Sonic Drive-In eyes second Middlesex County location
PISCATAWAY – A Sonic Drive-In fast-food restaurant is coming to town.
The township’s Zoning Board of Adjustment last week granted minor site plan approval and a use variance from applicant Piscataway Dev LLC for the restaurant at 1006 Stelton Road where Gianni's Pizzarama, whose owner's retired earlier this year after 36 years in business, used to be, according to its Facebook page.
The applicant plans to expand and renovate the existing building, which is in the general business zone, and use it as a 2,380-square-foot restaurant with drive-thru service, next to other commercial uses.
Jason Tuvel, attorney for the applicant, said the only variance needed was for a free-standing sign along Stelton Road.
He said the restaurant's hours of operation will be 8 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week. The restaurant is slated to have four to eight employees per shift, with deliveries and trash pickups two to three times a week.
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Project engineer Matt Bersch said the restaurant will be located on Stelton Road in the southbound lane near the intersection with Centennial Avenue, on a .7-acre site which has parking in the rear. The site is across the road from the South Plainfield border.
Plans call for eight parking stalls under a canopy where customers can order food and an additional 10 standard parking stalls. The 20-foot-tall free-standing sign with the Sonic logo is planned for the east side of the building, in an area where only a 32-square-foot sign is permitted. Plans also include new evergreen and shrub landscaping and eight new lights that will face the interior of the property as well as some string lights at an outdoor seating area.
Zoning Board officials questioned the need for five wall-mounted signs around the building, including one on the front of the building along Stelton Road and two facing the nearby Wendy's restaurant, and a rear sign facing the pickup window, when only one sign is permitted.
Email: srussell@gannettnj.com
Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Sonic Drive-In eyes second Middlesex County NJ location in Piscataway
