MIDDLESEX TWP — The owner of a mulch production company is challenging a cease-and-desist order placed on his business by the township.

In the order, Middlesex Township supervisors demanded Kory Wood's company stop producing mulch at its building at the intersection of Route 8 and Kilgallen Road.

The business, Endless Summer Supply, first encountered trouble with the township in June after residents complained it allegedly manufactured and dyed mulch on-site.

Earlier in the year, the state's Department of Environmental Protection visited the company after complaints from neighbors.

A January complaint prompted the DEP to investigate the supposed dyeing of mulch, but an investigator saw no evidence of equipment or materials to do so, determining that Endless Summer Supply purchases dyed mulch from elsewhere and transports it to the facility.

A May complaint alleged there were “giant plumes” of “acrid black smoke” from a “massive burning of toxic materials.” But a DEP investigator found a burn barrel with ash, which Wood said was from burned office paper.

Wood removed the barrel and agreed to stop burning paper, according to the investigator's report. The township's recent order was not related to those past environmental claims.

Instead, solicitor Michael Hnath explained at Wednesday's meeting that the municipality determined the manufacturing of mulch was not permitted in that zoning district.

Township manager Travis Cavanaugh was unavailable for comment all day Thursday. Wood also declined to comment on the pending appeal, but said he doesn't want the results of the order to affect his relationship with customers.

“We love being in Middlesex Township, and we hope to continue doing business in Middlesex Township,” he said.

Development approval

The Crosscreek development received preliminary subdivision plan approval at Wednesday's meeting, paving the way for a 59-house development on 86 acres just off Forsythe Road.

More than one-third of the lots will occupy more than 1 acre. Comments at July's planning commission meeting indicated that wetlands on the property will be undisturbed.

The development is 4 acres smaller than the Middlesex Crossing development at the corner of routes 8 and 228.

New Ordinance

Supervisors passed an ordinance that placed some restrictions on townhouses and expanded development capabilities among the Route 228 corridor zoning district.

Townhouses throughout the township now will be limited to five-family units, down from the previous maximum of eight and will be required to have a minimum lot size of 6,000 square feet for a two-family unit, increasing by 2,000 square feet for each additional unit in the townhouse. Accessory structures are prohibited in residential areas along the corridor's zone.

Additionally, mixed-use developments are now permitted in that zone, and planned shopping centers can be built as a conditional-use building.