Retail center gets S. Brunswick OK

Business update

By: Davy James – The Packet Group
The South Brunswick Township Planning Board has granted for a retail center and pharmacy to be built at the intersection of Route 27 and Finnegans Lane by developer Riya Finnegans LLC.
The approval of the application, on Aug. 4, ends years of legal wrangling between the township and developer, which originally filed the application in 2003.
The Township Planning Board decision gives preliminary and final site plan approval for a 19,470-square-foot retail center and a 14,564-square-foot pharmacy.
South Brunswick Township came to a settlement agreement with Riya Finnegans LLC, of the township, a few months ago that will provide residents adjacent to the parcel of land with a buffer between their homes and the facility that will be built.
The developer originally had hoped to build an office building, pharmacy and strip mall at the intersection of Route 27 and Finnegans Lane and filed a site plan application in 2003 for a professional office building and two retail buildings.
In 2005, neighborhood opponents to the development appeared before the Township Council and asked that the parcel be rezoned to "office professional," which is designed for large office parks on the Route 1 corridor, according to Riya Finnegan’s attorney, Henry Kent-Smith. The township agreed to rezone the area, thereby banning retail centers and pharmacies from the site.
"The township adopted the rezoning in 2005 by ordinance 15-05, relying solely on the complaints of the neighboring residents to support this action," Mr. Kent-Smith said.
The Supreme Court found the decision of the council to be "impermissible inverse spot zoning," according to Mr. Kent-Smith.
The Dec. 2008 New Jersey Supreme Court decision reversed an Appellate Division decision and found the township’s rezoning of the parcel of property owned by Riya Finnegan to be "arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable."
Township officials said about five acres of the property owned by Riya Finnegans are wetlands so the proposed buildings would have been bunched together on about six of the acres, leaving residents who live near the property with no relief from noise. As part of the settlement agreement, the township agreed to purchase seven of the 11 acres owned by Riya Finnegans for a price of $475,000 to provide a buffer for residents. The township will make an initial payment of $47,500 and will pay the balance in one year’s time.
In turn, Riya agreed to build only the retail center and pharmacy and dropped plans for the office building.
"This is a good settlement to protect our residents," said Public Affairs Coordinator Ron Schmalz. "Our concern all along was for the residents who live in the area. We’re not totally happy, but we were able to mitigate the negative impact on the quality of life for the residents of Brunswick Acres."
Mr. Schmalz said it is not yet known when construction will begin on the site.