e e e e e e e e okay there we are good evening everybody we're going to call to order tonight's meeting of
the township of Bernard Zoning Board of adjustment uh the first item on the agenda is the flag salute so please stand if you can the United States of America and to the rep for it stands Nation
indivisible andice all in accordance with the requirement of the open public meetings law notice of this meeting of the board of adjustment of the township of Bernards was posted on the bulleon board in the reception hall the municipal building Coler Lane basking rdge New Jersey it was also mailed to the Bernardsville
News whiy New Jersey The Courier News Bridgewater New Jersey and it was also filed with the Township Clerk all on January 9th of this year and it was also mailed electronically to all those who had requested individual notice the following procedure has been adopted uh by the Zoning Board of adjustment there
will be no new cases heard after 10 o'clock tonight and there will be no new testimony heard after [Music] 10:30 I think uh both of office right yeah Madam chair so I um for our returning board members and new board member they've all executed their oath
of office form so they're all officially board members as far as I'm concerned um we can the speech out loud if you want to but I don't think that's necessary um so I'll just welcome back Miss Herrera uh Miss silver who didn't really leave but she's fing a different office now and then miss trap who's new to the board so welcome aboard and back yeah I
I will I will Echo that thank you uh for joining our team welcome back uh to miss Herrera and uh congratulations Miss Sila on your uh promotion it's a fast promotion exactly and welcome Miss trap thank thanks very much Miss keeper can you do
a roll call for us for us certainly um before I start Miss Balman has indicated she's unable to attend this evening and the same with Mr Quinn all right chairwoman janers here Dr arwal here
miss Herrera here Mr Krauss here miss here miss missar can't talk today here miss Sil here M TR here Mr seski here Mr SCH here and for the record Miss ke
present uh Madam chair you have a quarum you may proceed great terrific thank you very much um I would uh entertain a motion at this uh point in time to excuse the absences of uh Miss Balman and Mr do we have just miss B thank you
Miss Pichi second second thank you Mr all in favor I opposed thank you great thank you um next is the approval of minutes the first one is from the January 8th uh 2025 meeting they were circulated in
advance uh if there are any comments or edits or a motion to approve as drafted let me tell you let's see chair Eng Jers Dr arwell uh Mr crous Miss Pichi miss poar and miss silver are available and
eligible to vote thank you I'll make a motion approve as drafted second thank you okay do we want to do this is a Voice vote or roll call sure we'll do a Voice vote okay all in favor opposed abstain thank you thank you um I just
advise that our Miss Herrera and uh sorry Miss trap should should abstain for that one because they weren't here for that okay right all right yes and um that was for the January 8th so obviously covered both uh the reorganization and the res regular session um the next one is from minutes
from our February 5th 2025 um meeting they were also circulated in advance so if there's any comments or edits Now's the Time or a motion to approve as drafted Mo mam chair thank you I'll second thank
you all in favor I opposed abstain same same exceptions okay next is the approval of resolutions we'll start with 7A CSN uh ZB
24018 I think I am ineligible to vote on that one miss the only people that I um on my list that are eligible are Mr Krauss and Miss parar okay there we go any comments any comments uh or edits or a motion on
that one I'll make a motion to approv drafted thank you I will second and have to second thank you Mr Krauss I yes M poar yes easy uh next is 7 B
uh zb2 4014 everyone um received that in advance are there any comments or edits or a motion to approve as drafted I'll make a motion to thank you thank you Miss Pichi Dr arwal yes um I'm sorry Mr Krauss yes M Pichi
yes chairwoman Jers yes thank you next is 7c which is the family real estate uh application ZB 21031 I'm sorry on this last one Mr CR you were eligible too Miss poar you're I'm sorry I
apologize I've got you as eligible I just didn't call are you good Miss keeper or we yes we're good okay great um so the next one is 7c the Finley real estate um any comments or edits or motions on that
resolution I just point out that Dr agall is unable to vote on this one um consider you voted no on the first motion that was to approve uh condition 14 right Miss P was accused is there someone else who was recused as well
Dave okay okay so is there a motion on this resolution I guess I'll to approve I'll second thank you both I'm sorry who Moved Miss Pichi and Mr Krauss thank you in that order all right Mr CR yes Miss Pichi
here yes Miss silver yes and chairwoman J yes thank you thank you okay next one is 7D the carrian resolution ZB 24023 um I have a question on this um
sesi go for um we had a very very specific number on this one 18.58% [Music] page three it says approximately 1.58 and on
page five It also says approximately right so so quite honestly I I typically use approximately kind of more as a term of art than a term of precision but um I think within the context more I've been thinking about it actually I've kind of stopped doing this in my resolution drafting um this one
unfortunately was missed the Mark um at least you know on page one under item number one both variance permit lot coverage ratio of approximately 18.58% um maybe we would want to eliminate that approximately yes because you know you
want to be precise with the ter right exactly that's how one needs to be clear right right but other other than you know where you're granting the relief I mean look it's probably you know 18.5 801 2% or something like that right that's typically while throw approxim in
there just to you know try to accurately capture exactly I just didn't want to get into a position on what a no I hear you I would just drop the work yeah absolutely and going forward I'll make sure I don't include that in you know at least the particular you know Grant of variance relief on the first page or in
any condition so that you know it's precise that the applicant has to stick to that threshold nothing Beyond her you know yeah so okay yeah that sounds good thank you any any other comments or edits for that or I'd entertain a
motion um a motion to approve it as drafted as as amended as amended s yes second thank you Mr CR thank you Dr arwell yes Mr CR yes M
pich yes Miss poar yes Miss silver yes thank you oh I'm sorry chair not my night chair uh Jers yes thank you thank you don't worry it's early don't worry um next one is um 7e which is shaffner
resolution um I would make the same comment that on page one It also says approximately I would drop that word right yeah approximately from page one under that sub paragraph um where it says bulk variance pered proposed law coverage ratio of approximately right
yeah I would just drop that word I think it mentions it again on page seven but it's very clear on page seven okay so just there that is what I saw are there any other comments or edits on this resolution otherwise I entertain a
motion to adopt as um amended so thank you m p second thank you Mr Krauss Dr arwal yes Mr Krauss yes M Pichi yes M bakar
yes Miss silver yes chair woman Jers yes thank you thank you okay next on the agenda is a modification of condition uh that's 8A Flanigan which is ZB 2303a are you here tonight yes okay you
want to come on yes technically hearing I'll better sa okay Mr Flanigan I presume could you raise your hand for me sir do you swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to ride will be the truth the whole truth nothing about the truth so help you go I do all right great and just real quick for the record your name and address
Michael Flanigan 54 dougman Place in Basin Ridge thank you great um and you're here tonight we did receive uh your letter in advance you're going to ask for an extension because your project did not uh start within the period of time and it expired correct um
do you want to tell us uh you know what happened and and what you're thinking yeah so we had plan to start the work last spring and summer um but ran into a variety of issues sort of that fellon a simultaneously that uh paus you know made us sort of pause the
the project temporarily um one was my daughter was dealing with some health issues that we really needed to put our full attention to um my parents were also uh became ill and needed to move to an assisted living facility so that took a lot of my time and attention uh and then lastly there was a little
uncertainty around uh my job uh we were the our the company I worked for was potentially going to be sold um so there was going to be a little uncertainty about whether stay with the company or uh or you know have to look elsewhere and obviously just the uncertainty of uh the finances around that so uh we
decided to put a hold on the project and uh yeah so we're just requesting an extension of that variance approval uh for one year if possible okay and do you think um you will start the project within that that time frame yeah so we we um assuming we uh get this extended
and approved um we do have a contractor ready to go um he's ready to begin the work in late April early May um so we we are ready to roll okay I think the maximum extension is one year which is November 8th 2025 right so that that is
what you're requesting correct um are there questions from the board anyone no okay um thank you thank you okay um okay would anyone like to make um a motion I I think we did
already draft a resolution just in case there was going to be a vote on I mean I I certainly I uh appreciate the I certainly believe that the circumstances are um fit into the uh land use ordinance condition of 15 of the board's
resolution so I'm happy to hear the things of stabilized for you and your family so I will certainly I am in favor of granting one year extension to November 4th 2025 uh I think it is it November
November 8 sorry she she's giving you four extra okay so November 8th 2025 um I would second that motion thank you okay thank you m Rector um um I
think the resolution was indeed uh circulated in advance if anybody has any comments or edits to that otherwise we can um go ahead and vote on that resolution so we're going to do one vote um for the the approval in the resolution we can do together got it
we're g to do it together I guess they're just so you know the ordinance only permits one extension so if you don't get it started by November 8 2025 is a good chance it to come back in y okay understood yep and uh you're not making any changes to the project everything's everything
proceeding as initially submitted yep thank you okay so I think there was a a motion by Miss Pichi and second by Miss P correct to Grant uh to Grant the extension Grant the extension and Memorial and approve the resolution
ased right Dr arwell yes um M Herrera yes Mr Krauss yes yes M poar yes silver am I okay to vote even though I wasn't here for the
original yes application okay yes uh chair Jers yes thank you thank you good luck sir thank you very much thank you appreciate your time just real quick so for Miss Silver's benefit everybody else this is you know an extension request essentially new application so you're
totally entitled to to vote on it unless you're conf for some reason thank you okay okay next on the agenda is the continued uh public hearing for the pingr corporation ZB 24024 and Madam Sher well their team's
getting ready I'll just uh point out for the record that uh the applicant did provide notice of of the last hearing which was on February 5th 2025 we carried that well the notice was good at that point in time we cared it by voice announcement this evening so the board continues to have uh jurisdiction here
inside the application thank you okay thank you while we're passing out the exhibits I'm uh Roger bner Linda Barry mcor mcber and Cooper uh we represent the applicant pingry Corporation um I think we got through about two-thirds of uh our second
witness last time Mr Enis who's our engineer uh was finishing up on the seating area adjacent to the fields they described the fields and the overall project so uh we will just call him back to continue and finish his testimony and then we have a testimony of our planner
Paul Phillips and that'll wrap it up for us so thank you Mr real quick the um is this the same thing same package just reprinted cated just so the board has everything but nothing's changed ex corre those were ones already
marked Mr en correct uh Andis yes my apologies problem your license is still in good standing yes you still recognize this I do still recomend appreciate
it sorry um great so again like I mentioned those are the same exhibits I was showing previously and we printed them all and cated them for the board this is A2 the big one right we had A1 that was just
three and A2 was I'll right how many pages that's right was 11 pages um so kind of just go back to the beginning of the section we were in when we stopped last month uh what you're looking at is Page Six 7 and 8 and they
are 3D perspective renderings view one shows the grand stand area from above which is page six page seven is showing the grand stand area as you approach from the walkway in the parking lot and view eight is as you're coming into the
top of the grand stand and entering the grand stand so um as mentioned and I think I kind of ran through this there will be six rows and I'm going to refer back to page six uh there will be six rows of seats constructed as a layered wall system with the front wall being a
maximum height of 11 ft I think I mentioned only 8T is is allowed by code but again the 11t is a lot for perspective and to kind of bring in the constraints of the overall development to the 11 ft gets the ability for
someone in the first row the grand stand to see over the colored the covered benches for both the officials and both teams uh the proposed grandstand will be 400 ft to the nearest residential property line um and it will keep all the wooded area in between the existing
Fieldhouse for the baseball that's going to Turf and I'll refer back to the site plan layout which is exhibit three in the package site plan layout c-302 and this is the site plan that's colorized with the landscaping
superimposed for presentation purposes the existing uh Fieldhouse for the baseball field is 340 ft from the nearest residential property line so the closest that we're getting with the grand stand is still further than than what is in existing conditions even in this specific area uh there is relief
being requested for accessory buildings and structures located in the front yard as it pertains to essentially everything you see on the page so the covered player area covered officials area uh the grand stand itself the grand stand Pavilion and the dugouts in the front yard and I just want to highlight that
that's again because of Sunset Lane and switching back to exhibit one there is the small area along the South here on Sunset Lane which is Frontage so when I'm saying front yard it's between the building and
the field and Sunset Lane so technically by code nothing's allowed within that area but again this is a result of the overall campus as well as having that Frontage along Sunset and as I mentioned some of the existing uh accessory structures for the baseball field are actually closer to Sunset Lane under
existing conditions I will now refer to p AG 4 which is a steep slope map prepared by bowler it's dated February 5th 2025 as part of the development there is
relief being requested for steep slopes disturbance of areas over 25% um you're actually not allowed to disturb any areas over 25% we're proposing to uh disturb 0.61% of the overall areas 25% or
greater which comes out to about 365 sare ft and I would also like to note that typically the steep slopes is more geared towards uh natural areas and previously undisturbed I will note that the green the uh red area that you see in this exhibit is actually in
previously Disturbed areas and was actually a slope existing after the construction of the existing grand stand so in terms of the relief we're seeking relief because technically it is over 25% but it's not in a previously undisturbed area or a natural
area in terms of of storm water I know I'm clicking around a little bit here but I'll go back to exhibit three which is the colorized rendering again uh the site is a major development as we're disturbing more than an acre the majority of the development is really just matching grass and Turf and infield
dirt and kind of cancelling out the majority of the storm water improvements that we're proposing are for the grand stand itself which is an increase of impervious we are proposing a basin and North is to the top of the page to the west of the grand stand that will
discharge into the wetlands in further off to the West in the wooded area so there is no increase in motor vehicle surface which is typically what triggers water quality so we're mostly focused on water quantity um the board engineer did have a couple questions and comments
regarding Geotech and some more details about the storm water system which we can certainly comply with we are currently obtaining more geotechnical information in terms of the fields themselves the existing soccer field as well as the baseball field do have underdrain systems currently we do
propose to reinstall underdrain systems in both of these fields and that actually is a requirement for FIFA uh in terms of when it rains that way there's not puddles on the field it drains faster and you can either play in rain or play quickly quickly after a heavy
rain for the Landscaping the majority of the Landscaping is behind the grand stand uh we're proposing 125 shrubs 15 evergreen trees and six six ornamental trees um and then the area behind that will remain undisturbed and the wooded
area it currently is uh we are removing in the first 50 ft or so at at the maximum length UH 60 47 trees which require 67 replacement trees um and again we're proposing 15 and six so 21
overall um Our intention is to pay a fee for the remainder of the trees it was mentioned in the environmental commission letter about potentially planting some trees Elsewhere on campus we would certainly look into that but I would just note that we don't think we can fit all of the trees that are
required for a few reasons one the open space that currently is there is almost dedicated open space whether it be for educational purposes Fields things like that and a lot of the undeveloped area currently is either already wooded which we can't plant trees or under D jurisdiction but we'll certainly work
