Council Sells Sunflower Avenue Parcel to Developer

After negotiations fell apart last April for Laganella Property Management to purchase a third of an acre from the borough, the company and governing body reached an agreement Friday morning for the pucharse of the parcel of land at the end of the Sunflower Avenue cul-de-sac. The council agreed to sell the property by a 4-0 vote with Councilmen Michael Rohdieck, Rich Amato, Dennis Arslanian and Joseph Lagana. Councilmembers Elana Bellinger and Dr. Eric Nazziola along with Mayor Richard LaBarbiera were absent from the meeting.

The council had previously agreed to sell owner Nick Laganella a piece of Sunflower Avenue to complete his developement of an Equinox Fitness Center at 776 Route 17 northbound and a nearby retail building.

The gym application went through a contentious hearing before receiving an approval from the Planning Board. The approval allows for Laganella to add the  to the existing building. The site would have an estimated 372 parking spaces.

Currently, Laganella has been appearing before the borough's Planning Board for approval to construct two smaller buildings at 770 Route 17 that butt up against the rear of Sunflower Avenue. His proposal calls  for a 4,500-square-foot unnamed fast-casual restaurant with a drive through, and a 15,000 square foot building for retail space.

Project architect Daniel Holdefehr previously testified that the larger building is planned to be 40-feet high on the west side, tapering down to 34 feet for the majority of the building, with a 2-foot parapet along most of the structure. The smaller building, closer to Rt. 17 would reach 17 feet and 4 inches, with a varying parapet rising to 23 feet and 4 inches at the entryways.

Laganella also plans to remove the driveway at 770 Route 17 in favor of having all traffic enter through the driveway in front of Equinox. 

The Planning Board will next continue hearing testimony regarding the retail buildings later this month.