Old Bridge board approves Dunkin' drive‑through and retail rework at former TGI Fridays

The Old Bridge Township Zoning Board of Adjustment on June 4 unanimously approved Bentley Realty Group’s major preliminary and final site plan to renovate the former TGI Fridays at 1043 Route 9 into a multi‑tenant pad anchored by a Dunkin' Donuts with a drive‑through and a Jimmy John's walk‑in outlet.

The board granted the bulk variances and design waivers the applicant requested to adapt an existing pad site in the CR (regional commercial) zone. Applicant engineer James Henry told the board the proposal keeps the existing building footprint but divides the former restaurant into three tenant spaces: a Dunkin' with a dedicated drive‑through lane, a Jimmy John's without drive‑through service, and an office for the franchisee. Henry said the plan provides a long internal drive‑through queue — "We have 16 car stack, which is even more than a typical Starbucks" — with two menu boards that merge into a single pickup area.

Why it matters: The center has struggled with vacancies and visibility on Route 9, and the applicant said the project would modernize the façades, reduce overall building signage area, reconfigure and improve parking circulation, and add landscaping buffers along the highway.

Key approvals and conditions: The board approved variances tied to an existing nonconforming gym elsewhere on the parcel (which triggered the use variance), front‑yard setback relief for small canopies over drive‑through windows, parking stall size and curb radii waivers, and certain signage and landscape buffer variances. The applicant said the overall center will see a net reduction in required parking and that the pad itself will provide 70 spaces versus higher historic counts; Henry characterized this as an improvement over prior conditions. The application includes a proposed reduction in total building signage area from about 286 square feet to 161 square feet and a proposed planting program of 38 trees, 112 shrubs and 55 ornamental grasses to increase visual buffering.

Operational and outside approvals: The applicant requested 24‑hour operation for the Dunkin' drive‑through. Henry reported the team has a DOT "letter of no interest" for Route 9 access and said they have obtained required county approvals; he also said the OBMUA (Old Bridge Municipal Utilities Authority) review was pending and that the applicant will make any required utility/stormwater improvements. The engineer said there is no increase in impervious area that would trigger EV‑parking requirements under state guidance and so no EV stalls are proposed for the pad as submitted.

Board discussion and safeguards: Board professionals questioned queuing and pedestrian circulation; the applicant agreed to provide crosswalks and additional pedestrian access connecting the commuter lot and to consider landscape and lighting changes recommended by staff. Counsel noted that, because the nonconforming gym use exists elsewhere on the large parcel, the Dunkin' and associated retail are permitted uses and relief is limited to the quirks of parcel‑wide nonconformities rather than to the proposed pad uses themselves.

Vote and next steps: With no members of the public speaking, the board closed the public hearing and voted to approve the application on a roll‑call vote. The applicant is required to finalize any outside agency approvals (including OBMUA review), return for compliance paperwork and obtain building permits before construction begins.

Representative quotes from the hearing include Henry’s technical description of the queue: "We have 16 car stack, which is even more than a typical Starbucks," and Chairman Sullivan’s closing remark expressing support for rehabilitating an underused property: "I'm glad to see that this is being rehabilitated."