She's on different meds. They just up the do. She's not open. Yeah. Here we go. Town of medicine zoning board of adjustment regular meeting of September I'm excuse me special meeting of
September 30th 2025 is now in session. Adequate notice of this meeting as required by open public meetings act of 1975 has been provided by the annual notice published in the home news and tribune on December 13, 2024 and has been posted in the main lobby of the missile complex on December 18th, 2024.
Please join me in pledge allegiance to the flag to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.
Madam Secretary, roll call, please. [Applause] Mr. Ober here. Mr. Begnel here. Miss Shaw here. Mr. Aayot here. Mr. Johnny here. Mr. Chabra
here. Mr. Cerrito here. Mr. Schneider here. And chairman Kumba here. Madam Secretary, minutes for consideration. Minutes of September 16th, 2025 for approval. What's the board's pleasure?
Motion approve the minutes. Second. Second. Motion made by Mr. Schneider, second by Mr. Cerrito. Uh, roll call, please. Mr. Cerrito, yes on the motion. Mr. Chabra, yes to the motion. Mr. Schneider, yes to the motion. And Chairman Kumba, yes on the motion.
Thank you, Madam Secretary. The first resolution for consideration the 5 2025 Abishek bargewage. It's a denial resolution. What's the board's pleasure? Motion to approve the denial.
Second. Motion made by Mr. Schneider, second by Mr. Johnny. Roll call, please. Mr. Chabra, yes to the motion. Mr. Cerrito, yes to the motion. Mr. Johnny, yes to the motion. Mr. Schneider. Yes. The motion. Thank you. Next resolution.
Uh Z212025. Pratima Parab. Approval of a resolution. What sports pleasure? Motion to approve. Second. Motion. Motion made by Mr. Chabber. Seconded by Mr. Schneider. Roll call, please. Uh Mr. Johnny, yes to the motion.
Mr. Chabra, yes to the motion. Mr. Schneider, yes to the motion. And Chairman Cumba, yes on the motion. And the final resolution Z452023 Hana Lopez approval of the resolution. What's the board's pleasure? Motion to approve.
Second. Motion made by Mr. Schneider. Second by Mr. Chabber. Roll call, please. Uh Mr. Chabra. Yes to the motion. Mr. Schneider. Yes to the motion. And chairman Kumba? Yes on the motion. Thank you. Okay. Good evening. Uh we have two announcements for this evening. KZ17
2025. uh Sesh and Darna Modi at 152 Lond Avenue uh will not be considered for this evening. Uh they will have to renotice to a later date. Uh case Z24
2022 Old Post Realy LLC at 604 and 610 Old Post Road. Um it has been re re excuse me adjourned and renotic is required to move forward and new date is assigned. Um madam secretary, there was one other case that had been on the agenda that I believe is getting
Uh, they did not notice. So, okay. Can I just read that into the record? Can I just have the case number? Sure. It is. Hold on. Yeah. [Applause] Okay.
Uh, KZ19 2025, Jessica Lask at 286 Central Avenue. Uh, it will have to be renoticed if you're here for this case. Uh, Z19 2025, Jessica Lask at 286 Central Avenue. It will not be heard this evening. Uh, and the applicant will
have to renotice. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. This is a special meeting in the Township of Edison zoning board of adjustment. The board is composed of Edison Township residents appointed by municipal council who volunteer their time and service to the board. The MSP land use law requires that members successfully complete a
land use training course ad ministered by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. This board also holds in-house training conducted by our board professionals. The zoning board abides by the provision of mun land use law in addition to our board's bylaws. The zoning board is a quasi judicial land use board which differs from the
township planning board. Under the mood land use law, board members are required to be impartial and are not allowed to discuss any case prior to being considered at a hearing. All applicants will have the opportunity to present their case before the board along with the opportunity for board members and board professionals to question the applicant and their witnesses. At the
conclusion of the applicant's presentation of their case, the case will open to the public. Residents within 200 ft of the subject site will be heard, followed by residents from outside of 200 ft. All residents will be sworn in. They'll provide their name and address. They'll be given six minutes to comment on the application being
considered without the opportunity for rebuttal. Residents may ask questions of the applicant, the applicants professionals, and board professionals. The board requests that these these questions are asked prior to any commentary be made on the application. Once commentary begins, the resident's timer will begin. The applicant will be
allowed the opportunity for cross-examination of their witnesses. Under the law, the chair is allowed to stop any commentary which is repetitive or an attempt attempt to filibuster the board. Further, the chair is allowed to stop any commentary that is irrelevant to the case or prohibited from the board's consideration. Once public
portion is closed, all public comments are ended unless new testimony is presented by the applicant. Following the closure of the public portion, the applicant will have the right of summation on their application. Following summation, the case will go to the board for decision. This procedure has been followed by the board and is similar to the procedures followed by
boards of adjustment statewide. The Mulan use law requires the board to engage in a balancing act and is not required to strictly apply township ordinances, zoning plan or master plan. As a board of adjustment, variances are granted when appropriately necessarily following all legal considerations. As
has been the case with prior boards, this board will see where we're at if we are still in session around 10:30 p.m. I ask that all applicants, professionals, and residents show respect to each other and be civil throughout all proceedings. I ask that you withhold applause, booing, or interrupting anyone while
they are speaking. The chair will not tolerate any outburst by applicants, professionals, or the public. Further, since most cases are being recorded by a court reporter, I ask the speakers do not speak over one another. Uh, Madame Secretary, uh, first case, the, um,
request for extension. Uh, Z22 2023 Edison Infinity Care of MN is a one-year extension request of preliminary and final site plan. Board members, you should have received
uh the letter from the council for MN requesting a one-year extension. Um if there's any discussion or if there's any motion with regard to this, Mr. Chair, I'd like to make a motion. Mr. Chabber, I'd like to make a motion to approve the extension for one year um for Edison
Nissan. Second motion made by Mr. Chabber, second by Mr. Cerrito. Roll call, please. Mr. Cerrito. Yes on the motion. Mr. Chabra. Yes to the motion and chairman Okor um sorry and chair Kumba. The guy's in Florida and you're still
calling him chairman. I mean really. Wow. He's better looking than me. Really? The wrong request. Yes. On the motion, Madam Secretary. Thank you. Thank you. Sorry. Madam Secretary, first case on the agenda, please. Case matter Z33 2024 Asian Fresh of
