At a pubic meeting via Zoom on February 22, attorneys representing the longtime owner of Jersey Automotive and the property located at 5639-5647 N. Jersey requested public input on a zoning change. Details from their presentation are included here.

According to their statement, the current owner of Jersey Automotive has "operated the motor vehicle repair (“MVR”) shop at this location for over 40 years now.  Our client is preparing to retire, however, the current zoning for this area – an RS-2 district – renders the business legally nonconforming (the business having held active MVR business licenses going back as far as BACP makes licensing records publicly available, while the current zoning district would not allow for a new MVR shop to open), which precludes his ability to sell the business to a new operator.

 

"As such, in order to help facilitate his retirement and hopeful sale of the business to a new MVR operator, we are seeking support for a proposed zoning amendment for the property from the current RS-2 to the lowest-end C zoning district.  For all practical purposes, the nearby neighbors would not find anything different about the property in terms of the building’s bulk or size, or the use of the property, other than other than a new MVR operator coming in."