[Music] ice to the flag of America to the republic which stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty justice for all thank you everybody could we have a sunshine announcement please camp yes
good evening chairman um today is Tuesday April 8th and um this is a Jersey City Planning Board meeting with a scheduled 5:30 p.m start time and in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act notice of this meeting has been given to the editor of the Bergen Record L Espelito and posted with the city
clerk on April 4th of this year this meeting was also posted on the Jersey City Division of City Planning web page and all distribution materials made available to the board were published and made available to the public thank you could we have a roll call please yep um Vice Chair Dr gonzalez here
commissioner Gangadan here councilwoman Prince Arie here commissioner Torres and Chairman Langston here all right we have a quorum we have five commissioners present okay can we swear in the staff please mike let's see i see Tanya Matt Joe Sophia
Andrew Eric and Cam you guys testimony tonight the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes got more staff than board tonight i know more staff than All right do we have any correspondents Cam yes chairman okay so we have two items on the agenda um that
we've received correspondence on and uh under new business item 19 we have a letter from today um from the attorney uh requesting to be carried to May 6th with preservation of notice so that is
item 19 case P2024-0139 for a minor site plan at address 285 Liberty A they've requested a carry with preservation of notice to May 6th um and then the next item on the agenda um the the attorney representing
the applicant will uh just make their case uh to carry okay i believe Mr lean if you're here yes good evening commissioners uh I am here on item 20 on the agenda which is matter
uh case P2024 0185 we're just uh requesting adjournment to uh May 6 yes okay so we're going to carry P2024-0185 for 933 Communa AB to a date certain May 6 with preservation of
notice thank you thank you councel that's it Cam yes and otherwise um the sunshine announcement is B1 in evidence okay thank you thank you let's uh get into old business item A is case P2023-0106 is a preliminary and final
major site plan with C variances for 119 Merit Street it needs to be over there uh for the record Tom Lean of Connell Foley here on behalf of the applicant uh this is a um a matter that was carried from September 10th of 2024
with testimony taken i reviewed the transcript and it appears that all the commissioners uh here this evening were also there that night so I don't have to ask if anybody read the transcript uh because we did not continuously carry this i did renotice and uh I did post this to the portal i will provide to
council mr chairman I am received the affidavit of publication proof of mailing with respect to the application at 119 Merit Street it does appear to be the same document that was uploaded to the portal it did appear to be an order so we're going to mark it as A1 for purposes of
the record thank you councel uh so I'll try to be as succinct as possible uh but we are six months removed from the last time we were here in front of the board so I will just give a little bit of a recap here especially since this is uh this has been going on for almost three years this application maybe four um
back in uh 2021 uh uh the owner of the property filed an application uh to develop uh the mostly the western portion of 119 Merit Street 119 Merit Street is a very unique lot in the port industrial zone because it's extremely
undersized uh it is 27500 uh square feet where 80,000 is required it is pushed up against uh the Conrail tracks uh it is on the Jersey City Bayon border and is bound by Avenue C Merit Street and Garfield Avenue uh the site
has largely been uh kept in a pretty bad condition in it hasn't been used for anything other than really for for car storage um it is there's a lot of trees on it it's been overgrown uh my client decided to finally utilize the property for what he thought would be a good use
which is a permitted use under the uh in the P uh the port industrial zone which is an auto repair shop uh so our client appro uh filed an application which came before this board requesting a uh four bay auto repair shop and an automatic
car wash uh that application was approved subject sub subject to us working with the traffic division to make sure that there wouldn't be significant queue significant queuing issues and backup onto Merit Street we also worked with uh traffic to change some of the uh some of the direction
arrows uh at the intersection and change some of the signage uh to make it a a safer and uh easier uh uh ingress and egress to the site uh so we had gotten the uh the application into a a place where we the my client could have moved forward with
it uh unfortunately he um paved a portion of the property that was not approved to be paved under that approval um we came back before the board in uh September with a new application September of last year um
with what we thought would be um a better use of the uh the auto uh repair area we removed the uh the car wash uh trying to alleviate some of the concerns about some of the queuing issues and some of the traffic going in and out uh and what we came to the board with was
uh a design that we had worked significantly with traffic on and worked with city uh planning to try and provide some landscaping on uh as the chairman rightly pointed out during the last application some of the deviations that were granted uh he felt were granted
because uh we had committed to s keeping a significant amount of more landscape than um had been there previously um we decided to withdraw the application that evening and go back to the drawing board a little bit um to try
and rectify the fact that yes my client had significantly increase the coverage on the property and what we're back here with this evening is we think a a better design taking into account some of the comments that we received uh the last time we were in front of the board um
including more trees uh a fence with details uh and what we think is a better circulation plan uh based on some of the comments that we heard from the board during the last meeting um one thing I will note is is that I did go back and review not only the transcript from the
first approval but the transcript from last time um and I think there might have been maybe some confusion and some misrepresentation on what had been on the site for years and years there and the fact of the matter is is that the area that was paved has actually been a gravel area and a staging area for
Conrail for a significant amount of time there was undergrowth there there was bushes but it really wasn't a heavily forested area so we do have some pictures to show the board tonight to show what that condition looked like at both times when we came before the board
requesting approvals um and uh hopefully that will help explain some of the decisions that were made even though we completely admit that my client made a mistake when he paved over the property uh finally the other thing I would note is is that um Conrail has used uh this
site for access to their tracks for a long long time i think over 30 years as far back as I can tell uh they never actually had an easement on the property they were just utilizing it um through this process we have met with Conrail we
have agreed to enter into an easement to allow them to access the tracks and uh they're going to work with our client to make sure that they can get up to uh to repair anything that they need to repair uh so with that said I'm going to have Jeff Lewis come up uh he's not going to
give as long of a presentation as last time because you did hear all this but we would like to give a good reminder and just run through the plans and then I do have Lauren Bennett to go through our landscaping and show the improvements we made and then I also have Caroline Wistell for uh planning
testimony because we did not get to that last time okay thank you council truth and truth yes I do jeffrey Lewis LWIS mr lewis good evening uh your license is current tonight yes sir okay thank you you're qualified
uh sorry Ken you bring it back okay so as was mentioned we are a long narrow lot at the very southern end of Jersey City right adjacent to the Conrail tracks uh today we're here to propose propose an automotive uh service
center without a car wash as well as associated office space uh 20 parking spaces uh vehicular circulation as well as new landscaping i'm going to jump right into the site plan so a lot of this is just um reconfirming what we had previously
agreed to so the site will have all new uh concrete curbs and concrete sidewalks we are proposing two new curb cuts previously it was three but there is now one on Merit one on Avenue C and we removed a third that was all the way at
the uh eastern end of the property there are two new ADA curb curb ramps those are located on merit and those were um originally approved and there are also eight street trees which were also previously approved uh looking onto the
site um at our buildings themselves there there's an o sorry there's an existing two-story building located at the corner this will remain and be reused as an office uh below that there's our new service center located along the rear property line
um these two buildings are the same as our previous approval and there are no changes to them but I will go over them anyway um as far as vehicular circulation there's the main entrance off of Merit Street and one main exit off of Avenue C um between them there's
a two-way drive aisle that connects the entire property with um again we removed that exit on the right side here and added a roundabout to improve the circulation at the end of the lot uh there's a total of 20 parking spaces two of them are located right
next to the office six of them are in the middle of the property here and then the other 12 are located at that rear parking area this shaded area here is that 10 foot wide easement for uh Conrail that we're proposing um we also have landscape
buffers on the property along Avenue C along Merit Street and then wrapping all the way around the back those will be addressed uh with future testimony uh there is a retaining wall located along Merit Street it starts uh right where the entry is at Merit Street
and extends all the way down to the eastern end of the property line uh on top of this wall we have a 6ft wood uh fence that's on top of the wall along Merit Street and actually extends around the side and all the way around the rear property line as well
um additionally we have some jersey barriers located here uh behind the parking space this is to separate the parking area uh from the tracks i mean the fences there as well but we are at the same level of the tracks and we just don't want anyone driving anywhere near
them accidentally or on purpose and the jersey barriers will be able to stop that um that's really all there is on the site plan i'm going to go on and walk through the buildings
briefly again these have not changed from the previous application so at the top we have the two-story building that will be retained as an office space on the floor plans the first floor is used as a waiting area as well as a customer counter and there is a half bath then
upstairs is the office and an additional half bath on the exterior uh the existing finish is just a concrete block we're going to paint the lower level concrete block a gray color and then on on the top level we're going to um put a new green vertical corrugated metal
siding um as the finish and that's actually going to match the finish for the new uh service center as well there's also uh two signs which were previously approved as well on the corner building uh looking to the elevations of of the
new service center you can see we're matching the gray block at the bottom and then that green corrugated siding above we have white um white metal garage doors uh there are three total garages each of them have two bays two of the
garages are for auto repair two for oil changes two for tire changes and then there are two spaces at the end which are used for storage of tools and materials uh this is just showing our materials this is the siding um here's the garage doors and
this is the color for the the block and then lastly we do um have a storm water mitigation system here i can go over it briefly for you if you like it's really just a dry well at the backside and on the left there are three
buried pipes with uh catch basins throughout the uh the site bringing all the water to those uh retention uh pipes um that actually would conclude my part of the presentation i could answer questions that you have about it or we
could do it at the end whichever you prefer all right thank you Mr lewis um talk to me about the uh roundabout uh the roundabout would be used mostly for uh internally for employees to just
take cars and just to make circulation a little easier um it's not necessary if you'd prefer more green space we do have a spot at the end we'd like to maybe have a a 4ft nub of that uh drive and we could stop it right there it would be right about here and then the the entire
circle we could do a landscape area with a couple trees if that would be preferable to the board we're happy to do that so yes um I don't want to speak for for the for the for the um use itself it was a little more convenient but it's not
necessary no roundabout Eddie or yes roundabout well the roundabout there used to be a curb you said there used to be a curb cut a third curb cut yes there was eliminated that there's no parking on that side of the street anyway going all the way down
correct and now existed no parking on that side um but if we get rid of the roundabout and they need to have a backup of cars they're actually going to have to go into the road well we do have we have a roundabout we have a full 24
foot wide drive aisle so we have a full width drive aisle and instead of like the last spot we would leave maybe an extension of four or five feet so that the last car would be able to have room to back out while staying on the driveway and we could do again we have all these we're using these jersey barriers we could do a jersey barrier
end of that driveway as well if you like so that no one can drive up there no I I I like the idea of everything being in the space it's such a small space yes and I I see it all the time and the and
the landscape here is like so much greater than what's been growing there it's just what's growing there i don't even know if you could consider them trees right it's just like weeds that got real big you know basically what they are you know uh and it's just it's
been a mess since the last 25 years I've been living in that neighborhood uh just nothing there um the fact that you're not going into the road though I like I I I like the roundabout um you know I think you have a lot more um landscaping
that there that probably ever saw you know but that's where I leave that yeah mr lewis on you said there were 12 parking spaces there in the back area there's 12 yes which is where do you count the 12 where are the 12 uh starting starting here is the first Oh
gotcha okay to here okay and I believe you have 20 overall yes correct and 18 is the requirement right right yes okay anybody else on the roundabout
we have one for and one against right now i will always take more trees and tree canopy over roundabout if possible i think also too considering the amount of cars that are going to be coming through here and the nature of the work that might be done that will also mitigate
some of the exhaust and fumes so if you don't need the roundabout I would say no roundabout sorry Eddie so I would say we don't need need it um if you want you know we have someone here that's going to be talking about the landscape they can talk about what we would do there in turn and then you can make your decision
so yeah I think so yeah that'll come with landscaping too i'm more concerned with the landscape buffer from that residential section across the street um I I think that's it for me on architecture
okay thank you Mr lewis council I do have one question sure did we get rid of the car wash use alto together we did yes so we're only talking about oil changes auto repair
and tire changes that's correct yes again that was when we first came before the board that there was a significant concern that people would be queuing to use it and they'd be lining back up into Merit Street so we just figured let's get rid of it sure i only ask because
the plan still indicates car wash that is a mistake of my architect and it will be changed when we submit hopefully for your plan conformance sense okay um one thing I just wanted to bring up about that roundabout and kind of where it came from um if the board recalls
there was a proposal for an additional exit from the property onto Merit Street that was a recommendation of traffic after presenting before the board last time and hearing some additional comments from planning we decided to remove that we felt that was an undue burden on the residential nature uh
neighborhood across the street additional lights additional cars going out onto their street so the the concept of that roundabout was to keep the cars within the property but if uh in speaking with uh my team we can definitely get rid of it and make sure there's enough room for those last two
cars to back up and turn around while maintaining a two uh car uh drive aisle okay thank you council uh next up I have uh Lauren Bennon sure let me just get this plugged in there we go council you said somebody
had photographs of I guess the prior condition that will be part of Miss Venon's presentation and we will put it into the record since it was not uploaded thank you the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes
lauren Venon Ven I N miss Venon good evening we've qualified you in the past your license is current tonight yes okay thank you you're qualified all righty all right so we're going to focus on the landscaping uh starting from uh Merit Street and moving across the the site um
north to south so along Merit Street um the plans do call for formalizing of the curb and the curb line along Merit Street which allows for the installation of eight street trees and this is a uh forestry uh Jersey City forestry
standards compliant tree pit setup so you have your 5x10 tree pit with the trees and the underplantings in the tree pits along the property line then we are installing a landscape buffer i'm going to see if this will let me zoom this in a little bit perfect so you can see that
