TENAFLY — A place where people used to buy new cars could become a place to buy booze.

Bottle King, operating as 95 Tenafly, LLC, has submitted an application to the Planning Board to develop a Bottle King liquor store and parking lot at 95 County Road, where a Kia dealership once operated.

The Planning Board will hear the application at a special public meeting on Oct. 30 in the Tenafly High School Library & Media Center, 19 Columbus Drive, at 8 p.m.

The application for site plan and variances calls for the construction of a 13,784-square-foot Bottle King retail liquor store after the old dealership building on the property is demolished. The application seeks variances to create off-street parking in the front section of the building, and for signage and a 50-foot flagpole.

Bottle King, which has been in business for 48 years and bills itself as "the largest New Jersey retailer of wine, beer and spirits," operates 14 stores in New Jersey, including locations in Dumont, Glen Rock, Hillsdale, Ramsey, Wayne, Livingston and Glen Ridge.

The Tenafly property, according to tax records, is owned by Robert and Richard Engel. It is 1.35 acres with a 7,700-square-foot commercial building.

"It will be a very interesting application, because there seem to be some people that support it and some people that don't support it," said Mayor Peter Rustin, who also serves on the Planning Board.

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He said scheduling issues prompted the special meeting, and the applicant has paid for professionals to appear.

The mayor said it would make sense if the current building is altered or demolished.

"They could if they wanted to; I don't know how suitable the building that's housed a car dealership would be to a Bottle King. We'll find out," he said.

Rustin said the property has been occupied by a car dealership for at least as long as he has been in town.

Records show that Robert Engel was president of Tenafly Kia, also known as Prestige Kia, at that address from 2010 to 2014. Before that, it was Tenafly Chrysler Jeep from 1987 to 2009.

There were cars parked at the site Monday, and a person working at the lot said the owner was using the property as an annex for another car dealership he owns.

The Engels could not be reached for comment.

A representative for Bottle King, Steve Carpentier, said in an email that the person who could speak about the application was out of the country.

Ricardo Kaulessar is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: kaulessar@northjersey.com Twitter: @ricardokaul