Council Hears Proposal for 7-Eleven on Main Street

The Freehold Borough Council determined by a 4-2 vote Monday night that a proposed 7-Eleven at 63 E. Main St. was consistent with the municipality’s redevelopment plan. Councilmen Jaye Sims and John Newman cast the dissenting votes.

The parcel at the intersection of Spring and Main streets once housed an Exxon gasoline station but has been vacant in recent years. The application by HRS Investments calls for a 2,556-square-foot one-story retail building where a building is currently located and 12 parking spots. HRS Investments’ attorney Mark Williams, of Mehr, LaFrance & Williams, of Freehold estimated the company would be investing about $1 million in rehabilitating the location.

Because the site sits in a historic zone and a redevelopment area, the applicant first brought the proposal before the Freehold Borough Historical Preservation Commission (HPC), Williams said. The HRS Investments project appeared before the HPC twice, incorporating the governing body’s feedback into the proposal, before the commission approved the 7-Eleven application by a vote of 7-2.

Several members of the Borough Council voiced concern that traffic at the five-point intersection would be significantly impacted by a convenience store.

“It seems like this is probably the most dense use for this property since people would be driving in and out all day long. This is a high traffic area and it backs up on all roads in that area,” Newman said. “I don’t feel comfortable that this is use that fits in with the Downtown Freehold we want Freehold to be.”

Sims also cited increased traffic as the reason behind his vote against the 7-Eleven.

Williams said the site was a unique property in the borough, making it a challenge for any development proposal, but HRS Investments believed the application was consistent with the area’s redevelopment plan.

“A site like this isn’t consistent with anyone’s plan, because a site like this grows up over history,” Williams said.

Council President George Schnurr noted that the HRS Investments proposal would give a facelift to a long-vacant property.

“This has been an abandoned property for a very long time. We have someone who is interested in developing the property,” Schnurr said. “This is a down economy and we have someone interested in investing a million dollars in our town.”

The 7-Eleven application will head to the Freehold Borough Planning Board. HRS Investments will seek a waiver to allow a building to remain near the back of the site rather than along the Main Street sidewalk, as the redevelopment plan requires.