Ridgewood OKs Rt. 17 Commercial Development

The Ridgewood Planning Board on Tuesday gave the go-ahead for a new commercial development on a long-vacant Route 17 property, The Ridgewood News reported.

Developer Malvern Burroughs, who has owned the property near Paramus Road on the highway’s southbound side for more than three decades – without making a successful proposal for the site – approached the planning board last month with an application for a 15,300 square foot commercial building that will include up to seven retail outlets.

An architect for the project presented revised plans Tuesday night that addressed some of the board’s prior concerns, including adding to the buffer between the development and the residential zone behind it, the paper reported.

According to the plans presented last month by Burroughs and his team, all access to the building will come from the highway, with minimal impact on village roads. The plan required no variances.

Burroughs has indicated that Starbucks is one of the national chains that has indicated interest in becoming a tenant. The developer said last month that he intends to begin construction at the beginning of 2014, finishing by the end of the year.