##VIDEO ID:TDF8ijoEMl4## e e e e e e on on make sure they're all on all right everybody check check yep okay I think all right I call to order the Zoning Board of adjustment uh the hearing of December 17 2024 at 7:31 p.m. call to order and statement of compliance adequate notice of this meeting hearing has been provided by posting a copy of the public meeting SL hearing dates on the municipal bulletin board and website by sending a copy to the AC Sentinel and Courier News newspapers and by fining 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 digital hearing must be maintained at all times meeting cut off announcement is made that as 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 SL hearing to a later specified cutoff time electronic devices all in attendants are asked to mute mute their cell phones or any other electronic devices as to not interrupt the proceedings Pledge of Allegiance Tom would you lead us please gladly I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you uh no Jerry yet okay go ahead do a slow roll call okay Mr arono here miss Brennan is excused this evening Mr gianakis is not oh should be coming should be coming all right m is currently absent Mr Flatley is excused this evening Mr Rosenberg is excused this evening Mr Watts here miss Collins here Vice chairman Groff here chairman greet here we have a quorum okay now um our first application is the bulk variants carried from November 26 2024 block 13509 lot 40 Zone R4 see up there the the um application uh address is 40 Mitchell Road application number 24-19 Z Jessica and Harold Alan applicant proposes to construct an addition to an existing single family dwelling I see the applicant is seated thank you would you introduce yourself please my name is Jessica Alan thank you um uh Miss hold on one second okay all right a couple things first I just want to point out for the record um this application as you stated Mr chairman was carried from November 26 2024 at that point the uh while the content of the notice was deemed sufficient the uh the issue was the applicant there was some issue with the newspaper the applicant needed republished the notice um Happ to report that she did that within the requisite time frame so the board is dition here and decide the case and my legal opinion uh with that I will swear in Miss Salon because this hearing swear in its testimony as well as our board professionals if all three of you swear or affirm the testimony you're about to provide will be the truth the whole truth nothing about the truth I do okay great do you have any other Witnesses besides yourself no okay just well I I wanted to know just for the sake of swearing the man okay right all right uh proceed okay so um currently we have a bedroom that has very low Dormer ceilings it's over our living room and kitchen um the head room is very low the walls are only about 4T High uh so we can barely fit furniture or mirrors on the wall and we have two girls in that bedroom um so we are looking to raise the back portion of the roof up um so that it would be more of a raised Dormer roof um I just had handed a drawing I don't know if I got passed around but the red line is the previous um sorry I the red line is what is existing and I believe it's a black line just shows what the change would be so you well one second I just got a text from Gary saying on his way so he is coming okay so speak slowly yeah speak slowly that's okay I believe yeah wait wait till we get all the uh things that we will mark this as exhibit I was just yeah than just to zoom in of Y yeah thank you this is very helpful thank you so we'll mark this as exhibit a A1 okay misson this is a uh a wall section diagram is that yes okay and uh is that we'll just give that today's date I don't see a date on there um so the red line is the current existing um ceiling and wall and then we're just looking to bump that out to where the black and the blue is um to make it an expanded Dormer um so in essence all we're doing is putting a finished floor over a crawl space and then adding a foot and a half out by doing so we'll be able to make it into two smaller bedrooms um the height of the new wall is 7' 6 so it's still a little bit um it's still a little bit of a lower wall um the current bedroom is 19 by 11 with the expansion one room will be 10t 2 in by 96 and the other room will be 154 by 86 um we currently have 30% existing lot coverage um which was present prior to us moving in the allowable is 25 once we expand the Dormer we will still have 31 um and so this project actually has no bearing or change on the lot coverage um however we are here for for a lot coverage variance right because it's pre-existing right is there anything that's going to change as far as the ground level no okay uh so the photographs that you gave us here the only thing changing is the roof line yes and um the porch the patio everything is existing existing yep okay question go ahead so the just so I understand it the existing lock coverage was done without a variance uh I believe so it was prior to us moving in yes okay does were we able to check on that is that the case do we have well there's no permits for the permit okay thank you do you have a a year or date those improvements may have been made do you have any information on those okay I me the PRI owner didn't leave you any documents or no okay are we talking so what I think is that little shed uh porch like in the rear yeah that's a yeah the sun room the sun room is that what put you over the lock coverage limits I would think it's the patio the patio okay I think yeah that patio is quite extensive but yeah yeah okay I think that sun room has been there for longer than the patio is my guess but everything all the the sun room and the patio were done without permits we don't know we would have a permit if they built with permit well there would be records in there oh there aren't any okay assuming the sun moon was not built with the house which it probably wasn't not it was not um it looks like a somewhat older dwelling mhm theide you know when the house was built 1950s or 60s I know you're familiar with the neighborhood yeah before the 70s I know before I was old enough to know what was what yeah it looks like a and that sun room and the patio were not there yes in the 70s yeah and 80s um how long have you been in the house um s years so pre dat to you yeah um all right let me see any any other questions from the board members are you looking to do anything to the sun room at all no okay Liz yeah comments uh this is really a technical variance um she are um she and her husband are are looking to sort of enhance um the existing structure and make it more livable for their their conditions and I think it's one bedroom now and they're making you're making it into two separate bedrooms with more decent cing more reasonable ceiling Heights and than what they had um it it it's really a technical variance that they happen to purchase a house that was already over in maximum impervious coverage um and we've seen that happen many times we've seen it happen so um even on new construction you know I think in terms of um the variance proofs for the C variant I think it's something that you would say it's perhaps a hardship because they purchased a property that where this was existing and they're not making it worse no no no so um you know and to the extent that it it's been existing for perhaps since the 70s uh you could say it's not going to have a significant uh adverse impact on the Zone plan or or the neighborhood neighborhood yeah there's no there's no you don't know of any neighbor that's complaining about water runoff or anything like that anyone should be complaining no we are complaining about water went off any neighbors around you recipient of the water yeah recipient not from her property we're only asking because that's one of the issues that the reason why we have lck coverage uh restrictions is because of impervious impervious we're at the bottom of of new construction so you catch everyone else's water okay um you do you have any issues real quick before I ask a couple questions U Mr Lono member gakis just got here um do you have any objection to him sitting and hearing of the rest of the application we're not going to let him vote because he wasn't here for the