McDonald’s has to provide a few more details about its planned restaurant in Rutgers Plaza before it can receive the township Historic Preservation Advisory Commission’s blessing.
Specifically, the Commission members want to see details of facade treatment for the enclosed trash area.
The fast-food company won Planning Board approval in November 2022 to raze the former Burger King building fronting Easton Avenue and replace it with a 4,400-square-foot restaurant featuring two drive-through lanes.
But that approval was contingent on several factors, including receiving the nod from the Historic Commission.
The Historic Preservation Commission is empowered to pass judgment in the form of certificates of appropriateness for all construction or modification of structures that fall in the township’s historic areas or which are within 1,000 feet of the Delaware & Raritan Canal.
Modifications to the application’s landscaping plan were well-received by the commissioners. It was just the lack of detail on some of the facade around the trash enclosure that raised some concerns.
Commissioners said they weren’t sure if the plans called for concrete blocks or bricks to be used. Without specific details, they said, township inspectors would have no way of knowing if approved plans were being followed.
The applicant’s attorney, Dan Klein, told the Commissioners that the facade around the trash enclosure would “continue the facade of the building. It’s not going to be noticeable.”
“I think you articulated what we asked for, not sure that you’re showing it,” Commission chairman Andrew Burian told him.
“What’s drawn here should actually be representative of what’s being constructed,” Burian said. “The illustration should match the design intent.”
“That detail sheet has to show what’s being constructed and what materials are being used, said Vince Dominach, the Township liaison to the Commission. “We have to know what we’re approving; if we don’t, we can’t approve it. Pictorially, it has to be shown so we all understand it.”
“We’re not asking for any modifications; we’re just asking that it’s drawn as it’s going to be,” Burian added.”
Klein said he would return with more detailed drawings.