Neighbors object as zoning board hears testimony on container storage and chassis assembly at 568 Englishtown Road; application carried to Oct. 29

The Monroe Township Zoning Board on Aug. 27 heard multi‑hour testimony on a D1 use‑variance sketch for 568 Englishtown Road (Lots 19 and 20 in Block 36), an application filed by New Jersey Cars LLC and Monroe 568 LLC that would formalize container storage, truck‑chassis assembly, and a reduced auto‑salvage operation on a 7‑acre property in the NC (neighborhood commercial) zone.

Attorney Walter Toto opened the presentation saying the property has operated as an automobile salvage yard since the 1920s and that the owners had transitioned some activities during the COVID era. He introduced a team of witnesses: Eugene Mesh (operations), Sharif Ali (Ameritech, site engineer), Justin Taylor (traffic), and Mark A. Remsa (planner).

Eugene Mesh described the site's history and a business pivot that began during the pandemic. "Pre‑COVID, the facility was an old fashioned junkyard...we would process close to about a 100 cars a week," Mesh said, and he told the board that since 2000 the operation has shifted toward exporting vehicles in containers and assembling truck chassis. He testified the on‑site vehicle inventory is now roughly 7590 cars (down from the 1,000 vehicles he said the site previously stored) and that most dismantling has moved indoors, which he described as a cleaner, lower‑impact operation. Mesh said deliveries and pickups are performed by appointment only to limit traffic surges.

Site engineer Sharif Ali walked the board through revised exhibits (an updated aerial and a colorized site plan) and described the proposal: demolish six existing small buildings and construct two consolidated…