beginning part of the testimony but you're okay with him sitting here ask some questions I just want to be clear um question more so for Joe I hate to put him on the spot because I know into a formal review memo but any anything with storm water we need to be concerned with I know no um I think as we've been discussing already the the duration of time that it's been a stable condition MH um prior to their ownership and arguably at least another decade or so longer MH um that dates back towards a transition to Prior than the current regulations okay we have a stable condition that we're not really concerned with in topology in the area draining through their property more than into adjacent properties okay great thank you okay all right that's all early I had um I didn't really know any conditions suggested by Liz or I can think of anything that might be applicable here no jo got nothing so fairly straightforward application any other questions okay um do you okay um Meredith would you like to start the deliberation that comment public oh I'm sorry my my mistake it's any member of the public out there that would like to question make a comment about this application yes come forward before he gets up I would also like to speak come on up uh just uh for the record that I am a neighbor of misons uh couple of blocks away so I'm I'm very aware of the property okay you're you're not too close no I'm not with the 200 I just wanted to be part of the okay understood uh we need a mic for him oh no no no we need no it's not a question of us hearing you it's have be on a record so stay where you are she'll get the mic yeah here you go Paul yeah unfortunately uh we can hear you fine but the record has to check check good yeah you're working all right and and sir you going to ask questions make comments both I was swear man okay I'll swear just be safe going to do both okay you L your right hand for me do you swear or affirm the testimony your brought to rev will be the truth whole TR nothing about the truth yes I do okay uh could you give us your name and address for the record please yes Paul White 25 Dy Avenue Gillette New Jersey okay and where are you in relation to this house I was just about to say um I'm not actually on her block from if I walk out the front of my house I can see her house oh okay um there's a house across from me another house to the right and then she's basically I can see kind of like right you're not within 200 ft no yes I I did get I did get notified anyhow uh I I am in favor of her getting past um the whole neighborhood most of the Lots in this neighborhood I've lived here 30 years by the way um most of the Lots I've went through variants and I'm going to be going through another keep the mic in front of your face and I'm going to be going through another one probably so it is a hardship the lock coverage in this neighborhood uh it's actually used to be Homestead park I think people still call it somewhat that um most of the Lots they need 20,000 foot coverage and a handful of them maybe fit that um I have one of the bigger Lots in the neighborhood I'm 120 across by 150 and I'm only 18,000 Square ft so anytime I need anything done I have to come here and spend a ton of money and go through it um you know it's kind of not fair because it's the older homes and you have a lot of newer people moving in I've seen you older people I guess kind of moving on there a nice way to say it and you have people coming in wanting to fix up the houses and they won't because they got to go through this yeah I actually went to a uh board meeting Dennis Sandow was on the uh planning board yeah planning board and I when he was doing the master plan I asked him I go listen this is you have houses falling apart in that neighborhood and somebody older people do want to fix up and they don't want to go through this Paul if I can yes that's the exact place to discuss that with I'll makeing it quick I'm sorry I I understand everybody knows I just want to say how it's it's kind of like hard for people to to fix their house up and keep them nice in this area due to this problem right so I was hoping you could for the Alan family you could pass this and uh give them what they need thank you great thank you for the positive positive of course thank you have a good night thank you sir oh Paul you could leave us there yeah you can leave it there you put it in the holder any other members of the public question you put it in the [Music] holder okay okay thank you any other members of the public want to ask question question make comments okay hearing none I'll close it to the public okay any other questions from the board any other comments from our expert okay going to summarize Mr chair you want summarize okay one variance being sought here simple bulk variance for pre an existing lock coverage ratio of 31% where 25% is the max permitted uh no conditions unless somebody has something they want to suggest but nothing really came up during the heing so you know just a simple majority to vote and that's it we're not going to deliberate I'm fine moving that oh fine okay uh do anybody have any problems with not deliberating okay go ahead J I'll make the motion to approve the VAR as as do I hear a second second okay roll call okay Mr ronio yes Vice chairman grov yes Mr G oh sorry Mr Gus is not going to vote okay Mr Watts yes Miss Collins yes chairman GR yes motion carries that was quick approve congratul thank you thank you good luck happy holiday good luck yes you too yes and good luck yes good luck we're all counting on you see okay cool about being speed see already make how make a change without a delber maybe no you're good you're good who's here and's not there's no no boys all do it different I it's a benefit to an attorney to know thought yeah I think it's helped me make my decisions sometimes yeah yeah for next one can pull come on up easy gu Mr chairman I'll just point out while uh everybody's approaching um I had an opportunity an opportunity to review the applicant's notice there an extra chair if you want to bring in yeah for there's there's extra chair okay okay um long and short the notice is good was sent on time content was good the board is jurisdiction to he in decide the case in my legal opinion so I'll leave it at that um still waiting for Council to get ready I don't want to swear anybody in preemptively all right let me just announce it announce we're doing a use variance block 11513 Lots 3 4 and 4.01 Zone R4 287 Mo Street and 329 Main Avenue application number 24-18 Z me Suk Yan did I say that right uh I apologize I didn't JN JN I'm sorry it's a the hard Jack uh applicant proposes to to convert two existing commercial units into residential units and that I see the applicant is here and he's represented by by an attorney I see we are and he is she is uh would you swear in our experts and the witness please sure um mred as much okay uh Mr Joan I say that right okay good all right you rais your right hand all right do all of you swear or affirm the testimony your brought to provide will be the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth I do I okay great all right we're good Mr zi back to you sir thank you good evening Mr chair members of the board board professionals Frederick zeli post poic on behalf of the applicant as indicated this is the application of mejan for 287 Mar Street AKA 329 M Avenue it's block 11513 Lots 34 and 4.01 for the time being we're in the process of merging those three lots pursuant to approval back in 2021 uh inadvertently that deed was never recorded so we're in the process of fixing that uh this is located in your R4 residential Zone the applicants the owner of property that I've indicated uh it's located at the southeast corner of Maine Avenue in Mars Street uh combined parcel hosts two buildings specifically the applicant's home which is a single family resident located on the current lot 4.01 and a mixed use building currently located on Lot 4 uh lot three is essentially a vacant lot which is a lawn area uh servicing the other structures uh this application concerns the mixed juuse building uh for close to Six decades the building has hosted both residential and Commercial office and personal service uses uh in part pursuant to use variances issued by this board uh 1965 1980 and 2021 the