##VIDEO ID:Ls1tcuNSuaI## just w e in accordance to section five the open public meetings act chap 231 1975 advis no this meeting was made post Baltimore Town Hall officially newspapers list annually this meeting will take place at Town Hall at 700m on November 4th Joseph pfield pres SE here Amy Li here Gary Rosen Tru here Jessica glad here here okay um first this evening we have approval of minutes of October 7th 2024 those minutes were circulated are there any corrections or changes to those if not uh oh um all those in favor I oppos motion yeah ation motion second I'll second okay all those in favor I next up we have the moralization three of those first starting off calendar 39 9524 David shefer 52 met Ro short HS um any cors or changes motion motion to approve on the memorialization for calendar number 3995 eligibility Gary eligible yes okay uh who is uh the only one not is everyone else okay uh can have second then I can second Joseph Coffield yes Shandra herani yes Amy Lawrence yes Gary Rosen yes Regina tro yes Jessica flat yes yes next calendar 39 9924 James Anda Glen at 117 cyer Street murn same any corrections or changes yes same okay uh can I have a motion I'll make a motion to approve calendar 399 9-24 thank you have a second second Joseph C yes shandrew her yes Amy Lawrence yes G Rosen yes Regina TR yes Jess yes yes last of calendar 4424 E 1200 Mars Turnpike same same okay any corrections or changes if not can I have a motion to approve this move approval second Joseph yes sh R yes Amy La yes Gary Rosen yes Regina TR yes Jessica yes yes real quick uh on the agenda this evening we have one application that's going to be carried that's calendar 39 9624 Stefanos arus 38 Crescent Place so if you're here on that case it will be moved to 12624 no further notice uh any corrections or changes or differences of the plans will be loaded on the township website um next we're going to be juggling a couple of the cases tonight uh 162 Long Hill will be heard last um and otherwise that's going to be it soing that one one case so first up we have a matter Carri from 9624 calendar 3925 23 left Express 11 Mount Ararat Road good evening counselor thank you Mr chairman members of the board my name is Anthony sillo with the law offices of Lev and cillo in mbour on behalf of the applicant we submitted revised plans and the reduction of the variances to just the front yard setback I've got both Witnesses here I'd like to call architect uh po wo name he remains on the RO previously sworn the RO soif po please explain to the board the zoning criteria of your chart yeah I will start with the real yard OCC real y un occupied uh the requirement is 1500 square feet and and we are wait um the current the current re occupi area is 1,164 and we are we will be able to increase into 1647 so we are conformed with the requirement of re occupied and for the 4 area ratio the requirement is 20 260 square feet and existing existing building is 177 square feet and we'll be able to confound that with the purpos Sprint of 2160 squ fee so if it we come from with a four area ratio and for the L coverage the requirement is 2700 square feet and existing 3,091 square fet and we are compound that one as well uh for the building coverage the requirements 1380 Square F feet uh existing building coverage 1,7 square feet and propos the proposed building is 1223 Square fet so we are 150 157 Square ft below the uh requirements and the um and for the front year setback uh we need a rele from the front year setback um the requirement is 40 squ 40 feet and it is in 25 25.35 ft and and proposed form your setback is 20.5 20.5 ft and the reason for that is we doing the um there's a f protocol we want to propose to the building and that's why we need to um that's why the F SE why don't you show us on your plans exactly what you're talking about so little more meet on the bone here start with the side plan um what I'm doing is we original for for the last hearing we propos the U for last year we propos the the addition at the back around 300 Square F feet and I reduce another 150 square F feet by doing that I'll be able to compound the building coverage L coverage and F or speak to the variants uh rather than the conformities speak the right here the building is there's no form political for building that's the line of in building and we have proposed this from from protocol and that's around like the size of the protocol is [Applause] around that's element right here this one a y by 5T minus and like gu like you can see there's no here and we're proposing these elements here on [Music] side someone El yes I was going to go into yeah yeah is going to testimony the positive and negative for the for the propos now uh any questions regarding that that's the only thing not conform yeah that's the only thing that's not is it's confirming now yeah it's confing now 8 5 something adding that still you're in Conformity with all the yeah with a building coverage does only come as a building coverage we conform just to just to clarify so the existing is conforming or not conforming the existing what building existing front yard no it's not comp it's 25.35 ft and you require 40 ft hey can you show the board where 40 feet is on your draw a line through it 40 ft is this much almost to the midpoint of the building and 40 L CL the mid point of the building any other questions the whole rear yard patio is eliminated the retaining walls yeah almost yeah so just a question all of these variances are no longer relevant just one so our agenda is not today okay any other questions any questions from the audience okay uh Bridget Bart your previously sworn and your credentials were admitted at last meeting I believe cou thank you I think my testimony is going to be short and sweet tonight so I like it all right um obviously you heard heard from our architect that there's only one variance remaining we took your um suggestions into consideration obviously and we really revent the plan the one thing that was really important to the applicant is that front Portico to protect when they're bringing Rosies than anything else of that nature so we had to keep that and as you heard from our architect previously and also tonight if you actually looked at the 40ft setback line it really goes right through our building so we're working with an existing condition here we're just looking to add not only an architectural feature to the front but also something for safety and protection from the elements for my client all that being said um my previous testimony had suggested that um because of the fact that we're working with an existing permitted building this would could be considered a C1 variance but I also provided the proofs for C2 variants indicating one that there are three purposes of to land use law that we further purpose a g and I um excuse me so purpose a is to encourage Municipal action to guide appropriate use and development of all lands I believe that the proposed Redevelopment of this site is a benefit for the street for the neighborhood as a whole because of the architectural features that are being provided um purpose G is to provide us appropriate locations for appropriate uses and this is a permitted use as a single family home and then purpose I is to provide desirable visual environment as you keep see we're trying to upgrade that dwelling itself and provide the additional architectural features I've mentioned um I went through the goals of the master plan in 2018 um and at that point in time the municipality had indicated that they want to evaluate the necessity and effectiveness of certain existing land use regulations and to ensure that new residential development and additions are compatible to the surrounding area previously when I testified I had indicated that it is consistent with the surrounding area um but I don't believe from my knowledge that the municipality has actually gone through that evaluation and changed any of those regulations um I thought I heard something um the benefits of proposals were adding Greenery the landscape plan that was submitted would still comply with what we are proposing here and be consistent with and if we need to work with your professionals to modify that landscape plan we will do this do so and as I mentioned to we're only adding the covered porch which requires the variance and that's really for protection that is compared to the negative criteria or any negatives of this application and I don't believe there are any substantial detriments to the public good because it fits into the neighborhood it provides additional landscaping and buffering from the adjacent remaining site in