Okay, let's get going. It's uh we're a little late. Um let's uh start this. We have to um Richard uh we need a a nomination for Gina for
board secretary to start. So I nominate Gina for board secretary. Second. All in favor? I I thank you. Um, so, okay, I just need to mention
that, um, we have designated the Home News Tribune as our newspaper now instead of the Trenton Times because they stopped publishing. Um, so the township committee already kind of established that. Okay. So, um,
under the Sunshine Law, adequate notice in accordance with the Open Public Meeting Act was provided on January 14th, 2025 of this meeting's date, time, and location. The agenda was mailed to the Cranberry Press and Home News Tribune, posted on the Township Bulletin board, mailed to those requesting
personal notice, and filed with the municipal clerk. So, roll call, please. Mr. Bono, yes. Mr. Ken, yes. Miss Parker, yes. Mr. Schwarz here,
m Miss Shu here, and Mr. Diamond here. Okay. Thank you, chair. We have a quorum. All right. Let's see. Uh approval of minutes March 5th. That was the um Chimaya
one. We have a motion to approve. I'll make a motion to approve. Second. Second. Okay. Um Yeah. Roll roll call. Mhm. Okay. Uh Mr. Bonavalanta, yes. Mr. Kalen, yes.
Miss Parker, yes. Mr. Schwarz, yes. And Mr. Diamond, yes. Okay. Thank you. Motion passed. Okay. Now the uh resolution for Chimaya Mission. Any questions, corrections,
comments? Anyone? No. Okay. Okay, we need a motion to approve that. Motion to approve the resolution. I'll second. Great. Call. Mhm. Roll call for Chinaya Mission
resolution. Mr. Bono Volant, yes. Mr. Kellen, yes. Miss Parker, yes. Mr. Schwarz, yes. And Mr. Diamond? Yes. Thank you. Motion passed. Okay. Um the application for Cranberry Commons is
carried to July 9th. So we'll be dealing with that then hopefully uh which brings us to uh Sam Peplan there. So uh I think we need to swear in anyone that's going to be
talking. Mr. Chairman, I'll indicate that the proof of notice, proof of publication are in order and the board has jurisdiction this evening. And maybe what we could do, please have a seat. I'm a lawyer and I'll swear you in. You all swear the testimony you're about to
give in this matter is truthful. Thank you. Maybe you could begin with a young lady introducing herself and the other two, and then you can make your application. Hi, I'm Tori Pepin, the homeowner, and this is my husband, Sam Pepin.
Bill Giddings, the architect. Thank you. It's all yours. We have a There's a couple interior photos that we wanted to share to help support the application. So, this will be your exhibit you'd like the board to look at. We'll mark this for the record.
Exhibit A1. All right. Well, uh, good evening everyone. My name is Sam Pepin. This is my wife Tori. Um, we are relatively new here to Cranberry. We moved in last May. Um, we've just a little background on our family. We have um two small kids, a six-year-old girl, three-year-old boy.
Uh we've lived all over the world. I was in the Air Force active duty for 12 years and then recently separated from active duty. I'm in the reserves now. Um and and so we finally found a home, a nice neighborhood, a nice town to live in. And um we're looking to establish
more permanent roots here. And and part of that is is kind of we're finding this beautiful architectural home that we found here. And um that that's kind of the intent of the meeting tonight is to kind of um really build out this home uh stay true to the architecture, but also
make it more uh safe for our young children and also um just make it more practical for 2025. The the kitchen, for example, as you will see, uh was last updated in 1970. Um things like knob and tube wiring, shock hazards, we kind of
have all the above when it comes to these old homes. And so we kind of want to modernize it, make it safe for our children and our family to live. So thank you. This on? Yeah. Um so I'm Bill Giddings. I'm an architect. I'm If you need to qualify
me, I live in town. Been an architect for uh almost 35 years. uh before this board and dozens of other boards as well. Living in town might be enough. Okay. Welcome.
