A former Burger King property on Routes 1/9 received use variances that would allow a liquor store and office space on the property.
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The Zoning Board of Adjustment unanimously (8-0) approved use variances during its Oct. 18 meeting although some members raised concerns about parking and other issues. The vote came after about 90 minutes of questions, testimony and two public comments. The application was bifurcated, meaning the board considered the use variance separately from a site plan, which will be heard during a future meeting.
Shree DD Investment, LLC applied for two “d” Use Variances to repurpose and expand the existing building on the property at 1714 Routes 1/9 South (Block 337, Lot 1). Paramus-based Shree DD Investments, LLC acquired the property in December 2020 for $1.6 million, according to property records.
Board Chairman William Hering said the applicant “understands that he will…make sure the neighborhood is protected and come back with a much more detailed synopsis the next time he’s in front of us.”
“This is a bit little different from what commissioners usually see,” Kevin O’Brien, the board’s planner, told commissioners. “We tend to see usually two types of applications: a residential homeowner with a setback or bulk problem or a site plan with a use variance attached,” he said. It’s unusual in that just two use variances are involved for convenience-retail, he said, and the application proposes a liquor store, which falls into the convenience/retail category and an office — both uses that are not allowed in the B-3 zone, which is generally highway business use zone.
The applicant proposes to repurpose and expand the existing building which formerly contained a Burger King drive-thru restaurant on the property. The applicant proposes to expand the existing 3,075-square-foot first floor to 5,040 square feet. The applicant is also proposing a second-story addition of 3,500 square foot that would be used as office space. The expanded first floor will be used as a 4,040-square-foot convenience retail store with a liquor store and 1,000-square-foot fast food restaurant.
The property is an oddly shaped site with frontage on three sides in a decidedly commercial area, the applicant’s planner, Justin Auciello said. The application proposes to expand the footprint of the current building and involves beautifying the site and make it active again, the applicant’s planner, Justin Auciello said. “A vacant site on a highway corridor like Route 1 is not necessarily what municipalities would typically want to see,” he said.
“I don’t see the property as a radical departure from what’s in the zone,” Auciello said,
Owner Sudhakar Menon testified that he has owned Planet of Wine, located in Linden, less than 2 miles north on Routes 1/9, since 1998. He said they’ve had the liquor license in pocket for five or six years, looking for the right property. “The focus is going to be toward upscale wine. We don’t want to compete directly with Planet of Wine,” he said.
The office space would be used by another business he owns, a Cranbury-based IT enterprise, or a friend who owns a wholesale business. As for the planned fast-food eatery, there’s no tenant lined up yet but he said they’re looking at Blaze Pizza or a chicken wing place.
Board member Richard Zdan raised concerns about the density, whether there’s “too much on too small a property.” At peak use, almost a dozen of the 25 parking spaces allowed on a use variance might be occupied, he said: four employees at the wine shop, four employees in the office space, and maybe three for the fast food eatery. “My concern would be at those peak times — around the holiday season, at dinner hour — will about 14 spaces be enough to accommodate clients visiting these businesses,” he said, because it borders a residential area.
At Planet of Wine, there are 11 parking spaces for the 15,000-square-foot store, according to Menon. During 10 months of year, there’s no problem with parking, he said but during December, it’s very busy, especially on weekends.
Two Rutherford Street residents spoke during the public portion of the meeting objecting to a liquor store being so close to another liquor store up the highway. Virnalissi Guzman said she’s glad the vacant space will be used, her only concern is that it will be used for a liquor store, in close proximity to an elementary school and another liquor store. “I don’t know how a liquor store will add positive value to my property, to where I live,” she said, adding that parking also will be congested. “I don’t see the need of a liquor store closer to another liquor store just a half mile away,” said Elizabeth Janowska.
The difficulty in bifurcating an application is that it’s left kind of up to people’s imagination to make an informed judgment, City Engineer Jacqueline Dirmann said. The application provides 30 parkings spaces where 37 are required, she said, assuming that would be addressed when they come back for site plan approval.
Zdan made a motion to approve both use variances with a condition that the office space not be subdivided and limited to one tenant.
While he expressed concerns about parking issues, Zdan said he didn’t feel that’s something that qualifies denying granting a use variance. “Granting bulk variance approval, that’s another story, I will be looking very carefully that sufficient parking, on heavy days,” he said, adding that at this point, there’s not enough to not move forward with the application.
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