JACKSON – A business that deals in recycled truck parts is expected to be established on Wright-Debow Road, Jackson, following the approval of an application by the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
The board’s vote came on May 1 following numerous hearings on the application that was filed by A&A Truck Parts.
Chairman Sheldon Hofstein, Vice Chairman Carl Book Jr. and board members Kathryn McIlhinney, Joseph Sullivan, Steve Costanzo, Scott Najarian and Dennis Weigert voted “yes” on a motion to grant a use variance to the applicant.
A&A Truck Parts was seeking a use variance from the zoning board to operate a recycling center. Recycling is not a permitted use in the Commercial Office/Light Industrial zone on Wright-Debow Road. Testimony presented to the board indicated trucks will be brought to the site, broken down in a building and have their parts resold.
The A&A Truck Parts application was approved by the zoning board several years ago, but a resident, Charles Baker, took the issue to court and won when the court ruled that the board’s resolution describing details of the approval was insufficient. The case was remanded back to the board for reconsideration.
Attorney Ron Gasiorowski represented Baker at the May 1 meeting. Attorney Ray Shea, planner Ian Borden and traffic engineer John Rea represented the applicant.
At the start of the meeting, both sides revisited the history of the application and restated their position.
Shea recounted how the application was approved by the board prior to going to court and being remanded back to the board.
Gasiorowski said he did not understand the relevance of that argument since the applicant was currently seeking a use variance.
Rea addressed several issues that had been raised at prior hearings during which the application was the subject of discussion.
“At the risk of being redundant, I agree with (the board’s traffic engineer) regarding the geometry of the intersections that are involved and the turn on Patterson Road. I believe (the board’s traffic engineer) suggested at a previous meeting that the applicant should look into widening the curb on Patterson Road and the applicant has agreed to widen the curb,” Rea said.
Rea said intersections that involve a county road are under the jurisdiction of Ocean County.
“Most of the road network in Jackson that carries truck traffic is on the county road network,” he said.
Rea said he obtained a crash history from the Jackson Police Department regarding the intersection of Route 537 and Wright-Debow Road and the intersection of Route 526 and Wright-Debow Road.
“There were no crashes involving any of these trucks over the last three years at either of those two intersections. We have also agreed not to use the intersection of Route 537 and Wright-Debow Road by establishing the truck routes we agreed to,” Rea said.
He said there is a responsibility on part of the county to take care of its road system and to improve the intersections.
“I have done work in virtually every county across the state. I think Ocean County does a particularly good job in taking care of its business in that regard. They have improved a lot of intersections in Jackson over the last 20 years as I recall, and it is a county responsibility to upgrade and maintain their roads,” he said.
During public comment, several residents criticized the A&A Truck Parts application and stated their opposition to the proposed recycling center, often referring to the business as a “junkyard.”
McIlhinney said she was sympathetic to and understands the residents’ concerns. She said she lived in the area and wants the site to be as safe as possible.
“I know you (residents) brought up traffic concerns, but our state courts have consistently held that a board cannot deny an application based on existing off-site conditions,” she said. “I understand your concerns and your fears, but by law it is not anything we can consider.”
Sullivan commended the applicant for addressing several issues residents raised, including changing the building’s design so it faces away from neighboring residences and moving the perimeter fence.
Hofstein reviewed what he considered the negative criteria.
“(The proposed business) was called a junkyard first, but as folks have said, it will be operated only as a Class A recycling center, recycling metal, and it will need state approval in order to operate,” he said.
Regarding residents’ concerns about ground water and the possible intrusion of contaminants, Hofstein said the site would be regulated by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
As to potential noise coming from the business, Hofstein said trucks would be dismantled in a fully enclosed building and he said the 70-foot height of the building would help to contain any noise that may be made as a result of the operation.
On a motion to grant A&A Truck Parts the use variance, which needed five affirmative votes to pass, Hofstein, Book, McIlhinney, Sullivan, Costanzo, Najarian and Weigert voted “yes.”