with the environmental commission to potentially fit some more trees on campus and then the applicant would be willing to pay the fee in terms of the remaining trees for the deficit I think it was mentioned previously too but just kind of to summarize um we are not proposing any
lighting as part of this there's no Lighting on the fields today there will be no lighting proposed as part of these fields that you're seeing um a quick update on some of the outside agencies the S we have filed for they gave us a certification for some of the work that's going on currently and we are
waiting the certification for the remainder of the the project the njd has not been to the site yet so we are still awaiting our Loi visit and as part of this uh approval obviously any permitting needed by the D after that Loi is completed we would certainly file
for and uh provide to the board and I guess just to summarize my direct just to hit some of the I know there was a long list of existing non-conformities but in terms of the variances and deviations that were specifically either impacting or
requesting I'm just going to go through those quickly because I know a few of them were mentioned last month um first is the steep slopes that I just mentioned areas over 25% 0% allowed to be disturbed we are proposing 0.61% disturbance and again that's in
areas that are currently not natural retaining walls maximum height is 8 ft we are proposing 11 at the highest and that's the first wall of the grand stand closest to the field and again that's to see over the colored player in official areas um no active Recreation Area shall
be permitted in the front yard um obviously as I said previously because of the campus overall layout and Sunset Lane all of this is technically considered front yard by code so we are asking for the deviation in terms of those items being there but I would like
to highlight again that these items will not be any closer than existing accessory structures that are to remain the accessorary buildings again not located in a front yard yard we are considering the Pavilion as a building and again same thing with Sunset Lane
and then the final one is fences within the front yard are only allowed to be 4 feet we are proposing 6 feet with areas up to 20 ft which those are the Nets and the fence combination behind the goals as I mentioned last month um we did receive letters from the planner
engineer and environmental commission I think I hit a majority of those items during uh my direct but we don't have any uh issue with complying with the comments found in those letters thanks I have no further question
Mr questions from the board I just want to confirm what else you guys are requested fence openness did you guys did you address that already fence openness yeah we require at least 50% open uh yes it will be chain link okay so will you guys will comply yeah that
will comply um delineation of wetlands conservation easement yes you guys will comply with that yep we the problem with that is we do need the LOI first to update so we will update that as a condition of uh Co okay the um you probably want to talk about that a
little more um the standard uh procedure and usually the standard condition of the board is that any easements or other legal documents deed restrictions things like that that all gets done reported with the county clerk before permit is issued um in this case the applicant may want
to uh request that that be deferred to prior to a certificate of occupancy or certificate of approval is issued uh given that they have to wait for d uh to really finish that process or get
into it yeah if the board would be okay with that I think we mentioned the time frame were're under especially for the World Cup and constructing the fields and things like that so that can be a condition for more of a certificate of occup that would be the preference if the board would be amendable to that okay so
they technically need a variance from that section no no that that's just standard procedure really it's just a variation of of that okay okay as long as you're saying it's not a variance yeah my comment is prior to permit uh as a condition if you're going to look at
my comment is just prior to issuance of a certificate of approval or certificate of occupancy whichever is going to be issued when the project is uh prior to using right okay thanks da another question last
other variance item it um landscape screening of recreation parking areas and poty lines um we're not proposing anything new uh but is an existing non-conformity so that's not we don't need a variance from that yeah our our stance is the screening from the existing wooded area would meet that
okay then I I did have a few questions about the D variance here but I guess for your great um can I just ask a question around the steep slopes that one red section yes so would you point that they were manmade like that aspect of it yeah so this area is actually in
between the existing grand stand and the field today so was part of the construction and making up the grade from that area and there are actually some photos in the package I provided of what was there existing and just to kind of show that area is located somewhere
in here so the the point was we're not going into the wooded area disturbing natural steep slopes thank you yep no problem that area was kind ofed up to create the yeah it was to make up the grade between the field and the existing grand stand and also provide almost like
a slope seating area if someone wanted to sit on the hill thank you thank you I have a question about the 11 foot retaining wall so that's at the at the front of the grand stand correct what is being I just of someone getting excited
after a game and wanting over top of that to the field so so there's a to prevent there's a couple things there is fall protection so in terms of Stadium if you ever what we're in the upper deck we'll have the same type of uh fall protection that upper decks do in the stadium and there's two reasons one is
we actually think if it was shorter it would encourage people more to actually jump over and the second is in terms of the covered seating areas if we went much lower the first row or two would actually blocked by those seating areas in front of the wall so that first wall is 11 and then everything up from there
is only a foot or two for the tiered section So when you say pole protection what is the pole protection uh basically like a little little Railing at the front there did I knock a wire out so is the field Area 11 ft but
behind in the seating it's not 11 ft to the bottom I mean you're not if I stood up and I'm 6 feet tall it's not going to be 11t if you're depending on the field it would be 11t from where you're yeah on the other side it would
be basically uh a couple feet above you would be the fall protection yeah can you put it back up there yeah I don't I didn't mean to pull it down if I did am I hitting a wire or something no idea my intention is to show it I think
they're very pretty pictures so unug yeah it looks like a wire Lo all right I'm going to step away for a second for the questions other questions from the board for this witness are there any questions from the
public I one oh okay yeah I just want to confirm are you guys going to be complying with everything in Mr quins he's not here yes and I actually did talk with Mr Quinn prior to this and I think we're on the same page in terms of addressing those comments and Mr Mr SCH as well
yes the environment go ahead I'm sorry I just want comment number 16 is a question for the applicant about comping with the requirement to set conservation markers every 100t along
the Wetland boundary which I'm going to take a guess that you're seeking relief from that you you have sought relief in the past basically for the board's understanding the um for Wetlands conservation East the applicants have to
set markers the boundary and the markers have to be set every 100 ft um or wherever necessary if there's a significant turn in EAS in the boundary they may have to be set closer to to show that there is a turn in the boundary in this case there's a lot of
wetlands that go through the woods and there's a lot of woods so there's there's no need uh to set markers in the middle of the woods uh so and the board has granted this um variant when inry
granted the existing conservation ements years ago uh to um put the markers only where there is a concern that some maintenance Crews or something would be going over the line uh into a protected
area and that's um the applic is requesting that a relief be granted in that that's something that um we can review Once the e as e being drawn up that we they can go over that with um the engineering department and figure
out where those locations are going to be uh and a second part of that is on residential property It's usually the township standard ground level easement it's a little metal cap that gets pounded onto a a metal pipe a piece of
rebar at ground level so it's out of the way but you could find it if you needed to know where the EAS was commercial properties and and some nonresidential prop properties uh it's um well the planning
board usually uh likes to see uh a 4x4 post with a little little sign on it says conservation e area no mowing etc etc um I don't know if the applicant has a preference uh on that what do we have
now do you remember I mean I think we continue what we've been doing I I don't know if we remember the last time we don't have any post I know that no posts you but we would coordinate with the staff Engineers if the board doesn't
have a strong preference we can work that out um maybe it's a mix of both depending on what the concern is and what particular maybe the areas that are closer we area of real concern we can put a more prominent okay and we can leave that to the um you can leave that
up to me okay thank you okay and you'd be fine would be fine with that yes yes so then to be clear that you're seeking variance in that regard to the extent it's needed uh yes that's what I was trying to get out
before miss the mar got it thank you and then finally still going here um the environmental commission I know you guys you mentioned um not providing all replacement Tre on site making a formal contribution instead that was a condition they wanted you guys to do well the opposite they wanted you to put
everything on the site um I'll just real quick that they typically ask just on that one um I don't know how you would word that but would you agree to make you know a Bonafide effort to put in trees you know where you can that the board's asking you to do that make itous
effort yeah that's what we're suggesting yeah like if there's a dead tree replace it with a live tree you know something like that if you're already going to do that just dump that in the in the mix y just Tak okay um a few ones a few other
conditions that they would request that we impose here uh typical easy stuff um they asked that you guys employ best management best management practices to protect freshwat wetlands and surface water during site work post construction and Grading can you guys do that yes okay great uh applicants shall employ
storm water best management practices during site work as part of fin regrading yes okay uh they want you to make a good faith best effort to plant native trees and shrubs as a means of mitigating the proposed lock coverage increase I think that's kind of already covered by the the tree replacement you're doing correct scrub that one and
then uh they wanted you to obtain and provide a Wetlands Loi but you're doing that all right so we're do yes we are trying and we will have that okay two weeks Yeah couple weeks out okay that's all I have thank
you are there any questions from the public um for this Witness okay thank you thank you call Mr Phillips please yeah yep right into the mic so we can hear okay sorry um so I just can is
it assumed that based on your pictures that the grand stand is going to be made essentially the seats and everything the steps are going to be all concrete uh aluminum a mixture of yeah it's not aluminum it's going to be a mixture of concrete block wall things like that okay so it's not something that's going to make a whole lot of noise as people
are no there's no aluminum it's not your typical metal bleachers it's yeah we're not doing that so the other question I have is for the tree replacement is there any requirement on the minimum age of a tree that has to be
replaced size typically size size y caliper y yeah diameter around okay and more height for for thank you thank you Mr PHS I don't know if I SAR I think you
did but I'll do it again double check just sir do you swear firm that the testimony you're about to provide will be the truth the whole truth about the truth so help you got I do great thank you very much thank you and a name and address for the record please uh Paul Phillips p i l Li PS the firm is
Phillips price 70 Street Hoboken New Jersey Mr F would you uh summarize for the board your educational background and professional experience yes uh as I mentioned I'm a principal in The Firm of Phillips price I've been practicing as a
planner in the state for over 40 years I'm licensed in the state member of the American Institute of certified uh planners I do hold a master's degree in urban planning from Hunter College I've been accepted before probably 250 boards
in the state including on several occasions before this board as well great and your license is in good standing it is indeed okay thank you thank you except thank you so uh Mr Phillips you've heard the testimony of our prior Witnesses in this case I have and you've
reviewed all of the uh applications and supporting documentation that have been filed yes I have and you've also visited the site in the surrounding areas and become familiar with it and familiarized yourself with the zoning ordinance of the master plan of burns Township I have
done all those tasks yes so uh can you summarize then for the board your findings as to the uh requested relief and the uh legal justifications for that surely so just to summarize the applicant is seeking to make certain improvements to existing recreational
facilities within its campus and as you heard that would include the replacing the existing soccer field baseball field with two World Cup uh soccer fields and undertaking related improvements which as you've heard would include installing
the player and official seating as well as installing the uh tiered grand stand and grand stand uh Pavilion uh as well and the applicant is also seeking to improve the existing baseball field
which is located directly east of the uh soccer fields uh this proper proper is located in your R3 residential uh District uh that District uh allows both public and private schools as a
permitted conditional use uh the applicant meets the majority of the express conditions for the use is set forth in your ordinance uh in some cases uh relief has previously been granted
and this application proposes no change that would affect that relief uh previously granted uh by this board uh there is only one and possibly two exceptions uh the first is that all of
the proposed improvements are located within the front yard of sunset uh Lane uh as you heard from prior Witnesses because this property basically has that small flag or stem portion which extends to Sunset Lane this is technically these
recreational improvements technically technically within a front uh yard uh secondly the applicant uh may not technically meet the screening requirement for recreation areas from all property lines so I'm going to cover
that uh as if that request is also being made so there would be two deviations requested from the D3 conditional use uh standards and again with regarded the screening that would be to the rear property lines of those homes basically which front along uh uh
sunset uh all of the other conditional use standards for the use are met and the these would be uh the minimum lot area the maximum F the maximum coverage all the building setbacks are met uh parking setbacks there's no new parking
proposed here the parking uh setbacks uh curfew on outdoor activities no change shut off of lighting no change you hear there's no lighting proposed as part of this application and also the primary access continues to be from
exclusive access continues to be from a county roadway which is one of the conditional use requirements for the Zone there are also several General zoning ordinance uh requirements that uh are not met uh the applicant is seeking relief you heard from the project
engineer these would be for fence height uh Wall height accessory structures technically within a front yard and for steep slope disturbance in terms of the planning proofs uh as this board is undoubtedly aware the
standard proof for D3 variance in New Jersey uh was derived from a case known as Coventry versus Westward uh in that case the court opined that an applicant's burden is much less than in the case of a D1 use
variance the court obviously recognizing that the underlying zoning already contemplated uh and ited the use uh which is why the burden is less the court in that case went on to opine that ultimately the uh the applicant has to
demonstrate to the satisfaction of the board that the site can overcome any problems that might be associated with the fact that the applicant does not meet that Express conditional use standards to put another way uh can the
site and the proposed development still function consistent with sound plan planning and without adversely impacting adjacent uses of the community at large uh I believe in this instance that the short answer that question is yes and I
will basically uh profer my opinion in that regard I think perhaps most importantly the applicant is basically seeking to either upgrade or replace existing recreational facilities in largely the same area as they exist
today uh with certain additional improvements have you heard being the grand stand and the grand stand Pavilion uh as I indicated the D3 variances in relation to these improvements being technically within the front yard of Sunset Lane and again importantly if not
for this small stammer portion that actually extends to Sunset there would be no relief required I would add there's no access either existing or proposed from Sunset and this area effectively is wooded and basically serves as nothing more than than a
buffer uh an additional buffer uh to uh the uh main campus and all its facilities uh I would add that the Improvement and in replacement of the fields and again limited encroachment into this technical front yard area I
think can be readily accommodated here without problems and I say that because there's still a good 3 to 400 feet of Separation to the rear lot lines of the nearest houses and that 3 to 400 feet also is basically vegetated relatively
heav heavily vegetated and as you heard the applicant is also uh proposing new uh Evergreen plantings in the area behind the grandstand where some existing tree Moval as you heard is being proposed and that would further mitigate any potential impacts or
concerns again related to the technical uh front yard encroachment the second standard in is pointed out in Mr shl's report is with regard to the screening of the recreation areas from all property lines via L Landscaping and the issue is is
that the actual standard of landscaping says that a solid year round screen is to be provided uh I think the supplemental plantings behind the grandstand area in combination with that 3 or 400 ft of Woodland I think meets
the uh not just the spirit but I think the letter of the ordinance uh also while no supplemental screening is proposed behind the replacement of baseball field I would note that that field exists today and
there is also limited If any room to plant without sort of encroaching on existing Woods which provide the screening in the first place to the nearest homes and I I note that the nearest homes to the baseball field are several hundred feet away uh as well so
I think for these reasons in connection with uh both of those variances I don't think there are any undue problems or concerns that would have to be o overcome and it would be my opinion that the applicant site planine continues to afford adquate screening and protection
to the nearest Residential Properties again not withstanding that technical front yard uh deviation uh I would also note uh there Mr SCH points out in his report there's some sort of general principles in the
ordinance for any uh conditional use which have to be met the sort of generic goals and I don't think there's anything that the applicants proposing that would be contrary to any of those goals and I'm just for the record again it's in Mr sly's report preserving uh existing
resources providing safe and efficient uh circulation parking and loading not really relevant to this application providing adequate screening landscape I think I as I testified I think the applicant is basically meeting that objective there's no additional lighting
lighting is cited in those generic uh standards and the last is ensuring the compatibility of building uh architecture with surrounding buildings and we're not proposing any new buildings as part of uh this application so that really is not Material uh to the
application uh moving on to the uh General ordinance relief that we are seeking uh bulk variances these have been addressed by Brian our project engineer I would just add uh the following from a a planning proof perspective uh regarding the fence
height above 4 feet uh in the front yard we're up to 20 feet high and that's basically the netting as you heard describe behind the soccer goal areas this is common for these type of athletic fields essentially for safety
purposes uh regarding this a 6 foot high uh chain Ling fence around the sidewalk east of the grand Stan area uh and this is necessary to provide protection there's a small grade change in that area and also to sufficiently separate the soccer field from the the baseball
field uh you heard about the height of the wall 11 ft uh it's limited to the front facade of that grand stand separating the player and official uh seating areas and as you heard it allows for enhanced visibility uh in terms of viewing the field from
that lowest level of the uh grandstand uh accessory structures technically in a front yard again from sunset uh Lane this would be for the grandstand area as well as the uh new dugouts associated with the uh
replacement of the baseball field uh regarding those dugouts uh to me they have sort of minimum mass and bulk to begin with I think they're relatively Ben from a visual perspective uh they're also 100 ft or more from the nearest
residential property line several hundred feet from the nearest Residence with intervening vegetation as well and with regard to the grandstand area as I testified that will be screened both a combination of the existing 3 to 400 feet of Woodlands as well as the uh
supplemental planting that is proposed uh there's also a variance as you heard uh several moments ago for minim amount of slope disturbance those would be slopes greater than 25% where no disturbance is permitted
per your ordinance uh I would wholly agree with Brian's testimony uh I think it's all of 362 square feet uh these slopes are man-made uh there's no planning or environmental reason to avoid or work around these slopes these
previously Disturbed areas uh applicant is not disturbing natural drainage P patterns causing erosion which is basically the real reason why you have a steep slope ordinance to begin with uh and then lastly there is an 8 foot high chain link fence behind home plate on
the baseball field and between the dugouts in the foul line this also is standard for this type of recreational facility and obviously put in place for safety purposes uh in terms of these bulk variances I think that um they can
be granted actually both on C1 and C2 grounds with regard to C1 grounds uh I think that relates to sort of the unusual condition or circumstances resulting from that small stem or flag uh portion of the property of it's a 190
Acre Site uh fronting on Sunset Lane and with regard to the C2 criteria uh I think the bulk of the uh relief is related to sort of the unique characteristics of these recreational feels the need for you know fence netting height the height of the back
stops uh the need for the dugouts and the grand stand and so forth and I think uh certainly the the benefits associated with this application would outweigh any uh substantially outweigh any detrimental impacts and since we are
arguing C2 I think there would be at least three purposes of the statute that would be uh Advanced and they would be purposes a C and G and lastly I think all of the bulk marus relief can be granted uh without causing substantial
detriment to the public good or substantial impairment of the township Zone plan and I think I've covered all the relief I I have no further questions Mr thank you questions goe Mr one question that might have been covered I
apologize is on the hours of the operation I know we had talked about that there's no Lighting on the fields but is there Lighting in the Pavilion I don't think so no lights at all Pavilion okay okay my concern was after hours use of the Pavilion and if there would be noise created by you know I
think the hours of operation were noted somewhere was it to 8:00 well there are no lighting so we goes down stop kind of dusted operation and no Lighting in no Kar in the
Pavilion never you don't need lights for that that's true I had a question uh for uh Mr Sly actually like is this one where it would make sense for the board from a landscape committee to to check
perhaps the the screening behind it um I know we've done that before with penry you did and um I mean you can double duty with that the screening and also the uh availability for space to plant the repl
right right would would the applicant be open to to allowing the board uh to have a landscape committee come by and sure abely want to see the te practice yes we're gonna wait till it's
finished okay uh terrific other questions uh for Mr Phillips from the board at this time to cover my questions okay um any questions from the public M Phillips okay thank you all I um I don't
think I could really sum up any much better than Mr Phillips already has I just want to say one thing publicly um I just want to compliment the staff because we have they have been really terrific in giving us feedback because we try to go in early with plans and say
okay we're thinking about this and uh the staff that works at burnner Township on Plenty and Zoning matters is great and I can tell you I do this in a lot of places it's not generally always the case that that uh you get uh a
professional approach and and great feedback and uh people who are willing to talk to you so you have some great public servants who I don't think get thanked sometimes probably by you guys but not by everybody else so I just wanted to put that on record thank you we appreciate that comment and thank you
all for time appreciate it okay thank you um are there any uh comments from the public on this application okay seeing none anything else you want to turn it over to the board at this time I'm resting okay
thank you all right M seski do you want to sum up for us um what we're looking at here and perhaps some of the stipulations I will do my best thank you okay as I understand it and anybody feel free to
jump in and correct me if I get anything wrong here or miss something um applicant is requesting preliminary and final major site plan approval um seeking a D3 conditional use variants to permit deviations from uh specifically
sections 21-1 12.3 G6 and 21-1 12.3 G7 of the conditional use requirements in the ordinance pertaining to private school uses those are the conditions relating to uh which state that no active Recreation are shall be permitted in the front yard or located within 75
ft of a property line and that all Recreation and parking areas shall be screened from view from all property lines by Landscaping in accordance with sections 21-28 and 2143 of the ordinance um they are otherwise complying or not deviating any further than what additional or what
existing conditional use approvals have have given them um as far as bulk variances they're seeking one for the location of a recreation area within a front yard or within 75 ft of property line uh the two new fields are proposed the two new replacement fields
are proposed uh within that area uh the next is for the disturb disturbance to slopes greater than 25% uh it's completely prohibited the proposing a 362 foot disturbance of those slopes next is for accessory structure situated in a front yard the covered plate or
seating areas covered officials area grandstand grandstand Pavilion and dugouts would be positioned in the front yard think to Sunset Road Avenue whatever that street is uh I counted four for fence height the first was for
the 20 foot and 4 in mesh netting uh area behind one of the goals uh the next is for a 20 foot fence which consists of six foot fencing with 14 foot 4 in of mesh netting behind the other goal third is for a six foot high chain
link fence along the Eastern or along the sidewalk east of the the proposed grand stand and the fourth would be an 8ft tall chain Ling fence uh proposed between the dugouts and foul lines behind home plate is on the baseball field um in all those situations the maximum permitted defense height is 4
feet uh next is for the retaining wall height they're proposing one that's 11 ft tall that's the wall in front of the proposed grand stand 8 ft is the permitted maximum height of a retaining wall and finally um deviating from the extent necessary from the ordinances requirement relating to the delineation
of wetlands conservation eement areas um where there's a condition that they've proposed to sort of try to satisfy that I I'll return to that in a second as far as conditions go I know they did stipulates everything in Mr schl memo dated January 29th uh everything in Mr Quinn's memo dated
February 3rd uh comments 5 six and 10 in the environmental commission memo and then as far as other conditions go go back to my notes wrote the S as a condition might have been Mr Quinn's M but Mr Anis indicated they they were going to provide additional geotechnical
information uh to Mr Quinn's satisfaction uh they're going to make a good faith best effort to plant additional as many replacement trees as possible on the property in cooperation with the environmental commission um that would be the board's Landscaping committee all right so the Landscaping
committee instead of the okay thanks Ste um next would be that um any conservation easements would that are necessary for the wetlands would be recorded with the county clerk um what prior to a CO being issued is that is that good yeah there's also a drain Eng
eement requirement that would be done as well okay I think potentially repair in zone that it's mapped okay any legal documents like that would all be done prior to C prior to okay got thank you D
um yeah I also noted the applicant would be according with uh Mr SCH to uh I don't know toship engineering department as well to uh provide Wetland delineation following the return of the LOI I need to beep up that a little bit
more but I think we got the general nature of it um we did the replacement trees already the UC memo and touched on the Landscaping committee so I think that's it I'll leave anything El please let me know no that sounded
good and um you know as you said we have both C variances and D variances here so to pass a d variance five out of seven need five out of seven right like RC Varan correct and I believe um Miss trap and Miss Herrera unless they reviewed
the tape in the prior meeting which I don't think they did they wouldn't be ineligible to vote on this I think everyone else was otherwise here at the last meeting guys okay so okay just want to that thank you okay excellent are you saying there's the D3
Vari but there are also C Varian yes exactly and I would to take any motion to approve the application would be all the stipulated conditions that would be to Grant the D3 Well site plan approval the D3 and the B Varian subject all
thank you thank you so does um anyone want to kick us off here with um deliberations or comments on this application before we get to a motion I think the only concern I had throughout the appication was hours
abuse noise possibly um increaseing noise over what might have been there previously with the existing Fields um and parking which we can't do much about we talk through extensively on how the additional players would get there and the of you know the tournaments not
tournaments but the use of the field um there's limited space within the pingry U I'll say site um based upon all the unused or not usable area um something that we can change at this point but it might be something that they could
change in the future if they deem so um to be able to accommodate more people to use the field and to see the uh games that might be played there in future so I think it's an improv to to the property um I saw the old field I attended a couple of games and
definitely this will allow more people to use U and watch both their high school games and possibly these bigger events um it's an improvement to the town um to have these types of facilities in our town to attract more people um so I don't see any negative
impacts that we haven't discussed or they've um you know explained to us how they would mitigate them in this thank you Mr kuss um I'd add a couple of comments because we've seen penri here before and and we've granted um relief so a a lot
of these um we're not asking for additional changes to what we have already granted I think fence Heights from a safety standpoint and netting are you know Necessities around these type of fields I think the steep slope is
somewhat minimal and it's not natural so that doesn't bother me either um I do think pendry does an outstanding job in terms of planning so I do think this site can accommodate what they're looking to do especially when you combine it with excellent um uh planning
so you know I'm I'm quite comfortable with it there is a small section that bumps up against Sunset so we always kind of deal with these front yard issues um we deal with other front yard issues when things are on corners but this is this takes it to a new level um you know with respect to the Pavilion
and the um the grand stamp but I think it's a beautiful site I think they do a lot of mitigation work and I think we have the landscape committee um go and take a look I think um we will get it to the best it could possibly be so I'd be
in in uh support of this application I I also don't see that they're really disturbing any real undisturbed land um they're just repurposing the land that they have and making it better and bringing improvements so I I would be in the as
well I I feel that they gave a very comprehensive proposal and it was very thorough and they were able to answer all of our questions uh to our satisfaction and make accommodations as necessary so I would be in favor of
granting the cation thank you Mr Dr okay with the same okay else I agree with everything that was said and I would be in favor as well okay okay um does anyone would anyone like to make a motion um on this application
then yes um yes I would like to De the applic application complete and direct the board attorney to draft a resolution mizing the board's decision to Grant the relief requested by the applicants subject to the conditions stipulated to by the applicants and stated during deliberations all right so that's for
both the use and under understood got you is there a second I will second thank you miss you guys Ste all the Motions yeah you know it I like it um Miss kefir you're ready Dr Aral
yes Mr crows yes M Pichi yes Miss poar yes M silver yes chairwoman Jers yes thank you good luck penry thank you very much you very um so we will do a landscape committee we'll talk about that at the end
thank you very much okay next on the agenda is the completeness in public hearing for Koval sick Koval sick I don't know if I did that Justice you can correct me when you come up um and that's ZB 2424 kovalik calri
work for me I needed another try okay just give us one second yes okay matter just point out why we just getting ready um I had an opportunity to review the the notice here I found it to be sufficient both in terms of its content and timeliness of
service having been sent to owners of property within 200 ft of the subject property on February 4th and published in the Bernville news on February 6th so thus in my legal opinion the board is jurisdiction he to the case here someone wants a swimming
pool Witnesses and mrly the three of you please raise your hands you're good okay do you swear affir that the testimony three of you about to provide the truth the whole truth about the truth help you I do great all right sir you name
address please y my name is John calri I address as 10 Field Stone Drive and basking Bridge okay you want to tell us why you're here yes I'm seeking a variance for lock coverage with for the construction of an inground swimming pool
um I did see a couple of pictures inside your application are you familiar with these photos yes did you take them yes okay when did you take them oh this past fall sometime maybe September okay and does it essentially look the same other than
the weather yes it looks the same do you have a copy of these photos uh not on me they don't do you mind just taking this and why don't you tell us what we're looking at these photos we got to get this back you yeah okay so the top photo uh we were in