we are creating a buffer of mixed evergreen trees and shrubs where space allows we do have a double staggered row and this allows us to have a a more upright and then a
smaller or then a you know shorter wider in between so that we are providing a very thorough amount of coverage between the parking area and the new streetscape along Meridav or Merit Street council let's mark this as A2 because this is a
colorized version and I guess the other ones if there's additional sheets i don't know i don't Do you want to mark the whole presentation as A2 tell me how many slides it is yeah I have a second page it's two slides okay so A2 is colorized renderings of the
landscape plan previously submitted yes along with a an exit or a prior conditions photograph which I'll put is on the next page that's the second sheet second sheet yes okay
okay all right so the landscape buffer continues along the edge of what is currently shown on the plans as the roundabout we are taking the larger evergreen trees along the property line with um additional evergreen and
deciduous plantings between that tree line and the curb we continue this buffer then along the south side of the property along the Conrail line this is on the outside of the Jersey barriers to provide some screening and visual break
between the Conrail line and the uh parking lot particularly where the cars would be head in um and headlights facing in that direction in this area we have room for a triple staggered row and that continues along the Conrail
property filling in the parking lot islands at the easement cut through with additional um grasses and native plantings we have two additional parking lot trees which meets the ordinance requirement
uh for the number of parking spaces provided the shrubs going in are going in at 3 to four feet which is compliant with having a 4ft tall buffer within the first two growing seasons and the evergreen trees are going in at 6' to 8
foot in size so that is the landscape plan the other information on the sheet uh is a summary of the ordinance requirements and the standard um streetscape requirements as per Jersey City forestry standards
irrigation uh we are not indicating the irrigation system on the plans but it can be provided if requested we intend to have irrigation I suspect yes we can yes yes that we will indicate
it will plans uh I can go to Before you move on to the next slide obviously you've heard from the board here this evening that uh they would probably like to see the uh the roundabout removed uh if that were to be done could you testify as to what uh plan schedule could be used to to fill
in that space i'm just going to zoom in on it a little bit make it easier while we talk to it given the amount of space we would definitely be able to fit some additional shade trees into that area to give a bit more canopy um given overall maintenance concerns and not wanting to
create a space that would then we don't want to invite more of um weedy space so it would probably make sense at that point given the likely curb adjustment we would have some lawn space and mostly ground cover um directly under the trees
and then just beef up this back buffer area if we get rid of the roundabout we would be able to have something more similar to what we were providing in the back here by the Conrail property along this side to have that triple row and then have your shade trees a little farther into the site so it would just
provide a little bit more insulation against the adjacent property question yes came on okay on the north side and on the uh east side of what we're seeing um so if
the roundabout was gone um you have like three layers of shrubs and small ones as you get bigger and like wider because it it's much seems to me it be
much harder to maintain to keep clean yes you know with the uh uh things that get blown around and stuff like that especially in certain areas right so by your opinion sorry sometimes making it bigger sometimes could get
uncontrollably a little messy too at the same time it would require additional maintenance to keep that area clean if we went to a a larger planting area um the recommendation then would be to have an
orderly edge to it with that triple row of shrubs and then go to a simpler ground cover and possibly lawn underneath the trees so that it would be an area that could be clean cleared out regularly because it it is a valid
concern to have a a very large area of landscaping being in a spot where you're you're going to have windb blown trash you're going to have maintenance more of different animals or stuff that would be living there right basically that's not too much of a concern yeah I I got them
in my backyard so much of a concern okay i was just wondering and um the north side that's going right to the property line of Conrail the north side so on this plan the north side is along Meridav here no um I mean the I'm
sorry south the south side no problem yeah so south we are taking the landscaping i'm just going to zoom in a little make it easier uh we are taking the landscaping up to the property line so we are running from the Jersey barrier back to the property line and
then on the other side where there is not the Jersey barrier we are running from the curb line back to the property line okay with landscaping that's what I have that yes Miss Venon the
um Do you have a a drawing on the height of the shrubs i don't have a a drawing indicating them um so how high are they i can I can give you um I can give you a a little bit and
I and I know it's hard with the abbreviations because we we know them um we are using uh two different types of upright junipers which are going in so the JSWs here are our upright junipers
our TO G's and our T GG's which are yeah they're on the other part of the plan here are um our bvites so they get very high also where what we have the arrangement that we have is
um a taller so the larger material being a taller with a shorter shrub in between because as they get taller you you end up with a little bit of a gap at the bottom sure so we're um effectively setting upright
evergreens close together with the smaller evergreen kind of plugging the holes in between um and where we switch to a wide uh moderate height something that's going to top out closer to six feet we
have a the narrower uprights that will get in the 10 to 12 foot range in between okay so we're providing some visual interest by switching up that rhythm of tall and skinny short and wide and then taller wider and skinnier in
between okay for the benefit of the board and the public just trying to visualize that the height of the ceiling in this room is 10 ft yeah your your skyrocket junipers are are going to be in the witch blues are going to be about 8 to 10 at maturity your arbor vites are
going to be in the 10 to 12 range okay thank you all right um so I can go to the next exhibit that has the um prior conditions hold on a
second there we go there we go all right so the top pictures so these pictures uh these images are aligned so that the property lines do line up so you can see the character of the site this is an aerial photo from
2022 and you can see the character of the site prior to when you say existing conditions it's really prior conditions um and how this lines up with the uh the proposed plan so you can see the the
larger bare gravel area gravel area with some weedy tree coverage and then the um underbrush weed material underbrush in this area so that was all gravel underneath that
it's Yeah it's a grally area with some I can I'm gonna try to zoom in a little bit on this sorry about this let me just get back to Yeah I can't quite zoom in on this view but it's um here we do have some canopy
and you just have some grally um wouldn't really call it soil per se underneath and that dotted line is the overlay of this is the property line subject property okay yeah so you can see this section of the property line
lines up with the property line here okay any questions anybody you say this photo is dated it was an aerial photo from uh 2022 i don't have the exact date of the aerial on hand
i suspect you did not take the photo it was a near map image yeah I have nothing else this time if anybody else does we can move on no we can move on i have nothing else if if everybody's ready okay thank you Miss Venon
this for Yeah and again chairman you know it's my understanding that that grally area has been used by Conrail as basically a staging area and a parking area to access the tracks for a long time so you know I'm not putting this on as a fact people are welcome to go look at Google Earth all they want i went
back to like 2025 and this was basically the condition that it was has been for quite some time so uh with that I have Miss Worcstell who's going to come up and uh go through the uh the variances we're requesting okay thank you council good evening
i do carolyn Worstelle w L mr worstelle good evening your license is current it is okay thank you you're qualified thank you uh so we're here this evening um as has been presented to uh make these uh
improvements and and upgrades and changes to the subject property um there are a couple of variances um that are related to this this application uh they're very similar in nature to the variances that uh or or identical to the variances which were previously uh
requested and approved back in 2021 but we'll go through them again this evening um so the first one is for the minimum landscape buffer next to a residential and somewhat related to that is also a minimum perimeter setback
so the port industrial uh district requires that um a minimum landscape buffer of uh 50 ft uh be provided when you are adjacent to residential use um
where we're providing about 5'4 in um where we at a minimum where we are adjacent to the residential uses on the other side of Merit Street um one of the things that when we look at this application we have to be aware of is
the fact that the port industrial district was designed for really very large scale industrial uses the minimum lot area is 80,000 square feet and your minimum lot width is 200 feet so that's really big lots you know just under two
acres this lot is a little over 27,000 square feet so it's all a little bit less than a little more than quarter the size of the minimum required and our lot width at the narrowest point is 50 feet and we get up to I think around 60 you
know so we're substantially unders sized here and we're really narrow and skinny so when you sort of take the fact that we have this very narrow skinny lot and you then consider what our buffer requirements are they don't match up at
all if we have to provide a 50-foot buffer from a residential use we can't really use this lot because that would be a 50- foot buffer along the entire frontage of Merit Street and you're left with nothing of the
lot uh very similarly we have a minimum perimeter setback variance where you're required to provide a setback of 60 feet along the entire perimeter of your lot um and we are providing uh eight feet
six inches so again this sort of again relates to the fact that we have a very narrow skinny lot and 60 ft was again for that minimum 200 you know lot width nearly two acre lot um so what we are
doing and and trying very hard to do here is provide um a combination of both a landscape buffer you know we as uh my colleague uh Lauren uh just described there is you know significant landscape
buffer um using uh various tree uh tree and shrub sizes and um you know staggering them in order to create a very uh vegetated buffer as well as provide adding some of that that fencing um so that really helps provide some of
that visual buffer um we are also the way that we've oriented the design of the lot is so that all of the vehicles you know they're going to be parked on the far side of the lot um and they would most likely be parked you know headlight you
know facing towards the train tracks so you're going to reduce you know headlight glare or things like that um so that should help you know reduce some of the buffer between those parking spaces and the lots um and then the other thing really to consider too is the fact that this application is
formalizing the sidewalk right now when you when you drive past it there's no curb there's no sidewalk you know it's just a metal fence and par uh the pavement so again this is really providing that additional visual buffer
by creating the actual sidewalk which is supposed to be there and isn't um and providing those street trees so you're really going to get a much more substantial visual buffer um through the different improvements that are being done as part of this application uh which really I think help to meet the
intent of that requirement which is again to buffer those uses from your adjacent residential Uh the other variance we're requesting is a maximum is for the uh the signage set back for freestanding signs um we're
required to have a setback of half of the front setback our front setback is 60 ft half of that is 30 feet um that sort of puts your sign at like the middle of the lot which is not really the appropriate place for it um so we
are requesting a variance to provide uh a freestanding sign uh that is adjacent to uh the the ingress driveway uh that would need uh that uh relief uh the two signs that are on the building they
don't need the relief um uh but the one freestanding sign adjacent to the um um driveway access would need the relief um so again you know it sort of relates to the fact that this lot is not how the
the Port Industrial District envisioned lots being uh sized the final variances we are requesting are for the curb cut width and the driveway width um the requirement um is 10 ft is the maximum
we're permitted and we're requesting uh a width of 12 feet um you know we we uh there was extensive conversations with um you know uh the uh traffic department um over the design of this um you know there were you know
turning templates were were provided and and um through all of that uh 12 ft was sort of established as what what everyone felt to be a really comfortable um entrance and exit for what is a commercial use 10t is the standard but it's a standard for a lot of different
things including a one or two family home 12 feet for commercial use is a is a probably a pretty good uh it allows for a little bit of extra wiggle room for people coming in and out but it's not going to result in a really wide curb cut um that's wider than most
people would perceive um so we think overall um that these variances can be granted um related to that C1 criteria uh for those um buffers and setbacks and the signage setback requirements you know
again relating to the fact that this lot is severely unders sized um and that the curb cut width and driveway width I'm really thinking this is more of a C2 criteria uh that the benefit of having slightly wider access for uh this commercial use um you know outweighs any
detriment of a slight increase of two feet for a curb cut um especially when weighed with the fact that we're creating the curb for this property as part of this application um I think in terms of the municipal
land use law um this uh promotes purpose a um appropriate use or development um the prop proposed use is permitted in that um port industrial um district and it's sort of replacing the sort of car
storage and parking that is there today uh so that's really a much more appropriate use and it will be much more uh wellmaintained um as a result of creating this new use on the the property um it's consistent with purpose E um talking about uh establishing per uh
population densities and and um well-beings of the persons and neighborhood again uh this is an industrial use in an industrial district i think that's a very appropriate use and and uh the improvements here really uh will benefit uh the neighborhood as
well um and then I think it's consistent with purpose eye desirable visual environment um again you're really sort of creating a much better um streetscape as a result of this application with the new new sidewalks where there aren't any
today street trees eight new street trees um you know extensive landscaping on the property um and then just I think it's going to result in overall just a a much better uh visual for that block uh I don't see any substantial
detriment to the public good uh again it's uh the permitted use and bulk um as well as all of those improvements along Merit Street with the the new streetscape uh and no substantial impairment to the intent and purpose of the zone plan um it's consistent with
the purpose of the port industrial district um to uh enhance and accommodate um the city's you know uh sort of port uh port waterfront um with uh appropriate uh uses such as
transportation facilities while adequately buffering them to protect nearby residential neighborhoods um it's also uh consistent with uh the 2021 Jersey City land use uh element uh promoting in innovative and industrial
activity that's cleaner greener and job creating so I think this application is consistent with with that um all of those cleaner greener and job creating um so I think overall that this application uh is consistent uh and that the
variances are justified uh under both the C1 and the C2 criteria okay thank you Mr worstell i have no questions anybody else um I'm just going to wrap it up by again saying my client is aware that he made a mistake here uh he was not supposed to
proceed with the paving of that uh I think the level of detail and the the time and energy that he's put into getting these plans into good shape uh shows that he's he's committed to to try and write is wrong and try and uh clean this property up and make it into
something useful you heard from Miss Wrestell's testimony based on the zoning here there's really very little you can do with this land under other than this use and I think promoting an active use here and an active commercial use will help keep the property clean and in use
and uh we hope that the board agrees and approves thank you all right thank you council uh before we open public Mr lewis do you have the previously approved plans accessible i do can we take a look sure
chairman I think you're interested in seeing the site plan sheet yes this is the plan with the car wash so this was the car wash here this was the council let's mark this as A4 just for purposes of the record entry was the
entry was the same here and then we had this big open circular area in the same exit on Avenue C um just clarifying Mr so this was the um site plan that was approved as part of res
