By Anthony V. Coppola, Staff Writer
EAST WINDSOR — The Township Planning Board reviewed a plan this week for a bank, a large restaurant and a two-story office/retail building on a 4.25-acre lot on the south side of Route 130.
And while the board was satisfied with the proposed uses, it wanted a reconfiguration of the proposed layout of the property, including the addition of an outdoor plaza at the center of the complex and improved internal traffic circulation.
The development group plans to return to the board Nov. 3.
The property, owned by D&E Realty, of West Orange, is situated between the Carduners Shopping Center and Town Center Shopping Complex and is the former home of the ShopRite Garden Center and Frank’s Nursery, which would both be demolished.
”It is a prime, prominent site that is highly visible in the township,” Mayor Janice Mironov, a member of the Planning Board, said Tuesday. “Redevelopment of the property allows for the opportunity to provide something that looks really nice and is functional and provides a community focal point.”
That is something that D&E engineer Brett Skapinetz’s site plan was lacking, according to the board; thus the plaza suggestion.
”It should be a place where residents can use amenities such as benches and eat outside if they wish,” Mayor Mironov added.
The recommendation would force D&E to revise its sketch, which includes a Route 130 access road running into the heart of the proposed site.
The multiuse center, as proposed, would have two additional entrances, one from Lanning Boulevard and another via the access road running between the proposed site and the Town Center Shopping Complex. The latter entrances also would be connected by a crossroad that intersects with the Route 130 entrance road.
Board members expressed concern about traffic, most notably D&E’s desire to move the existing Route 130 entrance onto the property about 130 feet north, thus making it closer to the access road between the proposed site and the Town Center Shopping Complex.
”The proposed Route 130 entrance appears to be counterproductive in relation to the existing access road,” Mayor Mironov said at the meeting.
As for potential suitors, the only known tenant for the site is Chase, which would operate a one-story, 4,200-square-foot bank, complete with a 24-hour ATM.
James Lalli, a Chase representative in attendance at Monday’s Planning Board meeting, said the branch would be home to eight to 10 full-time employees and up to two part-time employees.
The bank would be allotted 21 of the site’s 176 proposed parking spaces.
The proposed eatery would be a 5,830-square-foot restaurant with about 220 seats and 88 parking spaces, according to Mr. Skapinetz.
The proposed two-story, 6,000-square-foot office/retail building could house up to four businesses on the ground level, according to architectural diagrams presented at Monday’s meeting. The building would be provided 60 parking spaces, according to Mr. Skapinetz.
D&E plans to utilize 18 existing 25-foot high light posts, something that enthused the board, while adding 12 additional posts. The board did however request a lower power level than the proposed 400-watt fixtures Mr. Skapinetz was proposing.
”Unless you’re bringing in a pro football team your lighting is completely inappropriate,” Mayor Mironov said.
Mr. Skapinetz responded by saying 250-watt fixtures would be used.
D&E also would improve the look of the site through landscaping.
The plan calls for the addition of more than 80 trees, 400 shrubs and an abundance of other miscellaneous plants, according to Mr. Skapinetz.
”We are very pleased to be adding close to 15 percent more green,” he said.
D&E’s attorney, Henry Kent-Smith, expressed a commitment to review the board’s recommendations.
”We certainly will do the best we can to incorporate the ideas presented tonight and work to achieve them to the best of our ability,” he said.

