okay we're on the air chairman all right Zoning Board of adjustment regular meeting uh of October 15 2024 is hereby called to order at 7:3 call to order and statement of compliance adequate notice of this meeting hearing has been provided by
posting a copy of the public meeting hearing dates on the municipal bulletin board and website by sending a copy to Theo Sentinel and car a News newspaper and by finally a copy with the municipal clerk standard board procedures any hearing conducted by the board is a
quasi judicial proceeding any questions or comments must be limited to issues that are relevant to what the board May legally consider in reaching a decision and decorum appropriate to a Judicial hearing must be maintained at all times meeting cut off announcement is made
that is a matter of procedure it is the intention of the zoning Board of adjustment not to continue any matter past 10:30 p.m. at any regular or special meeting of the board unless a motion is passed by the members then present to extend the meeting to a later
specified cutof time electronic devices all in attendants are asked to mute their phones since the any electronic devices as to not interrupt the proceedings supposedly they don't interfere with the recording anymore uh okay Pledge of Allegiance would you lead
us now glad to Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all okay call please yes Mr arono is
excused this evening Miss Brennan is excused this evening Mr gianakas is excused this evening Mr Flatley is excused this evening Mr Rosenberg here Mr Watts here miss Collins is excused this evening Vice chairman Groff here
chairman GRE here chairman we have a very small Quorum yes I know M so we should get done sooner there should be less questions don't chinx it I know okay all right now not having any other additional uh things to discuss we're
going to discuss our bylaws next meeting hopefully when more people are here but since we have less people it's no sense really talking about them at this time uh the we have the application which is a bulk variants block
10102 Lot 4 the zone is R3 30 Old Farmhouse Road application number 24-20 Z Edward SI sien and mariza de Roa s
applicant proposes to construct an addition to an existing single family dwelling I see the applicant is here with their attorney we are here would you introduce everybody please again this is the application of Edward and Mera De Rosa s 30 Old Farmhouse Road
Block 10102 Lot 4 located in your R3 Zone application for bulk variances required for a proposed addition to the applicants single family residents to expand their dining room and redesign their front porch uh we're also seeking some housekeeping relief for existing
non-conformities relating to an existing accessory shed and a generator uh also uh your planner identified an issue with the pool uh which is also pre-existing setback issue so we'll seek housekeeping relief for that as well uh for the
record uh the applicants did not install the swimming pool did not install the shed they did install the generator but with permits so to the extent that that's non-compliant um we plead ignorance we thought it was fine since the permits were issued uh specific
variance is required we have loot coverage of 22.7 requested where 22.2 present leagues exists and 20% is permitted uh honestly this has a lot to do with the swimming pool both on the patio surrounding it and the surface water which I'll discuss later on uh
again getting into the housekeeping issues uh the existing shed is approximately 190 square feet where 100 square ft is permitted under your ordinance so it's excessive uh the side yard setback for the shed is 2.1 ft 10 ft is required uh again we don't know
whether that shed was installed with a permit or what happened there since it was before the applicants owned the property uh the existing swimming pool side yard setbacks this is not really a corner lot but it's on a curve so it's in essence a corner lot we have two side
yards no rear yard so your two side yard setbacks are 12 and 15 ft respectively to the pool uh 20 ft is required and then finally the generator which we did install uh it's located in the front yard and forward of the front line of
the house they're doing this for 30 years I wasn't aware that those are two different things but apparently under your ordinance there are so we have under uh 134.4 being in a front yard and 134.5 being forward at the front line of the house uh it's just a few feet and you
wouldn't know it if you didn't look at the survey with a scale but technically it is uh so seing that relief as well two witnesses this evening Edward S the applicant one of the applicants and Brian Johnson our architect who will also feel any uh site issues in his
testimony okay did you swear all the people in absolutely Mr chairman just taking one note real quick yeah and then you can uh say that they're legal absolutely okay all right let's so we got the applicant we got a board professionals Mr Johnson yeah Mr Johnson just raise your right hand for me sir
thank okay do all of you swear or affirm that the testimony your abouts to provide will be the truth the whole truth nothing about the truth I do all right great and then real quick Mr chairman just on a notice um I did review it I found it to be sufficient both in terms of its content and timeliness of service it was sent to owners of property within 200 ft of subject property also published in the
echos Sentinel on October 3rd 2024 so in my legal opinion the board is jurisdiction to here and deide this case thank you my pleasure continue Mr siiv would you please just restate your name and address for the record yes Edward pull that mic closer to you sure make sure you're on there and is it on yes
okay okay good evening uh Edward S 30 Old Farmhouse Road in Millington okay Mr SI you and your wife are the OWN of that address yes we are and you personally reside there yes and how long have you lived there uh a
little over a year and I'm going to well first just for the uh record we're going to go through the photographs that we've submitted these are unchanged from what was submitted with the original package I'm going to ask you just to take them in order this the same order they were
submitted for board's reference just as each photograph just give the board an indication of what's portrayed in that photograph and please confirm that the phot are still accurate today are they numbered in any manner they are not they're just in the same order as they're stapled for you okay represent
for the record I took the photograph shortly before the application was filed and they accurately reflect what I saw when I took them okay okay so the first photograph is a bird's eyee view of our house and the surrounding property and that it's the same now as it was when
the photograph was taken for the record that's a Google photo okay uh the second one is a photograph of the front of our house uh unless I say otherwise they're they're all the same now that they were when the photograph are
taken uh the third photograph is also the front of our house but toward more towards the left hand side of it showing the garage um the fourth photograph is a closeup of the front porch of the house where we're
uh seeking to expand the fifth photograph is a dead-on view of the front porch the sixth photograph is to the right of that um porch area front of the house again yeah okay seventh photograph is a
of our neighbor's house now for the record where is your property and location to this boy this is a tricky one I'm um I think my prop property is to the left of it in the photograph
okay and the I think we're up to eight the eth photograph is the same view but closer up of the neighbor's house now what would be on the other side of the fence that's portrayed in that that would be my property okay and specifically your pool area your shed area yes pretty much right on the other
side of that fence correct correct okay uh the the this is these are the trees that AB but our property and um the neighbor's property and again behind those trees would be your pool area your shed area corre yes those
trees camouflage buffer if you will uh any view of that area from the street right you can't see anything from there um the next photograph are the steps leading up to the rear of my house from the um uh the driveway that's on the
left hand side of the house other neighbor okay that appears to be a picture of of my neighbor's house so yours would be to the right in that photograph correct yes okay and again we have trees along the property line
buffering between that neighbor's property and yours is that correct that's correct uh the next is a picture of our pool with the surrounding trees as well and the shed uh is in the
background and just for perspective the blue shed in the left of that photograph is the one that we saw before on the neighbor's property right my shed is in the center of the photograph comp um comp next photograph is another picture
of the pool and my shed and the surrounding trees next photograph is a closer view of that uh the shed and the edge of my pool fence between yes
um that's the end of my pool and shows the neighbor's house across the other side of the fence a closeup of the end of the pool and um that's it 2 you have a picture of that generator by any means you know I
didn't take a picture of it because it wasn't we didn't know it was an issue at the time but Mr s maybe you could just find uh the best photograph tell board where that is okay all right if you look at the you can show it hold it up the board the 13th
photograph uh so the generator would be around here I guess which is on the Southeast corner of where this of of this Photograph but it's not depicted in the actual photograph and it's on the
backyard side side of the fence okay yeah that confused me I heard reference to front yard and backyard if you would go to the I think it's the sixth photograph okay that's the one with the bushes right look at the at the six photograph
where where would it be if it were shown in that photo oh actually right yeah in in the six photograph it would be just to the um the right of and in the
background of these behind the bush yeah so I guess it is in the front yard so it's it's like if you you have the survey in front of you as well okay out was mistaken it's to the it's to the northeast of the house you look at another map terrible
with Direction I'll show you the survey which has been submitted to the board no changes yeah I see it it shows generator so I can have Mr Johnson confirm this but uh if the board's
looking at the survey if you see the measurement from the street to one corner of 62.9 Ft look to the right you'll see another Corner uh the ultimate Corner front corner of the home to the right that's actually about 2 feet closer to the street I'm not sure why the
surveyor shows the other corner but the closest is about 60 ft still conforming but then if you look to the right a little further you see the generator in the front corner of that generator is actually even a little closer still okay so it scaled off to
