Bridgewater OKs Temporary Parking On Route 22 Site After Hotel Plans Fall Apart

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Bridgewater Township Council adopted an ordinance to allow temporary parking on a site off Route 22 after plans to build hotels, restaurants, and retail were scrapped.

The Council unanimously approved the ordinance on Monday to give the Mercedes-Benz dealership at 1250 Route 22 East the ability to store new or used vehicles for six months on the adjacent lot.

The lot used to be home to a Days Inn that has been demolished.

In 2018, the Bridgewater Planning Board approved plans to build hotels and restaurants. This later evolved to an amended plan with a new hotel brand, said Councilman Timothy Ring at the meeting.

Since then, all plans have fallen through. Read More: Massive Route 22 Hotel, Restaurant Project Dead In Bridgewater

"Development that was proposed - that's dead," said Mayor Matthew Moench. "That is not going to happen in any instance. The prior owners, the hotel deals, they had fell apart. They couldn't find replacement franchises to come in. So that was not happening."

The adjacent owner, Mercedes-Benz, has now purchased the property.

The temporary use applies only to a portion of the lot shown on a "Temporary Parking Plan" and must be depicted on a plan sheet for review and approval by the Township Engineer.

During the council discussion, resident Cathy Franco questioned the use of the property.

"My big concern is really that I know this property needs to be utilized, but I also know that previously this property had been designated to have a number of hotels and other commercial establishments, which would have brought significantly more tax revenue to the township, not only in the value of hotels or restaurants but also in hotel taxes," said Franco.

Councilman Michael Kirsh said that "the township would love to see the development on that property as was intended, but market conditions are such that things are different."

"Things in Bridgewater are different, particularly since 2020, the pandemic, and the results after the pandemic in Bridgewater, in Somerset County, in New Jersey, in the Northeast, across the United States, conditions have changed," said Kirsh.

Kirsh defended the Township's position on the temporary parking ordinance.

"I believe that we have pivoted appropriately to continue to make ourselves an attractive place to do business. But I know there are many people that say, 'Oh, you know what? Why can't we attract a 5,000-employee biopharmaceutical that's going to cure cancer tomorrow?' Well, of course, we all want that, but so does every other town," said Kirsh.

Ring added that the township’s ordinance framework allows the temporary use, but only once.

"There are provisions that allow this, but it's 6 months. It cannot be extended. It's literally it's one time,” Ring said.

The ordinance says no extension is permitted "by Ordinance or otherwise." After the six-month period, the temporary use is no longer allowed unless an application is made to the township for site plan approval.

Moench added that this ordinance gives the Township an "opportunity" to test out the usage instead of leaving the lot vacant.

"Obviously, they bought it for the hope of being able to expand or use it for their car dealership, and we could certainly tell them no," Moench.

He continued saying that the "ordinance here gives us an opportunity, which we don't actually have in a lot of instances, to see how a proposed use, how does it work or not work," said Moench.

See the ordinance below:

10b by Alexis Tarrazi

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