Edison LLC 1829 to 1837 Lincoln Highway. Applicant is seeking preliminary and final site plan approval to convert the existing vacant retail music store to an Asian food market. Standards have not been met in accordance with the master plan. Existing minimum front yard
required is 30 ft. Proposed is 5 ft. Maximum lot recoverage required is 25% proposed is 39.5%. Max F required is 0.25 proposed is.39. Affected property is located in the GB
zone designated as block number 104.06, lot numbers 10.01 and 14.02 on the Edison Township tax map. All noticing paperwork is in order. Good evening, Mr. Hamilton. Good evening, Mr. Chairman. Uh, members of the board, uh, David Himlman for the
applicant, Asian Fresh Edison, Inc., As you know, we were uh here I guess it was July 29th uh and we began our presentation um and as the evening progressed, we had to obviously adjourn the meeting and uh
it was carried to this evening. At the last meeting, you recall, we did have the applicant testify as to the overall operations of the proposed uh food market and uh I believe uh she answered many questions from the board and your
professionals. Uh uh then we had Mr. Mark Liieber, our professional engineer, did begin and concluded most of his testimony. Uh but I would like to uh in terms of the order for this evening to try and keep this as efficient as
possible. Uh what I'm going to suggest is um we did submit um revised uh plan particularly with regard to the comments by your fire official. Uh Mr. Liieber did submit a letter of September 15th,
2025 which included a annotated uh discussion of uh both uh a outline and response to many of the comments both from your professional planner and your engineers professional review memo and
also included with that was the firetruck turning template plans that was reviewed and uh approved by chief to so uh I thought It might be first might be appropriate to have Mr. Lever kind of walk us through that. Uh clean up any of
the testimony items that that he needs to address. Then we would have our architect testify uh on the architectural features of the proposed market including the signage plan that has been resubmitted and revised. And
then we would have our uh traffic consultant and planner. Mr. Lever is acting as both our planner and as our engineer. So Mr. Chairman, if if that is sufficient, we can proceed and uh I would ask Mr. Lever to come forward.
Uh and we need to get you a chair. Oh, you want to stay over there or you want to come here? Okay. I think this uh Shashi uh Miss Mr. Liieber had been previously qualified. We'll swear him in again. I was just going to say, but you have to swear him in. Yes.
Right hand. You solemnly swear or affirm. Tell the whole truth. Nothing but the truth. I hope you got Yes, I do. and state your full name for the record. It's Mark with a C. Last name is Liber L. Mr. Lieieber, you're qualified in the last hearing. I just one quick question just to see if you're uh so first you
want to be qualified. We can take care of everything at once. You want to be qualified as an engineer and planner. Sure. And both le both both licenses are current and good standing. Yes, they are. Okay. So, we'll accept you as both. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Uh Mr. Liieber. Um, as you as you heard me state, uh, I know you had
submitted a letter of September 15, 2025 along with your, um, fire truck turning template plan. So, what I I would like you to do, if you could just quickly go through the uh, the items that you address both from the from uh, Delaware
Ritton Engineering's letter and Bigell Planning Consultants letter. And if you would just address any items that you would either would would want to clarify, add add testimony or discuss any of the other issues that may not
have been addressed in your letter. Thank you. Thank you. Yes. Good evening again. Uh there were two main submissions uh to the township ahead of this meeting. uh one you just heard about a moment ago about the signage uh which the architect's going to discuss but the
submission that originated from my office was this firetruck turning template plan I had the opportunity to discuss in August with Chief Toth on numerous occasions to make sure that I had the correct specifications for the type length and uh width of fire
apparatus that he has in his inventory. Uh that being said, also to be able to accommodate a right turn into the property from Lincoln Highway. And uh he did indicate in the letter dated, I believe September the 11th, that this plan had met his expectations and was approved. And he also was asking about
the location of the nearest fire hydrant, which we did label and read on that plan, which is directly across Greenwood Avenue from the property in question. Um there were a couple of things that I just want to bring back to everybody's attention. And I know it's
been some time since we were here last. Uh things that we more or less had discussed and agreed to at the last hearing. Um I'll start off with uh there were some concerns about trash pickup and the size of the trash enclosure. We did agree to increase the trash
enclosure uh to the right which would result in the loss of one parking stall and that it would be fully uh fenced in and enclosed. That was agreed to. We also agreed that these lots would be consolidated through a deed and that the uh no left turn sign that was requested
would be added along the frontage at the highway as well that the freestanding sign would be turned off after business hours. We were asked to um construct a depressed curb ramp on the side of the building to facilitate deliveries. Uh if
you recall there was a delivery area and a depressed curb on Greenwood. We agreed to remove that depressed curb, put in the full height curb, which would affect the sidewalk grades as well, that we were going to replace that sidewalk so that it would meet the new height of the curb in the back, and that area would no longer be accessible for any kind of
deliveries. We also discussed, I believe Todd was here at the meeting, about adding trees and plantings along the frontages of the property. Uh if you look at Planefield Avenue, at some point in the past, someone had filled in what was supposed to be green space with asphalt. And we discussed that we would
be happy to perform a site visit with him in person to identify how we can turn that space, revert it back to planting areas. Uh and then along Greenwood, because we're going to be removing part of the sidewalk to remove that old loading zone, we now have the opportunity to put back less sidewalk
and perhaps some space for trees and ground cover in that area as well. Um, there was a question about a shipping container that we indicated would be removed from the property that would no longer be there. Um, if I could just inter I'm sorry, I apologize. Um, with regard to the
landscaping, I noted that in your your letter of September 15th, you had indicated as that the applicant requests relief to maintain the landscaping which is situated in the rightway line. Yeah. Okay. So, we're we're we're asking that relief. That's correct. Right. Okay.
