good evening everyone uh welcome to the April 17 2025 meeting of the uh Head and Heights Planning Board this meeting is being held in accordance with the Sunshine Laws of the State of New Jersey chapter 145 by Mayor and Council and the Planning Board for official notices
notice of this meeting was posted on the Burough Bulletin board and Burough's website for that purposes for those for those purposes I'm sorry um tennis roll call Suzanne please mr daucus here chairman Hansen here mr
familar here mr madden here mr schmidt here and Mr christie here thank you it appears we have a quorum everybody raise or rise and salute the flag please i pledge algiance 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 all right we have a little bit of administrative business uh this evening before we get to our two cases um the first would be the approval of the uh
minutes of our March 20 2025 meeting is uh everybody had a chance to review those minutes and we have any corrections or comments on them seeing none and entertain a motion to approve i move to approve
i'll second all in favor i Any opposed any abstensions all right next uh next is uh I thought we had a resolution we have that resolution it's not I must have the old agenda i'm sorry we have a
resolution for the case last month i don't think I have it oh there it is i'm sorry it's in the agenda package i'm sorry this is a resolution for uh case number 25-3-1P and it was uh front sideyard setback variances at uh 1501 Oak AB
block 104 lot 23 timothy Ton Chuchin was the applicant has everybody had a chance to review the resolution uh any questions or comments on the resolution seeing none I entertain a motion to approve i move to approve the
resolution i'll second any questions or comments on the motion seeing none uh roll call suzanne mr dulkus yes mr hansen yes mr famar yes mr schmidt yes and Mr christie
yes motion passes um at this time we'll open the meeting to uh public comments not related to a specific case if you'd like to come up and address the board or professionals uh regarding anything outside of our uh published agenda this evening come forward now if you want to
speak on one of the cases we'll actually have uh public comment uh specific to each one of those cases you'll have a chance to speak when we hear the individual cases this evening but if you have any other comments please come forward we'll have our solicitor swear you in seeing none we'll close that portion of the meeting um I just want to
go to other business real quick so that I don't forget this at the end of the meeting uh you should have gotten an email from uh Kelly Santao our clerk with the information necessary to file your uh financial disclosure statements and those are due on uh April 30th I believe it is and uh if you don't file
them I think you you're able to be fined and or the bureau can be fined so uh if you haven't done that yet please please uh see to it before the 30th and with that we'll uh is there any questions or comments about that everybody knows what they got to do right okay uh we'll move
on to new business uh first case this evening is uh case number 25-3-2P and that's uh Steven Barespi 11:01 Sycamore Street block 69 lot 32 come forward we'll have our uh solicitor
swear you in mr bares and Mr chairman I'm just going to be asked to be sworn at the beginning of the meeting for the whole meeting if I may by the solicitor okay you please raise your right hand do you swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to provide is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes yes thank you all right relax steve do you think it would be uh useful to have you go through the uh review letter and uh I think we can get a lot of the information we're looking for thank you i refer the board to our March 13 2025
letter uh the application is for a bulk variance and gritty approval to install a new inground pool spa and a foot six foot high privacy fence at uh uh the applicant's existing dwelling uh 101 sycamore uh refer everyone to our page
two in terms of uh our u bulk variance and our variance analysis we note in our review several existing non-conform conformities uh that are not going to be exacerbated by this application but we want to note them in the application so the applicant is vested going forward uh
the applicant is really here for relief for the six foot high fence it's my understanding even though the pool grading plan shows a 4ft high fence it's a six foot high fence that you're looking to propose on your corner property correct thank you will you are did you get a copy of our review letter
i did yes and I spoke with Karen verbally perfect um the uh that's the one point of testimony steve I don't mean to interrupt you but I just want to note that uh Chris Phillips is here and we'll bring him up to the Dis um we all right with him proceeding with this case
or Yes no we missed the very very beginning we're on the first case uh Chris okay steve's just going through his letter so you've seen that so Okay so I understand you spoke with Karen Weiss in my office
the original application was two feet behind the side what would that would be in the public right away that we can't do that and then also there's a a long-standing recommendation um especially along the traveled way and especially where driveways are in place
to have it 14.5 feet from the face of the curb and Karen walked you through that that would generally just put you right behind your property line yes and you're acceptable to that yeah and he was uh five and a half feet from the sidewalk that's what it that's what appears to scale out to be so instead of
two feet he we're we're consenting to 5 and 1/2 ft from the sidewalk we're just going to say 14.5 ft from the face of the curb okay and that gives clear sight distance not only for traveling motorists but also for you backing up and going into your driveway so you go
