Traffic worries fuel concerns about application for plaza
SOMERS POINT — Now the fries are getting cold.
The hearing on an application to allow for a Chick-fil-A restaurant on Route 9 faced another delay Feb. 19, meaning those hungering for a fried chicken sandwich or some nuggets and waffle fries will have to wait at least until March to find out whether their appetite for the popular eatery will eventually be sated.
Brahin Properties, owner of the 279,026-square-foot Somers Point Plaza on Route 9, Ocean Heights Plaza to the north and the Dollar General property to the south, is proposing a project at 331 Route 9 to be known as Defeo Plaza, paying homage to the former Defeo Duck Farm at the site.
The project, on the property where the defunct McNaughton’s Garden Center building still stands, would include two out-parcels containing a Chick-fil-A and a Panera Bread restaurant, each with drive-thru capability, and a strip of stores behind. The 28,500-square-foot mixed-use portion would feature about 19,000 square feet of new retail space and 9,500 square feet of office/medical space.
According to the Brahin Properties website, the plaza would have access to two traffic lights — one at Chapman Boulevard and the other at Bethel Road, the latter of which sees a combined traffic count of nearly 40,000 vehicles per day — and more than 900 feet of frontage along Route 9 in the heart of the commercial corridor.
The application was on the agenda for the Planning Board’s meeting in January but was pulled less than a week prior to the hearing.
On Feb. 19, the application was second on the agenda behind a project proposed for the corner of Bay and Maryland avenues whose hearing took four hours.
It was near 11 p.m. when project attorney Keith Davis addressed the board, but not until after one member suggested adjourning. Chairman Paul Striefsky ruled that they would continue after Davis noted some of the professionals had traveled from out of state to testify.
Davis introduced the project and turned the presentation over to project engineer Brian Cleary, who detailed the plans.
Cleary said the site includes a building that will be demolished and that the project is interconnected with the existing Taco Bell and TD Bank. The strip mall would be built partially behind those two businesses.
Cleary noted the road from the plaza onto Defeo would be moved a bit west but access would be maintained there and to Chapman Boulevard to the south, where there is a four-way traffic signal. Only right turns are permitted from Defeo onto Route 9, where plans call for a center lane to accommodate northbound vehicles turning left into the complex. Only right turns would be permitted back onto Route 9.
Traffic engineer Nathan Mosley of Shropshire Associates discussed drive lanes, ingress and egress and conditions on the local roadways.
He said they conducted a study Nov. 25, 2024, of the access and traffic circulation.
“Based on conversations with the [Department of Transportation], we can provide safe and efficient access,” Mosley said.
Board member John O’Connor, who is an alternate and cannot vote, said the exit onto Chapman would cause a traffic jam.
“It’s going to back up there,” he said.
Mosley said any extra traffic would not reduce the level of service of the intersections.
He also argued that fast food restaurants generate drive-by traffic, saying 50 percent to 60 percent of the business already is passing through the area.
“I don’t care what you say, Chick-fil-A is a destination,” board member and Councilman Howard Dill said.
Mosley acknowledged that the businesses would generate more traffic than the garden center had but said the DOT informed him of plans for a major intersection replacement at Chapman with a dedicated left-turn lane onto Route 9.
“This future project should improve access,” he said.
Dill questioned whether Chapman Boulevard in Somers Point would be a priority in a project that is expected to stretch to the Black Horse Pike in Pleasantville. Board engineer Paul Kates said the best-case scenario would be 2026 to 2028.
“I use it quite a bit and I have serious concerns about Chapman,” Dill said.
He noted neighbors are concerned about people leaving the plaza and driving down their road to get to the traffic light, noting they requested a right-turn-only onto Defeo Lane.
Cleary also said the traffic signals at Bethel Road would be adjusted to help accommodate the traffic.
Striefsky said he is concerned that traffic will back up past Ocean Heights Avenue a block north of Bethel Road, noting that even under current conditions cars are lined up light to light.
He said Chick-fil-A creates demand and that it would only add more traffic to the “bottleneck.”
“The reality is it is going to increase traffic,” Striefsky said.
“There will be no deterioration in the level of service at the intersections,” Davis said. “With the new improvements, it will get better.”
“I disagree,” Dill said. “Route 9 is terrible and all we are doing is adding to it.”
Cleary noted they are awaiting a permit from the Department of Environmental Protection and had not yet found a way to handle 100 percent of the expected storm runoff.
About 11 homes on Crestview Drive border the site on the west. Despite the late hour, residents of nearby homes sat awaiting their chance to speak but never got the chance. Some have expressed concern about a buffer between their homes and the business.
Cleary said the buffer is “generally in good shape,” noting that invasive ivy would be eradicated by June. He said some trees are not as dense in parts and that the developer would add more to supplement it.
In addition, a chain-link fence bordering about 95 percent of the property would be replaced with a 6-foot vinyl fence, creating an opaque screen. He said that would provide “an ample buffer.”
Cleary noted the project did not accommodate a loading zone, testifying that deliveries would be made overnight and the oversized drive aisle in the rear would be adequate.
Striefsky asked if there were a possibility of erecting a fence on the peak of the earthen berm between the business property and the homes, but Cleary said that could require removal of some of the mature trees in the buffer.
Board solicitor Joel Fleishman asked that the fence be built when the first building is started.
Mayor Dennis Tapp, a board member, encouraged “any type of extra buffer to block the view of the residents.”
The area is chock full of businesses, including a Dunkin’, McDonald’s, Chipotle and Taco Bell on Route 9, along with a Wendy’s and Wawa a bit north.
Across Route 9, the Somers Point Plaza features Target, Petsmart, Planet Fitness, Passion Vines liquors, Primo Hoagies and Hand & Stone spa. There’s also an Acme market.
Around the corner on Bethel Road is ShopRite, Applebee’s, Five Below, Staples, GameStop, Sport Clips and Supercuts. Several banks and pharmacies also are in the vicinity.
There also is abundant single-family and multi-family housing within walking and biking distance, along with Charter Tech High School for the Performing Arts just down the street.
At midnight, the board adjourned.
“This is too big of a project to rush through,” Striefsky said.
The hearing is set to be continued at 7 p.m. March 19.
– By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff