WESTBOROUGH – Representatives of Westborough’s Route 9 Nissan dealership apologized last week after they were reportedly told their dealership was out of compliance with its license from the town.
The dealership, town officials allege, has been parking vehicles in non-permitted auxiliary locations for some time. They were then visited by police in April and “advised of their concern,” according to Assistant Town Manager Kim Foster.
“It’s disappointing that apparently, since the dealership’s opened, you’ve been out of compliance with the license,” Select Board member Allen Edinberg said during a June 28 Select Board meeting.
Dealership violates license, town says
Route 9 Nissan opened last year at 273 Turnpike Road.
Dealerships are only allowed a certain amount of vehicles to park on the lot. The license contains conditions that specify the amount of unregistered vehicles they’re allowed per square foot.
According to Foster, the town was told that Route 9 Nissan was parking vehicles in an “auxiliary location” at 287 Turnpike Road. Since then, the town has been in conversations with Nissan’s attorney Kevin Reilly and his client, leading to the meeting on June 28, according to Foster.
Within the meeting, JonEd Westborough Motor Cars, LLC — which is doing business as Route 9 Nissan — was requesting an amendment to its Class 1 dealer license, which it currently has.
Foster said the amendment would add an auxiliary lot at 287 Turnpike Road to store up to 100 unregistered vehicles for sale.
That property is owned by Commerce City, an office facility that currently has excess capacity “given the fact that many employees of those businesses are working remotely,” according to Reilly.
“We are able to work out a situation with them where we can take advantage of their excess capacity,” Reilly said.
Dealership representative apologizes
“I do apologize for the fact that we’re here probably a little later than we should have been,” Reilly said, addressing the Select Board. “It’s one of those situations where internally the left hand and the right hand weren’t necessarily communicating that well.”
“The cars got there before the matter came to you,” Reilly continued. “I do apologize for that.”
Reilly said that “there was a lot going on at the site” with construction, remodeling and dealership operations occurring simultaneously.
“These things sort of sprung from that,” Reilly said. “I can’t do [anything] other than assure the board that this would correct the situation, and we certainly would not let this to be a repeat situation.”
Edinberg later thanked Reilly for the apology.
He said his concern was how to prevent it from happening in the future.
“It’s unacceptable,” Edinberg said. “It’s unfair to other dealerships and other businesses that make the effort to make sure that they’re following bylaws and rules.”
Dealership considers solution
No sales would be conducted at 287 Turnpike Road.
Instead, Reilly said, if a customer wanted to look at a car in stock at the dealership, an employee would go to the site to retrieve the car and bring it back to the dealership.
Edinberg voiced concerns about the Route 9 Nissan’s agreement, noting some worries about existing permits and zoning for the 287 Turnpike Road site.
He added that he was interested in a solution that fit within Westborough’s bylaws and permitting while also meeting the dealership’s needs.
Reilly said his team has experience with other dealerships with similar arrangements, which generally tend to be short-term.
Once they have an “accurate” gauge on how many vehicles they need on site, the dealership could acquire properties for a more permanent solution.
Select Board members share thoughts
During their meeting last week, Select Board members noted that they wanted the dealership to thrive.
Edinberg continued that there was “no doubt” that Reilly understood the seriousness of recent compliance issues.
While he said he doesn’t want the non-compliance to get worse, Edinberg said that they were working on a solution noting that the dealership is part of an industry impacted by supply chain issues particularly in recent months and years.
“I just don’t want to inadvertently put the business in a bad situation,” Edinberg said. “I want them to come in compliance and come to a fair resolution, which I think is going to be challenging enough as it is.”
The board voted to allow Route 9 Nissan to continue to store vehicles in the back of the 287 Turnpike Road building. The number of vehicles on the lot may not be increased, though. A final vote will still need to take place on the license amendment at a subsequent meeting.
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