By Andrew Corselli, Staff Writer
Sonic’s application to build a fast-food restaurant on Route 206 where Briken Dairy Farms once sat continues tonight at 7:30 p.m. for the Planning Board in the courtroom of the municipal building.
First details about the 1,818-square-foot plan were first heard in October. Residents voiced their comments during a public hearing in December and again on Jan. 13. Tonight, Ronald Gasiorowski, an attorney hired by Denise Acocella of Oxford Place, will call upon his planning expert for statements.
One touchy point for residents is the height of the sign. Applicant Thomas Mascia originally requested a 20-foot-high sign that would be 80 feet wide, but dropped the height request to 17 feet at a previous meeting. According to Township Planner Robert Ringelheim, the maximum rules for a sign in that area is 15 feet in height and 40 feet in width.
Another concern is the potential for noise at all hours of the day, as Sonic would operate 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,” said Jim McDonnell of Oxford Place at 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.”
Other residents were leery of the size of the lot. Many consider it too small to cater to what would be a busy fast food joint. They figure that the traffic coming out of the parking lot onto Route 206 and the cars using local side streets as short cuts would combine to be too much.
”I just think it’s clear that the size of the lot is too small,” H.B. Thomas of Briar Way said after the Jan. 13 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.”
Next Thursday, Feb. 16, the Board of Adjustment will hear Adesa’s bid for a five-year extension to store cars at 360 Roycefield Road in Hillsborough.
”Adesa is a car auction lot in Manville,” said Mr. Ringelheim. “They’re doing some improvements there to expand, and they need temporary approval to store cars at the former postal facility that the county bought. They need this until they can fix up their property in Manville. Now they’re asking for a five-year extension to store cars at the site in Hillsborough until they can get their property sorted out.
”Apparently the economy has slowed down their plans in Manville for a few years, so they’re just storing cars here until then. We have to hear the impacts (of the extension); we may want to hear the traffic impact of how many cars they’re bringing over here. That will be discussed before the board.”