the adjacent commercial properties and there's no substantial impairment to the Zone plan for the reason I noted above uh the 2018 goals and objectives so for all those reasons I believe that we meet both the positive and negative criteria that this board has a right to Grant the C2 guance that we are requesting tonight than any questions from any questions from the public any comments from the public I close the public portion thank you for members were are your thoughts I appreciate all of the modifications you made and for listening to boarding our concerns into consideration I would join Regina in supporting application um they've taken all of our comments and really worked hard to put this together I well I think the um the request is within reason considering the from the C1 perspective of the 40 foot setb but at the same time C2 where this would not really be detrimental to the zoning plan or master plan um so I think I would uh support this um have a motion motion to approve the application a second I can second I don't know if shandre did did you you were absent in July and I don't know if you had this discussion with you watch the meeting in July July July meeting let's have you abstain from this one can I have a second please I'll second it Joseph callfield yes Amy Lawrence yes Gary Rosen yes Tru yes yes yes good luck with the project thank you very much uh next up we have calendar 4524 ASO for the record L is recusing Sergeant Kang will take the spot from Vo is that application I'm just waiting I'm just waiting for oh for 10 you go to standard you get a drink oh there he is your world were just guests for ready sorry just where you anyone else anyone speak coming up speak swear from testimony about proceeding be the truth PA Truth by the truth State your names for the record s just spell sure y a n a s i n y a NS k a y a Benjamin Rubin Ru b n Timothy cie k l SS thank you okay I want you guys to just really just give them a little summary how long you've been in the house what we kind of what we want to do um just for a minute we' been in a house over eight years who came here to raise a family just like people in this town my wife works in the city I'm a physician and work mortown Medical Center um we have two daughters um one of them is 9 years old and 14 years old 14 years old goes to uh Milburn Middle School our younger daughter has a special genetic condition so she goes to a special school in town uh the cops it's essentially um very happy being in the house and we want to continue to be in the house and stay in the house uh for a long time our younger daughter may stay with us for forever for a long long time uh so she needs extra care and don't want to choose to create a conditions so that can accommodate that specific purpose uh by expanding a house or modifying a house she needs a constant caretaker so um that's what we uh provide okay you guys are done um okay I'll do it yeah so it's um 22 ASO Lane it's uh an R4 Zone oh I'm sorry I'm a um licensed architect in New York and New Jersey and been licensed for about 30 years my license is in good standing I've appeared in front of this board on numerous occasions and in front of um other zoning boards in the in the area thank you PA you accept it please receive um so it's R4 Zone which has a lot area of 20,000 square feet this site is about is almost 40,000 square feet it's an enormous lot it also the building is also way pushed back off the street um we want to make these Improvement it's like a 60s infill Colonial um we want to make these improvements to the house so they can stay in it and really what we're doing is increasing the bedrooms for the two girls and also increasing the kitchen like sort of area on the first floor so I'm just going to go to my boa drawings which are exactly the same as your boa drawings on the left is the existing survey and I think right off the survey you can see the problem here the problem is this big tennis court that's in the backyard okay and so the tennis court is there that's our actual lot area right our present building is kind of out to Asa with a setback of about 70 ft from the street on the right side is my propose for adding a building in the front to come forward and we're also adding across the back um to align with the family room which was added at some you know I'm going to say about 20 years ago it looks to me that this family room was added or was an enclosed porch that was later turned into the family we're trying to just Square it up and everything U works out fine with the site in terms of zoning except that we have a problem with front yard set back and that's a I I'll go through it a little bit more with the attachment e but um the front yard setback now is a minimum and maximum and we can't come out or we don't want to come out far enough with our addition so that we can conform to the maximum required in other words the existing building is non-conforming and our addition if it came out further into the front yard it would conform to the front yard setback so it's kind of a little bit of a quirk of the ordinance and the other thing that we're failing for is lot coverage and we're failing for lot coverage really because of the tennis court okay and if we removed the 10 Court we could con we could we would easily conform to lock coverage but um as Dr Ruben was saying uh let he first started talking we really want to keep the tennis court in place and it's really for their daughter she just uses it as a spa as a play space and it's a contained play space for her because it's kind of fenced I guess I guess they could go into it in a little better detail that was there it was already in yeah when they bought the house it was there but anyway what it did is it banged up our lot coverage to about 40% so we're asking to be allowed to really I guess in a sense we're asking for a variance for excessive lck coverage building coverage conforms if I go to my floor plan which I'll just do really quickly we kind of have taken along my boa2 sheet we took the existing garage and turned it into a three garage added a mud room coming towards the street and added in the back in order to create that larger kitchen and eating area all the the building coverage and the relationship to the patio all that still conforms and stays and there no variance request for any of that on the second floor we're adding over the garages area and adding these taking out two bedrooms and adding two larger bedrooms bathrooms and closets for the girls it's really what's going on the master is staying just as it is existing there no change all of the materials on the building you know this is a brick Colonial infield probably in the 60s all of the materials all the same we match the Breck thr it all around this Building completed and it would look like it was always there I'm just going to flip real quick to um the attachment e which is on your page 10 you can see the the existing front yard setback for this building is 77 ft the proposed is 60 but the um the zoning or the this kind of newer calculation method that we have for front setback sets that the minimum setback would be 41.9 and the maximum is 40 48.1 n and we're proposed to be at 60 so we didn't come out far enough to get to the maximum allowable set too far back the house is existing too far back and it probably is because it's a pie-shaped lot and you know it kind of would make sense to take a p shaped lot and set the house a little further back so that you know you can get more width to the building so I I think that's a deviation of 11.81 feet which is a request really um to satisfy this little part of the the I'm going to call it the new front yard setback uh criteria but it's not I guess it's about a year old now and then a lot coverage is required to be at a maximum of 35% right that's building coverage and all other site improvements and our proposed is 40% that's a variance of 5.7 5.7% variance and to well the tennis court is already existing I brought some photos of it as existing it's pretty well treed in and really um it's in such a location if you take a look at the tax map on in your pamphlet on um well even page 14 is pretty good to look at this you could see that it's in the rear yards of everyone and the tennis court really doesn't have a big impact on the neighbors I don't think I have any neighbors here um related to this uh a couple of them that are very close here are houses I worked on and I would recognize those people but it's not that it's a heavily used used um tennis court and we didn't really want to cut it down and turn it into a sports court and end up with you know somebody coming in with a basketball hoop and all this other stuff so we thought it was actually a better use if we could just leave it and with that in mind I'd like to just present my I guess I'd like to call it my exhibit A1 and it's a it's a board of kind just to show you the uh the tennis court in the environment and how it looks and I took these pictures today uh so if I kind of come down the driveway you can see the driveway itself is heavily shielded on the left side I you can't see through it and there's another house right here on the left side I come in if I start to look back that buffer is still there I get Beyond it you can start to see that the tennis court is now on my right so if I go to my photo C you can see that I'm standing on the back patio on Dr Ruben's property looking into the tennis court you can see the conifers that they planted right around the tennis court to buffer it I don't know how long ago they were pled it look years two years it looks to they look to me like they're about two years old so they'll they'll totally fill in in a couple of years and then if I spun a little bit this is kind of going on the right side you can see the buffer planted there so they've already planted to kind of mitigate the tennis court and um it's really an existing condition that we'd like to uh to leave in place and we can provide additional storm water retention right to make up for we well we have to Anyway by the terms of the engineering um Department here but we could actually provide another 500 cubic feet of retention to make up for additional 5% of added coverage that were over beyond what is um necessary per the town ordinance if that makes sense to everybody other words I can take this and still search charge the aqua filter okay so and that's really my entire case is there any questions oh how does the drain currently um it looks to me like it just drains into the site I don't see any perimeter drains at all and the people that are in back of them I guess Lot 12 are they downhill um the one Lot 12 Lot 12 I think that's Westfield you have the lowest point they are have the lowest point they are a little bit low I don't know what that little easan is doing is that a drink is there a drain back there you guys are this yeah is a drain is a to drain the town's got to have a drain two drains in the corner I'm looking on on 14 my um inside the packet you see that little easement that's coming in off a Long Hill that easement is a drainage easement from the town so there's a catch Basin there and then there's another Basin up at the corner of the property so there's there's actually a basin here and another Basin up corner of the property up here it's I guess collecting this but we all of our water we create we or all of our added runoff that we created from our new building area we have to bring into the driveway so we will handle that side of it what a I'm actually saying is we could take a little more into the drywall too if it helped to mitigate the added lot coverage that's what okay done any questions for Mr CL uh any questions from the audience regard this application and comments regardless this application that close the public portion board members your thoughts when I first saw the numbers I was um a little shocked because it's such an oversized lot um but then seeing the property and knowing that the tennis court um is an existing structure that was there I think that and of itself is um is a hardship I don't think that um they asking for too much here I don't think that the work that they're trying to do is over building um at all I could I could support the application yeah and fur that I don't really think that the what they're doing is going to have much impact on the neighbors so uh I too would uh be supportive of this application obviously that the front yard set back thing I've said it many times we're trying to address that and we're to clean up that ordinance we're in the process now of doing it so that probably wouldn't exist in another I don't six months from now that that problem so um you know next tennis courts there you know what are you going to do doesn't make sense to take it out of the ground so I support it I would say I think there's some hardship you've talked about the high shaped lot and the existing tennis court even though it is a big property and I think you're at some modest support to a motion move approval second thank you Joseph callfield yes s yes Gary Rosen yes Regina TR yes J Pang yes J yes yes good luck with the project thank you thank you next up we're going to calendar 3983 24 uh 112 Brookman good evening Mr chairman board member Journey Dennis Francis 37 Liberty Street little furner just one second we should bring members back [Music] inead okay good evening the W members attorney Dennis Francis 37 Liberty Street little furry New Jersey on behalf of the applicants we were of before you back in July 1st we're happy to be back this evening with revised plans our last application I believe had a number of five uh variances we didn't we were late that evening I think we were very late evening that night and uh we really didn't go too far into the application there were a lot of inconsistencies with the uh the numbers if you recall and we had a few meetings and addressed all of those issues and hopefully this evening we have a much better product before you which is consistent and thorough in its its application and the application that the board so deems to be required um the property is 12 Canoe Brook Road Block 512 and lot 17 it's in the R5 Zone the applicant uh is well the present use of the property is a a single family residential uh use the applicant seeks to renovate that existing single family to include a two-story Edition with construction to two front yard garages as per the plans proposed this application requires two variances those variances are set forth in the application and specifically they are a maximum front yard coverage whereby in this Zone uh 30% is the allowable maximum the existing is 21 1.30% and we are proposing 36.99 per or 6.99% above the variance allowable and then the final variance the second variance is the maximum floor area ratio which is the devarian uh in this Zone 30% maximum is allowed we've uh significantly reduced that downward just above it unfortunately still a little above it three 33.3 2% and therefore we're 3.32% above the maximum FL ratio this evening I have two I have the client here as well Nova Brownstein as well as I have the professional planner and engineer Mr Harry Tel and I also have our architect Mr Joe Den I'd like to stop with Mr Tel uh presenting both planning and Engineering aspects of the application can I just ask a procedural question um shre was not at the July 1 meeting and my minutes only indicate that it opened up but we heard no testimony because there were too many disrup so just that would be my recollection as well you're basically starting over right yes exactly what we really did was just came up and introduced itself again it was late that evening and it was pointed out of the inconsist nobody I starting new tonight yeah nothing to be considered from last time so for the record I was also not here I believe July 1 so right we just didn't really hear then we consider consider this a new application yes thank you chair just right hand you swear from teson about tonight's proceeding to the truth P Truth by the truth I do your name for the record Harry Tel Tu v l address is 629 Ridge Court and Ridgefield New Jersey thank you why you put your qualifications sure license on the record you list hang on one second did you see theist no make sure he's outside of 200 foot before we waste all of time you're definitely far where you all right sorry please har go put your qualifications and your license on sure uh I'm a licensed professional engineering planner in state of New Jersey have been so for over 40 years uh my licenses are in good standing recently renewed as a matter of fact thank you second okay so we we prepared u a site plan that you that you have I've just mounted it on the board for for tonight cover sheet basically shows the existing home at 112 New Road sort of a high level I guess the architect could classify that better than I than I and then we plan to uh build additions and turn it into this very nice contemporary uh temporary looking home um the site plan that was prepared prepared and this although there is an existing we prepared existing conditions plan showing photographs of the existing home the existing home is located on U on this 14,5 I believe 14,5 626 square foot lot in the R5 residential district the we have a survey prepared that