Politics & Government

Dollar General Withdraws Application, Leaves No Indication of Return

The general merchandise store is no longer being proposed in between Railroad Avenue and the Forked River School

The township Planning Board approved Dollar General’s application withdrawal at the Tuesday night meeting.

The applicant's attorney submitted a letter asking the board to withdraw the application.

“The letter was very vague,” Committeeman and board member Gary Quinn said.

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The letter did not provide reasons as to why the application was withdrawn, he said.

The general merchandise store was proposed at 120B Lacey Road, where an existing and occupied house sits, bordering Railroad Avenue and the Forked River School.

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It is possible Dollar General could return in the future, but the applicant provided no indication that they would, Quinn said.

“I think they went to the county and didn’t get the answers they were looking for,” he said.

The applicant was seeking to gain access to Railroad Avenue, if and when the right-of-way is built, forcing Dollar General to go back to the county and the Department of Environmental Protection.

The DEP’s CAFRA approval for the railroad right-of-way only permits access to and from the St. Pius church and the Forked River School, board member John Curtin previously said.

The applicant was also denied a left turn onto Lacey Road.

In July, the application was deemed technically complete but tabled until the August meeting due to many unanswered questions. The application was supposed to continue at a public hearing during the October meeting.

The store would not have been considered a dollar store as it sells a variety of generic household brands from household products and office supplies to clothing and toys ranging from $1.50 to $60.

With a 9,100-square-foot building on 1.02 acres, the applicant was seeking minimum lot width, front setback, side setback and rear setback variances as well as several design waivers.

The site is small, located on a wellhead protection area, only provides 38 parking spaces, and the applicant proposed to utilize a tractor trailer for deliveries, which posed concerns for the Planning Board.

“It was so intense,” Quinn said. “It would have been a real safety concern.” 

In other news at the Planning Board meeting…

  • Wild Bill’s Chuck Wagon received administrative approval to operate at Popcorn Park Zoo for another year, although the applicant complained he could not receive a site plan waiver for an extended period of time. Click here for the story.
  • Health Equities, LLC received a site plan waiver and administrative approval for its building located at 424 Route 9, Forked River. The office building, which has several tenants and vacancies, was originally approved prohibiting medical use. The applicant is proposing to have a chiropractor locate on the first floor of the building. Although parking was an initial concern, the applicant argued that it was more than enough and the Planning Board granted the waiver.
  • The township master plan session was postponed until the November meeting.

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