Hey, Colleen. Are we good? Can we start? Okay. Good evening, everyone. We're going to call this um regular meeting of the Ocean Township Board of Adjustment to order. Um Nicole, can you call a role, please? Here. Mr.
Here, Mr. [Music] here here. Please rise for the exclusive flagg to the flag of the United States of
America to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible and justice for all. Notice requirements of the open public meeting law for this meeting have been satisfied. A copy of the notice having been sent to the Asbury Park Press on the coaster and filed in the office of
the township clerk. Emergency notice. There is emergency uh exit through the door courtroom doors and two exits at the rear of the room. No smoking in this room, please. Board policies, no new cases will be started after 9:00 p.m. No new testimony taken after 9:30 p.m. In
addition, the applicant will be limited to 45 minutes of testimony. All meetings will be video and audio taped and shown on the Township of Oceans Community Cable Channel. Channel 22 on Verizon FiOS, channel 77 on Cable Vision. Please turn your cell phones off. Wow, that was
perfect. Amazing. I always dreamed it would happen. Um, if you need to make a call, please step outside and uh of the meeting room uh and take your call. Uh, what's this? Jimmy and Barbara 2250
Clifford. Is this a missed print online? That's carried. Okay. Um, uh, case carried to the next meeting, Jimmy and Barbara Levy, 250 Cliffwood Road, Oakhurst, block 2531, lot one in the R4 zone. Uh, resolutions to be
moralized. Well, let's let's let's do that one officially. The the levy the Levy application. So, they're asking to be carried to the October meeting. I mean, yes, October. And which would be what date? Oh, yeah. I'm see. Sorry. All right. So, we need a motion then to
carry that to the meeting of October 18th with or without notice. It's up to the board. I I have no reason that they would need to renotice. Okay. I'll make a motion to carry it till next month without without renoticing.
I'll second. All in favor? All those in favor? I. Any opposed? Okay. The eyes have it. All right. So, if anyone's here for that application, Jimmy and Barbara Levy, 250 Cliffwood Road in Oak, that that application's not being heard tonight. It's going to be carried to the October
18th meeting at 700 p.m. without any further notice. So, if you want to be part of that application, you need to be here that evening in this room on October 18th. Okay. Well, if they're changing their plans, then then then they would have to notice.
But if they don't see what happens. Yeah. So So if they do change their plans, then they would need to read. Okay. But if they don't, then there's no reason that they can do it. Okay. That's all right. And then, Mr. Chairman, before you go through the rest of the agenda, we do have uh two other
applications that are not being heard this evening. Do you want me just to do them? Sure, certainly. All right. We have uh Stephen and Joe Dwek of two Dwight Drive. That application is not being heard tonight. Also, Michael Rashen,
thank you. Rashan of 130 Roselle Avenue. Roselle Avenue is not being heard tonight. Both those applications are being carried to the December meeting, you told me. And what is the December date, Colleen? 16th. All right. So, both of those applications,
it says 18th on this page. Just double check that says 18th on the page that you had left for upstairs. Is it the 18th or the 16th? Okay. So, and that that's a third that's a Thursday, correct?
All right. So, it's being carried to the to the meeting of Thursday, December 18th at 7 p.m. in this room without any further not Well, you want notice. So, so we the recommendation is to have notice because it's such a jump for
jumping three months. So, um if the board wants to make that motion then to carry I'll make a motion to have with further notice these cases both cases carried to December 18th. I'll second. All those in favor? I any opposed? The eyes have it. Thank you. All right. So, again, you'll get new
notice in the mail. You will. But nevertheless, just in case you don't, you want to be in this room on December 18th at 7 p.m. Okay. Okay. Moving on. Resolutions be for memorial for memorialization.
We have three. Can we do them all at the same time? We can. Okay. So we have John Procisto 1319 Burch Avenue block 105 lot 12 504 Mammoth Road LLC which is 504 Mammoth Road block 65 lot 1 and Deborah
Israeli 35 Brandy Wine Road block 35.03 lot 5 [Applause] motion motion I'll second all those in favor I I I Well that's got to be a roll call.