uh council do you know the resolution number ah P21053 yes okay yes that's correct great and this was this is not um the plans that the board previously saw as part of this application that's correct i have those
as well all right just wanted to make sure that was clear to everyone do you have any questions about it chairman i mean I suspect let me ask the question and the cloudlooking design with the striped
lines on half the site is what the buffer was supposed to be right that would have been left as undisturbed wooded slash growth area but so that wouldn't have been planted
it was supposed to be planted i'm sorry my mic was off yeah that was supposed to be planted right that wasn't just going to be left alone do you know the answer to that i I do um we didn't provide a full landscaping detail i think as part of what we testified to the board was
there would be plantings there but yes it would almost be left to regrow what was there um we didn't provide a particular planting schedule obviously we did provide uh for some buffering and some trees that were proposed but yes the the the idea was essentially to sort
of let it go back to its natural state which was gravel and and some some tree cover and some canopy yes yes um council the resolution may indicate slightly different i believe that we indicated
that we would leave the area as landscaped and that we wouldn't be disturbing the area if there was testimony that that area had significantly more coverage at the time and more greenery uh that was that was a
mistake in the testimony and a mistake in fact mr lee do we know why the owner decided to move ahead and do this was it oversight was it he just not caring about the previously adopted plan um she
I think he was uh I think he was given some bad advice by a contractor who told him that it would not be something that would require approval and he went ahead with it uh without my knowledge that's why you get legal advice from lawyers mr uh can we go back just to the site plan
sheet certainly thank you Mr lewis mr chairman I don't know what questions if any the board has regarding it i think it's pretty clear and obvious i think it speaks for itself okay thank you Mr close you're welcome
everybody okay moving on mhm okay at this time let's open it up for public comment if anybody's here from the public that wants to comment please come on up maybe you got to get past this absolutely yes what's your home address please
javanni Hernandez uh J I O V A N I E Hernandez h E R N A N D E Z 21 Merit Street mr hernandez good evening we have three minutes for you sir hi um I guess we'll skate over the fact that uh there
was all vegetation there and not gravel apparently um I my question is really the legitimacy of the business that's being conducted there um from advisement from even Denise Ridley's office our council woman in that area she had
stated that uh some summons were given to the business for the business that was being conducted there for renting out uh spaces for parking um it's a nice picture of sedans being shown there on the uh the graphics there
but it's all commercial vehicles large trucks large box trucks trailers um you know all you can name it uh that are just packed in there like someone's playing Tetris it is not nicely lined up and organized at all um constantly there
is you know headlights that are being just brightly shown right into residential homes um the area is not kept well at all overgrown weeds trash being blown around all over the place um that it's just stuck in there or someone
eventually was playing some games with the chain link fences and sticking some uh plastic bottles in those at some point um I don't know where the perimeter of the actual business starts and ends but there are vehicles outside of where the chain link fences are
located the pictures that I see being presented there are not current they're not take a drive through there and you'll see yourself um as someone had mentioned that they are familiar with the area i live in the area so I have to deal with it on a daily basis so there's you know my my neighbor that you'll see
you hear from in a moment um my concern is one noise uh I don't know if trees and a couple of bush bushes are going to necessarily stop the Conrail train that goes through around 2 or 3:00 a.m that
we hear constantly that wakes up the entire neighborhood um or if there is going to be any stop of headlights that are going to be shown right into homes right across the street um I don't know if trees and a couple of bushes are going to stop that so maybe some kind of actual physical barrier between that and
the residential homes would be more suffice um I question the owner's uh I question my faith in the owner's business conduct of what has already been presented of what apparently was
vegetation there then magically turned into gravel then magically turned into asphalt um what is currently being conducted there as a parking lot with a parking sign right directly in front of the business where apparently wasn't supposed to be done in the first place um all of those things need to be taken
into account and also just the appeal of the actual property itself um there's trash all along through it there is um trash adjacent to it um we constantly get homeless that are camping adjacent to the property there i've se even seen
one starting up a fire at some point so this is all concerns of people that live in the area and have to deal with this on a daily basis um that was your three minutes Mr okay thank you we appreciate your time anybody else please come on up
hi i do okay kathleen with a K cork qu 16 Ocean Avenue good evening ma'am we have three minutes for you discuss 119 Merit Street um I
live on Ocean Avenue i've lived there all my life i want to say that this is something that the mayor had said once it's when you first come into Jersey City he wants a a nice clean look well it's it's terrible there's trash shroom
all over they did the black top the black top's there they have gates and on the gate we have a picture that my neighbor has and it says for rent he's renting that out right now there's all trucks up there they're parked every which way there's a little car like
parked on the grass you have the building on the corner of of Avenue C and inside next to that there's it's all enclosed there's just cars all thrown in there no license plates no nothing outside there's like a flatbed it's been
there probably two years there's bags of of garbage there that that's been there he he doesn't clean up anything and you know it's just that you know we'd like to see it nice too but we feel that we're being lied to that he's saying he
wants to do this he wants to do that and he doesn't do anything that he says he just made it a parking lot and he's renting it out now so he's making money on that and he came to you in good faith for you to approve something which he did and then he just neged on it didn't
even bother to do it and it's just you you know it's it's terrible that he's allowed to do this and not clean it up he said at the last meeting he's going to clean it up he has not made the least bit of interest in cleaning up the area
it's like garbage all over the place it's it's it's it's a shame right next to that little building there's like um a medical van and there's a sign the city put a thing up no parking on the sidewalk it's right there the van's right next to it he has no regard for
what they're supposed to be doing and you know it's very frustrating i would like something nice too but I feel that we can't trust what he's saying like he says one thing and he turns around and he does the exact opposite or he just does what he wants you know and he has
spaces up there all lined up for park you know they're not even pulled into spaces one day you have a truck or there was there's been burned out um SUVs up there it it looks terrible and this is one of the first things that you see when you come into Jersey City and I
think it's it's a real shame that this has been allowed that he keeps doing the same thing and he's he's telling you one thing but he's not doing what he's saying he's going to do and I'd like it to see it see it look nice but I don't have any faith in that being happening
because it it hasn't happened in what two years or whatever so and you know that's my sight on it and that I wish you can come down and see what it looks like and then you live there cuz I've lived there my whole life and it's just a shame that he's allowed to get away
with that or that you know he has no regard to telling you people what he wants and then just saying nope I'm not doing that he black topped the whole top too to make a parking lot there's all the spaces but you know when you he has everything shrun all about it's not even
like neat and you know the there was a meeting how long ago five months ago you think that he would have some initiative to get out and clean it up and have somebody come and like rake and whatever but there's garbage all over black garbage bags sitting there and and
nothing's done about it so I I hope that you take all that into consideration and that you know there's something followed through that this is taken care of because I'd love to see it like nice landscaping but at this point I I really
don't believe it cuz I think they're just saying things and they're not coming to fruition it's it's not happening so I appreciate your time have a good evening thank you ma'am you too anybody else from public anyone else
mr chair see what public I move to close second okay motion made and seconded public is closed council do you want to address the commercial parking situation is there one that you're aware of um that was actually how I uh became aware
that the paving had been done because my client received a ticket for not registering the parking lot uh I'm not aware that he's running a business or offering the parking spots to anybody at this time it's my understanding that he does have some vehicles that are his personal vehicles there um I was not
made aware by him or anybody else that he's been trying to hold those places out for commercial uses um I can tell you that he has received a ticket for the parking uh for failing to register the parking lot he's received tickets for the garbage he's gone and plead
guilty to those he's paid paid his fines i've routinely told him about keeping the property in good order i spoke with him just yesterday he said he had pulled a bunch of the trucks off of the property um but that's all I can say i'm I'm not out there every day looking at the property but you know that is what
he has represented to me okay so are these commercial trucks are there personal trucks pickup trucks what are we talking about here uh I think he has a couple vans that he owns that are on the site um when you say van you mean uh
passenger van or Okay yeah um but you know I mean I' I've been out to the property two or three times yes there are some uh cars parked on the property um I can't speak to whose cars are parked along Merit Street uh there's not a curb there now obviously the proposal
here would provide a curb which would hopefully prevent uh that kind of activity um but I I can speak to who's parking on Merit Street i can say that yes he he has parked a few of his personal vehicles on the property he's received tickets for that he's plead
guilty to that and he's paid his fine for that okay but it's ongoing i I don't know okay mr chair just for the record I I did go to the site a week and a half ago and there were multiple cars there not just vans but there are multiple cars parked there so I mean I don't know
if they're his I don't know either yeah I don't either well but there's multiple cars there just just for Rick but um I guess it's it's a a lot of area right now that wants wants to get
developed i understand that um so many years now we've been talking about this um see but um to make the state for him to make the statement that that his vehicles he owns a lot of vehicles and uh a lot of beat up vehicles too because
that it's always trucks there vans there personal cars but also too uh the planner stated there's no sidewalk there's no street it like blends and I gotta admit some of the
neighbors park facing outside that fence sure and that could be where lights go thing so hopefully having everything inside the space would prevent lights from flashing
up people's houses because across the street are residential homes you know um but the um there there's always been a mess there the last three years it got out of hand after the bus company officially
left there you know uh it became a mess you know and that's what uh very bad I saw and I got to agree with the neighbors from the community first thing you look at when you turn off of Avenue C it's a it's a it's is it's it's a major major eyes saw on the piece of
property that boggles my mind what you could do with it i don't you know that's that's that's the one thing too I I would like to say that for the record it's not much you could do with that property and you know just addressing some of the the light shining out of the property again that's that's the point of some of the fencing the landscaping
we're putting in um and and I'm I'm not here to tell you that my client has been a saint and kept the property in in great condition what I can say is is that he has spent a lot of money and time paying experts paying architects paying me to try to get this done and I don't think he would be doing that
unless he was serious about actually trying to to make this piece of property work okay thank you council Matt you have anything you want to uh Yes thank you chairman um so this
is as uh Mr lean and Miss Worstell both mentioned this is in the port industrial district um and the purpose of that district is to provide for port related industry and industry supporting logistical uses while
providing standards that successfully um you know separate the potential impacts of those uses from adjacent residential areas um and so that's where some of these standards around minimum perimeter setback landscape buffer from a residential use came up um I just have a
a quick question for Miss Worstelle um so if the given the size of the lot if the minimum perimeter setback and landscape buffer from residential use variances were not granted in your
opinion would that deprive the property of all reasonable use i think so i don't know that you could fit anything on this lot i mean it the the narrowest part is 50 feet wide if that whole 50t has to be a buffer because all the residential uses are across the street from Merit
you're left with like you know about a 10-ft wide strip at the very rear of the property adjacent to Conrail uh there's nothing you're not allowed to do anything else with the property and um council I'm obviously um I'm a planning professional you're a
legal professional i guess are there any does the board have jurisdiction to deny property of all reasonable use so the application before the board is the application before the board we're not going to entertain hypotheticals as
to whether or not that there's a no vital use of the property okay so I would say that the variances being sought or what are being sought i think that uh Mr warcel's testimony is her
testimony i think if the board has questions as to the legal issues implicated based on the testimony that's appropriate for me to respond to okay certainly understood um and then Miss
Worstelle I guess given the purposes of the perimeter setback and landscape buffer from residential use to insulate um these types of industrial and commercial uses from residential impact I guess what are some
potential negative impacts here and how does this and maybe um and how does this this site plan as proposed um mitigate those potential negative impacts sure um so yeah
obviously the the intent of the buffer is to provide sufficient space to provide landscaping and you know fencing and whatever to provide that buffer um and you know 50 ft may be very appropriate when it's a very very large
scale port industrial use um we can't fit 50 ft on this property it just doesn't work what has been done here um is multiple changes to the condition or is proposed here is multiple changes to the condition uh the first is again the
establishment of a curb and a sidewalk which do not exist today um so again that sort of establishes an edge to the street which doesn't exist and again provides to the start that visual buffer you're going to get street trees you're going to get a curb you get a sidewalk so again
creating that edge of the street um which will address a lot of the concerns from the community about people parking there illegally uh because there won't be any space for them to park um then we are proposing um you know fencing along and then landscaping along
that edge um so again that's providing that visual buffer um you know where we we are able to to stack as as dense as we can um which is on that sort of upper end of the parking lot to the I guess the eastern side um you know
again you're sort of seeing some of the the the elevation change there but we're we've got the fencing that and the landscaping so again that that goes up high that should help to prevent some of the light glare that that is there um you are also going to have you know at
the lower end that's where um the facility is you know and it has doors so again when cars are being worked on they were at the end of the night those doors go down and so you shouldn't be getting the same you know light glare you know there shouldn't be seeing some of those
same impacts so um we're seeing the the way that the operation of the facility is the way that it has been designed to have all of the parking you know close to the tracks um so again so all of that should hopefully reduce um the likelihood or instances where there's
light glare um and then um you know so I think that there's just the multiple ways those mitigation measures to be that are being added and layered at this property should hopefully really address and
mitigate those major issues that are that are happening or or where they're raised as a concerns um and so that that's sort of how it's being dealt with on the fact that we have a very narrow skinny lot here scorcel there's nothing that prevents the applicant from
providing a larger buffer on that interior side off of uh merit that was proposed originally uh so I'm sorry where where are we looking off of i don't have it on the Are you talking about on the eastern end
