Franklin Township adopts stricter limits on warehouses in business-industrial zone; ordinance passes 6–3

Franklin Township’s Council adopted Ordinance 457-26 on June 9, 2026, tightening rules for warehouse and light-industrial development in the township’s business-industrial (BI) zone after an extended public hearing that drew residents, planning consultants, and developers’ representatives.

The ordinance, passed on a 6–3 roll-call vote, restricts future warehouse approvals by limiting allowable warehouse development to lower-intensity sites near major interchanges and by prohibiting warehouses within 500 feet of residential zone boundaries. Council members Embarrison, Francois, Deputy Mayor Karazzi, Mayor Kramer, Oni Jaka and Singh voted yes; Councilwoman Udine, Councilman Vasanella and Councilman Wright voted no.

Why it mattered: supporters said the ordinance sets guardrails to curb the recent wave of large warehouse projects that they said have increased truck traffic, noise and congestion near neighborhoods. “The ordinance accomplishes that,” resident advocate Dave Robinson told the council, summarizing a multi-year pattern of approvals and arguing that stricter conditional standards are needed to protect residential areas.

Opponents — including attorneys and planners for multiple developers—called the measure arbitrary and legally vulnerable. Attorney John Kaplan told the council the ordinance’s one-road-mile-from-I-287 requirement and other location-based rules could create inconsistent nonconforming conditions across otherwise similar properties. “Such a restriction will put two properties on the same block in the same zone subject to different zoning restrictions,” Kaplan said, urging the council to reconsider the distance-based test and the outright ban on data centers.

Council and consultant view: the town’s planning consultant told the council the revised ordinance is generally consistent with the master-plan re-examination and, in some respects, more restrictive, adding oversight such as requiring truck-route plans as part of site-plan review. The consultant described the measures as intended to "minimize traffic, noise and air quality impacts of light industrial uses" by applying standards for size, location and intensity.

Key provisions and numbers cited in the hearing: the draft restricts individual warehouses to a 150,000-square-foot cap in many cases and applies a 500-foot buffer from residential zones; public commenters said that 7.8 million square feet of warehouse space was approved between 2018 and 2023 (a figure cited by residents during the hearing) and urged the council to be mindful of cumulative buildout. Several commenters also urged revisiting permitted loading-dock counts and truck-trip estimates, arguing current ratios could allow significant truck operations per building.

Legal and procedural context: developers’ representatives warned the council that prior township measures affecting warehouses have been the subject of litigation and that this ordinance could face legal challenges as well. The council majority said the ordinance balances community concerns and planning goals while leaving open further refinement in subsequent master-plan work.

Next steps: Ordinance 457-26 takes effect according to the statutory schedule for local ordinances; the council also scheduled additional master-plan and land-development housekeeping ordinances for first reading and public hearings in coming weeks. Residents and developers advised at the meeting that implementation will proceed through site-plan and zoning-board processes that remain subject to review and possible legal challenge.

Vote tally and final procedural note: the ordinance passed 6–3 in a roll-call vote; the council then moved on to introduce several first-reading ordinances on planning fees, open-space acquisition and other matters.