Proposed project doesn't wash well with locals BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer MILLSTONE - The vice chairman of the township's Environmental Commission had harsh words about a plan to put a car wash on Route 537. Barry Frost voiced his objections to the pending application during the July 25 Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting. The board continued its hearing on the car wash application that night. The applicant, 537 ABR, LLC, is made up of principals Rogan and Brendan O'Donnell, both of Millstone. They are the contract purchasers of a 4.02-acre lot at 490 Monmouth Road/Route 537, which is located a quarter mile from the intersection with Route 571. Frost told the board that he believes in good businesses and is not against car washes per se. "In my opinion, I am opposed to businesses of this type in the township," Frost said, citing the rural nature of Millstone. Frost said 537 ABR, LLC, hired Kenneth Pape, who he called "a high-powered, wonderful attorney" to represent it in the matter. "This is [Pape's] bread and butter," Frost alleged. "It's about money - putting in a car wash so someone can make a buck." Pape noted that the board's chairman, Michael Novellino, introduced Frost as an adviser to the Environmental Commission. The attorney said that if Frost testifies to his personal opinion, he should separate it from his position as adviser to the commission. Frost said that the Environmental Commission made its concerns about the car wash project known to the board. He said that the board must decide if the proposal contains an environmental threat and added that the failed nuclear power plant at Three Mile Island had engineers and environmental experts of the highest level attest to its safety. His comment was greeted with groans from the audience. Frost alleged that the filtration system for the car wash, which consultant Leo Zona described, does not completely purify water. Zona had testified that the car wash would have a complete reclamation system that would not discharge into the septic system or the groundwater. Zona, who lives in Massachusetts, had also testified that his 27-year-old son is his family's third generation running car washes in that state. Frost asked, "Do you want your family at risk with a system run by a 27-year-old? It's not right for Millstone. It represents too many risks environmentally." Frost also said that the car wash is not a permitted use in the township. He said those who designed the township's master plan, which regulates land use in the community, could have listed a car wash as permissible in the highway development zone but did not. Joan Marasek, who gained national attention in the earlier part of the decade as the "Tiger Lady" for having 24 tigers at her compound in Jackson, lives directly across the street from the proposed car wash site. Marasek told the board that a neighboring residential development, The Preserve, had been approved despite having 89 acres of the head aquifer that empties into the Toms River. After alleging that the creation of that subdivision has resulted in a cancer cluster along with a great deal of flooding, she told the board she is concerned about the potential pollution, noise and mosquito problems that the proposed car wash facility and detention basin could create. Marasek also told the board that there is a lot of traffic in the area of the proposed facility, with Six Flags Great Adventure located just down the road. When the theme park is open on weekends, she said, traffic comes to a standstill in front of her home, making it difficult for her to exit her driveway. James Toporek, who lives 200 feet away from the proposed car wash on East Squan Road, told the board that he has concerns about the upper branches of the Toms River. Toporek also said that commercial development is running into residential areas as it moves east toward Freehold on Route 537. He told the board that residents in the area are already complaining about noise from a nearby lumberyard. The board will continue its hearing on the car wash application Aug. 22.