back up and not get all the way out on the sidewalk but still be able to see what's going on and the only other uh condition recommendation um was a sill fence uh on the western elite property line when you uh have the pool in your pool the person that did your pool
grading plan could add that sense yes I think that was already taken care of i I don't have the revision but maybe it's being taken care of but that's the only other recommendation with that uh in essence the variance that they're seeking here is on a corner property to have a privacy fence and in essence
fence in what is being used as the rear yard uh and then u the purp also they're requiring a fence because they're putting in a pool so instead of putting a 4ft high fence set back in line with
the front of the uh the frontage facing on Lake Street uh they're going to go out uh 14.5 ft or generally around 2 feet behind the property line on Lake Street in essence that's the application and relief requested so it's pretty
pretty uh similar to to other applications that we It's very similar to many other corner properties that we have uh it does uh the uh principal structure does front on Sycamoremore so
with without that fencing the uh the the backyard in essence is almost cut in half if you had to comply fully with the ordinance but I believe that the uh 14.5 ft off the face of the curb provides
uh the clear visual sight distances that would make that fence location appropriate that's what we've asked for in the past standard that we've been following for many many years um and in in essence and maybe the
solicitor the the you the reason you need this fence is well for both my daughter and my dogs right and it's required for a pool isn't it it's required for a pool but you're you're fencing off your pool and also you want some privacy fence for
enjoyment of uh of what you consider and what you use as your backyard is the fence going to be like a white lime fence uh no it was going to be a wooden a cedar fence woods cedar fence yeah similar to the other two on the
block um at 11:33 Sycamore you said you're amendable to everything in Steve's letter all the suggestions or the comments okay no so one had a grading on the grading plan that had a lower fence around the pool which they typically put at 42 in
which required by code but it's always going to be one fence six foot high privacy fence of wood cedar fence exactly yeah so it's approximately I believe you measured it about 5t behind the sidewall yes
yeah 14.5 from the face of the curb so with that I have nothing further unless there's any questions and the fence will go all the way around the around the yard correct correct the pool including that's the side yes
it's coming off the back of the garage there and on the back property line okay and there's no issue with street only so if you refer to the application materials with that dark line so dark line is what is being represented as proposed fence as amended here this
evening with the testimony of the applicant steve I have a question um can you explain I I don't know if I misheard you but um my note said without the fence the yard would be cut in half did I hear that and the uh if they uh installed the
fence to the front yard setback the fenced area of the back of what they're using as the backyard would be approximately 50% it would be right here that fence would run from it would have to come to the front of the house because this is the front yard so it can't be any Yeah it can't be any further out from the front of the house
by ordinance that's 70 foot wide it would cut it rough and left yeah yeah it would cut 40% off minimum I would say are there any trees do you have to take down any trees to make that work i saw
there were some trees and bushes in that sideyard i don't think with so with the original setback based on the ordinance I would have to remove a big maple tree okay with the 5 and 1/2 foot there doesn't appear to be any cool trees
okay anything else from the board all right since there's nothing further from the board uh we're going to open this uh case up for public comment if anybody wants to come forward and ask questions or uh make a comment on the application come forward we'll have our solicitor swear in and hear what you
have to say okay come come right over here young man so we can have the microphone pick you up hello your name for the record and your address uh Lee Whitaker my wife Pam Whitaker is here 1027 Sycamore okay if you raise your right hand do you
swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to provide is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes thank you go ahead Mr whitaker okay uh my wife and I moved into town many years ago but before we did that and purchased our home we looked at many
towns around and we remember going through all the towns not all the towns but many of them in the surrounding area and thinking I guess they don't have any zoning in this town or no one's enforcing it in this town but that
wasn't the case in Haden Heights there were no surprises everyone has to follow the rules in fact uh we put up a new shed just a couple years ago it was too close to the property line and uh it was all set and someone came by and said
"That's too close to the property line you're going to have to move it." We didn't try to get a variance we just moved the shed because and our neighbor was fine with where it was but if he ever moved out then we would be in
violation okay um we um we have friends uh we are we are against changing the zoning uh and um and and having u someone come in and and I couldn't hear exactly because we're facing that way
maybe it's maybe the the plans have changed a little bit but we we are against having a variance of a 6- foot high fence close to the pavement i couldn't hear exactly if if that has changed right now the the applicant did
