Route 88 and Jack Martin Boulevard. (Credit: Google Maps)
The developer who wants to build a Wawa and an adjacent shopping center on the site of a mobile home park will present his case to the township’s zoning board for a second time.
Developer Jack Morris’ application to build the complex, which would be located at the corner of Route 88 and Jack Martin Boulevard, was rejected by the board in January. Though the revisions have not yet appeared in a public notice, a new plan will be heard by the board at its May 30 meeting, township officials confirmed.
JSM at Martin Boulevard, the holding company for the project, purchased the Laurelton Mobile Home Park for $3.85 million, with the intent of the developer to turn most of the trailer park into commercial space while leasing out space for some remaining mobile homes.
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Previous plans proposed a 5,000 square foot Wawa store with 16 fuel pumps and 135 parking spaces. Morris’ plan also called for the construction of a 4,535 square foot bank with drive-through lanes, a 7,182 square foot commercial building including a 3,000 square foot, 160 seat restaurant, and a 9,288 square foot daycare center.
The purchase of the mobile home park by Morris has been the source of numerous controversies since 2005. Residents, at one point, were served eviction notices after they withheld rent from Morris, who they accused of allowing the community to deteriorate. In 2006, it was determined that concrete tainted with traces of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from the former Ford Motor Company manufacturing plant in Edison was used at the site, prompting the state Department of Environmental Protection to order its removal.
The meeting will be held at 7 p.m., May 30, at the township municipal complex on Chambers Bridge Road.
