By Andrew Corselli, Staff Writer
Thomas Mascia, who is attempting to open a Sonic restaurant on Route 206 at Oxford Place, says the success of his proposed business may hinge on the size of its sign.
But the size of the sign he wants is larger than township regulations allow, and it is one of the main things neighboring residents have objected to since the Planning Board began hearing the site plan presentation for the Sonic restaurant last fall.
After rebuttals from Ronald Gasiorowski, an attorney hired by Denise Acocella, of Oxford Place, pushed the Jan. 13 board meeting to the brink of the time limit at 11 p.m., the hearing on the Sonic plan was continued again, to Feb. 10.
The proposal, first heard at a meeting in October and then again at a meeting in December, would put the restaurant on a 1,818-square-foot lot on Route 206 South, where Briken Dairy Farms once stood, and requests 22 waivers and five variances.
A major sticking point of the proposal for the residents is the height of the restaurant’s sign. Mr. Mascia requested a 20-foot-high sign that would be 80 feet in width, although he later dropped the height to 17 feet.
According to Township Planner Bob Ringelheim, the maximum dimensions for signs in that area are 15 feet in height and 40 feet in width.
However, Mr. Mascia said he is reluctant to reduce the size of the sign any further to avoid taking a hit to his business.
”This whole project is going to cost me close to $2.5 million,” he said. “The sign is really going to help me make or break this business, and I’ve been very cooperative in reducing the size of the sign.
”At night it’s very dull; it is not a bright sign and I don’t think it’s offensive at all. I have reduced it quite a bit and I’m struggling at three other locations. To downsize that sign and take a bigger risk would be not a good move on my part.”
Another thing residents are concerned about is the noise they say would emit from the restaurant at all hours of the night, as Sonic would be open 24 hours a day.
”(I live) right across the street and I’m worried about what’s going to happen at 1 or 2 in the morning,” Jim McDonnell, of Oxford Place, said during the Jan. 13 meeting. “What level could I expect to hear at curbside of my house from right across the street?
”There will be cars idling there. How about when we have about four or five cars, and kids playing their CD players? They can boom those up to 120 decibels, which is probably the threshold of pain.”
For other residents, a main concern is the size of the lot being too small to accommodate a Sonic restaurant.
”I just think it’s clear that the size of the lot is too small,” H.B. Thomas, of Briar Way, said after the meeting. “It’s not suitable for the Sonic and what they want to do there. It would not fit in to that small lot. Sonic would be much better served to go someplace up there where Charlie Brown’s just left. That’s Hamilton Road and 206.”
Alexander Litwornia, a noise and traffic expert from Litwornia Associates hired by Mr. Gasiorowski, concurred that the site would be too small for a Sonic restaurant. He brought up the point that high school students, upon dismissal, would flood the surrounding neighborhood with excess traffic.
”I have an office that is approximately a mile from the high school and there is a McDonald’s two miles from the high school,” he said. “Every day when the high school gets out there is a line at the McDonald’s that is extended twice the normal size of any other time. If there is a main concern it is the surge of the high school traffic in the vicinity.”
Other concerns, according to Mr. Litwornia, include the impact of trucks parking on residential streets, due to the lack of parking for them on the site, noise from the speaker board at the drive-through and odor from unenclosed trash receptacles.
At the Feb. 10 meeting, Mr. Gasiorowski will call his next witness and the board will hear public comments.

