Zoning Board Carries Hearing on River Road Shell Station

The Zoning Board of Adjustment heard testimony pertaining to the Shell station at the corner of River Road and Passaic Avenue Tuesday night.

Louis Rago, an attorney for landowner and developer Ali Enterprises, called four witnesses to tell the board why it should allow for new uses on the site. Currently, a Shell gas station that can service eight cars at a time and an unused repair facility sit on the .65 acre lot. Ali Enterprises owner Waseem Chaudhary would keep the gas station and convert the repair facility into a 7-Eleven convenience store and a second-floor office for Ali Enterprises.

Rago said that few gas stations only pump gas and that most have either a retail or repair element attached.

"Repair stations are not the way gas stations are going these days," he said.

John Palus of Dynamic Engineering, a firm retained by Ali Enterprises, described the current use of the land and the projected improvements. Ali Enterprises plans to expand the 1,600 square foot garage to about 2,400 square feet for the convenience store, and add a second floor. The septic system will be removed and the facility connected to the city sewer system. Ali Enterprises will also add shade trees and replace some shrubbery with indigenous species, as per the Summit city forester.

Traffic engineer Betsy Dolan next took the stand to give a traffic assessment. She said currently the peak traffic times for the area are 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. to 5:45 p.m., with an average of about 30 cars passing per hour. Most of the customers make a right turn into the station and a right turn out of the station. Currently, both of the station's driveways allow for left turns out, but Ali Enterprises plans on asking the county to restrict the driveways to right turns only. Dolan thinks the addition of the convenience store will increase the station's traffic volume by 15 - 20 percent.

The board had several misgivings. It immediately stated that approval will be contingent on Union County approving the driveway turn restriction, and board members pointed out that a similar restriction request was denied at Somerset Hills bank on Morris Avenue. Members were also leery of the office; Chaudhary and his brother would be the only people working there, and they would not be there every day, so board members did not think 2,400 square feet of office space was necessary. Ali Enterprise's architecht, Kamlesh Shah, suggested an alternative, and Rago said Chaudhary is willing to be flexible, but the board remained unconvinced.

The Board of Adjustment ultimately decided to carry the hearing to October 18. This will give Union County ample time to respond to the driveway restriction request and for Shah to draw new plans with a smaller office. Chaudhary himself will also take the stand to testify on that date.