Council President Weighs In On Development Plan For Former Chevy Dealership

Westwood Council President Cynthia Waneck came to a meeting of the Zoning Board Monday night to share her opinion about an application for the first of a pair of five-store retail spaces planned on Kinderkamack Road.

Waneck, speaking as a resident and not as a borough official, testified the Westwood Zoning Board needs to consider the 2011 Master Plan Reexamination before granting a variance to allow "general retail use" at the site of the former Chevrolet dealership.

"They were very specific when they set forth what they wanted in that particular zone," Waneck said about the Planning Board members who worked on the reexamination last year.

Developer Nicholas Aynilian has proposed to turn the defunct car dealership into , but the site is zoned only for specific retail uses, including large appliance stores and car dealerships. Aynilian has testified that the site, which has been vacant for several years, is "economically unviable" with the zoning restrictions. If the variance is approved, Aynilian has a 7-Eleven and a hair salon lined up for two of the spaces.

Kinderkamack Road resident and former Westwood Councilman Gary Conkling said he doubts anyone else will want to develop the site and he thinks the board should approve the plan.

"That property looks horrible," Conkling said.

David Lafferty, Aynilian's attorney, asked board members if they had any specific retail uses they wanted to prohibit, but board members declined to make specific suggestions. Lafferty said there are some restrictions set by the potential 30-year lease with 7-Eleven, including stipulations against liquor stores, coffee shops and sandwich shops, though he said he could not divulge all the details of the lease.

Board members said they were that goes against the recent reexamination of the Master Plan, even with the lease stipulations.

"I'm very uncomfortable," board member Raymond Arroyo said about approving the variance based on the contract with 7-Eleven.

Lafferty will make his closing statement at the board's May 7 meeting and then there will be a vote. After the decision is made, testimony will begin about the second proposed five-store space, which is planned to be built across the street from the first.