##VIDEO ID:e1t3CiMgx7g## Township of Bridgewater and posted on the municipal bulletin board Please be aware of the Zoning Board of adjustment policy for public hearings no new applications will be heard after 900 p.m 9:30 p.m. and no new testimony will be taken after 10 p.m. would you please rise and salute the flag I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible and justice for all all right okay we have a few Oaths of office uh first to take care of that would be Mr kulac Mr bonno Mr Fresco Mr gesi and Mr vessio um bonjo was not up this year I don't think he was last year he got say that expiration 12327 how long is the yeah Bon yeah so not bonjour only those expiring in 28 for a new new term expiring right in 28 all right so it would be Mr kulac Mr Fresco Mr gesi and Mr V okay all right why don't you meet me down below we have some room there we can just swear everyone in e un days next on the agenda is the election of officers for this term first would be election of a chair do I have a nomination I want to nominate Mr Jeff fuss as the chairman of our board for this year second thank you second by Mr Borno yes was that okay all right roll vote Yes roll call vote Please Mr F yes Mr Wiley uh yes Mr Zine yes Mr frco yes Mr Bon Jordan yes Mr gesi yes Mr Cat yes Mr kulac yes Mr vesio yes all right well that's yours congratulations welcome back to your chair you don't even have to move yeah I'm in the right seat and and thank you everyone thank you Mrs Amin for the nomination uh I truly believe and I tell my children You're The Company You Keep and I'm very honored to keep all your company all your hard work uh thank you for everything you did in 24 and that we're going to do in 25 I'm really honored and proud to work with you all and again thank you for volunteering taking time out of your schedules for the township of Bridgewater and and most of all supporting me and Jim and and Andy uh you know we want to make Bridgewater a better place you want to save some trees and you know this room is filled because it's a desirable place people want to be here they want to be in our town and you know if nothing else we give very fair hardworking hearings and uh it was very evident last year and I'm proud to lead us again for 25 thank you again uh next up we're going to elect a a vice chair and uh it's my honor to nominate uh Jim widley do I have a second please second was Mr bonjourno and Nancy get a roll call vote please chairman F yes Mr Wadley yes Mrs Zine yes Mr Sweeney is absent Mr Fresco yes Mr bonjourno yes Mr gesi yes Mr Cat yes Mr KAC yes yes 705 all right next up we have uh board secretary nominations please I'm going to nominate Andy presco again all right do we have a second second all right good uh Mr gesi was the second y be Bruce that's hard roll call vote chairman yes Mr widley I yes Mrs Zin yes Mr Fresco sure yes Mr Von yes Mr gki yes Mr Cat yes Mr kulak yes Mr vesio yes Mr gabbit yes and Nancy last year you served as assistant board secretary would you do us the honor again in 25 all right do we need to do do a roll call vote on that speak now forever hold your peace nany's our yes assistant secretary thank you for everything you do you make us look good and you know we really appreciate it all right we're going to appoint some board professionals um let's let's doing bulked up we have uh Mr all on my left as board attorney we have uh Bill Burr as board engineer Katherine sarmad is board planner Michael Sullivan as our Consulting planner Bruce eisenstein as our Consulting radio RF engineer uh we do not have the uh resolutions they're not out a legal yet but I I wanted to appoint them pending next meeting so all board professionals please work with uh savos Sal and make sure that we get those for the next meeting please bug them and uh so we would open them up 7A through 7e appointment of board professionals and move that we appoint it was Mr widely do I have a second please second Mr Fresco please chairman F yes Mr Wiley yes Mrs Zin yes Mr Fresco yes Mr vjo yes Mr gesi yes Mr Cat yes Mr kulac yes Mr vesio yes Mr gabbit yes Mr chairman corre why don't we do that real quick so to appoint Nancy proes as the assistant board secretary uh I'm happy to make that motion if I could have a second please second all right was Mr widley and let's do a roll call vote on assistant board secretary yes yes Mr widley uh yes Mrs Zine yes Mr Fresco yes Mr bonjourno yeski yes Mr Cat yes yeso yes Mr gab yes all right next up we have uh our designation of meeting times in place for 2025 Jim you you yeah just make a quick comment um we have we're going to keep on the schedule December 23rd which is um after the 15th in general we haven't had uh held any major meetings so it's really going to be just kept on there for any residential or clean up any of year stuff and no major cases will be heard at that point we do reorganize in January all right I'm going to read them into the record real quick January 14th these are all 2025 January 28th February 11 February 25 March 11 March 25th April 8th April 22 May 13th May 27 June 24 July 8 July 22nd August 12th August 26 September 9 October 14 October 28 November 25 December 9 December 23 bracketed residentials only and then January 13th of 2026 will be a regular reorg meeting all meetings 700 p.m. and they'll be in this room I have a motion for those Gates please yeah I move Mr December 23rd second on the date that was Mrs am yes yes mean yes Mr Fresco yes Mr B yes Mr gki yes Mr yes yes Mr besso yes gabbit yes all right and the last bit of business here we have the resolution for uh designation of official newspapers any changes or comments to that resolution that should be in front of you can I get a motion please yeah I move Mr widley get a second for the newspapers second Mr bonjourno chairman fuss yes Mr widley yes Mrs Zin yes Mr Fresco yes Mr bonjourno yes Mr gki yes Mr yes Mr kak yes Mr vesio yes Mr gabit yes okay with that I'm going to request a motion to adjourn our a reorg meeting can I have that motion please I move Mr widley a second second Mr Fresco all right we're going to adjourn our reorg meeting thank you everyone for your help on that we're going to convene the time is 7:12 Bridgewater Township regular meeting January 14th both adequate electronic notice this meeting specifying the time place and manner in which notice was provided in accordance with the open public meetings act specifically on October 19th 2023 proper notice was sent to The Courier News and the Star Ledger and file with the clerk of the township of Bridgewater and posted on the municipal bulletin board Please be aware of the Zoning Board of adjustment policy for public hearings no new applications will be heard after 9:30 and no new testimony will be taken after 10 p.m. n could have a roll call please here Mr widley here Mrs Zine yeah for the record Mr Sween is absent Mr Fresco here Mr bonjourno here yes Mr gesi here Mr Cat Here Yeah here Mr vesio here Mr gabbit here the record Catherine sarmad planner is present William B engineer Richard right thank you all right I'm going to open up the meeting to any member of the public that would like to speak on any matter that is not on our agenda tonight please come forward all right seene done I'm going to close the public portion uh we've got one set of board minutes tonight November 26 can I get a uh motion no changes motion to it was amend on the motion that was Mr widley on the second thank you that was on minutes that was a minut on the motion with yes please chairman F yes yes the yes yes Mr vour yes mrki I wasn't at that meeting Mr Cat yes Mr Pac yes Mr vess yes Mr gab yes all right we have one resolution that's 10 Asante Lan changes comments on the resolution so there there are just two small um edits uh page three second line from the bottom Mr artman's name is spelled incorrectly and on page four paragraph 10 in the first line uh where it says the applicants agreed that if any trees required should be trees are required so that were is missing would be installed all right any other changes not have a motion please I move Mr widley second second it was Mr bonjourno chairman F yes Mr widley yes Mrs yes Mr Fresco yes Mr yes mrki yes Mr Cat yes all okay all right we have two cases to be heard tonight those are going to be 1823 Middle Road and 1397 Coral Drive but first I think the reason many people are here is we're going to allocate our new meeting dates to existing cases so rich and Nancy won't you grab the microphones I know we've had some meetings about getting these folks scheduled and let's get these dates out so the attorneys here can actually has all the dates and I'll just say up front that each of these will be on new notice except for the um I think there's two that won't be but we'll mention those as we go okaying January 28th scheduled Starbucks continuous land I'm sorry car dealership February 11th so wait n so just one second so the Land Rover actually noticed for tonight correct so yes so as we yeah as we do each one right so Starbucks will be on new notice for anyone who's in attendance for that application the Land Rover application was noticed for this evening so that is being carried from this evening to January 28th um 2025 in this room at 7 o'clock there'll be no further notice from uh the applicant on the Land Rover case Okay February 11th and that is 1200 uh 1200 Route 22 which has been carried but that will be notice required right Rockland APV which is a new application um not received their notice yet but they did notice they will be noticing for that date sir all so they won't to noing notice was they were advised to notice 4211 okay so their notice will be the only the first notice right this is 211 okay so with notice yes and we'll also hear visions and Pathways that [Music] evening and they are um they will be Ren noticing February 25th will be 821 Bridgewater LLC and St Bernard's both of which will need to re notice as well it's the date for that that will be February 25th and what was the second one sorry St burners okay of course so Mr Aller can speak to the applications that aree asking that everyone because of not date of the initial 200 foot list at this point right so so 821 at JCC case will be at new notice okay we'll move on to March 11 will be belly Holdings which has been continued for some time they will have to Ren notice as well CX Towers had a change in council at this point I believe they are and then March 25th will be gmck oy and Bridgewater storage and those will both be on first notice process that was everything all right so all of those cases will be on a new notice or their first notice with the exception of Land Rover which notice for tonight and is getting moved to the 28th of January 28 right 28th of January right yeah well I mean it's either a new notice or a first notice right so there's going to be a notice to review right okay all right is there anyone here that didn't get a date that has any questions on their meeting date any questions on their notice what was the Starbucks date again uh January 28th 7 p.m. this room I drafted the January 28 so that this is all laid out yep distribute that and and while we're on it Nancy has put together packets for the Paul Miller case and the Starbucks case they're on the right please make sure you grab it so they're not taking up space she literally can't walk in her office so she wanted you all to have it and with that said we're going to jump into our first case 1823 Middle Road hi there folks good evening good evening am I supposed to talk into the mic please everything there's people wa watching on YouTube there's people listening here so if you can put everything into a microphone maybe we can just start with your names and who you are and what you're trying to do my name is Mark cetz and I'm the homeowner of along with Mary Ellis Corvett at 1823 Middle Road and we moved in around four years ago before we get too far hold on yeah I need to swear both of you in okay so just give me one second first time doing this yeah yeah okay yes I do the the architect no well let me swear you in and then we'll we'll do that if uh our professionals would stand please I'll swear everyone in at the same time would you all please raise your right hands do you solemly swear that the testimony you'll give to this board will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God okay my left to right what do we got your name for the record I'm Mary Alice Katz Mark Catz can later someday thank you if you would like to sit you can sit you're welcome to sit and there's Al another wireless mic if you want to use that that would be great I just get the overview that you asked for that you the overview we're GNA yeah you tell us what your application's about if you want to sit to be more comfortable you can do that you can stand usually she says hold it very close that's toate this one on yeah there you go think every town has that same microphone that doesn't work well good evening um this application is for a variance from the bulk requirement for a rear yard set um let give you a real brief you I'm sorry just I want to make sure I have your name correct you spell that for me c h e r since 1982 and your license is in good standing yes okay thank you in New Jersey correct okay referring to the S plan the this is a direct copy of what was to board drawing T1 um well yeah sorry sir but let me just for the record I just want to state that I did review the notices and they were the certified mailings were mailed on the 21st of December published on the 24th of December proper uh form and so the board has jurisdiction okay sorry go right ahead yeah it's it's what we're talking about here is Lot 12 and block 703 it's an existing residence two two and a half story residence uh that basically there are three additions being placed on on the Residence One on either side as you look at the plan to the left it's going to be an addition of another uh garage space to the right that's going to be an addition that will create a master bed bedroom suite on the first floor and to the rear is a renovation to expand the kitchen and to provide a nice outdoor sitting area which is enclosed which you can see here as I'm circling the the the reason we're here is because of the rear yard setback which was always kind of a pre-existing problem what's required is 85 feet what we're showing here now with the addition we're now at eight new rear yard setback is 75.5 s feet um and it's just there's a very dense landscaping area back here and the residence that's located I believe this is Ridge Road over here that residence is another 80 ft set back from our property line as well so it's well over 170 80 180 ft away from what we're doing here um there every other issue in in terms of impervious F FL we're all in compliance with the local requirment for the R50 Zone um we are at a disadvantage here because the R50 requires 50,000 Square fet our property is at 6,900 that's a pre-existing question board questions nope we're good here's the plan of the first floor the first floor plan unfortunately the plan is reverse here which shows the addition to the uh on which would be as you face the front of the building on the right side the uh making the master bedroom suite which is really where adding a bath the bedroom walk-in closet um to make that uh like I said a m the bedroom suite on the other side we're they have an existing two-car garage we're adding another enclosed garage and then to the rear you can see here this is the dising rear wall this is the admission here this is the enclosed Place area standing kit there's also addition addition to the front it's a kind of a dormer off of the existing bedrooms it's on the second floor it just adds another feature to the front of the house uh it's really the only as you drive by you're really not going to notice much to the house most of the work is being done towards the rear um but you know it's just say it's a nice little feature you'll see in the elevation when I show you up on the top of the sheet is the front elevation all the existing the existing building is here with existing two-car garage here's the new garage element here just in greway here here's the addition that's on the other side of the house and that new Dormer situated here sits directly the picture window from the living room down below the on the lower part of the page is a rear elevation which shows our addition of master bedroom here provide a a doorway out to a patio outside here's our closed porch area it's a door that goes into the new new uh the new garage and here's a new windows that will be uh off of the new kitchen expansion area with I'm gonna give you a little read here here's our relief request I'm just going to read it it's already in the record but can I just stop you for just a moment as you were going over the plans on the second floor is that existing living space and you're adding the Dormer to provide not only some aesthetic value but also give you a little more room or a south facing s so brings in some light into that room okay thank you um I'm just going to read this uh the applicant is seeking relief from the rear yard setback in the R50 Zone the minimum required setback is 885 feet the existing dwelling rear yard setback is 84.0 eight feet and the proposed expansion rear yard setback is is now at 75.6 7 ft the minimum lot size in the R50 zone is 50,000 square feet and the existing lot is 36,9 182 Square ft the property is under sized by approximately 26% and the current D dwellings rear yard is only .92 feet deficient proposed dwelling expansion encroaches into the rear yard setback by 9.33 feet the surrounding neighboring adjoining properties and their dwellings are significantly distant from this building therefore it is our opinion uh that the minor encroachment at the rear yard does not cause any substantial detriment to the public good and will not substantially impair the intent and purpose of the of the Zone plan and the land use ordinance and with that I'll open up to any other questions you may have yeah if I get point you to our professionals memos from January 7th 2025 on page six I believe why don't we just go through and just knock out their questions and you know you're welcome to to respond with whatever you want we're going to assume that you're going to accept all of their comments if we don't specifically address them but you know back to page six you know basically they want to know certain things they want to know about drainage they want to know existing conditions of the property um you can just they have five questions why we just go through them real quick why you answer them and we can get you out of here you haven't seen the memo I I don't have it here I don't have it here I have to look for it in the file if you could read it well this is why we'll comply this is why we give it to you in advance so want to I I give it back to our board professionals Katherine and Bill why don't you ask the questions that you guys need to be addressed um as always water and and and drainage is going to be Paramount and let's take it from there and see if we can move this along you want to take a second look yeah page six is probably where you want to dive in okay talking about F yes okay we talked about item one you want to go right to number one you want to address well why don't we talk about drainage and and and runoff real quick there's not a dra issue right now but we need to do something to to retain what's being it we'll certainly discuss that with theen Bill how do you want to handle that well I think first I want to I want to know what the existing conditions look like where does the the runoff from the existing dwelling and driveway drain to currently are there any existing you know existing issues U which it sounds like there are not but I'd like to hear a little bit about the existing conditions and then we can discuss yeah the the property slopes from rear to to front down towards the street it's about a 10 foot Ro drop from the rear to the front um we do have to do a little regrading with the uh with the addition positive drainage back and Away