agree to move it back to a 14 1/2 ft from the face of the curb so that uh adequate sight distances can be observed for people for motorists and it's called a sight triangle it's uh governed as Steve would tell you by the AASHTO American Association of State
Highway and Transportation officials who set those standards to make sure that these things are safe and uh so the the applicant did agree to move the fence in roughly four more feet so it would be 14 1/2 ft from the face of the curb so
originally the application was to have uh the six foot high fence right at the back of the sidewalk so now from the applic the wide grass strip that's there now okay and so you'd have a grass strip from curb to sidewalk and approximately
the same distance of a grass strip or planting strip whatever they put in there to the six foot high fence okay and and the reason that the reason that we see these we see these applications quite often because we don't allow the fences to be further out than your house line in the front of your house because
we don't want fences in front yards and the problem that we run into with these corner properties Mr whitaker is that our ordinance defines both streets lake whether that's his that's really his sideyard in in practicality but our b our burough ordinance defines that as a
front yard so he's here so that he by ordinance he would have to have that fence all the way in against his house which if he's putting a pool in and and uh wants to use his yard it cuts off about half of his yard so in a lot of these I don't know how we're going to vote this evening because every case is
different and there's different circumstances but we've allowed these fences to be closer to the roadway to allow people to utilize their their properties better on a corner property now if he didn't have the side street there he could he we would be able to run the fence out all the way to his
property line basically but corner property is a little different i'm going to ask Miss Wher have you seen the application materials um not recently but we did originally you did so yes this is this is Sycamore so there's no fencing around the primary house at the
back of the house on the part that's facing lake okay the fence would come out from the back of the house go down the lake and that would be 5t behind the sidewalk it would stop before the and go around towards the garage and then in the rear and the side here would be the
six foot high fence all this is permitted on the side and the rear the variance is only to have a six foot high fence along Lake Street okay but there's no fencing around the corner on the corner of Sycamore and Lake or around the front the front of
the boundary structure how close would this six foot high fence be to the sidewalk pop out 5T so 5T 5T from the back of the sidewalk so curb the sidewalk 5T approximately 4T sidewalk and then approximately five feet of
green before the fence starts okay which is different than what was originally okay all right i'm I'm just um concerned about anything affecting our value our house value and any of the values in this town because that's what uh drove
us to Haden Heights after looking at other towns and saying "All right this is a place that we would like to live." Um so and we have a a friend who lives at 8 and Garden on that side street there they have a pool they have a
special edge uh child and uh they have a they have a fence but you don't even notice the fence because it's a black like a row iron kind of a fence and they they had to follow the uh the rules in town so um we are just uh against
changing any rules of the zoning board uh because of whatever reasons i think what you have to understand is I appreciate your concerns and we all appreate your concerns but he's not changing the rules okay he's allowed to be here and ask for that relief and the
people that you're me that you're talking about that were on a they actually had to come here and ask for the same thing they asked for the same form of relief they just chose a different style fence than what your neighbors choose right and and you know
I would even say that the cedar fence is is very aesthetically pleasing compared to like what one of my colleagues asked about about a white vinyl fence i don't necessarily like the white vinyl fence it's not that we're not right it stands out right we look at but
again that everyone has to go through the same process when you're putting in a whole Oh I I understand that i understand there were a number of neighbors that were here that feel the same way last time but they didn't get a chance we didn't get a chance to speak they're not here tonight but I'm just
telling you how we feel that's all is there any fence in particular or is it you're just against giving out variances to anything or No I uh anything that's going to stick out and uh and cause neighbors to say that really shouldn't
have been allowed that's all but I I see u I see your point and uh I see things have changed from what it was before steve can I ask you a question as a as a professional planner you are a professional planner yes I am sir um do
you have you ever read anything about reducing housing values for for fences in this and actually I was I would caution the board you're not allowed to take that in consideration in terms of a land use application so the
the you really have to you look at the deviations in terms of the negative impacts versus the positive impacts and as the property is particularly suited so this is a corner property so economics cannot fall oh I know that we
cannot bring that into it and I'm sorry sir that's that's municipal land use law but it's really what is what is uh what is particular about this property what's particular about this property is the corner lot and how the house was built and how it's been utilized in essence
pro for 40 some odd years that the area between the back of the house and the garage has been the yard area it has a very small front yard very small sideyards and the back area is really the only usable yard area for what
