CORRECTION Going Around in Circles: Hearings on Car Dealership's Expansion Continues

Editor's note: An earlier version of this article misidentified the road behind Circle BMW as Parker Avenue. It is Parker Road.

Looks like a proposed new structure to store over 300 ultimate driving machines behind Circle BMW in Eatontown is going to have to wait a little longer to be built as testimony before the planning board is scheduled to continue in May.

Hearings on the application to build a four-story parking structure behind the Route 36 car dealership will resume at the May 23 Eatontown Planning Board meeting following a presentation on Monday night by experts representing the dealership.

The luxury car dealer’s architect and engineer for the project—which calls for three floors of covered parking and a fourth open rooftop level—testified before the board on April 25 regarding a plan that had been modified to address concerns by residents of a neighboring retirement community.

Residents from the Parker Village Estates that borders the dealership opposed the expansion citing concerns about lighting, noise and traffic safety issues. Following the March 28 planning board meeting, the applicant agreed to modify plans to address residents’ concerns.

The modified plan “achieves more benefits than the prior plan,” said Circle BMW attorney John A. Giunco.

According to Bruce Freeman, the attorney hired by the Parker Village Homeowners Association, residents remain concerned about:

• proposed 24-hour rooftop lighting;
• 30-foot light poles around the perimeter of the site;
• lifting of a restriction preventing left-hand turns on to Parker Road;
• the construction of a retaining wall.

A professional planner representing the Parker Village residents will give testimony at the May meeting regarding concerns with the impact of the project, which also includes a car wash on the first floor, on its neighbors.

During the meeting, Robert Adler, the architect representing Circle BMW, said that in response to residents’ concerns, the applicant would be willing to modify the lighting on top of the proposed structure to motion-triggered for security as opposed to the proposed 24-hour lighting.

To mitigate impact of the project on its neighbors, plans initially called for a left-turn restriction out of the dealership onto Parker Road. The modified plan presented on Monday lifts that restriction and drew opposition from Freeman who expressed concern about the change.

The Parker Road exit would be primarily used for test drives with a standard loop that takes drivers to the right onto Parker Road out of the dealership and looping back via Route 36, according to Giunco.

Revised plans call for the Parker Road exit to be gated and accessed only by employees and emergency vehicles, according to project engineer Mark Whitaker of KZA Engineering.

The proposed structure will allow Circle BMW to consolidate vehicle storage from sites in Oceanport and West Long Branch to the Route 36 location, according to Whitaker.