about 55 ft still within the Le front set back but still technically in front of the house okay just a portion of it not the enre thing right just that front corner of it and this is all a function of the fact the house is on this curve and where the while we're looking at while we're
looking at this never mind I answered my own question uh it talks about a Timber wall on the and uh it's looks more like it's it's not a wall per se but more like a garden planting planter area is that
right is this what's being called the timber wall by your pool yes okay so Mr SI why are we here tonight what is it you're looking to do and why uh we're looking to expand uh the front of the house to bring the existing
dining room uh out to the edge of the porch and a little further uh we have a very large extended family or at least my wife does and we like to uh particularly on holidays Thanksgiving
have a a lot of people over and we'd like to be able to accommodate them in the dining room uh and change the appearance of the front the house to make it look more attractive that's essentially it and Mr Johnson will give us some
details on the actual dimensions and so forth what's being done I noticed the house seems to step back anyway at some point it starts out a little fur a little closer then it steps back a little bit then it steps back a little more so you going to bring back one of those step backs
forward it it looks like your house like sequentially goes by and large it's covering the existing porch area [Applause] yeah so it steps your first step back goes into your porch area correct yes and then as the chairman was saying that
it steps back further and Mr Johnson will give us the specific details but generally speaking you're covering the porch disclosing the porch area that's where your dining room expansion will be and then there'll be a different design to your front porch and the front door is going to be moved forward too yes
okay uh just for the record I've said it in opening but just to make it clear uh the swimming pool was installed already when you took ownership is that correct yes and storage shed the same thing same thing yes uh generator you installed but you did have permits when you installed
yes I have nothing further for Mr siven at this time all right board members questions for Mr Sven time okay uh audience members anybody here to ask Mr Sven any questions okay hearing none I'll close
it to the audience from Mr civen um would you like to continue with your next next question Mr Johnson has his up already excellent he's all queued up yep he's moreing in good oh yeah Fred has it just got to get a qualifi yeah
just m yeah give him the mic then we we do that Mr Johnson just before you're diary oh no hold on all right let me put new batteries in it you never know what is it with these batteries huh we never get
good batteries around here no we don't see back in the old days we would just have one of the applicants you guys a sound system yeah right ethics laws we don't need no we don't have an audio store in the
town so tell while this is they've got a nice while this is going on maybe I can uh direct a question towards you what is the condition of the current wooden fence that's that sides you pool um solid um okay I'm not sure well I'm
I'm looking at it in certain views it looks a little bit faded that doesn't mean that it's old and ready to fall down I'm just asking that because I haven't seen it so if you can tell me it's in good shape it's in good shape if it's ready to fall down now might be the time if if there's any permitting or whatever cosmetically it could be a little better but it's it's in good
shape physically and structurally structurally it's in good shape that's all we need to know all right Mr Johnson just to be uh legit here your license is still in good standing yes uh I'm Brian Johnson I'm a licensed architect in the state of New Jersey master degree in architecture I've had my license for the
past 15 years and still in good standing thank you we know you're an expert thank you would you please take us through the existing conditions and then show the board what your proposing sure I'll walk you through the conditions and then with the board's permission I'll address some of the items that the board planner um
thank you so um if you look at sheet the first sheet uh z101 uh like as already been mentioned the property is located on Old Farmhouse Road along the curve uh so we have a front yard that essentially wraps around the building from multiple sides
the as was um already discussed uh the building does have a number of setbacks the existing front porch is where our new uh dining room Edition will be we are essentially um going to occupy that area bring the building out so that's an enclosed porch and an additional 4 feet
beyond that would be also the dining room Beyond those four feet would be a covered porch that would be open on all sides it just has just has the roof um and as part of that work we would be relocating the a portion of the uh concrete sidewalk that walks up to the
front stairs uh moving that slightly forward again also uh all within the front yard setback uh and then adding new steps to to that uh porch to reach up to the new uh the new walkway in terms of the the floor plan
um as you can see from photograph 2 as the existing condition the front porch is right in the center there with the two columns that's the area we'll be adding the addition on the you can see in the floor plan we're coming out approximately 4 ft so the dash line indicates the location in
the existing wall on the front porch uh the front door I mean the forward dashed line that comes around the um the front here that is the the boundary of the current front porch and then we be coming 4T uh forward of that and then
the the new covered porch that we're adding will be 5 1/2 ft in front of that uh again all within the front yard [Music] setback for the elevations this just gives a graphic depiction of the areas that we would be demolishing we' be taking out the front porch the roof
that's coming the front porch roof that just kind of sits on top of the main house roof the bay window the front door the addition that would be adding would be coming approximately as I mentioned 4T forward of that the new covered porch would be coming up another 5 and 1/2 ft forward of that and then we
would frame over the existing roof um and and basically back to the ridgel line with a new roof here for purposes of of snow and water drainage to make sure that we don't have any water issues u in the valley that would be created here from the elevation facing the garage
which be again these are uh this would be as you would as you're coming around uh Old Farmhouse Road as you approach the garage right now the the um the house essentially stops right here in the addition um you have an entrance uh into the the lower level
from from straight from the garage that would remain uh there's some P steps that step up to the walkway which would then come around to the front and then extend to the connect to the um the addition that we're adding again you can see the four feet addition that we're adding for the dining room and then the
the porch Beyond sidewalk will be reconfigured somewhat but still the same basic concept correct same same width um in fact I can get into make sure you're talking to the micor Y yes so the sidewalk is uh 3 ft wide it would remain 3 ft wide uh the
essentially I I'll get into the the numbers on impious cover coverage in just one minute but uh essentially it's uh we're just essentially taking the walkway that was back here and more or less moving it forward so everything's just being pushed forward correct correct uh there's a slight increase in impervious
coverage from 22.2% to 22.7% uh I can I can speak to that the numbers in uh just a moment but more or less everything just kind of moving forward um that that's basically the extent of it and it's a whole new walk walkway because the walkway has to adjust to it right so the there's there
the existing walkway comes up so the driveway is here there's a series of maybe four paver steps that come up and then the concrete walkway comes to here and currently curves to the front the front steps that are here we would come maybe about little bit halfway to where the concrete uh where the walkway is
right now demolish it to the stairs and then re uh report a new walkway a little bit further so we' keep about half of it and then the other half would be new so there's still some of the existing is going to correct yes yes Mr Johnson you have said this a few times but just to reiterate we're not violating the front
yard setback in any way this is purely about coverage at the end of the day correct all all work including actually including the walkway is is completely within the front yard set back uh distance to old old fous this is U strictly a coverage question what is the setback the setback to the front yard is
uh is 50 ft required uh our closest our Dimension to our front uh covered porch would be 56.3 3 ft okay okay so you can talk about the sure so the coverage and other numbers please yes sure absolutely um so if I could
direct uh the board to page three of the of the planners um report uh she mentions there's a number of items uh that are slightly different between the zoning analysis it's on my first sheet and the uh
survey in general the the surveyor was a little more granual in how he U articulated each item I was a little more um uh combining combining certain items but the but the numbers work the same essentially if you were to take uh
so the the survey I believe says that the existing square footage is uh coverage is 6,650 Ft if you were to take the existing porch at 89 squ ft² and subtract that from the 6 uh50 you would get the 6,5 55 that's on um my existing
now the reason why I had done that is um essentially it's a it's it's a it's the square the lock coverage has essentially been uh neutralized in the in the addition basically so it essentially becomes part of the addition so there was uh was essentially the
same but to for purposes of clarity I can certainly add those items as as line UPS to match the um to match the survey that's that's certainly not an issue but in any event the proposed there's no change in the proposed as a result of those discrepancies correct so basically
if you were to uh yeah right so if you if you were to take the 89 square fet and you add that you get the the I'm sorry subtract that you get the 6554 ft now the the I believe it's let me just double check I believe it was 96
Square F feet that we're removing for the concrete sidewalk if you remove that 96 square feet from the um sorry if you let me let me take that back the if you remove the 96 square feet you get this the
6554 the 89 square F feet was basically I I included that I I thought the survey had included that in the building slot coverage but he he he excluded as a line item so essentially we'll get to the same essentially we get to the same number when you when you add that up
