Board asks developer to scale back proposal

Town, builder to go over differences on Summerhill Square

BY VINCENT TODARO

Staff Writer

Though East Brunswick officials are eager to see the former Meyer’s shopping center redeveloped, the current plans may be a little too much.

At its Feb. 23 meeting, the Planning Board asked Thomas Pagano, president of Pagano Real Estates Inc., to scale back his plans for Summerhill Square, which would be built on the Meyer’s site.

Because the former shopping center has been largely vacant for years and has been called an eyesore, township officials are pleased the site will soon be developed, but board members said the current proposal for a sprawling “lifestyle” center, designed to look like The Grove, on Route 35 in Shrewsbury, goes a bit overboard.

Pagano, who is seeking minor subdivision approval and major site plan approval, proposed a 157,308-square-foot retail center, including four main retail sections. Spot A, as it is called in the plans, is the largest at almost 88,000 square feet. The plaza would be built between Summerhill Road and Route 18, and be surrounded with parking lots, according to the plans.

Retail space B, proposed at 50,000 square feet, would be to the right of the A section if viewed from Route 18. There would also be a small retail pad of about 3,600 square feet — called space D, closer to Route 18, and area C behind the main building and next to Arthur Street.

But Pagano’s plan may have to be revised, since it includes requests for dozens of variances. Relief is being sought for maximum lot coverage, setbacks to the right of way on Summerhill Road, setback to a property line, and maximum building height There are also variance requests for landscape buffers, including those abutting a residential zone, according to a township report. Design standards are also lacking, as the report stated that a waiver would have to be granted for components such as the refuse enclosure, parking islands and tree removal plan.

Township officials have expressed pleasure that the site will finally be developed.

The 18.2-acre property still has the Meyer’s plaza buildings, as well as wooded areas and overgrown spots. The Mr. Good Lube has been removed, as have underground storage tanks and piles of debris.

Pagano wants to consolidate the existing lots and subdivide the property into two building lots. The main lot would be 13 acres, while the second is 5 acres.

Though there are four retail spaces, they would only include three buildings, because spaces A and B would share a building, according to the plans.

Access to retail spaces A, B and D would be from Summerhill Road by way of an ingress-egress driveway and from the northwest corner of the tract by another driveway. Access to retail space C, behind the main building, would be from the northeast corner of the Summerhill Road and Arthur Street intersection.

The area’s main entrance and exit would be at the center of its Route 18 frontage.

Board members had questions for Pagano, though. Some felt the shopping center would represent overbuilding on the site and that it included too much impervious coverage. Board Chairman Shawn Taylor said the separate retail pad was a bit too much, as was the shopping center as a whole.

“We want something not quite as big as that,” he said.

Taylor praised the concept for Summerhill Square in general, though, especially features such as the proposed architecture and types of upscale stores. He said Pagano will have to review the plan with the township’s professional staff before coming back to the board.

Pagano’s attorney said his client will review the size of the proposal and set up a meeting with township staff to discuss the many issues the township’s staff broached in its report.

The next hearing on Summerhill Square is scheduled for April 13.