A five acre property at the intersection of Fish Pond Rd and Pitman Downer Road in Washington Township is planned to be split into two lots, ahead of the development of a new Dollar General retail store. The address is listed as 279 Fish Pond Road.
The developers will be appearing at the Washington Township Zoning Board meeting on November 8, 2021 at 6:00 PM to present the plan to split the property into two different tax lots, as well as some zoning adjustments.
The large property starts at the traffic light intersection and runs down along Fish Pond Road. A home sits right at the corner intersection (with a Commercial “For Sale” sign currently in the front yard), and goes down Fish Pond Road to include the white building which has been the home to several Auto based businesses. The next property after that is the Newfield Bank.
The small Priscilla Apartment complex is across the street from the property in question.
Because this is only a zoning action to split the property, we don’t have a lot of the details yet on the full plans for the new Dollar General.
Really the only thing clear with the Zoning Board notice is that Dollar General wants to build a brand new 10,640 sq ft store on that Fish Pond Road property which sits near the Pitman Downer intersection.
42Freeway plans on attending the meeting, as we would hope to get some extra details about the larger project plans.
While it would seem to make more sense to construct the Dollar General at the intersection (where a house currently is located), the Public Notice states that the house will remain, which means the Dollar General would have to be developed on the remainder of the property somewhere between the house and Newfield Bank.
This could mean the white building (auto business) would be demolished… but it is unclear to 42Freeway at this point.
Looking at the County tax maps there is a drainage easement not too far behind the house at the corner, so maybe that proved a problem in developing the Dollar General near the intersection?
So regarding the actually placement of Dollar General, hopefully we pick up extra details in the Zoning meeting or we may have to wait until the project comes before the Planning Board.
Two Key Zoning Requests
The notice calls out two core zoning items to be approved.
The property is currently zoned as PI-Planned Industrial, which could be because of the existing auto repair business.
So interestingly, after being split; one lot will still have the house and the other will have a new Dollar General…
Neither one would meet the zoning of Planned Industrial.
The house property needs to be rezoned as Residential and the other lot Dollar General would need to have a retail zoning designation.
Honestly both of those zoning options are better for that immediate area.
About Dollar General
I am running out of things to say about Dollar Generals. I’ve posted about a LOT of these new locations coming in.
I just put one up for Deptford yesterday!
So here goes “They are not a dollar store. They area a general household merchandise store with items in all price points. Imagine a pharmacy… without the pharmaceuticals. That’s Dollar General”
Links and Location
TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING PLEASE
November 8, 2021 at 6:00 PM
Council Room of the Township of Washington Municipal Building
523 Egg Harbor Road
Sewell, New Jersey 08080