Safety Concerns Raised Over Finderne Avenue Gas Station Expansion Proposal

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — A proposal to expand a gas station off Finderne Avenue and add a new food mart in Bridgewater was met with safety concerns.

"I'm concerned for safety. It's my main concern. I've seen two people killed right opposite the gas station," said Anthony Cortese, who lives around the corner on Bridgewater Avenue.

In 2020, a woman crossing Finderne Avenue was fatally hit by two vehicles. In 2022, a 11-year-old Bridgewater girl was fatally hit by a pickup truck while riding her bike in the area.

The Bridgewater Township Zoning Board of Adjustment heard the application by Gurmukh Oil, LLC at its March 25 meeting.

The applicant's attorney, Rob Simon, noted that the property, under a different owner, previously received approval to expand the convenience store from 593 square feet to 1,097 square feet back in 2017.

A building permit was issued in 2019 with the condition that one wall remain standing since the property was non-conforming. During demolition of the store, all four walls of the structure were removed, and a stop work order was issued.

Since that time, a new canopy, new tanks, and new dispensers have been installed on the property. However, the addition was not completed, according to the applicant's Engineer, Tyler Vandervalk.

Now the new owner and applicant is asking to keep the existing approval from 2017 the same, except for the convenience store, where they want to increase the size by 153 square feet to a total of 1,250 square feet.

Zoning Board Chairman Jeffrey Foose noted the property already has a zoning violation and the Township Zoning Officer wrote a letter to the Board alerting them to this.

The letter states, "the area under construction has created a dangerous situation," read Foose at the meeting.

"The Zoning Officer has jurisdiction and he is saying that there’s a dangerous site condition," said Foose. "And you have to be very gentle with this neighborhood. They’ve had tremendous tragedy in the last few years. A little girl was lost, she was hit by a truck. So whenever I hear dangerous situation, I don’t want to create another dangerous situation. And God forbid anything as terrible happens again - I certainly don’t want any hand in that. So we have to address this violation."

Simon agreed to have a safety fence installed on the property the following day to address the issue.

Cortese questioned the applicant about what they would be doing about safety.

"I formally would take my gas can and walk across Finderne Avenue to get gas for my lawn mower. I no longer do that because Finderne Avenue is now a raceway. It’s not what it used to be," said Cortese.

Jeannette Jardine, who lives off Second Street requested that a traffic study be performed for this application.

"Finderne Avenue is one of the most heavily trafficked roads; it's a two-way street across four lanes," said Jardine, who noted that the gas station has an entrance and exit on Finderne Avenue.

Jardine raised concerns if traffic from the gas station backed up on Findene Avenue, causing drivers to cut around on side streets.

"It is these types of situations that back up traffic causing cars that are already going too fast with no lights to cut through these streets at high speeds, putting our children at risk," said Jardine.

The meeting was stopped due to time and the application will continue to be heard at the May 13 Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting at 7 p.m. at the Bridgewater Township Municipal Building at 100 Commons Way, Bridgewater.

To view the full application click here.

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