Plan To Build Popeyes, Sonic In West Orange May Be Dead In Water

WEST ORANGE, NJ — A plan to build two fast food restaurants in West Orange – a Popeyes and a Sonic – may have hit a brick wall.

Last year, a developer submitted plans for a property at 470 Eagle Rock Avenue, proposing to demolish the existing one-story building and construct two fast food restaurants where the China Gourmet cocktail lounge once stood. Both would have contained drive-thrus, with a total of 28 parking spaces at the site. Read More: 2 New Fast Food Restaurants May Come To West Orange (See The Plan)

The proposal saw split opinions among West Orange residents.

“Land use should be the choice of the land owner,” one commenter wrote, responding to our earlier article about the plan. “I am glad to see a taxpaying business as opposed to an empty building we need to be welcoming to business of all types as it will help our tax base.”

“Why fast food?” another person commented. “That brings undesirables instead of a family-based, sit-down restaurant such as Applebee’s, BGR Burger, Mexican restaurant or something other than fast food. Is West Orange that hard up for $$$ we’ll lower our standards?”

The debate may now be moot, however.

According to the West Orange Zoning Board’s agenda for their March 21 meeting, there is a pending resolution for the plan at 470 Eagle Rock Avenue to be “dismissed without prejudice.”

Local advocacy group Our Green West Orange, which has opposed the project, issued a statement about its apparent demise on Tuesday.

“Our Green West Orange, alongside everyone who helped fend off the fast-food drive-thru proposed at 470 Eagle Rock Avenue, just notched another victory,” the group wrote. “The developer, MPB Realty, LLC, has withdrawn its application to squeeze not one, but two fast-food restaurants into a single crowded lot.”

“We believe our township should foster more small business, not drive-thrus that make this busy intersection even more unsafe and turn West Orange into an I-280 pitstop,” advocates added.

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Learn more about advertising on Patch here. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site. Don’t forget to visit the Patch West Orange Facebook page.