FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — A Golden Corral buffet and grill is on the horizon for residents of the Freehold area.
Following the presentation of an application submitted by Freehold Lodging Realty LLC on April 4, members of the Freehold Township Planning Board authorized the board’s attorney, Frank Accisano, to prepare a positive resolution for the restaurant.
The resolution is expected to be approved on April 18.
The Golden Corral will be built on Route 9 south, about a quarter-mile south of Schanck Road, on a lot between a Provident Bank and a Learning Experience child care center. The site is adjacent to a T.G.I. Friday’s restaurant.
The plan submitted by Freehold Lodging Realty proposed the construction of an 11,257-square-foot, 400-seat restaurant (Golden Corral) and a 6,000-square-foot multi-tenant restaurant use.
In 2006, a hotel was approved for the same site where the Golden Corral will be built. Construction on the hotel never got under way.
According to a report prepared by Township Engineer Timothy White, the applicant’s amended site plan layout was generally consistent with the previously approved site plan for the hotel.
Engineer Stephen Atkins of Maser Consulting, Red Bank, testified on behalf of the applicant and provided aerial photos of the 14.8-acre site and renderings of the proposed buildings.
Atkins said the board’s 2006 approval was for the construction of a three-story hotel, a child care center, an office building, a restaurant and a bank.
Only the bank and the child care center have been built; however, site improvements for the remainder of the property were constructed and include parking, internal circulation, drainage basins, landscaping and areas for three additional buildings, according to the testimony.
The applicant’s amended preliminary and final site plan proposed to redesign portions of the constructed parking and circulation area and sought approval for a Golden Corral restaurant toward the front of the property and a 6,000-square-foot multitenant restaurant, which is expected to include a Jersey Mike’s sub shop and two other tenants to be determined, as well as a future two-story office building to the rear of the property.
Atkins said modifications from the original approved plan were made in parking, landscaping and utilities. Additional trash sites are also proposed. He said the proposed lighting would produce minimal glare.
Atkins said the Golden Corral will be designed with a flat roof and a parapet in the center, and will be made of brick. The multi-tenant food building will be designed in brick with a flat roof and similar colors (brown, gold and red).
The property fronts Route 9 south, and the rear of the lot borders the Stonehurst residential development.