Owner of Defunct Chevy Dealership Sues Westwood Zoning Board

The owner of the former Chevrolet of Westwood property on Kinderkamack Road has sued the borough's zoning board over the rejection of an application to build a new strip mall on the site.

In a complaint filed May 14, Ago Realty LLC of Tenafly alleges the board's rejection of the plan was "arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable" because the developer, Kmack North Associates, had presented enough evidence to show they deserved a use variance for the project.

The sale of the property relied on the approval of the application, according to the complaint.

The defunct Chevy dealer is located in a limited business zone, where only some retail uses are allowed. The applicant had sought a convenience store use variance to allow a 7-Eleven to occupy a portion of the 8,051-square-foot mall. 

The board also rejected a nearly identical application for the site in 2012.

Nicholas Aynilian, the developer behind Kmack North Associates, previously withdrew his application for a similar strip mall on the other side of Kinderkamack Road and told Patch he was weighing a possible appeal of the rejection. 

The complaint was filed in court less than a month later.

In a written response to the complaint, zoning board attorney David Rutherford denied the allegations and called for the complaint to be dismissed.