Planning Board cool toward plan for used-car lot BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer UPPER FREEHOLD - A used-car salesman wants to put some of his vehicles in the Cream Ridge section of Route 539. While Cream Ridge Auto Sales had requested a waiver for having to present a site plan for the project at the Planning Board's Aug. 28 meeting, the board said the applicant must have a site plan for the proposed business. In late 2006, the board granted a waiver of site plan approval for a business described as an upscale fast-food take-out enterprise on the same Route 539 lot. However, plans for that development do not seem to have moved forward. Lawrence Sachs, attorney for K.C. Patel, the principal in the used-car business, told the board that his client presented an application for a small-scale used-car lot, which is a permitted use in the zone, according to the township's zoning officer. While the township told Patel that a site plan would be necessary for the project, Sachs argued against the plan's necessity, saying that the property had previously housed another used-car business. Several board members who have been lifelong residents of the township said that they do not recall a used-car lot ever being on the site. Sachs told the board that his client would not make any changes to the site. The site already has a macadam parking lot for customers and the one or two employees who would work at the lot, he said. Patel would not add any new structures to the lot or change the on-site traffic circulation, he said. Patel has a used-car business in the New Egypt section of Plumsted and does a lot of sales over the Internet, Sachs said. The Route 539 lot would store excess inventory, according to Patel, with hours of operation from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. According to Sachs, the vehicles for sale would be stored on a grassy area at the rear of the property and would be brought out for customers. He said his client would not have more than 20 vehicles on the tract at one time. Board Vice Chairman Douglas Raynor said he could not understand how a grassy area would be maintained as a parking lot. Township Planner Mark Remsa agreed with Raynor and said that rain would turn the grass into dirt and mud. Township Engineer Glenn Gerken added that the applicant did not provide information regarding setbacks, buffers or landscaping.