Rite Aid seeks OK for pharmacy

MANALAPAN - The Zoning Board of Adjustment is expected to open a hearing on July 19 for a proposed Rite Aid pharmacy at the corner of Route 33 east and Sweetmans Lane on the south side of the township.

Rite Aid of New Jersey Inc., of Harrisburg, Pa., is the applicant putting forth the proposal for a 1.47-acre parcel that is owned by NJD Development LLC, of Piscataway.

According to documents provided by the township, the applicant has been denied a zoning certificate because a pharmacy is not a permitted use in the LB-M (limited business-manufacturing) district. The zoning certificate was denied on May 21.

The applicant will now seek a use variance and bulk variances from the zoning board that, if granted, would permit it to construct a new one-story, 11,153-square-foot Rite Aid pharmacy with a drive-up window on property that presently contains an unoccupied office/school building, according to the application.

Rite Aid is listed on the application as a contract tenant subject to approval of the plan by the zoning board. The application was filed by Lawrence Gelman, vice president of Rite Aid of New Jersey Inc.

A CVS pharmacy is presently under construction at the corner of Route 33 east and Woodward Road, about 1 mile west of the site where the Rite Aid pharmacy is proposed.