Hillsborough's Warehouse Fight, Explained: The Ordinance, the Denials and the Lawsuits

What happened, in brief

Starting around 2021, developers proposed large warehouses across Hillsborough. The township’s response came in three parts: the Planning Board denied the biggest applications; the Township Committee changed the zoning to stop new warehouses; and, when owners sued, the township settled the zoning suits by allowing a narrow kind of small-scale storage. One large denial, Homestead Road, is still being challenged in court. Several of the warehouse landowners now appear in the township’s affordable-housing case instead.

The ordinance: what changed in 2023

On June 13, 2023 the Township Committee adopted Ordinance 2023-08. It removed “warehousing, shipping and receiving facilities” as a permitted principal use in the I-1, I-2 and I-3 Light Industrial districts, the GI General Industrial district and the LI Light Industrial district.

The lawsuits over the ordinance, and how they were settled

Owners of industrial property sued to overturn the ordinance.

The Larken companies (eight LLCs, among them Larken Self Storage) sued on July 31, 2023, according to Patch. The Committee authorized a settlement on September 24, 2024. On January 23, 2025 the Planning Board adopted a master plan amendment, “Light Industrial District Small Scale Logistics Facilities”, and on February 25, 2025 the Committee adopted an ordinance allowing small-scale logistics in the LI district. Patch reported a limit of 41,000 sq ft and 35 feet in height.
Hillsborough Industrial, LLC, which owns developed properties in the I-2 district, sued in January 2025 (docket SOM-L-0070-25). On November 25, 2025 the Committee authorized a settlement, and the parties signed it on December 5, 2025. The township agreed to amend its zoning so that Hillsborough Industrial’s existing buildings and uses would conform.

That second settlement became Ordinance 2026-01. It was introduced unanimously on January 27, 2026, found consistent with the master plan by the Planning Board on February 5, and adopted after a public hearing on February 24, 2026. It:

defines “small scale storage and distribution”: no more than 25,000 sq ft of floor area per building, mainly for storing goods inside an enclosed building, with “low daily trip generation, infrequent truck traffic, and the absence of continuous shipping, receiving, or order fulfillment activities”, and no trailer parking except at the loading dock;
permits that use, and manufacturing done entirely inside an enclosed building, in the I-1, I-2 and I-3 districts;
caps loading docks at one per 5,000 sq ft.

At the hearing the township planner said the ordinance “does not permit data centers in these zones” and limits an existing user’s ability to substantially change its size or use. The township attorney said “the settlement was specifically this ordinance.”

“Warehouse Ordinance Litigation” was still listed for the Committee’s closed session on September 22, 2026, so at least one suit over the ordinance appears to remain open. The public record does not say which. MyCentralJersey reported in October 2024 that suits by Hillsborough RB, Homestead Road LLC and Valley Industrial were continuing.

The big applications

Harvard Way (JMJ4, also called Redcom). A 107,366 sq ft warehouse at 3 Harvard Way, off Route 206 and beside the Green Hills community, in the I-3 zone.

The Planning Board denied it on October 13, 2022, with a resolution on November 10, 2022.
The developer sued in Somerset County Superior Court on December 22, 2022, according to MyCentralJersey, which reported that the complaint said a federal suit would follow.
On February 4, 2025 Judge William G. Mennen sent the case back to the Planning Board on limited stormwater issues rather than overturning the denial.
On December 4, 2025, after hearing the remand, the Board voted 5–0 to affirm its denial. The reasons in the minutes include soil classification and infiltration testing, the lack of a witness to testify on the state environmental permits, and the unknown tenant. The Board adopted its written resolution on February 5, 2026.
Whether the developer went back to court after that is not in the public record.

Homestead Road LLC. Two warehouses of 168,304 and 368,995 sq ft plus a 6,000 sq ft office, 543,299 sq ft in all, at 189 and 203 Homestead Road.

After about three years of hearings, the Planning Board denied it unanimously on September 4, 2025. One Patch report gives September 3. Reasons reported include building height, traffic, noise, stormwater and truck routes onto Route 206.
The Board adopted its written resolution on October 9, 2025, by 5–0.
On December 1, 2025 Homestead Road LLC filed suit in Somerset County Superior Court, asking the court to overturn the denial and approve the application, according to Patch.
Stop Warehouses and Trucks, a residents’ group, announced that a motion by it and other groups to join the case was scheduled for oral argument on March 31, 2026. LocalWhy has not found the outcome, and the docket number is not public.

303 Amwell Road (JMJ4 Abeel). An 80,000 sq ft industrial building. In 2023 the township agreed to buy this site and 1170 Millstone River Road with open-space money to stop the warehouse applications there (see Mindel tract). In December 2025 the Board attorney said the township was “in the process of attempting to acquire” the property. On January 22, 2026 the application was withdrawn: the township planner told the Board the township attorney had informed them that the property had been acquired, “deed in hand”.

Weston Road, Route 206 and Valley Road. Weston Road LLC also sought a warehouse. Hillsborough RB LLC, which owns 44 acres at Route 206 and Homestead Road, sought a 189,440 sq ft warehouse and a supermarket, and Valley Industrial Partners sought warehouses on New Centre Road and at Valley and Auten Roads, according to MyCentralJersey in 2024.

From warehouses to housing

The warehouse fight and the affordable-housing case now overlap.

The township’s June 2025 affordable-housing plan lists the Homestead Road, LLC property for 398 townhouses and stacked flats, 96 of them affordable. The plan gives the address as 189 and 200 Homestead Road (Block 200.10, Lots 32 and 33).
Hillsborough RB, Valley Industrial Partners and Weston Road are among the twelve parties that challenged the township’s housing plan. On March 10, 2026 the township attorney told the Committee that “Weston Road is interested in putting in inclusionary housing if they can’t get a warehouse approved.”

At the Committee’s April 28, 2026 meeting, residents spoke against settling the Homestead Road case by putting housing on the site, and against rezoning it; on July 28 several residents raised concerns about a possible settlement. No settlement resolution or court filing about the Homestead Road site has been made public. The township attorney said on September 22, 2026 that any settlement agreement will be approved at a public meeting. See Fourth Round housing.

What is not known

The docket number and status of Homestead Road LLC’s suit, including the ruling on the motion to intervene.
Whether Harvard Way returned to court after the February 2026 resolution, and whether a federal suit was ever filed.
Which ordinance suit is still open.
The date of the Weston Road denial.

What residents can do

Speak during hearings, not general comment. The Planning Board’s rules bar “comments regarding warehousing direct or indirect” in its general public-comment period. Comments on a warehouse application belong in the public portion of that application’s hearing.
Watch for rezoning ordinances. Any housing on a former warehouse site would need an ordinance, a Planning Board consistency review and a public hearing at the Committee. Introduced ordinances are posted at Engage Hillsborough.
Check the zoning. Chapter 188 of the township code, Land Use and Development, is online at eCode360.