Page 6 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • September 11, 2013 Mahwah Planning board denies car wash application by Frank J. McMahon The Mahwah Planning Board has denied an Upper Saddle River resident’s application for a car wash/detailing business in a building formerly occupied by a car detail- ing business. The subject property is located at 40 Franklin Turnpike at the intersection with Fox Lane. Stephanie Levin submitted a tenant application under the business name of ABH, LLC to operate a hand car wash with a mechanical power dryer, an automobile detailing center with after-market accessories sale and installation, and an above ground power electric lift. In addition, Levin planned a waiting room with free coffee for customers; a refrigerator to sell soda, energy drinks, bottled water, and snacks; and an ATM. According to Planning Board Attorney Peter Scan- dariato, the proposal was supposed to be a basic tenant application to which the planning board normally gives an administrative approval based on its finding that the pro- posed use, or intensity of use, does not require any addi- tional improvements. However, the application elicited an extensive discussion involving Mayor William Laforet, who is also a member of the planning board; several other board members; Scandariato; Michael Kelly, the township’s engi- neer; and David Scillieri, the applicant’s attorney. The discussion centered on how the property was going to be used and if that proposed use was the same as had been formerly operated on the site. After being told by Scillieri that the proposed use is a permitted use, Laforet pointed out that when the prior use was approved in 2004 it was approved for automobile detail- ing only because the board was concerned about having the appropriate parking spaces on the site and the potential for stacking cars in a queue that could cause a traffic problem on Franklin Turnpike. “What has changed since then?” he asked. Scillieri responded that detailing and hand car washing are the same thing as opposed to a mechanical car wash that is used at other locations. “My concern is that is a dangerous intersection and, since 2004, the traffic counts have gotten greater, not less,” Laforet said. He emphasized that the original application was approved only for detailing. “I’m very concerned about the impact on that intersection,” he added. Laforet also argued that detailing and car washing are not the same because he argued that when a car is detailed it must be left at the site for a day, while a car wash takes 10 minutes. Scillieri claimed stacking would not be a problem at the site because, when motorists looking for a car wash see a (continued on page 8)