typically people do with residential and enjoy them with their outdoor activities their pets and their kids suzanne can you uh let the record reflect that Councilwoman Haron has arrived yes so hope that I answered your question yeah and that's all I I needed to say i
wanted to give my opinion on what was happening i appreciate we appreciate you coming out and and and being heard this evening always like to hear what the neighbors have to say we always weigh that in consideration when we're making decisions here and last last time what was it two weeks ago you would have but
that that didn't happen unfortunately we had the issue we couldn't hear him because of the public I think it was a public notice issue wasn't it yes one of the one of the neighbors said they didn't get the or apparently didn't receive the public so we we couldn't legally hear them right i understand
okay anything further Mr whitaker no I'm I'm fine of that and things have changed a little bit since uh last time okay great thanks for coming out okay thank you thank you but uh anybody else from the public like to speak on the matter
seeing none we'll close a public portion any other any further questions or comments from any board members i have a question maybe we uh if I can ask question again the the the cedar fence it's going to be a six foot high cedar fence what is going to be uh the
treatment of the top is it going to be pickets or is it going to be straight across picket so it's going to be pickets and how wide are the boards going to be i don't have that information off the top of my head okay i believe it was in
the original application but Well then give me a moment i'll probably be able to find it is there going to be space towards um at the top i believe there's space but not so I mean it's it's plank i mean I guess there's like probably like a half an
inch or so in between um so I don't think they're right up against each other there was no information on the the fence itself um and the only other uh thing is uh no you're understanding that the requirement is that good size good side
of the fence the part without the structure especially on a wood fence has to go to the outside correct okay that's all I have it it starts getting into aesthetics yeah you know it is I I'm a very large
proponent of property rights uh people get to uh you know the variance that we're uh under consideration here is for the height and the location right we really usually don't get into
recommendation as to the materials of the fence unless it's an objectional material like corrugated metal or something like that but if it's a typical fence material uh that's commercially available like cedar with the pickets and uh it's a solid fence we
wouldn't really get into any additional recommendations and if this and if the applicant had complied completely with the land use laws we would have no say whatsoever in what the material is correct correct so if if as the ordinance requires for a
six foot high fence it would have to go all the way to the uh Lake Street frontage and they could put a six foot high fence right from the back corner what the the back corner that's Jason Lake Street pretty much almost right to the
garage and have that in without any variances but again that would remove you know you know it would still look the same it would just be further back correct it I would say that uh in consideration of uh the application the board can
consider the uh uh particular nature of this property being a corner property with two front yards as required by our ordinance that's all I have anybody else um you want to outline a possible motion yeah sure board's consideration
Elena sure so the applicant is seeking um a variance for the fence location um the application has changed a bit so it will be 14.5 feet from the face of the curb um they are requesting a bulk C
variance and from some of the positive and negative criteria that we heard tonight um it sounds like it um the board could potentially consider that it would qualify for a bulk C um C1 variance and especially um as Steve
mentioned especially because it's on a corner property um that it would be a hardship to the applicant to meet the zoning ordinance would anybody like to make a motion i will um first I am similarly situated with you i have a corner property i did
come in front of this board many years ago and I understand what you're going through with this um I do know that there's and because of that hardship I will um recommend or I'm making a motion to accept the application with the conditions of Mr box letter as well as
memorializing any of the pre-existing non-conforming uh uses that are on the property any questions or comments on the motion seeing none roll call suzanne um Mr schmidt yes mr daucus yes mr
famore yes mr madden yes chairman Hansen yes mr christie yes mr phillips sorry Mr we were We were going to have uh Kate I shouldn't
mention that recused since she missed the majority of the hearing looks like motion passes your projects approved um I'll give you the same caveat that we give all the approvals is that uh next meeting or next month when we have our meeting we'll do a resolution that'll
memorialize what was the terms of your approval this evening and then once that's done assuming we vote on the resolution next month uh the notice of that decision will be published in the newspaper and once that happens once it's published in the newspaper there's a 45day appeal period where somebody
could technically appeal your decision if you go forward with your project before that uh your permits and everything you go forward with your project before the appeal period has expired you'd be doing so under your own risk that if the it was appealed and overturned that you would have to remove
