Plan For Fast Food Restaurants Near Bloomfield School Sees Pushback

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — A proposal to build Wendy’s and Taco Bell restaurants across the street from an elementary school in Bloomfield is on the table, but it’s seeing pushback from some local residents.

On Tuesday, the Bloomfield Planning Board heard an application from Finomus Bloomfield Re Holdings LLC during its public meeting (watch the video below).

The owner of the property wants to demolish the existing building at 1243 Broad Street – which formerly housed a Friendly’s restaurant – and build a new one that would be home to a Wendy’s and a Taco Bell.

The applicant is seeking preliminary and final major site plan approval, bulk variances and any such other relief as may be required from the zoning ordinance of the Township of Bloomfield. The property is located in a Neighborhood Business B-2 zone, across the street from Brookdale Elementary School.

The planning board is scheduled to discuss the application again at their meeting on Tuesday, May 10.

The proposal is seeing criticism from some residents, who say they’re worried about increased traffic that may impact the safety of nearby children, as well as noise pollution and litter.

A petition on Change.org against the plan has gathered nearly 900 signatures as of Wednesday. It partly reads:

“The strongest impact we can make through this petition is to let the Planning Board know we do not want them to accept the proposed variances for the project: 1) a bigger driveway, 2) bigger signs, and 3) fewer parking lots than required for the seating capacity. At the end of the day a private property owner is allowed to develop their property within the law, but we do not have to bend the rules for them if it is at the detriment of our community.”

Bloomfield Mayor Michael Venezia addressed the issue in a social media post on Monday prior to the planning board meeting. He wrote:

“In regards to the former Friendly's site, let me be clear that as of right now this is a proposal from a private property owner to the township planning board. I and every council member cannot legally comment for or against the project because if the planning board were to deny the project, the property owner has the right to appeal to the mayor and council. So we must adhere to this legal process.”

Venezia continued:

“The site is in the B2 zone which currently allows fast food establishments WITHOUT a drive-thru. Land use law deems a fast food restaurant as anything from a Taco Bell to a pizzeria. I want to reiterate that the property is not town property, and we have no control over what the property owner decides to put forward to the planning board. Township law only allows a restaurant in a B2 zone to stay open from 6 a.m. to 12 a.m., again, with no drive-thru. The planning board will be asking for a detailed traffic study, paid for by the property owner but selected by our planning board. It is my hope the planning board will also execute this study during the height of pickup and dropoff at Brookdale School and also during the evening commute, as to get an accurate sense of what traffic is like during these windows.”

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