By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
NORTHFIELD — Working parents looking for a safe, educational environment for their children soon will have another option.
Learning Edge Academy will be opening a new child care center in Northfield after receiving unanimous approval from the Planning Board for design waivers, variances and major site plan June 3.
The center, which will replace Northfield Plaza at the corner of Route 9 and Ridgewood Avenue after its demolition, will be operated by Elizabeth Palmer. She and her husband, Olufemi, run a similar center in Galloway Township.
Palmer said she is trained as a physical education and health teacher, has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree from Kean University. She has been in child care business since 1999.
“I see Northfield has a great need for our services, this is something that will serve the community,” she said. “A lot of our kids are falling behind, which is reason for the push for early childhood education.”
According to the application, the couple plans to market the school as a premium chain brand in Atlantic County for child care and learning centers to serve children age 6 weeks to 12 years in 10 self-contained classrooms with a capacity of 153 students.
The Northfield location will be known as Children Academy Childcare & Learning Center and be located at 234 Ridgewood Drive, across Route 9 from the Conoco gas station.
Palmer, along with engineer Matthew Hender of Engineer Design Associates and Stephen Fenwick of Fenwick Architects, appeared before the board to lay out the proposal.
The existing building is 100 feet wide. That would be reduced to 89 feet but expanded toward the rear, increasing the total square footage from 3,756 to 8,900. That means the building coverage on the .93-acre site will increase from 9.3 percent to 21.9 percent and lot coverage will increase from 20,034 square feet to 25,278.
The building would be 63.6 feet from the neighboring commercial property to the south instead of the current 88.6 feet and also be 6.5 feet closer to the rear property line where a home is located.
Plans include the creation of 27 parking spots and a drive-through porte-cochere for dropping off and picking up children. Parents also would have the option of parking in the lot and walking their students inside.
Concerns were raised about increasing traffic congestion in an already-busy area, with Wawa across the street and Northfield Community School just a few blocks away. Palmer said the professionals took steps in the design to reduce any issues with traffic through creation of the porte-cochere. She also said there is no mass drop-off and pick-up, with parents coming and going throughout the day.
“You don’t get the influx that you do at a regular school,” Palmer said.
Regardless, Planning Board Chairman Richard Levitt said the child care center is a permitted use in the zone and therefore off-site traffic cannot be a reason for denying the application.
The board did make some suggestions — and Palmer agreed — about placement of signs for dropping off and picking up children to prevent them from having to cross any traffic lanes.
The traffic flow is designed so that those entering from Route 9 would park and walk up while those entering from Ridgewood would use the drop-off lane and exit onto Ridgewood.
“What we didn’t want is the children to get out of the car and have to walk across a traffic lane,” Levitt said. “The way we have it set up, that’s not going to happen.”
Palmer said that was her plan from the beginning.
“The idea is to provide a quick drive-through drop-off to ease the stress of commute for families,” the application states. “This will take place in the portico structure that is built into the front of the building on the south side of the property.”
Pickup will take place in the same area.
Some members also took issue with the proposal for a digital sign and its location. The plans called for a digital sign measuring 2.6 feet by 7 feet to replace the existing sign, which is 15 feet high. That sign is right at the property line and just 6 feet from the street.
Board member Clem Scharff was concerned about the sign drawing drivers’ attention, possibly leading to an accident. He said its proximity to the street and the sight triangle only exacerbates the problem.
Palmer agreed not to change the digital message more than once a day and Hender said the sign could be moved back 5 feet, putting it 11 feet from the street. That was a solution to which everyone agreed.
According to the application, the renovation of Northfield Plaza is “an opportunity to revive this aging plaza with a great building that will provide great curb appeal and contribute to the business district in Northfield.”
It will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday to Friday.
Reached after the meeting, Palmer said she hopes construction will begin in the fall and wrap up in summer 2022. A grand opening is planned for September 2022.
She said she is aware the Northfield School District is contracting out for preschool services and is “hoping to get in on that.”
Palmer said all classrooms exceed state requirements. Special technological enhancements will include the use of automated UV lights that sanitize all surfaces in the building nightly.
“The pandemic opened up a can or worms we didn’t know we had,” Palmer said, adding that major steps had to be taken to continue operating the Galloway Township site. She said the Northfield location would “take it to another level.”
Palmer also said the security system is designed to respond to an active shooter through a series of locking doors and a blue light system that is in constant communication with the Northfield Police Department.
“It’s something that’s never been done in New Jersey, something we are bringing to Northfield,” Palmer said, noting she would never build another center without these processes in place as standard protocol.