the improvements that's that's it you're luck with your project cool thank you all thank you appreciate it okay we have one more case this evening and that's uh case number 25-3-3P uh Terrence Tracy 423 Bradshaw
Avenue block 4 uh lot 1.09 i believe it's impervious coverage for a uh expanded driveway apron come forward just like last applicant we'll have you sworn in sir okay you raise your right hand do you swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to provide is the
truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i think again we'll have uh Mr bach go through his review letter with you and that should uh give the board most of the information and satisfy a lot of the questions okay thank you the uh we refer the board to
our March 13 2025 review uh the applicant is proposing uh bulk variance to increase the width of their driveway uh for their existing building uh located at 423 Bradshaw two variances would be required uh one is the actual
width of the driveway where a 14 foot wide maximum is permitted within our ordinance and the applicant is proposing 20 ft and the second variance would be a lot variance for maximum lot coverage 30% is provided in uh as allowable in
our ordinance existing is 31% it would bring it to 32.3% uh we do know in our review letter that uh the uh disturbance is going to be less than 500 square feet so no grading uh plan would be required and
also note that apparently uh based on the existing grades that the increase of the impervious areas from 31 to 32.3% um and the way the ground currently slopes and the applicant can
uh I I will ask the applicant to confirm this that where they're putting that extension of the driveway will not negatively impact uh storm water on the adjacent neighboring properties is that correct that is correct and considering the diminous amount of increase we're not and the location of it and the
topography we're not going to ask for any kind of storm water attenuation the adjacent property it's going to drain right out to where where it's draining to now and okay I would have no objection plus we're under the 500 you know even a plant so Steve um what about
the street tree street tree that's in the way of the expansion of drive wait is that street tree in the curb strip yes that should not be impacted it
is in the curb strip yes yeah so am I correct that you're going to keep your Are you going to be able to do this without impacting taking out that tray no I think we will need to take that tray okay you got an issue street you're you're allowed to take out
street trees but you're going to have to get uh permission from the shade tree shade tree commission for the replacement of the tree did the state just stop something about trees no that doesn't really apply to single family dwellings or single family property does in the Heights ordinance because we
already had a shade tree commission oh so it's had an existing provision um okay any removal of a shade tree in the public right away you're going to have to seek uh approval from the shade tree commission and they're most likely going
to require and I don't have a calculation off hand a compensatory planting of trees it's not the same diameter but based on the diameter it may be one uh much smaller tree or two smaller trees but that's something you're going to have to get through the shade tree commission okay does the
health of the tree heights affect that at all you're you're allowed to take that unfortunately there's no provision in the Han Heights ordinance about having uh exemptions meaning a debt or dying tree you're allowed to take down one a year or five a year like other I
mean we're in the process of reviewing the ordinance and drafting the giving some exceptions yeah like other ones but right now I don't believe we have the exception correct so you need permission regardless of the trade and so but did you did you look into
what about the issue with your question about it looks like more expansion patio that yeah so what we did is we kind of we always look at the aerials and we try to calculate based on the aerial we
believe it's 31% plus or minus based on the aerial imagery but what We did some question on whether some of this stuff was permitted correct so the survey I just wanted to point that out the survey that was submitted doesn't include all the
improvements that are visible on aerial imagery but the 31% is what we calculated ourselves uh as being the uh existing impervious that's why it's plus or minus so I do not believe that we're
exceeding we're still under 2% of new block coverage and new impervious area but we noted that just for the record that it it doesn't look exactly what's represented on the survey so if if if you if you wanted I could
generally describe Mr mor I could generally describe what's different from on the survey there's a shed in the back corner of the property on the uh north north northwest back corner and there's a a patio um
that I believe is in between the pool and the house that's correct but I got I did get a permit for both of those separately when when we built that deck and did the shed it's just not represented on the survey that's a Yeah that that is a dated Yeah
but the but the numbers that we're talking about here in terms of existing additions and proposed I I I believe are accurate well I don't believe they are accurate yes i think the issue
is Steve I would refer to you in terms but I I would suggest this that it it would be a condition of approval i was going to say the same thing if if the board is inclined to uh act on this application
this evening and if it's approved uh the condition of approval would be evidence of shade tree commission uh approval and I'm sure the shade tree commissioner would write up they're going to remove x number diameter tree and they're going to put whatever tree or trees back and
generally the location so when you go to them I would bring an aerial and I would bring a copy of your survey and talk to them about the recommendations the other thing I would point out for the applicants uh yeah for the applicant's benefit on the
