JACKSON – A public hearing regarding the construction of a commercial plaza at the intersection of Hyson and Chandler roads has been rescheduled for October.
The application proposing Chandler Plaza was scheduled to be heard by the Jackson Planning Board on Aug. 3, but the hearing was postponed when attorneys representing the applicant and residents who are opposed to the project said they needed more time to review correspondence between the two sides.
The Chandler Plaza application is now scheduled to be heard at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 5 at the municipal building.
Menzi Properties, LLC, of Staten Island, N.Y., is proposing to construct a shopping center on a 4.4-acre tract in a Neighborhood Commercial zone.
Residents who oppose the project have said that property stands out as the only nonresidential parcel in the area.
Jackson zoning officer Jeff Purpuro has said the tract was rezoned from residential to neighborhood commercial when municipal officials amended the master plan in 2009.
Some of the residents have hired attorney Peter S. Wersinger to represent them in the matter.
Attorney Ray Shea, who is representing the applicant, could not be reached for comment.
In a letter to the Planning Board, Wersinger said Chandler Plaza as proposed does not conform with existing Neighborhood Commercial zone guidelines since it more closely resembles Jackson’s definition of a shopping center.
“Shopping centers are not a permitted use in a Neighborhood Commercial zone and if this development were to go forward as presently proposed and configured, it would require a use variance,” Wersinger wrote.
A shopping center, according to Jackson’s code, is a development that houses “such uses as retail stores and shops, personal service establishments, professional business offices, banks, post offices and restaurants” in one or more buildings that share features like “customer parking, pedestrian walkways, truck loading and unloading space, utilities and sanitary facilities” with a total floor area of 20,000 square feet.
As of Aug. 3, Chandler Plaza had been reduced from 24,620 square feet to 22,330 square feet. The shopping center is now comprised of two 7,475-square-foot retail buildings and a 7,380-square-foot commercial building with a restaurant.
The restaurant would have an outdoor dining area consisting of an additional 2,000 square feet, according to the plans.
Wersinger said the size of the project contradicts what be believes the intention of municipal officials was when the Neighborhood Commercial zone was created.
“Neighborhood Commercial zones are intended as relatively small retail oases within residential communities, designed for convenience and to meet the needs of persons living within the vicinity of such facilities,” the attorney wrote. “This concept is antithetical to the notion of a shopping center, which targets a larger, regional populace and the traveling public.”
In a review of the project he submitted to the board, the board’s planner, Ernest Peters, suggested that Chandler Plaza more accurately fits into Jackson’s definition of a shopping center, “which is not a permitted use” in the Neighborhood Commercial zone.
In his letter, Wersinger suggested that “if the applicant wishes to pursue the development of a shopping center within a Neighborhood Commercial zone, its application must be presented to the Zoning Board of Adjustment, not the Planning Board.”
Wersinger asserted that the current plan for Chandler Plaza does not provide enough parking spaces. The applicant is proposing to provide 134 parking spaces, which is a reduction from 146 parking spaces that were provided in the initial plan. Wersinger claimed the plaza needs in the area of 220 parking spaces.