Peddler’s Village Development Condemned By NJ Sierra Club

WALL, NJ - After standing idle in an abandoned Atlantic Avenue shopping center for years, the former Peddler’s Village in Wall may be given a new life in the near future - to the opposition of some residents.

Dubbed The Shore, the plan proposes 299 luxury housing units and 101 hotel rooms, with building heights at three stories, as well as office and retail space. While the developer deems the new project “a modern and sophisticated mix-use lifestyle center,” its opponents say it will bring traffic congestion, overdevelopment and crowding to the community.

“Adding almost 300 residential units in arguably the most congested part of Wall is absurd. Again, this is an overdevelopment of this piece of land by a greedy developer,” one commenter responded to a video detailing the proposed plan on Sept. 18.

“There is not one logical plan that could/would eradicate the traffic issues on RT 35 and Atlantic Avenues as both have reached max capacity,” said another user.

Longstanding environmental organization Sierra Club’s New Jersey chapter also recently voiced its concerns over the proposed development slated to take over Peddler’s Village. In a news release, the group cited traffic, air pollution and overdevelopment as reasons to oppose the proposed development.

“Wall Township is moving forward with a damaging and unnecessary redevelopment plan. They want to change the zoning for the former shopping center Peddler’s Village so that they can build a huge complex with apartments, a hotel, and retail space. This development would increase traffic in an area that already has terrible traffic. It is also in the floodplain of Judas Creek,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.

“This project has been stopped for almost two years, but now it is back. It will mean more flooding and pollution, increase traffic, and will change the character of the area forever. This project means more sprawl for Wall.”

Located on Route 524, among some of the busiest roads in Wall, Manasquan and Howell, Peddler’s Village is being eyed as a traffic nightmare by opponents of the new development plans.

The Wall Township Committee originally designated the site as an area in need of redevelopment in July 2018. The original redevelopment plan, which was introduced in early 2019, called for 350 apartments, a hotel with a swimming pool, retail space and office space with four-story buildings. That plan was scrapped last year after residents protested during a committee meeting where members were scheduled to vote on the proposal.

“Wall already has too much overdevelopment, sprawl, and traffic,” said Tittel. “This project will only make things worse. More impervious cover means more stormwater runoff and pollution. Building this project would mean polluting Judas Creek and everything downstream, which includes the Manasquan River. The Wall Township Committee needs to stop this project for good. This project will change the character of the area while bringing in more traffic, more pollution, and costing the town money in infrastructure costs. This project will affect the health and safety of the people of Wall and the environment. It must be stopped.”

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