whatever drainage was affected by the addition right out street it's a natural drainage the street which is pretty prevalent in the entire neighborhood that that's how the existing drainage functions it flows down towards the street and then there's a there's a roadside ditch or Swale is that correct in front of of middle or no in the front of the house there there's know okay and um do you while I have you do you based on the plan and the additions that are proposed will there be any negative impacts of the the drainage runoff to your neighbors no no they won't be impacted in any way they won't you know receive a direct discharge of the water you're going to manage that through French strains you're going to have perforated pipe with French strains around the perimeter of the okay yeah I mean drainage is obviously a concern for the board we're not talking about you know I think we're talking 17 or 1800 square feet of of new coverage as a result of this so certainly it's a minor project um you know I'm encouraged by the fact that that the applicant is going to put in French drains that are going to try to manage some of the runoff from the roof area so certainly that'll help um ordinarily we'd look for the applicant to to try to to mitigate or address some of the the drainage impacts and it sounds like the applicant's willing to do that okay um so I'd be comfortable with that yes I am I am aware of a lot of drainage issues in your neighborhood so that's why I wanted to make sure that that you were aware and that you're proposing to do something which is great thank you Bill thank you uh there was a question on the shed can it be moved to be in conformance with the zoning requirements for the sidey yard and rear sidey yard setbacks for an accessory structure I I believe right now it's about a 10- foot both rear and and side setback to 25 is required okay so that's a yes great all right and then uh number five from our planner the applicant shall confirm how the F calculation was derived providing the existing proposed building areas contributing to it so basically we just want to make sure that you're not going to have a density problem we want to go through your worksheet we want to check that the F calculation was properly derived the calculation right on the drawing shown it okay Catherine is that satisfied the township my question I think I put it more in the body of the the memo less so in that listing but um something unfortunately I think in the in the most recent submission of the plans um and not this was not the set I reviewed sheet A1 appears to be missing which showed the basement layout um or it was there I swear it was there before um but it's there not there now and what struck me is that the under that General requirements on T1 there was a note that um the living area calculations are based on Flor area measured within the exterior face of the exterior walls area calculations do not include basement uninhabitable attics or attached garages so it provided a breakdown of the square footage existing added in the total but um our ordinance does indicate that if ceiling Heights in a basement are greater than 7t or you know it's usually an average of 7t then those areas would be counted and and um I don't have the basement plan in front of me but I know that there are um basement areas that exist and that are proposed as part of this addition and um I don't think the ceiling heights were indicated so I'm not sure if the square footage is uh one the question is is that area finished because that it's not finished okay okay so if it's unfinished then that kind of clears up that question um then it doesn't contribute to the F SL on so there's add okay so uh in that case I think the F calculations are accurate so that does you know satisfy that request in the memo all right very good thank you all right the applicant shall address any review comments provided by the township departments but not limited to the fire Official Police Department Etc did you have any comments from the fire department no no further comments from board professionals all right very good good U Mr Luth weight our new zoning officer did have comments oh they were incorporated into the planning and Engineering memo great thank you very much and I I guess the last thing if you could speak to is the total square footage that's proposed how does it conform with your neighbors how will it fit in I mean the Spring Run area is an interesting place in Bridgewater because you know has a homeowners association it's almost a community within the community um will it be in character I guess is my question with the neighborhood maybe you could speak to that very quickly please speak into the mic you could just grab that microphone and bring it in front of you one cadd face the house on Rich Road he's had quite a bit of worked on it but I just I don't have a feeling of how big this house is you know my goal is not to make the house look big little and on one floor my wife has problems getting up and down the stairs and as the architect that not going to be able to see CB appeal improve that much than a little Dormer the poke out windows that we're doing more for aesthetic purposes because that's actually going to be room that we're presently using used to be the master bedroom storage did your architect put on the record the total that the square footage of the home will will have and then you know compare it to some other houses in the neighborhood just in my when I when I visited the site and did a did a driveby actually I went around went over the ridge even though it's kind of off the re the house fits in it it's truly in character with everything else it's kind of NE are some houses that are quite larger than this even with the addition but the total square footage once we're done here is going to be let's see with me I think I need to correct it because it looks like a couple feet off because it it shows the does not include the shed for the square footage at 100 square feet it's 6,528 Square F feet total that includes the all the impervious as well if you just want the footprint of the house it's 64 6,428 which is 17% excuse me includ second floor floor we're trying to get a feel to make sure this isn't out of character with your neighborhood and your neighbors so you know you put 6500 on the record how does it compare to your neighbor it seems like a big number 6,500 it's a total okay so why don't we get that EX exact number put it on the record talk about some neighbors and then we can open it up to board questions and questions from the public ma'am could you speak into the microphone please thank you make sure the little green light is on too the side of the house where we're adding on on not the garage side that is a pretty big uh sidey yard and um there's still going to be plenty of yard space okay we we just want to make sure we know what the square footage is yeah we want to know how it compares to the neighbors right Mr fo their their plans are pretty detailed and that they provide a lot of this on the cover sheet outside of the bulk table they actually include like their construction code requirements um from an architectural perspective but they note that the existing first and second floor Square footages are 2617 Square fet 2,617 sorry they're adding 1,241 Square F feet uh and that's going to be a total of 30 3,858 square feet and I just I made a note in my in the review memo that there are some housekeeping items as it relates to the zoning table on that cover sheet easy clean up stuff but like it says that the footprint area of the house is 6,400 square feet that's that's the impr improved lock coverage so that just needs to match that that other table right the front but but that'll clear it up well since we have you I mean would this house be in character with the other surrounding houses in the neighborhood when I did my review and driving through and looking at Google Earth and Google Street View imagery I absolutely think so it already had the house already has um the house that this existing property has already has um kind of a an added-on feel to it the way that it's structured so it has like a cape feel with it with the way it bumps in and out so I don't necessarily think that um from a architectural perspective at least in my opinion it's going to it will be bigger but it will feel very similar to how it exists today um in the architectural character and as far as the neighborhood I think that's it's similar similar feel very good any other board questions I have a question regarding the how it fits into the the surrounding neighborhood um and please correct me if I'm wrong this is a question to the architect so I understand the existing structure you had brick facade in the front and you had a stone veneer you had two type of materials is that correct yes okay and now you're introducing looks like a clapboard siding and then a simulated shingle of some sort or yes the the side is going to be a certainty sighting it's actually going to be a s in reveal okay so you have um four different different type of facade elements I mean from an from your expertise like I mean how do you have any concerned with that you know from aesthetic appeal and how it fits into the neighborhood neighbor okay okay and this is a homeowners association where you currently are not a home okay so you don't require any sort of approval of the the community for any work done at the home there's no required um like approval of the community okay all right thank you thank you any other board questions all right I'm going to open up to members of the public that have any questions or comments on any of the testimony you've heard thus far all right you can wrap up and we'll open up deliberations what I would say is just repeat on we certainly comply with whatever the township would like like um thank you for the the information under drainage doing a lot of work with the state I'm very sensitive to that that's why we took great strin to keep the impervious under close as much as we could on what's permitted