Residents pan Walgreens plan for Route 9 location
BY ELANA ARON
Correspondent

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — It was a full house at the Dec. 14 meeting of the Zoning Board of Adjustment as residents turned out to oppose the construction of a Walgreens pharmacy at the corner Route 9 north and East Freehold Road.

Applicant the Cornerstone Group is applying for a use variance and proposing to construct a 14,820-square-foot building with a drive-up window. The plan would produce 72 parking spaces. Requested variances include frontage, depth and buffers.

The applicant’s plan is to raze the existing Shore Power and Sport (motorcycle dealership) building at the corner of Route 9 north and East Freehold Road in order to build the pharmacy on the 1.8-acre parcel. The property is in a CMX-3/A zone and a pharmacy is not a permitted use at this location.

A use variance granted by the zoning board would permit the project to proceed.

Variances in this application are as follows: the application proposes 1.83 acres, the township ordinance requires 3 acres; the application proposes 119 feet of frontage on East Freehold Road, the township requires 300 feet; the application proposes less than what is required on all three frontages, the township requires 400-foot lot depth.

Also required are variances for lot coverage and front setback. The application proposes 72 parking spaces, the township ordinance requires 119 parking spaces. A 50-foot scenic corridor buffer along Route 9 frontage and a 25-foot buffer from residential zoning along Pond Road are also not proposed.

In his opening comments to the board, attorney John Doyle, representing the applicant, said, “It would be a vast improvement” over what is there now. “We acknowledge that it’s a unique piece of property and we acknowledge there are traffic and planning issues.”

Concerns voiced by residents include exacerbation of already crowded traffic conditions and screening from nearby homes.

The project site is near the intersection of East Freehold and Pond roads, which has been described as one of the township’s traffic hot spots for more than a decade. The closest homes to the project site back up to Pond Road.

Project engineer Daniel J. Dougherty said that buffering on Route 9 in the form of foliage is in the plans.

“Shouldn’t concern for foliage issues go toward Pond Road and not toward Route 9?” resident Eric Mancini asked.

Resident Jeff Morton voiced concern about glare from lights.

“Since it’s a Walgreens, I’m assuming it will be open late at night. How will the light be shielded at night?” Morton asked.

When Walgreens representative James Burke said the store would be open 24 hours, residents burst out in angry groans.

“They can forget it,” said one woman in the audience.

But Burke countered the complaints.

“This site is a pretty good location for us. There are not many pharmacies in the area. We’re catering to older people and to mothers with children.”

The public hearing on the Walgreens application will continue at the Feb. 22 meeting of the zoning board.