we submitted prepared by Mano surve and then um showing the existing conditions and then the uh site plan that we prepared sh the proposed conditions um which call call for a u 1560 square foot building again U on can on canook road U there is going to be some uh some changes we are eliminating uh existing projections into the rear into the sidey yard which will um eliminate an existing non-conforming sidey yard uh situation and mainly the uh as the architect will a little bit further there's a proposed uh twostory Edition out out the U out the rear of the the major addition is out is out the rear of the home um with a footprint of 4 40 40 square feet um and that's the and then the another major site feature is that we are transferring the uh garage area from the rear of the building to having a two-car garage in the front of the of the of the building so that is a major change and there will no longer be a driveway along along the side along the side of of of the uh of the house um so this is this is quite an update to the existing to the existing uh residents that exists that exists here so U with with that I uh I'd like to go into U the planning testimonial as Council indicated there are two variances uh being requested here um one is a uh a D4 variance to increase the permitted floor area ratio and the second is a C2 variance to Grant a variance with regard to uh having the uh the front yard front yard coverage due to a driveway being uh placed in in front of in the front yard now in that in the home so um under the uh under the proofs for for granting of the variances um the uh of course the proposed use is permitted in the zone the the the positive criteria for for f variance is similar to a variance for a conditional use uh and that is to show that the uh property can reasonably accommodate any problem associated with the structure being larger than the uh floor area ratio permits u in this case we have a proposed house that is conforming with respect to all of the bulk requirements except for the front yard coverage the the existing side yard variance is actually is actually being removed uh and as I mentioned the side yard driveway is also being removed and the reason for the front yard coverage variants is due to that new driveway replac the driveway to the rear garage which certainly is a more conventional figuration uh every other uh every other uh bulk variance I mean bulk requirement rather is either met or or below that which that which is required um the C2 variance for the front yard coverage is known uh C2 is known as the flexible C variance and that the board has the discretion to balance the extent of any non-conformity proposed and the extent of uh of any negative impact um I suggest here that the balance that uh the balance here is that this is not too much house that's being proposed that we are we are meeting or we are below the uh the major bulk requirements uh despite the fact that we are asking for fa variants no new bulk variances are are being are being created and it results in a renovated updated house with any problems without any problems such as parking or utility requirements that uh would that would be created by by The increased uh F under the negative criteria uh that we I believe that the variance can be granted without substantial detriment to the public good and would not substantially impair in the intent and purpose of the Zone plan I think the variances requested are that we've met the statutory criteria under C2 and for the F that demonstrating that the property can can accommodate uh that easily accommodate actually this proposed development and certainly uh the benefits outweigh U any any detriment of that may be seen as far as the increased increased F so it's to conclude it's my professional op opinion that we've met the proofs for the granting of the variances uh by demonstrating that uh the variances being requested do not rise to a level of substantial or otherwise detriment uh to the Zone plan and the renovation to the existing house as I mentioned at the beginning results in in an update update and upgrade to an older an older Residential Building uh the purposes of of zoning are Advanced under CI and E uh providing adequate light in open space through creative development techniques under e promoting establishment of appropriate population densities uh and I uh a desirable visual environment U so uh if the board i' certainly U entertain any questions that the board may have but that essentially is my is my testimony this evening so the R5 zone is essentially the the the country Club section sorry the R5 Zone essentially the country club section of town okay it's 14,500 foot lots for almost all the same size every single lot in that whole area pood section No Country Club section Russ po section all the same size on my way to this house I passed a new house on drive and Terrace being built a new house on Spencer Drive being built and a new house on Browning being built all conform with regard to everything it's not come in front of us these hous are being built right now okay being constructed on the exact same size Lots brand new homes from the ground up okay okay why are you struggling to make your house perform when all these other houses are built this one of the most highly redeveloped areas of town the the country club section section I'm struggling to see why on a lot there's really no property hardship in this area because everyone has the same size lot with exception of a few few little things but for the most part so I don't understand why Your Design is causing you to have these issues design issue I don't know about those other cases I don't know anything about those except that in our case we are actually improving this this lot by removing an existing sidey non-conformity that exists and it adding two more we're adding we're adding two we're not we're adding do those new homes have driveways in the front with garages okay so they probably have a they probably don't conform with regard to front yard coverage either they're built they're done they don't they didn't come in front of us well I don't know whether they building have been issued so they passed they passed mustard I well again I'm ask your lie Why can't your driveway conform and Why can't your f for what are you missing here is my point I I I the fact is we're building a driveway and the and the math just works out that with that driveway in the front we are we don't conform with front y okay is there an alternative that does the question I don't know what kind of alternative there could be to having a I'm looking here at your design okay your design if you want to get swor in SAR any away okay you're not so come on swear you in as well always keep one at a time but getting back to what I was saying Your Design is creating this these are self-inflicted Varian okay okay is there an alternative because can you build a driveway that's not angled like this because the other ones I see are straight in if anything a straight in driveway would have even even more coverage I don't know I'm I'm merely saying it's I'm trying to square your design here in an area that we just don't see this because like I said there's no there's no lot hardship there's no C1 hardship well there's no C1 yes I'm ask so so I'm trying to figure out an area where we see so much Redevelopment that does not come in front of us how this house having such a difficult time building a house that needs an f and uh a front y coverage be come on up okay raise your right hand do you SW from teson you're about to give to be the truth hold Tre on by the truth yes your name and spell for the record my name is Nova Bron  n o v a b r o n s t i n last name k a k and I'm one of the owners of the house um our existing house has a two-part garage where we have so much Asphalt in an area that is full of green I I don't understand how this house got built in the first place now we bought the house we planned to change the house but we cannot currently pull in with our car that will accommodate our three young girls into the garage without damaging our car because of how low it is it also requires all of this asphalt to be able to get into our garages our twocc car garages because they enter from the back now I've seen no other houses in the poet section that have a driveway that is arranged like this so we're trying to undo something that didn't make any sense that was existing also with our sidey yard coverage not being in compliance that's also existing we're slicing off a piece of our existing house to make it all fit now there's we've had flooding in our basement in storm Ida my husband