JACKSON – Members of the Jackson Township Council have adopted an ordinance which adds distribution centers, fulfillment centers and warehouses as permitteds use in the municipality.
The ordinance adds an additional permitted principal use of buildings and structures in the Mixed Use Neighborhood Center/Highway Commercial (MUNC/HC) zone so as to include distribution centers, fulfillment centers and warehouses. The legislation permits the assembly and finishing of materials or products.
Township Council President Andrew Kern, Vice President Martin Flemming, Councilman Alexander Sauickie, Councilman Stephen Chisholm and Councilman Nino Borrelli voted to adopt the ordinance at the Dec. 21 council meetings.
During the public hearing that preceded the council’s vote to adopt the ordinance, resident Jennifer Cusanelli asked about the location of the property that is impacted by the ordinance.
“Is this the property across from Glory’s (food market) that was cleared out? Was this originally the Jackson Twenty-One project?” Cusanelli asked.
“This piece is the piece directly diagonal, where a sales trailer is now backing up to Interstate 195. So it is actually from Cedar Swamp Road/Route 527 and Route 526, then backing up to Interstate 195,” Kern said.
Cusanelli asked if the plan is to place warehouses at that location.
“Originally it was designed in (a legal) settlement for big box retail, and retail of that form as we have seen,” Kern responded. “Throughout the region, not just in New Jersey, not just in Ocean County and nearby, that sort of retail is not something that has been stable, so in order to find something that would be stable and ratable, we are looking at more of the e-commerce retail.”
Cusanelli asked if a development in the vicinity of the site was originally supposed to be housing.
“That was not supposed to be originally housing, that was supposed to be a larger retail complex. There are other portions that are small retail (uses) below housing, below apartments, as it would be in Robbinsville and some areas,” Kern said in response to the resident’s question.
During the same meeting, the council members adopted an ordinance that authorizes the acquisition of property to expand a jughandle turn at Pine Drive and Route 537. The jughandle to be improved is at the border of Jackson and Millstone Township.
The existing jughandle will be removed and an expanded jughandle will be constructed as part of the Adventure Crossing project in Jackson.
Vito Cardinale, who is the developer of Adventure Crossing, will construct the expanded jughandle in accordance with requirements established by Ocean County.