Crowd jams town hall for Wawa application on Mantoloking Rd. Several hundred turn out to oppose 24-hour store and gas station BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer ERIC SUCAR staff Lisa Wheeler (left), Andrea Bevacqua, Bill Wheeler and Jeffrey Bevacqua, second-generation members of the family-owned Joe's Service Center on Mantoloking Road, are leading the fight to keep a 24-hour Super Wawa across the street from going up. BRICK TOWNSHIP - The audience wasn't amused when a Wawa engineer told them that a new store and gas station on Mantoloking Road would be a "tremendous improvement" over what's there now. Some audience members at the special March 26 Board of Adjustment laughed.One man yelled, "Where do you live, mister?" Zoning Board Chairman John Rentschler rapped his gavel and snapped, "Quiet!" The Township Council meeting room was filled to capacity and then some. People lined the walls and stood outside in the hallway to listen to the plans for the gas station and convenience store that Wawa wants to build on the 3.4-acre site. Many of those who attended were business owners and residents from nearby neighborhoods. A number of businesses banded together and hired Toms River lawyer Edward F. Liston Jr. to represent their interests and oppose the application. Timothy M. Prime, Wawa's attorney, stressed repeatedly that the proposed store was a permitted use in the B2 general business zone on Mantoloking Road. Wawa is seeking a number of variances from the board. "Let's look at it objectively," Prime said in his opening remarks. "Let's not look at it emotionally. This lot is six times larger than what is required. The frontage is triple what is required in the zone." Liston asked board members to consider the negative impacts that the store would have on the Mantoloking Road area. "Consider the entire picture, the impact on the entire neighborhood," he said. "You have to look at the particular impact on a particular site. I'm just asking you, keep an open mind and listen carefully to what impact the proposal is going to have on the entire neighborhood. The impact will be so negative on the neighborhood, there's no way you can possibly grant the variances and the site plan they seek." The B2 zone prohibits the use of a gas station within 1,000 feet of an existing church or school, and within 2,000 feet of an existing gas station. The Osbornville Presbyterian Church is less than 1,000 feet from the proposed store. And Joe's Service Center, a 50-year-old business, sits directly across from the Wawa site. The other variances include: • A 25-foot residential buffer instead of the required 75 feet. • Detention basins to be placed in the front setback, which is not permitted by ordinance. • A design waiver to allow the proposed driveways on Mantoloking Road and Church Road to be 80 feet and 140 feet, respectively, from the intersection, where a minimum of 200 feet is required. • The use of 79.4 square feet for a free-standing sign, where 50 square feet is permitted. • To exceed the maximum number of signs for the project. There are currently three buildings on the 3.4-acre site, which Wawa would demolish if the board approves the application, Wawa project engineer Jeffrey Spalt said. The plans call for a 5,589-square-foot convenience store, 16 gasoline pumps covered by a canopy, 59 parking spaces and three 20,000-gallon underground gasoline storage tanks, he said. The lighting on the site would be "directed toward the pavement, not the sky," Spalt said. Liston questioned some of Spalt's statements and said Spalt was not qualified to speak as a professional planner. "Mr. Spalt has not been qualified as a planner," the board attorney said. "I don't think he can reach the conclusion you are asking him." Rentschler also asked Prime for the application's environmental impact statement, which he said board members had not received. Liston also asked for a copy. "I think it should have been provided at this hearing," Liston said. "I'm a little surprised it wasn't supplied to the board before now." "If my client authorizes me, I'll supply Mr. Liston with a copy," Prime said. The four-hour meeting started at 7 p.m. Most of that time went to Spalt's testimony. Board members voted to carry the application to the April 30 board meeting. The businesses that have joined together to fight the proposed store include Joe's Service Center - Liberty Gas and repair shop, Sandy's Exxon, Mike and Sons Repair Shop, Eagle Gas, Brick Town Sunoco, 7-Eleven, the Fat Cat Bake Shop, Surfside Collision and the Little Rascals Academy.