construction uh with addition on the back of the house and the area where there's a lot of kind of dirt spread around that cedar tree is the location that we'd like to put the inground pool uh this is standing around the middle of the backyard looking toward the house
and then the bottom photo is from the back end of the property where the shed is located looking directly at the house house so the pool would be between the tree and the house or between the tree
and the sh we would uh put it where the tree is basically we would remove the tree remove the tree remove it remove it's yes and are there other trees to be removed that looks like a large old tree
that no that is the only tree it's a cedar Tre tree with several trunks to it about three maybe four trunks but it's all one route are you aware that there is a um yes Our intention would be to replace to
replace yes did you talk to any of your neighbors about this project I have did you get hear any um concerns that we should hear no no I uh or any concerns
no concerns I you no concerns have been expressed to me directly okay is there is there a reason for that the location of the pool where you would have to take the tree somewhere else she is not here she my wife has
determined where she would like to she would like to have it off the B back uh into that so we can see it you know off the side of the property we have the um just the space really for it there one question I had was in looking at especially the overall
coverage um you're you're saying that the total requested would eventually end up with 18% coverage um does that include the that is not built but yet was prly
appr theall all the constru yes I believe that does include the sun room that was on the construction plans that we did not put on it does include it does includ it does include are you going to speak to that you're the architect uh engineer engineer so you'll speak to that for us
okay we'll get there okay there are the two paper patios existing they are yes had you consider removing part of that to set thew we did not no we' like we prefer to
keep those patios So based upon location is there any increase are you putting any shading between the pool is side of yard yeah that side of the yard there there are some trees along the property
line in addition to kind of a thick um brush that extends up about eight or 10 ft from the ground so nothing additional from what's already there you asking if I was we were going to put additional trees there anything additional to planting yeah well we you
know we're open to planting the trees wherever you know it's preferred um just asking try for privacy privacy do that when it's green like in the photos you really can't see over into you know our neighbor's yard from
that that area it's reasonably private your neighbors in Lot 10 I'm looking at the photo it looks like they have a pool way in the back corner their y yeah yeah well there there's again you can't see there is a fence um
in that portion of the backyard between our properties a wooden fence uh it doesn't extend all the way out toward the front end of the property it ends somewhere in the you know in the scrub so we can't I I didn't even know there was a pool there to be honest with you after moving in for some time and then I
heard someone in it but uh okay and is are you putting in fencing we would have to put in fencing that extended yes we haven't determined the you know where that it has to encapsulate you know the pool or the yard we haven't determined that would be
captured right Mr s in terms of pool compliance and you know height and everything else there around that okay okay are you adding lighting to the pool or no lighting no no landscape lighting around the pool there's no
plans for that you know we we have um I have lights around the patio that kind of light up that area on just INR pool lights probably possibly yeah inground pool nothing on the okay and did you get a copy of Mr s's memo I
did are you g I'll go those okay that's you have any other questions for this applicant before we hear from the engineer does the public have any questions for the applicant on up just your reminder this is for questions not comments about the
application just questions based upon the testimony he just thank you right into the microphone so we can hear you your name and address please first my name is John lado I live at 30 Fieldstone Drive so the house to which would be number 12 on that right on the
corner yes okay so right next to correct and my only concerns I'm very happy for him to put his pool in okay my questions I I apologize sorry there's a process here you will have an opportunity to make a comment so any comment you want to make that will be at
the end but right now it's just questions okay my question is what side of the property line will all the construction vehicles be coming through the property line between us number 12 and number 11 I believe that is Mr kovalik there's a lot of brush in there
um nice trees I have a beautiful Japanese maple it's a big oak tree and I didn't know what the damage would be done with the trucks if they're coming through that side of the property if they're coming through the other side of the property where he did they would um
they will come through between 11 and 12 or 11 and 10 sorry the opposite side so where they were before okay all the dirt that gets exited from the pool is that going to be taken off site I think we're going to cover that right with respect to the engineer I think we'll that might
be a better question for the engineer if he doesn't cover it gotcha um the other concern is question the other question is I apologize again the fence that's going to be put up to incorporate closing in the pool does that have to go
around the pool or around the whole property and my question would be again the red line between my house number 12 and number 11 we have beautiful brush there that's right on the property line that if he puts the fence in it I'm so
where is the fence going to go that's correct correct where's the fence going to go um that's that's about it are you going to cover where the fence is going to go I mean it's on the plans as well do you want to show them on the plan you have
on the plan itself it it shows the um fence on the property line maybe offset like about half a foot in size so uh I not his property line a half a foot inside L 11's property line a half a
foot inside lot 11's so I I I know at I see the the map here or the the diagram doesn't show W those bushes or trees that are on that property line well the numbers are between my house and Mr kabal's house so
I don't know is the fence going to go right through them or again I I don't even know if they're his trees bushes or my trees and bushes that's his property but no I understand but it doesn't show it so I don't know where they are compared to whose
property my my other question would be let let them answer that one first and then we'll get to all your questions yeah we havly can you speak sorry right to the microphone it's hard to hear you can speak into this one or that one no the
the the fence decision hasn't um other than knowing that we do have to encapsulate the pool and it's either on the property line or around the pool haven't gotten that far in determining that detail before approval yet so that's
yeah we're not going to destroy the bush but we would does does the fence can you put just the fence around the pool we have a beautiful property between our two houses and I hate to see all those trees gone and a big fence put up and
saving him a lot of money by just putting it around the pool if that's his choice I mean from this diagram it's around the pool it's not it's around by your house no but if you look at that diagram I see a fence all the way around around theer oh that okay question we already asked whether or not you to take
out any other and you said no correct just the one where the pool is so even if you're putting you're not that's your concern that's my concern is yes we lose all those beautiful bushes great neighbor we've
been friends for many many years and I don't want to lose the Privacy that we have between our two houses and if if he could just incorporate the pool with the offense one can save a tremendous amount of money keep the openness of our two properties and keeping all these trees
and bushes okay um okay so he asked the question I think you answered it that it's going to be as of right now a half a foot or so inside the property line that's correct that's correct all the way around the proper we certainly
locate you know the bushes and stuff like that and then and then we could determine you know how far we might have to move in it could be more towards your property until we locate it we won't know exactly where it is okay would would you agree to a condition that
would say that um whatever fence you do install wouldn't disturb any of the existing landscape in the property boundaries I'm not sure I would ask for that okay just yeah right now it was a question and it was answered we'll have uh additional
time I I would assume you might have a comment at the end of the application where you might want to voice those concerns again that's fine but for right now we had a question and an answer do you have other questions will that side I'm sorry if you're you need I'ma I live with my
husband next door at number 30 your address just for the record thank you 30 Fieldstone um currently there is a um established Rock uh supported foot path that leaves
the driveway goes around the garage towards the back of the house property yes yes um um am I concerning or questioning I forgot you're asking a question I'm
asking if it will become a permanent um established where is this rock path it's gravel path it's gravel it's rock where is
it it goes from the top of the driveway wraps around the garage and goes to the back patio okay it's not sh on is that on our coverage no because it's is that imp it's a gravel walkway so but it's
imperious imp gravel yeah if you're walking on it walking on it how how much is um how much it's about three and a half to four feet wide and how long is it 40 okay we need to adjust it then for
your coverage calculation it's 40t um you're not proposing to remove the gravel path are you we were not it okay you said went from the top of the driveway around the garage to the
patio paper yes correct okay okay right now they're they're not planning on removing it I think as the answer that I heard and we're and we're not changing making it more solid papers
or I don't think we have grins of solid not can I ask you a question you have another question yeah just I didn't know I'm sorry I didn't know that P gravel would be considered on Pur I mean the water goes through it it's I would have
thought like a Paving Stone would be ashalt would be but P gravel really walkways walkways it was like mulch if it's down really yes if you walk on it it's it's coverage or drive on it because I'm I'm stunned that that's
considered impervious when it would be go% it would be what 4% 0.4 uh 0.4 yes okay percent takes you to 18.02 propos
18 18.4 oh myz there's reasonable it's actually 18.38 right yes okay 18.38 so why were you asking about this 18 well it's it's utilized and I just am concern it's going to become permanent
it's what it is utilized utilized yeah I mean that's do you have a concern with the with the walkway my concern with that side of the house is pretty well based on the way the um current
landscape leans into our side of the walkway like our our side of the property water issues the water yes we do we've always had we've been there 32 years um does the water come on to well
it it our that's my dining room um right outside the garage um so what are concern is as well is the placement of additional dirt to
supplement this walkway possibly or the uh removal of the dirt and positioned around outside of questions so I asked you a question but do you have additional questions we can get to everything you have to say in your comment in the comment period yeah I'm
wondering if the the the dirt that's removed from the pool hole will be deposited in any way near that side um we're any excess will be trucked out trucked out okay so I guess that answer
is no yeah that's we're not spraying anything extra all around the yard that answer is no okay okay you can save other comments for for the end thank you just to get her in case she leaves hang second ma'am I'm sorry I'm sorry how do
you pronounce your last name again loado lo lo Miss lo I do need to swear you in because you did sort of so sorry sorry it's all good no worries postao swearing it okay do you swear or affirm that the testimony you provided and may also provide further on in this hearing uh is
and will be the truth all the truth absolutely okay great thank you appreciate thank you procedural things we got to do here I appreciate patience thank should we uh oh oh s just morning already um why don't you get your backg credentials
qualifications sure um Gary Chang um graduate of uh NJIT being a licensed engineer in the state of New Jersey for over 25 years and my license is in good standings thank you you thank you thank you should we just uh start
with um David SCH letter yes okay so number one is the um is the coverage um that's just the comment
so we're asking you know for stating that's just stating that the coverage number two it's also just um a statement of coverage so nothing there number three is pretty much the same number
four there's this discrepancy between um the addition I was off by two square feet so so we'll make that adjustment okay you agree with these numbers and you're going to adjust it to yes yes yes so the actual proposed law coverage well I
guess we have to include the walkway too what exactly is it um it would be comment doesn't change anything that's two square feet that's just technically it should be correct yeah right got correct I We'll add another 160 square feet to
That 160 mhm so total there'll be a 6212 212 thanks sir okay okay number five um I guess there was a previous
inground swimming pool that was uh removed but that wasn't that that wasn't was it it was a previous owner right so number six it's actually not a cluster of trees being removed it's just one tree with multiple trunks yeah right
exactly so we're going to remove that and we're going to have a replacement somewhere um there was a question um previously about you know whether we could slide the pool you know to avoid that tree but there are I mean if you slide it to the right you know there's
there's another tree there um if you slide it back I mean the pool is going to be too far from from you know the use of the circulation of the pool from the patio and everything so so we're you know that's kind of the area that we want to put the pool you coming out of
um out of the um the rear of the house and then from from the patio to use that um and also you know with um but also we're going to replace that tree so
we're going to plant a replacement tree number seven seven I think we covered we we covered um number eight covered that yeah we covered that that's going to be you know any excess oil is going to be removed from the site um
number nine we provided a storm water management system to collect all the extra runoff now there was um mentioned about um the previous approval um that they did not not need um storm mot management
because they were under the threshold so um there was a comment by um by Tom uh by Mr Quinn about you know uh I think it's 04 in hiso cover
that right so we are going to um include um all the previous propos those uh structures um to uh into this U storm water management so we're going to enlarge it we're going to include everything into it to take care of any of that in case in case um they want to
build that extra sunro also so okay we're going to put that in there stipulate mr4 okay and then we will provide the um the soal testing and the perk test for this um number 10 and we will
um conform with the um Soil Conservation District if we go over 5,000 square fet of disturbance and number 11 we will comply with the best management practice okay and I think um that point number 10 I think was also in Mr Quinn's
yes memo as well right yes that's correct n MH yes number nine so I think I take comp with yeah I mean um pretty much everything in um Quinn's letter um I
think I think we already talked about well there's something in there that you're not going to comply with right yeah we're going to comply with everything here um I think that one one other comment was um to provide um like gutter guards and stuff like that so
anything that's going into our um underground infiltration system will provide g a guards there there are couple of trees on this side on the I'm sorry on the uh on the North side um to Lot
10 that there's a couple of trees on the property so so that side that's where we're connecting into the storm water management system so we'll provide gutter guards there because those are the leaves that's going to get into the um system and is there anything you're
doing um from St management standpoint that would improve the conditions between lot 11 and Lot 12 um we're not we're not we didn't over there on that side because um you know there's no disturbance on that side um
we're coming into construction between um 1011 so there's no construction vehicle going in that side and going back to that walkway that um there's no no we're not doing any changes over there
so sun is that under construction is it pered no no it's not under construction the addition um actually when we when we first um started the application it was under the construction but has since been completed the addition has been
completed and they decided not to uh construct the sun room but we did add that into all the coverage calculation and all the storm water um calculation So when you say a sun Mo then is this like a prefabricated sun is that what we're talking about no it was actually
part of the um in build into the house it was going to be a room coming off the back family room currently we decided not to move forward with it this time the architectural Plan called it a sun room yeah so that's not shown on this plan it's started in um on a dash line
where the uh doal doors are and it's a there's a there's a note that's saying proposed sun room walkway steps previously through constructed oh okay okay all right
so basically you were going to hand the floor the house window that was more or less the design yes right so like a bay window kind of yes so is that something that you're
asking for as well or is that you have a promise that no that that was part of the original uh addition plans that we had in place that we just a portion that we did not move forward with right they they had an approval for that but but that seron room is included