of it are you talking about a thicker buffer along the roadway are we talking about the I have to I have to pull it up because somebody took it off the screen so I will tell you exactly what I'm talking about is it this
um council were you referring to the the previously approved site plan or the current proposed site plan can I see the site plan so this was the previously approved site
plan can I see the whole site plan sheet i can't see the arrow oh sorry so directly opposite Avenue C along Merited A or Merit Street right it's not your testimony that more
buffering cannot be placed other side where on the eastern side of the property eastern side of the property it's not your testimony that more buffering cannot be placed over there where the proposed roundabout is where the additional parking spaces are
there's no testimony that says that buffering cannot be provided there uh saying we can't meet the requirement okay um you can't meet what requirement Mr lewis no let me I I Did you just say you can't meet the
requirement we definitely can't meet the requirement you know um I'm just trying to think about how the requirement works the requirement works the buffer is from the residential uses and the residential use
is across the street on merit so the so the testimony is not that more buffering cannot be provided on that portion of the site the easterly portion of the site that's what I'm after we can provide more buffer and we were
proposing to by removing the portion of removing the roundabout and ending in that so we could provide more buffer and landscaping in that portion and there is nothing to say that that buffer cannot go all the way west and take out those parking
spaces um council is there I believe there's a parking requirement for this parcel as well thank you madam asking the witness yeah and and I was about to say that if we were to start pushing that further west taking all that space up you then start
running into the issue of then you don't have space for parking you don't have space for sight circulation what are the numbers so it's 18 spaces required correct or can we bring up the previously approved plan what are the 18 spaces based on i
actually number of bays have that right here it's the number of bays number of bays no there's actually there's a little office space that needs some extra parking as well okay so for the parking we actually do need 20 in total it's 18 for the service station and two for the office two for
the office so it is to So we're at the requirement of 20 right now for based on the size use that you're proposing number of bays and the size of the office correct correct and if we had four less bays and no office we wouldn't require as much parking do we agree with that
yes yes we do agree with that so we can put more buffering on the easterly side of the lot we could not saying we are i'm not saying that's what's proposed but it would be a different application it would be a different application but it is what's propo or what could be done
not what's proposed correct okay chairman I have no further questions i just needed that for purposes of the record to help the board sure and to help understand utilization of property so
Mr lewis how if you could go just bring the previously approved plan up again i want to touch the screen so bad how many spots were proposed on the original approval there's I think it's eight or
10 let me zoom in on this one i think there's more than 10 there shown in the drawing it was a total of six bases total okay so the cars that are drawn on that
drawing that's queuing up for the car wash correct okay does anybody have any other questions so we're going to we'll do a public discussion yeah
we'll do uh we'll have a board deliberation as soon as we're done with um yeah I'm just happy to add really quick that um staff produced a memo um dated 96204 it was in response to the
original submission as part of this application um the principles explored in that memo still stand um as the you know broader proposed uses and density still stand um that memo recommended six conditions um
and it um and I don't know if council is happy to agree to those six conditions I've reviewed and we would agree and it sounds like the board is interested in deliberating further conditions so I will uh I will uh sit back and let you guys deliberate okay thank you so yeah
let's um for we don't do this often anybody that's here um this is the most democratic thing that can ever happen where we just talk about it on public record and uh right out in the open so I
love this uh anybody want to start the last part of this proposal just now that was brought up um the fact that on the east side with the roundabout yes they could put more I
understand what council was saying they could put more landscape in there but also it becomes an eyesore and you see it at the public service sites and stuff like that when we have all these shrubs and they're not
clean because of the wind blowing and the debris in the neighborhood you know uh that there's somebody not out there all the time maintaining them uh and you know the contractor is going to maintain them but it's not going to be an everyday thing and it becomes an an
eyesaw on a corner like that so as much as you put shrubs for me when we have all the garbage blowing underneath them and nobody's addressing it it's is it becomes an eyesaw in the neighborhood uh you know
uh so that I understood when the landscape presented and and and brought that up the the deeper we go so the harder it is to maintain a dream uh with that um I understand the neighborhood's
concern right now the guy's not being able to do what he wanted to do at first with the property or whoever owns this property but the thing is you know he made it harder on himself to achieve that because he was
approved but with that for for me um I don't live on those blocks but I do consider that my neighborhood you know I'm walking distance i'm there uh Dr gaza got a kick
out of this i drive by there about you know 10 10 to 15 times a week i have to look at this all the time and it always boggles my mind that you could fit anything in there never mind a car wash at the time um but the fact that he's trying to do
something once it I feel is established then you can maintain it then the people from across the street won't be parking on that road facing their cars those because if you go there on a Saturday and Sunday they're hanging out in front of
their cars they're cleaning their cars they're hanging out there you know and but it's facing the people's houses across the street and I'm not saying that's right but the the current
condition encourages that yes but it's been like that for the last 20 years exactly right exactly so by having this buffer now and a sidewalk and a curb Yeah i think it's a it's a
good thing so for me that's what I'm saying so this is the first step you know I I believe me I hear the public this is and they're absolutely right this is I want to swear so bad right now but I can't um you're not they're not going to
have room to park in front facing the buildings across the street so if they if their venting spaces inside later on after everything is developed that's where they're going to have to park inside you're not going to have a room on the outside and the way the parking's
configured it's on the opposite it's not on the merit side of the lot not that people aren't going to back into those spaces and the shrubs are going to cover so it it's it's not that the cars are parking directly on the Merit Street
side of the lot they're on the other side they're on the Conrail side of the lot right so I I you know I think the landscape buffer it so the the spots to the east which way is east yeah east is
to the right um so the spots from the conrail cutth through that's on there to the right you know what's appropriate there what's what's appro what's an
appropriate number and also to to have the buffer to those houses across the street another thing let's keep in mind that the buffer is not for the sound of the conveil trains you're never going to stop that no absolutely not i am six
blocks maybe away five blocks away and I hear it in my in my bedroom uh you're not going to stop that that's that's going to happen um as the application was approved before with that whole area in the east side landscape whatever
would that have provided the buffer from the lights correct right yes so so I think that's my issue Mr j is that you know what we you know how much we hate this when we approve something and
it's not done the the way that we've approved it of course but also that [Music] um I mean I I I I'm taking a line from Commissioner Torres i drive by and I've seen many cars parked there never gets
old never gets old and um you know I I just I mean I it's it's a it's a bit of a problem for me to be honest chair I I share the same um issue here i think the buffer is very important to the neighborhood as well um and I think that
variance that's requested i for me it seems to be a big issue for me i think it would be very detrimental um for the neighborhood as well um what I would have liked to see is a confirming application
i don't know that they can i don't think they make this lot conforming and this is that's part of the problem this is the tough part right is you know what what's worse yeah and I
hear the concerns of the community as well and and what's worse you know saying that nothing goes there and the condition of that site never improves improves yeah i mean I think if nothing
goes there that would always stay the way it is that way right that's that that's so so you don't So so you don't want blight right which is what I think everyone can agree is what this looks like now and has looked like in past however the challenge for me is again there was an application that was
approved it wasn't followed and they brought us back something that in my opinion doesn't even really sort of split the difference between the two and I don't know that that you could right based on the variances you're requesting but I also know too when you have cars that are parked illegally when you have
commercial vehicles that are parked in spaces where they're not supposed to go the buffer is really important because you're talking about different heights of headlights you're talking about different kinds of cars moving in and out you're talking about you know different kinds of exhaust that people have to subject themselves to the sound
of in addition to what's already happening with Conrail right and I and I understand you know and I've had this problem with properties in my ward where they've done things we've asked them to move it they've cleared it out and they've been good neighbors right so I think part of this too is that the
applicant has is is professing to now be a good neighbor but it's still is not to where I think it it it should be so that's you know I feel like I feel like the they're trying to split the difference but but not in a way that is that it could be done a little bit
more and remember it's been said that this is a good first step the first step was back in 2022 yeah when we approved it and then it wasn't we approved something there that was going to be what we thought was good for that area right there was going to be a car wash
as some type of repair but w with with all that greenery there that was whatever it was going to be but then nothing happened because it wasn't built that way well the car wash was a was an issue for traffic so as it came back and
readjusted it I get that but I'm saying then he started doing stuff that were not was not approved that's my issue so we we take another step today we approve this one i I I mean I don't know i I I feel the only thing that he did that
really was a smack in our face was the fact that he paved some of the gravel approve mhm but I'll be honest with you not till you showed me an overview of it that I ever knew there was a gravel area back there you cannot see it from Mer
Street you're not going to see it when you make the turn off of Avenue C yeah but that's not the point Commissioner i understand that i understand that but that spot that we are talking better for it but it's very hard to see now and
what are we going to get i mean once he if he develops this because we approve it if he doesn't the fact is that you're going to have a garage mhm and there is no way you're going to have trucks and cars sitting in the middle of that road that in that lot the way they are now
they have parking spots otherwise nobody's going to be able to move in and out mhm you know and I don't know um I don't know landscape the last time the landscape I want to say for the record the last time the landscape came to mind
I mean I I I stood a little quiet on it i should have said something more but I don't know what you guys talking about when you say there's landscape there it's a it's a jungle it's a mess that's my opinion that is not Well that's originally presented to us and
and I think just because just because currently it's it's a jungle does not mean that they cannot do additional landscaping to better manicure it right so it's overgrown trees and weeds that that you know when we were kids we had these weeds that grow and they became
trees eventually but what obviously we can do better than that yes and hoping this would do and Tom Lean hit the nail on the head you know this isn't a cheap team sitting in front of us
so obviously the applicant's not hiring this team to get out of a couple parking tickets you know i think that the intent is to actually improve the lot yes and improving the lot to
me means changing the landscaping not being okay with what it used to be can't you not you can't leave what's there yes the shrubs and stuff is a start the tree shade for shades are start you know the
actual trees and you know my feelings aren't hurt because he paved the lot over because we know you know we've had far worse done to us we seem far worse but paving can be taken up that that can
be corrected it's not that there's a 50story building that appeared on that site while nobody was looking so you know paving can be taken care of that's not the end of the world but the buffer is still pisses me off
the buffer is important the buffer is massive to me well the first one is too but I don't know what you're saying say let's move it forward and see what happens take it for a vote what we do okay and uh No I mean we're obviously
not going to tell everybody what our vote is before we vote so but we I mean if we're all satisfied with the discussion let's entertain a motion then um and staff isn't quite clear on the board's intention with regards to the
roundabout versus further landscaping and if that would be a vote and if that would be a condition here as part of what is being voted on that'll be in the motion okay doc incorrect chairman right now the application is as presented to the
board okay with the roundabout okay so we'll do a motion on Whatever what was presented to us tonight i don't make motions okay i know you're not adjusting the roundabout at all before we call for the
motion chairman Mr lean do you disagree with the fact that the roundabout is still in the application i I believe the testimony was that we would be okay with removing the roundabout and providing landscaping you heard testimony from our landscape uh architect who who provided
a path forward on that so if that's a condition of approval are you amending the application to remove the roundabout we would be willing to amend the application and agree to that as a condition of approval so you want this board to decide whether they're going to vote
with the roundabout or without it i I am saying that what we are putting forward to the board is the testimony that was provided which is we can remove the roundabout and rep uh and replace it with landscaping so I think the application before the board is without the roundabout with landscaping as
testified to by Miss Venon okay in the So it sounds like the application has been amended to remove the roundabout and only the roundabout and provide some additional landscaping that we don't know what that would be
but that could be accomplished with some lawn and some canopy of some sort is the testimony as I recall it that's correct so Mr chair the application has been amended we just we're clear on that so I will I will make a motion I'll make a
motion to approve case P2023-0106 um with the condition that the roundabout will be removed and replaced with landscaping that's my motion do we have a second second okay so we
have a motion and a second right um Commissioner Torres to the public that came out thank you thank you we We like hearing from the public we'd like to let you
um you know this is a start you know hopefully yes we need this area cleaned up something to be done with it for the very the vises that they're seeking and stuff i for me is not such u
temperamental um I actually the curb cuts could even be a little bigger because there's no parking on that block there's no parking on those streets all it's going to do is make traffic go smoothly people go in people get out smoother so I agree with making the curb
cut bigger you know I think it's a good idea um and um to the developer um thank you for hanging in there and trying to get this thing accomplished i mean that's what I can say as a neighbor
from a neighbor um it could just be abandoned and you could have walked away uh and not do nothing with this property it's it's a very hard property to work on so um I hope the developer works with the neighbors
and accomplishes what was approved here tonight and with that I vote a big eye commissioner Councilwoman Prince Harry all right so so I am pleased to hear that the roundabout is coming out and there's going to be more buffer i When
you purchase a property and you get approvals to the property you're supposed to build to what is approved so it is a I have difficulty right with them coming back and asking for a second bite at the apple was something that maybe could have pencled out a
little bit differently um and and I and knowing the problems we have with negligent property owners and it's it's it's a bane to a neighborhood when every day you walk out of your house and you see how filthy a spot is i
understand that they want to develop it to get rid of the blight but when they come in and say that they're going to clean it and then they don't clean it or they come in and they say that they are not going to allow cars to park there and they allow there like that that is not an issue for this board to adjudicate but I want to get on the
