Route 47 Wawa Gets Green Light from Court

DENNISVILLE – Earlier in 2022, the Herald reported that the Dennis Township Land Use Board had denied a variance application in July 2021. The denied application was to build a new Wawa store and gas station on a 2.36-acre site at 1089 Route 47, across from the current Wawa store in Dennisville. 
After that decision, the developer, Dennis 47 Developers LLC, filed an appeal contesting the board’s rejection of the construction application with the Superior Court of New Jersey, Cape May County Law Division
Judge Michael Blee, handed down its order and final judgment to reverse the board’s denial Sept. 28. Blee rendered full approvals to build the new Wawa, widen Route 47 with money from the developer and add an additional turning lane to reduce seasonal traffic and accidents in the busy area. 
In its decision, the court called the board’s denial  “an arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable and unlawful application of its land use powers” under state statute. 
The court used the same language to uphold the developer’s application for “minor subdivision approval,” the court decided that instead of remanding the case back to the board for further proceedings, it would retain jurisdiction over the application. 
According to the facts explained in the court’s final judgment, the project would improve Route 47 at no public cost and decrease the likelihood of accidents by 50%. These circumstances, said the court, are an example of an “exceptional case” when “use variances are appropriate.”
The court agreed with the developer’s arguments that its proposed use of the site would serve the general welfare because the site is “particularly suitable for the proposed use” and that construction would improve a non-conforming junk/salvage yard that currently occupies the site. 
The developer, according to the court, stated its case and subsequent appeal with evidence that was “substantial, credible, completely uncontroverted and which overwhelmingly satisfied” criteria for the requested variance. 
The Land Use Board argued that its decision was based on the specific language of the ordinance prohibiting gas stations in that zone, the traffic pattern for ingress and egress, the disruption of Route 47 for construction and a lack of oversized vehicle parking.
In summing up its decision process, the court pointed out that the “board’s determination was unsupported by any substantial evidence on the record” and that even the board’s expert and the general public did not object to the developer’s application. 
After review of the record, the court concluded that the “weight of the evidence was substantially in favor” of the developer’s application with significant positive elements, no substantial detriment to the public good and no substantial impairment to the intent and purpose of the zoning regulations. 
Ed Myland, owner of Bluewater Welding and Fabrication and Myland Marine Supply, located at the site in question on Route 47 in Dennisville, is also a co-owner of a part of the parcel where the Wawa is slated to be located.
Myland provided additional background to the situation, noting “really nobody in the township even knew what was going on; it was a pretty quiet scenario with no information being shared at all by the board. As part owner, we’ve done everything possible to be a good partner and even have given up a couple of acres for wetlands preservation to satisfy the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection requirements.”
The Herald contacted Dennis Township mayor, Zeth Matalucci, for background. He said that “the collective land use board is an autonomous board, and the mayor is not authorized to vote or sway their decision on use variances.” 
Matalucci referring the Herald to the lawyer representing the board, Jon Batastini, with offices in Ocean City. 
“The land board is still considering its appeal options after this decision, so I cannot provide any insight on this matter at the present moment,” said Batastini.
Thoughts? Comments? Submit a Spout Off or email csailer@cmcherald.com.