in the 18.3 yes that's correct than so that's you're not doing that now but it's going to become part of this variant approval which is going to expire in a year and if the sun room's not built in the year you're not going to be able to build it because you're
not your variance for the coverage that you're asking for tonight just so you understand that I understand completely yes if you do get a variance tonight it's good for a year you could come back and get an extension if you need it for that but after that you're out of luck on the sun room andless you come back
with a whole new application got okay did the board understand yeah so so with the sun room the little overhang does that put you without the pool and the other approvals does that put you over on Lo no no oh okay so that didn't
put you over but then the pool put put us over pool along as that part of this whole project okay everything they had the addition and the sun room brings them close to the 15% okay you thought you were going to put the sun room in but you didn't do it yes if I can going back to sort of the
concerns of the uh flooding and or the water dra so if I understood I'm sorry M CH can you speak right it's hard to hear you I'm sorry you so per the owner of 12 you guys are getting R uh runoff water
runoff on that side of the house that's closest to lot 11 correct that's what I think I heard that's what I heard okay so my question is is is there like an overall water are are you guys like
slightly higher than 12 and then 10 maybe slightly higher than you because the concern may be that you take that tree out is a very mature tree that absorbs a lot of water and then you're also now going to be taking up a whole
lot of more property that that is going to move on the um the um right now the the natural drain it it's it's really from uh it's from the middle of the driveway and back to the back of the
existing garage that's going over there right now that tree that tree that taken out really has nothing to do with um with Lot 12 that's that that's going to towards the rear okay but we're we're pretty confident that there's taking out
that tree and then putting in a pool there is not going to create no it's not it's not their backyard right it it will not because um because the topography pretty much does not change where the pool
is okay you're not improving it but you're not making any worse right right I mean we're putting dry Wells into mitigate well on the other side of the house on the side not on the other side no on the pool side yeah on the pool side right you're catching the water from the roof
into the drywall yes so any the surface area isn't really being mitigated well it's it's an exchange I know it's the same you could do it one way or another you know the um the fence could where you're
putting the fence if the fence is a half a foot inside your property line and there is whatever shrubs trees you know whatever if you remove those and just put the fence in that could right cause more yeah there's no
intention to remove any trees or any any shrubs between uh our household and and Lot 12 so would you stipulate to putting the fence in ins side of that like I know there's no intention but when we see it on the plans it sounds like you're going to be have to remove sub so
what's the plan around that um I think we should first um locate where the shrubs are first um and the trees and then see if it's closer to Lot 12 or closer to our property and then we could determine how far we could slide that
fence um but we have no intention of removing shrubs or trees so we could try to put it you know within on the inside you don't know where the property line is in relationship to the line of trees on this property well well once we locate
it then we will know yeah currently you don't know yeah currently we do not know because we didn't locate any any shrub trees what kind of are you uh where it's visible it would be the um
aluminum post you know post fence where it's in shrubs and thick it would be a chain link on nonvisible there's already a fence across the back of the property line from our neighbor behind
us chain isn't change as asow from theer no it's not but if they took out all shrubs that are already there that are absorbing stuff it's going to get worse if you put a chain like through the middle of the shrubs it'll disappear
yeah that's right we don't know what their plan is we don't know okay removing anything and if they do remove something that's be replace yeah I that's well or the other thing is or you could we make additional plantings
there um to help mitigate you know if you plant some natural native trees or shrubs or something that's going to help uh absorb some of the water which you be sure yeah we'll be open to supplementing
planting over there try to right so fast he's right before after landcaping committee landscap okay so all right so real quick just before we move on all right so first condition I wrote down Apple can
show up disturb any existing trees shrubs or other vegetation along the property lines in connection of the pool fence um the other one was what um if any anything is Disturbed they would replace it in kind or want additional stuff subject to Dave's
review Mr additional stuff subject is review yeah I think appropriate screening or appropriate plantings so I'll submit a a location plan for you and and and replacement if there's
an existing if no no disturbance is supposed to the existing vegetation the board wants to see additional plantings to the extent necessary to be that up yes and is there a restriction on touching the existing
vegetation um if it if it was Disturbed it would have to be replace yes but there's no prohibition of okay I don't think so thank you wait so we're not gonna so they can disturb stuff on the property line they can do in my opinion
they they can disturb it they can do what they need to they just need to appropriately replace if it's on their property yeah can you describe what kind of trees and shrubs are in this location are they deciduous trees very exotic
it's a Foria Bush I think it's a Foria Bush between so it's a yellow flowered bush in between our property that's that's rather large some short pine trees like Christmas type trees there's like two of those between our properties and um couple of very tall ones I don't know
what they are just know leafy type trees yeah yeah and I think we covered this did did you said um you would the best management practices for correct yes oh
yeah I want to go back to the environmental commission are you guys going to comply with everything in there excuse me are you going to comply with everything in the Environ yes we are yes I know you said yes to the other two just wanted to make sure okay thank you Mr s we cover everything in your
memo yes Mr I think we did as well Environ any um anything else for us no other questions from the board further questions from this board
um I just want to go back to that gravel walkway so you've amended your application right to to ask for maximum lock coverage of 18.38% that right that's correct um would you consider taking up that
walkway how important is that walkway that is on the other side of the property it it is it's a a complete mud pit to try and walk around the house and that was the reason we just dumped some gravel there to walk on so we could pull recycle bins around
and be safe without slipping and sliding and falling when it was raining and wet so I'll tell you my concern so you're asking for 18.38% where 15% is um the
maximum uh you're making a pool so I'm always mindful that that some of the coverage but we are hearing that there's a specific water problem between lot 11 and Lot 12 and you said yourself it's a
mud pin so I have concerns around granting additional lot coverage unless we can figure out um how best to minimize any uh water problems C can I ask a question sure how can we verify
the extent of actual water runoff that is happening to to John Priscilla's lot because I've never seen ponding of any water there we are elevated by about a foot it looks like water probably does testimony we listen to their questions they're going to make comments we'll
we'll listen to all of it and we'll try and weigh it appropriately but I heard even from you that it's a mud pit so hearing from both of you I'm assuming there's a water problem I don't I don't know how to measure it um but but you're asking for more coverage it's not
allowed and that that's why I'm asking more questions where the drain roofs go on that side of the house they they go underground and they pop out down the yard about 25 ft from the corner of the
house in that end toward the street no it's facing to to the back of the house so yes correct the the property slopes downward toward The Back Fence U the outlet to the the leaders of the the
drain goes out about 20 25 ft from the back that corner of the house ask are you are you still planning on installing that sun room at some point in time or you think you're just not going to do I couldn't say never going to install
a sun room you know right now it's not in the immediate plans see the reason I asked is because that's included in your coverage calculations and if that's not going to get built that would obviously reduce what you're proposing here tonight something consider you ask for as part of the
coverage you're going to lose it in a certain amount of time anyway yeah so maybe makes sense to take it out I guess you'd have to kind of calculate how much how large that is here and then let us know you know how much that would save on coverage if you want to go that rout okay you want to
keep walk on the right side yeah I was just gonna ask something is there something that uh good to have Mr Quinn here but would have to consider there something that you can think of that suggest to ask if they will to do that walk way I mean I don't think the
driveways an option anything that you could trim off doesn't look that way you got the patio you've got the shed what's in the shed how do you use the shed just tools lawn more yeah I'm saying some sort of like plantings or drain rain
Garden asking I was going to ask Mr Chang that question we could we could actually run that existing roof drain back there that's coming out following out Overland and run it into our system too um that will take all that water that's already going to LP 12 and we
could direct that back to the to the drain do you think that water is coming from the roof train no well I mean there there's some there's definitely some from the roof drain but then there's some just from the natural grve from you know next to the driveway that's going
down so if we capture that roof drain that's coming out I mean that's pretty much taking up actually that half of the house that's straining out there right now so is there anything else we could do that we not thinking of can you the water from the to the
back from from from where the grael path right the gravel path right can you drain the water some of well I mean we could um if if we're going to if we're going to run a roof drain from from from the right side of
the house you know maybe we could pop a yard in like back there or what about a a channel on the outside of the path that captures it right I mean if we if we already going to run run a drain on the right side of the house to the to to
our storm water management system we could pop a small yard Inlet also there so so the path will you know drain drain into that Inlet also so I'm trying so you stipulate to doing
that you stipulate to doing that yes is there anything we could do with respect to the gravel path I guess they said it's four feet wide like I don't know if it's worth it if it would add up to anything but if we did like stepping stones or something else not really right not enough I I it doesn't sound
like an area you yeah want to put Stepping Stones there I think you could have a condition that that says the applicant will uh do something best effort to capture as much run off as as reasonably possible
from the roof Andor the walkway to get it away from that side of the house engineering department can can deal with that kind of condition that's a much easier condition for me to R than thank you Mr
s we could definitely you know regrade that area a little bit to channelize it into that yard Inlet so we could capture as much as possible you would agree to to make every effort including possibly regrading that area to yes mitigate uh
you can put that to Mr Quinn's satisfaction it's not here he deserves it over there to do that other questions well I I still have a question on the gra because the purpose of it was that they could put their garbage cans around the side of
the house without everything sinking into the mud so what do you do to solve that where's your garbage cans now no no it's currently they are uh next to the the garage facing facing Lot 12 we've got a
recycle and a garbage can there and I have another recycle can around the back of the house um on the patio for the Cole you put the gravel in there so so I could drag walk back yes so does does the gravel
path go all the way around the house back to the paper it just a little tiny thing the house it goes to the back of the paper patio because that's where I have the Recycled Cole can and also our dogs would run back and forth out there and pull money to the
house so we put that in there to mitigate that so so the idea then is to keep the gravel path in add drainage is that what we're asking for well that's what I think they yes offering they're offering okay okay questions questions I
right anything else for us no are there any questions um for the engineer based upon the testimony we just heard not the time for comments but questions one tile Stein Riverside Drive in the bit cheap SE it's like it
wasn't too clear so we know the allowable lck coverage is 15% and their proposed lot coverage going to be 18.38 what's the existing at this point
do we know with and without the um path yeah I think it's 14.4 so it's under at this okay that let's back back no the path was
4% so 13 but that wasn't included 14 143 okay if you were to put a fence towards the um near the side 12 and it's going to BU
those bushes are you going to have enough room to maintain those bushes since you're saying six inches off the property line well we going we're going to me we're going to locate it first and and then decide where we're going to put
yeah have you considered using a a dry well possibly in that area of the path that muddy path here's a different question it's raining out today were you outside today and did you look at the path today and
see how what it is back there did not no okay thank you very much thank you are there additional questions for the engineer are there comments on this application for or against this application yes SAR one second sorry do
you swore me I I thought already before no I think I did no you did me first then her second but do it again if you like okay whatever all right sir you swear affir the testimony with the the whole TR about the Tres I hope you got I do okay and uh need address the record again please 30 Field Stone Drive which
would be number 12 now you can make any comment okay um basically when it rains we don't get it from the roof it's actually rotten dirt where we live it's very clayish so the water stays on top of the dirt he's probably about a foot and a half higher than me it comes down
to my part of the property I literally had to put three Sun Pumps in my my basement there to alleviate when it we have a good rain um I did put some underground piping in to try to catch it I have like a white picket fence there which I put
some underground Tru to catch the water as it comes through but by the time it fills that up and backs up it comes into the house and I have that problem there problem with trying to trench it to put in some underground pipe we have a
beautiful big Oak Tree on his property that's probably a 20 28 in caliber tree gorgeous so I don't know if that would even if you'd be doing damage to the tree trying to put some underground catch basins in and that's that's a concern of mine but the water problem
has been there it has nothing to do with what he's done to his property before we've had this problem for years the people before him had a built-in pool they took it out patio was put on top of it I don't know what the fill is I don't know where the old septic tank is there
used to be septic tanks on those properties I don't know where they are Township says they don't have those records anymore so biggest concern is my flooding of the basement I want him to get his pool he's
a great neighbor simple thank you thank you very much very yes you can can you come back up sir I'm sorry so the the water in your basement is not just entering from that side is entering entering only from that side it is entering yes from that side yep and
that's why I put my Sun Pumps on that side and they pump every 3 minutes when we have a good 3in plus rainstorm what what Improvement would you want oh I don't know I that's I I have no idea I thought I did everything short of digging down and actually when I first
moved there 30 years ago I dug down by hand to the footings and put in a French drain outside French drain and it worked very good but that was 30 years ago technology is different they still they probably did it has the wrap around it
the pipe and all with the stone but um I I put in three some pumps that are all wired to a generator so a good storm and this was nothing the storm but a good rainstorm they run every three minutes and I call them they have a name Johnny
one Johnny 2 and Johnny 3 and you all have a distinct sound and uh you know it's very scary when you know you're down there at 2:00 in the morning and you're trying to mop up so so without disturbing the shrubs trees and natural landscape could a contour change in the
Contour push it back to the back of the property versus and that's what I was thinking I was thinking myself trying to put some type of retaining uh wall or something like that and put a pipe on the other side on my property to try to I thinking in their
property contouring a little bit better digging down you can do some surface that might that's possible I mean it's a beautiful Japanese maple tree there that's probably 25 years old that it's all part of that
so anything could be done I guess but I just don't want to make it worse so it sounds like what you're suggesting with some drainage to get the water to the back of the yard help it definitely will yeah absolutely getting it past our because once you
pass that part of the house it it slopes down also like his property so it would go downhill but right there where it comes off his and it's not from his garage roof it's just crummy dirt it doesn't absorb it surface dra exactly so it's nothing he's done