record that it is a serious problem across the city and I've you know dealt with plenty of it in my own ward um I I also know too though that there is value to to having something there and so with the condition that the roundabout will
be removed I will vote I commissioner Gangadin so I want to thank the public for coming out this evening and voicing your concerns as well um based on what's there and what's been proposed it's totally two different things and um
since the roundabout is going to be removed that gives a little more buffer um and with that said we asked the developer to really um work in good faith with the community as well and to
clean up all that garbage as quickly as possible um and respect the neighborhood respect everyone that lives within the neighborhood um with that I'll vote I vice Chair Dr gonzalez yes so I had a
problem initially with this application uh until we decided to amend it and uh that's really the only reason I'm voting for it um as you know we've been I think uh chairman and I have been on the board longer than than a lot of people have probably been alive here in this
building i'm just kidding and one of our problems is the that you know when you for the owners and developers out there we're we're we're we're taking our time to come here we're not getting paid uh this is not easy every Tuesday I know chairman puts a lot
more time than than I do and uh you know we we really care about the community but when we're doing something and we vote on something and we amend it or we do this or we do that we and then we find out that it wasn't built that way it kind of it's kind of a slap to our face um and so I think this is probably
going to be the first time that I'm going to vote on a uh project that came back to us where the developer did something that was not approved i'm very big on that it doesn't matter if it was just a parking lot or 50 stories and as
councilwoman um just just said uh this we take this very seriously and I personally take it very seriously but again uh there's nothing there and I hope this time there was nothing there before two years ago when we approved it and I'm hoping that still nothing there
and um you know we'll we'll be keeping a close eye on this uh property and make sure that it's built the way that we've now approved it and um and that that uh with that I'm going to vote I and Chairman Langston
so first of all let me let me thank all you guys i I appreciate the the honest deliberation on record you know that's not an easy thing to do but I know we're all very comfortable together and uh I think it's interesting to see um as far
as the applicant you know paving over the lot I you know I don't take it personally i check my feelings at the door every night it I if if I considered that um you know
I think I'd be doing a disservice to this position um I I believe me I understand the neighborhood's concern there there's got to be a first step to clean up the property it's obviously not okay the way it is now and
it needs to change um and this is the person that owns the property now so that's who we're betting on here um and it really sounds like my votes going to be I but it's not it's a no for
me um I I I appreciate council i appreciate the removal of the roundabout but I think we could do better with that buffer i think that buffer should be bigger i think we're almost
there but I don't think this current plan with the roundabout removed is it i just think there there needs to be more of a buffer that at least comes out to you know the neighboring property across the street that first residential
property so I know it it's approved but and I get the honor of voting last uh but it was a no either way for me so uh that's my vote it's a no
great motion carries uh as amended for one um so they there will be seven conditions the sixth in the staff memo plus the seventh regarding the um removal of the roundabout in exchange for further landscaping in line with
Miss Bennon's testimony okay all right thank you everybody um it is 7:35 we're going to take 10 I guess all right we'll see you in a few okay could we come to order again please
uh we're just going to jump out of order we have one item that wants to carry um so we're going to call item 11 is case P2024-0178 it's a review and review and discussion of uh fire Broadway
redevelopment plan amendment good evening council good evening gene Palino Gova Burns on behalf of the applicant i understand there's a quorum issue um and if that's correct council then I'll assume that unfortunately yeah I
understand we'll talk about it later well you can now now um but I assume you're carrying it so that's fine with me thank you council chairman i think for for the edification of everybody here uh
this is a review and discussion of the uh FET Broadway redevelopment plan amendment in order for this to be heard by the body there have to be five eligible commissioners to vote one commissioner does have uh a conflict
that requires recusal on the matter which would leave the board with four members and therefore uh there isn't a quorum for the board to hear that particular amendment so uh I think it's imperative upon the board and possibly
yourself Mr chairman to make sure that uh we can we can have a quorum at the next hearing has been lingering and I I think it's only fair that that we reach out and make sure we uh we have five eligible voters for it at the I think
council we filed 22nd October I I think we we did file this in October oh so it's not that old before that there was discussions well before that believe me Cam um we can give this the next hearing
date which is April 22nd okay so we'll carry to a date certain April 22nd this is uh notice for that you will not receive new notice i I don't think there's any There is no notice what am I saying don't listen to me okay thank you council thank you all right so let's
move on to the review and discussion of certified artist Susie Laauo and Michelle Vatitali formal action may be taken okay so the ABC artist uh board of certification um no no ACB ACV um anyway
the artist certification board certified Michelle and Susie as artists using criteria 1 2 3 4 and 5 and the planning department um recognizes their certifications and would recommend that you approve them as certified artists so
that they can get the certified artist housing that they are granted under the zoning and planning staff recommends approval okay thanks Cam any questions no forgot Eddie moved um okay is there anybody here from the public that wants
to comment anyone from public chair seeing no public I move to close second okay motion is made and seconded public is closed we have staff's recommendations so I'll entertain a motion mr chair I'd like to make a motion to approve the review and discussion of uh certified artists Susie
Luo and Michelle Vatel um and uh it's presented to the board tonight and forward to uh city council for formal adoption second okay motion made and seconded for approval vice Chair Dr gonzalez i commissioner Gangadan i councilwoman Prince Arie hi commissioner
Torres i chairman Langston i motion carries all in favor okay thank you let's move on to item 10 is case P205-000059 is a review agent procedure amendment we're getting Sophia she's going to be right here
okay hi hi everyone sorry I'm also in the environmental commission right now um so these are proposed changes to our ordinance to clarify our review agent procedures of course with using Tyler
the way that we involve review agents in our development review process has changed so we added uh some of those changes clarifying the process in the ordinance and we also added
something specifically talking about JCMUA's involvement in review procedures in connection with storm water ordinance requirements which are already existing and that is the summary of the changes
that are before you guys today okay thank you any questions anybody all right is there anybody here from public that wants to comment anyone from public seeing no public I move to close second all right motion is made and seconded public is closed so I'll entertain a motion mr chair I'd like to
make a motion to approve case P205-0059 presented to the board tonight and forward to city council for formal adoption second all right motion made and seconded for approval vice Chair Dr gonzalez hi commissioner Gangadan hi councilwoman Prince Erie hi commissioner
Torres and Chairman Links i motion carries all in favor thank you all right uh we'll call case P2024-0180 is a preliminary and final major subdivision uh for Harborside Place okay thank you um for the record Charles Harrington of
Connell Foley on behalf of the applicant and if I can indulge the board quickly before I go into this case I I'm also uh the attorney on on case number 21 tonight and um I'm I'm requesting that
that be carried um asking uh for the May 6th date if possible with preservation of notices cam yes we can still arrange that okay so we'll carry case P2024-0208 a preliminary and final major
site plan for 158 Van Wagon and A uh we'll carry that to a date certain May 6 with preservation of notice thank you councel okay thank you so uh I do have notices for uh this matter uh P2024-180 that I'll give to council for
review thank you thank you i always forget to do that chairman I received the affidavit of publication proof of mailing with respect to the application before the board this evening it does appear to be in order we're going to mark it as A1 for purposes of the record
okay uh thank you for the record uh what I've just handed out what I would like to mark as A2 it's uh two pages it's an aerial photograph of the uh project the property site and and a reduced copy of
the subdivision plan that's before you tonight with highlights with regard to the small lot or lots that are the subject of of this application i I think this this just kind of helps you um you know uh understand the the subdivision
better this is very very briefly i I I know I gave half my presentation at the last meeting um this the purpose of the subdivision before you tonight uh it is a major subdivision the reason it's a major subdivision is because there have been prior subdivisions
uh related to this property within the last 5 years so it has to be a major it can't be a minor even though it's it's uh rather insubstantial and it's a reversal of a subdivision that was approved in 2021 and in the 2021 subdivision what we did is we we carved
out a piece of property uh from the access road to the north pier uh residential development and we made that part of the north pier development uh so that property owner uh we'll call EQR equity residential now became the owner
of this little parcel but in the meantime uh there are some encumbrances and requirements uh of ownership as part of this parcel with regard to the waterfront walkway and some environmental conditions and the long
and short of it is uh uh Equity Residential said we don't want to do that we don't want to be responsible for that so Varys uh is is the property owner said take it back um so essentially what we're doing is we're
we're taking that parcel back because even though the the subdivision was perfected we're going to carve this back uh they never accepted ownership of the of the parcel and we're going to take it back and and uh and uh then record this
and now everything's you know back at square one where my client owns the property again and then would be responsible for all those conditions and that's that's it i have uh Mr tom Golden here on behalf of the applicant in the event you have any
questions but there's there's nothing more than that council from a legal standpoint how are we going to perfect that we're going to deed we're going to do it by map and then most likely by deed uh
to clean it up um we have to do it by map because it's a major subdivision and then we'll follow up with a deed to to um move it back into ownership of Varys Residential yes chairman anybody any questions
okay thank you council uh is there anybody here from public that wants to comment anyone from public there seeing no public i move to close second all right motion made and seconded public is closed eric anything you want to add yeah staff agrees with the testimony
provided by uh Mr chuck Harrington um it's a pretty straightforward uh application um staff just requests that the applicant agree to the conditions enumerated in the staff memo dated April 3rd uh 2025 yes we would and with that
staff recommends approval okay thank you Mr chair i'd like to make a motion at this time to approve case P2024-0180 as presented to the board here tonight second motion made and seconded for approval vice Chair Dr gonzalez I councilwoman Prince i
commissioner Gangadan i commissioner Torres i and Chairman Langson i motion carries all in favor okay thank you thank you all right i will call case P2023-000017 is a preliminary and final major site plan with variances for 650
Grove Street good evening good evening commissioners um staff and council my name is Jim McCann from the law firm of Connell Foley in Jersey City i'm here on a P uh 2023-0017
um this property is located at block 6101 lot 2 it's commonly known as 650 Grove uh it's in the Jersey Avenue light rail redevelopment plan area the high-rise district um it's owned by Grove Street Partners
LLC um this is an application for a preliminary and final site plan approval that's the relief requested um and council this is a notice case i do have my affidavit of service and publication to tender to you
thank you council council you have a copy of our agenda tonight yes I do this is case P20230017 it's improperly identified as
650 Grove LLC on the agenda yes okay this was a carry from uh the March 11th meeting with preservation of notice 13650 Grove LLC is the applicant
14 is Grove Street Partners LLC is the applicant i just want to make sure it's our error oh so um council I'm not sure if I have a current agenda but 650 Grove is item 13
on the agenda right yes yes okay but the applicant you said was Grove Street Partners LLC correct yes okay they got 659 yeah there's one or
two typos in the agenda okay that's what I thought i see what you're saying now yes that that that's not correct okay chair receive the affidavit of publication proof of mailing with respect to the application at 650 Grove
Street it does appear to be in order i've marked it as A1 for purposes of the record thank you council so um just a a quick summary of uh of the project uh the property is currently vacant land uh the proposal tonight is a
new five-story building with uh 108 market rate residential units um approximately 3752 square ft of retail in two different locations in the building um there are 57 parking spaces which that's
another typo that's in the uh in the agenda and the performative green roof being proposed tonight is 14,928 square ft which is much larger than the one listed in the agenda uh the parking spaces also
include ADA spaces and EV spaces the architect will give you the exact numbers for that um this project complies with the redevelopment plan um there are no deviations requested or required uh it is a project that's
seeking a density bonus under the density bonus provisions of the light Jersey City Light Jersey light rail redevelopment plan um the density bonus um basically allows the project to have
um 30 additional units um per acre from the standard in the redevelopment plan if the developer does the following signs a redevelopment agreement with the JC and becomes a designated redeveloper which this
developer has done both of those things they have uh signed a redevelopment agreement with the JC dated September 5th uh 2024 um they have also agreed in that redevelopment agreement to make a
contribution to an open space fund uh to be used in this redevelopment plan area the amount of the contribution is set forth in the um redevelopment agreement uh it's to be paid upon the earlier of receipt of
construction permits or the end of December 2026 there's also a lot coverage bonus being requested um because of the size of the green roof um the project is allowed to have a lot coverage bonus of
um the the standard is 75% the project is seeking 87% 80 85.7% um it's based upon the size of the um of the performative green roof you get an
extra 1% for every 300 square feet of performative green roof project actually qualifies for 125% lot coverage but the request is uh 85.7 there's one variance required it's
for an ATA ATS box which is required by PSENG for this project and for other projects in the neighborhood um my project engineer will give you a little bit more detail on that but the boxes itself is permitted but it's not to be
pre it's not permitted to be located in the front yard this one has to be because of PSEG requirements we'll tell you more about that um in a few minutes there's also um a request for a forestry
standard waiver for tree pits and we also have a slight deficiency in the number of trees that we're planting because of utilities and telephone poles etc um so the project is prepared to pay for the seven tree
deficiency they're going to pay uh the city of Jersey City the monetary contribution for the seven trees and uh the landscape architect will tell you more a little more about that um I have uh my first witness is Eric Baloo from Insight Engineering he's the civil
engineer for the project so if there are no questions about my summary I'll just bring him right up okay thank you council council the affidavit of service is 81 correct yes so we're going to make a slide
presentation almost everything in the presentation are plans that have been filed with the board um they may be colorized to make the presentation easier but whatever you see right now would be my A2 that I propose for A2 for identification
do we know how many slides uh yes we do i don't know how many for us I think okay you'll know about that so so let's do it this way we have civil slides we'll call those A2 the architectural slides will make A3 because they're
separately uh set up very good okay and there's how many civil slides i'm planning on using two civil slides okay and one of which will actually be a landscape i'll explain it when I get to it all right
yes i do uh Eric Belaloo e R I C last name Belaloo B- A L L O U mr belaloo good evening your license is current and my license is current and in good standing okay thank you you're qualified excellent eric your firm is the civil
engineer for this project we are and your firm prepared the uh civil plans that are before the board tonight that is correct you plan prepared them based upon your uh analysis of the redevelopment plan that's applicable to the property as well as the Jersey City zoning ordinance i did thank you
