Traffic concerns overcome; project wouldn’t be open until at least 2026
SOMERS POINT — Chicken sandwiches, waffle fries, fresh-baked cookies and creamy milkshakes are on their way to Defeo Plaza, a shopping center on Route 9 in Somers Point that received the city’s stamp of approval March 19.
So is an extensive amount of traffic, which despite testimony to the contrary is likely going to jam the intersection with Chapman Boulevard to the point of gridlock.
The plan’s saving grace is that, according to professionals working on it, the state Department of Transportation is planning to replace the intersection with one offering a dedicated left-turn lane as part of a road project stretching from the city to Pleasantville.
“Before I knew the state was going to replace the intersection, I was a no on this,” said Mayor Dennis Tapp, a member of the board.
Property owner Lee Brahin said he is awaiting permits from the DOT and Department of Environmental Protection that should take about a year and is hoping for construction to begin in summer or fall 2026, meaning if the DOT project begins in Somers Point, the intersection could be upgraded while construction is under way or not too long afterward.
Members voted 6-1 to approve the application, which requested multiple variances for signs — both number and size — as well as for lamppost height and setback on the Defeo Lane side.
John O’Connor, who cast the sole no vote, stated his reason for doing so was because it would make “traffic on Chapman much worse.”
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 the 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 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.
The hearing began Feb. 19 following another project but was not completed and had to be adjourned until March.
During the previous meeting, professionals said 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.
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 from the complex.
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 Transporation], we can provide safe and efficient access,” Mosley said.
O’Connor, who was an alternate during the first hearing, 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.
Dill said 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.
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.”
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.
Many of them returned in March, with one property owner requesting an 8-foot privacy fence between the commercial and residential properties and another requesting the chain-link fence remain so they could see the vegetative buffer instead of a vinyl wall.
Cleary said the buffer is “generally in good shape,” noting that invasive ivy would be eradicated by June. He some trees are not as dense in parts and that the developer would add more to supplement it.
The board ultimately decided to allow the developer to keep the chain-link fence, saying anyone who wanted a different fence could put one up on their property.
Despite their stated reservations, six of the seven members voted to approve the project.
Dill explained that the project is a permitted use in the zone, noting his issues with traffic.
“We are going to have to depend on the state now,” he said.
Jack Sheilds commended the developer for his willingness to work with the neighbors.
“It will be a great asset,” he said.
Vince Lombardi said his only concern is the neighbors on Crestview Drive.
“That berm must be built up and maintained,” he said.
Chairman Striefsky said neither the board nor the applicant can control traffic.
“This is an example of how the board, applicant and public can work through issues and addresses reasonable requests,” he said.
– By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
