Committee agrees to draft zoning amendment to reinstate select light-industrial uses in BC district

The Community Development Committee on July 20 authorized staff to draft a zoning ordinance amendment to the Business Center (BC) district that would add narrowly defined light-industrial uses and other limited commercial activities removed by the July 2024 rezoning. Commissioner Mullen said the draft should proceed to staff for preparation and return to the CDC for review before any advertisement to the public. "I'm okay with us moving ahead to draft the ordinance because, again, it still needs board approval, but I'm okay to get that ordinance drafted," he said.

Township staff and the applicant proposed a compromise list of uses they believe would preserve the district’s character while addressing property owners’ concerns about nonconforming status. Staff recommended restoring small-scale light assembly, contracting shops, limited distribution centers (with size or last-mile constraints), industrial repair shops and solar-energy facilities, and flagged uses they would exclude — for example, slaughterhouses. "We're trying to meet them halfway, so to speak," staff said when describing the recommended changes. The applicant's counsel, Julie Vonts Breckleson, confirmed the request is only to work with staff on a draft: "We're not asking for any approval at this point. We just wanna move it forward, talk to staff, get an ordinance amendment in place, and then allow the board to consider it."

The committee also discussed how restoring uses would affect nonconforming properties, tenant recruitment and financing. Township legal counsel explained there is no fixed statutory timeframe for abandonment of a nonconforming use; determinations depend on the facts and courts' analyses of intent. Staff laid out the planned next steps: circulate a draft in August, bring a revised draft to the CDC in September, request authorization to advertise at the September regular meeting, and hold a public hearing with full-board consideration in October. If the schedule cannot be met, staff said a special meeting may be required to meet the curative-amendment deadline.