MANALAPAN – A public hearing on an applicant’s proposal to construct retail and restaurant space at the intersection of Route 33 west and Woodward Road in Manalapan is now expected to resume in the new year.
The Stavola Asphalt Company is proposing to construct three buildings on a 6-2-acre lot at the corner of Route 33 west and Woodward Road.
Testimony regarding the application was initially presented by the applicant’s representatives during a meeting on Oct. 14.
The public hearing was carried to the board’s Nov. 11 meeting, but that meeting was cancelled and the public hearing was carried to the board’s Dec. 9 meeting.
At the start of the Dec. 9 meeting, attorney Ron Cucchiaro, who represents the Planning Board, announced that the Stavola application would not be heard that evening and has been carried to the board’s Jan. 13 reorganization meeting, which will be held in a virtual manner.
The Stavola Asphalt Company is proposing to construct three buildings at the corner of Route 33 west and Woodward Road. According to the application:
• The easternmost building will be approximately 7,260 square feet and will consist of two interior retail spaces, a fast-food restaurant on the eastern end and a fast-food restaurant with a drive-up window on the western end, and 62 parking spaces. The two restaurants will offer indoor and outdoor seating;
• The center building will be approximately 8,000 square feet and will consist of two interior retail spaces and two restaurants in the end spaces. The retail spaces may also be tenanted by medical/professional office uses. Each restaurant will offer indoor and outdoor seating. There will be 64 parking spaces allocated to the center building and its users;
• The building at the westernmost portion of the lot will be a 3,000-square-foot fast-food restaurant with a drive-up window, and 57 parking spaces. During the Oct. 14 meeting, the applicant’s representatives said a Burger King restaurant would occupy this building.
Two access driveways are proposed on Route 33 and one access driveway is proposed on Woodward Road.
In addition to the proposed retail and restaurant center at the corner of Route 33 and Woodward Road, the Stavola Asphalt Company is also proposing to construct a 20,250-square-foot medical office building on Woodward Road, farther north of the road’s intersection with Route 33. No testimony regarding the medical building has been presented at this time.
The Dec. 9 meeting was the Planning Board’s final meeting of 2021. On behalf of the Township Committee, Mayor Jack McNaboe, who sits on the board, thanked the board members, who serve as volunteers, for their efforts in reviewing plans and conducting public hearings; the board’s professionals – engineer Brian Boccanfuso, planner Jennifer Beahm, and Cucchiaro – for their advice to and work on behalf of the board; and Lisa Nosseir, who handles all of the board’s administrative matters.