Applicant reaches for the Sky with development plan
Shopping center finally approved for Finnegans Lane
BY JENNIFER AMATO Staff Writer

NORTH BRUNSWICK - The application to construct a shopping center on Finnegans Lane was finally approved by the Zoning Board of Adjustment June 19.

After months of testimony, legal noticing errors and a revised plan, the board unanimously approved a 39,000-squarefoot building, a plan that proposes up to 15 integrated retail, office and restaurant uses at Sky Plaza.

The original site plan requested a 41,000-square-foot strip mall to mirror the adjacent Finnegans Plaza, which is owned by the same applicant.

Nineteen units were originally proposed, as was a 10,000-square-foot restaurant space.

"I think what we have here is the best scenario we could with this particular site," Zoning Board Vice Chairman Scott Krumholz said.

Yet before the vote, a major concern of neighboring residents was traffic.

The property lies 850 feet east of Route 27 and 300 feet east of Finnegans Plaza, raising issues about turns into and out of the parking lot. Also, because Finnegans Lane is a county roadway connecting Routes 1 and 27, with a speed limit of 45 mph that residents claim is constantly ignored, members of the public voiced concerns about speeding, courtesy passing, pedestrian crossings and car queues.

"Shopping malls do not belong in neighborhoods," resident Barbara Speesler said.

"The number of cars right now, without another development, is extremely dangerous," Linda Kohn added.

However, traffic engineer Nick Verderese said that traffic studies conducted in July 2005, July 2007 and November 2007 show that the proposed center would still create less traffic than if the property were subdivided into three separate lots with six units each, a use that is allowed in the C-3 commercial zone.

Residents also raised concerns about the restaurant. They asked that there be limited hours of operation, no drivethrough, no outdoor seating and no alcohol service in the reduced 5,000-square-foot space.

Licensed planner Daniel McSweeney said that the developer would "limit the intensity of the use" and make it a more "neighborhood-type" restaurant instead of a regional commercial one.

There was also testimony about using state-of-the-art equipment to counteract and eliminate any odors emanating from the restaurant.

"This is an aesthetic improvement of a currently underutilized lot," McSweeney said.

Overall, the applicant was allotted a use variance for the nonpermitted restaurant use, a use variance to allow the 15 units that exceed the number allowed in the commercial zone, and a bulk variance to account for a shorter distance between the rear residential lots and the building than is allowed.

There are no tenants yet for the building.