Howell Council To Hold Hearings On Master Plan Recommendations

HOWELL, NJ — Several ordinances that would regulate development and land use in the township are on the agenda for the Township Council Tuesday night, along with a chance for the public to comment.

The Planning Board recommended changes to the Master Plan, said Matt Howard, Community Development director, "and these ordinances are modifying the overall zoning consistent with those recommendations."

He said the zoning changes proposed impact a variety of uses, not just one. And no zoning change is taking place to prevent, change or eliminate one specific use, he added.

Howard also noted that the ordinances being proposed do not have any bearing on any existing application before the Planning or Zoning Boards. An application is bound by the zoning laws in place at the time of the application submission, Howard said.

Ordinances that change after an application is submitted do not impact that application.

You can read all the ordinances on the agenda, here. The previous Township Council meeting was cancelled, so public hearings are now this Tuesday, Nov. 28. The public portion of the meeting starts at 7 p.m.

Here are some issues coming before the council:

Howard said an ordinance introduced at the last meeting was proposing to change the entire SED (Special Economic Development) zone near Oak Glen Road, Victory Road and County Route 547 to SED-1. SED-1 still permits warehousing as a conditional use as well as many other commercial/industrial uses, he said. But this change would avoid creating nonconforming uses within the zone.

However, he said an ordinance is being introduced similar to this one, keeping most of the parcels to SED-1, however the parcels on Victory Road have been separated out and are proposed to change to ARE-6. (Agricultural Rural Estate)

"The governing body will decide to adopt the first ordinance (changing the whole area to SED-1) or introduce the new ordinance (all SED-1, except Victory Road going to ARE-6). If Council introduces the second ordinance, it will be up for public hearing and adoption on Dec. 12," he said.

There are also several ordinances on the agenda related to farm activities.

These will enable farms to hold special events. In one circumstance, for events smaller than 30 guests, the farm can apply for permits through the Land Use Department of Community Development, Howard said.

For events of 31 people or more, the farm would need to apply for site plan and variance (if needed) approval from the appropriate board.

"We are proposing to make the events with 31 people or more a conditional use, which will dictate whether a use variance is needed or not," he said, adding that for those events, site plan approval will be required.

Howard explained that "one of the main conditions of these approvals is that the property is a bona fide farm with QFARM status. This means farms will need to meet the qualified farm tax assessment criteria including five acres actively tilled or six acres if a house exists, plus the income and time requirement.

"These event permits will not be issued if the property cannot achieve and maintain QFARM status as there is no legitimate tie to a bona fide farm. The separation of QFARM allows the farms these flexibilities while ensuring commercial operations do not have a loophole to occur in residential areas," he said.

Here are the explanations of the ordinances as stated on the agenda.

In all, there are eight ordinances slated for public hearing and adoption:

• An ordinance to create the Highway Development 1 South (HD-1S) zone, listing the permitted, accessory, conditional and prohibited uses.
• An ordinance modifying Article X, Zoning, to add Highway Development 1 South (HD-1S) to the list of zones within the Township.
• An ordinance changing the zoning of parcels located along Route 9 south of Lanes Mill Road from Highway Development 1 (HD-1) to Highway Development 1 South (HD-1S).
• An ordinance changing the zoning of certain parcels within the Township of Howell to Special Economic Development 1 (SED-1).
• An ordinance amending Chapter 188 to modify the definition for banquet facilities and flex space.
• An ordinance modifying Chapter 188, Article XI to provide conditions for flex space uses.
• An ordinance modifying Article X Zones to remove flex use as a permitted use within the Special Economic Development (SED-2) zone.
• An ordinance updating bulk and dimensional requirements for nonresidential zones to provide bulk and dimensional standards for the Highway Development 1 South (HD-1S) zone.

There are seven ordinances to be introduced, with a public hearing Dec. 12, if approved:

• An ordinance amending Schedule II of Section 3.4 and Schedule III of Section 3.6 of Chapter 7 “traffic” on various roadways in Howell Township.
• An ordinance changing the zoning of certain parcels within the Township of Howell to Special Economic Development 1 (SED-1) along County Route 547, Oak Glen Road, County Route 524 and 524A and properties along Victory Road to Agricultural Rural Estate 6 (ARE-6).
• An ordinance amending Chapter 188 Land Use, Article I Title to add a definition for farms, farm related special events, farm related special events (small scale) and farmer’s markets.
• An ordinance to permit small-scale farm events on properties that maintain QFARM assessment with certain rules and regulations.
• An ordinance modifying Article XI to add conditional uses for farm related special events.
• An ordinance modifying Chapter 188-69 and Chapter 188-69.1 to add farm related special events as a conditional use in the ARE-1, ARE-2, ARE-3, ARE-4 and ARE-6 zones.
• An ordinance to add a $50 application fee for permits for Farm Related Special Events (Small Scale) on preserved farms.