hats website there is shade recommended shade tree species okay so with the understanding you have to look at the tree replacement ordinance uh most likely you would have to replace uh just without a full calculation
probably two trees but there's many different species that are listed and uh based on this width of your planning strip of which ones would be recommended so it's your home I would suggest you look at what these trees look like so
you would come in and you would suggest to the shade tree commission based on your requirements I'm going to be required to do X and I would like to plant these type of trees which are your prescribed uh treeless trees okay just for clarity if if if we leave that tree
where it is and just expand the driveway and don't change the apron there is that that's correct you wouldn't have to do that so am I okay to just do that yeah so if you wanted to not widen uh any of the paving in the right of way so you
would keep your existing uh driveway apron and then once you get past the sidewalk you wanted to widen out then you wouldn't be removing any trees is that correct correct then you would not have to go to the shade tree commission okay but generally you would still need
the same relief okay you would still need the maximum width of the driveway at 20 feet because you're widened out further on the property and I still think you would probably exceed the maximum 30% but probably in a lesser fashion instead of u instead of being at
uh being at 32% you' probably be just under 32% but you would still need the same relief from this board but if you do not if you do not touch the tree you do not have to go to the shade tree commission and that would not be a condition of approval
okay uh I ideally I would I mean the tree is is dropping limbs like on the on the cars now that's part of the part of the problem so ideally I would probably just proceed to do that and I and and Mr madden can attest to this as well
shri Chaitri Commission is I believe a very reasonable board uh in my opinion I meaning that if you we've gotten more reasonable yeah I believe I believe very reasonable yeah but I believe if if you follow the rules and
that's what I would suggest look at what that rule book is okay you know um then I would do that and then in the alternative say for instance and madam solicit there's a few here say for instance you cannot work out with the shade tree commission i would suggest
that we leave it up the board would leave that for the applicant to come back to the board that would be because it would just be eliminating part of the proposal if we approve it both ways and go to the chain tree commission you're just taking you're doing less than you're approved
for at that point in the alternative so yeah you could the the applicant is proceeding with the application for the full width 20 ft for the entirety of the driveway all the way to the uh curb gutter line in the alter with the uh understanding that a condition of that
approval would be approval from the shade tree commission for the rem for the removal of the tree that would be impacted the shade tree and the alternative at the shade tree commission uh if the applicant the shade commission
cannot agree on an approval then the applicant would keep the width of the driveway all the way through his property line in the public right away the same width it is now wait meeting is um April 23rd
and that way you're either or that was a great suggestion is that yours thank you was a great That was a great suggestion that we don't have to come back and we don't have to go back steve can you repeat um so if the shade tree can't agree on the approval we'll keep the width of the driveway all the way can
you repeat that last part so the width the width of the driveway uh would not the the width of the driveway within the public rightway would not be changed so the existing driveway within the public rightway would not be changed okay and
the driveway would be installed uh up to 20 feet on the on the applicants prop 20 foot wide on the applicants probably but in a manner that would not uh affect the existing shade trade i don't know if that was as good the second time around
but I got it i think that'll be fine i think the first time was better sorry first time's always better your your calculation your calculation for the impervious was just 20 ft apron correct it's only on site we only we only calculate the actual lot coverage on the
property itself the property right so you include the longer piece of the No that would not be that that's not calculated in the lot coverage right but the application we're looking at on the surface the current
application includes all new concrete forens so the the tree would be removed the grass remove the sidewalk but we cannot count the improvements in a right away right it's only our
ordinance only prescribes lot coverage on the property itself okay I understand but I'm just sure because it will extend the driveway correct it would drive extend the driveway yes just a question for the applicant i mean I'm I don't I guess I
don't want to assume anything but why are you um why do you want to widen your driveway can't open the doors on two cars so we can't we can't park two cars in the driveway no and it's not long enough to park two cars from that correct there's a there's
a um there's a little like gardening retaining wall um along the side of the garage you can't open a car door at all there and that's greater than the length of the first car so we can get one car in the garage currently and then there's there's this fun maneuver you can kind of like make to get another car back but
if if it's like off at all you can't get the other car out of the garage and then we're left with no room to park and then the tree in discussion is just like a it's like Angry Birds of throwing you know what kind of tree it is i don't
