South Amboy planning board delays site‑plan vote for bus‑maintenance operation at 2069 Route 35

At a Planning Board hearing, applicants for PB25‑01 asked to repurpose the former commercial property at 2069 Route 35 in South Amboy for maintenance of a coach‑bus fleet; the board agreed to carry the application to a September meeting after residents and board professionals pressed for more information and stronger controls.

The proposal, presented by Kenneth Pape, attorney for the applicant, would convert existing buildings for a bus‑maintenance operation run by tenant Zhengrong Wang of Tennant Auto Service. Pape asked the board to adjourn the application to September so the team could revise plans and meet with borough staff: “we respectfully ask if this board would allow us to be adjourned to a date in September,” he said.

Why it matters: neighbors said buses are already being parked and serviced on the site and reported diesel exhaust, power washing and runoff problems that they say have harmed yards and landscaping. Board professionals and the applicant discussed stormwater blockages, operation and maintenance (O&M) oversight, and conditions that would limit the facility’s impact on adjacent homes.

Applicant presentation and offered restrictions Kenneth Pape introduced tenant Zhengrong Wang as the business operator and Kiara Nissen as the project’s professional engineer. Wang told the board the site would be used only for maintenance of the applicant’s bus fleet and “not a business that's open to the general public,” answering in the hearing that services would occur inside the building.

Wang and counsel described proposed limits the applicant agreed to put on the record: weekday hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., limited Saturday hours (8 a.m.–2 p.m., only as needed), no Sunday operations, removal of the on‑site single‑family residence for parts storage and office use, and a current…