POST OFFICE PROJECT RESTAURATEUR: DUMPSTER CONCERNS OVERBLOWN

Tom and Jennifer Carlin

The owner of a new restaurant slated for the former Maplewood Village Post Office site says concerns about new trash dumpsters being placed in an adjacent parking lot are overblown.

"It sounds like a lot being made out of nothing," Restaurateur Tom Carlin told Maplewoodian.com about the recent debate stemming from a nine-dumpster storage unit being planned for the site. "It sounds like the people opposing it, their interests might be they don't want competition."

The comments follow recent debate at two Planning Board meetings, where the board was considering a request by developer Joe Forgione of JMF Properties to alter his original site plan for the three-story, 20-apartment, five retail space complex.

Among the changes was a request for an outdoor dumpster storage unit to house nine bins, including three currently used by Village Coffee and Mt. Fuji Sushi. The others would be used for Carlin's eatery, with a mix of trash and recycling.  

"We generate a lot of garbage and it's got to go somewhere," Carlin told Maplewoodian.com. "It's almost like saying you can't have deliveries. It's an operational thing, we expect to be a busy restaurant."

At the last Planning Board meeting, several board members raised concerns about the timing of trash pick-up and the use of space for the bins that would eliminate at least two current parking spaces. 

"I don't know what his plan was on trash," Carlin said about Forgione's original site plan. "But I have never seen a restaurant that had it inside."

The planning board delayed action on the request until its next meeting, set for Dec. 16, where it has asked Carlin to appear and answer questions.