LAWRENCE: Mrs. G site plan back before board

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   The on-again, off-again public hearing on an application to redevelop a 16-acre site on Route 1 at Bakers Basin Road, which is anchored by the Mrs. G TV and Appliance store, is on again before the Zoning Board of Adjustment next week.
   The zoning board will hear the application — submitted by Ferber Construction Management LLC — when it meets Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the lower level conference room at the Municipal Building. The applicant is seeking a conditional use variance and major site plan approval.
   The application was slated to be heard last month, but the meeting was cancelled because the required public notice for the hearing was inadvertently not published by the Times of Trenton newspaper, township officials said.
   State law requires the notice to be published at least 10 days before the meeting.
   The Florida-based developer wants to demolish the existing buildings and replace them with two retail buildings of 6,000 square feet and 15,000 square feet, respectively, plus a TD Bank, a McDonald’s restaurant and a Wawa convenience store with gas pumps.
   The application is in front of the zoning board because a conditional use variance is required for the Wawa store’s pumps. The township’s land use ordinance states that “such use shall not be combined with any other use on the same site.”
   A new connector road would be constructed on the southern end of the property that would replace the existing jug handle on the northern end of the property, connecting Route 1 with Bakers Basin Road. The new connector road also would link with Litho Road, which is between the Ford and Mercedes-Benz new car dealerships.
   Mrs. G TV and Appliances Inc. is not closing or going out of business, said Debbie Schaeffer, president and chief executive officer of Mrs. G.
   If the application is approved by the zoning board, Ms. Schaeffer said the store would be temporarily relocated to another site — but that move would not take place for at least 18 months.
   In the meantime, Mrs. G TV and Appliances would remain open in its present location, Ms. Schaeffer said.
   The Ferber Construction Management LLC application requires several variances, in addition to the conditional use variance. The township’s Land Use Ordinance does not permit more than three buildings on one lot in the Highway Commercial zone, and five buildings are proposed.
   A variance also is needed for parking on the southern end of the redeveloped site. The McDonald’s and the Wawa provide 96 parking spaces, but 161 are required under the zoning ordinance.