Planning board approves 955 Route 9 auto-dealership conversion, grants sign setback variance with conditions

The Sayreville Planning Board voted unanimously to approve a minor site-plan application and a front-yard sign-setback variance for 955 US Highway 9, allowing the conversion of an existing vacant office building into an automobile sales dealership.

Attorney Richard Skolnick, representing 955 Route 9 LLC, told the board the application seeks minimal exterior changes and one variance for the site-identification sign. "We have a nice cleanup," Skolnick said, and described the setback relief as "very modest" because the site uses existing improvements and would otherwise require reconstruction to comply.

Civil engineer Michael Goldstein of Van Cleef Engineering testified the building footprint is 16,809 square feet and the total habitable area is 18,868 square feet. Using the zoning ordinance's parking standard of 1 space per 300 square feet, Goldstein calculated the office portion requires about 62.8 (rounded to 63) spaces; the applicant proposes 63 customer/employee spaces and 90 spaces for vehicle inventory. He confirmed there will be no on-site vehicle service and that deliveries will be limited to small carriers (typically one- to three-car trailers) rather than large multi-car carriers.

Goldstein described the proposed signage: a building-mounted facade sign (90 inches high by 135 inches wide) and a freestanding pylon sign with a 30-inch masonry base and a top 164 inches above the base (about 13 feet). The size of the signs complies with the sign ordinance, he said, but the proposed pylon sign sits 17 feet from the property line where the ordinance requires 25 feet; the board granted variance relief after hearing the applicant argue the sign's location avoids reconstructing existing drive aisles and is more than 25 feet from the roadway curb.

Steven Chasan, the applicant's operations representative, said the dealership will not provide vehicle servicing on site and will use off-site shops for maintenance and detailing. "We would get it off-site," Chasan said when asked about electric-vehicle servicing and charging, and added that the dealership does not propose on-site EV chargers at this time. Chasan told the board the business would staff roughly 10 to 15 employees and maintain published hours (generally 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays, closed Sundays).

Neighbors raised concerns during public comment about rear floodlighting, early-morning dumpster pickups and visibility into back yards. Beth Torres, a resident at 27 Eugene Boulevard directly behind the site, said a rear floodlight "shines right into my bedroom all night" and that prior dumpster pickups occurred around 3 to 4 a.m. Barbara Minch, who lives next door, urged the applicant to plant tall arborvitae to screen the lot. The applicant offered to exchange contact information and agreed to work with neighbors on lighting timers and screening.

Board counsel/planner read conditions to be included in the resolution. Key conditions recorded in the hearing require that all office space be used solely for the dealership (no separate tenants), no vehicles for sale be parked in loading or grass areas, no on-site servicing, the southeast roll-up door be used only to bring display vehicles into the showroom, floodlights be placed on timers and not directed at neighboring homes, dumpster pickup be limited to daytime hours (the board set 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.), screening/slats or equivalent screening be installed on the upper chain-link fence to the satisfaction of the board engineer/planner, a few arborvitae plantings be added, the previously approved test-drive route be adhered to, and the lot not be used for long-term vehicle storage.

The board conducted a roll-call vote and the members recorded as voting yes were Kandel, Shaw, Taka, Volusin, Williams, Council President Zabrowski and the chairman. The motion passed and the board directed staff to prepare a resolution memorializing the conditions and the variance approval. The applicant must secure applicable building and sign permits and comply with the conditions before occupancy and certificate-of-occupancy issuance.

What happens next: staff will prepare a formal resolution incorporating the conditions discussed at the hearing; permits from the building department for signs and any other required improvements must be obtained before the site operates as a dealership.