on the site you know my whole whole look at the site when I first saw it the fact that there's such positive PCH here certainly AIDS at least for the property down stream there a whole other consideration as you know as far as affecting property there's there's no negative effect there the overall impact is is di Minimus here um I looked at some of the other homes in the area there it's similar the rear yard setbacks are very similar to what this one has we far exceed the sidey yard setbacks we're not encroaching into the front yard setback that's an existing Tre it's a pre-existing condition and overall the uh it sites very well on this property it's typically an undersized lot there would be more square footage permitted on this property kep it to to a minimum and no tree removal I believe we're no tree removal okay want to add trees that's the right answer all right with that I'm going to open up the deliberations and uh Rich why you take us through any conditions and yeah I I just wanted to point out too that that the front Dormer is a variance because the house already is sitting at about 59 ft from the front right where 75 is required so when you go up that's a variance as well right there were yeah the front setb yeah for the Dormer dmer set back the Dormer set back but not 75 ft from the front yard line right okay it was indicated on the architectural plans as a variance um which I appreciate because I might haveed otherwise it's not um it's not like they added a second story but they did increase the building wall up along where it exists today but that's still it's in a pre-existing nonconforming so that Wall's going straight up the Dormer basically is going straight up yeah yeah um so it's it's increasing the existing non-conformity which is a new variance it's very minor in nature but in a technical sense they should I just want to make sure we capture they indicated the relief on their plans and yes I think that we should capture and then there were two um sure cannot it couldn't be rightless on the Dormer is on the front portion of the house right is it set back 15 feet yeah or well no we'll just amend it right now we'll do it right now yeah we'll just yeah I think it was on the plans that's what Katherine was saying that showed on the architectural plan as a variance for that Dormer okay that's why I just want the board to capture it in our in our votes they had the front yard for the Dormer and you had the rear yard for the addition okay and then we talked we discussed two conditions one was with respect to the shed that the shed will be relocated to a conforming location on the property and you will obtain a lock rating permit with the township engineer okay basically those were just discussed in the report already okay all right thank you Rich Mr widely your thoughts please um I drove past it and uh in general I have no problem with the application so I don't have much to say I'm in favor of it so all right Mr Gabby let's start down to you good evening sir I hope if it's on uh nothing seems egregious to me it doesn't seem like it's going to negatively impact any of the neighbors it sounds like it's well within the character of the neighborhood so I'd be inclined to support it thank you Mr kulac I would agree I drove through the area the neighborhood is quite uh Charming as it is and eclectic you have a variety of styles but this fits in nicely and the way the addition is going to be constructed you won't notice much from the street so I would certainly consider approving this thank you Mr Cat yeah um I can understand wanting to increase the living space um to one story living you know for you know I guess health concerns so I you know sympathetic to that um I have no concerns with the application it would approve thank you Mr keski yeah I I would agree seems a nice way to accommodate first story living the only places where the variance is is in the back neighbor nearest neighbor is pretty away back thank you Mr Bano I agree with my fellow board members uh I think the uh variances that are proposed are slightly over what the requirements are um I don't have a problem with the application I'm in favor of it I'm in favor as well it's a clear hardship it's an undersized lot I think it's going to improve the the the value and and the livability of the home and I'm going to vote in favor Mrs am uh it's a simple application of technically it's only one arean because but because of the second floor Edition we have two variances anyway I'm in favor of approving thank you Mr presco I IO to support it Mr vessia um I'm I'm Clyde to support the application as well um you know it's a significant expansion of the house but appears that the lot can support that um it is a undersized lot and what the zone is um and the rear ards set back what is proposed under the V under under the um ordinance you know is proportional to that to that undersized lot so I'm okay with it all right based on the board deliberations it's not like we have unanimous consent to approve I would seek a motion to approve the bulk variances that was Mr widley second second all right Mr gaski thank you roll call vote please yes uh yes yes yes yes yes yes all right congratulations good luck all right thank you have a good night all right thank you very much for stepping in good luck to him thanks all right we're going to move on to 1397 Corel drive it's a D4 density variant and some bulk variances hi sure yeah yeah all right you Mr O'Brien yes good evening sir good evening good evening chair members of the board my name is Christopher O'Brien and I'm the owner of the property of the subject of this application Brian before you get too far I'm going to swear you in okay sorry and anyone else who's testifying on your behalf David stars and Domino we all good okay uh would our folks raise stand please raise your right hands you solemnly swear that the testimony you'll give to this board will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you got and can I just have everyone's name for the record please Christopher O'Brien O'Neal can you spell that please all right thank you oh and for the record thank you let's just check notice real quick yes uh notice was in proper form served uh by certified mail on December 30th published on January 3rd and the one missing one we got a uh a signature on today so we have jurisdiction good to go all right the microphone's yours Mr O'Brien thank you um so I'm located at 1397 Coral Drive also known as block block 602 Lot 12 I'm here tonight to request to D4 F variants and bulk variances in order to rebuild my home my notice for this evening was published in the Korean news on January 3rd and December 20th was mailed and today we received the last of the um notices but by way of background in the middle of the night on July 21st 2023 my house caught on fire from a rechargeable battery that was being stored in the basement fortunately we were able to escape the house myself with some Burns but thankfully my wife and children unscathed I tried to save the home sorry let me just interrupt can I have the date of the fire again was July 21st to 2023 23 yes okay thank you uh I tried to save my house but because of the location of the fire the damage um was so significant that uh we've been displaced ever since uh my family and I are active lifelong residents of Bridgewater Township and here tonight with the hopes to rebuild our forever home with the renovations and to remain in the township we have proposed certain changes from the prior house which we hope you'll see our improvements to the Aesthetics functionality and safety of the help my house is located in an R20 single family residential district the improvements do require two new variances these include a rear set back of 7.82 Ft where the ordinance requires a minimum of 50 ft a floor area ratio of. 228 where the maximum P permitted ordinance is .16 in addition the following pre-existing non-conforming conditions are proposed to continue a lot area of 14, 53 ft where the ordinance requires a minimum of 24,000 ft front yard setbacks of 30.4 Ft from Corel drive and 49 .4 ft from Washington Valley Road where the ordinance requires a minimum of 50 ft as my engineer will show you shortly my property is undersized in irregular shape and a corner lot these features make it difficult to provide strict compliance with the Township's vocal requirements I feel that granting these variances will not result in any material detriment to their surrounding properties and neighborhood in fact the improvements will make the house more consistent and in line with the surrounding neighborhood further the variant are not inconsistent with the intent and purpose of the master plan and Land Development ordinance my engineer and architect will explain in more detail but one of the improvements proposed is the addition of a garage to my house where one did not previously exist the fire that destroyed our home was the result of a rechargeable battery that was being stored in the basement the proposed garage would be a more appropriate place to store hazardous items such as rechargeable batteries and will promote better safety for my family and the surrounding neighborhood although these improvements do create two new variances other pre-existing non-conformities will either be eliminated or reduced since I removing an existing shed and patio pavers in the backyard the existing and prvious coverage variance will be reduced from 22.6% to 22.1% and the existing rear yard setback variance for an accessory structure will be eliminated overall I feel the proposed rebuild is a positive upgrade to the existing house some of my neighbors have come tonight in support of my application and they can attest during the public section I also have with me tonight my project engineer and architect who would like to call to provide additional testimony with regard to these improvements and describe in more detail with exhibits I'd like to start from my project engineer David styes thank you very much Mr styes good evening you know the the the here Serv all right we accept you Mr Stars good to see you again Mr Stars could you pull that mic closer to you you can grab the whole body and and bring it closer there you go hold it nice and close like this currently what you have Mr styr before you start talking about that let's mark that first please A1 with today's date and then just a brief description of what that is please this is basically a colored rendering of sheet two the variance plan in the site plan set there have been no changes uh to any of the uh details or zoning chart okay thank you okay so uh existing conditions uh with the exception on the left side we are proposing a onecar garage currently uh the existing structure is in the dark brown again with the exception of the garage on the left side of the uh subject property uh there is an existing driveway that extends through that ex that proposed garage all the way back to the shed uh on the north side of the property um so the elimination of that driveway extension is really the reason for the reduction in impervious coverage uh the rest of the structure is expanded by going up to a second floor uh so there's no other uh expansion other than the garage itself and then in the back there's an existing patio that will be uh reconstructed and kind of straightened out it's uh a little bit dated um one of the comments that were uh uh that came up in the uh professional review is are are any trees being removed there is an 8 in tree in the corner of that uh patio the proposed patio that will need to be removed it's kind of in a bad State you know there's suckers coming out of the sides of it so it's not a significant uh Tree in any any means okay um with respect to uh the variances I'll go through those uh although Chris did uh kind of touch on each of them the front yard setback uh required in the R20 zone is 50 feet we are at 30.4 feet from Corel and because it's a corner lot we're also at 49.4 feet from Washington Valley Road they will not change so they're pre-existing um but in listening to the prior application we will be going up in the uh on this structure so we will be requesting a front yard variance uh due to the expansion of the existing structure um I identified on my plan a sidey yard setback in error of the uh luse ordinance uh the way the ordinance reads on a corner lot is shorter of the two uh yards behind the corners is the rear yard so on the left side of the subject property that's it's actually a s uh front or excuse me rear yard uh even though the house faces Corel drive so it's a little uh a little screwy um in any event the uh rear yard uh 50 feet is required currently it's at 19.3 feet and 7.82 feet is proposed and then lastly the uh with the expansion of the house a D4 variance for f is required 0.16 is uh required the current house is at 0.138 which is 1941 square feet and the proposed uh with the proposed addition we're going to 0 228 uh and 3193 square feet uh is proposed and I was talking John manino the architect and I understand that that includes the garage which should not be in that calculation so we're slightly less and uh hopefully we can run a quick calculation to to clarify that and John can testify that on that in the uh uh future um another comment that was uh a couple comments that were uh uh brought up by the uh professionals one was the hillside development ordinance my survey or review the uh topographic conditions on the property and uh it is not applicable we are under 10% slopes uh based on 10t Contour intervals as as outlined in the ordinance and we can provide a certification to that uh the other thing that was brought up is whether we comply with the driveway uh requirements again this is an existing driveway uh with a slight expansion on the left side side of the uh property or the um the east side of the property and uh based on the existing Contours uh the first 10% or first 10 feet of driveway which is basically in the RightWay of Coral Drive we're at 9% and then we we come up uh to uh just slightly under 15% and the ordinance requires the first 25 ft to be no greater than 5% and then you can go up to a maximum of 15% so um we would request a waiver of that requirement I lived in town many many years uh Thursday night I went to a meeting in watching in wung and drove up steel Gap and I saw the lady with salt uh out thrown salt on her driveway with a a slope of 30% or more it was it was I'm like thank God she's putting the salt out because when she puts her car in that snow she's going to slide right out the steel Gap and probably right down the hill um but in any event I you know I think Sunset um Lake and and some of the slopes more so on the south side of the uh Lake there are a lot of steep driveways this one if you drive by doesn't look very steep in in my opinion and uh not pose a problem uh with with the uh you know Corel drive and Slide N um I think it's it's it's modest and uh it does it does generally uh go down to 9% right at the uh um right away so we would request a waiver um from that uh requirement um that I think is basically it from site engineering uh oh and and sorry Bill one other thing is the drainage so um what you have near Washington Valley Road is a high point so the water on the uh Road uh on the Washington Valley side of the property slopes towards Washington Valley and then there's a there's a majority of the water goes down towards Corel and I would say from the Ridge line of the house back runs uh to the neighbor's property and with respect to that runoff again we're reducing it by about 60 square feet so from you know from this project from this proposal we would be slightly reducing uh the flow of runoff uh to the neighbor's property you know we're we're kind of at the high end of sunset Lake everything goes all the way down to the lake uh so we're we're the last we're the last property in uh in the uh sunsight lake so you're going to capture that you're going to divert it to the street um well I'm reducing it okay so we're not really capturing it the uh the driveway slopes straight out so it's it's a small portion in the backyard that would continue in that direction and and there is a reduction in in impervious of that runoff how about the gutters and the collection where's that being dumped at um yeah so there would be Splash blocks add grade consistent with what's out there now okay could you speak a little bit to Sunset Lake area just getting to feel for other Lots when I drove it today and it's an interesting part of town you know I just know and maybe you can speak more to it this is a vacation area this is where people from New York City used to come and and and spend their Summers so it reminds me a lot of like a a Seaside Heights or Point Pleasant not but in terms of how the properties are kind of split they're very strange proportions and and diagonals shared kind of perimeters and I I think it was to maximize the physical number of houses that are there and you end up with some irregular sized Lots could you speak a little bit to the area so it was created by I think Mr Dr Miner back in 20s um basically a vacation type setup so smaller houses some of them didn't have heat when they firsted I think it comped relatively with the R20 zoning you know like you said they were small houses on small lots and throughout the time you know they they put eat in to of them they became you know instead of seasonal they were residents for the uhor township and slowly but surely you know there's been a lot of expansion in additions to what was 1920 the smaller Cottages yeah so a lot of these houses are from the 20s and the 30s right yes yeah yes the lot behind this house is that Route 78 so if you look at the key map on the first sheet the there's a long Arrow lot that's undeveloped that is adjacent to the RightWay of 78 and I think probably that was acquired to do the overpass but if if you look at the tax records uh two lots down that property owns that strip of land so it must I'm guessing that it was acquired after 78 was completed he any way a house could end up on that strip of property uh it's landlocked but if they came through the existing property that they you know there's two lots right they could conceivably they they'd have to do a subdivision or kind of you know flag lots are not permitted in bridgew so there'd have to be some type of board action questions um you help me with what is a grael tracking that's soil erosion Somerset Union Soil Conservation District requires uh gravel tracking pads during construction so when you leave the site you don't track up the streets with mud it's a temporary thing that will be removed all right and I'm looking at page three of the variance plan and it shows uh improved pave driveway but it's like doesn't I can't comprehend why it's so narrow oh I I think we yeah we we just expanded the existing driveway several feet so that it lines up with the doorway for the garage it's just a pieces that are marked are in an addition to the existing yes yes there's a slate with increase okay one last question if I may the uh one car garage uh it's just under eightt from the property line that's correct 7.87 is that the only place that the garage would fit well we we worked with the existing uh driveway and I think if you looked at putting the driveway on the other side side of the house you would be in close proximity to the intersection with catala Drive uh so there would be a little bit of a conflict either backing out backing out of that driveway uh so I think from that standpoint the existing location is a safer location couldn't move it forward garage forward yeah um I would let the architect speak to that good all right can I add up to that question there if you were to if the garage were to be on the east side um of the house how much would that approximately raise the garage level and kind of would that actually impact kind of the design um that's a good question uh right now the garage is set at an elevation of 295 the house is set at 30167 so some steps in the house Contours in that area 298 299 so I'd have to raise the garage five or