it's nothing you know his down spouts are cool it's just the ground doesn't absorb the water all right so you be Happ if you did some drainage there absolutely absolutely
yeah Mr you have a suggestion on how to best how the board can best address additional drainage requests I I think uh make a good faith effort to the satisfaction of the board engineer yeah
uh with given the limitations um I mean I certainly couldn't tell you how to do I do have a comment may I comment now are you finished sorry you I'm done I just want to I feel this pain with the water in his basement okay I flooded my basement
twice um in the past year and a half and got dropped from our homeowners insurance black bald throughout New Jersey because of it okay so there's something in the ground that comes from over 202 and it hits our house the same as it hits his house you know I don't I'm willing to
absolutely make good faed efforts to to improve drainage on the surface level but I don't believe that it's just surface level water that's hitting the house and I have four Su pumps in my house I've burnt out two of them okay it is what it is you know um so I'm not
sure that surface level addressing or a gravel walkway has increased anyone's water I think that it's coming through the ground so it's just the way it is the very back of the property can be very wet um behind us in lot two um they've got
literally Rapids coming down the sides of their property when it rains really hard so it is the neighborhood I'm not you know again I don't know I'm not familiar but I just caution I think that the best efforts are the you know absolutely you know good neighbors we want to you know I don't want to make
his situation worse I don't want him to feel the pain that we had of insurance dropping from claims you know so uh again it's inherent to the the neighbor neighborhood in the property and not necessarily what's you know been done I'm not sure how much can mitigate the
situations that happen in the basement as a result help you too while you're doing the pool project so maybe this gentleman can help you with that too while you're doing the pool project it seems like the right time money is No [Laughter]
Object um are there additional comments from the public on this application for or against anything else um for us okay it's up to the board Mr do you want to recap I'll do my
best okay uh the applicant here is seeking one bulk variance for lot coverage they're proposing a lot coverage ratio of 18.38% where 15% is the prevented maximum here in the R4 Zone um as far as conditions go the has agreed to comply with everything in Mr
SCH memo dated February 25th everything in Mr Quinn's memo dated February 28th everything in the environmental commission memo dated January 28th as far as additional conditions go that I noted during the hearing uh applicant will replace the cedar tree I think that's kind of already captured in Davis memo with the submission of a tree
replacement plan and being required to comply with the tree replacement ordinance um applicant will install pool compliant fencing which we come back to that in a second there's definitely more hold on the applicant shall not my bad okay the applicant sh replace
any existing tree shrubs or other vegetation along the property lines in connection with installation of the pool fence oh wait let me redo that one the applicant shall replace any existing tree shrubs or other vegetation Ong the property lines that are Disturbed in connection with installation of the pool
fence sorry I have my carrots and in here my teacher kill me uh the applicant shall install additional landscape screening to the extent reasonable subject to the review and approval of the planner we got the memos already um the applicant shall make good faith
best effort possibly including regrading to capture runoff from all existing and proposed impervious improvements U particularly those that drainage issues along the southernly property line subject to the review and approval of the board engineer trying to capture all that drainage stuff we're discussing and
I think that's it if I'm leaving something out somebody let me know thank you than you got it you're welcome okay um comments or uh to start deliberations on on uh this application
anybody want to KI this off this again seems like um a large percentage over theal La coverage um I think I think adding drainage definitely will help this they're willing to add some
drainage to help the neighbor may not alleviate the problem but it may make it better um you you're definitely not planning on doing the sun Edition at this point and not including that is that correct well it's included in
that coverage but he's not sure we removing that from no it's in yeah it's in I'm just not sure I'm comfortable with 3.8%
overover I think it's 3 3 3.38 in total including the path now wa have 4% 18.38 is what they're asking for which is amended from 17.9 the numbers
that got I'll add a couple comments um you know we we're always focused on lot coverage um and water issues are not um unique to this area we hear it you know
a lot the clay I get it all and and that stuff um but the issue why it's um an issue here is because you are coming and you're asking for more and we already know that there's an issue there um having said that I don't know what
causes these issues and does putting in a pool make it worse maybe not necessarily what we're talking about um not sure whether the gravel pathway makes it worse or not I know that's already there but having said that you know we look at total coverage right and
those numbers become fungible like wherever you know you want to put it you you get x amount to cover um I would say your pool project in it of itself looks like it adds up to a little over
3% and I personally don't view that coverage as menacing because it's pool even though it counts as coverage but it's water like you know some water will get in there but it doesn't get reabsorbed in the system so I I don't
mind giving a little bit of a discount um to it um I struggle with giving an approval where there's already an issue having said that um I think given the stipulations that we've laid out with the situation be better or worse I think
it would be better if we make some um good faith efforts to address some of the drainage problems and you get you pool um so I think for that reason I would be okay um but you know with a lot
of focus on the training issues there and and we are not saying that what's causing it we're not there we don't know but you're going to be there you're going to be addressing it you can look and you can make a good faith effort to try and make the situation
better I agree I think absent this project there would be no measures being taken to improve the drainage issues so now you've come before us and we went over all the issues that your neighbors facing that you may not have ever spoken
about and you know you can put in a rain Garden you can we talked about all sorts of different measures that you can take and I think that overall there might be an improvement in the issue through the pool installation and considering what U Mr J
said if if we wanted to trim something the walkway in and of itself 544 sare ft so even if you took out the walkway that isn't going to really mitigate the situation the overage that much you're
not asking for a 8 foot wide walkway that we could carbon half so and I think even we don't know what's causing it but my gut tells me if you take out that walkway your water issues don't go away right I mean the PO walkway if we took
the P it doesn't it's not enough it's not enough so just gra at at this point I I would be um I would support the approval of the application the conditions
by you have um my opion doing something for the water problem yeah so hopefully we end up better whether do I think uh you can do some good fit effort it's possible
I believe can other comments you know one other comment that I'd make is we we've adjusted it to 18.38 it's such a specific number and I don't know how accurate your calculation
is with respect to that gravel walkway but it becomes very important so just as a reminder and Mr Quin would always remind us here whatever the board decides on tonight um can't go over it if you go over it it's going to be a
problem for so um you know what spec you know if the approval if the board decides to Grant the approval which will be in um with respect to building a pool um those numbers have to be you know
adhere to all right I think everybody's convinced me well no no no you know just talking out loud I'm looking at the number but they are making an effort if they're willing to put that drainage in and I think that would help the neighbors property and yeah yeah and I
would assume our resolution will be um have very significant language with respect to your efforts around drainage so he's already getting ready would that not yes go ahead you think appro that why don't said not to
exceed yes got that right put the language not be exceeded in 38 yes they go up to Max but they have to stay it will be under no more approx okay um would someone like to make a motion on this I will make a
motion I would make a motion to deem the application complete and to direct the board attorney to the resolution subject to all the stipulations and the comments by the board professionals um to Grant this application at
183 C2 C2 oh I'm sorry C2 second thank you Mr Dr arwal yes Miss Herrera yes Mr Krauss yes Miss Pichi yes Miss poar yes Miss silver yes chairwoman janers yes thank you good
luck with your project Lu hopefully things get better thanks appreciate yeah I was getting ready I'll just point out mam chair for the record um before we announce the next application
our their notice sufficient it's good to go no nothing less from Mr Z at this point so board is jurisdiction here and decide the cas okay the next um item on the agenda is 10B completeness of public hearing for uh John and Gail
Schneider zb2 4026 got you good evening Madam chair members of the board board professionals Frederick Elli post poock on behalf of the applicants John and Gail Schneider this is regarding 24 Rocky lane block 3602
lot 5 located in your R4 Zone give us one second give the STI away like okay I'm sorry that's quite all right so the subject property is located
at the end of Rocky Lane this is a short Dead End Road which years ago crossed over the adjacent railroad to what is now Columbia Road uh another short Dead End Road on the other side of the railroad the applicants wish to raise the existing home and detach garage and to replace the same with a new two-story
home with an attached garage uh which would better meet the needs and desires of a modern family property is non-conforming currently as to four elements lot area that is 08853 Acres where one acre is required in the zone
lot width 188.000 ft are required in the zone improvable lot area 6 73255 ft where 10,000 ft is required in the zone and finally front yard setback currently 28.2n ft where 75 ft is
required in the zone uh since this is total Demolition and reconstruction uh we need to seek variances to confirm the existing non-conforming issues uh three of those are remaining completely unchanged lot area lot width and improvable lot area
front yard setback we are actually proposing to improve significantly uh there is less than half what's required now as I said just under 20 or a little over 28 fet where 75 is required uh we were propo we are proposing to bring that to almost 70
ft problem with this lot as you know from seeing the plans is the wetlands in the back uh that's a problem no matter what we do uh if we were to increase the size of the property we could only increase it by in theory uh acquiring some land from behind it would do
absolutely nothing for us uh because that Wetland line is going to stay exactly where it is if we do that uh and there's actually a downside to that possibly from this board in particulars perspective which it would allow us to have more impervious coverage on the existing uh area uh which I'm sure you
would not want us to do so um so to the extent that Mr schl rightfully points out in his memo that in theory we could acquire that property uh we would ask that the board not exercise its discretion to require that in this particular case because it would seem to accomplish nothing and might actually be
detrimental overall um I have two witnesses this evening John Schneider one of the applicants and Paul Fox our engineer um Mr Schneider is actually familiar with uh construction and we'll take over the chore of uh going through the architecturals with you although
they're uh really more just for informational purposes They Don't Really pertain to the variance as you know so unless there's any questions for me I will state just before I forget the photographs that uh Mr Schneider will be going over I took myself uh just prior
to the filing of the application they accurately reflected what I saw then and he will confirm that they still accurately reflect what the property looks like thank you with that Mr Schneider you and I can switch places okay yeah I'll swear Mr Schneider
I guess I could swear in Mr Fox is it right yes okay yeah just get all three in Mr SCH as well you all three affirm that the testimony you're about to ride will be the truth the whole truth and nothing about the truth so help you God I do okay great thank you so much
SCH good evening John Schneider address yes John Schneider 300 blacksmith shop Road East fouth Massachusetts and you and your wife Gail who's present this evening are the legal owners of the property in question is
that right yes we are and how long have you owned it we've owned it for approximately 26 years since 1999 and you live out of state now but did you in fact reside in this home yes
we resided for approximately 25 years up to about a year and a half ago uh we relocated out of state and would you just describe to the board what uh improvements there are on the property now what structures exist uh
there's basically two structures Es as you can see uh the structure furthest to the north is a garage it's hard to see on a picture but there's you can see the garage is
actually very close to the property line that that was an original shed for structure that was there prior the previous owner erected a pole barn and left that structure there um that's why the setback for that
structure is so tight the other structure you'll see a a brick walkway there is no front door entrance to the houses to the rear that's the house and then that little
square gray and white is is some material on top of a concrete slab and let's go over the photographs that have been aded to the board you have them in front of you yes I do I would ask you just to take one at a time
you don't have to go into a lot of detail on the any of all right so just let us know what they portray and please confirm that they're still accurate today so the first picture is picture taken on the right away just north of the property line if
you look to the the left of the picture you'll see a a post office box a recycling can and the post right there is approximately 6 in to the south of the property
line so this view as you're coming down Rocky Lane to the end so from this vantage point of the camera your back would be to the top of
the picture all right so Rocky Lane the continuation Rocky Lane is the intersection across Road right and South Finley at the entrance to the train station Rocky Lane I believe used to be
South Finley and it went over the railroad tracks uh there was a bridge there the abutment is still there Bridge was taken out they put the underpass and redirected South Finley
closer to the train station so Columbia and Rocky Lane are new newer roads from the original if you look too while we're looking at this picture if you can see
where there's like a a white car parked in front of the garage that's about the end of the asphalt for the road so I'm at the very end there's approximately 35 to 40t of asphalt that comes into the
frontage of my lot the rest of it is is gravel there's an incline the incline was left uh it's just gravel and grass we we basically maintain it for
appearance even though it's the right away just to keep it clean and basically is used for uh just the utilities now as far as the uh overhead electric and approximately 10
years ago they uh put in new water mains through underneath the railroad tracks to to Colombia so the water company put new Mains in all right so that picture is there you can see the
garage you can see the shed it has a a crisscross door on the side that's right alongside the property line and then the house house is uh What uh built in 189
98 that's probably why it's so close to the right away is just like downtown all the houses are much closer so it was basically uh a four four over four
house next picture is a reverse point of view is standing on the right away the incline looking North I'm sorry I don't know if they're in the right
order okay so you can see the asphalt the as asphalt ends the roadway ends just shy of the closest point of the garage and then there's gravel the car car is parked on a gravel driveway in
front of the house that's not the right away where the car is that's no that's not the right away it's just along side of it so yeah just like where this the snow
changes that's that's the right away the setback the third picture is a picture of the garage the pole structure you can see better the original shed the previous owner left and I got
the permitting to put the garage without having to increase the setb from the side property so this this picture you're facing East next
picture shows the house again you're standing on the right away a little bit up the incline on the gravel and uh basically looking Southeast it's the the front of the
house and like I said there's no front door you can see a little bit of a deck off to the left there to access inside the house next picture is a full frontal Facing East of the
house you can also see that there was a there's a used to be a wraparound porch so the the actual setback was even less back in the day from the the right away that porch previous owner had removed the porch and
enclosed that side porch next picture you're looking North Northeast so it's a South elevation of the house so this picture is also you're facing
like Northeast it's further away from the house but it shows the backyard next next picture your back is facing the east on back of the property
and your the view is West it captures some of the some of the house and then the next picture is showing both the house the rear of the house and the rear of the garage this is this is pretty close to
