BRICK – A well-known market and garden center in the township is set to be replaced by a three-story, self-storage facility, after the Brick Planning Board approved the project.
At a recent Planning Board meeting, board members gave a unanimous vote granting CE Development Management of Columbia, South Carolina, approval to redevelop the five-acre property.
The seasonal market offers their annual “Scary Rotten Farms” Halloween attraction in the fall. The tradition has been frightening residents for over a decade and became a well-known attraction in the area.
After the board members approved the application, two residents who live near the property asked the board for more information on the project and no objectors were present.
The site of the new self-storage facility will have access only from Brick Boulevard with no “cut-throughs” that allow drivers to go through local streets, project engineer James Thaon said. One driveway will be built in the back of the building for emergency access, however that will not be open for the public to go through. The driveway will be 20 feet wide.
Thaon said that the property will have equipment on site to handle any spills or rainwater runoff. He explained that a trench stream would pick up oil and other substance and will run through an oil-fuel separating filter.
According to the company’s representatives, the storage facility will take around 12 months to build. Thaon said vegetation will be added along the property line, planting low-growing shrubs.
Planner Christine Cofone, who represented CE Development Management, explained how the facility is less intensive for the site compared to what could have been built in such a high-traffic area.
Cofone continued, stating that neighbors will see less cars going in and out of the storage facility compared to farm market, with the building benefiting the area by drawing less traffic on Brick Boulevard.
“I think it will be quieter than it is today,” Cofone said. “You’re allowed to have things like restaurants, bars, drinking establishments like breweries and distilleries, you could have a school here. So, there are a lot of things that could be more intense. Neighbors are always concerned about change, and we as a project team were very aware of that. We tried to bring it as far away from the neighbors as possible.”
