PB-25-10 Trader Joe's (457 Mount Pleasant Avenue)

NOW THEREFORE, the Board makes the following findings of fact, based upon the evidence presented at the Board’s public hearing on the Application, at which a record was made: 1. The Applicant is requesting approval for Preliminary and Final Major site plan approval with “c” variances and a soil removal permit to refit and reoccupy approximately 18,767 square feet of existing tenant space, including the approximately 1,522 square foot mezzanine, within the Main Building for use as a Trader Joe’s Retail Store, which is a permitted principal use in the B-2 General Business zone, wherein multiple principal uses are permitted. Applicant also seeks a tree removal and replacement permit, which is issued by the Township Forester, but §28-5.c. requires submission of a tree replacement plan to the Board, which the Applicant submitted as part of the Application. Ancillary improvements such as curbing, paving, landscaping, lighting, an 8-foot concrete masonry unit screen wall behind the Main Building, and two new trash enclosures are also proposed, as is new facade signage The Property is irregularly shaped with approximately 524.6’ of frontage along Mount Pleasant Avenue (which is also known as New Jersey State Highway Route 10), 50.2’ of frontage along Pleasant Valley Way (which is also known as Essex County Road 636) and 101.6’ of frontage along Mount Pleasant Place. The Property measures approximately 3.7 acres in area, and a section of the South Branch of the Rahway River runs along the eastern side of the Property. The Property is currently developed with the Main Building, the relevant portion of which was previously occupied by a “Metropolitan Plant Exchange” garden center which had an 8,980 square foot canopy/greenhouse area that was removed and will be