Add detention centers — along with cannabis farms, warehouses and data centers — to the list of facilities not welcome in Frelinghuysen.
Describing it as a “preventive measure,” the township committee last week passed an ordinance that would prohibit publicly or privately owned detention centers within the township. The ban applies to correctional institutions and detention facilities and includes most forms of incarceration.
Holding facilities that are part of a police station are not subject to the ban. Frelinghuysen does not have a police department, having contracted with the New Jersey State Police for coverage. The nearest State Police holding facility is in Hope Township.
“We’re trying to protect the rural character of our community,” said Mayor Kirk Perez. “It’s a concern for a lot of people.”
While there are no known plans to locate any form of detention center in Frelinghuysen, the ordinance is intended to thwart any future plans. The new regulations are in part a response to the plans by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to convert a warehouse in Roxbury into a holding facility for its division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, better known as ICE.
The Roxbury warehouse is one of 11 empty industrial spaces across the United States purchased by the DHS for about $1 billion. The Roxbury facility was snapped up for $129 million and — after being converted to a detention facility — was expected to house up to 1,500 detainees.
Resistance quickly formed in Roxbury with lawsuits filed against DHS by the municipality and the state. Last week, The New York Times reported that DHS is backing off the Roxbury plan although there has been no formal announcement. Gov. Mikie Sherrill said her administration has been told the DHS has abandoned those plans.
Those plans caused widespread concern across many communities, particularly those with vacant warehouses as well as those with vast swaths of vacant land, such as Frelinghuysen.
Perez said no properties in Frelinghuysen are currently zoned to allow detention centers and that the new ordinance adds another layer of defense if such a proposal is ever made.
Numerous other towns across New Jersey have adopted similar measures. Many of the same municipalities have also recently passed restrictions on warehouses and data centers.
It should be noted, however, that while facilities such as warehouses and data centers built by the private sector are largely subject to local zoning regulations, the federal government can claim broad immunity to such restrictions. But federal government agencies frequently choose the path of least resistance, so ordinances such as the one Frelinghuysen passed along with conspicuous opposition can make a particular site less desirable.
Joe brings decades of journalism experience to the Ridge View Echo, covering everything from local school boards to the U.S. Supreme Court. A former National Law Journal editor and Columbia Law School press officer, he now enjoys telling community stories in Blairstown, where he lives with his wife, Rose, and their two dachshunds.
- Joe Phalon, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/joe-phalon-contributing-writer/
- Joe Phalon, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/joe-phalon-contributing-writer/
- Joe Phalon, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/joe-phalon-contributing-writer/
- Joe Phalon, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/joe-phalon-contributing-writer/
