Planning Board - Regular Meeting

All right, can I go?

Tamara, can I go? Good evening, Springfield. Welcome to the July 22nd, 2026 Township of Springfield Planning Board meeting. I said that right. Adequate notice has been given in accordance with the Sunshine Law. This notice was published on June 28th, 2026. On the township of Springfield's website, www, I guess there's four w's, but there's really three, .springfield-nj.us. Let's do a salute to the flag, please.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Let's do a roll call, please.

Mayor Harris-Lawfer. Present. Deputy Mayor Alex Kaiser.

Mayor Garnett.

Commissioner Burnett's here.

Mr. Seerquist. Ms. Julia Tamayo. Mr. Scott Wischna. Mr. Kenneth Corn. Mr. Kevin Ferraro. Vice Chair Aaron Laffer. And Chairman Jeff Teig.

I'm here. Perfect. Before we start, for the record, I was notified on Monday, and it was the mayor, that our council of record, our The law firm is still our law firm, but we are changing attorneys. For now, we have Michael. Let's hope he lives up to the standard of Matt and Alex, what we had before. If not, exceeds the standard. Alex wasn't here long enough to evaluate. Don't worry, we fill out your yearly evaluations, too. It's all good. Okay, so everyone, this is Michael. If anyone wants to meet Michael afterwards, you can come talk to him. Next, meeting minutes, May and June of 2026. Can everyone have a chance to review them on the Google Drive? Sure. Yep, everyone read them. Any questions or concerns? I don't see any. Can I have a motion to approve? Motion. Second. Can everyone do May and June? I think so. Okay, great. So we'll do May and June at the same time? Yes. Good. Motion?

It was done already. He motioned. I second.

All in favor? Aye. Aye. Great. Perfect. It passed. Great. First thing on the agenda tonight is going to be MMPD Car SK LLC, which is 5-2026S. This is 170 US Route 22 East, Block 3703, Lot 1. Any members of the public that are here for the preliminary and final site plan with variance for a new building, this is going to be carried to September 18th. 14th. 14th, September 14th. in this very room at 6 30 p.m so there's no further notice september 14th at 6 30 p.m no further notice thank you next application is the general store llc 4-2026s this is for 230 mountain avenue block 1203 lot 49 this is for a minor site plan conditional use and additional seating come up counselor i understand you have a very brief overview of what the store is and uh that you meet the conditional use

qualifications. Good evening, Mr. Chairman, members of the board, James Weber of Alfonso and Weber. On behalf of the applicant, I have Jennifer O'Malley here, who is the person who has presented the application, has drafted the application, and is the best person to be heard with regard to what is being presented to the board. Unless the board has any questions of counsel, I would just have her come to the stand to be sworn in.

Sure. One second. Mr. Disko, you've had a chance to review this. Does this meet all the definitions of a conditional use?

Yes. They just have to put them on the record. Okay.

Go ahead. We'll allow you to do that, and then we'll go forward. Thank you. Come up, and I'll swear you in.

OK. Hi. Sorry. OK. Ms. Malik, are you ready to go again? Yes. OK. Just wanted to know the truth of all truths, and nothing but the truth under penalty provided by law.

Yes. Thank you. Good evening. Thank you guys so much for hearing from me tonight. Basically, I did just want to go over the general plan, which you can see there's a design concept here in front of you. But my goal is just to provide something hopefully really amazing for the community, carrying on the tradition of what was there years ago, which I've learned from a lot of community members was called the Colonial. And it was an original soda shop. and have the counter, you know, milkshakes, I hope and imagine that they were wearing big skirts and dancing. But you can see there that I'm actually keeping the original counter that was really important to me. We did adjust, so there are five original seats that are still there. It's not gonna look exactly like that picture, but that's just to kind of give you an idea. But, you know, it will be ice cream, candy, bake treats and then hopefully parties for kids which is something that i've been hearing a lot from parents in the area that they're really excited about having a place for birthday parties for kids and and anyone i'm open to all ages having parties there thank you ms o'malley what's your relationship to the applicant i am the managing partner of the general store llc and

Who are you with regard to Springfield?