together I believe the number comes to 6,777 Ft where the where my analysis said it was 6,770 ft it still comes to 22.7% well you're it's not 22.6 it's
22.7 I round it up it's 22.6 C change oh okay and for the record the addendum which is which is on me it says 22.4 I'm not exactly sure why but it should be 22.7 okay so you're asking for relief for 22 22.7 yes
but for purposes of clarity I can certainly make the uh the um the chart match up with the survey yeah I I'm more worried about what we're giving you the relief for I want to make sure it's the right number uh a few items if I could direct to um page four of the plannner report
um item four is mentioning setback requirements to the pool uh to be updated on the zoning analysis I believe that information probably came from the survey because I don't believe it is included in the analysis but we can certainly list that on the analysis as well how about the shed is that listed
the shed is here yes we have it listed uh it's it's on here at 190 Square ft as long uh right here long a setback too and the setback at 2.1 ft yes it's it's here on the on the analys just make sure it's on the record that you yes so the
the the shed is at 190 ft at 2.1 ft from lot three uh whereas I believe um 10 ft is required on the setback with a maximum area of 100 squ ft per minute and the shed is surrounded by that
wooden fence correct or facted by that wooden fence that is correct yes it would be for for purposes if you're going down Old Farmhouse Road it would look like it's in the behind the behind the fence yeah in fact most of these photographs you can't even see it when you're on the other side correct it's extremely well buffered by vegetation
including very mature um evergreen trees and and then the fence as well and we're just you're just looking for a a variance on the existing shed that's o over over the ordinance correct corre no new shed is proposed it's just to kind
of a housekeeping matter to beautiful make lawful the existing location and size what is kept in the shed by the way some gardening tools some bicycles um p p stuff some yeah Pool
Supplies so things that are necessary for yes yeah uh for item five of the planner report uh she mentions that um the the uh lot width should be the required width is 150 ft whereas M was indicating
100 that's correct that was um in our Mii part so the existing lot cover uh lot width at lot three is 138.5 Ft so we would list that as an existing non-conforming condition and the um rear yard requirement is actually inapplicable because there's no rear yard on this
particular lot correct yes we would have I guess essentially two front yards and two side yards what about she mentioned something about testimony regarding the existing generator on the West Side um just give us a little details of How It's not
conforming and what the issue so if you look at the um at the I mean and and Fred you might be able to speak to this better if you look at the the site plan the the generator is completely located within the um behind the fence uh the survey indicates that
it's to the right of the um the right of the house and within the um the front yard setback in terms of being um uh I guess front like to to the front of the of the house property line I suppose
that could be taken if you took a straight line uh connecting the corners of the houses on a straight line I guess the the far right corner as you're looking at the survey would project further to the right of that line but if you were looking also just in terms of the taking a parallel line from the um
from the most setback addition I guess you'd say where it lines up with the fence it would be um in the [Music] to the rear of of the house if you were looking at at that from that perspective it depends on where you're taking where you're taking that line yes if you take
the minimal distance it scales to 55 approximately Which is less than the very closest corner of the house the problem is since the road keeps curving around you have to keep taking a different distance as you go so at the
very most it's how many Ines into the front yard yeah 60 to 55 so so at at worst it's 5 ft further in front of the house that nobody to the naked eye would ever be able to tell you that but that's that's what it scales at yeah okay and that's just because of the curvature of the road where you're taking the line
the nature of treating it as a corner lot okay yeah I was never good in Geometry be the same so if you look at if you look at the front yard set back line as shown on the plan at 50 and you imagine
offsetting the RightWay line to the exact distance to the corner of the home the 54 whatever it is um that line out to lot three yeah would show you the front yard relative
to the location of the home okay so that would be the generator and the shed okay so this is just basically Optics yes because it doesn't look like it's in the front line exactly right and it's not in the front yard setback in terms of the
legally allowed setback but the actual setback for this house I understand be like the idea if you had a 50ft front yard setback you chose to put your house at 100 still wouldn't then be able to use the 50 to 100 for placing a shed or other structur no I understand and that
mostly due to the coverage of the road and just way the house sit exactly yeah Jo can I go through my letter yes okay all right good all right so I just wanted to step in to say I I actually don't think you need a variance for the generator it was my letter just simply says can you do you comply with these
sections so I don't think a variance is actually required and so yeah um the other thing to note actually just Brian I just was noticing that um I think on the zoning chart it says that there's no
change to the um front yard setback is that right yes well um the front yard setback let me see um right well okay so if you look on the
survey the the shortest uh Dimension they're going on the front yard is 53.9 by the driveway so our our addition uh has a setback of 56.3 so I was saying that there's no reduction from what's the smallest that's fine okay no problem
and then I just wanted to go through just so I'm understanding the differences between the impervious coverage because um you're so in your analysis of where
how you got to your the existing condition did you include the the generator pad the generator pad so the the surveyor when he did his he was he was granly broke it down piece by
piece I I combined certain items together to so I didn't break it out piece by piece but basically the answer to the question is yes it was included um but the I think it may have been included under um what
did I put it under um the front like the the [Music] um I think it might have been under the walk put under the walkway uh number but in any event you did take you did take the area into account yeah the the the number
basically the where where the I think the discrepancy happened was the surveyor essentially um took the front porch as a separate line item at 89 s ft I included it as part of I assumed it was part of the building um as under his assumption so then that that's where the
numbers ended up getting different between I think the the two but if you like I said if you take the his his total square footage I believe was uh 6,650 ft M so if you take my calculation here on the walkway which where we're
moving 96 s ft of of con walkway overall when it's all said and done if you subtract that from the 6 uh 6650 you'll get the 6555 that's on my drawings okay sorry so what is the existing
6,665 so I I think for purposes of clarity I think what it would probably be simpler if we just we we we match what the survey says at 6,650 and then I would just do a um a deduction of probably the 89 and the 89 for for the for the front porch and 96
for the walkway and I think that would give you 6,777 ft when it's all said and done okay so things like the the um the timber wall like the surveyor said 56 you said 67 that and maybe this is a question for
for U Mr civen so the the timber wall I'd assume that this was that the part that's in the center was uh impervious is that planter is it just the The Edge and then the center is a center is a planter or that impervious as well like the top like if you're seeing right here the um the
square sure uh yeah let me show you let's pull out a photograph let's see here would that be the last photograph I like maybe the one that shows the timber wall [Applause] basically see on the plan that the
timber wall right here has this Square here at the top of the Tim so the top of this Timber wall here so that that that's that's planting that's that's on top of it is it a Bas basically a big planter I guess is the question I don't question
earlier I don't think there's any plants on top of the Timber wall no no behind it right behind oh yeah behind sorry yes so the wall is only four or six in whatever the right but on plan it looked like it was a it was like you know like a like a patio almost so if that's the case then that's probably where the
discrepancy was okay because I mean I I have in my letter a number of discrepancies but we're going to go with the the 6650 right yes we will go with 6650 and then we'll we'll do a a takeoff on the 89 feet for the front porch and the
reduction of the um the sidewalk the concrete and then that'll get us back to the 22.7 okay so but is the existing 22.2 the existing is 22.2 I just wanted to get the exting is 22.2 that's what we need exactly yeah
the 22.2 to 22.7 22.2 to 22.7 yes correct got it 127t yeah that's it okay Mr engineer do you have a
question um I do not okay um just I guess for whomever wants to answer this because of the nature of this being a like a corner lot or whatever we're calling it um if there was so there is no backyard to this site right that's
correct what we're saying there two side yards so if there was a backyard would the pool be if the pool was in the backyard would it then not need a variance are we saying that that would have been with is it is our zoning say it's 10 feet I don't know where the 10 feet came
from that was in the shed there was an original reference to 10 ft and then that was for the shed no there was I think yeah was yeah you're right yeah they said that no words you're asking if you considered where the pool was a rear yard would it
still have the setback issues so and uh Lizzie you can correct here 20 it's um it's the same it would be the same same so it wouldn't matter what you called it it still has same for the shed
as well if the shed was the rear they're two side rear yards yeah because they both can't be in the front yards but so they just make it the same number so if the shed was in a yard it would have the same number as where it is now exactly so it's it's non-conforming no matter whether it's a side yard or a rare
correct it's the same number yep and the last question I have I'm still a little confused and maybe I just didn't understand the kind of the determination I know you said the generator probably doesn't need a variance but the determination of where they calculate