Who wasn't here? Could we just say those that were here? No, you have to do a roll call resolution. Ryan. Yes. Yes. Okay. Administrative request. Emerald Jade LLC 519 Wildwood Road,
block 61.05, lot 11 is seeking administrative approval for a design change. This proposed the proposed cabana had two roll down doors and three skylights whereas one roll down door and four skylights are proposed.
Do we have any discussion on that? Do I have a motion for that change to be made? I'll make a motion to approve that change. I'll second. All those in favor? No, it's got to be Oh, it's got to be roll call. All right, Mr. Ashley. Yes. Mr.
Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Yes. Yes. Yes. And I'll have a resolution at the next meeting. Okay. Thank you. Uh, another administrative request, Larchwood Synagogue, 48 Lwood Avenue, Oakst, block
8.02, lots 3 and 23, seeking administrative approval for design change. The applicant is proposing to add a concrete buildout 3 ft size at the front entrance. This design change does not create any new variances. So, what do we why does this come before us?
because they're making a ch change to the plans that were approved. Okay, I'll make a motion for I'll second. Mr. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Thank you very much. Okay, moving on to old business, which will also be new business. Mr. Malik, come on up. Thank you for uh letting us talk through the
issue earlier. Yes. Glad we can take care of. Just for the record, uh this application was on at the last meeting on August 21st. At that time, uh there were board members present who were not here tonight, which has left us with only three board members who were at the last
application. in order to at the last meeting in order to make things work for this evening and not to delay anything. Um the applicants indicated that he would prefer just to start the application a new that way all the board members can hear the application. So
we're going to completely disregard anything that happened at the last board meeting. That meeting is now null and void. It doesn't exist. And we're going to start from the very very beginning. So I'm going to mark in as I always do the following exhibits. Uh, exhibit A1
will be the variance application. Exhibit A2 will be the elevation certificate. Exhibit A3 will be the flood map. Uh, exhibit A4 will be the coverage breakdown. Exhibit A5 will be the aerial photo of the property. Exhibit A6 will be a 3D rendering of the
survey. Exhibit A7 will be specs for the shed. Exhibit A8 will be the asbuilt survey. And exhibit A9 will be the pot plot plan and grading plan. Then we have as exhibit A 10 will be a series of
photographs. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. A series of nine photographs taken by the applicant of the property. So that'll be exhibit A10. We then have the following board
exhibits. Exhibit B1 will be the zoning officer's report. Exhibits exhibit B2 will be the Ford planner's report and exhibit B3 will be the Ford engineers report. Those are all the exhibits and I can swear in the the witness. Do you swear testimony? You don't have to stand. Do you swearing testimony you're going to
give this evening will be the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. Just state your name for the record. Alan Mal. All right. And you are the property owner? Yes. Thank you. Chairman, it's all yours. Okay. Good evening. Welcome back. Um Mr.
Malik, can you briefly remind us or or go over what uh reliefs you were seeking? I'm seeking one relief is by the swimming pool where it was a arched grass. It was like a circular grass. When they dug up the pool, when we put it back, we put it back on a squared
format and we were requesting a variance for that. Yep. And the other one was for the shed that's enclosing some bicycles and garbage cans. that's beneath other vitrees on the left side of the property as you enter the parking area.
Okay. Uh Bennett, can we turn to you for uh any comments you had made on this application? Yes. So, let me swear in our professionals. Do our professionals both swearing testimony they give this evening? I do.