Uh so this is the first exhibit uh that uh they're referring to. You can see the existing kitchen is back from the 70s. The stove doesn't work. Um it's just it's very very old. Um it's a beautiful
house. It was Anna Drago's house. Um it's on the corner of Maplewood and Parkplace East. Um it's it's a beautiful 1860 um uh Victorian house. It is well
preserved. It's been changed over the years, but you know, a long time ago. Um, Anadrago had done an addition in the back which was a mudroom which are are are these two rooms you can see off the kitchen. Um, it served her well but
unfortunately cuts off views of the backyard. Um, from the kitchen and the rest of the house and having two young kids and having a pool uh that they are very much an outdoor family. Every time I drive by the kids are out there,
they're out there. But, you know, unfortunately, you can see from these these photographs, you know, from the kitchen sink, you you can only see half the pool and you can't see the whole yard where the kids are playing. So, they needed new, they came to me, they needed a new kitchen. Uh, but they also wanted to fix the back of the house to
make it function properly, preserve the historic part of the house. This back part of the house was an addition, has cinder block foundations, so we're guessing maybe 40s. Uh it was this little the little part of this kitchen was added on to. Um also, you know, it
has a very narrow staircase to get down to the basement with winding stairs. Uh so they want to do an outdoor uh staircase to to get down. So basically the project is This is the first floor. Uh, Parkplace
East is here. Wesley Place the alley uh where hers plumbing is is here and Maplewood is on this side. Um, so basically what they want to do is make a a new kitchen, uh, a bathroom,
kind of a mudroom area with a porch from the Wesley, uh, play side, and then make the existing kind of mud room, laundry room area into a more of a sun room where, you know, from the house you can see through and see the outside. Same
thing from the kitchen, you can see the entire backyard. Uh, and then upstairs they're they're renovating the master bedroom bathroom, but that doesn't have any any zoning implications. These are all identical to the drawings that you have before
you. So you can see on the uh the zoning map block map in in red is their site. So they have three front yards. Um uh and you know the one rear yard. Um so
that that really creates a lot of difficulties. Um and also those three sides of the house are very historic and you know preserving them is very important and preserving all the inside spaces in the main house is important.
There is an existing so this is Wesley Place Parkplace east Maplewood the old house sure you recognize the the rounded porch comes all the way up to the front property line. It comes four uh four
feet uh three inches off of the Wesley Place uh property line. And there's an existing pool here. There's an existing deck that's going to come out. There's a fence, chain link fence, and then a a
wood fence, six foot wood fence um as well. So, what they want to do is I'll go to the blown up plan. This is a Z. So, Wesley Place Park Place East Maplewood. They want to extend the
kitchen back about six feet. that will enable them to put the mudroom that's currently here back back into the into the house. Put a porch entry uh where from Park Place, you know, they can walk and
get in get in from um parking along Park Place East as well as from the pool area and get directly into a bathroom still uh and kind of mudroom area as part part of the kitchen. um the pool, the concrete around the
pool would all stay and then the existing mud room, they would rebuild the walls in the roof uh as a sun room. It's more transparent and then cleaning up the they want to maintain as much of yard
open yard area along Maplewood. Um and then just have a fenced fenced in area uh a fence 5t off of Wesley Place a extending that wood fence around the corner along the property line to next
door and then and that would just be a standard wood fence similar to what's there now and then change to a more open fence along Maplewood. with
the variances. So, let me just show you the elevations first. So, A2 is the elevation drawing. So, for the the existing back of the house, you can see in this photograph with the mudroom, the old kitchen
windows that leak and the cold air blows through. Um, they learned a lot this winter about their house. uh the deck that's going to be removed. Um and if you can see here, this was this
was the addition that I'm guessing is somewhere around 1940s because it's early cinder block. Um and then when Anadrago did the mudroom edition, it has a lower roof kind of stepped down in front of it. Um which you can kind of
see in this side photograph. So, what we want to do is basically take all of that off. Um, save the foundations that are are newer here, re rebuild the foundations that were under this kitchen bumpout, and build everything to kind of
mimic this 1930s4s um one-story bumpout with brackets that are appropriate to the house. um an eve line and then windows with transoms and kind of in this in the four season room.
I'll call it sun room, breakfast nook, um whatever you want to call it. So, and then extend that. This is along the Wesley Place. Extend that and bump out for a small porch uh right here. And then this is this basement stair going
going down to the basement four feet wide so you can actually get things in and out. Um so any questions about the design before I get into the variances that are requested? We we did go to HPC. There's a there's a
letter from them in the application. Um, we gave us fencing options for the fencings and what we're showing is what you know they suggested and approved. Correct. We're keeping back from Yes. What kind of use?