the front yard to be so it's it's a line that goes parallel to the to the 50t line is that how it works from the corner of from the I guess it would be the northeast corner of the building is that how they calculate where the front
yard goes to lot three It's usually the closest portion of the house to the to in this case uh Old Farm okay and so I I and Brian you can correct me if I'm wrong I I think
the closest is that near corner is the South no no you said the existing was 53.9 right it's 53.9 at the driveway side so it's not that number that if you're looking at uh the survey it says 62 or something
like that yeah uh 6 62.9 to the first bump and then I and that's on the northeast corner right yeah and the other Corner nearest the generator is slightly closer than that 629 that shown on the yeah I scaled it
to about 60 Okay so then so where do we I guess my question is where does the so do we draw a line from that 60 that bump out after the onto the from from that corner to parallel to Old Farmhouse Road to lot so that would make the shed in
the front yard as well yes one one item I just would would mention is that when we build this when we build this porch on the front the front of the house is coming out about 18 ft so under final condition we are compliant because we
built we made the house go closer to fous We're just trying to figure out the wacky numbers because of the curve of the yeah from that corner yeah is that a problem that's calculus no okay I didn't know if we had
an issue with sheds being in particular no I think in this instance it I mean I don't have a problem giving a variance I just mean do they need a variance for it to have a shed in a front yard well I'll tell you what looking at the measurements now that you brought that up up since since the closest one no I'm sorry
I take that back the closest one is 60 yeah the closest one is 60 so we are we are less than 60 for the shed yeah 52 right yeah so I would amend to request a variance for that just again as a housekeeping matter sorry I Brian in
your zoning chart you say that existing front yard is 53.9 right 53.9 by the driveway is this is the small so that's the closest point to the front yard that's the closest point on the whole house yes which is is the front yard that's the closest front yard so you take it from 53 anything behind 53 is
good yeah I think so but we're not behind 53 for the shed that's the shed would still be for still about a foot closer looks like okay so we give you we'll put a variance that too just just clean it up just you know I'm fine with it either way I just don't know you know
what your attorney wants to do I I I don't think I've ever had a house that had so many different numbers you have to take it doesn't look it's trick because of the curve no question about it yeah that's I agree though if we're going by 53.9 which is correct then the only issue we have is with the shed the
generator is well behind that so those are my questions oh okay um you're taking the southwest corner closer therefore on the northeast side it's not a so you would take a line
53.9 and running around all the way around the cor right right uh sure I will defer that sounds good um do we have any audience kind of semantics on housekeeping either way do we have any members of the audience who would like to ask questions of Mr
Johnson hearing none I close it to the uh to the audience um do you have any further questions of Mr Johnson from the board I do know that okay um do we have any other Witnesses we have no other Witnesses all the witnesses okay uh do
we have any further questions or issues from our experts that we'd like to address no actually Mr chairman can I just ask a Qui quick question U we didn't go too deep into Joe's memo but um no we didn't you guys going to stipulate to complying with those conditions Mr zelli yes it's 3.3 3.4
then comment four Outside Agency approvals yeah 3 3 34 and then 4.1 exempt okay so still four though in case they so it's on page three of his of his report you're talking okay right okay okay cool right just want to confirm
that yeah well I was you thank you all righty uh would you like to uh I I will give a little bit of planning argument because of course I can't testify to planning issues so uh these variances uh would be C2 we're not
arguing that there a hardship involved other than the general location of a pre a lawful lawfully pre-existing home um there are two purposes of the ml there are Advanced by this application one is purpose you lower that mic so we can hear you a little better sure just to
make sure we're okay thank you try this too one is purpose a to encourage Municipal action to guide the appropriate use or development all lands in the state in a manner which will promote the public health safety morals and general welfare in this case by improving the functionality of an
existing undersized dining room and then uh purpose I which is to Pro promote a desirable visual environment through creative development techniques and good Civic design and arrangement in this case one by enhancing the neighborhood with an attractive newly renovated and expanded home that will compl other
updated homes in the township two maintaining the existing accessor shed which serves to store pool accessories yard tools Etc rather than cluttering the yard and three permitting the existing attractive swimming pool to remain in place and also a purpose of the uh land use law is to assist in
conserving property values in the neighborhood as a whole which uh is stated in home builders League of South Jersey versus Township of Berlin uh Supreme Court case from 1979 regard to the negative Criterion uh this has also been satisfied uh this certainly will not substantially impair
the intent and purpose of the Zone plan or the zoning ordinance uh and one thing I want to point out which is important this application um of the 6 6,770 square fet of impervious coverage
1,334 uh is comprised of the swimming pool's water surface so while water surface is included in lot coverage under Section 124.5 J of your ordinance uh it's understood that that creates no the the pool water creates no actual
drainage uh issues which of course is the primary reason for impervious coverage regulations in the first place so if you were to deduct the coverage of the water uh from your calculations which some towns actually do right in their ordinance exempt it uh you'd be down to 18.2 and we'd be well under the
20% that's permitted so we have a legal uh issue with regard to the impervious but not a practical one so given that uh we don't believe there's any negative impact whatsoever uh the other issues with regard to the uh uh storage shed
being slightly closer to the street given the uh extreme amount of buffering uh to the point that you literally cannot see the shed from the street as you saw in the photographs uh there's no negative issues there as well uh so we certainly think think in the absence of any negative issues that the positive
criteria outweighs the negative uh which is what we need for a C2 so we thank you for hearing us this evening we would appreciate a positive vote thank you Randy would you like to start the deliberation um yeah I mean it's must have been terrible not getting
a good night's sleep since you moved in knowing you had a non-conforming shed this whole time um no um I appreciate council's comments there at the end I I think this Google photo is rather telling with respect to the shed not being able to
see it so in all seriousness you know pretty well covered by vegetation um yeah um with or without the pool coverage being impervious um you know I I think you've gone through the reasons why it should be uh gr whatever
variances are needed here we'll grant them so I I'd be in favor of Jonathan thank you Jonathan yeah I agree I think that the the the exceptional kind of shape of your lot also kind of tends to make it
difficult for these types of things uh obviously you were you know you did not put these the other items in Prior so I don't have any issue with um allowing for the the shed you know and the the pool already existing as for the new
addition um I think it improves on your house it adds functionality and form to you know to allow you to as you said to provide for more entertaining and and makes your house more practical so I think that that kind of serves as um advances the you know the the usefulness
of the property and the neighborhood and as there were no nobody from the public here none of your neighbors here saying that they had any issues with it I have no problem with this application so um I would I think some would like to know why this actually took this long because it looks this was
really simple as you look at it right it was it was all Jonathan's fault that's I would never say that uh the the impact of an odd lot where your front yard is half your property
practically uh it's a it's not a major reconfiguration of your home uh and it'll be nice for the Neighbors as well it's a good use for your family uh without an attra a detraction to your neighbors obviously nobody here complaining that you'd like to put on a
little extension to the front of your house well all these things being said this looks like the uh pursuant to the um Cals that that that's got that will be add added uh I think this is a slam dunk thank you thank you uh I concur
with my fellow board members um I believe that it will improve your house and functionality of it and I don't believe the other variances detriment the neighborhood or the ordinance the intent of the ordinance or the town General uh it is a strange location the
way that the street is formed and you know it it we I think we've dealt with more geometry and calculus here than I've ever done but uh I would also be in favor of it so thank you want summize Mr sure okay U applicant here is seeking uh
what is it five variances U potentially six depending on how you slice it but we'll get to it okay so first is for a lock coverage ratio 20% is the maximum permitted they 22.7% next is for a shed size 100 ft is the maximum permitted they're proposing to maintain the existing shed at 190 squ
ft uh similarly uh shed sidey yard setback uh 10 ft is the minimum required they proposing existing condition of 2.1 ft uh shed location it's prohibited sheds are prohibited in the front yard this one is in the front yard um as we
laboriously beat up before um also the last one or two depending on how you slice it is for the uh ingr swimming pool side yard setback 20t is the minimum required and they're proposing an existing addition of 12 feet from the western side property line and 15 from the northern side property line we're
not doing the two for the generators right those aren't applicable we're good on that I think so okay defer to you on that um as far as conditions go the applicant U agreed to comply with the comments four and five and board planner leen's memo dated
October 11 2024 that's they're going to correct the zoning analysis table uh to show that the minimum Set Side setback requirement for Grand swimming pools is 10 ft and then also to uh correct the zoning analysis table to show that the minimum required lot width in the R3
