased in 2006 by Peron who had Council change the zoning to residential. Several approvals were issued by the Land Use Board the next 15 years for varied residential concepts.

 

The town planning for Howard Street area evolved towards recreational / residential because that’s the future prosperity. Consensus was reached that the town economy will thrive best by emphasizing the Wild and Scenic Delaware River instead of a mammoth warehouse or other industrial use.

 

But Peron was not able to sell his approvals for a residential development and in 2020 sought and received approvals for a 510,000 square-foot warehouse by a 3 to 2 vote which included the northern half of Delaware River Park. The loss of the park was a point of contention with the public.

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Litigation by citizens has been ongoing for several years against P’burg Council’s approval of this Howard Street warehouse because a warehouse no longer comported with the zoning required for a mammouth warehouse 

 

The Town Council has supported several iterations of Peron’s warehouse proposals by a vote of 3 in favor and two opposed.

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In 2025, the P’burg Land Use Board unanimously approved a change of the zoning to industrial to accommodate a 420,000 sq foot despite a room full of citizen objectors asking them not to change back to industrial to accommodate a 420,000 square-foot warehouse. 

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Contact: proriverview@gmail.com