Wyckoff September 5, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 9 Board will invite public’s comments on Shop Rite by John Koster On Sept. 24, the Wyckoff Planning Board plans to open the floor to residents for their comments on the Inserra site plan application for a new ShopRite at the former A&P site at Wyckoff and Greenwood avenues. The board’s plans also call for a roundup meeting on Oct. 10 and a potential decision on this application on Nov. 26. The application has been questioned by the management of Stop & Shop, by the Hekemian Company that owns the land on which the nearby Boulder Run Shopping Center stands, and by some residents in the vicinity. The first public comment session, which was held this spring, drew about 20 residents. Approximately 80 percent of those who spoke at that meeting favored the proposed 65,000-square foot ShopRite plan as it has been presented. The balance of the residents who spoke split between those who said they would prefer a smaller building and those who preferred no ShopRite at all. Inserra has already altered the original plan to provide for a store design that would be more congenial to Wyckoff aesthetics and agreed to additional plantings for the parking lot. Wyckoff Planning Board members recently heard from Michael Kauker, Wyckoff’s contract professional planner, who said the Inserra proposal as it now exists is in full compliance with the township’s zoning ordinances. He also said that the applicant has provided adequate screening. Kauker rejected concerns about the length The Wyckoff Township Committee has voted to return $30,000 in escrow money to the former owner of the Russell Farm tract. The property is now owned by the township and will be used as a community park. The township committee voted to return $10,000 in escrow for final grading and hydro seeding to the Barrister Land Development Corporation, along with another $20,000 to cover the final close-out of the underground storage tank removal now approved by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Barrister, which owned the five-acre site at Russell Avenue and Sicomac Avenue, completed the work as required before the contract to purchase the land was considered final with the return of the escrow. The former working farm, originally eyed Escrow funds returned to farm’s former owner of the parking lot. The professional planner for Stop & Shop, Ed Kolling, argued that putting one supermarket down next to another supermarket was not good planning. He said the former A&P site had been zoned for a “food store” and not for a superstore. Observers noted, however, that the former A&P sold plants and housewares in addition to food, and had an attached Walgreen’s that sold books, toys, recordings, appliances, housewares, and pharmaceuticals. Wyckoff Planning Board Attorney Joseph Perconti urged that those who speak at the Sept. 24 meeting keep their comments succinct in the interest of time. for condominium construction and later for single-family houses, was determined to be contaminated by pesticides. The Wyckoff Township Committee ensured the pesticide contamination would be relieved before the township took possession of the property earlier this year. Plans for the former orchard and farm stand are now under consideration. In other business, the governing body will also seek a $20,000 grant from the Bergen County Open Space, Recreation, Farmland & Historic Preservation Trust Fund. If approved, the county grant would be matched with Wyckoff funds dollar for dollar and used for the improvement of trails in Wyckoff Community Park. J. KOSTER