Light Manufacturing Update

BERNARDS TWP. - A revised version of the controversial plan for a light manufacturing complex on Allen Road, which eliminates a variance cited by the Board of Adjustment in its Nov. 14 vote of denial, is up for a potential board review.

The revision, which is returning to the board as a"request for reconsideration," is the only agenda item at a special board meeting scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, March 13, at town hall on Collyer Lane. The meeting is expected to begin with a closed session in which the board's attorney would discuss the situation with the board.

The applicant, Signature Acquisitions, LLC, of Cranford, sought to replace a recently demolished office building at 150 Allen Road with two buildings having a combined 244,128 square feet, of which three-quarters were to be for light manufacturing use.

The proposal underwent 17 hearings before the Board of Adjustment between May 2023 and Nov. 14, 2024. Hearings drew large crowds of opponents, with70 individuals ultimately urging denial and none advocating approval.

Objectors focused on the project's inclusion of 16 loading docks and a projection that it would generate 84 truck trips in and out per day. The truck traffic was seen as posing a threat to The Hills development to the west and the Fellowship Village retirement community to the east.The board denied the proposal is 6-0 vote. Although light manufacturing was a permitted use at the site at the time, board members cited the potential traffic impact of a variance request to allow a floor area ratio (FAR) of 19.84 percent versus the E-2employment zone limit of 15 percent.

Signature's attorney, John P. Inglesino, subsequently sent a letter to the board dated Dec. 4 in which he sought a "request for reconsideration."He said that "in lieu of litigation," Signature wished to amend the application prior to the board's vote to memorialize its denial. In the process, he said his client would eliminate the FAR variance and "otherwise bring the project into significant conformity with the bulk standards" in the E-2 zone.

In a follow-up letter to the board dated Jan. 8, Inglesino said the revised plans had eliminated all use and bulk variances except those associated with the sole driveway needing to pass through a neighboring lot."As such, we are presenting an 'as of right' application but for the unavoidable" variances associated with the access drive, he said. 

Since the board's Nov. 14 vote of denial, the Township Committee voted on Dec. 23 to adopt an ordinance that abolished light manufacturing as a permitted land use in the township.

On Feb. 5, the Board of Adjustment voted 2-0 to memorialize its denial of the Signature application.

It was not immediately clear how the memorialization vote might affect Signature's request for reconsideration.