Proposed diner slated for intersection of Route 1 and New Road.
By: Joseph Harvie
The Zoning Board of Adjustment is expected to consider whether to allow the construction of a diner at the intersection of the northbound side of Route 1 and New Road, tonight, Thursday.
According to plans on file in the township Planning Department, Dimitrios Dimitrakis, of North Brunswick, is seeking a variance to build the diner in an Office Research Zone at the southern side of the intersection. Office Research zones allow executive offices and high-tech research facilities to be built, but not diners. A variance also is needed to allow the building to be built on the site because the Office Research Zone requires that lots be 3 acres.
The 6,000-square-foot diner is slated to built on a 2.066-acre site.
The property is adjacent to the Office Park zone to the south, a Residential zone to the east and the General Commercial zone across the highway.
Variances are also needed because the building and parking area would be within 100 feet of a residential zone, directly behind the proposed site, and to allow for more than 55 percent of the property to be impervious, 65 percent is proposed.
A variance would also be needed because the building is proposed to be 391.39 feet from Route 1, where 400 feet is required. The diner also is proposed to be built 186.92 feet from New Road, instead of the 300 feet required.
The plans for the diner include two entrances, one on Route 1 north about 400 feet from the intersection of New Road, as well as an entrance on New Road, about 60 feet from the jug-handle on New Road from Route 1, according to the application.
According to a memorandum in the application, police want to restrict left turns out of the New Road exit because of traffic problems that could be created with the jug-handle being so close.
The plans also call for a tree line to be planted and a wooden board-on-board fence to be built along the back of the lot, to block it from the view of residences down New Road, according to the plans. The plans do not call for a 10-foot berm to be built, which is required, so a variance would be needed.

