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Owners Say Talk Of Wal-Mart Approval Premature
Planned Project On Toms River-Manchester Border Still Mired In Bureaucracy
By Bill McLaughlin
Jay Grunin first heard about the supposed Department of Environmental Protection approval for a new Wal-Mart by reading it in a local newspaper.
That's surprising because Grunin is co-owner of Jay-Lin Holdings Inc., the real estate firm that owns the site of a proposed 203,000- square-foot supermarket-dry goods emporium.
He read that Adam Zellner, a DEP deputy commissioner, spoke before the county mayor's conference and said approval was forthcoming.
Grunin said, "That's good news, but the bottom line is this is not done yet. We've scheduled a meeting in May to have our technical people sit down with their technical people and discuss differences we may have."
Grunin said he received a memo from the state environmental watchdogs Tuesday asking for just such a meeting. That was all the DEP bureaucrats said at the time. However, the difference between a sit-down over pine snakes and working out the fine points of a major business deal constitutes a great leap, according to Grunin.
"I would have preferred there was no mention until the agreement was signed, sealed and delivered," he said.
Grunin and his wife, Lynn, have stayed the course for more than five years trying to translate the last major land holding in Central Ocean County into a shopping mecca. Fifteen months ago, the Grunins had navigated the final hurdles of a dual application process before the Manchester and then-Dover (now Toms River) planning boards. The proposed superstore would be built on the border of the two towns. After protracted delays, opposition by retail union members, local residents and the owners of a competing retail corporation, the application was approved in both towns. The state agencies involved, DEP and DOT, followed suit.
But when pine snakes on the largely undeveloped land were found, the DEP withdrew its previously issued approval, dashing the couple's hopes after nearly two dozen sessions in two towns and numerous meetings with state officials.
The Grunins also approved a $1 million redesign of the intersection in front of the proposed site, and earned belated Department of Transportation approval.
While Grunin was encouraged that DEP was willing to at least look at the remediation of the site, he has learned to keep an even keel emotionally.
"It's encouraging news, but it's not final approval either," he said.
According to DEP field workers, two male pine snakes had burrowed homes into the soil on the proposed site some time in 2005. One eventually moved away, but the project approval was reversed when it was discovered the other had "wintered" there.
The Grunins have reason to be wary of public pronouncements about the site's fate coming to a close. The application process dragged on for nearly two years in Manchester and almost that long in Toms River. Expert witnesses were called to the stand as many as four or five times to repeat prior testimony as opponents tried to delay the process.
A Red Bank lawyer named Ronald Gasiorowki, hired by Perlmart Inc., owners of the Shop-Rite in Manchester, mounted a campaign based on the legality of the application, the science of snakes, remediation of a now-defunct gas station leakage and quality of life issues for nearby residents.
The Shop-Rite chain is fully unionized, pays superior wages and offers excellent health, vacation and dental perks. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart has been criticized and sued for issues regarding the welfare of employees. This contrast was a point of criticism for opponents of the construction.
In an interview late last year, the Grunins said the process had been a grueling one. They felt like scapegoats to opposition mounted against the leading retailer in the world.
But while Wal-Mart presented a major public relations hurdle to overcome, the Grunins felt it was the only retailer capable of developing the site.
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