Hearing on Foodtown
application put off
Opponents say Millstone doesn’t need a Foodtown
Monday’s meeting of the Zoning Board of Adjustment in Millstone was canceled, leaving scores of bewildered residents in the parking lot of the municipal building.
They had come hoping to speak about their opposition to the proposed 50,000-square-foot Norkus Foodtown Supermarket, for which a use variance is being sought, to be constructed at the intersection of routes 526 and 571.
A notice on the door announced that the meeting had been postponed because the attorney for Millstone Center Associates, Kenneth Pape, neglected to publish legal public notice of the meeting.
Alan Wisniewski of Patterson Lane, who has been instrumental in keeping residents informed of the proposed project and who is vocal in his opposition to it, stood outside the municipal building as his fellow residents arrived and apologized for not being able to communicate the information of the cancellation, which he became aware of last Thursday. More than three dozen people had arrived within the 15 minutes, preceding the 7:30 p.m. meeting time.
"There wasn’t enough time to contact the newspaper," Wisniewski said, adding that he believed this was just a ploy on the part of Pape to avoid dealing with a large crowd of people opposed to the project.
The March 20 Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting when the project was unveiled involved more than three hours of testimony from engineers, planners and attorneys, leaving just 10 minutes for a roomful of residents to voice their opinions.
The area of the proposed project is zoned for Neighborhood Commercial enterprises, meaning that no business can be larger than 4,000 square feet in size. The construction of the supermarket would require a use variance because the building would measure 50,000 square feet.
The property consists of nine acres, and plans call for a supermarket flanked by smaller stores on either side, parking areas for shoppers, parking bays in the rear for trucks, a two-way road leading in and out of the development, and retention basins.
The requirement of a larger septic system is to be approved by the county health department. It will consist of a 6,200-gallon tank for the first phase of construction with the addition of a second tank for the second phase, including the smaller stores flanking the supermarket.
Wisniewski was joined by a number of residents from Patterson Lane, a road in close proximity to the proposed project, in discussing the tremendous amount of harm that could result from approval of this project.
"A supermarket doesn’t belong in the interior of this town," he stated emphatically. Others nodded in agreement as he talked about the probability of increased traffic on side roads, day and night, and the problems generated by having large delivery trucks, motors idling continuously, unloading merchandise around the clock.
A number of residents mentioned the supermarkets in Jackson, Hightstown, Freehold Township, and other neighborhoods within reasonable traveling distance, and stated they could see no reason for having another store sitting in their "backyard."
Residents were told that Michael Pane, attorney for the Zoning Board, should be contacted for information about a new date for the hearing since the board is currently without a secretary.