Credit: Mercer Management
The plans for a four-story hotel in front of the car wash that sits inside the former Toys R Us building along East Lincoln Highway were denied by the Middletown Township Board of Supervisors.
The plans called for constructing a roughly 90-room Tru hotel, a brand of Hilton, in the empty parking lot of the former Toys R Us. The hotel would be geared toward families going to Sesame Place and have a shuttle service to the theme park and mall area. Construction of the hotel, if approved, would be some time away due to uncertainty in the tourism market caused by the pandemic.
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Christopher Vernon, president of Mercer Management, which owns the car wash and the would own the hotel, explained to the supervisors Monday evening that Hilton completed a market study of the area before greenlighting the hotel proposal.
Justin Geonnotti, of Dynamic Engineering, was the engineer on the project, told the supervisors the hotel plan would include pedestrian improvements in the area and was being worked out with PennDOT.
Vernon’s New Jersey-based company has opened similar hotel and car wash concepts in the Garden State.
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The Middletown Township Planning Commission previously denied the hotel plans, but revisions were made before the plans were presented to the supervisors.
Tosti said while he understood the idea of a shuttle to Sesame Place and the mall, he was still concerned about people crossing busy East Lincoln Highway, where there are entrances to the mall and shopping centers.
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Strouse asked the developer to make shuttle service a condition of the plan if it was approved and Vernon agreed.
Although Mercer Management proposed stormwater improvements, Tosti stated he had concerns about potential flooding impacts to nearby areas and neighborhoods with the new construction.
The supervisors voted 3-1 to deny the plans. Supervisors Vice Chairperson Amy Strouse was the lone yes vote, and members Anna Payne, Tom Tosti, and Dawn Quirple voted no, citing pedestrian and traffic safety concerns. Supervisors Chairman Mike Ksiazek recused himself due to a conflict of interest.
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A Middletown Township resident did submit a comment that they were opposed to the hotel plan due to its proximity to the roadway.
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