the the back of the the property so you said the entrance to the house this is this is showing the yeah there's there's a there's a French doors and then the door there was no when I bought the house there was no front
door I see there's like a a fence with an an entrance is that a particular area around there was Fen in yeah the the fence area the fen in area you see was just an enclosure for a dog run a dog
pen we have two dogs so and then this this scans a little further to the north facing west so it's like Northwest it shows uh the fence line I had
installed um you can also notice that the the style of fence changes to a stock Cade fence I know that uh David had had in one of his comments about the fencing if it was going to be
removed moved we'll address that but that fence was was actually done by the the previous owner of the adjacent property is it is it all your property what what happened was I took I
took a a permit out this is over 20 years ago and I erected the fence and my intent was to put a picket fence from uh the frontage of the neighbor yard along the property line I never got
around to it but I had put the post in at the same time I did the rest of the fencing so the N the previous uh neighbor took it upon himself he didn't want to see the garage he put stockade
fencing up to cover it on on my poles I actually told them that you're not supposed to have the fence that high going forward but just be trying to be a good neighbor and that's that's about
it and your int any Clarity on the pictures Mr cider your intention at this point is to raise both the house and the garage is that correct yes take down down all the structure that's on the lot and will you also be removing the fencing and the other structur the
fencing yes uh the fencing is as seen better days it would come down anyway so that would be addressed we do have a fence on the railroad side that was more when our children were younger were're so close
to the railroad that you know just to limit any any of them running out over to the tracks so we wanted to keep that in in mind the house currently occupied the house is not cured it's been uh approximately a year and a half since we
moved up to Massachusetts yes and you're essentially going to build a new house or at least get approval for a new house to be built and then sell at some point is that yes I I don't know it I'm I'm uncertain what we we're going to do but my intent is I'm
taking it one step at a time I'm seeking relief for the variances and then I'll address you know what I saw the car there and I was wondering if in photographs one there was car there was that yeah the car is
actually we're we're doing a friend of the family's son a favor just to park the car there they have limited space at their residence okay so we're just allowing him to park it but okay we did make him aware that we would like it
removed we have the architectural plans I can certainly have Mr Schnider go through them or if the board would rather dispense with that given the hour and if they don't really pertain to the variant leave that up to the board a quick one we absolutely the concrete pad to the South is that being removed as
well yes yes that's indicated uh on the drawings okay uh Paul will speak to that that's what I pointed out before there's some construction that was that was uh previous owner put that slab in there
used to be a a wooden shed there in that vicinity and he was going to put a new shed on top of that I never made use of it Mr Schneider what I'm going to do if it's acceptable to the board is just ask you to look at the plans and confirm that these are first of all the plans
that we submitted and second of all the viso plans that you intend to follow absolutely the board has them in front of them if they have any questions I can have any questions the first well A3 I have in front of me is is
uh first round Flor level what I'm actually proposing the lower level be a walk out addition the garage but this would be the main level of the
house as you can see it has has two bedrooms with uh two full baths also a the K out open concept effect I also
have keep C Trends I put a little there a pantry so that's A3 now you go to A2 a31 83.1 is combination of two floor plans so I chose this because the the lot
slopes down from the front to the back so to combine the use of the garage with the house I chose this design so the top floor plan you can see the attached
garage so the the lower section will not be subter would be match the existing grade and then open area for mechanical and open re bace or whatever be decided
so you're calling that the lower level perhaps instead of basement but in essence it's Bas it's a walk out so what we did is I did I picked the design once we seen the elevations that we have seven houses on
Rocky Lane most of them are post war I'm the oldest house on the on the some of them are ranches raised ranches but they're all midsize homes I didn't want to overpower
the neighborhood so I chose this design to try to keep the house down I mean it's a two consider a twostory I I call it a one and a half being in construction we call it one and a half cu the upper fls you have to SL ceilings
on some of them you know with the roof line so I try to keep it keep it down low not just for the requirements on the high structure which we meet on the lowest level below the the ridge line but I
wanted not to overpower the neighborhood and blend it were your plans always to when you move to Massachusetts were your plans always to raise this house and redo it or did you consider sing it in his existing condition the K condition
of the house even though I was in construction yeah there was an old saying sh make these kids walk around bare feet so the house needs a lot of work I had entertain years ago of putting addition on the house but the
house wasn't the you know it's so old they used to say they built things better back then no not really true so I mean it's got 7 foot ceilings on both floors you know shallow basement so to
join something to it would would have been complicated very cost prohibitive so we had no intent on on uh posing this and going for the variances but because the house is in
bad condition it kind of devalues the home all right and and if we want to get rid of the home it's not in our best interest to sell it and just repair like that so we we're looking for
Alternatives you know talking to the professionals the ERS whatever I the age of the house that doesn't make it historic in any way it's not in a historic district it's not in historic district it's on one of the town's um
list of older homes okay that it it may be have some significance but it's not uh it's not subject to any special rules I remember years ago uh when I came down from P David was
kind enough to to show me the bookl that had the the review by the historian and everything a lot of the construction that he stated wasn't true say it was like a stone foundation it's it's concrete foundation not reinforced but
it's probably one of the oldest houses in in Das Ridge with a concrete foundation you know but the previous owner the original house it was balloon framed had clabs on it previous owner put Texture 111 on it none none of the
Interior is original none of the windows it's got vinyl siding on it now so you know it's it's p way past its prime you I can um because I I probably have one
of the I actually have the uh one of the few um National national registed uh homes you know historic homes in in in the township so I'm very sensitive for historic I'm sensitive to it too no and
I understand what you're saying there's no architectural I I guess what I was just going to say is have you at least um engaged the historical societ be able to possibly do a walk through just to be able not to save the house or anything like that but just to see if there are
any features or components in the house that before you demolish it that can be used and and you know like even just um and I know this probably goes beyond stuff but just even components like um
hinges or something like that that may be somewhat original nothing's original okay A a matter of fact the the size of the house is there was an addition put on because if you look at the one
picture of the front elevation you see a pair of Windows to the right and you'll see a single they actually put an addition on it and the addition wasn't done well was a previous owner had to do foundation work it was probably done
like 100 years ago but it was it wasn't a well built home just a little little little house so saying you don't want the house you're building in a way that it won't overpower the other homes in the neighborhood sizewise how do you
think it Compares what you're proposing to build how does it compare to the size of the other the neighborhood it has the attached Gage so the Gage is is on the lowest level right but as far as
appearance it's low profile I mean we can go to the uh the other Flor planet is the top floor shows two bedrooms some storage on each end and an open area a walk but
it's all enclosed it's not like open over over looking the to sheet A4 and that shows our elevation that show this shows the elevation on A4 so the front elevation
like I you know it's a twostory I'm calling like one and a half because the majority of the roof line comes down to the first level so there's a lot of houses on the street that are true two stories with
the roof on top the story I try to incorporate the roof to conceal some of that and bring down the height of the it more other houses and
also and style wise as Style Style wise I chose a farmhouse there is some history I was told about that area like all the wetlands used to be C pasture and everything there's no old growth in
in the woods behind us so most of that was I thought uh Farmhouse would be appealing you know and uh the the structure that I was told by the previous owner that he he put up the
pole barn part he took down was a little cow barn for not anything so I thought this would be appropriate to put this file house on right so the top elevation shows shows basically has a front
porch uh Thors as you can see by the floor plan on previous page you can see right through the house um basically symetrically simple and then if you look at the other
elevations the right side which would be the South elevation it shows the house it shows the the grading you can see the grading better where front of porch area we're bring we're basically bringing from the
right away even though it's inclined the base of the right away the property front property line we're bringing that level right into the front of the house and then we we you can see on the right side elevation slope drops down the rear
elevation meets the existing grade that we have there now and then the left side shows um shows the front porch shows the garage on the low level and it shows access to the deck
off the back of the house is St goes up if you you if you look at it I mean the the top elevation is is twice the size as the others but if you look at the left side elevation from the bottom
of the garage doors to the wrench line see to keep that down over I have nothing further from Mr Schneider any other questions beautiful actually know the
AR do he's a family friend that's why I used him he did me a favor he works for the state the architect he used to be in priv practice yes he used to be so but he's a very good thoughtful architect I I know his wife well to
are questions uh from public Mr Box you're up good evening I don't know how recently you've been in front of this board recently it's been a few years I usually send Mr Madson here from our firm you
give us the fast version of your educational professional background please sure I have a bachelor's of Science degree in civil engineering from Union College in Upstate New York have a master's of engineering degree in civil and environmental engineering from Cornell University I'm a licensed
engineer in New Jersey and New York I've been working in apgar since 1996 I'm currently the president of apgar Associates I also serve as the municipal engineer for Harding Township to the north far Hillsboro to the South advising their planning boards Board of
adjustment and Board of Health I've also actually sat on my own local land use board so I've been in your shoes all right well that sounds pretty good we'll accept him as an expert in engineering pretty good Mr Fox were you tasked with uh designing the site plan
for this application yes uh if you want to put it on the screen I don't know that we have that no no problem I can hold it up for you if you like if you would just very briefly to just go over what's there now and take us through your plan sure this is sheet
two of the plan set there's been no changes to it and this shows you can see where the existing house is here and the new house will actually be completely behind it um which is an interesting when you think about it even any attempt to put an addition on the existing house
would require some sort of setback uh variance relief the design of the home uh as well as the lock coverage everything complies with the current zoning uh with the exception of the front porch uh the one end of the front
porch the North End will be over the front setback line U which is really driven by the fact that uh it's such a very shallow uh lot depth that we have to work with otherwise the main bulk of
the house conforms we conform with lock coverage uh and other respects with respect to height side yard setback and rear yard setback and the shallowness is even if not the L itself but with the wetlands transition it makes it
particularly shallow is that I that's correct at this point in time you jumped ahead to the to the proposed but that's okay uh we're not showing full compliance with the front yard and can you explain why that is so we have a
very shallow uh building envelope here and we did our best to slide the uh house as far south as possible to take advantage of the geometry but unfortunately you start to get in trees into some mature trees along this
side of the building envelope and trying to stay away from that as well as the adjacent train tracks we tried to keep the house centered more or less on the lot and are we as about as close to the wetlands transition areas would be
advisable for home yes we're really uh We've managed to stay off the Wetland limit here probably about by 10t uh we're a little bit closer with the driveway up here but we've been able to complete the grading and the proposed construction without intruding on the uh
transition area for the wetlands uh and we were able to bring ourselves within the coverage requirements is that right that is correct and that's fully paved that driveway yes given the steepness of it it wouldn't be practical to have a gravel driveway
there would a new owner since it's being sold be able to do anything El on this property not without coming before this board so no well there's something right no there wouldn't be any other out buildings simply what we sh here uh
there is a patio underneath the deck in the rear which is access uh from the lower level of the house from the basement I think certainly one could go to the D and uh get some uh relief from
the D for the transition area if you wanted to put in a pool that's all lawn back there so the unfortunate part dealing with the D is you know 10 to 12 month operation at this point and quite honestly there's a lot of my clients that are filling in pools that don't
want pools anymore so I don't see it as a high likelihood that somebody would come back but if they wanted it they would have to come back here I had one question sorry um just given the age of the home it do you know know if there's gas or oil heating
[Music] currently sorry so originally when I bought the house it was oil there's a oil tank in the basement so there's no buried oil tank that's what I was curious about decommission any originally the previous
owner heated the house with wood so he left me two wood burning stoves I had to get rid of but okay so the the oil oil and then I converted to gas gas but the oil tank that was existing is what happened with that it's it's still in a
basement it's it okay it's it's inert there's not no oil in the tank or anything I never had it taken out and it never had an underground tank never had an underground tank cuz he he installed the tank himself to the best of my knowledge cuz like I said he was heating
a house uh with uh wood two wood stove a matter of fact there was he had uh through the floor registers to for for the heat to heat the house is it sewer
now sewer was hooked up prior me purchasing that was uh he had a tie into the the the sewer so the the septic was abandoned he filled it in got it all inspected to allow the sale
at a house the the the uh sewer is actually not a gravity it's a pumped it's pumped all all the people on our street Pump It Up to Crossroad where gravity takes over
so Mr while and I'm I'm pushing the hardest because I replaced the pump about four times already will the uh will the new home utilize the same uh pump and piping or or does that have to be redone as part
of the project normally you would put in a new uh pumpit at this point right so it sounds like nothing's remaining right correct it's it's a complete raise correct yes and you'd make it available to the fire
department if they wanted I did that with my own house actually last year was kind of interesting to watch it I see what you mean for practice oh absolutely Mr Z I don't know do we need to cover
anything before we get to the reports and whatnot is there anything else on your plan that we need to no I think we unless the board had any questions about our plan on I didn't see it on your plan that you're showing there but on this plan I see that you have uh dry Wells yes oh I'm sorry you do have them there
I'm sorry that's right and those would be designed to address the increase in the loot coverage uh that's being proposed it's about 2,000 square ft and actually the roof area that we'll be collecting from is about 2600 sare ft so it'll more than
offset the increase in loot cover all right let's go through the three reports just since he's not here we'll start with Mr qu is there anything that we cannot address it's in his report no we had no
objections to his comments um regard to Mr schli I've already given the board our position and request with regard to possible purchase of additional an or anything else in Mr
SCH report that we need to address or can we no just the fencing that we we would comply report demolition right so we would comply with all the requests in his report would you just we while we're on
mine can can I just um number three question about the approvable lot area you have a an updated number for the board for that yes Mr uh Mr Sly pointed out that on our
plan we showed a 20 foot setback on each side line which is the minimum required but the maximum there's a combined side yard requirement of 50 feet so if we take the set back to the north and
