Residents still plan to fight
altered Wendy’s proposal
By sandi carpello
Staff Writer
MILLTOWN — Despite Wendy’s recent modifications to its proposed store on Ryders Lane, several area residents say they remain determined to stop the fast-food restaurant from being built.
"They are trying to appease us," said Pat Hudak, of Leonard Drive, who resides approximately 50 feet from the proposed site at Ryders Lane and Blueberry Drive. "It’s just not appropriate" to allow a fast-food restaurant on the site, she said.
On Jan. 9, Wendy’s is scheduled to appear before the Zoning Board of Adjustment in its request for a use variance enabling it to build a restaurant on what has long been the site of the Ryders Lane Farm Market. The owners of the market, members of the Broxmeyer family, are hoping to sell the property to Wendy’s and close their business after a half-century of operation.
The Wendy’s proposal has been mired in controversy since last summer, as many residents fought the company’s previous application before the Planning Board. Before the board could conclude the application process, the Borough Council adopted a zoning amendment that prohibited fast-food restaurants from being built on sites that are partially located in a residential zone, such as the one in question. The council’s vote means that Wendy’s now needs a use variance from the zoning board.
Wendy’s wants to build a 72-seat establishment with a drive-up window on a site that is located mostly in the borough’s highway strip commercial zone. A small portion at the rear of the property is in a single-family residential zone.
In revising its plans for the zoning board, Wendy’s has shrunk the proposed building footprint from 3,140 to 2,278 square feet, and would leave the entire strip of property in the residential zone as open space, but with increased plantings to create a greater buffer between the residences and the restaurant.
"The Wendy’s lot will be virtually invisible to the adjoining residential properties between Hye Court and Blueberry Drive," according to a rider to the application.
With the exception of a design waver needed from the board regarding one parking stall, the proposal "conforms in all respects to the borough ordinances," according to the documents, provided by Wendy’s attorney Henry Kent-Smith, of Saul Ewing in Princeton.
The fast-food restaurant is permitted in the highway commercial zone and meets the intent of the borough’s master plan to allow for positive tax ratables along Ryders Lane, the documents state, noting that the Wendy’s would be located next to an existing Taco Bell restaurant.
However, nine residents from the Blueberry Drive vicinity, along with Milltown Environmental Commission Chairman Alan Godber and Vice Chairman Michael Shakarjian said during a recent meeting at Borough Hall that they remain dissatisfied with the modifications and are working on strategies to keep the Wendy’s out.
The residents are holding weekly meetings, familiarizing themselves with the site plan, and preparing to make a strong presentation before the zoning board. The residents argue that bringing a fast-food establishment into the neighborhood will bring in unwanted odors and possibly rodents, spillover lighting, more traffic and will present a safety hazard.
"We have had so many accidents [in that area] over the years," said Hudak, who has resided in the area for 36 years.
Hudak also noted that having other eating establishments in the vicinity has resulted in an enormous amount of debris being left in the area.
"We get trash from everybody," she said. The proposed site has always been owned by the Broxmeyer family. Its main operator, Joe Broxmeyer, plans to retire upon selling the site to Wendy’s.
"We are not against Joe Broxmeyer," said Hudak, who along with other residents emphasized that they would be open to allowing other uses on the site, such as an office building or a bank.
Yet, in listing specific grounds for variance relief, Kent-Smith argued that denying Wendy’s the use-variance would result in "practical difficulties" incongruous with the borough’s master plan. Several constraints with the Broxmeyer property include a significant grade that drops almost 11 feet from the rear portion of the property. Due to the amount of grading involved to allow the property to be developed, this condition imposes significant constraints and inhibits development of the Broxmeyer property for residential or commercial use.
"The applicant is ready, willing, able and committed to undertake this significant expense in order to provide for a conforming development on the property," said Smith.
The applicant will testify before the borough’s zoning board Jan. 9 at 8 p.m.