Route 70 Wawa Application Denied Approval By Brick Zoning Board

BRICK, NJ — It took 16 hours, but after sitting through all the testimony, questions and in some cases, arguments, residents of Lake Riviera got the result they had been hoping for: the application to build a Wawa at Route 70 and Duquesne Boulevard was denied approval.

Shortly after 11 p.m. Wednesday, the Brick Township Board of Adjustment voted 4-3 — four in favor, three against — on the application by Brick 70 Developers, and Paramount Realty Group, to build a Wawa with 12 fuel pumps and an unspecified quick-service restaurant on the site.

Because the application was for a use variance — necessary because portions of the site were in an office-professional zone and a residential zone — the application required a supermajority of five yes votes for approval. As the role-call vote was taken, residents held their breath. Dawn Marie White, Stephen Leitner, Carl Anderson and board chairman Harvey Langer voted yes, while David Chadwick, Mike Jamnik and Louis Sorrentino voted no. But it wasn't until Langer announced the application had been denied that people exhaled. Some thanked the board, some clapped briefly. But the feeling seemed to be one of relief more than celebration.

"That was worth the wait," said one woman as she walked out after the vote.

The majority of the night was spent hearing public comment and questions on the application, and the vast majority expressed concerns about the potential impact of having the Wawa at that corner on what most said is a horrendous traffic situation already on Duquesne Boulevard and North Lake Shore Drive.

Bob Troisi of Winding Way, the last resident to speak, said he has lived in Lake Riviera for 40 years, and remembers when a number of the roads in the development were still dirt. The traffic has grown steadily worse, and would "bottleneck people in" if the application had been approved. "It seems like you're picking on (the people who live in Lake Riviera)," he said.

Promises from Paramount and Brick 70 Developers to construct a third lane eastbound on Route 70 in the area were brushed of by the residents who spoke, many of whom felt the third lane simply wasn't the answer to the traffic they expected would result.

"It shouldn't be used as a bargaining chip," Andrea Booker of Tennessee Drive said.

"The third lane is not a panacea," said Edwin Trainor of Winding Way.

The third lane was something the developer expected would be ordered by the state Department of Transportation in its application. Traffic engineer John Rea had testified at length about the third lane, saying not only was it something he expected would be required, but it there was some question as to whether it was supposed to be constructed at the time the Costco was built.

Others told the board that the Wawa would simply exacerbate an existing problem of motorists cutting through the development to avoid traffic and traffic lights. One resident said he routinely avoids five traffic lights by cutting through the development to make his morning drive less frustrating.

John Jackson, the attorney for the developer, had urged the board to approve the application, saying the developer's experts had testified that the project would have benefits for the entire community, including jobs and property tax revenue for the township. He also pointed out that the developer had made a number of concessions, turning the North Lake Shore Drive access to an entrance only, adding a sound wall, adding extra trees and even volunteering to put trees on a neighboring property. "We aren't fracturing a property," he said, noting the property included two lots that weren't suited to their zones. "We're filling a gap."

But three members of the board did not see it that way.

Photo by Karen Wall