Howell To Consider Rural Estate Zone For Victory Road In January

HOWELL, NJ — The last Township Council meeting of the year, as promised, saw the adoption of ordinances modifying certain zoning changes - with the exception of one ordinance that would have allowed warehouses on Victory Road as a conditional use.

Instead, there are plans to introduce an ordinance in January that would change Victory Road to ARE-6, or Agricultural Rural Estate, 6-acre lot.

An ordinance introduced in October proposed changing the entire SED (Special Economic Development) zone near Oak Glen Road, Victory Road and County Route 547 to SED-1.

SED-1 would have still permitted warehousing as a conditional use as well as many other commercial/industrial uses, Community Development Director Matt Howard has said previously. But this change would have helped "avoid creating nonconforming uses" within the zone.

The four members of the Council at the meeting however, unanimously voted to reject the ordinance. (Mayor Theresa Berger was not in attendance).

Instead, an ordinance keeping most of the parcels in the area as SED-1 but separating out parcels on Victory Road to be zoned ARE-6 (Agricultural Rural Estate) will be introduced in January.

The rejection of the ordinance - with the hoped-for change to ARE - was met with applause from the audience, as many of the attendees are residents of the Victory Road area hoping to control warehouse development there.

One resident, Betty Velez, presented the Council with a map of the area, showing farms, non-manufacturing businesses and other use - all, she said, not compatible with warehouses.

"We are very pleased with the Council's decision to rezone the SED lots to ARE6 in the New Year," Velez said in a statement after the meeting.

She presented the map at the meeting as a visual aid, she said.

"Due to the complexity of zoning, we felt a visual aid would be beneficial to all and serve as evidence of the rural nature of Victory Road," she said, adding that both Howell and Monmouth County sources were used to develop the map.

The governing body is expected to introduce the new ordinance for the area (all SED-1, except Victory Road going to ARE-6), at its next regular meeting after the Jan. 2 reorganization meeting of the Township Council.

The introduction of that and several other ordinances relating to farm uses is expected to be introduced at the second meeting in January, Howard said.

The ordinance introductions had to be postponed to January after the Nov. 28 meeting was cancelled for lack of a quorum. Ordinances can not, under state law, be introduced in one year and adopted in the next.

See this past Patch article for a full story about the land use ordinances, including those now to be introduced in January.

Regarding the existing application for the AAVRHW Property - or Victory Road, plans call for a 203,802-square-foot structure with 25 loading dock spaces, two drive ramps, 68 trailer parking spaces, as well as 73 passenger vehicle parking spaces, according to the application.

That application is grandfathered in and will not be affected by any potential zone change, officials - and residents - have noted.

The developers of the site are meeting resistance from residents opposed to the "mega-warehouse." Ten residents in the area have hired an attorney to rebut traffic and engineering experts for the developer.

There is not a specific date as yet for the next discussion of the application, but residents should check the Jan. 4 Planning Board agenda when that is posted, the staff said, to see when the project is next expected to before the board.

The matter was first scheduled before the board in November 2022 and has had many continuations, although there also has been past testimony and many exhibits and site plan drawings submitted for various aspects of the project. You can refer to the Planning Board agenda to links to the exhibits, including a rendering of the proposed building.

Residents say the warehouse, among other issues, will endanger road safety and create storm water runoff problems and affect the quality of life in an area of private homes. Some houses in the area are rural, on several acres of land, and farms in the area include horse farms, produce farms and even an alpaca farm.

Note: This story has been updated with a map and additional comments from resident Betty Velez.