Villadom Times Weekly Newpaper Online-March 9, 2011 Issue

March 9, 2010 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 5 Mahwah Planning board approves second Honda location by Frank J. McMahon The Mahwah Planning Board has approved an amended site plan for CLF Northern NJ Auto Sales, Inc., which does business as Mahwah Honda, to locate an automobile showroom in a one-story commercial building on a 2.4-acre property at the Lethbridge Plaza on Route 17 North. The new Honda showroom, which will operate in addition to the existing Honda showroom on Franklin Turnpike, will be located on the premises formerly occupied by Prestige Management, Inc., which had a Prestige Mini showroom at that site. The application included a request for several variances, including those for parking space sizes, the number of parking spaces, and their location within a setback. Variances were also required for the height and location of the light poles on the site; lot area, width, and depth; the drive aisle size; fence height; parking within a front yard; and signs. Honda intends to renovate the exterior and interior of the building and increase its size by 170 square feet with a cylindrical protrusion on the Route 17 side of the building that will serve as the entrance and will contain the Honda logo. The Route 17 side of the building will also contain the Mahwah Honda name at both ends of the building and the symbolic Honda wave with a canopy that will be added on the northern side of the building. The property is located in the highway business B-40 zone, which permits auto servicing and repair facilities other than auto body repair. The site can be accessed from both Route 17 and Island Road via a private roadway, which is on a 40-foot wide easement between Island Road and Route 17 North. Concerns about parking on the site were expressed by planning board members, but Honda representatives assured the board that the available parking at the existing Honda location on Franklin Turnpike would provide enough additional parking to handle any excess inventory of cars at the new Route 17 location. The township’s tax records indicate that the property was purchased in November 2009 for $6,550,000, and the 2011 property tax assessment for the property is $6,347,900, which would produce an estimated $97,123 in annual tax revenue to the township at the $1.53 tax rate that was projected as part of the recent reassessment of all property in the township. The property was previously assessed at a value of $2,477,300, which, at the current tax rate of $2.124, provides $52,618 in property tax revenue to the township. The Mahwah Museum will offer its March History Lecture, “Roads to Rails: The Railroad Comes to the New Jersey Gateway,” on Thursday, March 10. The program will be presented at the Ramapo Reformed Church Education Building on 100 Island Road, Mahwah at 7:30 p.m. Thomas O’Brien, a member of the Mahwah Museum Society Board of Trustees, will explore the arrival of the railroad in the northeast portion of New Jersey, including Museum presents ‘Road to Rails’ the vision, development, construction, and expansion of the railroad. O’Brien has participated in the museum’s lecture series in the past with presentations about “The Life of Henry Hudson” and the “History of the Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant in Mahwah.” Admission is $3 per person and free for Mahwah Museum members. Refreshments will be served. For reservations, visit www.mahwahmuseum.org or call (201) 512-0099. �� 2-23-11 Joan/Janine