know i sort but it's uh they throw those balls off of them and then the sticky balls that looks like an oak actually swamp maple or some maple or I don't think I'm not
certain tree that's technical term has told me twice they're cutting it down I didn't mean to do that tomorrow they don't come back excuse me it looks like it would be here correct on the splits the the telephone lines and and the and
the hot power lines like buy for kids i have a question for the applicant this may help this may help with the resolution so would you say that the way your house is cited on the property it creates an unusual condition it's got to be here because Yeah so the angle of the house is it's like on a 45 degree angle
to the corner um so that's kind of why it's like an o it's a really odd apron that you have to kind of climb and then um the roots of that tree um there was some some road work road was redone and the way they kind of like laid the apron is more awkward now they kind of like
scooted it because it wasn't um I think it was just out of convenience to like repave the road quickly um but now it's just kind of like this very odd angle um and then so like during the day all the high school kids park in front of our house and you can't you just can't like
make the turn to get in the way that it is everyone else on my street has 20 feet wide besides me and then we have this weird angle that um I don't know if you can imagine but but it's just like very hard to kind of like angle a car and maneuver in when there's two high school kids parked on both ends of the
driveway it's not perpendicular to straight line you need to get like a full angle to back into it you can't pull forward into that that offset spot because well I can't maybe you can but it's very awkward to maneuver a car that kind of
side spot does that make sense i don't know if I'm articulating that well but yeah the two neighbors I'm going to this we're getting a little technical here too so this thing this the house is on an angle you're saying the driveway is going to be 20 feet and you're going to have that apron come all the way just
straight if even if you come just straight back the width is going to be more than 20 feet at the curve because you're going like this correct no he's parallel it's a it's a it's perpendic
it's parallel to this but it Yeah but yeah you're talking 20 ft okay i just want to make sure we're not gonna make him now have to come in are you saying to the the apron the other corner of the apron so that's what um again I'm
not articulating this well but when they just redid the street they they moved that a little bit the other way so I actually want to bring that back on center because my my 14t now is not direct to my garage it's actually over due to just like um the tree roots well
it was it was out of ease for the guys that just they just redid my road for some pipe water sewer line thing new Jersey American water yeah yeah it it wasn't up so they tore all the curb out and they didn't put it back where it was so it's not a straight shot in a garage
anymore it's It's off a little bit and that's obviously uh you may be able to see the picture but you can't see it again on this old survey because that doesn't really like line up so but your width of your driveway is not going to exceed your w the back of your driveway apron is not going to exceed the width
of your proposed driveway width no so it's still going to line up if that was your question yeah i was just concerned that we're going to say 20 feet and his driveway is 20 feet and it's sideways now you're now you're looking at a at an angle so it's going to be Yeah so it
it'll it'll be I just want to make sure we don't hamstring with it no no no no that's it's a fair question but it's not going to be a a perpendicular line from the street to the anchor house it's going to be a perpendicular line off of the house to the street that's all I have the last depending on
what you want to do today um I would if you if you want to go to the shry meeting next week I would get as much information on that tree go there because they're going to ask a lot is the tree healthy is it not healthy what kind of tree is it they'll have
those types of concerns okay okay take it down but if the tree is not healthy like you're suggesting and you have like an arborist in it or you get we have a town go on the website and ask him to check it out you know you might be able to
give a favor okay um how often do they meet i'm I'm unfortunately out of town at 20 once a month but at the same time like once you you can email there's like a shade tree email you can email your concerns about it and kind of put this what you want to
do in there and then it'll circulated through the members of the committee so even though they only meet once a month they'll be able to look at the trade have our trade and thank you so we get you an answer without having
to have Okay their website and that's her email perfect okay I can do that i can't do next week unfortunately but yeah no that's fine even if you don't have to be there next week we can shoot an email to that oh you're saying they they could we could look at it and talk about it next week
without you yeah it's not a good idea simple they're reasonable but they're not well no steve quick question and do we cover whether a road opening permit would be required uh for the uh road opening permit for driveway is always required
from the town okay any any excavation uh in the rightway is always required okay because it just says may be required so I just wanted to again we don't administer that that goes through uh the the instruction office but I would
suspect that they're widening the apron they're going to have to get a rotor apron what was that any more questions or comments from the board we'll open it up for public public comment and close it for public comment