I've lived here for almost five years. It'll be five years in October. I have twins, and my husband and my kids go to Caldwell Elementary School right here, and I'm a vice president of the PTA there.

Now, you're opening this store for yourself through your business. Have you ever opened a store before?

Yes, too many probably to remember, but I worked for a long time in retails, different, you know, wore a lot of different hats, but I worked for Sephora and Uniqlo in New York City for 16 years. I had a career where I was opening stores and locations, so, but this is my first time doing it for myself.

Now you're asking the board to allow you as a conditional use to expand the permitted use. You've already been benefited with a certificate of continued occupancy, but you're looking to go beyond the 12 for an additional 18. Why?

Yes. The main reason for the additional seats for me is just that, you know, especially with wanting to do birthday parties and events, that being able to have that appropriate number for guests. And so ideally going to the 30 will help that. So when we're having people in there, we're following all the rules and making sure that we're, you know, in alignment with the town as well.

One of the conditional use requirements is that there be sufficient off-street parking. Now, this is a shared parking lot, isn't that correct? Correct. Around 60 off-street parking spaces?

Yes, I believe 59.

And you've performed a study yourself with regard to the time of day that the parking lot is most crowded and the time of day it's most open.

Yes. Can you summarize that? Yeah, I would say in summary, I think what we've seen across the board and what we've spoken about is that late morning into afternoon is when it's the busiest, lunchtime leading up anywhere from like 11 to 1, 1.30. And then as it shifts to that afternoon, it tends to be a little bit more quiet. And then in the evening, seems to be pretty open and that's where I plan to do the most of my business is around 2 45 I expect to see huge pedestrian numbers coming in from both the high school and the junior high and then I think the most car traffic that I'll see will be when we have parents coming like after dinner for ice cream in the evening can I interrupt you for one second Mr. Disko you agree with that traffic assessment yes perfect go ahead so what hours are you expecting to be open Right now I'm planning to be open probably from around 12 in the afternoon until about 8 in the evening. Summer nights might be a little bit later until 9 o'clock and on Friday and Saturday nights until about 9 p.m. And you're closed Tuesday? Yes, I am planning to be closed Tuesday because I need one day off for myself because I plan to be there all the time. I'm maybe slightly type A and I want this to be really successful so I will be very hands-on.

And with regard to the weekends... What are you planning for the use of the property that's before the board on the weekends?

Yeah, so on the weekends still will be open probably from that 12 or 1 o'clock until 8 p.m. But definitely planning to have birthday parties for kids, you know, maybe like a 10 to 12 and then a 12 to 2 birthday party in the space.

And have you gotten any interest so far with regard to these gatherings?

Yes, I have. I have three birthday parties booked already, and I have more people who are chomping at the bit to get my calendar open. So very excited.

And is that one of the reasons why you need the additional 18 spaces? Because you're seeing... more gathering occupancy, more gathering interest.

Yes, definitely. And a lot of parents who just don't want to do things in their house, right? They want me to be, do everything clean up and they get to go home to a nice clean house. And generally speaking, I would say birthday parties tend to be anywhere from like 12 to 18 kids. So that I think is where having those additional seats is really helpful.

I have nothing further, Mr. Chairman.

I'll ask just to confirm the question, which I think you answered is peak demand is between 11 and 1, really Monday through Friday, sometimes on Saturday. The only time there will be any concern of parking could be Saturday for a short period of time.

Yes, that's what we're thinking. And again, from what I've seen on Saturdays, not as busy as the Monday to Friday, but still busier in that time frame.

Mr. Disko, before I open to the board, any questions?

I just want to get what employees or number of employees will be utilized.

