Town complies with court
order to OK supermarket
By mark rosman
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — A judge’s decision has led the Planning Board to approve the construction of a 50,000-square-foot supermarket at the Mount’s Corner shopping center, Route 537 and Wemrock Road.
An application filed by Ronardi Freehold Enterprises was approved by the board on May 1 after a July 2001 denial of the application for the supermarket was reversed by state Superior Court Judge Lawrence Lawson, sitting in Freehold.
Ronardi had Planning Board approval for a 30,000-square-foot supermarket and sought permission to expand that structure to 50,000 square feet. In a 6-3 vote in July 2001, the board denied that request; the developer appealed and secured a reversal of the decision.
Ronardi was represented by attorney Gerald Sonnenblick of Freehold Town-ship.
Mayor Raymond Kershaw, who sits on the Planning Board, said the board was concerned with the traffic situation at the corner of Wemrock Road and Route 537 when it originally denied the application for the larger building. He said the traffic at the intersection is "intense" now.
Kershaw said the original plan for the Mount’s Corner retail center indicated that it would be a development of small shops designed in a colonial setting.
"A supermarket is not colonial in nature," the mayor said, adding that board members were also concerned about the tractor-trailers that will be making deliveries to the supermarket.
Over the years that the planned supermarket has been on the table, some residents of the Raintree housing development which borders the Mount’s Corner property have opposed the plan.
At the time the application for the larger supermarket was denied in 2001, Acme was named as the operator of the supermarket. Acme has since announced plans to open a supermarket in the refurbished Ocean Plaza at Route 9 and Elton-Adelphia Road. Kershaw said last week that he believes Acme is still a pending tenant for the Mount’s Corner shopping center.
The 50,000-square-foot building at Mount’s Corner has been approved as a supermarket and if the developer wants to use it for a different retail operation he would have to come back before the board, according to Kershaw.
A resolution memorializing the approval is scheduled to be voted on at the board’s May 15 meeting.
In other action at the Planning Board’s May 1 meeting, the board approved an application filed by Cousins Realty [Laser Save] to demolish the old Wander Inn tavern on Route 33 near the intersection of Kozloski Road and to construct a one-story office/warehouse building and an accessory building. The office/warehouse building will be 24,860 square feet and the accessory building will be 1,000 square feet. A resolution memorializing the approval is scheduled to be voted on at the board’s May 15 meeting.