property is currently located in the R4 residential Zone which only allows single family residences property was previously in the B1 business Zone however and the existing commercial uses are pre-existing non-conforming uses dating back to that time the building presently contains three professional office SL build business units on the first floor one efficiency apartment on the first floor two one-bedroom apartments one on the first and one on the second floor the two bed one-bedroom apartments were approved by use variance granted by the board in 1965 the efficiency apartment was approved in 1980 uh in 1965 and granting that variance for the two two family uh two one-bedroom apartments uh the board noted quote changing commercial conditions have made further construction of retail sales and service type establishments of of doubtful value in this local as the board's well aware such conditions have not changed since that observation almost 60 years ago rather given the present day prevalence of online retail sales and professionals working from home offices that observation is even more accurate today on the other hand demand for reasonably priced Apartments distinguished from affordable housing in quotes uh in the township and surrounding areas is higher than ever particularly in locations such as a subject location which are close to and within walking distance of public transportation in this case obviously the Sterling train station applicant therefore wishes to convert two of the three commercial units into two-bedroom apartments so two two-bedroom apartments with the third commercial unit which is currently a beauty salon to remain as a business unit uh just for the record that's the unit closest to Main Avenue there is a typo on the architectural plans that I'll have Mr John clarify uh when we do the testimony uh as this board noted when it approved the variance for the two existing one-bedroom apartments in 1965 there are a number of two Family Apartments in the vicinity and such permitted use would not be out of keeping with the neighborhood scheme already established so that was 60 years ago hasn't changed in that regard uh so what we're doing is still consistent with the scheme of the neighborhood uh by resolution dated October 5th 2021 this board granted a D1 use variance to permit the two uh principal uses on one lot because again we're combining these into one lot so you have a single family structure and then the mixed use building uh a D4 use variance was also granted for at the time a combined floor area of 5,178 Ft where 4200 FTS permitted in the zone at that time 2,876 Square ft were residential uh the board also granted minor sight plan approval and a variety of bulk variances none of which are at issue tonight the applicant's proposal for this conversion of two existing commercial units into residential units requires presumably minor site plan again uh and a modification of the floor area uh variance as we are now going from residential of 2876 to let me get it right 4,503 the combined floor area will remain the same at 5,178 it was approved back in 2021 uh it was our opinion and Miss lean has um confirmed it that the D1 is no is not required for this conversion Because the actual use of having mixed commercial and resid itial was already approved actually all the way back in ' 65 and subsequently so unless there's questions from me Mr Jean is my first witness and Mr Hollows will be my second Mr Z real quick I take it you took these photographs yeah I took those shortly before the filing application and I will go through them uh with Mr John all great thank you I have a question sure did you do you say that lots are there a current application to consolidate the Lots so when we applied in 2021 it was on the premise that we were going to consolidate them which absolutely was the intention and then in preparing this application we looked in the record and realized it just hadn't gotten done uh without making excuses it was a change of attorneys with our firm and one didn't know what the other didn't do so it still is it still your intention to consolidate yeah we we actually submitted the deed to the county clerk back when we filed this uh the state and its Infinite Wisdom once again changed its tax form and it was bounced back and we just they signed it oh so it was a technical just yeah I don't if it's I don't know if it's relevant to the case but I just want to ask about it um sure I I know have knowledge in the town sometimes they just consolidate all lots that are jointly owned by the same or sorry uh adjacent lots that are owned by the right under the doctrine of merger under certain circumstances they can do that that hasn't happened with has not no does it matter if one's commercial one's residential for those purposes or even for the purposes that would you consolida yourself merger is a very gray area when it happens how it happens varies greatly I'll leave it so and that's honestly that's why we made it very formal as part of our application before that we were going to do that and of course it just didn't physically happen but uh that's certainly the intention right in my experience typically a merger becomes required when like two properties are the subject of the same application you know okay that's so this is you know a perfect okay what's happening right right exactly but just to just to be clear it was part of the approval in 2021 the request to merge was approved by this board right yes so I think that that should be made clear right 100% speaks to Prior use this VAR I mean the yeah the the approval itself since merger doesn't need to be approved by anybody even even a planning board on it's not a minor subdivision lot L adjustment anything like that uh so really it was a premise a probably was actually condition I'm not looking at the resolution right at the moment I think it would probably a condition I didn't notice it as a condition actually but I was just going to ask just to be clear like you I mean you've already represented that you would do it as it was absolutely a premise of the application whether it was articulated as a specific condition I don't know honestly probably should have been uh but again there's no dispute that it should be done and we're doing it right but I I guess my point is it's not that it has been ignored and it's been something that has been deliberate deliberated and this board actually deliberated on it no right so just to be clear Mr Z just so no there's no questions about it anymore as a condition of any approval you get here you guys will complete that L CLE that that is fine okay awesome thank you I have a question along that as well uh just to clarify are we talking about the two lots where this building exists so there's actually three lots the mixed juice building is on lot four if you're going down Mara Street the lot behind it 4.01 that's where their single family home is and then in front of the back part it's weird say but FR of the back part of 4.01 is a lawn area that's lot three so all three buildings on it it's just basically no there's a little bit of encroachment from the other two but no actual separate building that lot is on the third lot that you just talked about lot three is that a Main Avenue address or is that a it would have to be because it's not it doesn't touch Mar Street to get I've only heard about two lots being Consolidated and inde indeed is the third lot no all 4 4.01 and three are all being merged so they're all merged and then the zoning will be uh still R4 subject to the variances MH yeah all three of these Lots all three lots will be merged into one lot correct that will now have a first floor residential it's passed they would have a use commercial residential right one mixed use building and one purely Residential Building purely single family single right both on the same lot right they have two principal uses on the same lot that's what the 2021 approval was for right that that was the main relief from the 2021 application right now they're asking to go from commercial to residential is lot three going to be uh used by the people in lot four well it's all going to be one lot once we get Z file so it's it's all going to be used everybody use it their backyard basent property may or may not give ACC all one lot m a