Ordinance would allow retail in warehouses
By: Joseph Harvie
The Township Council re-introduced an ordinance Tuesday that would allow warehouses to open retail stores in certain parts of township industrial zones.
The revised ordinance limits retail stores to warehouses in I-3 industrial zones that are east of Route 130 and south of Route 522. The stores will also be permitted in the LI-4 light industrial zone, which is the eastern section of the township near its borders with East Brunswick and Monroe.
The stores in the I-3 zone cannot be bigger than 10,000 square feet or 5 percent of a warehouse’s total area, whichever is less, and must be at least 2,500 square feet, according to the ordinance.
The I-3 zone stores can be open to the public from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends, and open to employees between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. seven days a week.
The stores in the LI-4 zone can be 5,000 square feet or 5 percent of the warehouse’s total floor area, but cannot be smaller than 2,500 square feet, according to the ordinance. The LI-4 zone stores can be open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week and can be opened for employees from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. all week.
To be eligible, warehouses in either zone must be at least 50,000 square feet.
The ordinance will be up for public hearing and adoption on Nov. 15.

