Sayreville planning board approves Caravan LLC car wash and quick-lube with parking, sign variances

The Sayreville Planning Board on Jan. 7 approved Caravan LLC’s preliminary and final major site plan to build a 9,396-square-foot facility combining a car wash, four quick-lube bays and three detailing bays on a 2.06-acre lot at the northwest corner of Carney Road and Route 9.

The board granted variances for parking, sign placement/number and certain dimensional waivers after hearing testimony from the applicant’s engineer, architect, traffic expert and planner. The approval was subject to conditions including added banked parking spaces, limits on the scope of automotive work, coordination with the New Jersey Department of Transportation and the Middlesex County Utilities Authority, and stormwater and resolution-compliance items.

John Weski of Weski & Associates, counsel for Caravan LLC, told the board jurisdiction had been accepted and introduced five witnesses supporting the application. Rob Murray, the applicant’s engineer, described the site as 2.06 acres in the B3 highway business zone and said the proposed single-story building would contain a car-wash tunnel on the north end, four lube bays in the center and three detail bays on the south end. Murray summarized revisions made in December, including attic storage and a reduction from six to four lube bays to reduce the parking demand.

Murray and traffic consultant Scott Kennel (McDonnel & Ray) both told the board the project’s operational pattern—short in-and-out quick-lube services and appointment-based detailing—differs from the full-service auto-repair use the ordinance anticipates. Kennel summarized his December 15, 2025 traffic report and peak-hour trip estimates (about 45 vehicles in the AM peak hour and 70 in the weekday PM peak), and said on-site stacking and circulation were designed to accommodate the expected demand. "It is my opinion that the 16 striped parking spaces are adequate to accommodate the employees serving the site," Kennel testified.

The board’s professionals and the applicant acknowledged the application proposes 16 marked parking spaces where the ordinance requires 31. The applicant agreed to bank and construct four additional parking spaces in front of the building if the board desires, reducing the practical shortfall and providing a condition the board included in its approval.

Planner James Higgins said the board’s parking standard was written for automotive-repair shops that store cars on-site for long periods; he characterized the requested variances as a C(2) situation in which the benefits of relief outweigh detriments because the proposed use involves short service times and appointment detailing.

Nearby residents urged the board to address drainage and neighborhood parking. "Carney Road historically has drainage problems," said Barbara Murphy, who lives at 39 Carney Road and submitted photographs showing ponding during heavy rains. Residents warned that employees or overflow customers could park on the narrow residential street and that stormwater from Route 9 and the DOT ditch can exacerbate flooding.

The applicant’s team responded that the site was designed to meet New Jersey stormwater standards and that runoff would be collected on-site into a proposed small infiltration basin; the engineer said proposed inlets along Carney Road would collect additional runoff and that none of the site runoff is intended to drain onto Carney Road. The applicant also described double-walled oil storage tanks, epoxy-lined containment and weekly waste-oil pickup arrangements to limit risk of soil contamination.

Applicant Michael Caracappa, the managing member of Caravan LLC, described intended operations: hours of approximately 8 a.m.–8 p.m., seven days a week; roughly eight to 10 staff depending on peak demand; weekly supply deliveries by 24-foot straight-box trucks; and weekly waste-oil removal by a licensed contractor. "I'd like to open at 8 in the morning and open till 8 at night," Caracappa said.

The board coupled its approval with explicit conditions: the applicant must (1) add the offered four parking spaces or bank them as shown in revised plans, (2) limit mechanical work to oil and fluid changes, filters and similar short-duration services (no extended mechanical repairs or vehicle storage overnight), (3) require appointment-only detailing, (4) schedule refuse pickup during off hours, (5) coordinate final lighting and driveway details with NJDOT, (6) avoid construction within the Middlesex County Utilities Authority easement and (7) meet all stormwater and municipal resolution compliance items before issuance of permits.

A motion to approve the application with those stipulations carried on a roll call that recorded 'yes' votes from Mr. Kandell; Miss Lman; Mr. Mueller; Mr. Shaw; Mr. Saka; Councilman Zabrowski; and Chairman Ty. The board directed staff and the applicant to memorialize the conditions in the resolution of approval.

The board’s next regular meeting was set for Feb. 4, 2026.