six feet and you know I think from aesthetic standpoint probably makes more sense to have theage I can't hear you I'm sorry from an aesthetic standpoint it probably makes more sense not having the garage as the focal point uh in front of the the uh the corner of Washington Valley and Coryell drive thank you any other board questions professionals thank you um I just want to note that the although it is strange that the rear yard setback is on the side um and I appreciate our our new zoning officer um kind of caught that because I was of the kind of same um impression as Mr Styers that you know that was a sidey at first um it actually eliminated one of one of the variances so initially as submitted when that was a sidey yard and then the rear yard was what is now the side yard there was two variances because it was non-conforming and in variance condition for both of those so it's actually as a result of that despite being strange and a larger deviation from the rear yard setback it actually decreased the number of variances down to one so I just want to note that um I think as a as Mr Styers indicated I think a condition on the hillside Development A certification of the slopes would be um if this is approved something that we'd we'd like to see um just to include um um for part of the application material record um and I think everything else I have right now is going to be for the for the architect um so I have no other addition no additional questions for Mr Styers just a a couple questions Mr chairman so you know Dave when I first looked at this um and I looked at your zoning chart seeing that the lot coverage was actually decreasing kind of scratched my head a few times because I didn't realize and I think you clarified it in test that the existing driveway extends past the home the left side of the home back to the shed right and includes the garage that is proposed correct so that really the removal of that extra driveway is what's going to allow the building to be expanded and keep covered where it's at yes can you um as a condition if if the applications approved can you revise your plan to give a chart of the coverage the existing and proposed yes so break it down just so we can we can be sure and check that box okay um you answered the question about drainage with the reduction and coverage but um your testimony is no negative impacts to any of the surrounding properties as a result the the only impact would be the the property to the left here and like I said there's a slight reduction and overall utilitywise existing well for water correct for public water or I should say for pable water there's no public water um that well remains is that plan and then public sewer and there is a a sewer connection now that will be utilized in the new build or or a new sewer connection will be be proposed you know one one um recommendation I would have is just to scope out that line make sure it's in good condition as I think it's old H and I would recommend that as a condition of of approval as well we've had issues with that in the past yes very good thank you Mr chairman thanks Bill members of the public they have questions oh please please Mr O'Brien just a point of information you said that the fire started with a rechargeable battery was it being charged or was it just sitting there it was just sitting there wow you're lucky thank you all right uh members of the public questions on Mr sty engineering testimony all right none thank you um Mr chairman can I ask one question oh please sure sorry um the adjacent property um where is the building located on that property I guess toward the rear of the yard which is seems like the side the next part how far is that building if you look at the key map uh in the upper right corner of sheet one I measured it it's in excess of 50 ft off of the property line so it's it's a little bit off the page there okay thank you all right again members of the public please come on down hi there if we could get your name and address please perz 1396 katala drive okay tell your last name for me please res e r e z um corel's here and katalpa is here so my yard is like right across from them um when you were asking about switching their um garage you could not switch it to the other side because you'd be too close to Washington Valley where you turn to come in onto Corel it it's a blind spot and you would accidents so you really can't switch the garage okay and um please please let them build their house again at the end of all the testimony I will give everyone here an opportunity to use the microphone to speak for against the case and I promise you can come back and put that on the record right now we just have to ask questions on the testimony but you can come back into the case and you can say the same thing but they really can't switch it because it wouldn't be safe and Mr Styers testified to that fact and I was there today and I agree with you okay all right thank you any other questions on Mr Styer testimony all right your next witness please we just get your name and your qualifications please uh Tom manino I'm owner uh and architect of a seronera architect located willsboro New Jersey okay um graduate of uh what was College of textiles and Science and change names to Philadelphia University and Jefferson University today I have an active license in New Jersey and surrounding states I've been in front of VAR Sports in all the states that I'm licensed in so all right we we accept you as an expert in architecture thank you thank you just add on to something that Dave had showed before more for Bill's comment in terms of uh where we're reducing some of the impervious coverage I was just going to point it out on the site plan before I uh take the plan down from easel yes we're removing the shed the pad in the back as well as the extension of the additional driveway but in the front we're also uh redefining and reshaping the entry walk which actually makes it smaller and shorter and we're also removing what used to be driveway in the front of the house and making a larger green landscaped area um you'll see when we look at the elevations that this house used to have a single car garage that entered directly into what currently is the living room that was converted at some point over the years all right you're pointing to A1 and are is this A2 in our hands it will be it will be just just there's people watching at home if you could just when you're pointing to an exhibit just say A1 got it all right thank you yeah this is exhibit A1 sorry yeah so we are picking up that extra Green Space there for some nice Landscaping to soften the front of the house and you'll see that change uh the next exhibit what I have on the easel now is an identical copy of what had been submitted as part of the application it is drawing labeled A1 basement entry levels um I'm just going to talk through to floor plans a little bit sobody understands where the existing and and the extensions are being proposed um the main body of the house is really the middle part of this plan and we are honoring most of that existing Foundation area where you see a crawl space extension here that is a rebuild of what is currently the enclosed porch and then the Garage expansion to the West that Dave had noted before the way the building functions it's a split level so you enter into what would be the main family room space you have a half a flight of steps that go up to what is what was the kitchen and dining area and then a half a flight down to a basement elevation basement's unfinished the ceiling Height's only 6' 8 in mainly used for utility and and storage I I had a comment on that hello bring that drawing back the space that is to the right hand right all the way to the right it says crawl space garage that it's a crawl space garage no no Above This is the underneath that one see the is over here the garage is on the left you want to read it on your drawing what it says it says oh that's what I'm trying to tell you remove that word yeah we'll take the word off sorry okay we're going to strike the word garage on the right side underneath CW move that word garage from thank you all right this drawing is architectural labeled A2 again identical copy to what was party application labeled intermediate and upper floors um the plan on the bottom it represents the intermediate level of the house um which currently has uh and we're repurposing kitchen and dining space to the right the new sun room this is a rebuild of what is currently the enclosed porch however the enclosed porch is unconditioned some of it has to be torn down as part of the Reconstruction of the torn uh burnt area of the dwelling so we're going to reconstruct and make it an you know part of the home you then have a half a flight of steps that come up to what is the main bedroom level of the current home has three moderately sized bedrooms um and a full bath on that level the biggest portion or the biggest increase to the floor area that had been brought up earlier is the expansion of another half a level up so um this is now this added level floor is the master bedroom suite uh this is to provide for a master bedroom master bath master closet and an office space that really is become common place nowadays um for uh for those um uh you know with work so th this provides the added square footage of living space that the family really needs as a growing family um and that's what we're looking to try to achieve here with this with this rebuild I'm going to touch just quickly on the where the extent of the fire was I know might be in everyone's interest the fire as it as mentioned started in the basement which sits below the kitchen and a dining area um the entire floor structure of the dining and kitchen area as well as the supporting wall and beam is all charred um large hole in the floor um it all must come down through reports that were done so once all that structure is removed down to the foundation including the exterior walls everything really needs to come down from a construction standpoint and then rebuild and