Yes. So, back of the house would would be boral. Um, so when it's painted, it looks just like the wood siding but lower maintenance. You guys have the garage, right? No. Yeah, that
so it's not part of this application but just in terms of our master plan and thinking you know the thought was um Anadago had sold that garage off separately. She used to own that. So they don't they don't own that. So the idea was in the future this bottom
corner is is where they might build a garage. Yeah. It's it's it's challenging. Yeah. So the var So jumping into the variances. So, I think I told you the
existing porch is 4.25 ft off of Wesley Place. Um, we are requesting a variance for 8 ft set back to the new porch. That's to the very front step of the new porch. The existing kitchen
um existing corner of the house is at 14.3 ft. It's a little bit skewed so it actually grows but we're proposing to extend the the line of the existing house. So the worst case is the 14.3
ft and then um so just to talk about that for a little bit. So, next door um Alex uh owns lives next door. Uh her front porch is one and a half ft off the
property line. And then um Emily and Will's uh house on the corner of Westminster uh and Wesley Place is I got the dimensions here of the garage. The porch is the closest at 20 20.5 ft. So if you use the
ordinance for the average of all houses of all setbacks within 200 feet, uh I came up with I believe it was 11, let's see, the average setback for 200 feet is
11 feet. So just not knowing what all you wanted to formalize as a variance, you know, we're requesting the variance for the 8 ft, which is the worst case. Um the 14.3
feet is less than the 15t, however, is more than the average for for for that street within 200 feet. So I don't know if you want to count that as a variance or not, but I'm just covering all basises. Well, and Bill, too, one other thing to note is there really isn't anywhere else we can access the
basement. The other entire side of the house is crawl space only. The back is the pool and the front is the sidewalk. So, that's the only side of the house that would allow any type of basement entry. Yeah. Open. Yep. The drain at the bottom with
with a pump. Yeah, blue blue stone wall, you know, stuckle wall with a blue stone cap. So that's the, you know, the the variance I guess officially would be for the porch and the wall of the um steps
going down the faces. Not. So the existing porch is 4 4T 4.25 ft. Yes. Yeah. This is the property line. We're going to be as a minimum eight feet off of it for the new porch. which is has a
roof and the basement stair. I don't believe that the kitchen um extension because it's 14.3 ft which is more than the average 200 ft needs a variance unless you say it does but just covering all
bases. Not that are not already cut through. Yes. Yes. No. Then his father was instruction to out. So they actually did that in the 70s when they bumped out the kitchen. Uh,
and maybe that's when this maybe that's when they those block editions are the 70s, but it seems older than that. So, it's kind of weird, but it could be the 70s, not the 40s. Um, and there is a beam up there. We are going to replace that beam with a stronger beam. That act beam they
with with Yes, exactly. So, it's going to be better than it than it is now. Yeah, definitely. Um so those are the variances for the house and then the variances for the um
fence around the pool are we are requesting to to match this this the six foot high fence that's there. I'll show you why. So these photos were also are the same photos as
what are in your application. Um so this is looking north I'll say um over the pool o over to the west uh you can see
the the threecar garage that Anadrago used to own and then hers plumbing is right next to it. Um this is looking the other way to the house and you can see the existing fence there.
Um just another view. So along the property line there is this nice you know wooded tree line. So we are looking to put the fence right along the property line in order to preserve those trees. Um because if we set it back, we
couldn't figure out a way to do it quite honestly. Yes. Yeah. No. On the property line. On the property line. The current chain link fence. We had it inspected before we bought it and it's not deemed up to
code. So the gates open and close both ways. The latches are too low. And because it's been Yeah. because it's been there for they put the pool in in 1980 and the fence probably soon after the vegetation's built up enough that
it's no longer four feet high. Um, so it it's not currently up to code and we want to fix it so that the kids can't get into the pool without us. pretty far because it it kind of comes around the pool angled. Um, but there is
another six foot wood fence on about the property line. It's just not a complete fence. So right now the long Wesley on the site plan the existing the stockade is along Wesley um Wesley place that's
approximately the same area that we're proposing it but we're proposing go straight across the property line and then back the chain link fence is is that line. So we're trying to clean it up a little bit. Yes, there is a chain link that completely surrounds it. And then
there's also six foot tall wooden fence along Wesley Place. It's just not intact. It's only part of it. We'll take that out because now we'll have a complete fence around it on the property line.
