SHREWSBURY — A decision by the borough’s Zoning Board of Adjustment will put an application for a car wash on Shrewsbury Avenue before the Planning Board.
Under the name, G.B.D., LLC, Robert Russo, a partner in the enterprise, appeared before the board to receive a determination on the appropriateness of the car wash in the borough’s light industrial zone.
The partnership is seeking to build the car wash adjacent to the Americana Diner.
Under questioning from the board’s chairman Mike Ralph, Russo told the board that the operation would be entirely contained on site, and in addition to offering interior and exterior cleaning, would include a retail outlet for related automotive care products.
"All detailing, which includes extensive interior cleaning and getting into [the vehicle’s] cracks and crevices, will be completed while the patron is waiting," Russo said, adding, "There will be nothing toxic. Under no circumstances will there be any gasoline dispensing."
Russo came before the board because a zoning permit for the business was originally denied by the borough zoning office because of the proposed location for the operation.
Potential problems with traffic and environmental issues were voiced by Ralph and other Zoning Board members.
Russo and his attorney Roger Foss of Foss, Bowe, San Filippo, and Caruso in Red Bank, responded to both concerns.
Russo told the board that plans call for the car wash to contain a 36-car stacking lane.
Foss told the panel the car wash will "satisfy all environmental regulations, and intends to be clean and aesthetically pleasing."
In a unanimous vote the board interpreted the light industrial zone as permitting car washes.
According to Michelle Bernich, a civil engineer with Waterbury and Associates, Red Bank, the car wash’s site plan will comply with all site design standards. Bernich said she will address the wetlands issues that exist on the site, and provide the board with drainage area maps.
Before the Planning Board’s hearing on the application, the partnership will be required to notice all property owners within 200 feet of the site. Foss and his partner, Phillip San Filippo, will present witnesses to that board at the next public meeting Aug. 7 at 7:30 p.m. at the municipal building.