new building could be put on that lot as long as it fits within the um rules well no it would well it wouldn't fit within the rules because you already have two primary buildings with one an accessory building maybe but nothing can nothing can be done on this property going forward without coming to the board right right because it's especially when it's one lot if they added added another principal building it would be another use variance because you were not permitted to have more than one and in 2021 they got a use variance to have the two right right because they were consolidating right I'd like to go back to my point um I was talking about the lot three and I understand they're all being Consolidated let's call it the back lawn then sure uh since this is going to be a rental properties for those in those three uh is is that going to be accessible to the people staying in the apartments Mr you're already under oath so would the lawn area be accessible to anybody who wish to use it you don't divide that in any way do do you speak up you need to say yes or no and yes so why I ask it this way how do you envision the lawn area being used who would have access to it access the Lawn Lawn yeah right lot three the grass area are your tenants allowed to use that if they want to like for parties barbecues picnics okay okay um all right why don't you have here ask him questions okay um Mr John you and your first as for the record your wife actually owns the Lots technically correct okay you both owned them at one time and then changed it for your own reasons yes okay uh and you both presently reside in the single family property on what's now lot 401 is that right once you both live there now yeah yeah all right and how long have you own this property uh since uh 2006 okay 2006 right and do you personally effectively manage the property you're the property manager okay and that's why we're having you testify as opposed to me so tonight okay um you've heard we've already had a lot of discussion about what's physically on the property so let me just go through it correct me if anything's wrong you have your single family house yeah which is on what's currently lot 4.01 and then we have the mixed juice building currently on lot four facing Mars street right yes and in that building going from east to west from away from Main Avenue toward Main Avenue you have two stories one one bedroom apartment on each of those stories yes then an efficiency apartment on the first level first apartment one bedroom one bedroom one bedroom then the next one has no bedroom bedroom right studio studio studio okay yes studio apartment then there are two vacant commercial unit one is a Salon Sal twostory one bedroom on each efficiency SL studio apartment empty commercial empty commercial commercial beauty salon yes beauty salon uh and the application tonight is to be able to convert the two empty commercial units into two two-bedroom two bedom apartment ha Salon Beauty salono stay yes stay okay all right just be there's three commercial units on on this building there's three now we're looking to make it just one okay understood and how many current apartments one two three three three now okay look making looking to make it five understood and why do you want to do this why aren't we just renting out the commercial units to commercial users uh commercial users the nor Market no Market uh these days how how long have you been trying to rent this out I've tried [Music] to eight years almost eight8 years that long they've been vacant this whole time no Market vac okay and let me just ask you we're going to go through some photographs we're going to go over the plans in a moment let me just ask you a few more questions uh based upon your experience with this property and already having three rental apartments uh do you think there will be any issue with the number ofart of parking spaces that you have no has there been any issue with parking or anything so far as long as you've own the the 18 spaces you have have been yes they've been sufficient all right uh I have a quick question sure I see from the photographs there's 1 two 3 four cars sitting in front of what is now the mixed use build um where would the designated parking be for the tenants if that was if that was residential well let me ask it a different way do you designate specific parking spaces to any specific users or does everybody just share yeah everybody share 18 well that's different when and does that include your single family house are there any spaces that are specifically for you and your wife or do you share as well yeah share with everybody share everybody share okay all right so what would dealing with now are the employees and customers of the hair salon being parked there now plus the three Apartments plus well their correct right now plus the three Apartments well the two apartments in their house three apartment three apartments in their house so you'll be adding a residential parking for two units to this we are but that actually as Mr H will tesi that actually reduces our parking requirement from 18 to 16 no I'm not saying the requirement I'm just saying the uh the overall use of the property will require uh you say two cars per apartment so you have another you'll have another four cars there possibly in theory okay all right so do I understand the back and forth question so the requirement for residential is less than that is commercial the same store that's correct okay yeah I guess they can anticipate more people coming to a uh a commercial property right right well you have you have employees owners and then customers so right yep okay uh Mr John let's just go through the photos real quick um with each photo just tell the board what the photo shows and just confirm that it still looks that way today so start so first photo what does that show sure sure this what does this Photograph show show what are we looking at in the photograph tell the board what it is just describe the board what you're seeing it's your building yes building okay okay all right and this is from let me help you out a little bit is this from the mor Street perspective this is Mor Street the Main Avenue okay and those are the parking spaces in front parking space front of the behind my house this area your house is back behind and all the way to the left of photograph that's the twostory portion of the building the one second two story okay and the efficiency or Studio unit that would be the first unit with the porch this porch uh this studio yeah that's the studio all right and the uh subsequent two doors would be the ones that would be the apartments that you want right so if we look at these doors in this picture left to right after you get past the second so all the ones behind the porch area studio apartment one one commercial unit that's empty another commercial unit that's empty and then the hair salon yes okay next picture is taken from the Eastern end that's the two-story part is that right there's a one-bedroom apartment up and one bedroom apartment down yes and then again the same porched area yeah all right uh this is all the way East and this is showing that's the front door of your home right yeah and then some of the parking space parking spaces and then we get to the other building to the right okay uh front door of your home yeah okay this BR to our home um just St this is just stand in looking towards Main Avenue so looking West and that's the end of the twostory portion yeah third portion is that right okay right is that the door that the Second Story uses to enter their apartment yeah okay and this will be standing on Main Avenue looking at the other end yes and that's the beauty salon this unit and this would be the grass area behind that we talked about a moment ago except for some encroachment maybe of the two other buildings there's nothing built on that lot right on the grass area is that correct yeah correct okay um another picture of the grass area but with your house shown in the back yes right okay okay then if you would take a walk with me we'll go over and put the floor plan up on the easel and we can discuss that for a minute okay okay come with me want to bring the mic with you for the record these are unchanged from what's been submitted to the board Mr John stand next to