Post by admin on Nov 1, 2007 17:08:56 GMT -5
This is a good write up
newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2007/1031/Front_page/018.html
Jersey Freeze owner plans to close up
Freehold Borough zoners being asked to OK Olive Garden
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer
FREEHOLD - Getting in your last licks just took on a new meaning in Freehold Borough.
Regardless of whether the Zoning Board of Adjustment grants a variance that would allow the Olive Garden to build a restaurant on the Manalapan Avenue property now occupied by Jersey Freeze, the venerable ice cream stand will spend its last summer in Freehold in 2008.
Jersey Freeze owner Bruce Blackmore, of Colts Neck, made that announcement during an Oct. 23 meeting of the zoning board.
The board is hearing an application filed by the Chesapeake Companies of Minnesota, which is seeking a use variance to build an Olive Garden restaurant and a bank on the Jersey Freeze property at Manalapan Avenue and Route 9. A variance is required to permit a restaurant in a residential zone.
The Jersey Freeze property is in Freehold Borough and Freehold Township. The Olive Garden would be built in Freehold Borough because that is the municipality that controls the liquor license the restaurant would use. The proposed bank would be built in Freehold Township.
The application was previously heard on Aug. 28.
In addition to Blackmore, the Oct. 23 meeting included comments and testimony from the applicant's attorney, William Mehr, engineer, Steven Coppola, planner, Allison Coffin, and comments from the public.
Blackmore, 60, said he came to the meeting to clear up some things and to provide information he thought people needed to hear. He told the board his father opened the ice cream stand in 1952 and said he began working there at the age of 8 by picking up straws for an allowance.
"I'm still picking up straws," he said.
Blackmore bought Jersey Freeze from his father in 1980. He said he has employed more than 1,000 teenagers of high school age over the course of his time at the restaurant.
"For many of them this was their first job," he said.
He said he has always tried to be a good neighbor to the community, supporting events and programs, many that help children, including sporting events, and said he has given away thousands of gift certificates.
"I want to clear up the rumors," Blackmore said. "My wife and I love Jersey Freeze. This is our 28th season. We work seven days a week from April 1 until Nov. 1 and then we still work five or six days a week for the remainder of the year. I think we make the best soft serve ice cream on the planet, but Kimberly and I are going to retire. It's been a long time and we've paid our dues. Next summer will be our last at Jersey Freeze. Jersey Freeze will be closing."
Blackmore said he is not being forced out by Olive Garden and said he reached out to the restaurant chain. He said the cost of maintaining the ice cream stand and restaurant has become too high. He said increasing taxes coupled with the increasing cost of making the product has led to decreasing sales for a sixth consecutive year.
He said the production of fat-free and sugar-free products, which are purchased by almost 50 percent of the customer base, is what is driving up expenses.
"It has caused a real problem," Blackmore said. "It costs 50 percent more to make these products. It is disappointing, but unfortunately, I must separate my perception of Jersey Freeze from reality. The fact is that my business is really only a three- or four-month seasonal business from the end of May through September.
"Unfortunately, it is getting harder and harder for those three or four months to carry us for a full year. The expenses are too high, the building is old and I know we're not alone. Recent calls around the state show that other ice cream businesses are hanging by a thread," Blackmore said.
"I hope you understand that we are not being forced out by the Olive Garden, but by the economics of our time. We're a dinosaur, an old-fashioned ice cream restaurant. Sadly, when we retire, Jersey Freeze will no longer be a viable operation," he said.
Blackmore said he probably could not sell the business as an ice cream restaurant anyhow.
"For me, some bills are getting paid and my payroll, but it's just me and my wife. We have no bank notes, no other fees. There is no interest in buying an ice cream business here. All the cost increases would act as a deterrent for anyone interested in buying it," he explained.
Blackmore said he considered the Olive Garden to be a viable option because it is a family-oriented restaurant and one that does not encourage what Blackmore called a bar crowd.
"I thought it was a nice restaurant and a nice ratable for the borough. I have taken the concerns of residents seriously," he said.
Blackmore told the board it is possible that some of his longtime employees could open up a small version of Jersey Freeze somewhere in the area.
He was asked if he had considered the idea of placing an office building on the site. Blackmore said that because of the odd shape of the property, the square footage yield for an office building would not be attractive to prospective buyers.
Testimony from Coppola indicated that Chesapeake is prepared to add a 6- foot tall solid fence to ensure resident privacy, upgrade the buffer to 10- to 12-foot-tall trees, which are expected to grow 1.5 feet per year and move the building 41 feet from neighboring residences (from 34 feet).
The consensus of residents who spoke during the public portion of the meeting was that the new construction would bring an unwanted increase in traffic to Frances Drive, a street they said is already used far too often as a cut-through street.
Noise, lack of privacy, and reduction of property values were also on the list of concerns.
