FAIR HAVEN – As Fair Haven decides whether it will allow fast food restaurants in town, it is moving forward on creating a new ordinance that will specifically prohibit drive-thru restaurants.
For months, residents have flocked to the borough’s council, planning and zoning board meetings to oppose a proposed Dunkin’ franchise at the River Road shopping center, mostly citing traffic concerns.
The proposed drive-thru ordinance would have no impact on the Dunkin’ application. But it would replace a prohibitive piece of legislation established in 1973 when the borough won a superior court challenge against McDonald’s. That ordinance was repealed and exchanged with a similar ordinance in 1998, but was removed from borough law during a 2002 recodification.
The proposed legislation restricts restaurants from including drive-thru features, like typical McDonald’s or KFC chains, or a drive-in environment like Sonic or Stewart’s. Walk-up windows are also prohibited, barring food trucks and many ice cream operations similar to Rita’s Italian Ice or Strollo’s Lighthouse.
Mayor Benjamin Lucarelli said he and the governing body will assign an advisory committee to make sure the introduced ordinance is not detrimental to the future of Fair Haven or harmful to the borough’s proposed Fair Share Center Housing plan.
“The Fair Share housing plan is in the courts right now and we have our next hearing coming up in August. We can’t have something like the wording of an ordinance blow this plan up,” Lucarelli said.
New Jersey’s Fair Share Housing Center said the borough has an immediate need for one affordable housing unit and an unmet need of 370.
To address that, Fair Haven is proposing the establishment of overlay zones over existing zoning to incentivize builders to create affordable housing. The zones would be located at United Methodist Church on McCarter Avenue, as well as in the borough’s commercial district on River Road from Smith Street to Locust Avenue, including residential properties near Navesink Avenue and Forman Street.
“Our plan calls for mixed-use developments in overlay zones because those are the most economically viable options,” said Lucarelli. “The plan has to pass the economic viability test. So if we outlaw all fast food uses, our overlay zones can be considered not economically viable.”
Borough resident Tracy Cole has opposed the Dunkin’ proposal since its inception, hiring a land-use attorney to argue against the application at planning and zoning board meetings.
Cole said she believes the community is against the application namely for the “safety concerns it creates” near a troublesome driveway exit onto River Road in an area she said has already seen its share of motor vehicle accidents and collisions with bicyclists.
Cole also said the introduction of fast food establishments in that River Road corridor could alter the small town community and culture Fair Haven has developed because it could increase both motor vehicle and pedestrian traffic.
“That corridor is interwoven into our community so you really have to be responsible with your land-use planning,” said Cole. “And what could become of it? This would be a mini-urban center. Three blocks of high-intensity traffic. Fast food is not the only form of retail. They’re just the most aggressive lease signers right now.”
Lucarelli said the timeline for the examination of the ordinance could be six months to a year. But forming the advisory committee is the first step in a process that is already under way.
