A zoning designation for the area of Jackson near Joint Base McGuire-Dix- Lakehurst was approved by the Township Council on Aug. 12, marking the end of nearly five years of negotiations on the issue.
Having received recommendations from the Planning Board to move forward with the designation, the council said the new JB MDL RGC-3 zone will bring new developments to the area of Jackson that abuts the federal military installation.
“Long story short, this ordinance … increases our potential for commercial properties there, it is safer with the air restrictions in place from the base and it gives us what we asked for, making the area more consistent with the master plan,” Councilman Kenneth Bressi said.
Bressi said the new zoning designation was the product of talks among township officials, military representatives and the Pinelands Commission following the most recent updates to Jackson’s master plan.
A municipality’s master plan guides the community’s growth and development.
“When we were working with the new master plan, we developed an area with the [military] to change land use in the area,” Bressi said. “We had a huge meeting … and we asked [the Pinelands Commission] to help change the zone to [accommodate] commercial.” Following that request, Bressi said, the commission nearly ratified the change right away. However, requests from the township to also add residential consideration to the zone after the fact slowed discussions.
Finally, after years of discussion, the changes were approved by all parties.
According to the ordinance, permitted industrial and commercial uses in the JB MDL RGC-3 zone will include municipal and public buildings, high technology and research facilities with nonhazardous research, industrial research and manufacturing flex-space facilities with the nonhazardous temporary or long-term needs of the joint base, office facilities, food processing and other industries, research and testing laboratories, goods and product warehouses, product fabrication facilities and other permissible industries.
Single-family residential uses are permitted in the zone as long as they conform to existing zoning requirements.
Conditional uses established by the ordinance include hotels or motels, public utilities, veterinary clinics or hospitals, mini-storage facilities, industrial parks with a total area of at least 20 acres, cemeteries and mausoleums, commercial recreation activities and solar energy facilities. Industries that are inconsistent with the previously mentioned requirements may be conditionally approved for the zone as long as they do not cause pollutants to contaminate the surrounding area.
The ordinance sets guidelines for the use of Pinelands Development credits.
Bressi said the ordinance ultimately meant Jackson would not need to remap or rework its existing master plan, keeping the zone in line with township requirements.
“There have been negotiations and this new agreement is good for whatever the [Pinelands Commission] needs and it is also good for the township,” he said. “It is really a big difference working with the Pinelands Commission now than it was 10 years ago.”