Retail Services, Trade Distinction to Continue in Borough

Susan Blickstein, the new professional planner to the Planning Board, presented a memo at the board meeting Wednesday night with her comments and suggestions for improvements to the borough's business districts.

Blickstein asked that the board consider whether the board wanted to alter the definition of retail services to include retail trade or sales as well.

The current definition of a retail services business is, from Blickstein's memo, an "establishment providing services, as opposed to products, to the general public." It includes, but is not limited to, real estate agencies, travel agencies, insurance agencies, social services, financial agencies and health and education services.

The difference between retail services and retail sales, Blickstein wrote in her memo, "is often a difficult, arbitrary distrinction," and she asked whether the board would prefer to combine these definitions, especially in the B-1 zone, which includes:

• lots along Main Street on the north and south sides near Garden Avenue,
• lots along the north side of Main Street near Van Doren and Dunbar Streets, and
• lots along the north side of Main Street on both sides of Coleman Avenue.

Bruce Harris, the borough council's liaison to the Planning Board, said that usually retail trade/sales businesses bring in a lot more traffic. "The B-1 zone is stressed aleady," he said. "So keeping retail trade out of that [zone] makes sense. ... Any more would exacerbate the situation.

Board President Rich Crater and Harris said that traffic and parking were already concerns in the area.

Residents of Dunar Street, Van Doren Street and Martin Place have gone before the Planning Board before to protest proposed businesses coming the block of Main Street.

At a board meeting in August 2010 when the board considered approving a dry cleaning establishment in the Shehadi Building, residents said that parking and traffic safety on the block already posed a danger to residents and to children walking to and from Chatham Middle School.

The board agreed Wednesday that the distinction between retail services and retail trade/sales should continue so that the municipality could maintain control over traffic in the B-1 zone.

Compact Car Spaces

Blickstein also asked whether the board wanted to include compact car designations for large parking lots with over 50 spaces, including Kings Super Market, CVS and lots for a few office buildings.

"This would only happen if they came in for some sort of site plan approval," Board Member Susan Favate clarified.

Blickstein also said that municipal lots would not necessarily have to include spaces for compact cars. "They're technically not subject to the provisions," Blickstein said.