It looks as though White Castle will be "sliding" a restaurant onto a vacant piece of land between Main street and Wilson Avenue in Port Monmouth after all. After having their application denied by the Middletown Planning Board last year, White Castle System, Inc. appealed the decision to the New Jersey Superior Court and on March 26th of this year, the NJ Superior Court ruled in favor of White Castle and overturned the Middletown Planning Board.
The ruling by the Superior Court states that all preliminary and final site plan approvals, including site design waivers, to permit White Castle to construct and operate a restaurant with a drive-thru on property has been approved by the court and can move forward.It seems now that the area residents, who strongly opposed the construction of the White Castle, will need to hire their own attorney if they wish to continue their fight and appeal the decision of the Superior Court that will be built in their backyards.
Below is the notice of the Courts decision that appeared in the pages of the Asbury Park Press public notice section yesterday:
TOWNSHIP OF MIDDLETOWN
NOTICE OF DECISION PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Superior Court of New Jersey, by its Order dated March 26, 2013, resulting from an action entitled White Castle System, Inc. vs. Planning Board of The Township of Middletown, Docket No. MON-L-2139-12, reversed the April 4, 2012 denial by the Township of Middletown Planning Board of White Castle System, Inc.'s ("Applicant") application, and granted preliminary and final site plan approval, including site design waivers, to permit the Applicant to construct and operate a White Castle restaurant with a drive-thru on property located at 382 Route 36, Township of Middletown, Monmouth County, New Jersey, also known as Block 533, Lots 4, 5, 6, 7 and 15 as shown on the current Tax Map of the Township of Middletown. A copy of the Order with respect to the above matter is on file for public inspection in the office of the Planning Department located in the Town Hall, 1 Kings Highway, Middletown, New Jersey, during regular business hours (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m), Monday through Friday. By: Price, Meese, Shulman & D'Arminio, P.C. Attorneys for Applicant, White Castle System, Inc. By: Reginald Jenkins, Jr., Esq. ($35.00) 721344
Public Notice ID: 20058532
16 comments:
I feel bad for those people who live near this proposed site. I attended the planning board meetings & the board had very good reasons for denying the application.
omg how can we stop this
im glad to see it we need buisnesses to open to create jobs
im glad they won under appeal, they are not gods at town hall
How is White Castle? Are the rumors true that their food will give you bad gas for weeks that you need to go to McDonald's to compare the two? Anyways, you are my inspiration, i love me them Republicans.
I understand the NIMBY mentality but when your backyard is literally a commercial lot on Rt. 36 how can you be upset or surprised when a fast food restaurant wants to open a business there?
IMHO I think the White Castle will be a much needed improvement to a shabby looking part of the town. People should be complaining about the dilapidated display that Whirl Construction left to rot in the jug handle across the street or the abandoned Hurricane Fence site that looks like a junk yard, not a new restaurant.
At least the White Castle will be a well maintained successful business and the Rite Aid on Wilson Ave will no doubt benefit from the urgent demand for Pepto-Bismol.
Good we need more jobs in the area I live couple lights down on the wet side and this will be an improvement and another thing "I love me them republicans" learn proper english
You shouldnt when there backyard is highway 36 you dont live in the, area
Learn proper english
I find it very ironic that people who buy a house that backs up to commercial property on a highway are "surprised" and "upset" when the property eventually gets developed. One word - DUH
The highway was there when you bought the house, you can't argue that part at all. Do they complain about that too? Real estate is all about location, location, location. The price of their house reflects that location no matter how nice it is landscaped and interior designed. It may be harder to sell now and not sell for as much, but those are factors that maybe those homeowners should have considered BEFORE buying that house or continuing to live in that house. I bet 100% if those people wanted to put an addition on, the commercial property owner would not object at all, but when the situation is reversed, they cry foul. I get it that they want to fight the development of the property, but it should have never come as a surprise. They should be happy of all the years they had no one in their backyard. The NIMBY day is over.
The issue is not about White Castles business, food or their customers. The issue is overdevelopment and it affects all residents as a result of the lot being too small and the poor location. The townships concerns for all residents have nothing to do with NIMBY’s concerns for their backyards. Here are just 2 of 18 points where White Castle is ignoring township regulations. One ordinance calls for “Off site storm water management” so in a storm event the result of the development does not cause damage by uncontrolled flooding of roadways and adjoining properties. They have nothing more than a ditch along the entire front of the property that will fill and spill over to Hwy 36 and all the properties around them. The result will be damage and road closures. That’s why there is an ordinance to prevent it. The second ordinance is an “Appropriate deceleration and exit lane along the road on which the building fronts”. That lane (where they plan to build) is an acceleration lane for cars entering highway 36 off Main St across from Port Monmouth School. White Castle’s own traffic and safety expert, Elizabeth Dolan, testified that there is NO DECELERATION LANE. The township requires this to prevent accidents so the highway system is safe for motorist and pedestrians. To elaborate on this the entrance lane (off Main St) will have cars already traveling @ 20 to 25 MPH speeding up within a dedicated lane that’s 550 feet long to allow a safe merge into traffic traveling at 50 MPH. That is the minimum NJ D.O.T. standard for that lane on HWY 36. Cars will now be crossing into that lane to slow down to 15 MPH (also testimony from Mrs. Dolan) to make a 180 degree turn to get to the White Castle. To prevent unsafe situations like this the township requires a dedicated deceleration lane like a shoulder and there is none. The township, as well as the NIMBY, wants responsible development of the area and if they complied we would not be having this debate.
Should of remained denied, we do not need another fast food place in an already crowded area. If they are going to build anything there they should build something that will actually help the town.
Does anyone have an update about this? I see construction equipment on the site now (7/14) and wonder if this is a done deal.
I am all for open space and fought the Board of Adjustment on the Trinity School issue, but you can't fault a company for wanting to develop a piece of land along a commercial roadway. That's exactly the RIGHT way to develop, along the highways, keeping traffic along one corridor and out of residential areas.
I just don't think we need a white castle or any other fast food restaurant around here. Fast food places are out of style.. I suggest a healthier "fast food" type..Panera, Atlantic bread ..something better than white castle!!
You have to build for your audience. A higher-priced chain restaurant like Panera probably wouldn't do as well in a lower income area like Port Monmouth. I am happy to see new development along Route 36 and agree that the town should be chasing property owners like the Hurricane Fence property and others to clean up. Some properties along the highway are a disgrace, and we certainly won't attract better businesses looking like a bombed-out mess. All that said, Middletown is a fantastic place to live, and I love Route 36, warts and all.
The Appellate court has reversed Judge Lawson and upheld the planning boards decision to deny White Castle.
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