excellent all right so exhibit A2 the first exhibit is an aerial photo showing the existing conditions of the property uh you can see the property is outlined in yellow with 18th Street border grass site to the north and then Marin
Boulevard to the east Grove Street to the west and then there's an existing private driveway at the rear portion of our property uh the property is approximately 0.9 acres it's it's almost an acre in size so how do
you Okay so this exhibit I guess as start of the same civil presentation is a colored rendering of landscape sheet L1 so this is a rendered landscape plan
of the ground level of the project uh so for the project is that you can see that the the building basically is covering a majority of the site uh we have the lobby area is located off of the intersection of 18th
and Grove then we have retail that's along 18th Street also along 18th Street is a uh the entrance into the internal parking is really in the center of the building on 8th Street 18th Street then we also
have another retail portion along Marin Boulevard to give an orientation of this uh what we're doing on Grove Street we are proposing a uh striped loading area that will allow drop off pickup as well as also loading activities for the
project so that will be done on Grove Street also as part of the project on Marin Boulevard we're actually widening the street by approximately six feet uh and that's to accommodate a new bike lane so to be part of the compliance with the zoning we've widened Marin by
six feet uh regards to parking uh within the zone they have minimum and maximum requirements uh minimum parking required is 25 spaces maximum amount allowed is 64 spaces we're proposing 57 spaces to
comply with the parking requirement and within those internal parking spaces we'll also have EV spaces uh that conform with the present state legislation for EV parking requirements uh we we are within a flood zone so we do have to address the green
area ratio which is 0.25 uh we're exceeding that based upon numerous green infrastructure improvements that we're doing so we we have the G and we're exceeding that uh this area is approximately elevation for the preliminary flood maps is what we
need to go by it's at elevation 11 so what we've done is that we placed all the residential uses as well as the parking level is at one foot above that at elevation 12 so they'll be in conformance with the New Jersey flood hazard requirements so we have the
retail on 18th Street as well as Marin Boulevard since the roadway is lower we're proposing to keep those retails at the streetscape level so easily accessible so those will be dry floodproof to address the flood regulations which is very common we
raise the residential and keep the retail at the streetscape levels uh another improvement that we have is in regards to storm water management uh so we're achieving a reduction of the two-year storm of 50%
the 10-year is 75% of predevelopment and the 100year is 80% of of predevelopment and these are the state and Jersey City rules and regulations how we're addressing that now with the last few years we've had to address this we're really addressing this with what's
called green storm water infrastructure so we're addressing this as as you heard the large green roof that's part of storm water green infrastructure we also have permeable pavement proposed as part of this project another green infrastructure storm water practice and
then we even have some small bio retention basins as part of the storm water management so we're really addressing with three different green infrastructure to achieve the reductions that are required uh regards to utilities you know we have water sewer
jary approval all standard utility connections that's within any project the one thing that is unique to our project is electric service so the good part is that we met with PSNG well in advance of preparing these and submitting these these plans so we were
able to place the transformers internal to the building as as normally done to address our transformer locations but there's a piece of equipment we call it abbreviated ATS but it's really a automatic transfer switch so the ATS
switches are used to help with reliability and redundancy of the electrical distribution system if one circuit was to go down this switch would allow it to be connected to a different circuit to help maintain some reliability in the electrical
distribution ats switches cannot be placed inside buildings based upon our conversations with PHCNG they also have proximity requirements they need to be able to be in line with other transformers that are being
serviced so this ATS switch is not only servicing this project as part of its electrical infrastructure it's also serving the transformers as part of the 659 project as well so the ATS switch has to be located we have it here on
18th Street and we show it sort of towards the corner of Marin Boulevard so PSENG has evaluated the situation and determined this is the location that it needs to be at the switches are very similar to transformers uh they have
that same PSNG green color and they're almost the size same size as a large transformers the one thing that's a little bit unique with an ATS is that transformer you just need to have access to the doors in the front of it where an ATS you actually have to have access on
three sides there's doors on three sides of this which means you need to have a minimum clearance of 10 feet on all sides to properly access the equipment so that's what you can see in the picture we have the white box representing the ATS but then you can see the green area and then
approximately I believe probably 10 feet away is that where we have the screening opportunities we place them as close as we can and still be compliant but based upon the proximity of this we do need a variance for its location
i have no further questions uh Mr blue does that ATS have to be raised up any higher no it's basically set on a gravel pad similar to a transformer and they're about approximately six feet high so it's not elevated above it's at the
grade level is where it's placed it's not like placed at 10t and up from there it's at grade level is where it starts and placed okay but at flood level it has to be what a foot above the 11 it has to be at 12 right the this equipment
actually is I guess it's uh waterproof so it's actually not above the flood elevations it's within the flood elevations based upon it design okay gotcha interesting so the the equipment itself that like a
transformer will be public service says it's okay if it's in flooded area correct this is uh this is specific to their designs or aware is flooding and they say all our stuff is waterproof because it's electrical is what they tell us
and somebody physically has to flip a switch or it's automated i think it's automated but I believe there's certain situations where maybe maintenance potential or if something needs to be adjusted that's why they have access to three sides of the structure but it's supposed to be automated per its
definition okay so I I did do a little research on it go and it is automated it automatically in the event of a flood or some other kind of event where there's a power failure it automatically switches the power to another circuit so that the
properties in the vicinity can maintain electric power look at you can you believe it no I appreciate that okay anybody else anything all right thank you Mr willie appreciate it
okay and my next witness are the project architects um two gentlemen from Thriving Design so I'd like to bring them up now what have I done here that's nice there we go thank you
okay the whole truth i do yes sure uh my name is Matthew Bartner last name is B A R T N R my name is Dan Stoker D- N S T O I CA
so Mr bartner is the New Jersey licensed architect who prepared the plans with his colleague um Dan Stoka who is also an architect we're going to qualify Mr bartner and then he's going to defer his
presentation to Mr stoka if that pleases the board sorry my mic wasn't on uh Mr mr bartner your license is current and in good standing in New Jersey tonight yes it is okay thank you so you're qualified
Mr mr bartner your firm prepared these architectural plans correct that are before the board tonight yes that is correct and you've done it after an analysis and review of the redevelopment plan that's applicable to the project yes as well as the JCLDO yes and you've worked on those on these plans with your
colleague Mr dan Stoka yes for two plus years yes and you're requesting that uh he assist you with the presentation and move forward with it yes please okay all right Dan come on up all right good evening good evening sir
mr stoker you're an architect correct you you have an architectural degree correct okay how many years experience do you have in uh in design and architecture over 20 okay thank you okay okay go ahead Mr stoka good evening
everyone good evening um so 650 Grove Street we are proposing a uh five-story approximately 65 ft tall building at the intersection of uh Grove Street and 18th Street on a site that as we just learned spans from uh Grove Street all the way
to um Marane Boulevard so the building is um 65 ft tall it contains as um as Mr belaloo has told us 108 units in a mix of 36 studios 58 onebedrooms and 14
twobedrooms and 3,792 ft of retail all along 18th Street uh the main entrance is elevated above the flood plane approximately 5T and we see it in in the rendering here it's the has a monumental stair and a and a ramp
that leads us up to the to lobby with a large floor to ceiling glass uh covered by a canopy um with a title of the building which is for now 650 Grove Street the building is
um predominantly brick brick and uh and dark metal panel as mandated by the uh redevelopment plan and at the very top floor to highlight and to accentuate and punctuate the the corner in the entry of the building we have the structure element that completes the volume of the
building where we have a tenants use amenity deck up here we'll see that in plan and we'll see that in the landscape drawings that um will be presented the building's corner I mean the building's entry is at the corner and it's diagonally across from the 659 project
that we're also proposing we'll talk about next and it's across the street from the Lacawana building across um Grove Street so we're proposing uh brick and we'll move on to the to the elevations we're proposing a
predominantly brick material on the facade with metal panels and oversized um gray metal uh oversized windows that hearken and and reflect what's going on at the Lacawana building across across the street and as is mentioned in the in
the redevelopment plan the the building marches along and it's periodically the materials are interrupted by this metal panel in order to create vibrance in the facade and to give a sense of texture and a little bit of variation as we move along we proposing a variegated uh brick
material whoops this is I apologize uh of variegated brick material and the windows will be highlighted with caststone sills and caststone um headers at the ground floor glass and the building will also have a gray uh
granite base a sort of water table that serves to sort of separate the the brick material from the concrete of the street the retail stores are along 18th Street as we learned from Mr belaloo and as well as at the corner of um Marram Boulevard and 18th Street will take us
to the the more detailed elevations we see here the the sill and um rather the header and sill and the granite base that we are proposing at the at the ground floor the a portion of the garage of the building towards um 18th street
is uh exposed to to the street so at that and it's also but as we learned it's elevated it's about 5 ft above above the pedestrian walkway pedestrian sidewalk but this uh these will not be windows this is going to these are going to be a light like the storefront windows but it's a metal panel it's a
metal mesh rather in a in a dark metal frame with a louvered uh bottom panel that is to 42 in to prevent uh glare from from cars as as they are parking in the garage uh the ground floor plan again the same
one we saw in um in the civil presentation but in the lobby area here we have um certain programming we have leasing co-working spaces we have a mail room right beside it is the bike room 54 bikes uh which is the requirement to
service the 108 units in our building the first of the two retail spaces as they come along 18th street the garage entry point there are there's a small utility room here and then this where the building steps away and sweeps along with the curvature of 18th Street we have our garage and this is the location
of the ATS we just reviewed and the second of the two retail spaces beyond that towards the corner of the driveway to the Lacawana building uh the electrical vault and the electrical switch gear room so the parking garage accommodates 57 57 parking stalls uh
three handicapped uh nine charging stations and about 15 uh compact stalls as well we have a other utility spaces at the ground floor are the water fire room and the trash room and um
yeah the second floor excuse me the second floor steps away from the base volume of the building so we create a reduction in the volume up here and that affords us the opportunity for private patios for units at both sides
so some along 18th Street others along the south elevation um of of of the building and also at the second floor we have tenant amenities we have a fitness room we have another lounge we have um more co-working spaces tenant storage
and generally speaking spaces for the for the tenants to avail of the building the Whoops the typical floor plans third and fourth are only units and a small tenant storage room and then the next um floor plan the next change in floor
plan happens at the fifth floor where we saw the the carveout and the of the exterior roof deck here with a club room for the tenants as well so this faces across the street toif to 659 and um and the rest of the this floor is also units
and then the roof which will be occupied for a portion of it immediately adjacent the elevators with various amenities the landscape um architects our colleagues will talk about that and um but briefly speaking there's going to be a dog run there's going to be some drilling
stations and then this very large green roof the performative green roof and uh some mechanical equipment equipment here and then equipment again on top of the elevator bulkhead and um and that is in
um that is our our proposal so we do have some material boards if uh if any of the members of the board would like to touch and feel some of the materials that are being used for the
project so that's the size of the screening for the garage we are so Okay it's not a tighter square at the expense that is going to be I
feel like it's it's a very decorative it should be a pretty we're proposing well we'll the presentation will follow for 659 we're proposing the same the same screening at both buildings at 59 there is a ventilation requirement okay
concern about a hand or something no I'm concerned about just the level of screening meaning that you know a a wire gauge it's not really the wire gauge it's it's just the space in between the
wire you know it doesn't provide that much screening Matt is that okay does that conflict with the redevelopment plan um for screening so um the applicant and planning staff
work together through several iterations of this project as uh maybe some discrepancies in the project description in the uh agenda reveal um and there was always you know it was represented to me that there was this ventilation need and accommodating that
ventilation need within the design standards of the plan that require um you know these active uses um you know minimizing you know not having like just straight up vents
um was something we worked through um additional retail was added to the project at the corner of Marin as part of these discussions um and this vet and this screening as proposed felt um staff felt was
um preferable to sort of the strict ventilation type requirements would which would involve your typical open parking deck okay um and so this this screening essentially straddles the gap between each proposed retail space
um and is also buffered by landscaping on both sides and street trees okay yeah it's just not visible in this um in the board is that we we did not have an opportunity to finish the material but it will also be painted the dark color that will match the windows and the
metal panel on the project as well okay so it'll be more homog yeah just I didn't know if that created a variance in the redevelopment you know from the redevelopment plans a screening like that no um screening is explicitly required to screen um any sort of automobile parking from the public
facads of the building and so this was part of um marrying that design standard with you know anytime ventilation requirements when you're storing uh internal combustion engines inside
and having them run sure okay thank you so um Matt it was hard for me to hear Matt but um just so I could be clear the screening for the garage is at the rear
of the building facing 18 at Street yes facing at Street you're saying that the um there's some type of landscape in front of that screener um or
cuz I understand the combustion of air and stuff but what happens with car lights that come on so in order to prevent uh the glare of the headlights the the um the
windows these window-like elements have a much more opaque louver at the very base of at the bottom of it that's right so the screen is actually from 42 in up right but the very bottom of it is 42 in high so that should be above any and the
car lights will be protected from that is specifically stipulated in the redevelopment plan and we and that louver is not up there the louver is not that is not that is not shown up there that louver is not there color but it looks solid from the street right that louver is not is not in that that's what I was concerned
about not just the air but the light too that goes through uh thank you so you've got garage screen one and garage screen two on the board yes can you just show us on the elevation where one is and
where two is there is a there is a slight discrepancy on that board i apologize for that but garage screen one is the screen that faces 18th Street garage screen two
is the screen facing the ramp to the Lacawana building that is also not shown here that screen should be a little bit more open and less decorative because it's a rear elevation of the building and it sh it will not be seen to the to