zone is 150 ft not 100 ft um they were also going to correct the uh impervious coverage summary on the submitted plans they're also stipulating to uh board engineer voes memo dated October 11 2024 uh that's comments 3.3 3.4 and four that's uh maintaining or having Mak
making sure the roof leader downspouts uh maintain existing drainage patterns without adverse impact to adjacent properties uh employing soil erosion sediment control measures up into the permanent stabilization of disturbance and then getting all outside uh agency
approvals that are required and I believe that is it if I'm leaving something out somebody please let me know uh unless the board disagrees that's 138 is now the lot width 150 is required but that is clearly a pre-existing condition uh I don't think
since this is not a tear down situation I can't give that's that's pre-existing I would also advise pre-existing nonconforming condition okay uh do I have a motion to approve this uh application so second okay roll call Mr
Rosenberg yes Vice chairman G cof yes Mr Watts yes and chairman greet yes motion carries congratulations thank you very much congrats sir thank you for your time appreciate good luck uh let's take a five minute break
let him set up the next one right e e e e e e e
e e e e e e e e all right we're back on the air
okay uh we are back uh at um 836 right FX okay no no oh it
just it's good it's good all right now the next one is it's a b variance block 10701 lot 10-01 zone R4 it's at 10 Council Place
application number 24-21 Z Anthony damato applicant proposes to construct a new single family dwelling applicant is present correct correct in the FL okay thank you
uh so um oh you want to swear uh sure everybody in so we will have Mr damato Mr Beer and Miss Miller okay okay can we get all them to raise their right hands along with our board professionals do all of you swear or affirm that the testimony RS provided be the truth the whole truth nothing about the truth yes
okay great so they're all sworn Mr chairman real quick I'll just mention I reviewed the applicant's notice of this hearing found it to be sufficient both in terms of its content and its Timeless of service and thus in my legal opinion board is jurisdiction to here and decide the case thank youed good evening again Frederick zelli
post Pollock on behalf of the applicant uh this is regarding 10 Castle place it's block71 lot 10.01 located in your R3 Zone uh we are looking to give a long-existing building lot a house so it doesn't feel left out
with the other building Lots in the town uh but it is a extremely undersized lot it is less than 50% of what's required uh so therefore not surprisingly we have a lot coverage and some setback issues that we have to address uh the proposal
is to put a by modern standards a relatively modest home on the lot and one that would certainly enhance the neighborhood the variances required are lot cover average of 24.46 uh where 0.27 presently exists I
don't even remember offand what that is a shed maybe that went away or something like that I think it was a shed yeah uh there's nothing there now there's nothing on the lot so but 20% is what's uh allowed and we're seeking 24.46 front yard setback seeking 35.5
where 50 is required rear yard setback 29.5 where 40 is required uh lot area side yard side yard I don't believe we have the variance it looked you have side yard setback required 4149 proposed think
it's total is that there something odd odd there double check no it's on your chart that be yeah right well that's why I'm saying why they put variants oh oh I see oh there's something weird are those numbers switched oh
yeah it's in your chart uh combine yes I I missed that in my notes uh yes combin side yards 41.496978 [Music] so we're fine so you don't need a variant for that that's varant for that my apologies uh lot area since this is a uh
undeveloped lot we need basically a ratification of the existing conditions uh lot area is 1473 squ ft 30,000 would otherwise be required uh same with lot width uh we have a lot width of 147.5 that's close
150 is what is required uh just for the record we have uh development all the way around us so uh there's no ability to acquire uh property in order to deal with the light area condition what is what is the point 2.27 that's existing lck
coverage on your chart you listed 27% so at the I'll have Mr uh dear testify I believe there was a shed or something at one time that has since been removed oh so that it should be zero existing now it's zero oh now at
the time of filing has been dealing with things for us as we go oh okay as long as long as now you know you're you're you're changing that to be zero now there's nothing on the property right now right yeah it's not directly relevant this is Mr deato is
actually a contract purchaser okay so it's he does not own it presently but will understand I don't want to get ahead of the testimony I think I think what's causing the law coverage the 027 is there like a there was a concrete pad of some sort yeah northwest corner right oh is that that driveway showing in here
yeah no not the driveway there's a concrete pad in northwest corner why don't we do this why don't we go into the uh photographs and you can men even if it doesn't show you can tell them where it is as we go through these it's basically what's sitting underneath this okay so let's go through and keep them in order and let's
just go through you have them numbered or yeah no we're just going to keep in order yeah just go through the testimon that's I'm sorry this gentleman sitting next to you Fred this is the applicant this is Mr R yeah would you just State your name and address s Mr damato would you please
state your name and address for the ref uh my name is Tony damato and my address is six pudding putting Stone Road in Morris Plains New Jersey and you are personally a contract purchaser for that this lot is that correct correct okay and just we'll get to the photographs in a moment let's just uh give the board an
idea of of who you are and what you do so what do you do full-time and what are you doing part-time um we build about you put that microphone closer so we actually we build about um me and my family build one two houses a year um but I own a imagin that uh Children's
Museum in Floren Park I used to own uh the Bounce Factory in Warren at one time very cool and you build these properties and then uh sell them to purchas oh so this is a a speck house you're buy you're making to sell okay now if you
would please take the photographs in the order that they're in front of you and just tell us what the photograph portrays please confirm that it still looks that way today or if there is a difference please let the board know that I will represent for the record that I took these photographs sh before the application was filed and they were
accurate portrayals at the time other than the grass being not cut other than the grass being different um so this picture yes where you're standing on Hamilton looking at Valley Road so you're looking at the backyard of uh
that house on Valley Road the estate also owns that that I think has been sold at this point that house okay looking this is Castle and Hamilton C the the truck is parked on what we be C is the kind of
the extension in front of Castle yeah and what we're seeing is the lot in question in between castle and the back of that correct yeah the pavement and then the back of that the giant tree is the property line of the lot okay here the next one you're seeing
basically just a really close up again that tree is the center of that tree is the property line all the way across across the back yeah if you look across to the left you see that so the backyard of the castle house backs up to this house on Valley Road
correct yes the estate owns both and you subdivided them they've they would never they were always originally always separate individual Lots correct we looked at the deeds and they went back as separate Lots okay for for decades yeah yeah yeah so the the impervious
coverage we're looking at that's it right there you point to them show where it is there's a cement pad under there oh that the chicken coop whatever that is we don't know exactly but we can call it a chicken coop for purposes okay and
that's going to be removed it's already it's already done yeah okay next picture is basically the same thing you're looking at the um there's an emergency gate that goes into sunrise at Gillette there's a paper street that
continues across the front of the property which street oh that one we're still look we are you're now all the way your back is against that fence looking at the back of the house so again the only tree being removed is the one
you're looking at right here okay that's it in order to accommodate the house okay and what's the next one so the last picture was taken in front of that pickup truck looking back so we're now
our back is to um Valley correct our back is to Valley no our back is to um the other part of cast back is to Mountain and we're looking down castle and Hamilton beers
off to the left right okay and and your lot would be that sign sign is there on the right hand side okay so you see that giant shrub where the picture starts yes that's basically sitting on the property line that vegetation staying it'll get trimmed and it'll be left alone and then
the last picture is the proverbial paper street that is never going to get used okay and that's an emergency access toer access to Sunrise and Gillette that's completely overgrown with trees well it still looks like it has that cement uh Dryer no the pads are
there but you ain't getting nothing through there that I can assure you okay you know you're talking to a member of the fire department when you say so that emergency isn't isn't yeah okay so beyond that fence it's all overgrown it's all pretty much yeah okay but up to that fence you could get yeah
you can drive that truck right to that fence and it's one of them weird looking triangle oh it's nothing it's not a fence it's almost like a a gate you would get a toll booth kind of so if I'm
if I'm correct then uh uh the sunv should be cleaning that out okay we should probably talk to the Z yeah talk to The Zing person about that enfor about that thank you for bringing that to our attention so the telephone
poll you see in the first picture not to Overkill we are going to leave the telephone pole we are going to use the telephone pole to bring electric down and underground to the house I'm not going overhead we're going make it easier and you'll see from Kathy's testimony where the house sits that
telephone pole shouldn't be in the way it should be able to accommodate an electric line I've also spoken to the electric company should be no problem to jump the pole and come down and uh into the conduit and go underground oh good and is that house going to be uh
have utilities what utilities are going to be to that house uh water sewer electric okay and gas okay so avilable all in the street uh we also have uh what is it new Jersey American Water Company I think it is yeah uh a letter stating it's grandfathered because it's
