By Barbara A. Preston | Posted Feb. 27, 2025
After almost 14 years of trying to get approval to build a Dunkin’ Donuts at the corner of routes 206 and 518 in Montgomery Township, it appears the property owner has given up.
The owner has dropped its lawsuit against the Montgomery Zoning Board. “The zoning board’s denial of the Dunkin’ application was upheld,” according to township officials.
Township Administrator Lori Savron has said the owner has agreed to tear down the former gas station. The wrecking crew arrived today.
The wrecking crew. From left: Montgomery Zoning Officer Matthew Galan, Montgomery Engineer Peter LaGola, GIS Specialist Stephen Rock, Luciano Porchetta of Porchetta Land & Site LLC in South Plainfield, and Porchetta employees Evan Plank and Franyer Medina. Photo by Barbara A. Preston.
Anton “Tony” Nader of Bernardsville, president of Montgomery 206 Realty LLC, bought the property for $750,000 in 2011.
In the 14 years since he has owned it, the property has reduced to a festering broken-down building on a weed-infested corner lot. The property stands at the gateway to Montgomery, at the busiest intersection in town.
Demolition of the gas station on the corner of routes 518/206 began Thursday morning, Feb. 27. Photo by Barbara A. Preston.
Nader previously indicated the building would be demolished upon development of a Dunkin’ Donuts with two drive-thrus. The proposal failed. It did not conform with local zoning and was denied a d(3) conditional use variance by the Montgomery Township Zoning Board on January 25, 2022.
The owner must still comply with the township’s vacant property registration ordinance, health codes regulating nuisances, and the construction code regulating unsafe structures.
The owner had filed a lawsuit with Superior Court of New Jersey Law Division (Somerset County) against the zoning board.
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This was the second lawsuit that Nader — who owns a slew of Dunkin’s in northern New Jersey, filed with respect to this application. The first court challenge by this property owner came after the zoning board approved the application in 2015 but banned left turns from the site onto Route 518. That case was on hold until the NJ Department of Transportation (DOT) completed its review of the application.
Four years later in August 2020, the DOT agreed with the zoning board’s left turn prohibition and added additional concerns about cars exiting the site onto Route 206, requiring changes to the site plan.
In 2021, the developer submitted a new plan. After four public hearings with considerable public comment and expert testimony, the zoning board unanimously denied the application. A key reason for the denial was that firefighters showed that a firetruck would not be able to access the proposed Dunkin’ building in the case of an emergency.
The lot is undersized, (only .10 acre). ■
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