Zoners OK Wawa at Kent Road
By Kathy Baratta
Staff Writer
HOWELL — Final zoning board approval has been given to Wawa Inc. to construct a 5,000-square-foot store and two gas pump islands with a canopy on 15.9 acres at the intersection of Route 9 and Kent Road.
A use variance was necessary because the property is within 1,000 feet of the Southard School.
Attorney Gerald Sonnenblick of Freehold Township, representing Wawa, observed at an earlier hearing that the ordinance precluding gas stations from being built within 1,000 feet of a school was unnecessary and obsolete.
Fred Heyer, the board’s planner, said Sonnenblick was correct in that the ordinance was "archaic."
When formally introduced in February, the application drew a large contingent of nearby residents who objected to the plan. By the time the final vote was taken on May 16, only a handful of residents opposed to the project were in attendance.
The possibility of groundwater contamination was a source of concern for many people who live in the vicinity of the new store.
In order to alleviate these concerns, one concession made by Wawa representatives in order to obtain the board’s approval calls for the installation of monitoring wells on the property that will keep tabs on the water quality.

