MONALAPAN – The applicant proposes to build a building that will house a warehouse and several smaller facilities on Business Route 33 in Manalapan.
On February 24, members of the Planning Board heard a development application submitted by Mercer Realty Partners. No decision was made on the application that evening.
The application was postponed to a board meeting on March 10 for planning purposes only. Testimony will not be presented tonight. At the same time, the date when the public hearings will be announced will be announced.
Mercer Realty Partners, LLC, is seeking preliminary and final approval of the master plan for commercial development at 51 Route 33, Manalapan. The applicant is represented by lawyer Ronald L. Szymanowitz of Hutt and Shimanowitz, Woodbridge.
The site where the building is offered is adjacent to the intersection of the exit ramp that connects Highway Route 33 to the east and Business Route 33 to the east.
The property is located in the zone of special economic development and the zone of overlapping route 33. The 26-acre tract borders the business highway 33 in the north and the highway 33 in the south.
Access to the building is offered from business route 33, with left and right turns allowed at the entrance. There will be no access to the site from Route 33.
The applicant seeks municipal approval for housing development with flexible facilities, landscaping, lighting, septic tanks, public water connections and stormwater management facilities.
Board members and members The public heard John Kainer, the applicant’s director, who said flexible space was allowed in the area where it was proposed. According to him, there are no tenants in the building now.
Kainer said that regardless of the type of businesses that will eventually occupy the building, “no tenants will be allowed to abuse the building or area. We intend to launch this (website) as a Class A operation. ”
Kainer said the building will have four vacancies: a warehouse of about 220,000 square feet, with about 34 employees in each of the two shifts (7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday; and possibly a noon shift on Saturday); and three facilities of 2,675 square feet, with each tenant having five employees.
Allowed types of tenants – contractor’s offices and shops; wholesale establishments; and establishments for the production, processing, assembly, manufacture, mixing, preparation, cleaning, maintenance, testing or repair of materials, goods or articles, with certain restrictions.
Asked by a board specialist what type of business could cover an area of 2,675 square feet, Kainer said examples could be a wooden shop run by an individual artisan, a printing company or a robotics company.
Evidence has shown that the proposed warehouse will be a place to store products such as tiles, flooring and paint, which will eventually be distributed to wholesalers and retailers, but not to individual end consumers.
Planner Daniel Bloch, from Colliers Engineering and Design, Red Bank, offered testimony regarding the proposed use of the building and said: “I believe that what we offer coincides with the definition of a flexible space settlement and with the master plan of Manalapan. We do not offer a distribution center or a performance center. ”
Bloch said the warehouse is primarily designed to store materials, as identified by Manalapan. He said the distribution center is not allowed to be used in the area where Mercer Realty Partners is proposing to build the building.
During the discussion on flexible space, Ron Cuquier, counsel for the council, informed council members and members of the public that Manalapan’s ruling did not say what flexible space means, but listed certain criteria and that if an applicant met the criteria, flexible space was proposed.
Jennifer Beam, planner of the board of directors, said the Mercer Realty Partners app shows that the building will occupy 97% of warehouse space and 3% for other purposes, but noted that the township ordinance does not require a specific percentage breakdown for flexible premises.
Bim and the applicant’s representatives had long discussed the interest relating to the area of the building.
At one point during the discussion, board member John Castronov said, “I don’t. It can be a small price (the applicant has to pay) to allocate 3% of the total area of the building, not to rent this space, but to comply with the regulation of flexible space ”and just manage the warehouse.
Engineer Rene Anstis, also from Colliers Engineering and Design, testified about specific aspects of the site plan.
In her presentation, Anstis said the site plan offered 123 parking spaces that required 77 parking spaces, as well as 33 loading docks and 37 parking spaces for trailers. There will be full circulation of cars around the building.
Anstis said the berms with landscaping on top are proposed to be added on the facade of Business Route 33 and on part of the stretch along Highway Route 33. She said the proposed building is 49.27 feet high, where 50 feet is allowed.
At 22:30 the testimony for the evening ended. The next date for consideration of the application by Mercer Realty Partners will be determined during the meeting of the Board of Directors on March 10.