increase that to 30 ft everything still complies with setback requirements and whatnot it just reduces the developable area of the lot further so as previously we had noted on the plan that developable area was 67
32.55 that actually gets reduced to 63876 as a result of increase in the sidey yard set back to 30 ft but again that's an existing condition there's nothing we're doing that changes that Mr schab was there anything else in
your memo um no the fence is going to be gone number 12 that was the other thing that needed a response um and if everything else it's pretty straightforward if the applicant is agreeable to it I don't
think we need to talk about it Mr Fox if you would just take us through the environmental commission's report please sure I received the the environmental commission report this morning uh going through the detailed list of items uh first of all the
applicant should provide the PK environmental report and when it was done that was uh previously submitted in January uh to Mr Sly and that was dated January 8th 2025 uh the next item the applicant
should Prov by New Jersey dep Department of Environmental Protection Wetlands Loi that's not required by the Township Code the Township Code specifically allows us to use a Wetlands expert for delineation on a small project like this which is
what we've complied with uh the applicant shall provide calculations for the pre-existing coverage and the proposed coverage that was included on the proposed plans in the zoning chart uh applicants should show a tracking had in Top Soil location we
agree to provide that applicant should move the silt fence and roof pipe leaders 2 feet away from the 50ft wetlands buffer the plan shows both being right on the wetlands buffer line uh that's permitted under uh Wetlands were allowed to go right up to the edge
of the buffer the actual um roof pipe leaders are not going to have any discharge they're just going to the underground drywall so we would uh propose simply to leave the silt fence and the roof drain pipes exactly where they're shown on the
plan uh the applicant should check the calculation for the drywell uh bunch of comments about that we agreed to satisfy the township requirements with the respect to the drywall uh the applicant shall confirm that the roof area is at least
1,936 square feet and we do confirm that it is over 2,000 square feet of roof area I don't think there's anything more uh that we need to address uh the only other comment we have provided a dryw uh and there are no trees proposed
for removal as part of this project there's one ornamental cherry tree in the front yard but we've managed to configure the grading so that wouldn't be impacted by uh the proposed Construction specific landscape plans no not at this time
just taking it one step at a time how about the the conditions well the suggestions that you guys utilize best management practices for site work and during you know protect trees you guys do that yes we would agree to that uh
also they wanted you to use native hardwood species as any replacement trees but you just said you're not removing anything so I think that's really correct um why don't you be aware of the potential for inground tanks let paint Festus and you they just ask that you take any proper precautions if you
encounter any that stuff you guys will do that correct and then uh they also ask that you make a good faith best effort to recycle repurpose or gift any demolished material not intended to be reused yes okay thank you and to the extent that you do do landscaping um
would you agree to you know consider planting native shrubs yeah probably um like the existing trees I have there are on the East Side Up Against The
Wetlands so that's kind of a buffer I did myself plant a lot of maple trees on the railroad side and they're G to remain you right yeah as a buffer um to cover more of the noise
because my location is just prior so that's my house is where they hit the horn three times they on the on the inbound train so uh I did that as a buffer but
probably it would make sense that uh the fence the only the only question there actually if you do any landcap did you agree you native thank you I'm sorry that's okay good we got
there I have nothing further for either witness of this time I don't know if we asked did you talk to your neighbors in the area did anybody approach you or anybody you still contact the neighbors and I you know I gave my heads up uh The Neighbor Next Door
20 I explained everything to him uh he was very very uh receptive the position in the house uh we had to move to the South the proposed position which also brings the
house further away from his and then of course I'm getting rid of the ISA garage and I I think it would just dress up the neighborhood a little bit better are any of the other houses adjacent to your historic hes or are they all new no I'm
the oldest house but like I said all the other homes are all po post war homes so maybe the 40 late 40s is the next house um other other questions from the board for these Witnesses are there any
questions from the public are there any comments from the public or against this application your name sir idstein 172 Riverside Drive mrin do you s from testimony about the truth the
whole truth the truth yes I did wasn't sure did you say you had City water yes yes J you do um yeah this is only a comment I actually drove up to the property I'm on the environmental
commission so I thought since I know the area me drive by I was kind of conf I pulled up on a roadway and he had the gravel patch I just didn't realize the street you you
know where your property in the street you know it's kind of an odd thing straight ahead is the incline on it's basically abandoned road but still a town right away but as you come up to the end the gravel there is is my
driveway yeah but it's also the place where all the delivery trucks turn around so all my gravel is pushed and everything from the delivery trucks well I I didn't walk your property CU I I couldn't really see if anybody there and
I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that but it looks like it's a good thing to do the garage is trash the house hey you know but you know he's only agree just trying to help you
out there buddy but I think by him moving the house actually building another house and will be better beneficial in the long run because if he was to try to sell the house or just knock the house
then somebody's got to have to figure out getting water and sewer and air and electricity by him building a basic house whoever comes in next you could decide how they want blow the house up to make it bigger put pools in wherever
but you know they'll figure out if they want more trees and stuff so doing the basic stuff just so somebody gets to gets in there I think it's it's proper and I mean you look at the it it's a good siiz piece of property there and I think he
it'll do well the size of the house that he puts back there I see no problems with it thank you for your comment no problem thank you we'll see if it makes a minutes com are there any other comments
this application okay Mr Z thank you I just want to go over the positive and negative criteria briefly um all four variances I think can Justified under the C1 analysis um the hardship here is to some degree the size of the Lop it's
primarily because of the wetlands in the back that just make the developable area uh you know very restricted um obviously we're dealing with three pre-existing conditions um a lot with improvable lot area and lot area uh so we're really
focused uh since there's nothing we can do about those uh on the front yard setback and again we're improving that we're providing a setback that's more than double what's there now uh and very close to being compliant and uh as Mr
Snider indicated the main house setting aside the uh covered porch is actually compliant so it's just going to the porch where we have the uh approximate 6 foot uh deficiency uh so I think all these are all these variances are justifiable under C1 as a C2 the
flexible C uh three purposes of the ml uh can be satisfied uh a um to encourage uh promoting the public health safety welfare and morals uh in this case we're providing a modern uh modernly equipped home which will feature the safety
convenience of having an attached garage rather than the detached garage obviously uh building's in better condition uh than what's there now uh C to provide adequate light air and open space in this case we're replacing two buildings with one uh and providing more open area uh and more space between the
home and the adjacent property uh and finally I to promote a desirable visual environment through uh the development techniques in this case we're enhancing the neighborhood with a brand new home I think as you can see the plans and attract new home and Farm style uh to complement the neighborhood as Mr
Schneider indicated so I think we've satisfied all three of those purposes the ml uh and of course we are improving the housing stock and the general uh atmosphere of the neighborhood which under home builders League of New Jersey versus Township of Berlin Supreme Court has indicated that that is also a
purpose of the mlul despite not being specifically listed in the statute uh negative Criterion uh variances can be granted without substantial Deb to the public good uh will not substantially impair the intent and Zoning Pur uh intent and purpose of the Zone plan and zoning ordinance uh in
this case the non-conforming conditions have existed for decades at the very least uh without any detrimental impact and perhaps the most significant of these conditions the front yard setback we are substantially uh improving also given the property's location at the end
of a cesac street adjacent to a railroad with only a portion of the street even being in front of the home uh the non-conform of the property are and will remain IND discernible uh so we don't see any negative uh impact to the town to the Zone plan to the zoning ordinance or to the public good uh so under your
C2 analysis the benefits outweigh the detriments because we don't see any detriments uh so having said all of that we thank you for your time this evening we'd appreciate a positive vote thank you can I just ask you one question um I
think you uh in your opinion you said they all qualified for C1 did that include the front yard setback that would be C1 as well uh it is because in order for us to comply we have to get so close to the wetlands transition area
too close to wet too close for comfort for sure yeah thank you um anybody want to kick us off on this application oh I'm sorry Mr you can't go first my sorry sorry okay we do too
oh okay applicant here is seeking uh Four B variances first is to permit a lot area and I would know this is an existing addition of uh 885 Acres approximately where one acre is the minimum required next is for improvable
lot area uh the proposing again existing addition I have a 67325 ft that's right okay stop me if I got anything wrong uh next is for lot WID again existing condition uh 200 ft is the required minimum they proposing
um 18889 ft again existing and uh next is for front yard setback for the principal delling that's proposed here they're proposing a 69.6 foot front yard setback or 75 ft is the required minimum as far as conditions go the applicant has indicated that they would be to comply
with everything in Mr SCH memo dated February 25th everything in Mr Quinn's memo dated February 28th and a few conditions from the environmental commission review memo that are still applicable particular that they would revise the plans to show tracking pad and top soil location
utilize store water best management practices during site work and utilize best management practices to protect and preserve trees during site work uh the applicants would also take any proper precautions if they encounter inground tanks F and also Mak a good faith best
effort to recycle repurpose or gift any demolished material not intended to be reused as far as additional conditions go I just check my notes I don't think there would any umly with the memos oh make a good faith best effort
to use native trees and shrubs in any landscaping and uh they did indicate that they would comply with all the ordinances requirements pertaining to dry Wells kind of already required and I think that's it just one item on that sure the existing nonconformity for
improvable lot area yes that value is 63876 square ft okay that's that's the revised as a result of the combined set change the north set back to 30t made it a little bit less I'm sorry one more time how
much was that 63876 sareet okay thank you I just made one point I don't think it's specifically covered but the um the house is designed as we heard to to fit in with the street and I think it
does that well I get a sense a lot of the board members think so too in the event that the applicant ends up selling the property to someone else to build a home there I'd suggest there be a condition that says the the home shall be substantially consistent with the
architectural plans that were presented this evening in case somebody else has a drastically different idea that that's spelled out in the resolution no objection to that if someone else bought the property and was going to build a house wouldn't
they have to come back plans for a variance anyway the zoning officer would question actually we've had a couple recently um it's clear what the intent is especially in the resolution it'll
it'll say in the findings that you know board found that the architecture was specifically designed to fit in etc etc but having a condition that specifically says it it just answers the question right away and there's no you know you
don't get somebody some buyer who goes and prepares a whole set of construction drawings and submits them to the building department and you know then it comes a big blowup thing and uh I mean they're not going to get to build the one anyway but it's a lot easier St
spelled out there the variances don't transfer from one buyer to another do they yeah they stay with the property for period of time I think with that condition I think somebody wanted to propose something vastly different with size provided still meet you know
whenever whenever the bounds and variance Rel granted here if they do want to change the they'd have to come back just to modify that condition I suppose and take get it the app tow a lot of sense and sometimes the board
might not care here is we talked about it a lot yeah on a 3 acre lot that maybe a couple feet short on width and somebody's building a house and somebody wanted to change the look of it that might go through the zoning officer because it doesn't interfere with any
first of all zoning regulation but also any intent or or reason for the variance and this and that here it's clearly to me part of what makes this I'm think thinking is going to pass um passable um
so okay um anyone want to kick us off with any comments deliberations or motion on this application I oh sorry I was just going to say I agree that um the benefits seem to outweigh any potential detriments
here and the home that's being propos seems to improve the neighborhood and I'm not really seeing a substantial detriment I I will say normally I'm in favor of saving historic homes but seven foot ceilings
and the saggy roof and kind of a bland facade I I didn't really see that there was that much there to save yeah um and I would just add I I do agree with the C1 um hardships from with respect to the wetlands with respect to
the the shallowness of the the property the building envelope I I think everything that they're proposing I think makes a lot of sense um I do think it will be more conforming with the neighborhood I do think it's going to be an improvement overall from the neighborhood and I'm also uh I really
like the fact that we can eliminate two of the structures and we end up um with one that makes more sense I think for families in our town especially having a garage go um underneath any other comments motions any want to take
St I'll do it do you want me to do it of course you're board right I am um okay I would uh deem the application uh complete and I would ask our board attorney to draft um a resolution memorializing uh our decision to Grant
the Rel uh requested by the applicants under um C1 for all the reasons that we have spoken about for uh the last few minutes here um and along with any uh and all stipulations that you laid out um earlier I think uh I think it'll be a
nice project so I hope it gets done just to clarify C1 only or both I was going to say C1 only feel stronger I will second it
m Dr AR yes Miss Herrera yes Mr Krauss yes Miss Pichi yes M poar yes M Silber yes uh chairwoman Juniors yes good luck with your project thank you all very much
have a nice night um next on the agenda is uh comments from members I guess I'd like to welcome Miss trap to our board hope you really enjoyed it tonight's meeting um and welcome back to miss R we missed you great to have you
back and congratulations Miss Sila your recent promotion um uh also I guess Miss Keir um next our special meeting is not cancelled we're actually going to have it right next uh Thursday March 14th so
if everyone could Mark that down march March 13th okay good all right I'll be here um well M Pichi and Miss poar don't if you're G to recuse yourself from that that's up to you I think Miss silver and
Miss Dr agal agreed to read the transcripts such that they'll be in a position um to apply so we're going to LIT to I was previously right so you can recuse uh again unless you want to 18 months worth
of transcripts but you know thank you um Good Luck yeah no thank you to Dr AR and uh Miss silver because that's a lot it's a big undertaking so but that will be in put us in a position to hear their reconsideration um I think I have to
stay with Thursday yes I I think you should stay recused I think anyone who was recused should stay recused um I would agree okay so I think that makes sense so miss um Balman uh will also be refused and she will not um not be
here um Miss trap will not be in a position to vote on the reconsideration um unless you also wanted to read uh 18 months worth of transcripts take I think we have enough
right that's one two three four five okay so it's important if anything changes and people can no longer be here now next Thursday to please let us know as soon as possible because we need five um to vote on that reconsideration and to hear that case
okay I'm good on that but I can't be at the um the April one the April one okay that's if you can just send an email to keeper so we can not that okay thank you for letting us know
um any other comments from staff motion to aour motion second