Do you have that one back? Oh, this one. So, the proposed fence is five feet off of the property line along Wesley Place and then we're going to be landscaping in front of it, which is, you know, requested in the ordinance. So the
difference there is because it's a front yard that requires a variance and because it's six feet rather than five feet and because it's it's a privacy enclosure rather than 50%. Those are all the you know the
variances from the the ordinance like arborite or something kind of small and dense and tall that can kind of conceal the fence. They're Yeah, it's a mix of like I think white uh oak. No, no, no. The current
fence. The current landscaping. The current landscaping. Yes. Yeah. Behind the house, behind the pool right here. Hold on. I
know. trees. No, they're along the back in between our house and Alex's house. Yeah. So, in this top corner picture here, you can't see Alex's house because of the trees. And so, that's why we're saying
we want to put the fence on the property line so that we don't have to cut all those trees down. Um, if we were to have the setback needed to have a privacy fence, we'd have to cut down all that vegetation and then there would be a privacy fence. But Alex's second floor
windows and everything would no longer have that privacy from our lot. Uh, oh, on the other side, hopefully not. We're trying to keep as much as I think those are going to have to come down. Yes. Because one of them just fell down on it own the other day because it
was dying. Yeah, it brought it out over their lifespan. They're that Well, that's going to be the new wood fence with the landscaping in front of it to Wesley Place. Oh, the side with maplewood. It doesn't have any trees along it. All that stays
all those large just besides the chestnut tree. There's one chestnut tree there. Correct. Those are maplewood trees. Oh, but they're not on the fence line. Yeah, they're in the yard. Sorry, that was my misunderstanding. Those will all stay. All those stay.
Right. Correct. The metal fence. Yeah. No, we like the mature landscaping. Sure. which I remember right certain distance. Of course, you can't have fences that go beyond the
front line of the front of the house. So, everything had to be in line with the front of the house and back. And then they also said certain length, certain height, certain percentage. I don't have the front basic
question is this in full compiance with that or are you specifically saying by your application here that I'm exceeding either length height or
Yes, the latter. So, let me define it just so that it's clear in my understanding of the events or because it is complicated. It is. And so, along Wesley Place, because it's a front yard, that's
our hardship. That's that's our issue is even though it's an alley and we're trying to screen the garages across the street, it's the ordinance treats it as a front yard because we have three front yards. I believe you can't be on the front of that house.
Correct. Correct. It has to be 50% solid up to 5t tall uh anywhere behind the front building line of the house. Yes. Right.
It's taller than it's it's I don't know exactly but it's probably it's just say it's it's full. It's got little slots a little air but it's let's just say it's 100%. Yeah.
As compared to 50%. of the house. Yes. Yes. What about the side? So for the side fence, I guess technically it's all the same variances because until you get back to
here, right? So that all those variances are for this L shape till you get back to the line of the front of the house. And then after that, Why do we want it there rather than back here? Well, as you can see right there,
it it cuts the sidewalk around the pool. So, the existing fence is approximately here and but then we would still need the variance for that area as well. So, we're trying to what we're trying to do
is I mean Wesley Place really isn't it's more of an alley than a street. A six foot solid wood fence. Correct. Yes. But it's not intact. It only covers it's
like from here to here. Yeah. I personally care, right? Yes. Yeah. We're going to rebuild it, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. the the gate. There's a So, there's a
gate in the metal fence here. And then there is a gate right here in the wood fence that allows you get to the basement and around to the porch. Oh, is it the original wood gate that's there? Yeah, the existing woodgate.
Because Anna Drago owned both properties. She had a gate there, but when they sold the estate, we bought one house, Alex bought the other. So, they're no longer shared properties. Thank you. The typhon fence is going to continue on the back of your property
here and between the two properties to here. So, I'm trying to remember the our our fence ordinance is so complicated. Um, does does that need a variance? the that that portion of and that needs a variance because it is the six feet.