been in existence okay for water sewer and gases there's no isue with okay and we'll uh let Mr Beer give the details of the home unless there's anything that you wanted to add about that no Jeff knows what he's doing there
we go let's lift it up to Jeff so who's next no you can stay there you're going to stay with me he's going to use area all right before we go into your next witness is there any questions by the board members of this witness I I just
clarification so this lot was essentially even though there are two lots this lot has always been kind of used as the backyard of Lot 10 is that pry much yes and so it never had a structure on it as far as we know not even a shed from what I was told by the
estate just that funny looking structure that we came it was either rabbits or something he did in that little enclosure and did you say that the house on Lot 10 is being torn down no no the lot on 10 I think is under contract or already closed okay so they're as far as
you know they're keeping that house there yes uh our experts questions of the I do not um the engineers with uson right yes yeah okay I'll ask care of the question I just wanted to ask before any member of the public uh no okay for the record
only our team is present at this point that's fine see no members of the public I'll close it to the public that's why I like it thank you all right so bring on your next our next witness will be Katherine Muller our engineer okay you've been sworn would you just go over your uh credentials for us good evening
Katherine Mueller uh principal and owner of paage meller Engineering in waren Township um professional engineer in the state of New Jersey my license is in good standing I have a bachelor's of science from Clarkson University in environmental and civil engineering uh I've been in front of this board before
uh it's been been a minute yeah it's been a while so okayi numerous we we deem you an expert just want to make sure it's still uh Still Standing okay thank you Kathy would you please take us through the existing conditions and then go into
what we're proposing sure yeah so the plans that I have on the the board here are the ones that were submitted with the application dated September 18th 202 four um the cover sheet shows the existing conditions our
lot uh 10.01 in is is in the middle North is to the top we're in the R3 Zone we're bordered by the RMF multif family Zone to the West um the b120 down Village business
also to the West the north um and one lot removed on the East and then it's single family residential R3 in front of of the property to the South and the directly adjoining uh property the property is currently vacant with exception of the 39 square feet unknown
pad um and the boundary actually runs into Castle place so I'll touch on that with our zoning and how we measured the lot area and how we're measuring the uh setbacks moving the sheet to this is our lot development plan uh as
you've heard we're doing a single family dwelling the square footage of the footprint of the building is 21 Square ft um what we have done for the lot areas that we're discussing discussing of 14,
73 that does not go across the the concrete um wheel pads I'll call them as shown by the boundary those are measured to the right of way limit Castle place has a 40 foot right of way limit so what we did is we took our boundary and
offset it towards the interior the property to provide half the right of way of 20 ft so the boundary says 17,7 26 our proposed is 14703 measured to that 20 foot half width Kathy we're not proposing a
dedication though right you're just saying to just for zoning purposes correct for setback purpos for setback and area purposes and coverage so what we're proposing is a 12T driveway off the end of Castle place
before it starts with the the concrete wheel pads we have it 12 ft wide we do have one um 18 by10 spot off the side um this is area is going to be twofold for purpose either pulling out of the driveway being able to pull in there and
then out Castle or also for an additional car parking um pervious coverage is obviously one of the variances that we're requesting so we thought that was a benefit on the lot for extra parking and ease of movement
um the left side setback required is 25 we're at 35.4 the right side required is 25 we're at 25.5 so we are complying with both the minimum one side setback and also the combined setback B based on the
percentage of the lot width the front yard setback measured to the right of way is 35.5 ft proposed that's to the face of the the garage the main house is slightly further back at
37.9 that requires the front yard setback variance um from 50 ft required the rear yard setback that we're requesting is 29.5 that's measured to the deck the
principal structure is is setback at 40.5 so the principal structure complies with the rear yard setback but it's the variance is caused by the the proposed deck that we have off the back just for the record if the ultimate
purchaser were to decide not to make a deck and put a patio there then there would not even need to be a variant so we're doing this precautionary that's correct um we're also doing the coverage precautionary uh for the deck I know your engineer had noted we could get a
discount for the deck if we had certain specifications in spacing um what I've done for the storm water management on this is counted the deck as 100% coverage and mitigated it with storm water in the
dryw so rather than having the stone underneath of 8 in at 30% void which I would only hold 2.4 Ines of rain we've accounted for this for different types of construction whether it's going to be a deck whether it's going to be a Tru
that's clipped together and you don't get the spacing um for 4 in in the drywell so instead of 2.4 underneath we're providing volume for 4 in within the drywell per your code so that's a little
extra measure that we have um in support of our variants for the coverage the dry well as you can see is over on the side it's 10x 43 um we do have we can collect Overland it's designed to bubble out because we don't
have drop on the lot um across the whole lot we have 10 ft of drop so we're able to have the garage on the high side maintain the drainage patterns down to low point which is the front right corner High Point uh rear left corner um
so we can collect that the runoff on the low area uh we don't have any steep slopes uh I know your engineers noted that will need soil testing for the functionality of the dry Wells um very standard we'll
provide that uh if the board SE uh decides favorably for the application we'll be submitting a loot grading plan that'll have all the soil erosion sediment control notes details and Provisions and we'll also do the uh soil
test the only thing that I like to do for the benefit of our client is do this the soil test once a a um the building of the construction of the building has started so the machine is already on site versus requiring a prior to the
building permit um we can I design these every day I have a lot of different products if we do run into a problem I'm sure we can resolve it with your engineer uh the as you've heard we're only remove proposing to remove one tree uh there's a 12-in tree right in the
middle of the property so it's it's unavoidable we have a nice vegetated buffer hedge on the east east side and then there's also a nice buffer on the the west side which helps buffer the the dentist office uh commercial use next to
us the properties the re yard any uh there's one sizable tree the 35 in tree right in the middle on the property line we are proposing that for that to stay okay any other buffering on the rear um there's a couple scattered 8 in trees uh
there's one on the corner 14in but wherever we're grading will be maintained lawn and no tree removal in the reare the house will be served by public water uh we don't show the main on here we didn't get that information but there
is a fire hydrant right across the street uh there is a gas man we'll be utilizing sanitary sewer is right in front as well um and we have the we qualify for the waiver for New Jersey American Sewer band and we have that
paperwork we have a not applicable or or um I forget the term from the county they they've already approved the application exemption thank you Fred um and like I said we'll be doing a lot grading and
drainage plan it'll just have more s details at that time and we'll supp uh we'll uh apply to the Mars County Soil Conservation as well Kathy have you gone through Mr V's October 11th review letter yes I have
and do we concur with and or stipulate to everything in his letter yes the only clarifications for the proposed deck is 274 square feet proposed not 264 on the bottom of page
two 270 274 um I've explained why we prefer to do the collection in the dryw versus underneath the the deck it's for varying materials and we do have the drywell Siz for 4 in of rain and we'll agree to do
the soil testing the plan note indicated three what was that although it says it's a quarter so it's just play right no yeah the plan note in the drywall detail indicates at a quarter
foot um is it a plan dat 9824 um no it is the second sheet it's uh 718 XX the XX means it was never published
that would have been a PDF that somehow got to your office so that's that's the record possible when we do the digital are on So the plan that is up on the easel is a different set of plans than we have
right now right let me see what s hard cop that might just be a digital issue yeah I reviewed by digital but there is hard copy fil yeah let me see yeah this we have hard
copy we one I have the XX date on it was on page to cover would have XX Ed what do you have XX Sor I'm I'm looking second page second page cover has it as well yeah I thought he was an
XY we leave we don't finish the DAT oh okay so so the digital was the was not correct that's corre yeah we we got the correct we have all paper cop the 918 24 they filed okay okay so that's
already revised yeah yes okay me too so what is the plan date 3 9824 9 184 sounds like power bow numbers
yeah 9 18 24 Yol only my number and I oh Kathy would you just send the right one to Joe just in case I have the right one that might be why that happened no problem sure should have had the right
one but I can give you my file more than likely it was on me I probably grabbed the wrong file when I sent them but ude me too please do this [Applause]
one extra set here you can have one of the extra copies that one of our other board members did so just to be clear because I printed there were there was five copies that delivered oh so anybody if anybody has the shrunken copy it means I printed it from the computer oh okay all right I
I just want to be clear so we got the correct like dated plans 10 days in advance right I just want to make sure Market okay just making sure thank you [Applause] have we addressed all the engineering issues yeah so that's already addressed
