More testimony awaited on commercial project BY DAVE BENJAMIN Staff Writer Jackson JACKSON - Testimony is expected to continue at the Planning Board's Oct. 16 meeting on an application for the commercial development of Cooks Bridge Plaza. Testimony on the application was previously heard on Sept. 11. The applicant's plan proposes the construction of a 54,000-square-foot shopping center with three buildings on the northwest corner of Bennetts Mills and Cooks Bridge roads in a Neighborhood Commercial (NC) zone. The application will require two primary variances: one for building height (35 feet permitted, a 40-foot tall clock tower is proposed); and a second for impervious coverage (maximum of 50 percent permitted, 59 percent proposed). Township Engineer Douglas Klee said the applicant submitted an environmental impact statement regarding environmental concerns and endangered species. The property is outside any flood hazard areas and public water and sewer will be provided, he said. During the hearing a question was raised regarding curbs at Bennetts Mills and Cooks Bridge roads. Also, the projected volume of deliveries to building No. 3 should be addressed, Klee said. Klee said the number of parking spaces being provided exceeds township requirements and a landscape plan has been provided. A variance for a sign will be required. Klee said there is a freestanding sign proposed and that will have to be discussed. Township planner Mark W. Muraczewski described the project as having two buildings with retail stores and restaurants and one building with low intensity use. He said the applicant will make a payment to Jackson's affordable housing trust fund in accordance with a township ordinance. Attorney Ray Shea, representing the applicant, said the application is clean and positive. "The areas that need relief will be explained," he said. Project engineer Frank Baer Jr. said the complex is on a 7-acre parcel. Two single-family homes will be removed from the site during construction of the project, he said. Baer said the township environmental commission has reviewed the project's environmental impact statement and recommended that the board approve the plan. Baer said the site will be developed in two phases, with buildings No. 1 and No. 2 constructed in the first phase, with 253 parking spaces. Phase two will see building No. 3 constructed at the rear of the parcel. Baer said the buildings have frontage on Cooks Bridge and Bennetts Mills roads and the plan has been forwarded to the Ocean County Planning Board for review. "There will be a single access on Bennetts Mills Road with a full left and right turn in and a right turn out only," said Baer. "There are two accesses proposed on Cooks Bridge Road. The most southerly one, across from a proposed Rite Aid pharmacy, will be restricted to right in, right out." The northern access on Cooks Bridge Road will be a full access with full left and right turn movements. Storm water will be routed through a storm water system, the engineer said. Hours of operation are expected to be from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. It is expected that there will be reduced hours on Sunday. With respect to signs, Baer said there will be a 16-foot tall pylon sign that will give drivers an opportunity to see the name of the plaza. Shea said if the board approves the application, work will start in the spring and be completed sometime in 2008. Traffic engineer John Rea, representing the applicant, said a traffic study was made, but he noted that the results will have to be revised due to the fact that the Rite Aid plan at the same location was filed after the Cooks Bridge Plaza application was prepared. Rea said the county planning board was expected to be presented with traffic information relating to the Cooks Bridge Plaza application at its Oct. 4 meeting. He also discussed the issue of cars stacking up at the intersection and said the site will work properly as it relates to the flow of traffic. Project architect Helena Ruman discussed the pylon sign and two proposed towers. She said the tower will be 38.5 feet tall and the sign will identify the shopping center. Ruman said the smaller store will have a maximum of 1,600 square feet and there will be shade trees along the sidewalks. During the public hearing there were no speakers in favor of or opposed to Cooks Bridge Plaza application. Board member Dan Burke said he thought the application needed more work and said he was concerned with the traffic conditions. "I don't think this is ready to be approved," Burke said.