Um, there were a series of comments in the Delaware RAND letter, which was dated April 7th, and I did respond in pretty much line by line format in my letter on September 15th. There is really nothing in their letter that we disagree with or really can't comply
with. Um, many of the items, you know, I had clarified in this letter. Uh just to reiterate, we are asking for relief from EV spaces and EV parking if the board was, you know, so inclined to grant that. Many of the other items that we're dealing with on this property to all
existing conditions and that also goes into part of the planning which wraps in the setback variances and we'll talk about in a couple minutes the flow area ratio which is 39 which the zone only allows for 0.25. Um other than that there was a request
for a maintenance plan for the drainage on the you know whatnot on the property. We would be happy to provide that. Um we don't expect any remarkable increase in either water sewer usage on the property. Um we had discussed the
scheduling for trash pickup which would be in the AM. The gates would be self-closing with latches. Um there was a question about fence encroachments and we said we would look at any fence encroachments and if they if it was our fence it would be reset to the lot line.
Um I think a lot of the other items were either addressed in the testimony or statements but again there's nothing in that letter that we disagree with. I also had an opportunity to review big Nell's letter uh and uh we indicated
that you know with the zoning a lot of these are existing non-conformities for the parking we had discussed a parking study report I had done I don't know if you recall but we had surveyed various locations of a similar style store which we had picked as an Aldi because they don't have like a fresh meat counter
where they you know there's no butcher in the store there's no bakery things like that we felt that that was most similar and as a retail grocery store that our use uh represents. Um we talked in excess about the existing freestanding sign that's going to be
reduced to a height of 33 feet and we also um went through you know the mechanical equipment of course has to be screened. We're proposing to put it on the rooftop. Um I think uh there was an inc there was a
request to increase new trees to a 4-inch diameter planting size which we did agree to. Um you'll see the facade signage plan in a moment from the architect. Um I mean in essence, you know, I do want to reiterate that the buildings on
this property are existing and have been for many decades. Uh we're trying to clean up the the way in which the site circulates. Uh, for example, on Greenwood, we had indicated that there was an extra curb opening that we would be closing. Uh, that would make things
more uh, streamlined for the flow of traffic in and out. Uh, we're going to restripe the parking lot. We're going to put up all new lighting. We're going to put in new ADA accommodations for the building. We're also providing a cart corral for any shopping carts. Uh, there's another entrance along the state
highway that seems to have been cut in over some time almost on the neighbor's property to our right. We're going to close that entrance as well, fill in the area with some landscaping and shrubs. Um, you know, I don't see any detriments in the hole. I think that right now the property as a vacancy is a detriment. I
think that the best way to improve it is to have this space occupied and uh for us to install the proposed improvements to um, you know, clean it up and modernize it. Uh, in any case, I don't know if you wanted to either go through some questions or look at the signage
exhibit. Uh then we could talk about traffic and planning. Uh I'll leave it up to you, Mr. Chairman. Um I'd like to first go to Mr. Obara so we could just address the professionals reports. We'll start with Mr. Obara and go to Mr. McNell. Mr. Barrow. Thank you, Chairman. U I I would agree. I had an opportunity
to watch the video from the last hearing since I wasn't personally present. I also reviewed Mr. Carly's review letter as well as Mr. Liieber's response letter. I would agree that he's um complying with everything that he represented at that last hearing. The only outstanding issue from our office
would be the EV stations. Uh he's indicating in his reply correspondence that he's looking it appears per the ordinance that it qualifies as a major alteration. So he'd be required to provide EV stations. Um he's asking he's seeking for relief in that regard. So I
defer to the board. So, just for the record, so it's a township requirement for the EV EV stations. Uh, it's a state requirement as well as a township ordinance. And what would the what would the number be required?
I believe it's one and may possibly one make ready. Okay, Mr. B, you agree? Okay, there we go. One spot. It's one and one spot and one make ready spot. firing.
I spoke with the applicant and they will put that in. Okay. So, we are not requesting relief. Okay. All right. That is Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Bear. Mr. McNel. Yeah. Um, Mr. Chairman, we um we went through this this uh plan many many
times in technical review and the applicant has done everything I've asked him to do. Um, and we've cleaned it up as you know, best you can. The site is the site. um the additional landscaping, lowering the sign, the uh removal of the uh the dumpsters that are between the buildings. Um by the way, all those
variances that are indicated on the on the application themselves are all existing violations. They're not not creating those now. They've been they're existing. The only new one is the floor ratio, and that's something that was added to the ordinance maybe 10 years ago, 101 15 years ago. Um so, as far as we're concerned, he's done the best he
can possibly do. uh he screened the dumpsters. He's eliminated a driveway on Route 27. Um you know, he's he's going to make the building look nicer. So, it's an improvement to the neighborhood or to the area. U it's you know, you had the hard decision to make. Okay.
Okay. Thank you. Um does board have any questions for Mr. Lieieber with regard to engineering testimony? Okay. Should be muted. Okay. All right. Thank you, Mr. Lieber. Thank you, Chairman. Before we dismiss this, I just wanted to clarify. So, in his Mr. Liieber's September 15th letter report
or letter, um I guess it's on the second to last page where the additional items the applicant agree to at the July 29th meeting and there's eight. I believe Mr. Liieber went through those, but I just wanted to point that out that should the board act favorably upon this
application, those are the conditions that the applicant would would agree to and I think the board has heard testimony on all of those, but I just wanted to clarify that. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, M. Thank you, Mr. Lever. Don't go anywhere. Uh, our next witness
is our architect. Um, okay. We'll have to have uh, Mr. Chen sworn in and qualified as our as our architect. Hold the microphone close to you. Right hand. Do you solemnly swear or
affirm to tell the whole truth, nothing but the truth to help you God? Yes. And state your full name for the record. My name is Shin Yuan Chen. H S I N G Y U N. Last name Chen. C H N. Mr. Chen, if you could please provide
the board with the benefit of your background and qualifications. Uh, yes. Uh I graduate in Columbia University in New York City a master degree in 20 in 2005 and uh that's a master degree and I have been
professional um experience more than 20 years and your license are current in good standing. Yes. Thank you. Accept you. We will accept you. You may proceed. Thank you Mr. uh chairman. Um Mr. Chen. Um, just for purposes of housekeeping. So, I know that with the original
application, we did file uh architectural uh details including elevations and floor plans and I believe they were submitted as part of the application. Uh, I know you brought extra copies with you, handouts. Mr. Chairman, I don't know if you if the
board members have those in your packet, but we certainly have extras if you need them. Uh, they were distributed with our packet, so I think we're good. Great. Okay. Direct. Thank you. Okay. All right. Uh, Mr. Chen, if you would do us a favor, if you would walk us through
the um the architectural features uh which were part of your original renderings, including the floor plan and also I know that you submitted a updated signage plan. Yes. Okay. And an outcome of the uh meeting
in July where there was some discussion about reducing the height of the sign. Correct. Yes. Okay. So, why don't you first uh go through your um uh your architectural plans and describe them in detail and then we can proceed accordingly.
Okay. Uh let's start with the the join number R101 uh which is the building elevations and on the top is the the update render you can see the sign the freestanding sign
we have reduced to 33 feet from the ground based on the the B member recommendation uh we do follow that um on the right hand side that's exiting uh photo from the the parking and uh we try
to build by the exiting building. Uh we has not change any structurally uh for the building. Uh we change the the color of the panel the canopy sorry uh to the
gray tone and to um modernize the the outside looking of the building. And at the at the bottom is the elevation uh of the Planfield Avenue site. And we do the same we keep all the exiting
brick uh facade and then change the metal canopy. Uh on the on the on the second page the R102 um on the top is the uh elevation with
the new signage. Uh you can see the bottom that's exiting a photo from the same ash. So we present or propose the similar uh size of the the new signage uh on on the canopy
and at the bottom is uh we do uh nothing change on the uh Greenwood Avenue side of elevation. We keep the exiting brick facade. So uh we try to uh modernize the the
exiting building and build by the exiting building. So that's a that's a change of the outside. Um let's talk about the inside of the of the new uh proposed full market. So
the join number will be the Z1. Yeah. So on the right hand side is the the level one. So this building has a basement and just a partial basement. So on the left side is the basement. So the
the food market entry is at the u right hand bottom corner. So that's a the entry vest view from the parking side. So uh the building orientation is the same as a side plan. So at the bottom is
a facing Lincoln Highway. At the top is the Greenwood Avenue. On the left side is the uh Planefield Avenue. On the right hand side is the parking lot. So people coming from from the parking go
to the building through the vest view and we have the weather double double door best of view and get inside on the first floor the major uh floor plan uh the sales area is a
mercantise area is around 12,000 square ft um in in the front. So when you get into the best view, you can see the fruit and veggie uh on the right hand
uh sales area. In the middle major area is just a a grocery the dry food uh shelf area and at the back side is uh the meat area and
seafood area and all the the uh cooling frozen uh refrigerate and cooler island area. Uh so there's a wall separate the the backside back of house the delivery uh
receiving area and uh the loading zone. Uh we have designed the material lift and can go down to the basement. So you can see that's between the column uh two and 2.5 that's the material lived. So
all the all the goods and dry food will go down to the basement. And the basement all is for all the uh cooler uh freezer
and the dry drive dry food storage area. So, um I think this pretty much uh is this project. Uh Mr. Jen, just a couple questions. So, the um the finished materials on the
outside of the building, can you what what's in what is the applicant intended on? Okay. Sorry. Uh so basically uh we will keep all the existing brick which is uh the red brick stay at the same and but the
red the current red canopy the metal siding we will change to the uh the gray tone of the color. So basically that's the main change. Very good. And then as far as the signage goes, so we would have the
obviously where the the signage uh the freestanding freestanding sign has been reduced reduced as depicted on your plan and then we have the uh the proposed sign which would go on the face of the of the building. Correct. Correct. And that um the what
are the dimensions that the that the uh height of the freestanding sign has been reduced to uh to 33 ft from the ground as opposed to what was originally proposed original uh existing one I believe is around like a 60t something.
Yeah. Very good. Okay. Do you want to add anything else or do you think you've covered all the items in this plans and I think I cover all that. Okay. Yes. Mr. Chairman, I don't have any further direct questions as witnessed, but you or your professionals or other board members.
Okay. Thank you. Does the board have any questions, Mr. Chen? You good, Mr. Bar? All right. Okay. All right. We're good. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, thank you. Uh, Mr. Chairman, our next witness is our
traffic consultant, Jay Chapman from Mcdana Ray and Associates. So, we'll have to have him sworn in and qualified as a traffic engineering consultant. Thank you. Do you solemnly swear affirm to tell the whole truth, nothing but the truth to help you guys? Yes, I do.
And just speak full name for the record. Yes. Uh, my name is Jay Troutman. T R O U T M A N and Mr. Chapman I know you've appeared prior though it's been a while. If you could just please give the board with the benefit of summary of your qualifications and background, please.
Yes. Uh I'm a principal with the firm of Mcdana and Ray Associates. Uh my field of specialty is traffic engineering. I'm a licensed professional engineer in the state of New Jersey. Uh I've been conducting traffic studies for uh 38 years for various types of developments
as well as reviewing traffic studies on behalf of the planning and zoning boards that I represent and I've been accepted uh in Edison Township as well as many others. You drew this short straw this evening because we usually have Mr. Ray here, but we'll accept you. You may proceed. Thank you, Mr. Chair. That's very fun.
Uh Mr. Trout, good evening. Uh I know that you uh prepared and filed with our application uh I think it was your letter traffic impact study of February 17 2025. Is that correct? Yes.
Okay. And Mr. Chairman just so the board's aware. So when we had the various TRC meetings, it was recommended both uh by your professional engineer and planner that we undertake this traffic impact study in addition to the
parking generation study which Mr. Lever had testified. So just to put this in context, uh Mr. Chair, can you just bring the microphone a little? I'm sorry. Thank you so much. No, no, my apologies. Um Mr. Croutman. So, if you could take us through the uh the traffic impact study and the results
of that as it relates to the proposed uh food market and what your conclusions were. That would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Yes. Um, as you've already heard, this is basically a a retail to retail tenant change uh with no no expansion of retail
square footage and therefore no significant uh impact to tra the traffic that's historically uh existed at the property. Um the police had the police review had requested this report and uh
once they reviewed it, they did sort of confirm that finding and sign off in their uh letter of July 10th where uh they stated that the proposed plan does not directly affect traffic flow. And that makes sense because again retail
for retail um no no change in what's historically happened uh in this parking lot except a lot of good things I think in terms of traffic coming with uh being able to fix some stuff on the site as Mr. Lieber had mentioned. Um we're going
to improve the control of access off of Lincoln Highway by closing off a connection uh to the adjoining property that comes in kind of at the corner of the site. that'll be closed and the site will be self-contained and the parking will uh not cross over into the other
property. Um in addition, Greenwood Avenue has uh two kind of undefined openings. Uh we will remove one of those and make the other one a two-way opening uh with proper signage and traffic
control there. Um, we will be improving the existing loading conditions uh at the site by um removing the truck loading from Greenwood Avenue and relocating it to a loading area that's on the property. Um and there are some
some minor dimensional nonconformities I would call them uh that are all existing conditions but the site has been functioning uh with the dimensions that out there in the field and um overall we believe that the on-site traffic flow conditions will be improved with this
application. Um the driveways and the on-site traffic circulation uh pattern are adequate for site generated vehicles to safely enter and exit the site and to access the parking spaces and um the reoccupancy of the building does not
produce a detrimental traffic impact to the area. Uh thank you Mr. Trap. So just if I could ask you to summarize. So, as noted in your report, uh after you did the uh you did this the study, including the
trip generation analysis, uh you concluded, and just wanted you to put that on the record, that the reoccupancy of this retail building would not generate a significant increase in traffic and would not have a noticeable impact on the intersection of Route 27 and Planefield Avenue. Is that
your testimony? Yes, that's correct. Okay. Thank you very much, Mr. Brown. Did you want to add anything else? So, you think you've covered everything? I think I've covered everything. Okay. Very good. Mr. Chairman, I don't have any further questions, Mr. Trapman, but you and your board members and or your professionals might have some questions.
Board have any questions, Mr. Trapman? Mr. Chair, Mr. Question. Um, so from the the proposed supermarket to 27, there's going to be signage saying no left turn on 27. Yes, that was one of the uh stipulations from the last hearing, and that's in Mr.
Liieber's letter. Correct. Okay. And you're going to have one sign or two signs there? I don't believe it's been designed yet. Do you have a preference? We can If you could have, you know, double signs, that would be beneficial to prevent. Correct. That's a busy intersection and I'm sure people would avoid to
make that left turn. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Traman. Did you do any type of analysis as to how many you can't it's hard to predict the future, but how many cars will be exiting via the um Route 27
exit versus the Greenwood Avenue. heading on 27 northbound versus heading on 27 southbound. Uh I I didn't except to to note that um typically the the uh the main roadway you would want to get to is Lincoln
Highway. So I'd expect the majority of that volume would uh choose to enter onto Lincolnwood Highway leaving the site. Okay. All right. Thank you. Any other questions, Mr. Chapman? Seeing none. Thank you very much. Thank you uh Mr. Chairman.
Thank you. Uh Mr. Chairman, as I indicated previously, so uh we were going to bring Mr. Liieber back up to just review the uh and provide the justification for the
variances which as Mr. Bignell noted are pre-existing nonconformity. But uh as noted in Mr. Big Nell's memorandum of July 22nd. He uh would was requesting that um
testimony be provided uh on the statutory uh proved to support the devariance which in this case is the floor area ratio deviation as well as the uh testimony relative to the substantial detriment to the public good
and the sub substantial impairment of the promulgated land use policies of the township. should the variances be granted? So, I'm going to ask Mr. Liieber to go through the planning, justification, and analysis for those uh variances as I indicated, which are
pre-existing nonconformities. So, um so at this point, Mr. Lieber would be testifying as our planner. Okay. So, and he's been he's been sworn and qualified, so he's ready to go. My license is still active. Oh, thank you. I'm glad that
nothing's changed in the past 20 minutes. Nope. So, Mr. Mr. Lieber, if you would please, you know, identify the pre-existing non-conforming variances, which would be the majority of the C variances. And then, of course, we have the four area ratio DV variance. So, if you would go through those and then provide your
planning, justification, and analysis, that would be appreciated. Thank you. All right. So, we're dealing with a property that has triple frontage, uh, which is a little difficult because you have three front yards. Uh, so the first non-conformity is front yard setback.