technically and then you had indicated you stipulate to the rest yes and I agree with your testimony regarding the soil logs no objection to doing releasing building permits and then doing that field work when the
excavator on site for efficiencies for the thank you uh Kathy just looking at uh Miss leane's report then uh just request testimony about proposed Landscaping address that to some degree
or is that better to have Mr damato give some ideas uh the testimony is we're only removing the one tree smack in the center of the lot we're maintaining uh we'll be taking down some hedges in the front for the construction of the driveway um and some gring and the installation of the drywell uh it's the
applicants intent to maintain the Hedge on the right side side it's a nice buffer and then also the the remainder trees in the back left corner as a buffer as well thank you and that's all I have um I have no
further questions for m m the excuse me um Castle place right away is 45 ft in width to the east of the property and then in front of the property it's at 40 ft um so notice the
the speed line on the neighboring properties is more common to your RightWay line just note that I have no objection wearing both hats as the border of the Town engineer that the RightWay stays at only 40 ft in front of the subject property um it wouldn't need
to be observed to 45 that would just essentially put the RightWay line on the edge of their their Hammerhead parking area uh and there is no continuation through that it just is a dead end to access lot lot to thank you thank
you any questions from the board of their exper with so I know you testify that the deck is only a proposed deck and that you will you you don't plan to construct the deck with the house is that true or they say when you actually
visualize the house in place is when I make that decision okay um but you want the option to do it 99% of the time it's going to be a deck so without without the deck though just saying you know hypothetically speaking without the
deck you would be in compliance with the rear Ard setback is that okay um is there any thought about building a fence across the rear yard the the Border I know there's the tree there so I don't know if that was the tree is the only issue that becomes an issue there um I
mean a fence can be erected I just don't like you know I don't I don't want to go in for another own another homeowner um we haven't designed the actual layout of how Shrubbery will work and so you may
you may put you might wind up with just a Shrubbery buffer across the back at that point that would probably be uh more natural more create more oxygen than putting up just a wood mainten but there is a thought to put some barrier between the two properties yeah it's
it's it's there it just the decision is is it our provides is it going to be Leland you know Orelia hedge or will it be the same exact thing that's running up the right side of the property and just kind of bring it across as a edge
and the unknown for you also is the owner of the property to the north maybe already have plans to put in a fence or them yet they may have plans it could be a small business owner with a home office like an attorney or architect's
concept mhm uh they haven't told us yet exactly but I believe it has closed but they as I think saying is they they could put a fence in on their property they could put it on their side also correct that house by the way does need
a lot of attention looks like it you were talking about the deck you have sliding doors to that deck shown on your plant correct those sliding doors would be there or would just be the set go down a set of steps if that was
you still have the sliding doors there yeah no the sliding doors would always be there for light and accessibility as opposed to changing it to a window if you don't put yeah the deck it flows better from the inside with when you see what Jeff does but you're 0 5% sure
you're going to put the deck so you want the variance sorry I just have a question because this what was really in my letter was was what question you asked about the Landscaping so you said that that you're planning on doing it does
the board want to require it just curious well um our are the board's always had the uh opinion that the more buffering between properties the better not
necessarily fence but you know some visual buffering so if you would agree to put some bushes there of some sort that would be a natural nature barrier basically I'd agree with a nature barrier not a not a fence cuz I don't want it to be trapping no that's fine
and and you know I think that looks better than sometimes fences look like you said boxed in and it's not a big piece of property to begin with correct so you know the the buffering the the tree the bushes would make it look more nature oriented and look uh not as confined correct so you would be
agreeable to putting that along the back similar to what's on the sides how when we wrap the house with Shrubbery okay we'll pick out one of those and wrap the backyard okay thank you would is that acceptable to everybody uh yeah he cuts off the potential for neighbor Wars yeah
when you don't know where the boundary is and you kick the ball into my yard oh I mean that's not to stop your neighbor get that's that's problem but uh yeah that would look nice I'm hoping it's a family with kids right so that
would probably would have happened anyway case to keep the kids in right so they don't scoot through the uh through that natural barrier if they want to put a fence up that's up to them come they well they wouldn't need a variance they would just need a permit perm
to that's one to right um any other questions of their expert I have nothing for uh guys expert no I'm just wondering I don't want to let her go uh is that that no no member
of the public fine good okay we ever I don't know if we ever this is a I I'm sorry I didn't this is a I guess we'll talk with the architect about how big this house is but but what is this a three-bedroom what is it I didn't see where um four four I think it's four
okay Mr be go through that'll go through that we'll go through the architect PL okay so I guess we're we're complete with the uh engineer thank you and with that Mr Beer you yeah give the microphone to uh okay now uh your credentials your
name office uh my name is Jeff beer I'm the principal owner of the beer Architectural Group in Warren been there for over 30 years uh licensed architect for over 30 years in New Jersey and multiple other states um have testified in front of
many many boards throughout the years um and my license is in good standing good you're an expert thank you thank you Mr Beer would you take us through your plans please sure um you have the exact same drawings in front of you that were submitted I'm looking at sheet A2 which
is the main level floor plan um and just to get these are the plans dated August just for the record what's the date dated August 1st 2024 great thank you no X's uh so get through some Logistics um
as Kathy had mentioned the main level floor and upper level floor livable area is 272 squ ft so that's the main two floors of the house the foot part of the house which is the main floor in the garage is 20 is 21 Square ft which is
what's in your reports so uh that's all very accurate we also have a finished basement that's another 965 Square ft which I'll show you um which takes the bedroom count up by one which I'll show you as well so looking at sheet A2 which is the first floor of the house you can
see the layout of the house which which encompasses the entry Den dining great room breakfast kitchen laundry powder tocar garage this house was not a portfolio house that we pulled off the shelf this house was designed for this lot uh why do I say that well the sun
rises over here in the east as we know circles around comes in through the front of the house during the day and the light filters through the den the entry the dining room into the back rooms of the house where you can look through to that backyard that you just saw the pictures of so the house has a
beautiful view out the back catches the Sun from the front catches the morning sun from the East the garage we put on the left for a very specific reason the property as Kathy mentioned slopes from I'll say west to east downward so we
wanted the garage to be on the uphill side for two reasons one minimize grading to the garage itself two maximize the daylight basement off the off the east side of the house so we can get that extra bedroom bathroom and wreck area in the basement when you go upstairs you go to
the second floor which is she A3 and a similar relationship to the sun Master BMS on the front of the house where the sun is in the morning master closet is is in the center of the house where it gets minimal light and then the bedrooms are on the cor on the on the
left corner in the rear of the house so when we come up the stair we can peel off into one two three four bedrooms two bathrooms so for the main level and the second floor of the house we have four bedroom two and a half bath house the
third level which is the lower level is the daylight basement level so we come down the stairs from the entry we enter into a big recck room and we've designed the column so that this is an open flowing space and again because of the slope of the property the East End of the house has the windows Mr Beer I'm
sorry what P what sheety one I'm sorry sheet A1 A1 okay we're back okay excuse me so the East End of the property is the low end of the property which allowed us to get the daylight Windows off this end of the house allowed us to get the bedroom with the required egress window
full bath again recck room and walk out no walk out we tried to get the walk out we couldn't get the walk out no walk out uh so just daylight just daylight windows at the end of the house so the basement came out really nice and we and we left areas for the utility and for
adequate storage but you have egress Through the Windows yes we do okay sheet A5 is the front elevation we think it's a rather handsome house for this property it's pretty Timeless in its architecture it's very symmetrical has a nice Rhythm about the center of the house and the front door we have the
windows on the left on the left side windows on the right side that kind of flow up to a rhythm of dormers on top the Dormers are not functional livable space 85 sheet 85 are not functional livable space but we wanted to put them on there from an
architectural point of view to give it a nice rhythm again the architecture's Timeless fits in very well into this area um I don't think it's going to jump out into being something that's out of out of sequence to what goes on and it will be something that looks good throughout throughout the
years the um bottom elevation on sheet A5 is the w west elevation so you're seeing the side of the garage this is the elevation that faces the parking and the and the uh dentist office commercial building to the West so we we didn't have a lot of Windows on this side at
