As a result of its denied application for a zoning variance for a combination gas station/convenience store, First Choice Plaza has sued the Hopewell Township Zoning Board of Adjustment.
MercerMe covered the ongoing application, which has proposed a Wawa or QuickChek convenience store / gas station combination at 2421 Pennington Rd, Pennington, New Jersey (Hopewell Township), on the corner of Route 31 South and Denow Road.
The application, presented to the zoning board in July of last year, proposed a 5,496 square foot QuickChek convenience store with a 5,000 square foot canopied fuel service station (3 islands with a total of 5 pumps under cover).
And, at a special zoning board meeting in October of 2014, the zoning board completed hearing the application testimony and issued a resolution denying the application on a variety of bases including traffic and wastewater management concerns. First Choice Plaza argues, in its complaint, that the zoning board exercised its decision in an arbitrary manner and on the basis that was beyond the purview of the zoning board.
First Choice Plaza is under contract to purchase the property from Har Sinai Hebrew Congregation of the City of Trenton. The property is currently zoned “SI” (Special Industrial) which allows for gas stations but not a convenience store. The applicant, First Choice Plaza, LLC, seeks to subdivide the 9.4 acre parcel to use about 4 acres for the QuickChek project that would include a convenience store and service station. The remaining 5.4 acres would continue to serve as a house of worship and religious school for Har Sinai.
