DRC reports steady development activity; several conditional approvals including 250,000 sq. ft. cold storage
Summary
A county staff member told the Middlesex County Planning Board the Development Review Committee logged 75 applications from June through September and conditionally approved several large projects, including a 250,000-square-foot cold storage facility.
A county staff member summarized Development Review Committee activity and conditional approvals to the Middlesex County Planning Board.
The report showed 75 applications from June through September, including 42 site plans and 14 subdivisions. The staff member compared 2025 to 2024 activity, noting that when extensions are excluded the difference was five fewer applications in the comparable period (56 in 2025 vs. 61 in 2024). The staff said the planning board’s extension policy adopted last year has discouraged long-term extensions.
Highlights of conditional approvals and activity included: - Journeyville Industrial (Journeyville Road, Sarrayville): a borough-sponsored redevelopment proposing a 250,000-square-foot cold storage facility; drainage was tied to a county improvement project on Journey Hill Road that will add sidewalk network connections. - 70 JBM property (Route 9 and Jake Brown Road, Old Branch): proposed commercial shopping center and a small warehouse; the staff noted this was not a county road application and public improvements would be the municipality’s purview. - Oaks (Old Branch): amended application changing unit mix, ultimately proposing 1,056 residential units comprised of townhomes, apartments and quadplexes; some single-family homes are already under construction. - Main Street development (North Brunswick, Route 1): approval of an additional phase that included 122 townhomes.
Staff also reported processing 10 exempt site plans between June and September; those are defined as plans not on county roads with less than one acre of cumulative impervious coverage.
The board moved and seconded to accept the Development Review conditional report; the motion carried with no opposed votes recorded on the transcript.
