CVS pharmacy gains OK from Jackson planners
BY DAVE BENJAMIN Staff Writer

JACKSON - A 14,000-square-foot CVS pharmacy at the intersection of Don Connor Boulevard and West Veterans Highway has been approved by the Planning Board.

The application was heard on Nov. 19. Board members Eileen Tobasco, William Cook, George McKay, Len Haring, Dan Burke, Vice Chairman Todd Porter and Chairman Kenneth Bressi voted to approve the pharmacy.

Board members Robert Hudak, Blanche Krubner and Joseph Riccardi were absent.

Township Councilwoman Emily Ingram, who sits on the board, had a conflict of interest with this application and did not vote.

Planning Board engineer Douglas F. Klee said the application proposed a 12,900-square-foot CVS pharmacy with a 1,702-square-foot mezzanine area.

The applicant sought a waiver for parking, providing 68 parking spaces where 73 parking spaces were required.

Attorney Richard Stanzione, representing the applicant, noted that the property at the corner of Don Connor Boulevard and West Veterans Highway was previously owned by Jackson and sold to CVS.

Project engineer Chad Gaulrapp said the total size of the property is 6.47 acres. The project will cover about 3 acres. He said the pharmacy will total 12,900 square feet. The 1,702-square-foot mezzanine will be used for magazine storage and will not have public access, he said.

The building will be serviced by a driveway on West Veterans Highway, about 75 feet east of the Jackson Police Department driveway, and by a driveway on Don Connor Boulevard. The pharmacy has a drive-up window (two lanes) and a loading area. The store would operate from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week and would employ a maximum of 30 full-time and part-time staff with between six and eight employees in the store at one time.

"There would be a pharmacist, one or two pharmacy assistants, one manager and three clerks," Gaulrapp said. "There are shifts and they are staggered so that is why there are a lot more total employees than the number that would be in the store at any one time."

There would be one delivery from CVS each week and between six and eight deliveries of milk and soft drinks, he told the board. There will be one trash enclosure and trash will be picked up once a week. There will not be any other outdoor storage.

Gaulrapp said no endangered species were found on the site, which is adjacent

to the Jackson public works facility. Regarding the grading and

draining issues, Gaulrapp

said there are a series of

inlets that catch water

runoff. That is routed to

an underground detention

facility. There is

also a triangular surface

station at the front of the

site.

"The proposed lighting in the back will not spill over onto adjacent properties," the engineer said. "There will be back-shields on the lights to stop glare."

There will be two freestanding signs; one on West Veterans Highway which is 22 feet 7 inches high and a second sign on Don Connor Boulevard. Other signs will be on the building.

"We have requested a waiver of sidewalks," Gaulrapp said. "There are no sidewalks on any of the four corners of this intersection. If the sidewalks are required by the board we will put them in."

It was determined that the applicant would check with Ocean County regarding curbing at the intersection since, according to board member Dan Burke, the county had plans for some improvements at the intersection.

Traffic engineer Douglas J. Polyniak said his firm had observed numerous similar parking lots and said they needed about 40 to 50 parking spaces.

Polyniak said the number of parking spaces at the proposed CVS site was adequate and he said there will be sufficient traffic circulation at the site.

He said the pharmacy's drive-up area has two lanes which provide space for at least seven or eight vehicles. He said that would be sufficient given the experience at other pharmacy drive-up lanes.

Polyniak said emergency vehicles would not have a problem if they were called to the site.

No one from the public commented on the application.

It was noted that the applicant would pay $105,923 to fulfill an obligation related to affordable housing. The applicant also agreed to install sidewalks and curbs on Don Connor Boulevard and West Veterans Highway.

With no further questions, the board members voted to approve the application.