HOWELL – An applicant who wants to build a BJ’s Wholesale Club and additional retail space on Route 9 north near Lanes Mill Road is seeking a use variance to permit a portion of the proposed retail center in an Agricultural Rural Estate (ARE) zone where such a use is not permitted.
Testimony on the application filed by Tropicana Commercial Center was presented at a recent meeting of the Howell Zoning Board of Adjustment. The applicant is seeking approval to develop a 281,098-square-foot retail sales center with a fuel service area.
According to a report prepared by John Mallon, the board’s engineer, the proposal calls for a one-story BJ’s Wholesale Club with attached retail sales space to be occupied by multiple tenants.”
The property is on Route 9 north about 650 feet south of Lanes Mill Road and is also contiguous to the south side of Lanes Mill Road. It is in the Highway Development 1 (HD-1) andARE-3 zones, and comprises an area of about 37.5 acres, according to information provided in the report.
The proposed site would include a sixbay fuel service area that is part of the BJ’s Warehouse retail facility. The fuel service area is a permitted conditional use in the HD-1 zone, according toMallon’s report.
There are 1,407 parking spaces proposed for the site. Driveways to the shopping center would be provided on Route 9 and on Lanes Mill Road. One of the two driveways on Lanes Mill Road would only be used by delivery and service vehicles.
The applicant has requested a use variance due to BJ’s Wholesale Club’s mixed operation. Inside the facility will be a tire sales/service area, and other retail sales stores within the same building. Those uses are not permitted in the ARE-3 zone.
Ause variance is also required because part of the BJ’s Wholesale Club roof is 45 feet high and that exceeds the 35-foot maximum height by more than 10 percent, according to Mallon’s report.
Other issues to be addressed include possible disturbance to neighboring residents, the combination of fuel service traffic and patrons, and the potential increase in traffic in the area.
Engineer JohnMeyer, representing the applicant, told the board, “Our client has met with the residents on Castle Court and various revisions have been made to the original plans for the property. We heard their concerns and to the best of our ability have attempted to meet those con- cerns and revise our plans.”
He said the applicant would build an 8-foot-high berm, a 10-foot-tall fence and place evergreen screening on the berm in order to separate the commercial center from the residential area.
Board members Wendell Nanson and Stephen Meier expressed concern about mixing the type of traffic coming to the site.
Nanson said, “I have a real issue with them mixing deliveries with gas traffic, and bringing them in and out the main entrance. You’re asking for a disaster.”
Meier said, “You’re going to have people pulling up in front to load, to drop tanks off … people getting gas, and then to take a tractor-trailer in the middle of that.”
Attorney Gerald Sonnenblick, representing the applicant, responded to their concerns and sought to reassure board members that the executives of BJ’s Wholesale Club know what they are doing.
“BJ’s has over 100 stores. They are here and they are listening to what you have to say. They consider the gas an important element to this particular building … this is what they do,” Sonnenblick said.
The applicant provided testimony from a traffic engineer who said the project would improve conditions at the congested intersection of LanesMill Road and Route 9 north.
Traffic engineer John Rea said, “Our improvements will decrease delays at that intersection. We identified an improvement that is required and necessary at the intersection of [Route 9 and] Lanes Mill Road … We propose to widen the north side of LanesMill. The net effect would be to add an additional westbound throughlane to the intersection.
“One of the major problems is the westbound approach during peak hours; all of that westbound traffic is in a single lane. When we are done with our improvements, the lanes coming through on a westbound direction will significantly decrease the delays,” Rea said.
According to Rea, the average delay on the westbound approach (LanesMill Road to Route 9) during peak hours will be reduced from three minutes to one minute.
Rea said, “Our traffic would be well distributed and there will be multiple ways that people in the township can come in. There are different approaches and departure patterns depending on the time of the day.”
Representatives of the Tropicana Commercial Center are scheduled to resume their appearance before the zoning board on June 16.