JACKSON — Planning Board members voted 8-0 at a recent meeting to approve an application filed by Hopkin Properties/County Line Plaza to construct a 9,000-square-foot commercial building on County Line Road.

The board's engineer, Doug Klee, said the applicant was seeking preliminary and final site plan approval. He said the 9,000- square-foot building would have a 4,500- square-foot bank on the first floor and a 4,500-square-foot medical office on the second floor.

The project complies with all of the area and setback requirements of the Highway Commercial zone. Two variances were requested for the driveway length, Klee said. No environmental impact statement was required based on the square footage of the application.

Klee said the proposed driveway to County Line Road will need approval from the Ocean County Planning Board, and regarding the two variances as far as the parking design is concerned, a township ordinance will require the driveway to extend 100 feet back from the street right of way from County Line Road, and the exit drive will require 60 feet back from the curb line.

Applicant and engineer Walter Joseph Hopkin, of WJH Engineering, said the address of the property is 129 North County Line Road. The location is on the south side of County Line Road, adjacent to the new Bartley Road jughandle.

Hopkin said there are other commercial properties in the area. Lake Enno is to the south of the site. The property is vacant at the present time. A single-family home and a chicken coop were previously on the site.

"We are proposing adequate parking, paving and landscaping," he said. "We will use an infiltration basin built at the edge of the pavement on the site so the water will infiltrate into the ground."

The commercial project will have public water and sewer service extended to the site. Private trash and recycling companies will collect waste and recyclable materials. It was stated that pickups will occur before or after working hours.

"Half of the site will be put into a conservation easement due to the wetlands and the wetlands buffers," Hopkin said.

Traffic will flow in a clockwise direction with a right in/right out from County Line Road. No large trucks are expected to access the site.

A letter from the Jackson Traffic Safety Bureau was received with two minor comments regarding pavement markings and a stop sign, and Hopkin said he will comply with the requested items.

A 5-foot-wide sidewalk will be installed at the project location. It was noted that the building will have a stucco-type exterior.

During the public hearing on the application, resident John Gaskill said the project would provide a good building structure and would be a good ratable for the community.

"I support it 100 percent," Gaskill said. Board members voted 8-0 to approve the application for the commercial building.