Here is a letter with some updates. Thank you to the 30+ community members who came out last night! Some important take-aways from the meeting: 1- we have retained an attorney to fight the CVS application. His information is below. 2- CVS intends to do deliveries and trash at 'off-peak' hours AKA middle of the night (remember they want a 24 hour store!) 3- there will be 60 parking spaces within this lot 4- the road around the CVS will come within 20 feet of Vannoy Avenue and my neighbor's property 5- we have a strong case and a lot of community support. Please email noCVS31@gmail.com with any comments or questions. Dear Neighbors, You may have heard the rumors about the application for a Zoning Variance to to build a 14,600-square foot 24/7 CVS convenience store/pharmacy with a drive-thru in our residentially zoned neighborhood. Location: Al’s Sunoco at the corner of Ingleside and Route 31. The proposed footprint will cover 60% of the lot which more than doubles the existing coverage of Al's Sunoco, now at 25%. The current service station is 3491-square foot neighborhood car repair facility is surrounded by a evergreen tree buffer and wooded lot which would be eliminated by CVS. Al's Sunoco is grandfathered and can continue its current use (without any expansion or increase in intensity of use.) Otherwise, unless a variance is granted, ONLY residential uses can occur there. We are putting together a group of neighbors, Concerned Citizens Against CVS in Hopewell & Pennington, who oppose this change, which will result in a substantial decline in our property values. Here is a link to a report that includes maps of the proposed development. http://mercerme.com/cvs-and-traffic-light-on-rt-31-pennington-residents-object/ The Zoning Board has scheduled a special meeting on March 30th to hear the CVS application. The meeting will be held in the Hopewell Township Municipal Building, 201 Washington Crossing - Pennington Road. Notices have just recently gone out, but only people who live within a 200' radius of the property will be notified, although this change can have disastrous effects on the quality of life and financial position of many more families. We have hired an attorney to represent the neighbors who will be most affected and expect the cost will run about $5,000+ and are asking for contributions of up to $500 per family. If you’re not in a position to give the full amount, as is the case for many of us, please contribute what you can. While the cost of representation is significant, we stand to lose much more in terms of the loss to the value of one our biggest assets -- our home -- and our quality of life in this wonderful residential neighborhood. Please email your pledge to our email address below. Having an attorney represent us at the Zoning Board hearing is crucial, because the hearing is run much like a court proceeding with rules about what kind of evidence and testimony is relevant, and what is inadmissible. Rest assured CVS has one of the top applicant’s attorneys in the state who is prepared to prosecute this application aggressively. We need equally expert representation. Because we had advance notice about this application, we were able to retain one of NJ’s best land use attorneys to represent the objectors to this application. Here is Attorney Jeff Baron’s profile: http://www.baronbrennan.com/attorneys.html Attendance at the Zoning Board hearing on March 30 at 7:00 is critical to demonstrate the scope of objection in the neighborhood. Even if you don’t want to speak publicly, your presence will send a strong message to the Zoning Board. Check us out on Facebook at: Concerned Citizens Against CVS in Hopewell & Pennington. Email address: noCVS31@gmail.com