Route 70 Wawa Zoning Hearing Continued To June In Brick

BRICK, NJ — The Brick Township Board of Adjustment will continue hearing an application to add an access driveway to the Wawa and Panera site on Route 70 at a special meeting in June, board officials said Wednesday night.

The hearing on the application by Brick 70 Developers LLC focused on the engineering aspects of the proposal to add an access driveway at North Lake Shore Drive.

John Jackson, the attorney for the developer, said the intent is to provide access into the site for Lake Riviera residents and for motorists who miss the entrance on Route 70.

"People pull onto Duquesne (Boulevard) looking for an entrance," Jackson said in his opening remarks.

Michael Gallagher, engineer for the developer, said many Wawas are built on corners and have a secondary entrance that isn't on the main road. The entrance from Route 70 is at the westernmost edge of the property, right near the sign.

Gallagher testified that motorists who missed the Route 70 entrance were driving onto North Lake Shore Drive to turn around, and cited exposed dirt on both sides of North Lake Shore near Duquesne Boulevard as evidence of that.

Township planner Tara Paxton and zoning board member Eileen Della Volle challenged Gallagher's statement, however.

Paxton said the developer was supposed to install curbing along the western edge of Duquesne and North Lake Shore, which would inhibit drivers from turning around at the site.

Della Volle, meanwhile, said drivers have been making a U-turn on North Lake Shore for decades, which Paxton said was a result of the configuration of the roads.

Paxton, in response to a question from Della Volle, said that while there are other shopping areas in town designed to keep traffic off main roads that connect to side roads, none have the level of traffic intensity expected to be produced by the Route 70 Wawa and Panera.

Large trucks would not be permitted in or out of the proposed North Lake Shore entrance, but signs highlighting the entrance were not part of the proposal.

The board heard the direct testimony from the traffic engineer, but cross-examination and feedback from the township's traffic engineer on an updated traffic report that was submitted to the board on Tuesday were pushed to the continuation of the hearing, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. June 13, preliminarily at the township's municipal building.

The original application for the Wawa and a quick-service restaurant was rejected in March 2017, with proposed access to North Lake Shore Drive the major sticking point. After some revisions, the amended application by Brick 70 Developers that removed the North Lake Shore Drive access was approved in December 2017.

Ronald Cucchiaro, the attorney for the Board of Adjustment, said the new application makes changes, which is why the zoning board is hearing the proposal.

However, that new application prompted a letter from the state Department of Environmental Protection that says the project may be subject to needed approvals through the Coastal Area Facilities Review Act.

Jackson and Gallagher said that issue remains to be determined.

385 Adamston Road LLC

The application for variances to operate an unspecified retail establishment at the property on Adamston Road that was once the site of a controversial proposal for a medical marijuana dispensary was postponed Wednesday, officials said at the start of the zoning board meeting.

Jackson, who is representing that developer, said the developer was requesting a postponement to an undetermined time. Jackson said there are unspecified issues to be worked out, including some with the township attorney, and he said there may be changes to the application as well.