Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Site Plan Use Variance Copart topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Elk Township board approves Copart expansion, allowing storage space for about 600 more vehicles
Summary
The Planning & Zoning Board granted Copart use and site-plan approvals July 10 to extend its vehicle-storage/online-auction operation onto a 4.4-acre adjacent lot on Jacob Harris Lane, approving an 8-foot security fence variance and preliminary and final site plans; no new employees or structures were proposed.
The Elk Township Planning & Zoning Board on July 10 approved a multi-part application from Copart of Connecticut to extend its online vehicle-auction storage operation onto a 4.4-acre adjacent lot on Jacob Harris Lane.
Attorney Jen Johnson and Regional Manager Tim Buzzell told the board the expansion would provide space to hold roughly 600 additional vehicles but would not add employees, structures, lighting or signage. Buzzell said the auction process is 100 percent online and that staging, loading and all activity will occur on site rather than on Jacob Harris Lane.
The board granted a use variance to extend the existing auto-auction/storage use, a bulk-variance to continue an 8-foot security fence where lower heights are typical, and both preliminary and final major site-plan approvals. Each vote carried 7-0 on the evening’s roll calls.
Engineer David Domen described grading, a planned 25-foot drive aisle to connect the lots and proposed use of dense graded aggregate (DGA) for vehicle areas. Buzzell and the applicant agreed to add spill-prevention signage and to follow the same environmental and spill-protocol measures that govern Copart’s existing lot (Lot 1.01).
Planner Creigh Rahemkamp testified that the proposed expansion fits the M1 Manufacturing zoning district and cited the Municipal Land Use Law (MLUL) standards (Purposes G and M) in support of the expansion as an efficient use of existing industrial land. The board denied a waiver for the Tree Protection Plan requirement, noting DEP-related tree and stormwater obligations, and the applicant agreed to provide a basin maintenance plan and other technical items listed in the July 8 review letter.
The board also discussed a drainage easement benefitting Elk Township and a previously submitted Letter of Interpretation to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection indicating the site is outside the wetlands buffer. The applicant committed to calling for final inspections to close the prior approved yard and to document any security fencing details (including an electrical component) on the plans.
The approvals allow Copart to proceed with required permitting and site work; the board required the maintenance plan, fencing documentation and final inspections as conditions of recordation and permit issuance.