all the next sheet is sheet A6 which shows you the rear elevation and you can see how we've we've designed the house to work with the grades with the garage being up at the high side and as you go to the east which is to the left on the sheet you can see how the natural grade drops down gives us those
daylight windows out of the recck room and out of the uh out of the egress window for the bedroom as well it also shows you how the deck is is close to being on grade at the high side but because of the natural topography she drops down and we get the deck is now
above grade on the low side and then there's a rendering which is sheet a z which is probably the first sheet on your package which shows a three-dimensional perspective of what the house looks like from the front and a little bit to the left side
elevation is there storage or anything uh in the top part of the garage or is that completely open there would only be storage it's not livable Space Storage just you know light storage I think it's 50% and the same with the attic area of
the house is that accessible for storage just for pull down pull down ladder are the Dormer windows functional to allow light into that area or they the Dormer windows are are windows and they will put light into the attic just as a light storage area from a pull down ladder
point of view okay okay any questions of their expert by our experts no no any questions by the board members I just have one and it was just clarified but I think just for the record so the basement story I guess
per our ordinance is not considered a story because it's not full it's not fully exposed um or it's under 50% exposed or something like that yes is that a yes yes sorry I I'll I can read yeah no do we know how much is is it like 40%
exposed or I don't know the percentage but it's less than half okay but if it if it was more than 50% this would be a three story okay m just to be clear we do not have a height issue measured from the lowest spot no the height the height is is uh measured
for your ordinance from the lowest point of finished grade to the highest point of roof it's 34 feet 8 in or something which you're allowed 35 just make it but we make it you yes wow yeah don't put a wind thing on
it um all right any more any additional questions by our of the expert okay uh no public I'm closing it to the public um okay okay um I have no further Witnesses
no further questions okay all righty uh any other you want to sum it up sure thank you Mr be yeah thank you mik so I think generally speaking this uh is a C1 uh hardship situation given
the severe undersized uh lot area that we're dealing with uh I think everybody can agree that if we had a full-size lot uh we'd be able to build this house without probably requiring any variance relief at all uh but we have the lot we have and therefore we're seeking the uh variances in question it could also be
justified under C2 uh again uh similar to the last application uh purpose a of the ml uh to uh encourage min action to guide the appropriate use or development of lands in the state in a matter of promoting the public health safety morals and general welfare in this case
by providing housing for a family on what would otherwise continue to be an underutilized existing lot uh second to promote a desirable visual environment through creative development techniques good Civic design and arrangement in this case by enhancing the neighborhood with an attractive new home that will complement other homes in the township
and again under home builders League of South Jersey versus Township of Berlin uh this adds to the uh improves the housing stock and as to the neighborhood in general uh which is yet another purpose of the mlul uh we don't see any negative uh effect here no detriment to
the public good uh or to the intent and purpose of the Zone plan zoning ordinance or your master plan uh therefore under the balancing test given the lack of negative uh issues we believe the positive outweighs the negative uh and therefore this is justifiable under a C2 as well so all
that having been said thank you very much for hearing us this evening we'd appreciate a positive vote thank Jonathan J sure um I think that uh I mean in terms of the lot I think we can all see that this is a very small lot
half the size of what's required uh so you you do have an exceptional uh I guess small size of the property that really limits what you can do here um and you know I think you worked pretty well within even though you have
exceeded lot coverage you haven't gone way over that so I appreciate that I appreciate your also uh your agreement to put in the um vegetation on the back to provide some screening for the and I think that
really speaks to you know the um rear yard setback um I think you know obviously because of the the shallowness of the um property and I think that that works and I honestly think this does as um you've already testified to this
it looks like it's going to add a lot to this neighborhood uh especially for a lot that has never as you've testified has not had any pro any uh Improvement on it so I think that this uh you know it meets all the requirements of the the you know the positive Criterion as jelli
said I don't think there are any negative criteria either I would agree so I would be in favor of this thank you thank you random um I appreciate your experts um presentations both of them I thought they did a really good job and a lot of planning obvious viously went
into as the comment said yeah I I could tell with the with the lot you you work obviously big Improvement on what's there now which is nothing so um thank you for um the uh kind of going through the process and everything and best of luck I'll be voting in favor of it thank
you according to what Mr Beer said this house was not just pulled out of a book it was designed for this lot and it's evident uh and it's going to fit nicely on the lot it's going to be an a nice addition to uh to the township uh
should it get received a favorable vote favorable vote uh no need for any swes or any kind of water um diffusion it's uh you may be aggressive with a five-bedroom home but that's your choice you're you're the
you're constructing it it it looks like it's going to be well conceived It is Well conceived and will be well constructed and I'm going to wish you good luck thank you I concur with my fellow board members I think it's a nice addition to the neighborhood it will add um uh a
nice house to that area and to an unimproved lot and hopefully the lot that's sold behind you will also be updated and and upgraded yeah that'd be nice because uh that area Town needs a little upgrading um and I would also be in favor you've been very flexible on
our with our exports demands and screening and uh the Water batement going into uh the uh you know the way the water is going onto your property um you know I don't view it as being a detriment to any other property
around there so I would also be in favor of it thank you very much summary absolutely Mr chairman okay applicant here is seeking uh by my count five different bulk variances first is for the proposed principal dwelling uh front yard setback 50 ft is the required
minimum here in the uh R3 Zone applicant is for proposing 35.5 ft uh the next is for the principal dwelling rear rear yard setback 40 ft is the required minimum they're proposing 29.5 ft uh next is lot coverage ratio 20% is the permitted maximum in the zone they're
proposing 24 I'm sorry 24.46 that's correct and you're not seeking the exemption or the the credit for the open deck reduction right correct right correct all right just making it clear um next are two existing conditions that need to be uh basically
re rep permitted here uh one is for lot area uh 30,000 square feet is the minimum lot area here in this in the zone uh they're seeking approval for an existing addition of 1473 ft and then also by a similar regard uh they're seeking another one for lot width that's a pre-existing
non-conforming condition um 150 ft is the required minimum uh they're seeking approval for 147.5 Ft as far as conditions go I didn't note any conditions in our board planers memo right Liz no the only condition was what was testified two on the record okay
yeah just make it make it clear um they did agree to comply with everything in our board Engineers memo uh that's uh with the exception of comment 3.4 because it was clarified that the uh they did the right thing Joe right yeah it's already designed okay okay so that
would be that would leave comments 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 and comment for at se that's including all the Outside Agency approvals 4.1 through 4.3 um additional comments I picked up um applicant would be submitting a
formal lot grading plan that would include the soil erosion and sediment Control Data uh we got the engineers memo taken care of um oh I just made a note well let me get before I get to that other condition they stipulated to was uh providing a vegetative buffer
along the rear property line that will be subject to the review and approval of our board professionals um I just had a note I guess we would probably want to include it in the resolution there was a uh the perk and soil the perk test soil logs be performed after construction permits get issued did I capture that Rao or might yeah it could be constru
yeah completed during construction okay can be so it won't it won't hold up resolution compliance during construction all right I just want to make sure that's actually captured which which is commonly granted to applicants in these conditions it's not unique to this situation gotcha okay cool and uh
that is it let move something out please let me know okay do I hear a motion to approve this application so moved second second okay we call Vice chairman grov yes Mr Rosenberg yes Mr Watts yes
chairman GRE yes motion carries thank you very much have a wonderful evening welcome thank you can't wait to see it got to take colors fun stuff are you starting construction uh this year
tomorrow hopefully we can break ground for December okay that's what I'm shooting for that's all weather related you know what I mean there's not a lot to do on the on the lot dirt wise take a so it's not like ripping down another house will be a resolution is not until
November was 26 correct November 2 Builder tried to buy that start ORS I'll tell you what I'll take the lot
you take the house okay so happening it has to do the connection they won't catch the part where it's over 11 November 26 guys before we adjourn when's our next
meeting I I moved so I hold on wait when's our next meeting uh the boards we we remember we rearrange dates in the month of November so the boards correct the week of Thanksgiving uh is nove our the next meeting is
November 26th okay and uh did we add a meeting we did not add a meeting we okay so it's November 26th and how many applications do we have there two two and then a lot of resolutions and a lot of resolution okay we have four resolutions from last meeting and then
these two we we shall resolve do either one of those applications need a minimum of five no they're not even close any I don't no okay no they're both um I think they're they're both the
impervious C