me here so we're now looking at sheet a100 it's dated November 27 7 2023 uh Mr John does this show the floor plan as the building exists now yeah okay and would you just describe to the board how the two units that we're talking about tonight are how are they configured now what's there which now this is apartment two bedroom this see two now it's there now these are the two commercial units right yes yes okay so how are they configured now what rooms do they have now what we're proposing but what's there now me these two these two mhm yeah so what what what's there now set up as an office right exit enterance door this rear door okay okay and what kind of rooms are inside inside is uh bedroom and the kitchen and this okay Mr John right now they're not apartments right yeah okay so right now before you do the work we're trying to describe how the units are now okay so let me read you what it shows and just tell me if it's wrong in any way let's do it that way okay okay so on the left unit which should be the Eastern unit you walk in you're into an existing office space is that right office space office space these two office space okay yeah all right so you have office spaces there's bathroom in each room is that right each bathroom here the bathroom yeah and then further office areas in the back yeah back this is here back okay let's flip over to sheet a101 again unchanged from what was submitted now you can tell the board how you want to design it yeah this is my architecture design so two bedroom small two bedroom and uh this shower room room the toilet bathroom and this a kitchen kitchen this so similar to one another except the one to the left's a little bigger and has a den in the front is that for front yes correct okay each of them has a open area living room dining room yeah um the plan indicates that the last unit is an existing two-bedroom apartment that's not correct correct that's actually the hair salon yes okay you have no intention tonight anyway of converting that you want to keep that as the hair salon yeah keep that keep that hair salar okay thank you okay all right go [Music] sit and actually that's all I have for Mr Jean at this time um experts any questions of uh the attorney or his client uh no okay I have a question for our expert um I don't see any duct work or anything going between the hair salon and the apartments there's there's no shared there's no reason to think that anything from the hair salon that might be noxious would be getting into the apartments right I think that level of the drawings will be addressed at UCC at the construction code office okay going to say it's yeah building construction Department this the drawings that are in front of you don't contemplate those issues yet to assure compliance okay thank you but that would be something that would be uh address I do have one question but maybe it's better for Mr Hollows is to talk about some of the improvements to the facade that have been done that were approved in 2021 and to the extent to which they've been done okay because that was part of the maybe you maybe ask Mr John first and if he's not sh on something we can have Mr address okay so I that that is have you made improvements to the facades um since 2021 and what were they so uh Miss Lane is asking you essentially if the work that was to be done to the exterior of the building that was talked about in 2021 has that actually been done MH yes yes is that a yes yes it was right okay so it what we're looking at now looking at the first page gry vinyl sighing Peak roof Gable end uh new porch area all of that that had not been done yet in 2021 correct that was part of the application okay and the foundation to and the foundation work also okay has all the work that was presented to the board to be done been done now as far as physical construction work has it all been done yeah done okay I think that was a yes yes it's a yes uh I I do note by reviewing looking at this building personally that it has improved the appearance so I have noted that there has been things done to it Mr Z as no one's here from the salon presumably but um the salon knows about this obviously correct I they wouldn't necessarily be noticed separately have you had any discussions with the salon people about this proposal no okay but they know that it's been vacant those units have been vacant this whole time that was has there ever let me ask you this has there ever been any issues between the salon people and any of your residential tenants any problems no problem okay all right because I I was just going to ask if the salon had requested anything to done like you know parking signs or any sort of like reserve parking signs things like that but if they weren't made aware I'm not saying they should have or not but I was just curious about thank you I would think they would like the increased benefit of having some more customers there right hopefully convenient if you need a hair it does go both ways though sometimes the businesses in residential don't get along too well I know well that that's one of the reasons I was asking about the amount of cars and the parking actually Mr Z would could you ask your client if you would have any objection to putting Reserve parking signs up for the salon if they requested to do so would you have any problem doing that reserving a certain number of parking spaces for just the Hair Studio no you would not have a problem be okay with that okay okay all right Co thank you um yeah sometimes it's that I would make that I want to make that a condition only because if they want it if the if the salon requests it because that way we don't have somebody parking right in front of the salon who's a resident and the salon's saying well my customer has to park sure how many spots are for this Sal we there's no I would suggest that the condition be gra drafted to all Mr yeah Mr hestify to but can be drafted to comply with the ordinance in that regard right you say something on that it should go the other way too I think so if you're a resident and you come home from work early and there's five people waiting for haircuts you should you have no parking spot maybe you should be at a spot too so yeah no I don't I don't love designated parking spot because so often I go somewhere and it's the CPA only CPA clients can park here and there's 15 empty spots and then you know there's nobody in their offices because they're all working remotely and I go and looking for one spot for the guy next door in they're full so I don't love it but that's where we are so if you do one I think you should do the other as well there's plenty of parking we already heard about that that that that might be an option too you know we could say if the residents uh have some I guess Mr Hollows will I'll ask Mr Hollow to address it okay um are there any members of the public that have questions for the applicant I I have another question well well I just want to no seeing none I'm going to close it to the public go ahead um I just have a question are any of these units designated for affordable housing use no can we have one for affordable housing use even if it's the studio that is that I me not to be difficult or or trying to push back at all I just I were not prepared to address that one way or the other have no idea what the Town's requirements all that regard or because we're creating a need by approving a change really in the zone we're creating an affordable housing need creating a need necessarily I mean typically affordable housing stuff you know the governing body will will usually kind of plan that out or that'll be plan like pre process for so many residential units we're required to have not anymore no it's it it it changed I know that in reality did it I mean we going no but there always need more but 100% but but there is no longer that direct correlation right that you build this some nebulous calculation that goes on and you have this many homes and you need this many right I think it's no direct number but now we still need to we still create that right um one thing to Just note is a as of right now L Hill doesn't have what's called an inclusionary ordinance or mandatory inclusionary so a lot of towns um you know if you build five units or something you have to provide this would fall under that any would