By: Cynthia Koons
WASHINGTON If adopted in its current form, the township’s revised Planned Commercial Development Ordinance will allow more warehousing development in the area surrounding the Northeast Business and Matrix warehouse parks in Washington Township.
Introduced by the Township Committee on April 8, the ordinance was initially scheduled for a formal public hearing on March 27, but the hearing was tabled so the Planning Board could make revisions to the ordinance. A public hearing is now scheduled for May 22.
Township Administrator Jack West said the revisions were nominal and did not change its content. The purpose of the ordinance, he said, is to allow warehouse development without requiring a General Development Plan (GDP). Currently, developers interested in building any warehouses on plots of 350 or more acres are required to secure a GDP approval first.
He said these changes would allow for some flexibility in the development of that region because there are small parcels of land that fall between the warehouse parks that are already under construction.
This revised ordinance also would allow warehouses on less than 350 acres of land, he said.
"We have several acres that are not part of Matrix that are less than 350 acres," he said. "It gives those parcels more flexibility to develop."
The ordinance encourages more developers to build in Washington Township, he said. A few companies have already expressed interest in those properties, he added.
In Washington Township, attracting commercial ratables to offset the municipal tax burden is an initiative to which the Township Committee has been dedicated. Taxpayers are financing a $50 million high school construction project. In February and April, both the fire and school budgets were defeated in the public vote.
Members of the public did not speak out against the revised ordinance following its introduction at last week’s Township Committee meeting, Mr. West said. A public hearing on the ordinance will be held at the next committee meeting on May 22.
"The substantive intent of the (ordinance revision) did not change," he said.
In the area, he said, there are still hundreds of developable acres. Changes to the setback standards and architectural guidelines also are being considered.

