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BY JOHN SNYDER
OF PASCACK PRESS
WESTWOOD, N.J.—Residents are mobilizing against a Wendy’s restaurant proposed for Emerson Plaza at the corner of Main Street and Old Hook Road in Emerson, and Westwood Mayor John Birkner Jr. and others on the Westwood Borough Council say they’ll stand with them.
The application, now with Emerson’s Land Use Board, details plans that include abundant illuminated signs, a two-lane drive thru, and a 2 a.m. closing, and new two-way traffic at the plaza.
Affected residents say they worry about a drop in their quality of life and property values over light pollution, worsened traffic, off-hour trucking deliveries, kitchen exhaust, and Dumpster odors.
The application was taken up at a special meeting of the Emerson Land Use Board Aug. 15 and will come back to that board Oct. 18 at 8 p.m.
The restaurant is a permitted use for 411 Old Hook Road, Block 1301 lots 1.01 and 1.02. The proposed drive-thru is a conditional use; outdoor seating, as proposed, is not permitted.
A protest is planned for the location on Saturday, Aug. 25 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Organizers said they had been in touch with hundreds via social media in the lead-up.
The minimum lot area is 19,600 square feet. Applicant Leon Magnes, CEO of Wenesco Emerson LLC of Englewood Cliffs, proposes 38,780 square feet.
The application is for preliminary and final major site plan approval with related bulk variances and waivers to remove an existing two-story building and construct a one-story building along with a drive-thru and outdoor seating.
Magnes, through his attorney Carmine R. Alampi, requests variances related to signage, parking, and trash enclosure setback.
Zoning permits one menu board directional sign, though four are proposed; one directional sign with six proposed; up to two wall signs (corner lot), with six proposed; 24 square feet of wall signs, with 155.6 square feet proposed; 18 square feet of ground signs, with 63.8 square feet proposed.
A drive-thru sign is “N/A” in zoning, though two signs at 26.4 feet of total area are proposed.
Forty-five parking spaces are required, though the applicant proposes 32.
Flyers circulating here and in Emerson protest the variance requests, noting in part that there already are seven Wendy’s locations within 6.7 miles of the site.
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Residents on town border on the edge
The residents who turned out to the Aug. 21 meeting of the Westwood Mayor and Council rebuffed a suggestion that they hire a lawyer, instead calling for the governing body to go to bat for them.
Hei Stephen Chan and his wife Hilda, of 102 Main St. in Westwood, said they’re raising a family here in part because of the area’s family feel. Their neighborhood is neat and leafy, with the bulk of the plaza, anchored by ShopRite, set back well in the distance.
They’re Wendy’s regulars—they just celebrated their son getting his driver’s license with an outing to Wendy’s—but they have no appetite for living with a fast food business operating feet from their bedroom window.
“We’ll hear every order taken at the drive-thru speakers, even with our windows closed,” Chan told the governing body.
John Sambogna, of 74 Main St., seized on the applicant’s projection of drawing 400 cars a day to the drive-thru. He anticipated “a traffic nightmare,” litter, and other woes.
Rick Sipala, of 403 Old Hook Road, also said he’s worried about traffic, anticipating backups on Main Street due to two-way traffic coming in and out of the proposed outlet, with cars making both left and a right turns onto Main Street, staggered to Bergenline Avenue.
He worries about eastbound traffic on Old Hook: “With only a short turning lane to make a left onto Main Street, [drivers] would have to make a left into Wendy’s, backing traffic up that way.”
Drivers heading northbound on Main Street sitting at the light would block the entrance to Wendy’s and ShopRite, backing traffic for all out to Old Hook Road, he predicted.
Luam Qualliu, of 178 Bergenline Ave., urged Birkner to intervene and got a round of applause from his neighbors when he finished speaking.
Birkner told the residents he supported their objections, would review the traffic plan, and would attend the Sept. 6 Land Use Board to weigh in on variances.
He said he could not object to the project itself “because it’s an approved use in a zone that’s not in my town.”
He told Pascack Press on Aug. 22 that the variances would have a “huge impact” should they be granted, particularly at Bergenline and Woodland avenues.
“This is litter, noise, and other quality of life issues. They’ll have people coming out of bars at midnight, coming out to Wendy’s, getting some late fast food. It will impact the neighborhood, certainly. People are sleeping at night,” he said.
“The only buffer is the yellow line painted down the middle of the street. I personally would oppose most of what Wendy’s is trying to do,” he added.
Emerson Mayor Louis J. Lamatina told Pascack Press on Aug. 22 that he had recused himself from the matter.
“I am not permitted to participate by statute because the applicant has requested one or more use variances. The mayor and councilmember on the Land Use Board, which is a combined board of planning and zoning, is not permitted to vote on use variances because such variances are appealable to the Mayor and Council,” he said.
Messages to Emerson Land Use Board Chairman Gary Schwinder were not returned at press time.
NOTE: This piece was edited Sept. 4 to reflect the new date for the pending Land Use Board hearing. The meeting was changed from Sept. 6 to Oct. 18 at the request of the applicant.
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