NORTH BRUNSWICK – Two and a half years of meetings, 13 stipulations later, the Zoning Board of Adjustment has approved the application for a QuickChek at Route 130 and Nimitz Place.
“Our job as a Zoning Board is to weigh the evidence as presented by professionals, integrate that with our own personal knowledge of community and decide on certain criteria,” Board Chairman Mark McGrath said, adding he believes the applicant has minimized the negative impact for the area as much as they can.
The board discussed and unanimously voted in favor of the application at a meeting on July 19.
This is North Brunswick’s third QuickChek location. The applicant proposed a 5,670-square-foot convenience store with 11 indoor and eight outdoor seats; plus a 6,565-square-foot gasoline service pump area to include eight fuel dispensers with 16 fueling positions; associated site improvements; and a 100-foot natural buffer area along Route 130 north between Nimitz Place on the north and Washington Place on the south. Residences off McKinley Avenue lie to the west in the R-2 residential zone.
Henry L. Kent-Smith of East Ridge Development has said the Zoning Board of Adjustment has denied prior applications for a self-storage facility and a Walgreens pharmacy at the site, but he said the bifurcated application first considered on Dec. 15, 2020, in conjunction with a concept plan, would complement QuickChek sites on How Lane and Route 1 south in North Brunswick.
Before the vote, Attorney Lawrence Sachs read off the 13 stipulations QuickChek has agreed to including no fueling of tractor trailers at the site, strict hours for deliveries, a one-way entrance, a proposed acoustical barrier and a new traffic light at Washington Place and Route 130.
Board member Brian Goldenfab said he was at first “not too keen on having a gas station, a convenience store in the back yard.”
“The one thing that has changed my thought is all the accommodations and all of the changes that QuickChek is willing to make so it will have minimal impact on the local residents,” he said, describing all the accommodations as the “neighborly” thing to do. “That was my biggest concern. Everybody wants a convenience store, everybody wants a gas station, but not in my back yard.”
Board member Patrick Guadagnino said he believes the site will have a minimal traffic impact since people are living in a time seeking instant gratification and convenience.
“I don’t see people coming off Route 1 just to go to the gas station on Route 130,” he said. “I can count on both hands the times I’ve been to either one of the other QuickCheks (in town). It’s simply because it’s not in my daily travel and same thing goes with gas.”
The applicant will be back before the board for site plan approval.
For more information about the meeting date and application, visit http://northbrunswicknj.gov under the Department of Community Development/Zoning