Bill > S2843

Introduced Session

This bill requires the State Planning Commission to prepare and adopt model ordinances detailing different regulatory options for the siting of warehouses and permits municipal master plans and zoning ordinances to be consistent and compatible with one or more of those model ordinance's provisions. Innovation within the warehousing sector of the economy has led to the development of very large warehousing facilities on sites that were zoned for smaller, traditional types of warehouses. While these types of developments are of Statewide economic importance, the unanticipated development of large-scale regional warehousing facilities has, at times, resulted in significant negative regional impacts. In order to better inform municipal governments and local planning officials of this problem and possible solutions, the State Planning Commission prepared a warehouse guidance document in September 2022. The State Planning Commission should be commended for preparing and circulating the warehouse guidance document. The guidance notes that municipalities in New Jersey are finding that their communities are particularly vulnerable to poorly sited and scaled warehousing projects after having previously zoned large areas of their communities for "light industrial" land uses, especially with respect to farmland in rural areas. The guidance also notes that public outcry over approved warehouse projects has occurred in instances where the projects largely conform to existing zoning standards. The guidance proposes that in order to systematically address warehouse development, communities should proactively plan for warehouse projects to prevent land-use conflicts that harm residents, other communities, and the environment before they materialize. Proactive planning, as described in the guidance, could allow municipalities to locate large warehouses away from residential neighborhoods, downtown commercial areas and main streets, schools, daycare centers, places of worship, hospitals, overburdened communities, scenic corridors, historic districts, important public and civic outdoor spaces, and recreational facilities. However, in order for a local government to benefit from the State Planning Commission warehouse guidance, the local government should reconsider and revise its master plan and zoning ordinances before it receives a complete application to develop a warehouse. Preparation, adoption, and dissemination of model ordinances will better enable a local government to select the model ordinance, or aspects of several ordinances, most appropriate for the individual community, and enable a local government to quickly update its land use documents to be prepared for receipt of an application to develop a warehouse. This bill requires the Commissioner of Community Affairs (commissioner) to establish within the Office of Local Planning Services a fund for the purpose of reimbursing a municipality for reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in updating the municipality's zoning ordinances pursuant to the bill. A municipality may submit to the commissioner an application, in a form and manner to be determined by the commissioner, for a grant of up to $50,000 for reimbursement. This bill appropriates from the General Fund to the Department of Community Affairs the sum of $5 million for the purposes of administering this fund.

AI Summary

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John McKeon (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee (on 03/04/2024)

Official Document