The zone requires 30 feet. This is the GB zone, by the way. And there's five feet existing. That's a condition that would be be remaining. Uh maximum percent of building coverage. GB zone limits 25%. We calculate 39 12% again
that would be remaining. Uh the building height, the zone limits twotory or 30 feet. We do have a one-story building, but we're about 35 feet. So that's again another existing condition that would rain. And finally the maximum floor area
ratio GB zone limits 0.25 we calculate 39. Uh and to be practical the only way to really cure these non-conformities would be to demolish part of the buildings on this property. Um I just don't think that that's a feasible approach because they are existing.
They've been existing for a number of years. Uh and as well they've been existing with full occupancy. So, you've heard numerous testimony regarding um potential and anticipated trip generation, the availability of off- streetet parking on the parking lot
that's there today. The mix of the tenants versus what their hours operation are and our parking study which was done on this property to evaluate how many spaces those other tenants require versus what we're going to be needing for this use. On top of the fact that we calculated that the
peak parking demand for the SAM ash was actually higher than the use that's proposed. Um when we look at these F variances and the board deliberates this type of a request um we usually you know have to demonstrate that this property can
accommodate the typically uh anticipated problems that would be associated with a higher floor area ratio. And really what is a floor area ratio? It's another limit in land use to control intensity. So it's to reduce and limit the amount of floor area which is then divided by
your lot area which comes up with a ratio. So again we're at 39 uh 0.25 is permitted. I actually was unaware Mr. Bignell stated that this was added to the code maybe 10 years ago. I was not aware of that, but uh in my review of
how this site functions, I don't see any problems that would be associated with really just leaving the F the way it is today. Uh the use that's proposed as a permitted use in the zone. Um we're not asking the board to uh
increase the size of these buildings. Um you know, I again I listen to Mr. Troutman's testimony. I don't see any negative traffic impacts associated with the use. We found no negative parking impacts and we also indicated that there
were a number of positives that come along with the application including the removal of the loading in the back, the uh change to the access from the highway as well as the street in the rear, the restriping of the parking lot, the installation of ADA improvements, um
additional landscaping, um new sidewalk in the back, new trash enclosure, um things of that nature. Those to me are all positives. I uh again I don't see any detriment so to say that you would typically find with an increase in
F. Um and again it is an existing condition. It would just remain as it is today uh for this use which is again a permitted use. Thank you uh Mr. Lever for that uh analysis on the variances uh sought. Uh
Mr. Chairman, with that I will turn it back to you or your board members and your professionals if you have any questions for Mr. Liieber on the planning testimony. Does the board have any questions, Mr. Lieieber, with regard to the planning testimony? Okay. Thank you very much, Mr. Lieieber. Thank you,
Chairman. Before we I just wanted to clarify just to for the record. So, uh, as Mr. Liieber noted, um, did review Mr. Liieber's revised uh uh turning radius plan and he did submit a
letter of September 11th, 2025, which I I know your staff has and I believe was provided to you, but I just wanted to make a note for the record that that letter was submitted to the board and he found that proposed site plan to be suitable and acceptable under the New
Jersey Uniform Fire Code regulations. Yes. Thank you. We received and thank you for putting that in the record. Uh, Mr. Chairman, we don't have any further direct any further direct testimony at this point with our witnesses. I presume you're going to open up to the public, but but at this
point, we will uh allow you to proceed. Thank you very much. Okay. So, we'll now open to the public. Uh, so we will start within residents within 200 feet of subject site. If you're within 200 feet of the subject site, you received a notice via certified mail. Uh residents will receive six minutes uh for any
commentary on the application. You are allowed to ask questions of the applicant and the applicant's professionals. Um the board asks that any questions are asked prior to commentary. So once commentary begins, the timer will begin. So even if you know you ask a question, you say, "Well, I don't agree with that." Well, you just
commented, your timer will begin. Um so we will start within 200 feet. Anyone within 200 feet, sir? Sir, would you raise your right hand? Do you slely swear or affirm to tell the whole truth, nothing but the truth to help you God? I do. And state your full name for the record, providing your address.
Eric Helders, H Ls, 119 Hillrest Avenue in Edison. Thank you, Mr. Helers. You may proceed. Well, I have a couple of questions. Uh, first, Mr. How many parking spots again were there
total in that? I'm sorry, Mr. Libra. I'm going to need to get you on my microphone. There are 63 parking spaces. That include the one that will disappear when you have to extend the fence for the garbage. No, that results in one spot lost. So,
it's going to be 62. Okay. And does that include the one that I believe they discussed for the trucks for delivery that you would have to set aside for that? Yes, that's accounted. Okay. So,
I have no problem with this building being used for what they're asking. I'll probably go there myself and get good fresh uh fruits and vegetables. However, uh I do have questions about the parking
and how many people will wind up parking on the streets and especially in front of our house on Greenwood and the beginning of portion of Hillrest. Um when you did your traffic your parking study, did you
do anything besides sit in the Aldi's parking lot and count cars? Yes, we counted cars on this property as well. Um, the reason we did that is because this building is vacant right now. So, it was an opportunity to actually get the true number of spaces
that are being used for the other tenants on the property. That's good because I did the same thing. What were your averages, if I may ask, Monday through Friday and then Saturday because most of the businesses there are closed on Sunday.
Uh, give me one second. So the way we had done this is we looked to count the utilized parking space on this property during the anticipated peak hour of the food store. So we had selected that that was between noon and 2 pm on a Saturday. Um, and we found that the peak parking
in the lot was 17 cars at 12:45 p.m. So, we didn't go Monday to Friday and count every day. We looked to overlap the proposed peak time of the food store. That's how we did that. Well, consider and I live two houses
over from it. Monday through Friday, the average was 13.9 vehicles. Mhm. And uh on Saturday, I can't say it was exactly 12:45. I averaged 20.5 cars from those.
Um did you take into consideration any of the local demographics, cultural shopping habits which differ from Aldi's uh main constituents, density of other Asian food markets, um parking capacity and demand at those
existing markets, things like that, because any I understand you're trying to compare places that don't serve deli meats and things like that. However, if you go to HMart, if you go to Camman, if
you go to any of the other Asian food markets, notice one thing act. And it's because Asian community shops differently than the white community.
They shop every single day to get fresh food for their table. While people shopping at Aldi generally make one trip a week, maybe two trips a week. It is completely different. Did you spend time at HMart just counting
the number of people who go in, not even the cars? There will be people parking on the street. So, I I I really have a two-part response to this. Um, and I also want to consult with Mr. Troutman. The witness
here seems to have a peculiar knowledge of the shopping habits of the Asian community, which there are no authoritative studies that I've come across doing this type of work that um, discern food stores are broken out by any kind of culture or anything like
that. I do want to ask Mr. Troutman if he's ever seen a study of that nature. Um to me I if you have that type of study I would be interested in reading it but I have never come across anything like that. So that's the first part of my answer. The second part of my answer is going to ask Mr. Troutman if he's
ever come across that. M behind the microphone. There's no study for that that factor. Okay. Thank you Mr. Just so you know, you have one minute left. Thank you. Uh the second is the traffic. I guess
that would go to Mr. Troutman. Um we could share. One thing I ask that would be added to this since I don't have a lot of time to speak would be simply is there a way to direct traffic left out of the parking
lot lot onto Greenwood? Uh because as it is to avoid the traffic light, people already cut down Greenwood and then up has a lot of children. Mike, please. Bill Crest has a lot of children. Uh they play in the street, they play on
the front lawns. Uh we already have quite a bit of traffic to avoid that traffic light. And especially since they made the turn off of Greenwood onto Planefield a right turn only, they traffic is only increased. So when they
leave that parking lot, I believe they will zigzag onto Hillrest to get down to Renion and on where there will be less traffic trying to get out onto the road and less people trying to get onto Route 27 because you know how that road is
right there at the traffic light. So um I I I I've looked at the traffic circulation in this area. I mean it's this is historically retail. So whatever whatever
activity has historically occurred would continue to occur. Uh the one thing I did notice was that uh probably should be able to make a right out of Greenwood in case you wanted to go north on 27 so
you work your way up to the next traffic light because if you go left on Greenwood can't get to the traffic light. You can only turn right. So for for positive flow in both directions on 27, make a right directly out of the site on
the 27 or you would use Greenwood, not Hillrest, but Greenwood to go further up to Stony and use that traffic light. So that I think that's more positive circulation than further restricting
Greenwood, which can be my main worry is traffic that this don't anticipate again property added traffic to Hillrest because if you
want back to 27. You don't need to use property needing to use [Music] Thank you very much. Anyone else within 200 ft of sub want to be heard? You bring that microphone closer to you. Ma'am, would you raise your right hand?
Do you solemnly swear or affirm to tell the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes. Yes, I do. And state your full name and provide your address. My name is Qu Lamb. Q U Y NH H last name L A M Lamb. I'm a resident 118 Hugas
Avenue, first house behind the store. Oh, my concern is um the store is too close to the the traffic, you know. Uh that's the best part for the always have a people always make a a a turn bad turn
and then always cause a lot of accident. So if they have a store open then will be cause more traffic and also I'm not try to come to accuse the Asian Asian people drive they don't look at the side
because so many time I walk and and I I saw the Asian people even they say do not uh only left turn only uh right turn only they still turn left and then I even stopped them I said excuse me do you it's no left turn you only goes
right, they don't care. They just go. So, I'm not trying to accuse Asian because I am Asian. I know a lot of them don't like and also I'm concerned about um the parking because
if they only got 62 parking then will be they will pick they will parking in front of my house. So there will be always I don't have uh pix space you know if you can do 24hour 7 day a week
uh no parking only resident only I will be fine with that chairman I don't want to take time out for let me just let me just see if she's she's done with her time and then then you respond no it's okay it's okay if you if you um if you are done Mr. Hillman does have something but you may be but you still have time if you want
to want to continue I'm done I'm done all right Mr. human. Uh, Mr. Chairman, I think you recall that uh, Sergeant Winters, traffic control coordinator of course for the police department did issue a letter to
the board July 10th and he indicated that it should be noted to the board that the that this to the applicant that this entire residential area behind the property is residential parking permit only. Any intention for overflow parking in this area will not be allowed due to
this. So, uh, no one will be allowed to, you know, unless you're unless you have a resident parking permit, you would not be allowed to park behind the property. And Sergeant Winters indicated that in his memorandum. Okay. Thank you. And I would just want to recre the record. I drive about
18,000 miles a year and I walk 3 miles a day and there are bad drivers of all races, religions, creeds, sex, no matter where you go. Uh, so I just wanted to make the record clear on that one. Uh, anyone else within 200 feet of subject site wanted to be heard?
Anyone outside of 200 feet wanted to be heard? Sir, would you raise your right hand? Do you solemnly swear or tell the whole truth, nothing but the truth to help you go? Yes. Your full name. Provide your address. My name is Bobby Chong, C H U N G. My
address is 126 Hillrest Avenue. I pretty much agree with everything that my neighbor has said so far. And also I just want to correct the the parking situation and the limitation of the parking for resident only for our streets particularly. Uh it's only in effect during Monday to Friday and on
weekends is I think all Yeah. Wait. No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry ma'am. He only he could speak. Oh, sorry. I think on the weekend is free for all at any time. I forgot. But but the the much of the restrictions only exist Monday through Friday and we
do expect a lot more traffic flow during the weekends because most people you know shop on the weekend and uh I just want to you know um make a point that you know this property was used by Sam Ash and I lived there you know for maybe up to 20 years now that I know the
traffic you know the the frequency of customer in Sam Ash is probably not gonna going to compare to what's going to be what's coming right now. I mean, it's going to increase. It has to. And by how much we don't know, I
don't think this there's no significant impact. There's going to be some impact to our streets. And I just want you guys to consider that. Uh I myself have three small childrens across the street of three three small childrens. They all play outside in the front yard. And you know, we try to keep them off the street, but you know, I just worry about
the cars coming in and out, driving really fast through the through the block. Oh, I have. Thank you. Great. Thank you very much, sir. Anyone else uh from outside 200 feet wanting to be heard? Anyone else? Last call wanting to speak.
