At the annual re-organization meeting of the West Windsor Planning Board on Wednesday, January 4, Marvin Gardner was sworn in as chairman again and Michael Karp was sworn in as vice chairman. According to Municipal Land Use Manager Sam Surtees all of the planning board’s professional consultants were brought back as well. In late December Gardner told the WW-P News that rounds of interviews took place for all of the board’s professionals, with up to eight candidates applying for each position. In the end the board voted to stay the course with its current professionals including planning board attorney Gerald Muller, who enters his 20th year in his position.
The sole application reviewed and unanimously approved on January 4 was for a Qdoba Mexican restaurant set up next to the new Bobby Flay’s Burger Palace coming to the MarketFair Mall. MarketFair was the applicant, seeking a minor site plan modification for an exterior entrance and sign. Surtees said Qdoba will occupy a vacant retail space near the entrance of the mall near the movie theater and Bobby Flay’s.
“They are going to have a separate entrance to get in. They will also do some landscaping in the front similar to what Bobby’s Burgers is doing and have a similar facade change with a sign the same size and height as Bobby’s,” he said.
Surtees added that Qdoba will have a southwestern “dark maroon and tan” color scheme. This month Marketfair will submit applications to the township’s building department for interior fit and exterior facade changes.
Surtees expects construction at Bobby’s Burger Palace to begin soon with Qdoba to start about a month after with both restaurants possibly opening by April.
The planning board will take a month’s hiatus, with the next session is scheduled for Wednesday, February 15, at 7 p.m.
Rabbit Hill Bridge Work Underway. The reconstruction of the Rabbit Hill Road bridge over Old Bear Brook began on January 4 — four months later than originally scheduled due to disruptions caused by Hurricane Irene. “We needed a utility line moved before our work could commence,” said Mercer County spokesperson Julie Wilmot. “Once Hurricane Irene hit and then also tropical storm Lee, PSE&G and other utilities were re-assigned to more important jobs at that point. We experienced delays only because we couldn’t begin work without PSE&G completing its work.”
Wilmot said that the county expects the project to take roughly four months to complete, as was originally planned, with hopes of opening the new bridge to traffic in late April or early May. The cost of the project will be $1,288,050.60 funded through the state DOT.
