No Car Dealerships in Manalapan, Planning Board Decides in Tight Vote

It’s official: Manalapan Township will remain free of car dealerships.  On Thursday night at the , the Planning Board, in a close 5-4 vote, decided not to amend the Master Plan to allow car dealerships in the township.

The Planning Board approved the amendment to the proposed Master Plan with the modification that no change be made to the OP-3 or OP-10 zones, sections on the Rt. 9 corridor which Township Planner Richard Cramer deemed suitable for automobile sales agencies in the proposed amendment to the township’s Master Plan.

After months of public testimony on this issue, which all stemmed from a , resident protestors finally were able to breathe a sigh of relief because not only will Ray Catena’s proposed Audi dealership not be occupying the CMX building at the corner of Taylors Mills Road and Rt. 9, but the option of other car dealerships along Rt. 9 will not be a possibility.

Increased traffic, noise, lights, pollution and the possibility of test drives in nearby neighborhoods were all areas of concern of the vocal objectors, and others felt that amending the Master Plan to increase ratables for the township was not a suitable solution for the economic downturn.

“There is plenty of opportunity to attract business to town without the destruction of a Master Plan,” David Finkelstein, a resident of Smallwood Lane, said. “We think Manalapan problem has been incorrectly defined. It is not that our office and retail space is unrentable, but rather that our space seems to be not competitive with our neighbors."

And certain Board members agreed.  “It would be a permanent solution to a temporary problem,” Board member Jack Esiner said of allowing car dealerships for monetary reasons. “As the Planning Board, our job is to be faithful stewards of tomorrow’s Manalapan and look beyond the economic climate we are currently struggling with.”

Board Member and Fire Chief Richard Hogan made the motion to accept Cramer’s amendment to the Master Plan with the alteration that no change be made to the OP-3 and OP-10 zones, which according to the plan would allow car dealerships in both zones and commercial land use in OP-10.

Stipulating that no changes be made to the OP-3 and OP-10 zones not only prohibits the building of the car dealerships, but it also rules out the possibility of further commercial development on the corner of Rt. 9 south and Symmes Drive. Northwest Nine, a development group, had asked if this 37-acre parcel of land could be rezoned from its present office-professional zoning to a regional commercial shopping center zone in order to construct a 105,000 square foot retail establishment spread out over five buildings.

According to a Traffic Impact Study conducted by Langan Engineering and examined by Planning Board Engineer Greg Valesi of CME Associates,  the construction of a commercial shopping center at that location would be acceptable as it would not exacerbate traffic significantly  - however, that doesn’t mean that all of the board members wanted it there.

Board Member Richard Cohen said that there was no compelling reason to put additional retail space on Rt. 9; Cohen was against the introduction of car dealerships on Rt. 9, as well. Even with Catena’s recent promise to eliminate a service station and a car wash at his dealership, Cohen said that other car dealerships in the future could merely seek a variance for those capabilities.

“There has to be other ways to try to improve our town besides changing the core,” Board Member Charles Niebling said, echoing his colleagues sentiments.

While the Board Members against the amendment were the most vocal last night, not all of them thought the proposed OP-3 and OP-10 zone changes were a bad idea. Committeeman Ryan Green suggested that the Board approve the amended Master Plan, minus the car dealership portions, and vote on the car dealership question separately.

The Board did not agree with Green, however, as five Board Members voted to approve the Master Plan with the modification of no changes to the OP-3 and OP-10 zones. Board Chairman Jack McNaboe, Deputy Mayor Don Holland, and Glen Mendez all voted against that motion along with Green.

At the next Planning Board meeting, Cramer will present the new amendment to the Master Plan with the deletions the Board requested and the Board must cast another vote to officially approve the newly drafted amendment. No public comment will be heard on the new amendment.