Can I get a motion to close the public portion? Motion to close public portion. Second. Motion made by Mr. Schneider, second by Mr. Johnny. All in favor signify by saying I. Oppos? Nay. The eyes have it. Public portion is now closed. Um Mr. Hillman, would you like to have summation? Just
remind you we only have one, two, five board members present this evening. So it's your Yes. The only thing before uh I provide any uh summation I at this point it would the applicant believes it's probably best to defer uh taking a vote
on this application for this you know this evening given the fact that you don't have your full compliment and your seven eligible members to vote. So, um, I'm happy to provide a summary, but or we can def. It's your choice. If you want to give a summation tonight, you want to give a summation prior to the vote, that's
that's your choice. I'm not going to force you either way. Uh, before I answer that though, I would just want to defer to my engineer and planner, Mr. Lever. Did you want to did you want to add anything or respond to any of the Well, if you're if you're going to add additional testimony, we'll have to go
back out to the public. So, fair enough. I just wanted No, I understand. I just wanted to know if Mr. believer wanted to respond to any of the comments by the public cuz he was trying to uh I guess respond to some of the information but that's up to the board
if you if otherwise we can we can proceed. Uh I mean he could have done that when he prior to us closing public portion. That's fine. Okay, fair enough. Okay. Uh I have no issue providing uh uh a summation with the understanding that uh
the applicant's asking that this matter would be deferred to a vote at your next uh meeting which I think is in October. Okay. Okay. Um so as you know uh the the applicant uh Asian Fresh of Edison has
applied to the board uh for preliminary and final site plan approval along with the Dvariances and Bulc variances which have been described both in your professional review memorandum and our professional planner uh reviewed in
detail. Uh, and this is to occupy the former Sam Ash music center uh as a retail uh as an Asian retail food market for the and we've identified that for the record. Uh, previously um, as Mr. Lieieber indicated, retail
and personal services uses are permitted in this in the GB zone, the general business district zone. uh and the applicant has reviewed uh all of the professional memorandums in this matter. There's also been several TRC mat uh
meetings and we've I believe addressed the comments and have submitted revised plans addressing uh the comments both of your professional planner and engineer uh and as far as I understand they uh have are satisfied with the
resubmissions regarding the items that were addressed in those letters. Um, as you know from the testimony, the applicant is seeking a devariance for maximum floor area ratio, which is existing non-conformity. And Mr. Liieber
did put uh his planning justifications and uh his analysis on any detrimental impact and concluded to the zone and to the uh area in question and concluded that quite frankly uh it is not a detriment as was requested by Mr. Big
Nell's memorandum to discuss that. In addition, the applicant did do a parking generation report uh and after performing a study of the similar retail stores concluded that the actual uh field studies uh conducted
demonstrate during peak hours typically Saturday and Sunday there's adequate parking would be available at the property. While the while the project necessitates uh a parking variant 68 spaces required where 63 spaces exist,
it appears to be a reasonable request as the tenant mix on the property can function adequately given the total number of available spaces in the in the existing lot. As you heard from our traffic consultant, uh the applicant also submitted a traffic impact report
outlining how the change in use will affect queuing at the intersection and whether the change in use poses any detriments. The report prepared by Mcdana and Ray Associates and testified by Mr. Troutman concludes that the reoccupancy of the existing retail
building will not generate a significant increase in traffic and will not have a noticeable impact on the existing traffic vehicle queuing at the intersection of Route 27 and Planefield Avenue. You also heard testimony from our architect, Mr. Chen. He went through
the details of the proposed uh facade modifications and the signage and did testify as to those improvements. Uh so with that said, obviously I indicated that we're going to uh defer this uh at a at a later meeting for a vote, but um
we would ask that the applicant um the application be reviewed favorably. Also, as I indicated, uh there were several conditions that the applicant has agreed to and they were all set forth in Mr. Liber's September 15th, 2025 report
which outline uh and in many respects were responses to comments both from your engineers and planners report. So with that uh Mr. Chairman, I will conclude my summation. Thank you. Okay, Madam Secretary, how's our calendar looking?
Uh so we can put this on for October 14th for a vote if that's okay. That works for you and your profession. Okay. All right. So, for anyone here present, anyone listening at home, uh this case will be carried till Tuesday, October 14th, uh for a vote
only. Meeting will begin at 700 p.m. here in council chambers. If you received the notice, uh you will not receive another notice. This will serve as your notice. This meeting will be this uh case will be carried until Tuesday, October 15th at 7 p.m. Um and thank you very much. Thank you to members of the public for coming out
this evening. Mr. Chairman, just one point of clarification. So, just so I understand, so the the matter all testimony has been presented. Uh I'm not sure it's necessary to bring our witnesses back that evening, but uh as long as you don't present and and my
my legal my legal counsel can correct me if I'm wrong. You are correct. Yeah, I I would agree. Um and so I presume this matter the the deliberation of the vote would be presumably one of the near first matters that the board would take up at its October 14th
meeting. Correct. Okay. Thank you. Okay. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you, Madam Secretary. Any other business come before the board this evening? That'll be all this evening. Seeing none, can I get a motion to adjurnn? Motion to adjourn. Second. Motion made by Mr. Schneider,
seconded by Mr. Certo. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Those nay. The eyes have it. Board stands adjourn. Thank you everyone. There you go.