that's why we're trying to take advantage of being able to build that extra floor vertically any questions on the floor plans before I bring other exhibits what what's the the height at the highest portion of this structure the existing house no of the proposed oh of the proposed up to the ridge from the lower level floor from the entry level floor is 33 ft thank you but the average mean height to the slope of the Gable I believe is like 27 feet in change I have that right there with the Reconstruction are you're using reusing existing foundations we are we are creating a New Foundation underneath the sun room when we remove the enclosed porch and of course we have to build a foundation for the garage expansion okay so that's pretty much holding you in a way to the existing footprint of the the main house area okay thank you any other questions on the floor ples any other questions just get my okay so uh in front of you this is a um a 3D digital photo simulation um rendering of the building looking from its entry driveway this just before you get too far on that I'm just going to the record this handout that you gave us we're going to mark that as A2 for the record right which uh well why don't you describe what A2 is for the record several okay so um the exhibit A2 is an 11 by 17 reproduction of the four architectural drawings that were submitted as part of the appli application along with two 11 by7 renderings of these larger format exhibits that will be presented would we make this one A3 the large one yes the large set of the A3 so exhibit A3 known as photo Sim view from the driveway um so on this on this uh easel you'll see a before and after photo on the upper right hand corner is a a photo of the existing dwelling in its current state at least when we took the photo um you can see some of the windows boarded up and so on again most of the fire damage is all internal uh in the structure um and then to your left is an after image of what we are proposing this uh remodel to to uh to look like um the front entry porch cover is actually over an existing slate patio which we are maintaining and what we're building a cover over that this entire body of the house that you see in this image is the existing body of the house refinish with new siding we are creating small Dormer elements over the existing window openings of the bedrooms to bring them into compliance they're relatively small now we need to make them a little bit larger uh for um egress out of bedrooms same with the two windows on the side here they're the same window locations as is on the existing house um but again needing to make those a little bit larger directly in front you'll see that portion of landscaping with that Japanese maple image there that used to be driveway and if you can imagine how these used to be designed in built this driveway went right into a small 8 by8 8x7 garage overhead door that went right into that level of the house when it was originally built in fact when we did our investigation we can you can see where the old garage door used to be um we're taking that driveway away getting some more green space and softening that that uh area and then to the left um is the onecar garage that we are proposing really at a necessity um you know the you can imagine after after the fire what was being stored in the basement probably should not have been store it in the basement but where else are you going to store it if you have nowhere else to go um and by by providing an opportunity to get a garage here it allows allows the ability to keep that stuff out of the main body of the house um there would be a fire separation between the body of the house and the garage as we typically do and the garage floor is at a you know a couple steps lower than the main entry level floor so that that really kind of provides I think a a uh a well needed um aspect of of this rebuild any questions on this image it's a little tough to get a view from this side but this is um photo simulation view from uh the main road Corell closer towards the intersection this will be exhibit A4 so again this is a again a real photo that was taken of the subject property before on the upper right hand corner and on the left is the proposed um renovation um this shows more of the right side that would face the intersection of Washington Valley and Corell um and the bulk of the work here is really that second floor expansion above the kitchen and dining area this lower level here used to be what is an enclosed porch right now that you can kind of see on the on the before photo we will rebuild that and expand vertically to get the master bedroom suite up on the second floor for the most part the the structure is going to be you know horizontal vinyl siding and or Hardy PL um and a board in Batten style and some of the accent elements we'll call it a modern Farmhouse look uh it's getting popular nowadays um little bit of stone accent along the base as the grade comes up along the uh east side of the property um to help kind of anchor the whole element any questions on the elevations okay I can go ahead and through go through some of the questions that are on the report um guess you know it was kind of a combined uh report planner and Engineers um uh I'm guessing we'll start on page seven which is where everything kind of gets itemized out um under summary of project review comments and recommendations um I believe some of these have already been touched on in the um in both the testimonies um the one one thing I want to follow up with is the uh there was a question regarding the square footage of the building um and um I have numbers here from before and after just to kind of give everybody a sense of uh reference um the entry level that everyone enters at uh was currently approximately 590 square fet there's a slight increase of 615 Square F feet that's due to a removal of a bay window and some adjustments to uh to some area over by the front entry door um the garage um obviously did not exist before the garage is 364 square feet so if that's a number that does not need to be accounted for in the uh in the floor area that would be the number that we could reduce from our overall the intermediate and upper bedroom floors and so on that are existing uh were 1,95 Square ft it's now 1,44 Square ft the number is different because that number now includes the sun room um the enclosed porch is no longer there we kind of lumped it in as one number the previous enclosed porch was approximately 260 square F feet uh and then the new Master Floor which encompasses the entire expansion of that added floor is 818 Square ft so including the garage as uh Dave had mentioned existing is about 1941 Square ft proposed is about 3200 square feet um if you reduce and take away the 364 for the garage that that get you under the 3,000 sare foot number i' have to do the math um I also want to touch on that you know these numbers do not include the basement level the basement level is unfinished and the height is only 68 in fact we may even lose more height with the new flooor structure that we being proposed we might actually go down to about 66 um but uh but we're hoping to kind of maintain the 68 uh just for utilities and such I believe I touched on most of the comments and testimony um I'm open to either the engineer to planner to uh point out anything specific you want me to touch on give us a little bit of how this house existing homes in the neighborhood other Heights other Square footages um you know the F number you know it it is it's jarring and I I think that's something you're going to have to make the board comfortable with here going forward yeah uh obviously the F uh is an increase because of that expansion of that second floor um and again also the addition of the garage so the number certainly will will come back down a bit uh once we take the garage square footage away um I think in terms of scale I mean you know 2 and a half stories 35 ft is your Norm for many uh many Homes single family and so on and we're we're certainly in line with with the scale uh of what is permissible um we're working off of the existing footprint we're not expanding the footprint of the home aside from the garage which really is on the I'll say the backside of the of the house away from Washington Valley and the intersection of Carell um in line with his existing driveway so we're not expanding in the footprint on the site um and the only other way you could gain some real usable and needed square footage um is to go vertical um and um you know there a growing family who experienced uh what they experienced um you know now if we're going to rebuild for this uh forever home we want to try to check off as as many needs uh as they can um where before they really were kind of just forced and into a small Colonial type of type of home that I'm trying to thread the needle here you're not a planner you're an architect based on that can the site accommodate problems associated with the F greater than the maximum maximum F that's permitted by ordinance now I need you to answer that as an architect not a planner but with that said you just gave an important answer that you're staying inside the footprint of the existing home so therefore you can accommodate this without detrimental effects to Township ordinance in your opinion that's correct yeah thank you very much board questions board professionals yeah John just uh just two quick questions so when you look at the layout with the new garage can you just describe for the board why the the new garage is set back from the front of of the building why is it it recess like that all right so relatively simple answer there's not a whole lot of wall space in this living room family room area to really you know utilize the the space and the garage elevation um is about three steps down from the finished floor so in order to really provide an ability to gain access to and from the garage from inside the house to the garage you know we really couldn't provide it out through the end wall because we we tried to keep the the width of the garage as small as we could 12 feet we're not going very far for a single car garage um so if we were to put a door here with a set of steps can't park a car so in order to provide that space we pushed the door and steps to the back made that an extra 5iv feet wide to accommodate the steps so we have a you know relative it's it's less than 12 feet inside Dimension you know an area that you can truly pull a vehicle in otherwise there would be no way to go through the end wall into the garage and still make it viable at the same time the you there was a question that was brought up by one of the members about you know it it's been pushed back from the corner honestly it was a it was a means to get some some uh daylighting into that room we originally looked at trying to hold the front facade but there is no windows into this lower level space and right now the existing windows that were damaged in the fire they reside right at the end wall which would currently be going into the garage so so by pulling it back we're able to put in a window at this corner to at least get some natural light into that corner of that of that lower family room along with Windows and Doors along the front and on the back but otherwise you don't have really a whole lot of daylight that comes into that space um question about the F16 required. 