One celebrity chef has his sights set on West Windsor for his newest burger joint location, but is he willing to ensure his plans will satisfy West Windsor’s concerns? That remains to be seen.
Bobby Flay, the famed Food Network star and Iron Chef, is looking to open a Bobby’s Burger Palace location in MarketFair on the south side of the mall next to the movie theater. The township’s Planning Board reviewed his company’s site plan application on July 27 but scheduled a continuation of the hearing on Wednesday, September 14.
In the meantime, his staff will meet with township professionals to possibly make revisions to the plan in time for the upcoming meeting. If approved, the West Windsor location would be the sixth in the nation and the third in New Jersey. Other Bobby’s Burger Palace locations include Eatontown, Paramus, and Philadelphia.
“It’s a new concept that’s being developed by Bobby Flay, but it won’t be the tablecloth type of operation,” said Planning Board Chairman Marvin Gardner. “It’s really starting off the ground. They consider West Windsor as a prime market for this activity.”
According to Gardner, the burger joint will be more upscale than the typical fast food joint. Customers walk in, order from a variety of exotic burgers, sit down at a table, and wait for their food to be brought to them by a server. The server does not take orders at the table.
“My concern was there may not be sufficient tables available at certain times, especially with people coming out of the theater,” said Gardner. But Flay’s staff said the service is quick and that there should be no problem.
According to site plans, the application seeks approval of a new entrance directly into the leased space as well as the addition of 310 square feet of sidewalk to the new entrance and a new building-mounted sign to identify the new tenant. The application requires a maximum impervious coverage variance and a sign waiver.
The plans call for two entrances — one that faces Route 1 and another on the Canal Pointe side of the building. “They’re also going to have an interior entrance to their store,” said Gardner.
However, one of the board’s biggest issues with the plans are that they call for a tower over the existing space. “The tower would be significant in terms of height relative to the rest of the roofline,” said Gardner. “The board felt we needed to consider the tower element as something that needs to be discussed. From an architectural perspective, it differs from the remaining part of the center.”
In addition, the building’s architectural design did not fit with the rest of the MarketFair buildings, he said. “It did not represent a uniform design theme, although that wasn’t a crucial issue for some,” said Gardner. “If a new tenant comes in on the end, and that tenant wants an exterior entrance or access to a parking lot, they’re going to say look at this tower; we want something like that.”
“We don’t want to set a precedent,” added Gardner. “It would create an architectural deficit.”
The board also struggled with whether to consider the appendage to the roofline as a signage issue. If so, the board would have to determine whether the tower exceeds the requirements of the sign ordinance. The board will also have to determine whether the tower would be considered to be part of the actual sign. “If the tower is being put as part of the signage, then there is a very substantial increase that needs to be considered,” said Gardner. “That’s one of the points that was raised and needs to be thoroughly vetted at the staff level.”
The color palette of the building also “sharply contrasts” with the color of existing walls. “They are orange, rust, and a considerable number of different colors, and they literally shouted at you,” said Gardner. “There needed to be some further discussion on colors that were perhaps more compatible with the rest of the center.”
Among other issues was the lighting aspect, as the township has requested the applicant provide the township with an exterior lighting plan for public safety considerations.
“Another issue was the removal of three mature trees right in front of the wall that exists there and with addressing both landscaping and environmental concerns,” added Gardner. “In addition to removal of the trees, the grass area would be removed as well and replaced with a concrete walk.”
