HOWELL — The Planning Board has unanimously approved an application to build a Wendy’s fast food restaurant on Route 9 north that will replicate the Wendy’s contemporary design in Friendship Plaza on Route 9 south.
The applicant, Wen Claire, LLC, was granted preliminary and final major site plan approval at the board’s July 17 meeting.
Attorney Mark Atkins represented the applicant before the board.
The new Wendy’s will be built between the World gas station and Suburban Propane with entrances from the southeast corner of West Farms Road and Route 9 north.
The parcel is vacant and wooded with the exception of a paved driveway that connects Suburban Propane to West Farms Road, according to the applicant’s engineer, Patrick Lynam.
The seller of the property is Suburban Propane, a nationwide retailer of propane and fuel oil.
The Wendy’s restaurant will total 3,429 square feet, hold 75 seats, 50 parking spaces, an outdoor dining area and a driveup window. Architect Don Wallin said the building would embody the contemporary design that the Friendship Plaza Wendy’s currently upholds.
The new design will feature 15-foothigh ceilings, a backdrop for an electric fireplace and a television set in the dining area, brick side elevations and more.
“Wendy’s is doing this nationally. They have committed to doing 60 percent of their buildings by 2020 with this look,” Wallin said. “The inside look is completely different. There is new lighting, furniture and finishes so it is a completely new look for Wendy’s both inside and outside.”
Trash pick-up will occur three times a week by a private carrier, prior to 10 a.m. The hours of operation will be 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. in the dining area, but the drive-up will remain open until 2 a.m. with security lights.
The applicant proposed for the lights to shut off at 2 a.m. “when no one is around,” according to Lynam.
The new design will require 15 to 17 pole-mounted LED light fixtures that will stand 20 feet high, and about 20 additional soft lights.
As to parking at the site, “there are numerous other properties owned by this operator in Brick Township, Toms River and Point Pleasant that all function with less than 50 parking spaces so we believe that 50 parking spaces is more than adequate for this project,” Lynam said
A sidewalk will be built on the east side of the existing driveway along West Farms Road and the walkway will provide pedestrian access for future developments to the east, according to the testimony.
Atkins and Lynam attended a Howell Environmental Commission meeting on July 8 to further explain design plans that could directly affect the environment.
During the meeting, members of the commission voiced concern about wildlife research and the impact on and proximity of the restaurant to the gas station.
“We believe we satisfied all their concerns,” Lynam said.