Meeting moved to next month
By: Stephanie Brown
JAMESBURG Plans by Chase Bank to build a new branch are on hold pending Middlesex County Planning Board approval.
The borough Land Use Board postponed the bank’s Oct. 12 hearing until next month because J.P. Morgan Chase, of Jersey City, did not obtain county approval regarding an access point.
Board members said that while they could grant conditional final site plan approval, if the county does not approve the access point, the bank could have to change its plan dramatically.
"Given the dramatic impact that the county comments will have on this application, we thought that it really wasn’t prudent practice to give approval without first having county approval in place or at least knowing the direction in which (the county) will go," Patrick Connelly, Land Use Board chairman, said Wednesday.
"Without having that, really, we could be approving something that would be substantially different than what the county could recommend."
Proposed plans call for a 5,092-square-foot building to be built at 5 East Railroad Ave. The 1.55-acre site is currently occupied by the former Jonathan’s Grille. Chase intends to tear down the existing structure and build a one-story bank with four drive-through tellers, according to the plans. Plans also call for the bank’s driveway to be realigned with the end of Forsgate Drive.
At a preliminary site plan hearing on Dec. 8, 2005, the board suggested Chase also change the existing traffic light at the intersection of Forsgate Drive and East Railroad Avenue to include traffic exiting the bank.
Since East Railroad is a county road, the driveway realignment and traffic signal change would have to be approved by the Middlesex County Planning Board.
The borough’s Land Use Board granted preliminary approval on the condition that Chase receives approval from the Middlesex County Planning Board.
According to a resolution passed by the board, "it is anticipated that the county will have some input as to the exact alignment of the access to the site due to the unique location of the property."
In the event that the county board proposed a relocation or redesign of the entrance, Chase would have to submit an amended preliminary and final site plan to the borough for approval.
However, at the Land Use Board meeting last week, Chase had not yet received county approval. As a result, the board refused to hear the application.
The board explained that it wouldn’t grant conditional approval like it did with the preliminary site plans because of concerns surrounding the potential for a redesign.
If the county did not agree with the realignment, Chase would have to alter the plans substantially, board chairman Patrick Connelly said.
The board would then have to go through the whole approval process again, because Chase would effectively have a new plan.
"Why spend the board’s time and the applicant’s time discussing something that an outside agent may change," Mr. Connelly said.
Arthur Sypek, the attorney representing Chase, said Wednesday that Chase had submitted an application to the county after the preliminary hearing, but retracted it early this year. He said Chase was unsure whether to leave the design as is or change it.
Mr. Sypek said Chase still hasn’t resubmitted an application to the county, but will most likely do so in a few days.
"Our traffic engineers are looking at that right now to see what the best plan is," he said.

