Planning Board Chairman Sets April 11 as ShopRite Public Comment Date

The Wyckoff Planning Board came one step closer to public comments and a final up or down vote on the application its been hearing for approximately 18 months.

Planners and multiple attorneys from both sides of the debate over whether or not to build a 62,000 square foot ShopRite beside an existing supermarket spent a substantial amount of time at the tail end of the three and a half hour meeting Monday night drawing up plans for meetings straight through the end of June.

At the next planning board meeting on March 14 at 7:30 p.m. planners hope to hear three expert witnesses, which may carry over into a special meeting planned for March 26 at 7 p.m., according to Wyckoff Planning Board Chairman Richard Bonsignore.

"With the time remaining [on March 26] we will have a start with our experts," Bonsignore said.

The regular planning board meeting scheduled for April 11 at 7:30 p.m. would provide the forum for public comments, according to Bonsignore.

"We'll continue with hearing from the public, if we decide, on the next special meeting, which is April 23rd," he added. "And that would be terrific if we could devote the entire evening to public sentiment."

From there board members said it was likely they would use the month of May to receive briefs and hear closing statements, before voting on the application in June.

"So, Mr. Chairman, under your vision the June 13 meeting would be the opportunity for the board to make statements and vote?" asked Mayor Chris DePhillips, who sits on the planning board.

"Yeah," Bonsignore answered.

"It's a vision, I'm not saying it's set in stone, but at that point it would be... 23 months that we're hearing the application."

During the Monday night meeting, attorney Gail Price grilled the applicant's traffic expert Jay Trouthman, and Price and Robert Inglima, attorney for the owner of Boulder Run, Munico Associates, cross-examined Inserra planner . 

The meeting was expected to be one of the final two or three meetings ahead of public comments, which were but .

Yesterday, Wyckoff Patch asked the public if all the testimony and related stories they've been hearing have shifted the needle on public opinion concerning the application. 

Following , and two comments below it seems like many in the community are still divided over issues like traffic, competitive pricing, and the value of having an Inserra property in Wyckoff.

In late November, , 72 percent of respondents believed "The Planning Board should OK the proposal."

Yesterday's unscientific poll revealed that the majority who said the planning board should give the application the green light had grown by 10 percent to 82 percent. 

Where do you stand on the application? Will you speak for or against the application in April? How will you feel if the Wyckoff Planning Board is forced to move the public rap session again? 

Tell us in the comments below.