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Developers propose shopping center and restaurant at 3014–3021 Route 27; commission demands GPR and design revisions
Summary
Attorney John for JHT Properties presented a conceptual plan for a 2.5‑acre shopping center and 7,000‑ft² restaurant at 3014–3021 Route 27. The commission raised concerns about historic courthouse remains and asked for ground‑penetrating radar, archaeological documentation, detailed landscaping, elevations showing context, and a pedestrian amenity for the recovered historic marker; no formal approval was given.
John, attorney for applicant JHT Properties LLC, presented a conceptual site plan for 3014–3021 Lincoln Highway (Route 27) proposing a roughly 2.5‑acre development with a 15,000‑ft² retail center and a roughly 7,000‑ft² restaurant.
"This is a property located in the neighborhood business zone... we're proposing one 15,000 retail shopping center and then a 7,000 ft restaurant," John told the commission, introducing the project team, which included an architect and Jeff Haberman, the site's civil engineer.
Architectural and materials discussion focused on breaking up the façade massing with offsets, a brick water table, synthetic stucco, cement‑board siding with a wood‑like appearance, and black aluminum storefronts and awnings while remaining under the 30‑foot height limit required by zoning. Jeff Haberman described site layout and stormwater intentions, noting roughly half the retail parking would be in front of the building and the rest to the rear and sides, while roughly 75% of the restaurant parking would be at the rear or side. The team said the primary driveway will be from Route 27 and that they have had a pre‑application meeting with the New Jersey Department of Transportation about permitting access.
Commission members repeatedly raised the site's historic significance: county records link the parcel to Somerset County's first courthouse and a stone plaque with a plaque was historically present onsite. Multiple commissioners urged a ground‑penetrating radar (GPR) survey and said shovel testing to date found only minor items and that deeper investigation is warranted to locate possible foundations or human remains. One commissioner said, "I would think there should be a little further investigation," and another noted that shovel testing had found only small items and that a deeper radar survey would better assess subsurface resources. The commission recommended that GPR be conducted early in design so results can inform layout, landscaping, and the placement of an interpretive amenity around the historic marker.
The commission also requested a more detailed preliminary landscape plan focused on buffering adjacent residential lots on Clover Place and Orchard Street, elevation drawings showing the new buildings in context with neighboring properties, aerial or satellite imagery, and specific proposals for how the plaque or marker would be integrated into an amenity area rather than placed only at the roadside. Some members expressed concern that a contemporary strip‑mall aesthetic could undermine the site's historic character and suggested softer materials, additional brick elements, and careful lighting and signage treatments.
The commission did not vote on the conceptual submission. Instead commissioners directed the applicant to meet with township staff and the Technical Review Committee (TRC), provide a GPR report and any archaeological documentation if warranted, return with a detailed landscape plan and elevations, and refine the plaque/amenity proposal before resubmission to the commission.
