Sky Plaza application delayed until next month

NORTH BRUNSWICK - Sidetracked once because of a failure to provide the proper notice to residents in September, an application to build a strip mall on Finnegans Lane was once again postponed due to a noticing error at the Oct. 18 Zoning Board meeting.

Hitesh Patel, one of the owners of Finnegans Plaza, appeared before the board Sept. 20 seeking approval to build Sky Plaza, a 41,343-square-foot shopping center with retail, restaurant and office space on the adjacent property. During the proceedings, Zoning Board Attorney Karl Kemm realized that the rule of noticing residents located within 200 feet of a property was not met for both sides of the entire property.

As of last week, the issue had still not been resolved. A new meeting date is set for Nov. 26 at 6 p.m.

The proposal for Sky Plaza is for 23,000 square feet of retail space, 10,000 square feet for restaurant venues and 7,900 square feet for an office area. Patel said his intention is to avoid a big-box retail store but instead make the area appear like the existing center, which has 21,000 square feet of mixed space occupied by 11 tenants, including a dance studio, an Indian restaurant, a Little Caesar's and a dry-cleaning service.

The property is located in a C-3 residential neighborhood commercial zone. The applicant is requesting a use variance to allow a shopping center to be built in a commercial zone, a use variance to allow food preparation and consumption on premises and a bulk variance for a short distance to provide a buffer from the neighboring residential area.

- Jennifer Amato