BERKELEY – Township officials hoped to allow more variety in an already-developed piece of land by the airport but an environmental agency would not approve it.
The Township Council tabled an ordinance that would have changed zoning for the industrial park which is west of the Robert J. Miller Airpark. Tabling it means that it is not going to be acted on right now.
Zoning describes what can be built in a given area. This particular zoning is Forest Area – Light Industrial Zone, and it’s the only part of Berkeley that has this zoning.
At a recent Township Council meeting, Township Planner James Oris said that the Pinelands Commission – which oversees development in the Pinelands area of the state – were “very resistant” to adding any further uses for that property. Town officials were thinking of adding such uses as an athletic center or horse training area.
Mayor John Bacchione said that the land near the airport only has septic, and is not hooked up to sewer pipes. For this reason, the Pinelands Commission doesn’t want any business there that would have a high volume of people. If the septic system fails, it would impact the aquifer.
Berkeley would welcome more businesses to that area, but since it resides in the Pinelands area, development is limited to the regulations of the Pinelands Commission. Businesses allowed there would only have a small number of employees and a limited number of customers, such as a warehouse.
“It’s a great ratable for us. It’s in a great location, but it has to adhere to the laws of the Pinelands,” he said.
The New Jersey Pinelands Commission is an independent state agency that protects forested area throughout New Jersey that amounts to almost 1 million acres.
Paul Leakan, Communications Officer for the NJ Pinelands Commission, said that the approximately 50-acre site was previously approved to develop 19 commercial buildings totaling approximately 500,746 square feet. The first phase of the project has been constructed with the second phase under construction. The uses approved for the 19 buildings (warehouse/offices) are consistent with current zoning.
“It is our understanding that the property owner subsequently requested that the Township permit additional uses within the FA-LI Zone. In response, Berkeley Township drafted Ordinance 24-35-OA and provided a draft to the Pinelands Commission,” he said.
Pinelands Commission staff met with Township representatives in September to discuss the draft ordinance, he said. Commission staff said the new uses, which included such things as sports training facilities, firearm training facilities, and fitness studios, were not consistent with Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan regulations. The proposal was also not consistent with the 1997 settlement agreement between the Commission, Ocean County and Berkeley Township that allowed for establishment of the Forest Area – Light Industrial Zone.
One additional use proposed by the town is “airport support facilities.” This could be added as a permitted or conditional use as long as the definition of that use were limited to light industrial, Leakan said.
Last year, tenants in the industrial park became allowed to allocate up to twenty percent of their floor space for retail sales. This means that businesses that are approved for permitted use in the zone can now also sell retail items, such as flooring, cabinets, plumbing supplies, and other wholesale goods.
The complex consists of several warehouses, which are restricted by the zone as far as permitted uses, such as: light manufacturing, the warehousing and storage of goods and products, excluding the warehousing and storage of hazardous chemicals, and wholesaling and distributing establishments, except for used automobiles.