had to take buckets of water into our garage and we've had an water expert come in and figure out storm drainage that storm drainage is cutting across our yard so we're trying to not completely slice up everything that is already in place with existing drainage that's coming through the yard by utilizing the current entrance of the driveway now then that means that we have to take the driveway at an angle because to straighten everything up then you're slicing apart and into a section of angled drainage that's in the yard right now so in terms of that strangeness with the front yard coverage there are all of these existing factors that we're also trying to accommodate so I I think that our given house started out with a different circumstances than these other I've seen the other houses that are being renovated they don't have anything where garage enters that's actually fairly common practice of the poet section to switch I've not seen it so I've been in poet section for almost five years so I can't speak beyond that I was in Pennsylvania no but saying that that design characteristic I very common 55 words worth 12 words worth I mean I can just go on and on on it's a very it's a very common issue where the driveways were built and you drove around the back and you've not had people come forward with well typically if the house is being rebuilt it's redesigned to either eliminate that because that's coverage right okay which is what you're doing which is why we're trying to utilize in the back what was asphalt and then plant green alternative that you're coming up with here is creating another problem isn't that again having to do with the front yard coverage correct so you're so you're swapping side yard for front yard we have sidey yard currently we are eliminating we and you're adding no so the last time that we came to this meeting I wasn't here but we had was it four or five we had five variances aware yeah right which is a lot a lot right so we've tried to modify including slicing off our existing house to rain it in so that the even the accommodation asked for within those two variants are a very small accommodation well 3% f is not small okay so and and a 7% variance on front yard that's not small either so so what's it back to my question is can your driveway be designed to eliminate a 7% deviation yeah I I would suggest that it could not okay because we are we are certainly angling that driveway we have uh but if that wouldve that would be a full width but if it would be a if it would be a full withd driveway for the garage here there would be it would even be more coverage I I don't I don't agree with your estimation on that but okay right now we have a a a single we have a a one lane or one car time driveway come coming in there rather than a twocc car driveway when you say one car you're talking about the curent cut or the width of the driveway I'm saying no I'm just talking about the curve cut everybody's a One S one car with curb cut nobody has a two car with but they have two car garages okay can you say you're not going to be able to get into the garage if you no no they this configuration we can certainly get into the garage and well my point you actually can have a to with cut um but you could go straight in rather than having this whole piece on this side where you have this angled thing if you went straight up you would eliminate all of that coverage thing is if you went straight from the the two-car garage door out to the street you eliminate all this coverage there there there is an existing Inlet on on can BR road that conflicts with that what do you mean Inlet a storm drain Inlet out on road shown on the flly so that if we made that there would that would that might have to be relocated all right shown on the plan there is a storm drain very close to the driveway like I said it's from the township it is not our personal property right so if we shift it then we're disrupting the township storm I I that have be taken up with Township engineering I'm I can't speak to that whether whether driveway can exit onto on that or not any other questions from the board I just have one question sure the in the new design the the walls that I'm looking at which didn't there's a wall here opposite the garage how tall are those walls is there new correct those walls are U probably uh under four feet or no they're under two feet they're under two feet they're basically landscape they're land they're landscape Wes so all the drainage from the entire poet section comes down to our house because we are at the bottom of the because the scale of your photo there makes the wall a whole lot higher than 2 yeah they're not I have a question on this chart so it's [Applause] listing but no I I'm sorry I see that it's correct so you're in an R5 Zone and the lot area is larger than the R5 right and so I guess my question is around the fa the size of the house you have a slightly larger lot you have an F variant so similar to Craig's question what considerations did you have why why do you need this SE are variance what what considerations did you have when you went back and looked at that that makes that necessary um it was uh what the client desired in terms of living space and and the architect can go into that a little bit further and it does come to a total of under 500 square feet it's actually 485 square feet of f variants that that we're talking about here which is certainly nothing major and it certainly provides the uh the client with the home and the accommodations that they feel that they that they would like to have and again you know the criteria for granting an F variance is not like a use variance where you're asking for a different use and Fa variance as I indicated in my in my testimony the the proof is to just show that it doesn't create a problem and in this case it doesn't create a problem no it's considerably more than that okay this is this is a d variance which requires five affirmative votes which makes it considerably more serious than the C variant are prob four okay I'm not talking about the seriousness of the so when you said it's no big deal it's actually quite a big deal not only do you have that standard your standard also has a that's beneficial to the zoning plan and master plan not not detrimental but actually beneficial for not for an F variance no okay then learn something new from you but I suggest you heed what I say have you done an analys any analysis of of the fs of the homes in the no I have not so you don't know whether any of the houses in the well but based on what you the chairman is saying is that these other houses were just built with building permits so I'm assuming that's anecdotal you're you're right I'm asking you if you've done any analysis I have not no okay any other questions any questions from the audience for this witness any we'll have comments at the end you can speak here um okay sorry so the the space that we would be adding that is currently Asphalt in the back where we're reversing the direction of the entry of the driveways would become a space where we would put my nine-year-old daughter's piano where we don't currently have a space that would be able to accommodate a she's currently studying both cello has strings at heart shorn and is also studying the piano and we do not have a good space for her the use of the home is is inconsequential to us okay what you do inside outside it seemed to be relevant in other cases so I figured I would mention it's it's it's more more just following the rules yeah but as for your intention our decisions run with the land so if you build this house sell tomorrow who knows what the next person might do that's so so we have to look at it our decision is in perpetuity okay so it's a little bit more realistic coun yeah we have uh tonight's proceeding to the truth by the I do your name Joseph dado do at located at 14 Route 4 West rivered New Jersey sure I hold a uh Bachelor of architecture graduated 1985 uh have received my license in New Jersey in 1992 and I've held my own practice throughout New Jersey since 1995 I'm also a planning board member for eight years so I understand your commitment to these projects and monthly readings your fication accepted please proceed thank you so 112 canoe road is a unique piece of property we have uh two neighbors to the left one neighbor to the left one to the right we don't have any neighbors to the front it's h it faces a wooded area with the Kenedy Boulevard behind it uh and then we do have the neighbors to the back we have several areas that we want to remove as far as uh Mr toell said we have a a structure on the right side of