CLARK — Earlier this month, the Clark Planning Board approved an application to install a 7 Brew Coffee franchise at 1005 Raritan Road the former site of Santander Bank.
Currently, there is only one New Jersey 7 Brew location, in Turnersville, which opened eight days before the planning board’s meeting on May 1. 7 Brew is a drive- thru- only location that serves coffee, smoothies, energy drinks, and more. Co-owner of the local 7 Brew franchise Zachary Roskam stated while addressing the board, “We appreciate the opportunity to be here today and potentially be joining this community. 7 Brew’s motto is cultivating kindness, and we’d love to bring that to Clark.”
During the site-plan application presentation, some members of the board expressed concerns that the business would cause traffic and affect nearby intersections and residential areas during peak hours, since customers can only order and pick up their drinks through a drivethru. Mr. Roskam stated that the average wait time between cars is three to three and a half minutes.
7 Brew’s civil engineer, Aaron Chan from Stonefield Engineering and Design, also noted that the employees are trained to serve the customers’ orders as they are ready, in case a bulk order or customer issue may cause a delay. This assures that efforts are made to optimize time without sacrificing order accuracy.
Traffic Engineer Matthew Seckler, also from Stonefield Engineering and Design, addressed the board regarding a traffic study he oversaw for the location on Raritan Road. Mr. Seckler stated that since no other sites in New Jersey were open long enough to base the study on, the firm reviewed traffic studies from other states and coupled that with its traffic study of Raritan Road from the last few months. The firm found that 45 cars would be coming in and 45 would be coming out simultaneously during peak hours. Mr. Seckler stated that one or two cars could theoretically be added during peak hours, but said that the extra vehicles would only increase delays by one or two seconds each.
Mr. Seckler also pointed out that since the Raritan Road site will have two drive-thru lanes (both of which can accommodate 23 to 24 vehicles at a time), it will most likely not cause traffic issues like other drivethru- only sites in the general area.
Mr. Seckler also proposed a rightin and right-out only lane on Westfield Avenue, and agreed to work with the Clark Police Department and the Union County Police Department on this entrance and exit on Westfield Avenue.
On Raritan Road, the exit will be a right turn only, but vehicles entering from Raritan can make either a left or right turn into the driveway. Mr. Seckler also said he would speak with the Clark Police regarding the left and right turns proposed on Raritan Road.
It was also proposed that they will allow the left into 7 Brew from Raritan Road for 90 days after it opens, so Clark and Union County Police and the 7 Brew team can monitor it. James Tuvel from Prime & Tuvel law firm stated, “If the police department felt there was an issue after those 90 days and felt in their discretion after speaking with the applicant that it had to be modified or shut down, we would have to do that.” 7 Brew’s application for Raritan Road was unanimously approved with the conditions that the board receive more information on the methods used in the traffic study and assurance that the data accurately reflects potential conditions at the location. The applicant was also asked to inquire about strategies to minimize the environmental impact of vehicles and was directed to set up a meeting with the Clark Police Department within two weeks of May 1 and to have the conversation memoralzied before the resolution is set at the next meeting.
