Toms River Walmart on Route 37 West. (Google Earth)
Walmart is seeking approval to expand its store on Route 37 West by nearly 48,200 square feet, including a larger grocery section and a dedicated area for online order pickup and delivery, according to a Toms River planning board notice filed this week.
The Walmart property at 924 Route 37 West, spans about 17.59 acres in the Rural Highway Business Zone and already houses the existing Walmart retail store. According to the application, the expansion would add roughly 48,190 square feet primarily for grocery sales and an internal staging area for online pickup and delivery operations. The plan also includes signage and striping improvements in the parking lot to accommodate the online order area.
Walmart is requesting preliminary and final major site plan approval along with several bulk, or “C” variances to be granted by the board. Those variances include reductions to the minimum front yard parking setback from 35 feet to 7.9 feet, an increase in maximum building coverage from 20 percent to 22.5 percent, and a reduction in the minimum number of parking spaces from 800 to 667. The company is also seeking to allow nine façade signs where only one is permitted – with five currently in existence – and to increase total wall sign area from the permitted 100 square feet to about 521 square feet. In addition, Walmart is requesting relief from a required 20-foot landscape screening buffer.
Toms River Walmart on Route 37 West. (Google Earth)
The application also seeks to maintain existing nonconformities on the property, including a front yard setback of 51.4 feet where 100 feet is required, narrower parking islands than the minimum width, and the existing parking lot landscaping conditions.
The Toms River planning board will discuss the matter during a public hearing on the proposal at 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 1, at the township municipal complex on Washington Street. The board may adjourn the hearing to a later date and time if needed.
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