Uh yes. So, this um the pool and shed have already been constructed. uh and applicant has indicated he's looking for approvals um for uh changing grade of greater than 2
ft. Uh and then from an engineering standpoint, uh this is in a uh flood zone. Uh so I had a question in my report about uh whether or not outside agency approvals such as approval from
the D uh would have been applicable or it was obtained. Um, and uh, there was a question about the wall being uh, greater than than two feet. I think that had refers to the change in grade uh, being greater than 2 ft. So that that's
a variance that's required. Um, again, it's already been constructed. Uh, and then there was the discussion uh, or there was a shed mentioned that is in a non-conforming location. Mr. Chairman, there are photographs of
the shed in the in what we marked in exhibit A10. Yeah. Okay. I apologize. I was looking I was just trying to find the change out the elevation um notes uh from our zoning officer. Now, Ron, I'm putting you on the spot
here. Do you have access to the report from last month? Did you see any of that? I do. Okay. And I think Mr. Higgins just kind of points out where there are hardships related to the parcel. It's an unusual parcel, but others where there are no hardships and then you know at the
bottom of his report um he does on page two he points out what the C2 variance would be. Um not sure if the applicant testified to it the last time about why basically there's two types of variances. One's a hardship. I'm going
to explain to the applicant. You may have been the last time. The other one is uh I call it the how to build a better mousetrap. Uh it's a C2. It's called the flexible C. It's like it almost is like what is and he puts he puts it here as it's if
the purposes of the municipal land use slow be advocated by deviation from the zoning ordinance, the benefits will outweigh any detriment and the variance could be granted. So it's almost a weighing here. Now, I think that uh could you address why why you have to
put the uh the shed where it's at? And we we we keep uh two recycle and two regular garbage cans in that spot. That's where that's where they're kept. So, if a shed wasn't there, in theory, would these garbage cans be outside?
They would be. They'd be exposed. And my neighbors across some Edgeir Place is a very small street that's not really used. It's only for the It's pretty much designated for the homes on that that dead end block. Okay. And my neighbor's property is directly
across from this location. So, he'd be staring at my garbage cans. He was when he found out that I was, you know, covering them. It started out as an Instagram post where they show you the those smaller covered garbage can individual ones that when you lift the
cover, it the thing goes up with it. But one thing led to another and we ended up building something not realizing that it was a variance was needed for a shed. Now you have some photos that you've submitted to the board. Yes. To show the the visibility and location. Would you like I mean if the board I
think maybe discuss with the applicant. I believe those are the eight pages. Yeah. Is looking at right now. So Mr. B. Do we all have these in the same order? Okay. Yeah. I have this picture here. So maybe you should just go go through
if you could. Sure. You want me could I get up or I can give you an exhibit and you could you could you could run through. How's that make sense? Thank you. I don't have to go back. So which uh
Oh, I missed that one. Thank you. Sure. Why don't you just walk? Why don't you walk? Yeah, sure. This is this this one you guys want to see as well. So I'm fine. You're good. So this one is standing directly in front of this edge place the street where you could see that you don't you
don't even see the shed because it's tucked in on the over underneath the overhang of the arbavita trees and this next photo. Can I stop you real quick? This is Edgemeir right here. This street right here. Uh this is the aerial. It's Edgeir
Drive and then that's Edgeir Place. So you're that picture is taken standing on this main road looking this way. Correct. Correct. This one's even on a sharper angle as well. Yep. Hunter said. And then this is as you go uh south down
Edgemeir Drive, you can see that you're starting to be able to see the shed, but barely. Mhm. And then another another image on an angle where it's not showing. And then a straight on shot in the parking area of
what the shed actually looks like. So, right across from this, my neighbor at 500 South Edge is looking at garbage cans sitting here. And then I'll keep going. This is just the interior of what's going on inside
the garbage cans and that continuation of that. And then this here where I put some bicycle racks for storage. I mean, it's just it's a irregular property with limited limited space and
that's pretty much it. And and just just for clarification, you did receive previous approvals for the pool, correct? Yes, of course. Everything was approved. The only only decision I made on my own not realizing was instead of the grass arching, we squared it off there.
Yeah. I and and I think the you know the zoning officer's report on page two item three notes the approval that the previous zoning officer approved the location of the pool with pool and patio surrounding at 5 ft. It was an error as
it was not in accordance with the zoning. So the zoning officer gave approvals. Y so and I think here and basically to clean it up it would be granting you heard the term the post facto uh you know after the
fact but in this case there was an error he in good faith built his pool there it's not like he created so it's really the shed I'm just saying you know maybe concentrate on that shed and how it works with this parcel sir when did you move into the house
20 uh 2020, October 2020, I closed them. We moved. Did the Did the sellers leave their garbage cans? They left. They had two or three. We might have got an additional recycling one. Where did they keep them? Where were they when you They were in that that spot. They were in that spot. All right. Yeah. So, you came in. That's where they keep
the garbage cans. That's where they go. real. We talked about this the previous meeting that maybe you could put them up the steps some one of the locations but you know that's challenging with filled with garbage to go down three or four steps each time the garbage is coming so it's only practical place
to leave it unless I want to put it up against where the garage is which would really be an eyesaw. Does anybody have any questions? That's the height of the ship. Um, I think it's about It's taller than me, so it's probably six feet tall, I
believe. It's nice to any questions, Mark, do anything else. Okay. Does anybody have any questions from uh the public? Okay. Anyone have any statements from the public?