the pedestrian there this the much denser screen that we show up there will play in when we present the um 659 project because there are portions of that project that warrant a tighter screen to limit visibility into into
what is otherwise a mechanical area okay anybody else i'm not sure if I missed that um the variance the accessory structure in the front yard do you have a slide with it a slide of the ATS box the accessory
structure in the front yard um anywhere on a show but we don't have a illustration of the box with us because it's PSENG but that's where it appears so where's
that's the location yes because it has to be on 18th Street Commissioner okay thank you per PSEG standards oh we have a photo of it i could walk it around to you we can mark it if you'd
like it's not very pretty but it's a different color than the photo right you want to mark it council a4 a4 a3 yeah these plans will be A3
the plans that are the architect is presenting will be A3 clearly Does the DP have that called out in their regulation so that's a question we would have to ask Mr balloo
um that requirement came strictly from PSEG we actually sent a group of people out to meet with them because we know that you're not generally allowed in this before this board to place those kinds of things in front of your project on the street corner so we did the best
that we could to avoid it but we were told "Nope it's got to be there you got to have it in this part of the neighborhood you we need that automatic uh that that that box to automatically transfer the
power in the event of a flood or some other catastrophe." So Eric you attended the meeting with PSENG right i I did not but but my colleague did and gave me very detailed as well as the architects attended as well so we don't really want
it there either but we don't have a choice i don't know Mr harrington had a contact at PSEG that was very tight lipped about that he got something moved and uh was up in Journal Square happened about four weeks ago tried to get a name
out of him he wasn't giving it up but he was very happy about where he was able to move that off of uh and not to complicate things further like not every portion of Jersey City needs these ATS switches there's a called the network distribution system and then there's the
radial spoke version so we're in the radial version is why ATS switches are needed for this radial power distribution by PSNG to add to that so it's not everywhere in the city either that these are needed do you know anything about this oh no i
don't have any further research that was bullet five on my list that was what we were told at the PSNG meeting yes and Mr belaloo did they mention anything about D in terms of whether or not do you have to get approval at a D well I I'll say this u
it's actually going to be shown we have to go for NJP flood hazard it's on there uh but we've had we've obtained numerous flood hazard permits for urban areas with these and we've never DP's never had issues with them uh because I think it's because it's PSAG it's their uh
infrastructure system okay okay anybody else any questions okay thank you okay so my next witness is a landscape architect why is this happen
is it so Milo and Bower are the landscape architects for this project and I have uh Gates Kelty here tonight a landscape architect to testify about the plans i do
yes my name is Gates g A Tely k I E L T Y i L Y good evening um I don't believe we have ever qualified you that's correct okay if you could just give us your background your educational background and your licensing in the
state yes absolutely um so I am a project manager at Malo Bower Karman i have been licensed in New Jersey since 2021 my license is in good standing i graduated from the Penn State University in 2014 with a degree in landscape
architecture um I have testified in front of the Asbury Park board in the past and I have been with Malilla Barman for the last 10 plus years okay thank you you're qualified great and Gates your fir your firm is the landscape architect for the project correct yes
that's correct and you've prepared the plans that are before the board tonight the landscape architectural plans yes and you've taken into consider consideration the redevelopment plan for this project yes we have as well as the JCLDO correct yes okay thank you
okay so I'm going to start uh at the street level here we are showing a richly detailed landscape plan including a hearty pallet of both ornamental and native plant material along the streetscape and at the building entry we
have two types of permeable concrete pavers used along the majority of the streetscape and uh gray colored concrete at the driveways and ADA ramps all these will complement the architectural
materials we have a number of shade trees along the streets totaling 15 street trees we are deficient in that due to a number of utility driveway and light clearance requirements by the
forestry standards um additionally we do deviate in the size of the tree pits along each of the streets um where 5x10 would normally be required by forestry standards um I believe we have about a 4x10 size tree pit and we've been
working with forestry engineering and engineering to um come up with a solution so that we can provide an adequately sized sidewalk and uh tree pits based on their recommendations along 18th Street there
are also several bio retention areas as noted by Eric earlier that will help store and slow the release of storm water the planting for these areas were selected from the NJD list of plants for bio retention areas within their BMP
manual also as noted by Eric we are exceeding the G requirements uh there are two bike racks along the streetscape namely at the lobby entry um they will provide parking for four
bikes at that area in terms of lighting at the street we conform to the city standard light fixtures and are they are proposed along the curb line we do meet the minimum 0.5 foot candles required uh we also utilize
a number of building mounted lights along the rear of the building and at key architectural moments like doorways and columns moving up to the second floor landscape plan we have a number of private terraces along the northern and southern
portions of the building and we utilize intensive green roof planting at this level at the south side with plants hearty for the application at the fifth floor we have uh an exterior amenity space that comes off of the interior amenity space and the
amenities at this level include a gas fireplace with lounge seating string lights and a dining table additionally we have a number of intensive green roof plants at this level as well hardy for
the application then finally at the upper roof we have uh additional green roof both intensive and extensive um and a number of amenities at this level that include a synthetic lawn with
a movie wall a dog run which is approximately 950 square ft fire pits a grill station and bar with bar counter seating shade structures game tables and artistic lighting this is a composite of all of the levels
here so the project green roof totals are 11,935 ft of extensive green roof and 2,993 square ft of intensive green roof totaling the 14,928 ft of planting uh for the total
site so Gates just real quick so the tree pits basically your office communicated with the foresters in Jersey City and and the issue was do you want us to comply with the tree pit dimension size or maintain the full width of the
sidewalk that's required and the forestry department said you can reduce the size of the tree pits because we prefer the sidewalk to uh comply with the redevelopment plan that's correct okay reduce the size of the the uh tree
that's going to be planted on that pit uh no it wouldn't okay so would still be the same mhm okay anybody else all right thank you thank you uh my last witness is uh Miss Carolyn
Worstelle from Dresnner Robin Planner okay thank you good evening again good evening and uh Miss Worstelle if you could just say for the record that you understand that you have been sworn in already and are still under oath yes I understand that I have been sworn in already and I am still
under oath and you are still qualified as well yes yes and my license is still in good standing thank you um so yes you you've heard about the project um we're here for um a single variance there are no deviations from the redevelopment plan we are seeking a
variance from the LDO related to that accessory structure which is the ATS switch that that's what the structure is is the switching um uh equipment plus the the cover
um under section uh 34560 which is the supplementary standard section talks about accessory structures um and within that um it prohibits accessory structures from being in a front guard um we are required by PSENG to provide
this equipment um it services not just this building but other places uh other buildings along the block um as you heard the testimony we really don't have a lot of um we can't move it this is the location has been told that we have to
provide it um and we're sort of in a a situation where we have a cap lot we have three frontages so we really are very limited in terms of what isn't a front yard for this um application um so we're really sort of looking at this this is a hardship um we're required to
provide the equipment the only place we can provide it is in a front yard um and uh really the the we're we're trying to um provide as much um buffer as we can for this we are trying to provide it within a green area
we are trying to provide what landscaping buffer and and screening we are permitted to um provide as you heard we we do have to have certain minimum distances from landscaping in order to meet the requirements by PSEG for access
um so we are trying to to mitigate um that location as best as we can um but this is this is location that we have been told that it has to be provided um I think we also built and suspenders want to just discuss that waiver for the
tree pits sure yes please um basically the the redevelopment plan says that street trees will be regulated pursuant to the new the Jersey City forestry standards the Jersey C Jersey City Forestry standards has their standards tree pit is 5 by 10 but it
does allow that alternative dimensions are permitted upon consultation and approval by the forester we are in the process and have reached out to the forester and and are still in the process of finalizing those those tree pits but uh we will get that approval by
the forester for the reduced tree pits um so you know we we believe that you know the the waiver can be granted um and that we are we're working within what the Jersey City Forestry standards process is um I think you know overall this project
advances the per uh municipal land use law um it's consistent with purpose A um the proposed use of uh mixed use of you know ground floor retail and residential uses is permitted uh and envisioned on
this site by the redevelopment plan um consistent with purpose E establishment of appropriate population density is it's a permitted number of units um and uh consistent with purpose I you know uh desirable visual environment um
again the building has been designed um to add uh landscaping uh between the building and the sidewalk where we can uh we have the you know new street trees we'll have new sidewalks um you know trying to add those um uh
uh I'm blinking on the term the um bioailes uh is where where we can as well um so I think overall the the the design here um is very appropriate um it's consistent with um the redevelopment plan uh it won't result in
a substantial detriment to the public good or general welfare again it's consistent with the redevelopment plan um providing all of the setbacks as required to allow for a light air and open space um and then then new um commercial uses will provide new retail
um spaces along uh both 18th Street and uh Marin Boulevard and um granting the deviation or the variance would likewise not result in a substantial impairment to the intent and purpose of the zone planner zoning ordinance uh it's promoting the purpose of that high-rise
district that that it's located in which is to encourage and reinforce street wall design and develop active ground floor uses it's also advancing several of the redevelopment plan objectives objective H uh provision of land and parcels of sufficient size and
configuration so as to permit economic redevelopment uh objective I provision of site improvements for the beautifification of the plan and surrounding neighborhoods and objective M creation of new major employment and housing opportunities for residents of Jersey City um so I think you know
overall this project uh meets both positive and negative criteria for the variance uh required for that um uh front yard uh accessory structure and Caroline just real quick two last
things so you can confirm for us that the uh 14,928 square foot performative green roof um justifies the lot coverage bonus of 85.7% correct right
um let's see actually justifies 125% lock coverage right so the the lot coverage I think it's section 4E lot coverage bonuses um it says for parcels greater than 2,000 square feet uh you can increase uh your coverage by a
factor of 1% for every 300 ft of performative green roof um green infrastructure rain garden on site i mean we're providing a lot of those items but um base coverage was 75% um we are providing that
14,928 ft which equates to a 49% housing bonus or bonus of coverage which would have gotten us to 125% can't cover more than 100% um and we're only proposing 85.3 so we're definitely more than
comfortable with that bonus and we have also qualified for the density bonus because we have executed a redevelopment agreement and agreed to make a monetary contribution of one almost one point around $1.9 million to the open space
fund correct yeah that's consistent with bonus A thank you anything else council uh that completes our presentation okay any questions for Miss Worstell anyone all right thank you thank you
okay so at this time let's open it up for public comment if anybody's here from the public that wants to comment please come on up anyone from public mr chair see no public i move to close okay motion is made and seconded public is closed matt you have anything you want
to add uh planning staff substantiates the accuracy of Miss Wristell's testimony and has satisfied the bonus conditions are met um as far as the ATS variance goes um it has to go somewhere and there's three there's three front yards here and
then one yard that's right up against the um the Lacawana Center industrial facility and so um I think you know it's pretty apparent that you know they meet the required proofs here and the negative criteria is mitigated um by
their you know placing it within the landscaping and not having it foul the public right of way or be the prominent focus of this long facade along 18th Street which um has retail frontage on both corners
um um which is envisioned which is in line with the um objectives of the Jersey Avenue light rail redevelopment plan which is going to see this neighborhood transformed into a uh mixeduse commercial residential transitoriented development hopefully
with an infill light rail station one day that's all okay thanks Matt mr chair I'd like to make a motion at this time to approve could I just say two things go ahead um I do have actually one thing sure i uh Mr i thought so yes um so
staff prepared a memo dated April 4th 2025 um within that memo there are six proposed conditions um staff is proposing to strike condition six prior to receiving a certificate of occupancy the property
shall be insec inspected and receive sign off in the office of historic preservation that was a scrivener's error um related to um a condition intended for another application making it into the document and so the staff is proposing the first five conditions
within the memo so thank you Matt for doing that and yes we we agree to comply with the first five conditions i also should probably say that um we received a JCMUA comment letter um of August 14th 2024 we had the projects the civil
engineers Mr ballow's group has either already complied with it on the plans or they will address any remaining comments the last thing is traffic engineering uh submitted a final report or comment letter dated August 15
2024 they wanted raised bike lanes um in front of this project on 18th Street eric has done a ton of work with the D and with the MUA and that raised bike lanes would create a drainage problem in front of this project a flooding problem
basically the potential for it so um Gary Dean's office has been working with the traffic engineering department and what they've agreed is to take the raised bike lanes off the table we will work with the Division of Traffic
Engineering to come to a solution to provide a safe and passable bike lane in front of the project and around the project on 18th Street probably with um with barriers that are either more aesthetically pleasing than the ones
that are out there right now or some other um type of barrier but we do not have to raise the bike lanes okay understood thank you council mr chair I'd like to make a motion at this time to approve case
P203-000017 as presented to our board tonight second all right motion made and seconded for approval commissioner Torres commissioner Councilman Princei hi commissioner Gangadin i vice Chair Dr gonzalez i and Chairman Langston i
motion carries all in favor okay thank you everybody thank you for your time commissioners thank you [Music] okay so council uh you are up next but before we do that we do have a a 9:30
hard cutoff here we lose our security at the front so we do need to lock the doors once we lose that security and we cannot hold a public meeting at that point with the doors locked so we do not take any testimony after 9:30 if there's
anybody past and I assume council you need more than 20 minutes chairman I'm sorry i I actually I thought you were informed so we've been told that we can go to 10 now however I'm going to confirm and then uh I'll have to come back and reconfirm but well is security
here until 10:00 or are they here until after 10:00 they would stay here till 10:30 so that we can all leave but we we get an extra half an hour but let me let me confirm sorry about Okay right back so in the meantime Mike
does that change your break okay yeah let's take a quick five minute break and uh All right i suppose heard do karaoke karaoke i can't park my truck down there
i'm singing do we have everybody that we need to depends on who you consider because we I'll wait for council it's not bad me it's not bad for us