So right now the plan is for five part-time local high school employees. Most of them will be working after school. So in fact, I expect some of them to be walking from the high school to come to work in the nights. And then on Saturday and Sunday, I'll have people in the morning, probably again from 10 to be like a party host, and then somebody to help me close in the evening.

But maximum, you said five, but five all at once on the site? No.

Probably no more than two, maybe maximum of three at any given time.

That's all I wanted to know.

The only thing before I open to the board, I wanted to discuss, and this is something I would like you to work with, there's one spot taken out by the dumpsters. Now while, in consultation with the engineer, we'd like you to go back to the landlord and say that they remove them from these things. We'll call it a condition of approval, but if you can't work it out, we're not going to stop you from opening the boat. At least you can go back to the landlord to say, if you don't do it, I can't open, and hopefully he'll do it.

Yes, I can. It's a favor. It's not a condition of approval. Well, you know, type of a thing.

Mike will work with you if that doesn't work out.

And I am currently trying to work with the other business owners because it just seems like there's too many in that space anyway. Yeah. So I...

so there's one spot that's taken up by dumpsters when you put the back of the building where it would be then you gain one spot I'm not trying to hold her up none one of the board wants to hold it up but if you go back to the landlord and say they won't let me move in or whatever hopefully he'll move them or you're able to work something out if you can't Mike's not gonna hold you up

And I'm going to try to focus on Pecante has already wants to partner with me so that we can move to one dumpster because they don't make a lot of trash. And I know that the hair salon is also looking to see if they can partner. So that would be another consolidated dumpster potentially with Halo or with us. So if we have less, then there would be another place where they could go. Great.

Let me open it up to the board for questions so we can move forward.

I have a question. You said baked goods. Yes. I assume baking will not be done on the premises?

It'll be small batch. So I have a electric countertop oven that is like just a small sort of like toaster oven style that can do a few trays. So not big scale baking.

And are you also going, it looks like you're a restaurant according to what I've read. Is there going to be any kind of like serving personnel, like waitress, waitressing?

No, there won't be any table service. It'll just be counter service.

There won't be like a menu to look at?

Only an ice cream board menu that'll be on the back wall. So it'll have ice cream, floats, milkshakes, and then it will have maybe like specials of the day and drinks, things that are available, but not technically a restaurant, no.

baking part of it. I'm going to go back to that. Where in the building will that be done?

It's going to be, there's a back counter that will be set up with a, you know, the electrician is making sure it's like the appropriate electrical up to code, but it will be done probably in the morning before I open. So when I'm there, like I'll pre-bake to have it baked fresh for that day on those trays on the electric convection oven. Thank you.

I can come back to you.

No, I just have another. So is there anything that they have to go through a fire inspection to do this?

Sure.

And I've been in contact with the health department as well. Yes.

All right.

Well, I have for now. Thank you very much.

One of the conditional use standards is the exhaust system for restaurants. Again, it's not a restaurant as we commonly know it. The restaurant terminology is really because of the seating. But could you put on the record, is there an exhaust system? It's meant to prevent odors to the neighborhood. Now, if it's not venting outside and it's just within the building, obviously it depends on how much she's baking. But I think you should put that testimony on the record.

Yeah. From when I spoke to the person at the health department, based on the oven that I was getting, they said that they didn't think there was any need for an exhaust system because it's electric and there's no gas and there shouldn't be any extraneous odor coming out. So as of now, the plan was that it was safe to do it with just the countertop convection oven. Yep.

Burn it. Makes perfect sense. Love it. Thank you. Mr. Mayor? Thank you.

Great project, 30 seats. So I assume the anticipation is like, obviously the five at the counter is too little. Have you?

No, thank you.

The 30 seats for me is a little much, but I think it's a great project and I hope you fill them all.

I hope so, too. But, no, I think part of it, too, like we said, we don't necessarily anticipate that they'll all be filled at once, but just knowing that, like, if we were going to have a birthday party where we had, you know, 20 kids and parents that we're still following, you know, to make sure we're in line with the city. Sure.

