Master Plan Amendment Allowing Car Dealerships on Rt. 33 Approved by Planning Board

The Manalapan Township Planning Board unanimously voted to approve an amendment to Manalapan’s Master Plan which recommends car dealerships on Route 33 west of Woodward Road.

According to the document put together by Township Planner Richard Cramer, automobile sales agencies will be permitted as a conditional use within the three Special Economic Development Districts (SED) along Route 33, with certain conditions. These three zones include the SED-5 zone which requires a minimum lot size of 5 acres, the SED-20 zone which requires a minimum lot size of 20 acres, and the SED 20/W which requires a warehouse distribution minimum lot size of 20 acres.

Car dealerships would only be permitted in these zones as long as they comply with a number of recommended conditions, according to Cramer. These conditions include:

• complying with the requirements of the Township overlay zone for the landscaped greenbelt
• only be constructed in the SED zones located west of the intersection of Route 33 and Woodward Road - a section of highway estimated at about 1.5 miles in length.
• car dealerships must have a buffer requirement of a minimum yard depth of 200 feet if adjacent to a residential district.
• a minimum distance of one half mile is required between automobile sales agencies located on the same side of Route 33.

Cramer indicates that car dealership development east of Woodward Road on Route 33 is inappropriate due to State highway access limitations to the freeway portion of Route 33. Additionally, car dealerships so close to Monmouth Battleground State Park, the Golf Residential Community at Battleground Country Club and the Four Seasons residential development would be in appropriate.

The Master Plan amendment also indicates that the construction of car dealerships helps maintain Route 33 as an area for non-residential uses that can support Manalapan Township’s economic development.