JACKSON – Members of the Jackson Planning Board will hear additional testimony on June 21 regarding an applicant’s plan to replace the venerable Glory’s Market with a Wawa convenience store and gas station at 584 Cedar Swamp Road, Jackson.
The applicant, Dreamview, LLC, is seeking preliminary and final major subdivision approval, and preliminary and final major site plan approval.
The plan involves subdividing two lots at 584 Cedar Swamp Road into five lots for development. Of the five new lots, three new lots are accounted for in the current site plan. The remaining two new lots would be reserved for future development.
Dreamview is proposing to construct three buildings: a 4,736-square-foot Wawa convenience store and gas station; a 5,244-square foot liquor store; and an 8,538-square-foot retail/pharmacy building.
The Wawa convenience store would replace Glory’s Discount Market. The Glory family would operate the proposed liquor store.
In an interview, Clara Glory said the original Glory’s store has been on the property since the 1940s and the current market was incorporated in 1973.
“We have been getting approached here for years for the land. You come off Interstate 195 and it is the most valuable piece there is, it is right here. There are 16 acres and about 6 acres are buildable because of wetlands and buffers,” Glory said.
“I understand people don’t like changes, they don’t want to see the development, but when people own the land and have been paying taxes since the 1940s they have the right (to sell) at some point. Nobody is going to have the quality of meat we have; butchers are a dying art, it is very hard,” she said.
When the Dreamview application came before the Planning Board on April 19, attorney Dennis Collins represented the applicant. Collins called on engineer James Kinosian to describe the proposed project.
Kinosian said the property is on the southwest corner of the signalized intersection of Commodore Boulevard and Cedar Swamp Road. The surrounding area is undeveloped land. He said the property contains a liquor store and a market owned by the Glory family.
The Wawa convenience store is proposed to have 55 parking spaces and the gas station is proposed to have eight fueling pumps.
“There is a right-in/right-out driveway proposed along Commodore Boulevard, as well as a right-in/right-out driveway proposed along Cedar Swamp Road which is spaced adequately from the signalized intersection,” Kinosian said.
He said two driveways would connect Wawa to the new liquor store, which would have 36 parking spaces and share parking with the retail/pharmacy building. Kinosian said the applicant is seeking tenants for the retail/pharmacy building.
“The vision here is to have a local pharmacy,” he said.
Regarding the Wawa, Kinosian said it would be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“As far as deliveries go, the store receives a number of different types (of deliveries) in order to properly offer all the goods and foods they offer to their customers.
“There is a dairy truck that typically visits the site three times a week. Groceries specifically are delivered by Wawa’s tractor-trailers and that is usually four to five times a week, and normally during off-peak hours,” he testified.
Certain vendors will make deliveries with a box truck every other day. Fuel for the gas station will be delivered by a tractor-trailer, generally one or two times per week, Kinosian told members of the board and the public.
He testified that the liquor store’s hours of operation would be from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Deliveries would be made by box trucks about five times a week.
It is expected the retail/pharmacy lot would have hours of operation from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., with deliveries to be made by box trucks several times each week.
No decision was reached on April 19 and the Dreamview application was carried to the Planning Board’s June 21 meeting.
