Bill > S1564

Introduced Session

The development of industrial-scale warehousing for goods storage and distribution has undergone rapid change in recent years, which has caused the State Planning Commission to adopt Distribution Warehousing and Goods Movement Guidelines for the purpose of providing municipalities with guidance to follow in the siting of warehouses. Previous warehouse types used to be a less conspicuous land use, often limited to industrial parks in peripheral areas. Distribution warehouses that are being developed currently are significantly larger than previous warehouse types, and their development has often imposed detrimental externalities on adjacent municipalities and residential neighborhoods. While recognizing that the development of distribution warehouses is of Statewide economic importance, the State will benefit from greater consistency and coordination in the decision-making that leads to warehouse development approvals. Under current law, every planning board that has adopted a master plan is required to reexamine its master plan at least every 10 years. This bill would require each planning board's reexamination report to set forth the planning board's recommendations concerning locations appropriate for the development of warehouses, and would require the recommendations to be consistent and compatible with the State Development and Redevelopment Plan, and with the most recent warehouse siting guidance policy adopted by the State Planning Commission.

Committee Categories

Shirley Turner (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee (on 01/09/2024)

Official Document