be not maybe qualified but it uh just to note Long Hill doesn't have that thank you what I'm looking at is the global growth of the town right when that happens we need more units so by the fact think about and there's no support for that here I'm fine to just stop talking no well Jerry by the M fact that doing that by the mere fact that these are smaller apartmentss they're not going to be rented for that much money so as far as no no I'm just saying there smaller they're smaller units so I wouldn't imagine they would be going for a house car in order to qualify for I think what Jerry's saying to get sort of credit from the state at least the studio you know they they would have to be deed restricted they would have to be don't have the power to do to the county uh it would be a whole process which I I I think what you're asking is that we should be thinking about that and I I think what the applicant is it's just something we're not prepared to address it was not part of the application at this time there would be a whole process we'd have to go through uh to determine I think you're right that nothing is required right so we don't have the authority to do that right and and and again from our perspective what and this similar to what the chairman was saying we view these as affordable housing units in the generic sense meaning something that's not ridiculously expensive not affordable housing in the technical sense which is certainly an animal in New Jersey if I'm afforded the opportunity in the addendum to this application it says on the other hand demand for reasonably priced Apartments distinguished from affordable housing in the township and surrounding areas is higher than ever and so on um so I I think that the applicant is already has already considered whether he wanted to do affordable hous housing excuse me um and so we don't really need to badgering a little too far fueld as all right um if I may just for a moment um you currently have a one-bedroom apartment for rent there for 1750 which is quite affordable for the area I I wanted to try to show it to somebody and wasn't able to but um I think that they are at a market rate that's not qualifying as a I think you're worried about the credits but they are I'm not worried about anything all I'm saying in the planning and zoning and on this for a long long time and I've seen lots of stuff and I've seen lots of stuff built where we get no credits for affordable houses law well there's actually no law right it's some other group that's not a legislative body that tells us what we need and it's sort of whimsical at the at the at the liberty of the governor and the legislative body at the time and it's no no real rules that stay in effect for a long time we'll just come back and say you need 200 more units because you built one two three four five more units the next round you're going to need another one because of this saying every time that I've had the opportunity I've tried to add an affordable unit that is that equates to something so that we're not stuck here 20 years later saying where did where did all our requirements come from like why do we have all this well we built housing all along the way and didn't satisfy any units so that's all I'm it's obviously not supported here so move on I think it's there's a lot of change going on with the four the fifth round that recently came out well four yeah we're in fourth we're in fourth with the numbers for entering entering the fourth we entering entering the fourth and there are obligations of the Township's planner it's not your board planner to provide guidance before January 31st understand how works and address certain Milestones that are coming up so the matter is best addressed by those Milestones through the governing body first and then we can be react reactive to it agree some exent we're kind of too close to that happening opportun in this board where we have not had a requirement to obain affordable housing at the time the application was being approved but yet we did we all know that's happened oh yeah were there were greater that was a greater project right no I agree with you Jerry I mean and and no mention was of that in their application and no mention was of that until the very end of the application a couple times that happened till the very end and we said you know what we need affordable housing can we do this it's only reason why I'm asking okay we should be doing I think we should be doing it um so although the applicant hasn't prepared is there any resistance to considering it uh my only resistance to considering it is it would delay our ability to have an approval because we would know we would need so many additional details and whatnot in order to incorporate that yeah I I think this is a small lount of project where we really don't have the authority to mandate it so I would have to I think that has to be sou now right um let's move on do you have another witness yes okay call Mr Hollows you're up presumably for brief testimony since this is primarily a use application but Mr Hollows your license still in effect yes it is good you're an expert it's a good standing too right yeah it is a good okay good it's always in good standing how many colorized drawings do you have Bill I have one okay give you an idea where the property is the intersection Mr Hollow I'm sorry microphone yeah the microphone thank you and real quick this is the uh the plan sheet dated uh August 5th 2024 no revisions that's correct great thank you we're at the corner of Maine Avenue and moris Street on the southeas early Corner the PE this circle is a 200 foot radius and predom every every building that is shown there is a residential building um houses uh when you get down towards Mercer Street and maybe a couple of two family houses in that area um and I'll just go to the rendering because that's probably the this is a colorized version of what she we're going to mark that A1 A2 A2 yeah then wait did you guys get me something already oh thinking about yeah my bad moving so fast here guys all right so this a colorized sheet two two okay great same date yep thank you very much colorized I think this gives you a little better feeling of what's transpiring this building that I'm showing here at the corner of Morrison and uh Main Avenue is the multi-use building the building to the rear of the property is a single family dwelling and then the green area is the lawn area that is between um the property and going south towards uh Valley Road I don't know that you can see the colors too well but um we the lighter tan color is what's existing as residential as residential right now you've got the studio apartment the twostory uh one-bedroom apartments and then you've got the single family dwelling to the rear of the property in the middle it's a little bit darker color and those are the existing uh commercial uses or commercial units that we want to convert to the residential units and then the the lighter color towards the at the intersection is the uh beauty salon so these two are the ones to be inverted these are already residential um and then the parking is along moris Street and it's a little deeper when you get further down but this this parking has been there forever how many spots are there exactly on the parking 18 18 and what is required currently and what would be required If This Were approved I think it's 18 required now and it would be 16 that we would need that's my recollection as well yeah so would you propose to have the allocation required for the residential units and the allocation required for the commercial use marked and then have the two just at large parking um no I think I mean to me logic would be that you would have these four parking stalls that are closest to the salon be the ones for the salon and there's also there is parking allowed on on Main Avenue how many are required for the commercial use uh four four that's what that's what I was saying so the four closest to there would be four closest could be the one designated for the salon and then the you're have two extra spots right no you just leave the other unallocated right yeah leave the others unallocated and then it's whoever gets there and one of those is a handicap space okay but Mr arono is correct if we're if we're allocating four