Planning Board Carries White Castle Application to May

The township Planning Board carried the White Castle application to May after Dynamic Engineering failed to show up.

More than one dozen residents came to the Municipal Building to hear the White Castle public hearing. The application was in March.

“I’m very mad about this. We live in a beautiful and quiet neighborhood,” Nancy Kelm said. “It’s going to bring riff raff. I would like to see it not happen."

Kelm went on to say that more fast food restaurants in town would be “disgusting, troublesome and just a nightmare.”

White Castle will replace an existing dwelling at the intersection of Sunrise Boulevard and North Main Street.

The fast food restaurant originally appeared before the board several years ago, Board Engineer Bruce Jacobs said. The site plan was then cramped and the applicant was seeking many variances.

At that time, the Department of Transportation did not give the applicant access to Route 9 and a buffer was located on the border of a residential and commercial zone.

Now, the applicant plans to restripe the intersection of Sunrise Boulevard and Route 9 and they purchased an extra lot, Jacobs said.

The 1,952 square foot restaurant will have a drive through, 24 parking spaces and its entrance and exit will be on Sunrise, he said.

“With respect to carrying the matter to May 14, I think the applicant should be informed of the two major concerns the community has,” Carl Goehringer of Forked River said. “The two major concerns the community has is that the entrance be from route 9 and let there be cross access between the proposed site and Sunrise Plaza.”

The board attorney said he will relay those concerns to the engineering firm but anyone could get further information at the Planning Board’s office and voice their opinions directly to the applicant between now and the next meeting.

Cross access to Sunrise Plaza is not currently included in the plan although the applicant did note that there is a potential for an entrance in the future, Jacobs said.

During Jacobs’ analysis of the site plan, he found that a cross access between the two sites could work.

Forked River Fire Department Chief Ray Brandmahl found out White Castle was up for public hearing today, before receiving site plans from the engineering firm, who also handled the Lacey Road 7-Eleven.

“There was a problem with the 7-Eleven. I didn’t agree with the planning,” he said. “I told them I wish we could have a better relationship with the White Castle.”

Brandmahl said he would have to review the site plans along with a fire inspector prior to giving White Castle and the Planning Board the okay to move forward.

“They’ve been calling me a lot and trying to get me to sign off,” he said. “I’ll look into it a little more with the parking.”

The board was unable to comment on the site plans until the applicant makes its presentation.

The public hearing will be Monday, May 14 at 7 p.m. If White Castle does not attend the next meeting without notification, the Board would have the right to deny the application or carry it to the next meeting.