It's the height the height and I'm going to also say the openness because it's not 50% open. Okay. That's what they have now. We have six feet now. You know, if if we're
Yeah. Yeah. It's six feet. Now, you know, if we were designing, if we weren't stuck with the pool here, we would be meeting the ordinance. It's really because of the location of where the pool is and because of the alley and trying to to screen all of the garages
and and the commercial along along the alley. Um, and then preserve as you know, as many trees, you know, between the two properties. That's why we're, you know, that's why we're proposing what we're proposing. Is
the rear section of the fence on the property line? Now, the what we're proposing or where where you're proposing where we're proposing is along the property line. Um, and that's again to preserve some of the
vegetation that's there. Yeah, I see there. There's some trees in front of it. Um, yeah, we don't show all the vegetation along here, just the larger the larger trees. And we walked it trying to figure out
where to put the fence and in order to pull the fence in the you know five feet. It was we're going to kill all those trees basically. What's there now? Our provided just Yeah. Very mature. And you're keeping that? We would like to.
Yeah. Because it gives privacy between both homes. Okay. And and that's on your side of the fence. Yes. Yes, it's on our side of the property. Yes. And we've been talking to our neighbor Alex as well about it just to make sure you know
what works for us and her together. So, and you're okay with that? Where are you? Yeah. Hi. Uh, good evening everyone. Uh, my name is Alexandria Leonard. I live at two Wesley Place, uh, the property
adjacent to the Peeplands and I'm the homeowner there. Uh, I just wanted to make an appearance this evening to let you know that I am in full support of their plans. um they have gone above and beyond to share their ideas and to involve me uh
through conversations and to help me view and visualize the potential impact of any changes that are done to their property. Um, I've also been in receipt of formal correspondence and notifications about
their plans, which I have appreciated. And to me, they sought, listened, and listened and valued communication. And I feel very comfortable with their plans, and I understand them. And I think that the
improvements that they're proposing would be a net benefit to the block, to the community, and uh especially given there's such an emphasis and importance on historical preservation uh here in Cranberry. I think they've
been very thoughtful and deliberate and considerate about ensuring that there's alignment. So, um, thank you very much for for u allowing me to appear this evening and, uh, I'm again in full
support. Thanks. Thank you. Oops. All right. Anything else? Or uh, that's the presentation. That's the presentation. All right. Well, I I'd suggest um if we were to uh approve the the
fence portion of the variance, um I I think it there should be a condition about the landscaping. I I don't see it anywhere except the circles on the plan that it should be uh you know, plantings at least six foot
high that you know that completely cover the fence on on the Wizzley place side. That makes sense. We can put that in the Yeah. All right. Um, any comments from the board? All
right. And so let's go over the the variances then. So you you have them down, right? Okay. Could we just read read them out? I just Yeah. Yeah.
I mean one is it's really a setback the other would be fence only two variances that they need. Okay. So it's it's only one variance for the two two sections of the fence. Okay.
All right. And and the type two fence doesn't need a variance. That's that's fine. Okay. Okay. Any comments? Motion to Motion to approve.
I'll second the motion. Oh, we have the public. You're not really the public. So, okay. Okay. All right. Roll call for ZBA
403-25. Sim Pepin. Mr. Bono Volant. Yes. Mr. Ken. Yes. Miss Parker, yes. Mr. Schwarz, yes. Miss Shu, yes. And Mr. Diamond, yes. Thank you. Motion pass. Congratulations. So, I have a quick
procedural question. Um, so resolution is at the next meeting. Can they submit for permits? They're trying to get they're trying to get the kitchen done by Christmas. So, but not start construction until after the resolution is we can send a
memo to the construction official and outline your approval that resolution will be adopted. There really aren't any conditions that you Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Was was the ceiling missing when you
bought the house in the kitchen? No. There's every contractor we brought through has asked a million questions about it. So, I just figured I'd take it down to answer all the question. I think it looks great, don't you? It looks great. So, so my I have a similar vintage house, 1840, and and we It was a
wreck when we bought it. So, um yeah, I can help you take yours down, too. Motion to adjurnn. Anyone? I'll second. We're done. Okay, then we Okay. I'm guessing
Okay. He died years ago and then his wife outlived him for a long time and she passed recently. Yeah. Yeah. That's what I thought. Yeah. Yeah. Saw a mat and a