specifically for business which is calculated into both the 16 and the 18 if we're down to 16 then 16 18 4 14 spaces is two more than we need for residential but that'll be un that won't be divided by unit that'll just be uh 14 spaces for residen yeah yeah or if they you know the salon's going a little slow somebody could actually Park out on Main Avenue or they could if the spaces are open and I think that would probably be the time of the day cu been here at this site several times and during the day there's not many cars there at all right okay that's good so Mr Hollow in your professional opinion would it make sense to with signage designate the first three I'm sorry the first four parking spaces going from Main Avenue to the east for the salon and then leave the others just for the residential without specifying which yeah I think that would be the maximum I'd want to do I wouldn't want to say apartment one apartment two anything like that or just residents paring no I don't Satur salon is open and all the people are not working have we seen that you know we're still providing more than what they need I I I don't know that you would really want to do that I think it I think you have these you've had those four you have you have on street parking here um and the next house is is down a little ways you know driveways right there so you know you could probably get three cars there parking issues no I don't anticipate no not not visual either being there uh going by this property and Mr Hollow you were also the engineer of record for the 20 21 application is that correct that's correct and are you generally familiar with the improvements to the property that were contemplated by that application yes I am and based upon your knowledge of the neighborhood and just for the record your office is just up the street correct that's correct uh have the improvements to your knowledge been done that were uh contemplated at that time yes yeah I mean the building does look a lot better than it did U you got bumper curbs here to tell you where the parking stalls are more streets been paved um and that took care of any Paving problems that we had there were some potholes where the seam was but that's been taken care of thank you nothing further for Mr Hollow our expert do you have any questions for Mr Hollow I have a question about um the occupant I guess Mr Jun June Jun sorry uh um of the single family detached single family home where do you park oh single family as side beside one park close to your entrance there I think it's hold on one second I'm just curious if those would be I I kind of always intended when I did the plan that one and two would be for that house and then there's a little walkway that we we made so I mean that does it make sense to reserve those for the people in the house I don't know Mr John do you feel well let's for the record so this is the third photograph in the packet M the area by the cones is where you and your wife Park is that no no wife no no driving no so where you par one all right but you park in this area right in front of your entrance is that right right there have you ever had a problem with not being a park I don't think we have toct the only I mean you're going to have more people wanting to use parking space yeah if the applicant wants to I don't want to make that a con okay fine fine it looks like he's using the orange cones now to block it anyway that's too if you want to move the day yeah um any uh questions of our uh of the expert from the board okay any expert any Witnesses I'm sorry any public that has questions of their expert I don't see any public so we're going to close it okay um any other testimony from the uh okay um any any other questions from board members of the applicant their attorney our experts or any issue yeah I have a question yes so I just want to be clear with the all the stuff being combined into one lot uh and this amount of parking spots approved for it can the lot be redeveloped without coming to a board and I think we answered this no the board they can't change anything somebody wanted to put it apartment building there they can't put a generator on without coming to you guys right exactly well that's I don't know if I agree with that but well I I think we're entitled to accessory you surve forat you do and the impervious coverage I think well if yeah if we have an impervious coverage issue that'd be a different story they would have to come she wasn't talking about the issue of a generator just the fact that it to the extent that it would incur further coverage yes of course right okay all right this is a u it's a residential zone so if they want to put in you know either expand an existing to the ordinances right exactly yeah um you know it is what we have now for the most part are variants permitted uses as opposed to pre-existing non-conforming the pre-existing nonconforming would actually be the uh the commercial use and we're down to one now if this is approved so anything else use wise would be another D1 and we'd certainly be in front of this board um just by by way of uh planning argument not testimony right uh it's a D4 variance F variance it falls under uh cry Square under Rand town Center we have to show that the uh site can accommodate the problems associate that are uh the F restriction is designed to combat uh in this case we're dealing with no change in overall F what we're changing is uh the amount of it that's allocated to residential that does run a foul of your ordinance uh but under uh grubs versus slow hour uh the point of not only density but F restrict restrictions is to serve to limit the intensity of the use of the land to be developed uh as we've already discovered through the discussion of parking spaces the intensity being proposed is actually lower uh than the commercial so although we were although we're increasing the F for residential we're actually lowering the overall intensity of course this board is to always look at the overall project uh so with that uh in mind it does not appear that we have any uh true issue uh that the F ordinance is designed to combat uh and also it should be noted under the case law uh you're looking to see if the proposed use uh would be out of place in the neighborhood or degrade the appearance of the neighborhood uh we're not changing the use except to the extent uh allocating between residential commercial uh you already have multiple approvals of this lot for uh multiple residential that's already in place uh and as your planner agreed it's it's not a change in that uh the prior approvals certainly the 20 21 did not specify or limit uh the number of residential it just approved the fact that we have two principal uses one of which is a mixed use so that mixed use on this lot uh this combined lot has already been approved uh so with that in mind I believe we've satisfied the uh the F uh negative Criterion is really no detriment that you're going to see we've gone through every possibility which if anything might be uh might be parking but again it seems like we are uh overp parked at this point with the proposed new use uh so there does not appear to be any negative uh criteria involved um otherwise we're just looking for minor site plan approval and that single variance thank you for your time appreciate a positive vote Mr want to sum up before we do I don't know if I could do any better than Mr zo did but I'll try um so applicant here like you said is seeking minor site plan approval in one variance that's a D4 F variants uh to prmit a promos residential floor area ratio of I calculated it at 22515 per. is that right based on the the size of the the f I don't think sorry whoops the F in Long Hill is in this instance for residential Zone it's just for residential uses and it's calculated in square feet oh it is okay okay I saw your square the square footage on your memo and I was like wait so then I did the math yeah it's not for for nonresidential zones it becomes uh the percentage okay so then they're proposing a floor area ratio of 453 square feet that's okay awesome um so there's that and then the maximum permitted here is uh 4200 Square ft Great And as far as conditions go um I think there was Mr Su mentioned there was one typo in the architectural plans that was going to be cleaned up um they're going