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 expected to resume at the Feb. 10 meeting of the Planning Board.
The meeting will be conducted in a virtual manner during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The Stavola Asphalt Company is proposing to construct three buildings at the corner of Route 33 west and Woodward Road.
Testimony regarding the application was initially presented by the applicant’s representatives on Oct. 14. No decision was reached that evening and the application was carried to Nov. 11.
The board’s Nov. 11 meeting was cancelled and the Stavola application was carried to Dec. 9.
At the start of the Dec. 9 meeting, attorney Ron Cucchiaro, who represents the Planning Board, announced that the application would not be heard and had been carried to the board’s 2022 reorganization meeting.
When the Planning Board held its reorganization meeting on Jan. 13, Cucchiaro said that at the request of the applicant, the application would be carried to Feb. 10.
Members of the public who want to watch the Feb. 10 meeting may visit the township’s website for instructions on how to do so.
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.
During the reorganization meeting, Kathryn Kwaak was elected by her fellow board members to continue serving in the position of chairwoman; Todd Brown was elected to continue serving as vice chairman; and Daria D’Agostino was elected to continue serving as secretary.
There are no changes in the board’s membership for 2022. Richard Hogan, Alan Ginsberg, Steven Kastell and Brian Shorr were sworn in to new terms by Mayor Susan Cohen.
Kwaak, Brown, D’Agostino, Hogan, Ginsberg, Kastell and Shorr are joined on the board by John Castronovo, Barry Fisher, Mayor Jack McNaboe and Township Committeeman Barry Jacobson.
The professionals who have represented the board for a number of years – engineer Brian Boccanfuso of CME Associates, planner Jennifer Beahm of Leon S. Avakian, and Cucchiaro, of the Weiner Law Group – were reappointed.
Lisa Urso-Nosseir was reappointed as the board’s recording secretary and Manalapan zoning officer Nancy DeFalco was reappointed as the board’s administrative officer.