The developer of the proposed CVS Pharmacy site on Farnsworth Avenue and Route 130 has adjourned the public hearing of its site plan until February.
That meeting on Feb. 13 will now focus in what is anticipated to be the most important component of the application: the traffic study.
After the Bordentown Township Planning Board heard initial testimony at a Dec. 12 meeting to hear a site application for Pomona Development Group LLC, which calls for the proposed construction of a 9,600 square foot mixed-use, single story CVS storefront location on the corner of Route 130 and Farnsworth Avenue, the developer sought adjournment on what was expected to be the second half of their site plan presentation at a Jan. 9 meeting.
The additional testimony for this application is now planned to come before the board at its Feb. 13 meeting.
Following the approval of adjournment from the planning board, Bordentown Township Administrator Michael Theokas explained the reasoning for the applicant’s request to come back in February rather than presenting at the January meeting.
Theokas explained that the applicant fielded comments from the township’s professionals at the December meeting and are currently revising their initial plans with the anticipation to come back next month before the board.
“They called us on [Jan. 7] and said they were going to be sending a letter on [Jan. 8], which they did, asking us for an adjournment,” Theokas said. “They were taking into the advisement and some of the comments made from the planning board at the previous meeting. They wanted to work on their plan prior to coming back before the board.
“They weren’t prepared to do that tonight, so they asked for an adjournment, but we should be on schedule for February,” Theokas said.
The applicant is currently seeking preliminary site plan approval as well as a major subdivision approval and related bulk variances associated with a proposed development of the CVS Pharmacy, associated parking and site improvements for the existing McDonald’s restaurant located on the Route 130 and Farnsworth Avenue corner property.
The site proposed for the pharmacy is in the township’s Gateway Commercial – South Zone.
The variances request per the application include a reduction in lot width and frontage, a sign variance and a variance to permit a freestanding sign area.
The applicant is also proposing a sign variance associated with the approval to permit a monument sign on the planned site identifying the existing McDonald’s restaurant and any additional tenant/s on an adjacent lot.
Due to prior, separate applications discussed at length during the December board meeting, the Pomona application for the proposed CVS storefront public hearing was cut short at 11 p.m. just before the applicant’s traffic engineer could provide testimony.
Although the board members and applicant agreed to continue the public hearing to the next meeting on Jan. 9, multiple Bordentown residents who attended the meeting spoke out during the public comment period to voice their concerns with the proposed application.
One resident expressed their worries with the proposed site plan and how it will impact traffic at what residents said is already a “busy intersection” on Route 130 and Farnsworth Avenue.
A local businessman of Boyd’s Pharmacy spoke out as well during the public comment period as he explained that a proposed CVS storefront at the corner of Route 130 and Farnsworth Avenue could potentially cause a split between the city and township, which he said would potentially affect local businesses.
Planning board meetings are held at the municipal complex on 1 Municipal Drive.