Planning board approves Stewart Steel site plan and grants two-space parking variance

The Piscataway Planning Board on a unanimous vote approved preliminary and final site-plan approval for Stewart Steel Protection LLC and granted a two-stall parking variance for the company's proposed galvanic-anode assembly and distribution operation at 61 Ethel Road West.

David Persaud, attorney for the applicant, told the board the company will occupy roughly half of the existing 36,877-square-foot building and will use the site for assembly, packaging and distribution of sacrificial galvanic anodes used to mitigate pipeline corrosion. "We will be occupying approximately 50% of the existing building," Persaud said. He added the operation includes a small manufacturing area of about 800 square feet, and the applicant expects eight on-site employees initially.

Justin Fairchild, the company's director of corporate services, described hours of operation as 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, with occasional Saturdays and about 15 shipments per week. "The vast majority, probably 80 to 85%, is about 27 inches in length and about 40 pounds when fully packaged," Fairchild said when describing typical product size.

Municipal engineer Gregory Oman reviewed the site and explained the parking calculation the applicant used. After re-striping to provide an ADA stall, the site would have 59 stalls; the township parking formula produced a requirement of 61 stalls, creating the two-stall variance request. Oman recommended patching and curb repairs at locations the engineering staff identifies. He also confirmed the applicant has removed containers from parking areas.

Several board members discussed calculation methodology for required parking. One board member concluded that summing fractional requirements cumulatively would yield a requirement of 59 stalls, but the board and applicant agreed it was prudent to resolve any doubt by securing the variance.

Councilwoman Cahill moved to approve application 26PB08/09V, granting the variance from 61 required spaces to 59, and making approval conditional on completing site repairs and restriping in accordance with the municipal engineer's recommendations and removing on-site containers. A second was offered and the motion passed on a roll call with all members voting yes.

The approval includes the conditions discussed on the record: the applicant will meet with the township engineer to identify specific pavement and curb repairs, complete required patching and repaving work, restripe the lot to provide required ADA parking, and remove containers and trailers from parking stalls. The board indicated the applicant must follow the Piscataway staff and Artheon comments it accepted and return to the board with any required follow-up if recommended by engineering staff.

The planning board recorded no public questions during the hearing on this application. The board also noted the applicant will submit a Middlesex County site-plan waiver as required.

The board turned to other items after the vote.