Future use of old inspection
station land undetermined
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — Land for a new road or a parking lot for a car dealership? Those appear to be among the options for the property on which a motor vehicle inspection station has stood for 60 years at Route 9 south and Schanck Road.
With the opening of a new state motor vehicle inspection station on Okerson Road two weeks ago, the fate of the venerable Route 9 inspection station and the land on which it sits has yet to be determined.
The possibilities appear to include tearing down the inspection station and allowing the adjacent Freehold Ford car dealership to expand its parking lot or using the property as part of a state Department of Transportation (DOT) reconfiguration of the Route 9-Schanck Road intersection.
Right now, it’s all up in the air.
"The last I heard," said Mayor David Segal, "a year ago, Freehold Ford was talking to someone at the DOT about it. That person passed away and they had to start talking all over again. That’s (a) private (matter) between those parties and they have not come to the township to discuss the matter."
Freehold Ford General Manager John Foy said, "I’m sure that if the opportunity came up for (owner) Bill Keith to purchase it, he would. At this point there hasn’t been anything done, (or) even being offered for sale.
"The DOT has to decide what they’re going to do first and then, depending upon their results, if it became available we certainly would be interested," Foy said. "The DOT still hasn’t removed all of the inspection station equipment. They’re in the process of doing that."
Foy said while cars are now being parked on what appears to be the inspection station property, the land, in fact, belongs to Freehold Ford.
"There is a small rectangular parcel that the inspection station is on," Foy said. "Everything around it, Bill owns."
The general manager noted that the road that drivers used to enter the inspection station was an easement on Freehold Ford’s property. That accommodation was made for the express purpose of allowing people to go to the inspection station, he said.
"Now that the inspection station is not operational anymore we’re putting our cars back on that road because we need storage space desperately," Foy said. "Bill, I’m sure, has been communicating with the DOT because, obviously, it would be of benefit to us" to have the extra space.
DOT spokesperson Dana Sullivan said once the Division of Motor Vehicles and DOT have pulled all of their equipment out of the inspection station the property will be turned over to the state treasury, which will ultimately be responsible for its disposition.
Sullivan said there is no particular plan as to what will be done with the inspection station or the property upon which it stands at the present time.
A plan detailing the possible reconfiguration of the Route 9-Schanck Road intersection was reported in the News Transcript more than a year ago. The story indicated that property behind the Ford dealership could be used to build an access road from Schanck Road to Route 9 south. Changes in the lane assignments at the intersection were also mentioned. No additional movement on that plan has been reported since.

