FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP – An application that proposes the construction of a Shake Shack restaurant in Freehold Township is scheduled to be heard by the Planning Board on May 3.
The application submitted by Leemilt’s Petroleum Inc. was on the agenda for the board’s March 15 meeting, but attorney John Giunco, representing the applicant, requested and received a postponement until May 3.
The property that has been identified as the location for Shake Shack is an abandoned Getty gas station on Route 9 north at Freehold Township’s border with Manalapan.
According to a legal notice filed by Giunco, the applicant is seeking preliminary and final major site plan approval, and conditional use variance relief from the board. The company wants to demolish existing structures associated with the gas station and construct a restaurant.
The 3,514-square-foot restaurant would have site improvements at 4431 Route 9 North, which is bordered by Pond and Craig roads. The 0.87-acre property is in Freehold Township’s Corporate Multi-Use Development Zone-3/A.
Leemilt’s Petroleum is requesting conditional use variance relief to construct a restaurant with 84 seats where 125 seats is the conditional use requirement for a family style restaurant in the CMX-3/A zone.
The applicant is also requesting relief from the board in order to provide a lot size of 0.87 acres where a minimum of 3 acres is required; and relief from a municipal ordinance that requires a minimum size of the principal building of 5,000 square feet, where 3,514 square feet is proposed for the restaurant.
Leemilt’s Petroleum is proposing to provide 63 parking spaces (61 parking spaces are required), landscaping, lighting and an enclosed area for garbage bins. The only entrance and exit to the site is proposed on Pond Road. Restaurant hours will be 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The applicant is not proposing a drive-up window or separate take-out service, according to reports associated with the application.