since there's nobody here um bring it back for a possible motion so the motion would cover um the fact that the applicant is requesting um two variances one for lot coverage and one
for the um width of the driveway apron applicants proposing 20 feet instead of 14 feet um we did discuss I think quite a few reasons that um the applicant would be requesting a bulk um C1 variance for hardship um
especially because of the positioning of the driveway um in light of the fact that the house is at a 45 degree angle um there are you know a lot of high school students that park in front of the house um the way that the driveway
is positioned it makes it very difficult to park in the driveway um get two cars in the driveway potentially remove a car from the garage um the motion would be for those two variances um they would we're going to
have kind of two possibilities for the applicant here um they could proceed with the full width um entirety of the driveway to the curb um and they're going to potentially remove a shade tree but that condition would be require going to the um shade
tree commission um and then the alternative if the shade tree commission cannot uh if they don't agree with what they need to do with that tree then the applicant will not remove the tree um they will keep the width of the driveway
within the public right ofway would not be changed and the driveway would be up to 20 feet wide but in a manner that would not impact the tree yes and then also recognizing the existing non-conformities of the the house just for the record on the resolution yes but
that yes that is that is everything I understand anybody like to make a motion it can be what she said yeah what she said i'd like to make a motion to approve the application uh for the uh to include
the increase in purchase coverage uh and the apron at 20 plus based on geometry um uh with the condition that the uh chain tree uh commission would use the removal
of the tree if that if it is not successful then uh the applicant would be approved for 20 foot driveway outside the way is that right and then also to include all the um all the uh uh non-conforming
conditions in Steve's letter road opening permit yeah compliance with Steve's letter yep i'll second any questions or comments on the motion seeing none we'll take a roll call
suzanne please sure mr madden uh yes mr daucus yes chairman Hansen yes um Councilwoman Hearn Mr famor yes mr schmidt yes mr christie
yes and Mr phillips yes congratulations motion passes your project's approved good luck um you heard the spiel about the appeal period yes the end of the last application you understand that yes okay i don't want to have to go through the whole thing again if possible but uh that would apply probably unlikely since
nobody was here to object to your case so uh good luck go get your permits from Suzanne and do what you need to do with the shade to your commission you're done with us at this point okay thanks for coming in good luck i do appreciate it um do we have any other business
suzanne any uh comments from the board on anything outside of uh the agenda for this evening i haven't heard anything from Chris Morgan about this so in case the mayor asks I know nothing mayor is not here so
we can't even ask the mayor all right and I got to refresh myself if we're ever gonna talk about that please Suzanne let me know so I can refresh my memory on notes at all there's been like three sign ordinances in the last five years but
none of them it's probably about the same amount as this five years before if you think about it the sign ordinance is working pretty well no objection i'm just saying i'm just saying because it was a very it was a very uh I remember the sign ordinance when it came out
which is kind of when the historic district was really established that was very thought out back in the day mhm so in terms of most of the sidings in town and most of it's working just keeping that doesn't mean you have to change the order is it just
don't don't change it just to change it you know and Suzanne I understand we're gonna have a very busy month next month probably five plus one five five bul case and one user variance case
uh use the same yeah use for answers for a uh no I could say generally what it is but we'll not talk about the aspect of it but generally it's a uh existing non-conforming uh property that it was
formerly residential nature second floor is residential first floor is professional office and they're looking to uh uh have it uh two residential units but that's generally what it is without indicated location or anything else so it's going to be it's going to
be a night so be prepared drink up drink your coffee drink your energy drink drink your juice you know that one's going to be more so than tonight has two parts of the property we need you
we need both of you so I think that's important know and Susan you'll track that to see if we're going to have a full seven members for that use because that's only fair to the applicant to know ahead of time try to get that people this isn't your last uh last
dance is it i'm not sorry i'm sorry but I'm not sorry to hear that's why we're being agreeable to the agenda in case it was I think Suzanne wanted to kind of I think she's been carrying the torch for now we wanted to kind of get it all through fruition that's why it was going to be a
busy meeting you're you're training your uh don't bring her to any meetings to meet us yet yeah may would be a good May would be a good meeting she'll sit there you'll sit back there
you'll wave every once in a while i don't know about that so we had somebody I heard that at other shops i've never heard that about your shop i didn't even I I heard that at other shops i'm not going to name the name
motion to motion to let's move to the meeting second all in favor i I need you to take the [Music] microphone everybody thank you very much you too
we build space in town