A preliminary site plan for the buildings destined to occupy the cornerstone property of the redevelopment zone has been presented to the Site Plan Review Advisory Board. ##M:[more]##The Rite Aid complex, already approved by the zoning board, moved closer to completion at the site on the corner of Cranbury Road and Route 571, near the train station and across the street from the Ellsworth Center.
The complex will include a 14,”000 square foot pharmacy on the corner, and secondary buildings totalling 6,”000 square feet, that would be the location for a restaurant and a Starbucks. It would be the township’s fourth Starbucks, including two at Market Fair and one in the Acme across Route 571.
The plan presented to SPRAB has been revised to address the Princeton Junction zoning overlay, an ordinance passed into law by council last month. The overlay addresses building design and streetscape. It is intended to give the area a village-type look and feel. It requires that the buildings have a 20-to-30 foot setback from Route 571, and that parking be located behind the buildings, away from the street.
While members of SPRAB called the plan an improvement, some concerns still remain. Councilman Charles Morgan said he believes there could be problems with the entrances and exits, particularly whether customers should be allowed to make a left turn into the site from Route 571.
Members of the board agreed that a left turn made by drivers traveling east on Route 571 could be dangerous, but precedent dictated that they allow it, since westbound drivers are allowed to make a left turn into the PNC Bank on Route 571 directly across from the property where Rite Aid would be built. The left turn will be allowed in both directions.
The applicant is expected to return to the review board with adjustments at a meeting in late April.