so we do have confirmation that it is a 9:30 cutoff tonight apologize so if anybody wants to carry Mr joseph I assume I don't think Mr mccann's going
to step out of the way for you tonight uh all right he doesn't do anything oh I have cases uh 15 that's P2024-0173 uh 359 Johnson
Avenue i also have uh it's also listed as 15 i think it's just a typo though uh case P2024-0207 89 Neptune Avenue i have case 16 uh P2024-0227209 Holiday Street and I
have You're all going to me uh number 22 P2024-0165 221 to 223 Nunda Avenue Cam yeah we'll do May 6th we're gonna have to push items that didn't notice for that meeting and accommodate um
items being carried i'll uh let's carry preservation to May 6 but Cam I'll connect with you this week and we'll figure out what we're doing about the 22nd and about the 6th um but I uh appreciate it thank you so much all right thank you council pleasure this evening sorry thanks i feel like
something big is May 6th sorry hi good evening linda Hurley with Riker Danzig um I have number 17 it's P20240199 cam um May 6th may 6th with preservation
of notice of course yes with preservation of notice thank you council thank you very much she's got a sign application okay council do you want to carry your last item before we continue yes I'll
carry my item um 301 West Side case uh uh item 18 on the agenda carry with preservation of notice May 6th all right yeah it'll be a post Cinco de Mayo celebration okay got it
cam did we have something big on May 6th we did um we do have an item carried i I can't remember what kennedy okay uh the Pep Boy site yeah that's May 6 correct oh I was thinking of uh April
22nd okay so let's uh move on with case P2023-000018 uh site plan amendment for 659 Grove Street Council hi James McCann from the law firm of Connell Foley on behalf of the applicant Grove Street Partners LLC
uh this is another project that's in the Jersey Avenue light rail redevelopment plan the high-rise district commonly known as 60 659 Grove Street block 62 lot 8 uh this is a notice case um
council I'm going to tender my affidavit of service and publication for uh marking as A1 sure that's okay we'll leave it for him bouncer duty so this project was approved initially
in 2017 it received a preliminary site plan approval at that time um it received a final site plan approval in 2021 both of those approvals were from the predecessor in title my client purchased the project and is basically
amend is requesting that the uh site plan approval uh be amended so the the relief requested is an amended pre preliminary and final site plan approval um but basically this is a refinement of the existing project and um just to run
you through a few things very quickly um it was approved as a 10-story building that is not changing it was approved at 139 residential units that is not changing um the retail square footage
square square footage is changing from 11,050 square ft to an increase to 14,563 square ft parking garage initially approved at 102 parking spaces
decreasing to 99 spaces um which still complies with the redevelopment plan and this project was approved with a density bonus in 2017 um again uh the standard is 90 dwelling
units per acre with the density bonus provision it's 120 acre uh units per dwelling units per acre that was previously approved that is not changing at all um basically there's one new waiver there's a tree pit waiver very
similar to the project that we just talked about that was just approved um having said that I'm just going to bring Mr uh Baloo up who's also the project engineer on this project and he will quickly run through you run you through a few changes to the project okay thank
you and council for purpose of the record I'm in receip the affidavit of publication proof of mailing with respect to 659 Grove it does appear to be in order A1 for purposes of record thank you thank you and for the record Mr blue is uh been sworn in already
tonight he is still under oath and is still qualified i acknowledge that thank you thank you so I believe we have exhibit A2 on the board right now yes let's call that A2 council and this is a rendered uh sheet Ellen landscape sheet
L1 u so I'm going to go through the the plan changes uh you know one there were some minor changes to the footprint and some modifications as explained before just accommodations uh in regards to parking what we're minimum required is
85 maximum allowed is 162 and we're at 99 spaces so we we're still fully compliant with parking as with the other projects we had to add green infrastructure storm water management so for this project we also have green roof
and permeable pavers uh to meet the D and Jersey City runoff rate reductions so there's some changes to the storm water management system that will get approved by both JUA and the state of New Jersey there's no ATS switches we have our transformer inside but this
project would be serviced by that ATS switch that was just approved so this is one of the buildings that that benefits from that use um there are some small grading changes along the back there's a small retaining wall along the back of the property necessary for grading changes um so that was something that
was added as part of this uh we will also have EV spaces in accordance to state requirements i'm not sure if that was on the original approval so from a site perspective those were the the changes that occurred thank you Mr
bellow any questions anyone yes Mr b what was the um in original approval what was the parking spaces how many 102 spaces there was 102 so it was a three space reduction that occurred just a three
space reduction i thought you said I heard 200 i was like why why such a major reduction okay thank you anybody else okay thank you uh next witness is the project architect
Thriving Design and uh would like the board to recognize the same process mr bartell um on at Thrive and Design the New Jersey licensed architect has prepared the plans and is everything being done tonight is under his license and we'd
like to have Mr stoker do the presentation okay um Bartell I thought it was Bartner okay thank you just checking my notes here that's okay um Okay so just for the record you understand that you have been sworn in qualified are still under oath and you
as well sir yes I acknowledge okay thank you council we're going to mark the architectural drawings as A3 yes please and just tell me how many please um again bear with
me please we will have one two three four five six seven eight thank you so 659 Grove Street um diagonally across
the street from 650 Grove which we just saw um uh the two buildings were were designed and uh to to complement and engage in a dialogue with each other so our entry as in the previous approval is sits on the
corner of 18th Street and and Grove Street just across the street from from 650 and the lobbies really reflect each other and and are engaging in this in a in a dialogue of of a relationship between the pedestrian traffic there so we really anticipate this intersection to be
um a a really great place in in between these two streets the building is 10 stories as as previous and as the previous design the building steps back at the fourth floor level um above the parking garage and creates uh so the
base of the building creates a sort of a pediment and then we have this tower element that goes up for the full height of the building and at the top floor at the 10th floor as at the 650 project we have this carveout tenant amenity space here that has a structural element that completes the volume and the two
buildings really uh reflect each other this space here is going to obviously have a much nicer view it faces souththeast so the Jersey City skyline the Manhattan skyline are all right there the material pallet is um the same as at
uh 650 so we have the predominant brick the very large windows uh the Lacawana building is across the street from here across 18th Street um so the similar color palette and the materiality that is mandated by the uh redevelopment plan the brick is interrupted every so often
by a metal panel to create a variation in the facade and we have obviously the fourth floor uh step back here which creates a uh a roof which uh were are going to be the outdoor amenity areas for the project there's also at the
fourth floor an indoor amenity area for the tenants and we see this large uh glass glazed um element here that separates the tower portion of the building from from the base portion from the lower portion of the building as we march along 18th Street we have our
storefronts they're in the same location more or less as they were before just that we have slightly more storefront and uh because of the of the increase in area and here towards the rear of the building towards the west side of the building where the plaza will be for the
hopefully the right lit uh the right light rail station in the near future um one difference um is that this wall was previously curved and now it's it's zigzagged and stepped back it creates a landscaping opportunity at the front of the building and we thought that would
be very beneficial the enlarged elevations we see the same as before so a monumental lobby area with monumental stairs and the ramp that leads up to it building mountain lighting floor to ceiling glass at the lobby that reflects what's going
on across the street at 650 and a and a large canopy that covers all this again reflective of what we have across the street so the variegated brick the dark metal panel at the top of the building um we in the longer portion of of the building we interrupt the the brick and
we have a metal panel top floor which you serves once again to articulate the building well and to create more visual interest as we as we go along i'll walk you through the plans the ground floor plan um main entry lobby mail area
leasing and co-working spaces in this area are back of house spaces are along Grove but away from the intersection so generator room um electrical room electrical vault trash and um an electric switch gear gas room there is a
a bike room in the garage at the first tier we only have I believe is six parking stalls yep and um EV parking as well and bike storage for tenants for 139 bicycles and then towards the west
along 18th Street we have the we said 14,5633 square ft of of retail and the pedestrian plaza towards the end second floor is the first residential floor and
a parking tier so the residential units are towards the east and the south of the building over here so directly above the lobby facing the 650 Grove project and the parking tier is uh towards the west and the building steps back slightly over the a portion of the
retail roof at the excuse me there which way this no at the third floor again seven residential units this is directly above the second and the third and last parking tier this one is slightly fewer parking stalls than that then the the one below and a large storage room
directly below the pool area where we have the pool mechanical room storage and maintenance and uh to the question that came up earlier this portion of the uh facade here the mesh is going to be the denser mesh that's going to be a little bit more obscure for lights and
stuff that are going to be in here so that pedestrians won't will have less visual queue in here our parking tiers are naturally ventilated at the upper floor so the larger um the larger mesh is intended for here so that we can achieve natural ventilation through the
garage and obiate the need for mechanical ventilation up here the let me go back one please no the fourth floor the building steps back yet again so this this is the beginning of our tower portion of the building so two amenity decks here two
amended decks for tenants used gener uh one facing south in the Lacawana building one facing west towards uh the palisades this is the one that has the pool and a large amenity area for tenant use fitness kids room and other lounges
for the tenants because the building steps back here this also affords the opportunity along the whole perimeter of the building virtually except for above the entry for private uh patios for for the units and then the typical floors sixth uh fifth sixth and and up to the ninth
floor they're all typical 100% units and some you know trash trash room electrical meter room and other utility closets along the way and Whoops at the ninth floor uh almost largely
residential but as at 650 we have a private club room and that sky deck that we we saw in the renderings fa facing southeast and then the roof where uh there is a rooftop mechanical room and a large portion of performative green roof
which is necessary for for storm water management and uh the elevator machine room above that and um I'll leave you with the last rendering the building we've kept the columns away from the corner so we can have these um large windows that articulate each of the
corners along the the facade and um as I said the geometry of the sighting is as before questions thank you any questions anybody eddie okay thank you sir thank you next
witness is uh Milo and Bower landscape architects council we have four minutes left do you think we can make this happen and I have to do an hard 9:30 uh yeah yes I think we can could you Do you have planning testimony as well i
don't because I don't have any deviations or variances perfect good evening again and uh if you could just just round four okay you've been you've been qualified sworn in and are still
under oath yes I can thank you um Okay so our plans essentially were revised to respond to the D requirement changes um so similar to 650 we uh utilize the same hardscape treatment uh along the street
level we have a total of 18 street trees at this level and a number of additional trees within the plaza to the west that I'll expand upon a little bit more in a bit um we have six bike racks along the streetscape and provide parking for 12
bikes near the lobby entry and at the plaza space um the plaza space to the west was designed to respond to plans for the light rail that will ultimately be constructed to the north of the site we have movable planters proposed to delineate the
spaces oops uh which can easily be moved to provide opportunity for pedestrian and public pass through to the future light rail within the plaza there's also an 800 square ft dog run space for residents of the building which is proposed with a
synthetic turf material specifically manufactured for the application um and also similarly to the 659 uh or sorry 650 proposal um we do deviate from the standard tree pit sizes with this
project as well um but you've also communicated on this project with um with forestry forestry and they have again said make the dimensions a little smaller and maintain the sidewalk width correct yes that's correct and that's what we're doing yes correct under their
supervision exactly okay thank you yes that's uh that's our completes our testimony and our presentation okay thank you uh any questions anybody on landscaping okay council we got to mark this as A4 for the record yes please thank you
council for reminding me okay is anybody here from public that wants to comment on this application seeing no public i move to close okay motion is made and seconded public is closed matt I need to wrap you up in a minute yeah super quick um so staff published a
memo dated 442025 um noted this is an as of right application still with the amendments um seven conditions are listed of which um staff is recommending condition six be struck um similar to the previous
application it was a scrivener's error uh for an adaptive reuse project on a on an application template um so staff is uh supports approval with those six conditions okay thanks Matt mr chair I'd like to
make a motion at this just got to just say one thing real quick so um regarding those conditions um one of Matt's conditions is that we comply with conditions from the final site plan that was originally granted which I agree to with one caveat there's a require
there's a condition in that um in that approval that the developer pay the monetary contribution i just want to enter enter this into the record this is payment of the monetary contribution it's already been paid it was delivered
to Joanne Morales uh coordinator on moni monitoring evaluation dated it's a letter dated April 22nd 2022 and I would tender it to you council as the next exhibit as proof that the monetary contributions already been paid other
than that we agree to all Matt's conditions so I that's proof that the condition has been satisfied yes the condition remains we can mark it as satisfied if yes okay
we'll mark that as A5 for that purpose council we have the same commitment from traffic engineering on the bike lanes they also wanted raised bike lanes here we have the same commitment that we will work with them to provide bike lanes but they will not have to be raised bike lanes
okay thank you councel mr chair I'd like to make a motion at this time to approve case P203 D- 0018 as presented to our board tonight motion made and seconded for approval commissioner Torres yes commissioner Councilman Prince Harry
I commissioner Gangadin i vice Chair Dr gonzalez I and Chair Langston hi motion carries all in favor all right thank you so let's move on to memorialization of resolution chair I'd like to make a motion to approve thank you council the following uh resolutions i have four resolution number one of the city of
Jersey City is extending preliminary major site plan approval for one year uh P2025-000026 submitted by Newport Associates Development Company at 1086 Street block 7302 lot
55.01 and 16-60th Street block 7302 lot 55.02 02 formerly known as 26th Street block 7302 lots 43 and 55 second resolution of the planning board of the city of Jersey
City amendments to the zoning map regarding reszoning lots on Palside Avenue from R2 to RC2 case number P205-0041 third resolution of the planning board of the city of Jersey City for approval and recommendation of amendments to chapter
345-31 of the land development ordinance regarding the general development checklist case and this is P2025-0042 the fourth and final resolution is corrective resolution a resolution of the planning board of the city of Jersey City applicant 285 Newark
Avenue LLC for a final major site plan amendment approval at 285 Newark Avenue block 100004 lot 6 New Jersey case number P204-0119 okay do I have a second all right motion and second cam vice chair dr gonzalez hi
commissioner Gangadan hi councilwoman Prince hi commissioner Torres Chairman Langston motion carries all in favor to memorialize resolutions motion to adjurnn motion to second okay thank you guys we'rejourned