Warehouse Use Limited In Bridgewater, Council Introduces Ordinance

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Large-scale warehouse applications have been growing across Somerset County. To get out in front of this, Bridgewater Township Council introduced an ordinance last week to "remove warehouse use" as a permitted use in specific areas of the township.

"In some communities, they are facing these mega warehouses with a million square feet, two million square feet. It is becoming a real issue for some communities," said Mayor Matthew Moench at the Oct. 3 council meeting.

Hillsborough is feeling this impact with multiple warehouse applications being proposed. One proposed application is seeking to build a 107,366-square-foot warehouse in the township off Route 206. The warehouse is roughly the size of 2.3 acres. Read More: Hillsborough Warehouse To 'Drastically Increase' Runoff: Engineer

In Edison, the planning board heard an application for two warehouses totaling 50,650 square feet on a combined 7.794-acre site. Read More: 2 Warehouses Proposed On Commerce Drive South Brunswick

The state is working on putting out some warehouse guidelines but until those are out, Moench said the township wants to get ahead of the issue.

"We don't want to face the same issues as some other communities have faced. So therefore we are suggesting right now to remove warehouse uses as permitted uses in specific zones," said Moench.

However, warehouses that are already in the zones will be grandfathered-in and pending applications for warehouses can not be changed, said Moench.

"We are not saying we will never allow warehouses anywhere but with the right parameters, right bulk standards, right siting standards to make sure that it fits our community," said Moench. "We do not want to have a problem that other communities had with too many or too large warehouses in the wrong area."

Councilman Howard Norgalis agreed with the ordinance.

"I certainly think this is good zoning and should be incorporated into our master plan," said Norgalis.

The ordinance itself, which was unanimously passed for first reading, stated that "a preponderance of warehouses would alter the streetscape of the township."

This ordinance would go into effect for M-1, M-1A, M-1B, M-1C, and M-2 zones in the township which are classified as Limited Manufacturing, Manufacturing, and General Manufacturing areas.

A second and final reading of the ordinance will be heard at the Oct. 17 council meeting where the public will have a chance to comment on it.

See the ordinance below:

11d Bridgewater Warehouse Ordinance by Alexis Tarrazi on Scribd

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