to applicant is going to complete that lot merger that they already started to do uh pursu to that prior approval um they're going to designate the four part parking space is closest to Main Avenue for use by the hair salon they won't need to designate any other parking spots right that was the understanding no probably want to describe it as the uh we can say the westernmost unit or something like commercial unit right okay the commercial unit just don't want the resolution to possibly seem to be indicating that it has to it has to beir right oh okay all right for commercial unit okay but but the four closest to Main Avenue right yes yeah okay and then um I think that's itough I would I mean it's probably already applicable by you know all conditions the prior approval will still be in play to the extent they're still even applicable agree so that's about it so I think we need five out of six to pass this right we got six Randy you want to go first um well I'm glad that my question about parking open the can of worms or anything it was mainly for Mr jun's um own sake I think if there's no designation we'd be getting some calls from the salon hypothetically down the road and would be a big pain so for his pece of Mind than anything else that suggestion um but no I mean the spaces have been vacant for two or eight years I think the testimony was it's a very long time um our experts don't seem to have a problem with it Mr did a great presentation overall so um also appreciative that leading leading questions are permitted in this situation this is quasi judicial but no I vote in favor thank you Gary um I think that you have a property that's been bacen for a long time and it'll be nice to be able to have it uh be used and be affordable and so overall I'm uh in favor of the application thank you Jerry um well similar to my colleague Mr wats I'm glad that my comments about affordable housing didn't draw too much attention either so that yeah okay but uh well point taken I'm yeah um one um regarding the character of the neighborhood it's I think have zero impact on that um two it's going to U you know provide much needed housing to the area we know there's definitely a need for not not affordable housing classified affordable housing but just for for regular folks to live we definitely need to add to our housing so it's beneficial to that I think um not one resident is here to complain about the use of change so I don't think they've all been noticed those people are active politically they know that they know what that means so I have no conc concerned with that um and I think that it does not you know have has zero impact on our zoning plan or our or our Zone it's it's a residential neighborhood it's Zone residential so it fits in the use I'm happy that you're going to be able to rent remember thank you well I Echo all the sentiments of my fellow board members uh I think the fact that you are I mean I guess basically at the end of the day it's really less than 10% overall increase in residential floor area the ratio it's from 4200 to 453 which seems hardly burdensome I think the fact that you actually live at that property there's a vested interest for the best possible outcome to make good use of the space um I think to the um the fact that there's real no no real site work involved no Tre removal no soil disturbed no sight drainage affected no real critical areas um there's doesn't really to see seem to be any negative criteria involved in this application and I think it's uh a really a general overall Improvement and uh nice to see that that's going to be a good use of space to accommodate people uh that are you know flocking to the area and moving to the area especially for a space that was empty for so long and having been a lotted for commercial but nothing going in there so um I think I approve of this application thank you thank you thank you I have the same sentiment and just for the record I like to note that no public walked in in between so we didn't have any comments uh from them uh I also um mimic the uh statements of my fellow board members I think this is a good use of the property this property has been used for everything from the police station to I don't know what else but I think it's looked the best it's ever looked that I ever remember this property looking and I think the residential will fit right into the the neighborhood and I think it will be a positive allaround uh influence on the neighborhood so I would be in favor of also thank you call can I speak oh yeah you can speak sure thought that'd be nice yeah okay I think we need a motion too done yeah the mo you can make the motion too I'll make a motion I remember when we discussed this back during Co in 2001 uh 21 and skipped over and uh we thought then that this was going to be a good Improvement and so far it has been it's a great thing and I and I do like looking at your plans and seeing that the one tenant's going to have actual access to the green space that's behind well I don't want to call it the commercial building but this mixed use building uh and that's that's great that'll be great hopefully safe place for people to go out and enjoy some green right by their own house apartment uh everything else my colleagues has said I don't need to uh reiterate here uh I'm going to be in favor of this and on that I make a motion to approve with the stipulated right with the condition with the second do I have a second I'll second it he got it go ahead okay Vice chairman Groff yes Mr Watts yes Mr arono yes Mr Gan ois yes Miss Collins yes chairman GCT yes motion carries congratulate you so much have a wonderful holiday everybody you well see Merry Christmas um before we adjourn I understand that we do have to formally adopt our bylaws we have actually formally adopted the final version did we not no I don't think we we've never formally voted on them huh can we go back do we have the minutes let's let's go pull that back I will I I have to go back to the minutes I I don't I think we left it that we had some minor changes and we wanted him to come back with the clean version and we have not seen that we haven't voted on it let me go back through the minutes and I'll confirm it and we'll put them on the reorg we'll get it done if we just so and I did mention to our fine attorney here that I would like to get the final version emailed to everyone so they have a a version to look at before we come back for the next meeting and then we'll finally adopt them okay you know beginning of the year because I know I know D well did make a formal motion andary made a motion to uh Steve covered that meeting unmarked version yeah yes the final version un version is it a the final version of what it's going to look like CU that's what we didn't have okay so I I remember that cuz we were looking for that when and somehow with all the other things we were doing we were busy we didn't get a chance to was October which version that Steve covered that meeting you wrote them but then he covered the last one I think right that's why yeah you had those last I remember I remember him telling me that you guys too cuz I had the last October and November are somewhat a blur so I'd have to yeah we need the one without the little uh things on the side just a clean version the last one I have is Mark final and it it was dated 9:25 right exactly from Chris yeah right and then we don't have the October minutes yet on the website so that's why I can't see if they were adopted okay uh what we figure coming up besides the weor on on January do we have a an we probably won any application CU I left that open in case it's scary tonight so um we will probably just do the reorg and catch up on minutes we'll do and the bylaw great terrific okay not a bad idea to adopt him and go into the new year anyway yeah oh no that's what I meant but it I want to know that we don't have any application so it won't be uh I don't believe that this time we do can I yeah what the hell is that pink thing you guys sent there it's my fan oh it's a fan oh I have I have the same thing in my white okay all right I thought it was could been was speaker can see better it's just this Direction all right do I hear a motion do I hear a motion to adjourn so moved all right second all right all in favor all right we're jour e e