Commercial Development in OP-10 Pulled from Ordinance

The corner of Route 9 south and Symmes Drive in Manalapan Township, located in the office park, or OP-10 zone will not be rezoned for commercial development - at least for now.

At last week’s Township Committee meeting, the governing body decided to remove two sections of an ordinance referring to planned commercial development within the OP-10 zone.

According to Mayor Susan Cohen, the Township Committee had to remove these sections of the ordinance since the.

Mayor Cohen said that the governing body felt it was inappropriate to vote on, or make any recommendations about, the Master Plan when the Planning Board decided to pull the OP-10 section of the most recent Master Plan amendment.

Steinert Equities had proposed to construct a 105,000 square foot retail space at the corner of Route 9 and Symmes Drive which would have been set back behind wetlands and not visible from the state highway, according to Planning Board Chairman John McNaboe. A new traffic light and an expansion on Route 9, paid for by Steinert Equities, would have been implemented to accommodate the added traffic at that intersection.

Nevertheless, this proposed retail space is off the table - for now. The two sections of the ordinance referring to OP-10 will be removed and the ordinance will be republished. The public hearing on the ordinance, which refers to the development regulations for the Wilson Avenue, Smithburg, and Millhurst sections of Manalapan, will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 12.