Mr. Wisner?

So as a lifelong Springfield resident, Colonials is what we refer to it as, and I'm doing the math, and it was closer to 1965 than 2026 when I frequented Colonials, sadly.

Did you sit at the counter?

Probably, but I think by the time my generation was going there, it was just a candy store. The question I have for you relative to the application, and I think the current condition today with the pizza place after school, kids congregate, lots of bikes, kids can get a little rowdy at times, and to me, it almost sometimes can appear to be a safety issue. With your use, I think that invites probably the same crowd. Any thought on putting some kind of bike rack in at any place, and I don't know where the right place would be, but have you contemplated that at all?

Yes, and I did talk to Jay Spinelli from the Springfield bid. He told me that they actually have plans to potentially put bike racks in close to the corner, I guess near where the dry cleaners are. And the landlord did say that he was open to that because they also discussed benches that potentially also were supposed to be going in on that corner, maybe in along the lines with the new project. But I'm open to that for sure.

Sounds like the dry cleaners on the... Yeah, the dry cleaner's gone anyway. Right.

I'm sorry. The laundromat. My apologies. The laundromat on the corner, yeah. So I guess because that corner, there's extra space.

Yeah, I mean, I think that's kind of far. Okay. Honestly, it's more the pizza place that has the issue than I think your use would.

But I'm also open. Like, if it needs to be in front of my property, I'm totally fine with that.

I think the... We'll come in and out and make a purchase after school, but they're going to congregate outside.

Yes, and if there is potential in the back, it sort of makes that L shape where Picante and the laundromat juts out in the back. There could be potential for us to find a space to put a small one back there as well.

If they would use it. If they would use it. Thank you.

Yep. Thank you.

Just talking to the microphone.

So the additional seats, how do we relate those additional seats to the parking requirements for the shopping center?

one parking space for each 2.5 seats so historically they had i believe 12 so the increment divided by 2.5 is what on a paper you would need as the additional parking i think and the idea is what mr disco said is that really our business isn't going to generate or conflict with the other uses

only potentially on Saturday, but not as bad as what it would be Monday through Friday, where it is very tough to park there.

Yeah, yeah, I understand. I just didn't, no, go on. I was trying to understand, I wasn't sure what the relationship was of the additional seats to the parking, and this one's a little unique, because if it's birthday parties, the kids aren't driving, it's a drop-off, so there's a little bit of a gray area on the impact.

yes hoping for yeah exactly so I mean you know obviously they don't drive but it's gonna be or most of them don't drive it's gonna be if everything goes according to your plan it's gonna be very hectic over there yes have you given any thoughts to possibly outdoor seating like TD has like halo has I mean I just think the more The more seats over there, the least, the less likely it is for people to cluster.

Yeah. And my understanding, Justin, you can correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Disko, is that once I get the COO approved when everybody files up, then I'm allowed to file for outdoor seating. And then, yes, I would like to add outdoor seating.

The township does have outdoor cafe standards. Yep. GOES THROUGH, IT'S ROUTED THROUGH POLICE AND ADMINISTRATOR AND BOARD OF HEALTH AND ALL OF THAT, AND THEN IF YOU DO IT REPEATEDLY, IT JUST GOES THROUGH THE ADMINISTRATOR. AND THEY LOOK AT THE SAFETY, POLICE REALLY, THE BOLLARDS AND THE LIKE. I KNOW THE BID DID THE STREETSCAPE THERE. If you look at TD, for instance, they have the, I'll call them barricades, but it's not a Jersey barrier per se, around the dining area. And that would be reviewed by municipal officials. Yep.

Yes.

anything further from the board birthday parties do you have any idea what you would do at these birthday parties like what kind of activities would be taking place

Yes, so I have a very special one-of-a-kind machine that almost no one owns in the whole country. I went to an ice cream college at Penn State University where Ben & Jerry's and all the big ice cream places go, and I did go to Penn State for school.

