MARLBORO — An application that could eventually bring a Quick Chek store with a gas station to Marlboro is currently before the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
Representatives of the applicant, a subdivision of Edgewood Properties, began making their case before the board at its Feb. 26 meeting. The Town Hall hearing will continue at 8 p.m. on March 19.
The applicant is seeking a conditional use variance to build the store and its associated fueling station at Lloyd Road Commons, 483 Route 79, near the Lloyd Road intersection. In the rear of the property, Edgewood is proposing to build a 10,000- square-foot multi-tenant retail building. If the applicant obtain the variance, it would have to provide more specific details to the board to gain site plan approval.
According to Ron Aulenbach, a director at Edgewood Properties, the site received approvals to house a larger retail building than what is currently proposed, as well as a freestanding bank. A CVS pharmacy has recently been built on the property, he said.
The board’s attorney, Ronald Cucchiaro, said the applicant would have to meet a different burden of proof than what is required for a typical use variance because the use is considered conditional in the Neighborhood Commercial zone. Board members must identify what goal the governing body had in mind with the regulations and whether the applicant’s proposal still satisfied those concerns, Cucchiaro said.
“If they are not addressed or the thing that the town is seeking to control or prevent through the condition, then that’s what would lead to a denial,” he added.
The board’s planner, Richard Cramer, said the applicant deviated from municipal regulations in four areas: insufficient space between the street and the gas canopy, insufficient space between the street to onsite pavement, excessive driveway width, and insufficient space between the proposed gas station and an existing service station.
Lester Nebenzahl, the applicant’s planner, maintained that the proposed canopy did not go against the building setback rule because the structure does not consume volume or interfere with light, air or onsite aesthetics.
Despite its lack of walls, the gas canopy is still considered to be a structure, board member Ira Levin said.
The pavement setback regulation is unnecessary because Edgewood is proposing the same amount of space that was given to the new CVS, Nebenzahl said.
Levin discounted that argument as well, adding that “two wrongs do not make a right.”
State Department of Transportation officials previously approved the width of the driveway to promote a safer and more efficient flow of traffic, Nebenzahl said.
Route 79 is a state highway.
A nearby Exxon gas station at the corner of Route 79 and Tennent Road should not affect this proposal because such distance requirements were meant to avoid largescale fires at a time when fuel stations were more dangerous, Nebenzahl noted. He said the requirement does not serve “any valid planning purposes.”
Cucchiaro said it is not within the board’s jurisdiction to ignore Marlboro’s ordinance that governs the distance needed between gas stations.
Overall, Nebenzahl said, the proposed uses would not harm the property, the master plan, the character of the neighborhood and surrounding parcels. The use would benefit the public, Nebenzahl said.
“I think this site accommodates all of those conditions in a manner which will pose no substantial detriment,” he said.
Levin said of the applicant’s failure to meet the four conditions, “While these things may seem trivial to some people, these are not trivial items.”
Traffic popped up as a concern for many board members. The area, they said, is a hotbed for congestion because of students who attend the nearby Marlboro Memorial Middle School on Nolan Road and commuters who heavily travel Route 79. Board members said the attractive nature of the proposed uses — convenience store, gas station, retail stores — would add to the traffic problem.
State transportation officials recently made adjustments to a traffic signal at the intersection of Route 79 and Lloyd Road, said traffic expert Gary Dean, who testified on behalf of the applicant. Dean said leftturn only lanes have been added near the site, and the area has been widened.
Dean also said the parking on the property would be sufficient to handle the increased amount of traffic. The number of vehicles that would travel to the site would not change enough to negate a previously obtained Department of Education permit, he said.
The board members and the board’s professionals asked Dean to come back with proof to support those statements. The applicant agreed to do so.
This application marked the first time a developer has proposed to build a gas station in Marlboro since the Township Council introduced an ordinance that, if adopted this month, would require all new fuel stations to install a backup generator.
While noting the need for alternative power sources, Quick Chek’s representatives said the company has a contract to provide for generators on an as-needed basis. They said this reduces noise and cancels the need for the monthly testing of a generator.