Jackson seeking $2M for 2-acre property
Permitted uses include retail, drug, liquor stores, offices, bank or a bar
BY DAVE BENJAMIN
Staff Writer

Bids will be received on Aug. 16 at 10 a.m. as Jackson municipal officials seek to sell a piece of township-owned land at the corner of West Veterans Highway and Don Connor Boulevard, Jackson.

The approximately 2.5-acre portion of a 6.22-acre parcel is in the PVC-2 zone (Pine-lands Village Commercial) near the Jackson public works complex. The minimum bid for the property is $2,010,000.

"It's an expensive piece of property," Mayor Mark Seda said. "The old Township Commit-tee struck a deal with CVS for that piece of property for $1 million."

Seda said he did not support the sale of the property at the time because it could have been used for the expansion of the public works department. He said it made more sense to hang on to the property in case more land might be required for the expansion.

The mayor said the situation has changed since that time.

"It looks like we may be able to expand (the public works department) onto county property," Seda said. "There are preliminary plans for the county to move their operation."

After discussions with the Township Council, the mayor recommended that the 2-acre parcel of land should be put up for sale.

"The council members agreed," he said. "However, they put it back out for $2 million. If an offer is made for $2 million, it will have to be closed prior to the end of the year. That way we will know we have a deal in place and it's not going to linger as it has in the past."

Seda said that in the past the buyer wanted to wait for an approval from the Pinelands Commission before closing a deal for the property.

"We have nothing to do with the Pinelands Commission approval," the mayor said. "If someone wants the property, it will be a straight-out purchase and it will not be pending upon approvals. If [the buyer] wants the property, they're going to buy it. They will have to make the investment. They will have to deal with the Pinelands Commission on their own."

Seda said the sale of the property would be good for Jackson.

"It's $2 million for the township as well as a commercial ratable on that corner," he said. "It makes sense for that side of town. It's a good ratable. I'm all for it and I hope that [a bidder] decides to close the deal."

Council President Ann Updegrave said the previous government did receive a $1 million bid for the property. She said there were issues with the Pinelands Commission and CVS defaulted on the time frame.

Of the current plan to sell the municipal land, she said, "Right now we only have one bidder. There is a Pinelands issue, but that is something they will have to address when they go to build. If there is only one bidder and they get the bid then they will have to deal with whatever Pinelands issue exists there for doing what they want to do with that property."

Jackson zoning officer Richard C. Megill Sr. said there are many types of uses that can be built in the PVC-2 zone, including retail stores, drug stores, hardware stores, liquor stores, tobacco and newspaper stores, barber and beauty shops, tailors, offices, banks, fiduciary institutions, business or commercial offices, bars or cocktail lounges, department stores, furniture stores, bakeries, funeral homes, restaurants, jewelry stores, repair businesses and a few others. A dry cleaning store would be a permitted use provided public sewer is available, he said.

"Looking at the reality, there are a lot of permitted uses in the Pinelands," Megill said. "[However,] a few of these would exceed the amount of waste water a day that the state Department of Environmental Protection would allow a septic system to use, like a restaurant, a bar, or a cocktail lounge."

The zoning officer said that may be an issue for any prospective bidder to consider.

"Obviously, a drug store or a hardware store doesn't use all that water," he said. "They can stay under the 1,280-gallon-a-day [limit] and not have a problem."

He said there may be some interesting proposals for the property because many types of businesses are permitted in the PVC-2 zone.

"The acreage is excellent and will allow a septic for a lot of these things," Megill said. "It's going to serve somebody's purposes. There's no question about that. That kind of property has a beautiful location."