The Olive Garden application is scheduled to continue at the board's meeting on Nov. 27
newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2007/1031/Front_page/018.html
Jersey Freeze owner plans to close up
Freehold Borough zoners being asked to OK Olive Garden
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer
FREEHOLD - Getting in your last licks just took on a new meaning in Freehold Borough.
Regardless of whether the Zoning Board of Adjustment grants a variance that would allow the Olive Garden to build a restaurant on the Manalapan Avenue property now occupied by Jersey Freeze, the venerable ice cream stand will spend its last summer in Freehold in 2008.
Jersey Freeze owner Bruce Blackmore, of Colts Neck, made that announcement during an Oct. 23 meeting of the zoning board.
The board is hearing an application filed by the Chesapeake Companies of Minnesota, which is seeking a use variance to build an Olive Garden restaurant and a bank on the Jersey Freeze property at Manalapan Avenue and Route 9. A variance is required to permit a restaurant in a residential zone.
The Jersey Freeze property is in Freehold Borough and Freehold Township. The Olive Garden would be built in Freehold Borough because that is the municipality that controls the liquor license the restaurant would use. The proposed bank would be built in Freehold Township.
The application was previously heard on Aug. 28.
In addition to Blackmore, the Oct. 23 meeting included comments and testimony from the applicant's attorney, William Mehr, engineer, Steven Coppola, planner, Allison Coffin, and comments from the public.
Blackmore, 60, said he came to the meeting to clear up some things and to provide information he thought people needed to hear. He told the board his father opened the ice cream stand in 1952 and said he began working there at the age of 8 by picking up straws for an allowance.
"I'm still picking up straws," he said.
Blackmore bought Jersey Freeze from his father in 1980. He said he has employed more than 1,000 teenagers of high school age over the course of his time at the restaurant.
"For many of them this was their first job," he said.
He said he has always tried to be a good neighbor to the community, supporting events and programs, many that help children, including sporting events, and said he has given away thousands of gift certificates.
"I want to clear up the rumors," Blackmore said. "My wife and I love Jersey Freeze. This is our 28th season. We work seven days a week from April 1 until Nov. 1 and then we still work five or six days a week for the remainder of the year. I think we make the best soft serve ice cream on the planet, but Kimberly and I are going to retire. It's been a long time and we've paid our dues. Next summer will be our last at Jersey Freeze. Jersey Freeze will be closing."
Blackmore said he is not being forced out by Olive Garden and said he reached out to the restaurant chain. He said the cost of maintaining the ice cream stand and restaurant has become too high. He said increasing taxes coupled with the increasing cost of making the product has led to decreasing sales for a sixth consecutive year.
He said the production of fat-free and sugar-free products, which are purchased by almost 50 percent of the customer base, is what is driving up expenses.
"It has caused a real problem," Blackmore said. "It costs 50 percent more to make these products. It is disappointing, but unfortunately, I must separate my perception of Jersey Freeze from reality. The fact is that my business is really only a three- or four-month seasonal business from the end of May through September.
"Unfortunately, it is getting harder and harder for those three or four months to carry us for a full year. The expenses are too high, the building is old and I know we're not alone. Recent calls around the state show that other ice cream businesses are hanging by a thread," Blackmore said.
"I hope you understand that we are not being forced out by the Olive Garden, but by the economics of our time. We're a dinosaur, an old-fashioned ice cream restaurant. Sadly, when we retire, Jersey Freeze will no longer be a viable operation," he said.
Blackmore said he probably could not sell the business as an ice cream restaurant anyhow.
"For me, some bills are getting paid and my payroll, but it's just me and my wife. We have no bank notes, no other fees. There is no interest in buying an ice cream business here. All the cost increases would act as a deterrent for anyone interested in buying it," he explained.
Blackmore said he considered the Olive Garden to be a viable option because it is a family-oriented restaurant and one that does not encourage what Blackmore called a bar crowd.
"I thought it was a nice restaurant and a nice ratable for the borough. I have taken the concerns of residents seriously," he said.
Blackmore told the board it is possible that some of his longtime employees could open up a small version of Jersey Freeze somewhere in the area.
He was asked if he had considered the idea of placing an office building on the site. Blackmore said that because of the odd shape of the property, the square footage yield for an office building would not be attractive to prospective buyers.
Testimony from Coppola indicated that Chesapeake is prepared to add a 6- foot tall solid fence to ensure resident privacy, upgrade the buffer to 10- to 12-foot-tall trees, which are expected to grow 1.5 feet per year and move the building 41 feet from neighboring residences (from 34 feet).
The consensus of residents who spoke during the public portion of the meeting was that the new construction would bring an unwanted increase in traffic to Frances Drive, a street they said is already used far too often as a cut-through street.
Noise, lack of privacy, and reduction of property values were also on the list of concerns.
The Olive Garden application is scheduled to continue at the board's meeting on Nov. 27