Like to close the public hearing? Make a motion. I'll second. All in favor? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Okay. Eyes have it. Anyone going to make
a posit or motion for a positive resolution? Make a motion for a positive resolution. Yes. Mr. Yes. Yes. Yes. Thank you very much everybody. Thank you very much.
Have a great night. Thank you very much. There was no vote last month. Oh yeah. Otherwise Okay. New business. Uh Sam Gabby, 8 Mammoth Road, block five, lot 35,
seeking permission to retain three air conditioning condensers in their current non-compliant location in the front yard. Accessory structures must maintain a minimum front yard setback of 30 ft. Proposed setback is 27 ft from Mammoth Road. And Mr. Chairman, I have the following
exhibits. Exhibit A1 will be the application. Uh exhibit A2 will be the final asbuilt survey. And then I have the following board exhibits. Exhibit B1 will be the zoning officer's letter. Exhibit B2 will be the board planners report and exhibit B3 will be the
engineers uh letter. And if I can swear in our experts, do do our experts swearing testimony they're about to give in this application will be the truth, the whole truth about truth, self, and God? We do. And Mr. Gabby, if you just raise your hand, do you swear any testimony you're going to give will be the truth, the whole truth about the truth? I do. And just state your name for the
record. Sam. Okay. Thank you. Okay, Mr. Good. Yes. Okay. Um, could you give us an idea why you're here? What what uh relief you're looking for? Um, I put uh three air conditioning units on the side of my house. Um, they
are uh I guess non-conforming by 3 ft. The 30 foot setback line of the uh Tamoth Road. [Applause] Did you have plans to put them there that you submitted? Were they Is that where they originally intended to go or
were they approved to go somewhere else? Uh, they were approved to go somewhere else. All the gory details so we can go faster. Okay. Um, they were approved to go somewhere else behind the um the dining room window in the backyard. Um, when it came
time to kind of put them in, I said, "Why are we putting them there? Let's put them on the side of the house." because I I mean not not knowing you know all that you know stuff with the setbacks and things like that for the kids to have that in the backyard. I just didn't think that that was ideal.
Um and so my contractor said okay and we put it on the side of the house and then when we kind of went for our asbuilts that's when the uh the issue came up. Okay. Does anybody have any questions while I
look through some of this stuff? You don't have any photos. I have a live stream video that I could show you. No, we can't. We can't use that. This is tough because there's no photos, there's no plan, there's no anything
for us to say, well, that's not so bad. So, Mr. Chairman, as we know from what we just did in the last application, if the board does not feel it has enough information, you can carry this to the next meeting with instructions that the applicants come back with photographs.
What do we think? I think that's a good idea. Yeah, we need to see what it looks like. You you you deviated from the plans. You need to come back to the town to say I'm moving from point A to point B. We can't just look at this and say, you know, is
it good or not good? This in the back. In the back. May I ask one question? Of course. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So your house is or it's this is a corner lot. Correct. Correct. And you're oriented towards Month Road.
The front door is on facing Lake Avenue. It's facing Lake Avenue. So what we would consider So without getting into detail, where where did you put the air conditioners? On the side of Monro Road. On the side of Monro Road. So if this wasn't a corner lot, you know,
that's some like you said, it was a side lot, but because it's a corner lot, it's considered frontage. That's that's the whole thing. I have two front yards. Okay. I just want to clarify that. So, uh I know his address is Month Road, but he's not his house is not facing Modern Road.
Do you have any shrubbery, trees, bushes? Uh just a few more comments. Uh so to give you Sure. