Wayne CarMax Route 23 Application Tentatively Scheduled For Oct. 13

A car dealership’s application to construct a business on Route 23 could be heard in the next few months.

CarMax’s application to put a new dealership on the former State Farm property is tentatively scheduled to go before the Planning Board Oct. 13, township planning officials said Monday.

Getting the application before the board is the beginning of getting a new business on the property for the first time in more than a decade. State Farm used to have a massive office building on the site. The building was torn down and the property was leveled in 2013.

Officials have been trying to encourage someone to develop the property for years, but have had little success.

Lowe’s applied to construct a store on the property in 2003. However, residents of the nearby Packanack Lake flooded public meetings on the matter in protest. They testified that the store would cause too much traffic and noise, and would disrupt their quality of life.

CarMax is seeking waivers for a larger and higher sign, s smaller fence and wall at the front of the property, and brighter lights in the parking lot than the township regulations allow.