Did you say ice cream university?

I did, and I am a graduate of ice cream university. You've eaten there?

Yes, at the creamery. You've never produced?

I could, but I will tell you their ice cream, yeah, they have a very specific blend because they have specific cows that are raised on the grass in the university behind the stadium. And they also use a very specific blend of fat in their ice cream as well. But I will be using – yes, I will be using a higher-fat ice cream, though. So with that, this machine, it's called a top churn. There's two bins that actually live churn the ice cream. So if you come in, you can choose to have an ice cream-making party where the birthday child actually gets to pour the mix in, put a color in it, a flavor – And then it churns. It takes about 10 to 12 minutes. It'll churn right there. And then they're going to get to serve whatever special ice cream they made. We can also do candy making, where they'll actually make candy. And then they also can do decorating. Because if they want to bake and decorate cupcakes, I'll have them baked. And then they would decorate. So the first party booked is actually a bluey-themed party. And they're going to be doing ice cream. And then they're going to be doing cookies that they're painting chocolate.

Honestly, I thought you were planning your own birthday Which which I would you can Know I was just thinking weather permitting.

Would you do activities outside as well?

Potentially, I think maybe in the front there could be there could be room for people to come and like say hey We want to sit out front and do a celebration and decorate for sure Mm-hmm

Okay. I think I'm done. You're done? I think we're good. Anything further?

I'll add two quick points. I'll give credit. I think it was Jen Law. The high school kids who might go there at lunch time are not allowed to drive at lunch time. You're not going to get cars lunchtime from kids. Number two, I'll just point out, last Saturday we did counts at 115 and 255, so really the bulk of your afternoon, 28 and 24 cars. You still have 30 plus cars, so even if her peak is Saturday midday, you got 30 plus parking spaces available. I think it'll work. So I think it's going to work.

Any members of the public wish to speak on this application? Don't run up all at once? Not everybody all at once.

There's also no parking on Henshaw through both commercial properties and halfway through the first houses on each side. So if you want to park on the street, you've got to park up Henshaw and hoof it. We can always move the no parking two hour after that if it becomes a problem in the future. I don't think this is going to drive traffic other than the parties. And you've heard the testimony.

Sounds like Mike really wants to try your famous ice cream.

You're like new ice cream.

All right, seeing no members of the public, I think there's no conditions, right? You have to obtain a CO. You have to go to the building department. The dumpster. The dumpster, yes. It's not a condition.

It's not a condition. It's a very strong suggestion.

To help us out a little bit. This way you don't get hurt. Make the effort. I'd love to make a motion. Okay, make the motion.

Before anybody makes a motion, Mr. Chairman, I'm sorry.

Can you just mark the exhibit, please? Mark that exhibit.

For the record. Thank you.

You just want to keep that in your office. No.

All right, thank you.

You second it?

Can we have a roll call?

Who made the motion?

I make a motion for the approval of application 4-2026S for the General Store LLC. And who seconded it?

Thank you. Mr. Barnett?

Yes.

Mr. Farrar? Yes. Mayor Harris-Lufford? Enthusiastically, yes. Vice Chair Aaron Laffer.

For Harris's party, yes. I'm going to take you up on that. You better. Absolutely.

Ms. Tamayo. Yes. Mr. Wishna. Yes. Mr. Korn and Chairman Tiger. Yes.

Now, so we're going to waive reading of the resolution, so it doesn't require you to wait for the resolution to get your permits this way. Our next, well, we have to talk our next meeting. We have to figure out when that is now because it shifted a little. So we don't have to wait until the next meeting. Thank you very much. Because we can't let the resolution won't be read until September 14th. Okay. So we don't want to hold that up.

So any board okay with waiving?

Great. Good luck.

Thank you. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Members of the public wish to speak on any other business before the board? Seeing none. Motion. Great. Thank you. All in favor? All in favor? Aye. All right. So we may need to do the tent virtual or something.