228 is what's proposed on the plans now we heard that that includes the garage space which is 364 square feet do the math for us just confirm it I I get 20.1 20.1 yeah 3 363.15 square feet on the garage 20.2 is what we got 20.2 so is I I will request the same thing I did with Dave and the lock coverage a chart would go a long way towards helping clarify that but um got it 20 20.2 is what the ask is are there any other unfinished basement utility is included included in that no those weren't included in the just the garage just the garage yeah very good thank you so you're you're satisfied that the bo can now utilize a 20.2% f versus what's on our chart of 22.8 I I would recommend that the plan still be res revised to show an updated chart based on the testimony we just heard 20.2 I believe number and again that was with the garage at 363.15 Square ft out thank you Bill took all my questions so I have I have no questions for this witness right thank you Katherine all right members of the public questions on the architecture testimony you've heard right seeing none your next witness or if you want to wrap up not have I don't have another witness that case all right very very good so we'll go through stipulations we'll go through the ask what we're looking for oh and let's give members of the public this opportunity right now to speak for or against this case if you want to come up basically the microphone's yours if you want to say something that's great so I'm if you're raising your hand you're in support and you all live in the sunset okay there's nobody here from New York City or PA bust in all right so why don't we let the record show that there's approximately 10 to 15 families here in support is there anyone that would like to speak against this case all right we we're seeing none thank you very much everyone for coming your great Neighbors all right Rich if you could just take us through the uh the stipulations and what we got to follow up on so uh if there's an approval the conditions that we discussed would be uh to provide a certification that the hillside development ordinance is not applicable provide a chart detailing that the uh detailing the change in lot coverage uh inspect the existing sewer line and determine with the township engineer if it in need of replacement remove the word garage from sheet A1 on the architectural plan at the crawl space provide a chart to identify the change in F show it as 20.2% F and exclude the garage square footage all right thanks I'm going to open up the liberations and just very quickly I just want to put on the record because there wasn't planning testimony we did have an architect speak to the positive criteria for the D4 that the site can accommodate the problems associated with the F uh in terms of negative criteria I certainly don't think and it was testified to that it's not a detriment to the public good nor is it add a character with the neighborhood we also have many neighbors here in attendance and we did not hear testimony to that fact uh I also agree with the architect and Mr steyer's testimony that there's no substantial impairment or the intent or the purpose of the Zone plan and the zoning ordinance and is certainly not spot zoning uh I think it's a truly a stunning piece of architecture um I I think it's an amazing neighborhood I think it's going to fit in I think it's going to update I think um I'm also very glad your family's safe and able to to rise from this terrible situation and just to to know that what's happening in California times 10,000 this is going to happen out there it truly boggles the mind so I I wish you the best and your reconstruction effort and thank you for doing a nice job with this case tonight Mr widley uh I'm going to agree with Mr fous on everything he said and I'm just going to add uh one comment um is I've been on the board 12 or 13 years now and I really like when the residents come out and support the applications it really makes my feel like you know it's a whole Community thing everybody's happy I drove past there today and I love the diagram she gave us it really helps a lot uh to understand and I'm in favor of the application I'm glad you want to stay in Bridgewater and best of luck all right thank you Mr vesio throw it down to you sir uh sure I'm in full uh support of this application um you know looking at the home that's presented I know the f is over the zoning but looking at the you know the proposed room sizes and you know overall square footage of the house you know it is very you know it's for today's living standards it's it's it's it's not a large home at all it's think it's very standard size home um you know the side yard we did speak about or the rear yard about the garage being very close to the property line but I think with the constraints you have with the site with kind of reusing the existing structure you know I think it makes total sense that's what the garage is and the garage size is really I think minimal um you know for really a single you know car garage so I'm in full you know support of the application I think the architecture was very well done um and um you know best of luck thank you Mr fresa yeah you know I'm familiar with this area I grew up down here um love the lake um was I don't live far from here I don't currently either I I think Mr oon I think you did a great job I think you got you got a great engineer you got a great architect um and and you made it hard for us obviously to say no to this so I I do support it I think it's a great design um and and I think it's a unique lot and I do actually think that despite the F and I think it's funny that Mr Sween is not here because you know if Mr Sweeny was here it might have been a tougher case for you but um uh but I do think it actually supports it I really do um I hope this is the toughest part of the journey but you know you got a lot of work to do so good luck thank you Mr the yeah given the condition existing condition the lot is much smaller than what is required that's why you have to go through all these uh variances and the way I'm looking at it is so very simple variance and and uh I'm in favor of approving the application thank you Mr Mr bonjour these undersized Lots make it very challenging to shoehorn a nice house into the existing property that's there I think the architect did a great job I think it's going to look nice fitting well with the neighborhood good luck and I'm in favor of the applicant thank you Mr gki I agree with all the other board members I think placement to on the varant on the side yard the other house directly next to you is is set to it's favoring that side of the yard as well so I think it's a unique situation there and I think you did absolute best you possibly could have done refitting a by level and I wish the best of luck I'm in favor y thank you Mr Cat sure um yeah I I can definitely support the application I I think maybe there's some tweaks that could have been made on the visual design but I will let that slide so I will support what a guy Mr kulac I would agree with the other board members this is really a nice addition to the neighborhood it's a house that's being resurrected literally From the Ashes and being put to not only more productive and aesthetic use it's just a great addition I would fully support this well first and foremost I'm glad that your injuries were minor that your family was unscathed so I'm grateful to hear that um yeah the the small lots are strange for sure um but this proposal the house looks beautiful clearly the people impacted most are in favor of it your neighbors and really impressed to see how many of you came out that's really great uh I would definitely be in favor of this based on the testimony of the board the deliberations it's like we have a motion to approve on the table does anyone to make that motion Mr widley do I have a second please second Fresco thank you Mr fresco we didn't vote yet we didn't vote yet chairman fuss yes Mr Wadley yes Zine yes Mr Sweeney I'm sorry Mr Fresco yes Mr bonjourno yes Mr gayeski yes and Mr ccat yes all right Mr O'Brien good luck to you thank you everyone good seeing you the experts again have a good night and good luck now all right all right and thank you members of the public for coming out and need support it's always very helpful all right with that said our next meeting 7 PM January 28th we're going to hear Starbucks we're going to hear Paul Miller Land Rover and if there's no other board business I would entertain a motion to adjourn I move we adjourn all right do have a second Mr bonjour now thank you everyone we need to get kids get copies there everyone on the right side please grab your packets for the next hearing yeah your goodie bags you swag