Howell Looks For Improved State Law On Warehouse Development

HOWELL, NJ — The township is asking area legislators to tighten state Municipal Land Use laws regarding warehouse development in the wake of a building boom in the industry.

The resolution urging the action is up for approval on the Township Council agenda for Tuesday's meeting.

It was Sept. 7, 2022 when the New Jersey State Planning Commission Office of Planning Advocacy adopted "Distribution Warehousing and Goods Movement" guidelines.

But the guidelines haven't been adopted yet, the resolution notes.

The Municipal Land Use Law is "lagging far behind the warehouse boom, thereby depriving municipalities of an important tool to guide development," the state observes in the guidelines.

And another warehouse application, this one on Victory Road, was recently heard before the Howell Planning Board on May 4.

"In recent years, industrial-scale warehousing for goods storage and distribution to businesses and retail customers has undergone rapid change with the growth of ecommerce and rising consumer expectations for same-day delivery services," the state noted.

Howell Councilman Fred Gasior said state laws need to tighten up, particularly in terms of traffic impacts.

Right now, he said, the Municipal Land Use Law is outdated in that it doesn't allow municipalities to look beyond ingress and egress at driveways to evaluate traffic impacts of proposed warehouses, for example.

The state guidelines note that "In the past, travel associated with logistics was apportioned to freight, local delivery, and retail traffic, with the “last mile” of fulfillment delivery being a shopper.

The age of online shopping (e-commerce) and direct-to-home shipping service has dramatically changed these relationships, particularly with the advent of online retailers and the decline of brick-and-mortar retail, the guidelines note.

"The continuing evolution of logistics industries will have profound implications on the nexus between land use and the intermodal transportation network for years to come," the guidelines say.

According to a 2021 report by Costar, more than 100 warehouses totaling 26.5 million square feet of rentable space were due to be built in New Jersey over the next three years alone.

Howell's Master Plan last year tightened rules on allowable warehouses.

But some previous applications are under review at this time.

For example, AAVRHW Property, LLC (Victory Road) and Stavola Realty Company as owners are seeking preliminary and final major site plan approval for a 25-dock warehouse on Victory Road.

According to a May 4 board agenda, the application would remove a large portion of the existing woods and construct a 203,802-square-foot warehouse/office building which will consist of 193,802 square feet of of warehouse space and two separate office spaces totaling 10,000 square feet.

Apart from the 25 loading docks, two drive ramps, 68 trailer parking spaces as well as 73 passenger vehicle parking spaces are proposed, according to a description of the project on the Planning Board agenda.

Access will be provided via two new full movement driveways along Victory Road and a 30-foot wide circulation aisle around the eastern, southern and western sides of the building.

The state guidelines, meanwhile, call for improvements to the Municipal Land Use Law regarding warehouse development in general.

"The MLUL is lagging far behind the warehouse boom, thereby depriving municipalities of an important tool to guide development," the state guidelines note.

Local development decisions should be made "in the context of a statewide plan and policy that balances competing needs — including protecting important resources and impacted communities, ensuring economic growth and viability, and meeting industry needs across labor, workforce safety, infrastructure, employee transit, and market needs." the guidelines continue.

And Howell hopes area legislators can bring laws that consider these issues to Trenton.

The Township Council resolution states that the guidelines "envision the regionalization of planning and zoning responses to warehousing, and that statewide issues require statewide solutions."

So the council "respectfully requests that its representatives in the state Legislature begin creating legislative solutions in the context of the Municipal Land Use Law that allow municipalities to better incorporate and enforce the guidelines and to account for real world factors, such as the overall impact of a proposed development on the infrastructure of a municipality."

The resolution up for approval was developed by Councilman Ian Nadel, Gasior said.

It will be forwarded to Gov. Murphy and District 30 legislative representatives, state Sen. Robert W. Singer and Assemblymen Sean T. Kean and Edward H. Thomson.