Commercial project gains OK in Marlboro

MARLBORO — A retail building, a bank and a CVS Pharmacy have been approved for a parcel of land at the intersection of Route 79 and Lloyd Road. The Planning Board gave the project a green light on Oct. 7.

Applicant Dallenbach Sand was represented before the board by attorney SalvatoreAlfieri. The applicant plans to construct an 11,880-square-foot retail building, a 3,000-square-foot bank and a 12,900- square-foot CVS Pharmacy on the site. No tenants have been signed for the retail building or the bank, Alfieri said.

The property is on the southbound side of Route 79 and faces the state highway's intersection with Lloyd Road, said engineer Jeffrey Spalt, who was testifying on behalf of the applicant.

According to Spalt, the total land area is about 18 acres. The applicant was requesting a subdivision and the shifting of lot lines that were in place on the land. The development parcel is in a C-2 neighborhood commercial zone.

The property to be developed is to the north of the Central Mall shopping plaza, which is at the corner of Route 79 and Tennent Road.

The northerly portion of the property will house the CVS Pharmacy, which will have a drive-up window. The southerly section of the parcel will house the bank and the retail building, according to the testimony.

Spalt said it is anticipated that the traffic light currently in place at the intersection of Route 79 and Lloyd Road will be modified to accommodate the access point for the new commercial development. It was noted that the plan must be approved by the New Jersey Department of Transportation (DOT).

Parking for the facilities was planned with 20 spaces for the bank, 62 spaces for the retail building and 82 spaces for the CVS Pharmacy. The proposed number of parking spaces for each building exceeds the number of parking spaces required by township code for buildings of this size.

Planning Board members brought up a point that had been raised by Marlboro's fire inspector as to the location of the parking being too close to the building.

Spalt said he was confident the parking could be flipped to the opposite side of the building to address that concern.

The development's proposed storm water management systems meet state and township requirements, the engineer testified, and the site has access to all utilities, including sewer and public water. It was noted that a sewer permit had not yet been obtained.

Planning Board Chairman Larry Josephs questioned the location of the storm water infiltration field and its proximity to the Imperial Oil Superfund site.

Spalt said the Imperial Oil site is to the south of the property to be developed and said the lot in question is separated from Imperial Oil by several hundred feet.

Imperial Oil, off Tennent Road, is a contaminated industrial property that is being cleaned up by the federal government.

Alfieri said the applicant has been in contact with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) contractors who will be working to clean up the Imperial Oil site. He said a fence and a barrier wall to separate the sites are to be installed between the two parcels by the EPA.

Township Councilman Frank LaRocca, who sits on the board, noted that prior to installing the wall the EPA would likely be testing the area for contaminants that may have moved off the Imperial Oil site.

It was noted by the board's professionals that LaRocca's assessment was most likely correct and that should contamination be discovered it would be in the applicant's best interest to have the EPA address the cleanup.

The board's planner, Richard Cramer, noted that during the technical review process with the board's professionals the applicant had redesigned the project to remove about eight variances that were initially sought.

At the Oct. 7 board meeting the applicant was seeking a minor subdivision and preliminary and final site plan approval.

Josephs said the board would be uncomfortable granting final site plan approval for the portion of the property (the retail building and bank) that does not yet have tenants.

Alfieri said his client would be satisfied to receive final approval for the CVS Pharmacy and would come back to request final approval for the other buildings when tenants are identified.

Traffic engineer Gary Dean, testifying on behalf of the applicant, said improvements to the roads as a result of the commercial project would potentially improve traffic conditions in the area. One improvement, Dean noted, will be the installation of a left turn lane from Lloyd Road to Route 79.

Dean said the DOT deemed the plan complete and released its first round of review comments requiring minor technical changes.

The board members voted 7-0 in favor of a subdivision, as well as preliminary and final site plan approval for the CVS Pharmacy, and preliminary approval for the entire site.

Voting in favor of the application were Josephs, Vice Chairman Gerald Bergh, Mark Barenburg, Neil Betoff, LaRocca, Andrew Hegt and Andrew Pargament.

Hegt, the mayor's designee, was sitting in for Mayor Jonathan Hornik, while Pargament, an alternate, was sitting in for Syed Husain.

Board members Joshua Pollak and Rohit Gupta were absent from meeting.

When tenants are identified for the project's retail building and bank the applicant must return to seek final approval for those facilities.