the property where we want to remove currently is uh 10.9 ft away from the property where 12 is required once we remove it we're going to have 16 ft so we felt like we're giving more air and light to that neighbor then uh even the owner had spoken about the driveway to the left even though it may be common we are removing any vehicular traffic going down the property and parking in the back again we we felt we were trying to give more air light less congestion uh to the neighbors and that's why then we got to the uh the requirements that the owner wanted for the the property itself and that was adding an addition out the back and we got over the F but we felt that we were giving away side yard setbacks to one neighbor we're removing the garages the driveway and the parking and cars in the back so we being beneficial to the neighbors on both sides and in the back by removing the vehicular tract um and it's a 1960s uh split level and we're still going to keep this split level and uh I'll just go through basically sheet 83 is the lower level basement area currently like a the front of the house house is on the upper page we had a two-car garage in the back that we want to remove and we'll put the doors in the front the addition that we're proposing in the back is a 16 by 272 ft uh three story addition and that the rest of the area stays the same the basement unfinished and then the two-car garage remains but we'll have access from the front and this little area that we are removing uh toward the side yard is a crawl space it still will made across base after we cut part of it out I'll go to the next sheet which is the living so again it's a it's a split level so the front door enters the kitchen living dining and what was a office area that's going to be cut so that we do meet the side yard setback and it will just be like a little office area off the dining room then the split level goes up there's three existing bedrooms uh and a bathroom that will stay but then we have a hallway that goes into another Suite in the back so what was three bedrooms on this level now we come four then as a split level again it has it goes up to another level which is an existing master suite and what we're proposing is to go up the another the next level and have an entire additional Suite A bedroom a bathroom and a TV family room area so in essence a total floor area existing is 3374 with these addition out the back by cutting the the back out adding over this this split level we're at 4,8 73.8% and that's how we got to the 33.3 2% uh of the F I'll just go over some of the exteriors all right so sheet A6 is the front so we felt again we felt that by cutting this off and giving more air and light to the neighbor removing the the driveway on the side and the back and by providing the two doors in the front yes I know I understand there's uh coverage but we felt that since there's no really Neighbors in the front we're not really affecting anyone with the uh with the look or the coverage of the front yard driveway uh and what we're proposing is to add the level straighten this all out more contemporary style siding and a stone uh design and that will follow through to the back so this is the back Edition this is where the garages were originally the two-car garage that would be eliminated the proposed 16 by 27t addition uh will come out the back it was there is a driveway there now so we by removing that uh we felt like by putting the addition there it was more beneficial and it it helped with the neighbors as far as air and light with traffic the vehicular traffic and then the same thing with the sides it's really once we build up it's going to be more contemporary with Sid and uh so as far as the architectural plans what was existing uh three sorry three bedrooms we're asking now to be five bedrooms again it's all to the requirements of the owner and with that we're asking for the variance for the F you keep saying air and light you're improving if if you're building a house that's considerably taller wider bigger everything else how doesn't that impact air and light oh with well within the height structure I'm saying keep say is driveway somehow creates issues with air and light but well the right side clearly does but we're giving we're providing what's the proper setback even more now right but you like I said since your over floor area ratio that speaks to massing right still within the two stories and the height I understand that but I'm saying the physical plant is obviously larger and that could also be detrimental to air light wouldn't it well the effect of massing I agree but we are removing vehicular traffic drive cars in back oh it's like a trof yeah the ordinance requires you to have barage right you got to put somewhere any other questions uh you said it's presently a three bedroom correct uh I'm sorry four bedroom and you're making we're making it a five is that six no five your sheet A5 so I have sheet A5 so we have the fifth bedroom which is the addition right the master bedroom which is existing right and then three existing [Applause] bedrooms sorry six for six you say the square footage uh for the F in excess of what is allowed is about 480t I believe it was 4 yeah Jer said that yeah over what permitted correct what's the extent of the I because you show the addition are you taking present second floor first what is the extend but taking down so the split levels Remain the roof obviously comes out and gutting of the inside so following up on that I mean you're staying within the footprint with the exception of getting rid of the side guard and the addition at the back okay so the addition at the back and cutting this the side right we need a path that runs down the side right is that what that is yeah is that where the driveway was so the driveway was the entire right and now and now you're putting a stone path down that side correct to toward the back yes be Garden putting there any other questions for any questions from the audience who are on this project councelor Mr chairman based upon what we've heard this evening we'd like to have the application um adjourned to the next meeting uh what's available next probably December 16 yeah be very we'll be very short we'll we'll come back that work for you that would work for us right yeah we make it work absolutely uh and the record um this application will be carried to December 16th with no further notice calendar 3983 24 um any corrections that you send in make sure they're here 10 days before okay they can be circulating thank you very much thank you lastly we have calendar 4824 Mr will be reing on this uh Mr P will be Mr P will be uh we're taking five minute break by the way need e e we're waiting for finished I could get sworn in and give you my credentials water do you swear from T are you gonna speak also you swear from test about to get proceeding be the truth truth not by the truth yes your name for the records Molly k k h o n a Dave Rosen Ren uh monar uh principal at Rosen Kelly Conway in Summit um I am licensed in few States but the only relevant one tonight is New Jersey and uh my license is in good standing and um whatever else you'd like glad to uh carry on with your qualifications are accepted by as board so please proceed okay shall I go get I okay I either Mr or Mrs Conor was going to do the introductory oh that's fine said if if uh if he wants to add anything we can swear also he can he can always add yeah uh my name is Molly Kona um I live on 162 Long Hill Drive um I moved to Short Hills in 1979 um only because my brother bought a house here otherwise I don't know where i' have been so best thing he did is bring me here I never want to move out of here so we lived in milour for a while and then we moved to lill drive because we need a slightly bigger house to accommodate all the family and friends are always coming and staying with us so and then my daughter bought a house 7 minutes from my house and my son 30 minutes away from my house so we can't go anywhere now we have to be around in this area so so we decided to kind of maybe update the house is from the 1960s and I don't want a big home I didn't want to tear it down I wanted just update everything and and my husband loves the backyard because it's all wooden he loves his animals and deer and all that stuff so he want look out and see all this so so we have decided to update the house and just to make it more comfortable for us great since we plan to live here we've lived here for 40 years and we plan to live on the 4 is at God willing so and David's going to help us to accomplish that and I I think because we are raising the roof we not making any additions we're not removing any trees we want everything the way it is uh we do have to raise the roof to to make the house look aesthetically pleasing so it requires a little variance apparently you know so David's going to explain what that is and if you have any questions yeah thank you I can send you still Li deer too one of the few people who enjoy having the deer in the backyard so we're here uh this is a the house 1961 split level typical kind of low roof of about a six on 12 or so and what our plans include is raising the pitch of that roof to be something that's more current and a little bit nicer looking and that's what we can see in the drawing over here and we to do this we need four variances which sounds like a lot but even though we're going up that they are side yard setback variances and I'll just go I'll go through them um on the chart V1 in the in the lower left on there I put some additional well I put some color on the variances themselves and I just blew up a portion of this have it as A1 yeah and then we enter that too that's you change the color on that I didn't change the color just the size right not when you change the color on right on no that had that that it was submitted with the color but I'll just have this as A1 it's a little bit easier to see I'm just going to describe them and then I'll come back uh and go through them so the first one this just says side yard setback that's the category on the left side we have for the existing front left corner of the house is supposed to be 15 feet back from the property line it is 14.5 so the property line a little tough to see at this distance but the property swells out a little bit as it goes back so there is an area um which is six inches wide and goes back in a triangle about s feet so it's less than two square feet of non-compliance it is already there except that when we add when we add the ceiling sorry when we raise the roof there is a sliver in there and it's about six in wide and I've covered all of it work out A2 uh actually um that's not quite correct it is it is this it's up here sorry it's not the piece below that it's just the piece above because that's above the 18 ft yeah so that's it from the front after you go seven feet back it's it's down to zero so uh it seems like a pretty good uh di Minimus kind of variance anyway so that's that's this first one again it's for 14.5 I already marked it as A1 and it's supposed to be 15 it's staying at 14.5 but we have a little bit more of the roof it's actually a very slight bit um just because um once it goes sorry the once it goes above 18 feet it's farther back anyway so I was right the first time there's a little sliver in there that's the right okay so the second one is also on the left side which is the area that is higher than 18 ft and that is an area that is there so there's that piece of roof and keep in mind that that is just sort of the upper part of that roof it's not all the way out it's just a uh relatively uh small area that is the the second story or more than 18 feet high if fact just before you continue yes the ordinance requires 15 feet for the first floor yes it's it has nothing as soon as you have a second floor it's got to be the 22 or the 25 it's not 18 feet so that okay we don't have a second floor over there that's attic okay but but what we've done is I've said that it's more than 18 ft high and so there's an area in there it is there is this is not finished space in here but it's just with floor in it I mean it's there's an attic floor in there yes it's technically not your first floor it's not the first floor correct so I've I've assumed that in the future if somebody wanted to put something within that part is it like a closet or I don't know what it could be considered as habitable space within a portion of that right but we don't distinguish whether it's habitable or not it's still second floor okay so it would be the second floor would that's where the requirement would kick in because it's not your first floor anymore so there might be a little more of that actually you're saying that that comes down lower wherever the second floor wherever that floor is that's now second floor it's not your first floor any longer all right it's typically I mean there is there is space there but it is it is lower I mean most of that is actually lower than a 7 foot requirement to be habitable space so what I've marked is an area that is actually for the building code higher than five feet I don't want to get too wonky about all this but there are different requirements as to what constitutes uh right living space and so on but we're looking at it from the outside MH as a second floor so that's why I I understand that it's um okay so this is this area over here I would consider it to be attic but I we've said that we need a variance because there is space within that that's more than 5et High by the building code or more than S feet high by the uh by the ordinance to qualify as addal space anyway so on the left side there's a small area within this peak and when we look at the side you can see that it's it's the only area that we're talking about is from here to here and then we come up and so there's an area sort of up in there that would be tall enough to qualify as second uh floor because it would be habitable by the building code this is where the attic floor is this is about 5T higher and that's about what this Mark that3 for me okay so there's an area in there that might be considered second floor under whatever kind of um judgment is made there okay then on the right side the right side is compliant in the setback it's 17.6 um but there is a little bit of roof and it's there again because we raised the roof from a shallow pitch to a higher pitch uh also not finished in there it's not high enough to be considered building coverage but we've we've presented it as if it's a variance just in case anybody had a question about it we didn't want to leave it out and then have it as something um but that's the difference that is more than 18 feet high and it's uh to the 22t setback so however one interprets it there is a little area there but it is not tall enough to be a floor by the building code or by the ordinance but I've shown it here because there are by raising the roof we have that little area there and an area there and we by raising the roof we have a sliver in here which is 6 in it six inches wide at the front of the house and then extends back and then the last one is sidey yard combined and the house right now is of a style that was much more popular in 1961 it's a split level it's it's very low but wide and so when we look at the photo the property is just a little bit wider than it's required to be it's required to be 100 it's 103 and uh and it's it's legally existing on the property but it doesn't comply with the current ordinance which I don't think was in effect UH 60 something years ago but in any case in many communities they've changed the sidey setback requirements because houses have changed from being very sort of low and horizontal to being much taller and uh and sort of the bulk is up and not out and it's hard to see that there's another house over over here that is a full two stories and many of the houses in this neighborhood especially the ones that are new and have been replaced with much taller ones this is a an extensive renovation of this house primarily the the basement and the first floor and then getting the appearance to be nice we're not doing any additions on this part of the house other than raising the roof but the the house is allowed to be excuse me for a second it's allowed to be another full story in the whole middle of the house because the house currently is only 22 feet high uh and that's that's here and that's going six feet higher that's going to 28 and a half and we're allowed to go 35 for most of the house this is lower this is at about 24 ft and so we're substantially lower than what many houses are and it it's sort of a different fashion it's a different style of house uh the ordinance now has increased the requirement for sidey yard because of of allowing for uh the house to go up higher anyway so we have four variances in order to take this house and to raise the roof to be something that looks like a more a more upto-date pitch there are additions in the back of the house um which and Renovations inside but they don't really affect the variances because they meet the requirements for the sidey setback they're not tall enough to um to cause the there really isn't the second Flor Expo over a good part of this and so it's really just at the front you can see that as the addition goes back we expanded the kitchen and moved it and so on um there is no second floor there's no there's nothing on this addition that requires a variance it's just the nature of how this house was originally designed and in adapting to that and working with that raising the roof up uh it triggers these four sidey yard variances okay I'll pause for a moment take any questions Dormers they're not they're just skylights or just Decora uh two things they are decorative at this point there's nothing going on there at one point um just before the project well when when the budg not the budget but the cost of the project when that jumped over $2 million there was nothing at that point anything that was going to go on here was cut out um because they don't need it they don't need the space they just want a nicer house and so the focus is on redoing the whole first floor um and making the house much more usable but we want the front of the house to look nice and when we did it when we took these Dormers off the house still looked a little bit bit too much like what it was it was it was missing those so they are decorative there's nothing going on there there's nothing um but if there was it doesn't require a variance because we could still add 1,600 square F feet of floor area to the house building coverage is compliant lot coverage is compliant it's just the setback because of the way the addition the original house is wide so we have nothing planned up here it's just at it but in the event that somebody wanted to do it they could without coming back here but their uh Salam Mali are staying in their current bedroom where they've been for decades and and will'll stay and there aren't there aren't I mean their kids are grown and so there isn't the need to do things it was really sort of uh and and at the back of the house we do not have the door back in here um we just there was no need for that because there's nothing up there but on the front we felt that it just looked empty without so we liked it liked it better that way any other questions moving the fireplace there's a fireplace in the front of the house over uh over here that is being removed yeah um on the on the floor plans um well we don't need to go through really don't there but the house is sort of reversed from what it would be today where the kitchen and breakfast area are in the front of the house and uh living room dining room and a family room are across the back and so we're reconfiguring some of that um and making a much more appropriate kitchen kitchen is 9 ft front to back and so we're redoing that so it's a kitchen that opens to the family room and all of those things there are a lot of really nice things about this plant I'd love to keep you here for but yeah and Molly gets her Greenhouse in the back left corner we made that so that it didn't look too much like a greenhouse but it's just the windows and skylights and then glass on the sides and it has a separate heating and air conditioning system and humidity control and it is separated by a wall of Windows between the breakfast area and the green house so Molly can have her plants and S can watch the deer eating uh any other [Music] questions um for the record there's no one in the audience so will skip asking the audience umor I'm sorry I'm I'm just curious that the roof once you raise it up it looks really bulky and is there any reason why from the architecture perspective you have you ever consider to break it down a little bit um so it's you ask a very inter or you ask an interesting question because this is a photo from the street and you can barely see the roof even though it looks like it from the straight on architectural view it will appear more like that from the street because the property Rises slightly but this roof goes away and as you approach the house there essentially is no roof almost nothing is visible and um we wanted this because it's a fairly low house I wanted to give it a little bit more presence and so I think that although it looks quite tall here it will appear more a little bit more like that because that appears like this even when you're way back so it's a it's a judgment call when we look at it um like in three dimensions it doesn't look as bulky we deliberately brought these down a little bit from the ridge because otherwise on this angle they would look like they're higher than the Ridge and sticking sticking awkwardly up thank you thank you for the question as a followup question to that so changing the pitch yes how much area do you gain how much height do you gain in the actic area that you're shown there down well in here there is a central area that has the top of the let me just say that the top of the window so 7 feet high is in here so there is an area in here that is full height um there is an area in the center of this uh that is similar uh there's a there is a there is some s foot area but the other thing that we did in order to give this a better presence is we raised the ceiling height in this section from 8 feet to 9 feet so that the first floor felt more proportional and so that enabled us to eliminate the big difference in the typical split level and so that it's now a little bit smaller but the floor the floor is actually like in there and so there is some space but it's not it's not that much it's within the center it's not quite as much as this any other questions is this a paragano house I'm just wondering just the age of the hip roof is not really relevant to the varing I think it is it is yeah yes almost cool well we work with members of the same family yeah Tom paragano is a is a contractor we work with a lot but um I think he prefers working on the project to change the what his grandfather may have done say the tie right well I grew up in a house that was essentially this in Summit and there was so many and well I became an architect so it must be I don't know whether I'm fighting against it trying to bring back the split level yeah is it going stay a split level or are you thinking it stays as a split level there is no change to the height of the basement either under here or over here or any of the bedrooms there are three bedrooms two bathrooms in this section all of those retain the same ceiling Heights the only place where we've made it taller really is on the first floor in the main living areas and that's because as we opened it up the proportions just seem it feels tight as it gets wider and deeper it it sort of balances out much better with the 9 foot ceiling I'm sitting going these deeping in my bedroom one of the 40 years yeah she stays there they stay there anyway so so the only thing that we've changed it is still a split level the floors are all the same level except there's an there's a very tight attic space up here that rises up a little bit that's the only change to a floor level anyse then I'll close the public uh portion of this um board members were your thoughts comments so I'm going to go for first I live in a house very similar to that I also got rid of the hip roof but I love that what you've done with this I feel like this is a modest task and a tasteful one um and the existing conditions make it such VAR great thank you I agree with Gina I think it's a great setup the way it's done um looks really nice really brings the house up to sort of a modern era and gives the home owners everything they need so I can say uh you know regardless of the issues and I I understand you know that's the way it was built and you're right it's probably preate zoning so uh I think it's uh it's a good use of the uh space and doesn't really conflict on the neighbor's uh light space it's nice to see a house like that not being knocked down and just being um you know made made a little more up toate and a little more um you know like giving it a nicer uh look from you know from the street so would have been cheaper to knock it down no it probably it probably it probably would have been I was thinking the same thing but it's nice to see that you're taking something and you're preserving it instead um when you don't necessarily need to so I think it's based on your need rather than what you want so exactly minimalistic but yet very elegant and uh can I have a motion make a motion to appr I can second Shandra horani uh yes Amy Lawrence yes Gary Rosen yes Regina Tru yes Jang yes J GL yes yes good luck with the project thank you thank you all and it's earlier than that hour earlier just try to rush um once again uh we not for the that there's no El the audience as to other comments not on the agenda this evening so I'll ask for a motion to adjourn thank you all in favor