HILLSBOROUGH: Starbucks quizzed on signs, setback, adding a second floor

Zoning board members asked Starbucks why it needed to have so many signs on its proposed free-standing store in the parking lot of the Hillsborough Centre, anchored by the Stop and Shop supermarket, at 649 Route 206.
Starbucks made the first part of a presentation March 2 to justify building a one-story business with a drive-thru off the center’s southerly access road off Route 206 near the free-standing Wells Fargo bank.
Starbucks is presently located about 100 yards away in the end unit of the adjacent Nelson’s Corner Shopping Center.
The Starbucks building would fall in the township’s Town Center zone, which calls for buildings of at least two floors, with offices or apartments on the upper floors. Starbucks asked to be relieved of the requirement, saying it has found second floors for the coffee business would present the burden of stairs, monitoring and safety.
The building is 292 feet from Route 206, and the Town Center zone looks for a maximum front yard setback of five feet, in order to foster a downtown look.
Starbucks architect Melanie Soos said the use of signs with the company name or mermaid-like meme were needed to attract attention from traffic coming from many directions.
The building would be 71 by 24 feet, plus an outdoor patio, on 0.44 acres of the 18.1 acres of Hillsborough Centre. The applicant is the shopping center and the attorney and landowner is Robert Simon, based in Warren. Robert Heibell of Van Cleef Engineering is the engineer.
Starbucks says in its application that the design and use is consistent with the rest of the shopping center, and that there would be adequate “stacking” area in its driveway to avoid interfering with interior road traffic in the center.
Hours would be from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., with peak hours in the morning drive time.
A planner and traffic expert are expected to testify when Starbacks returns at the May 18 meeting. 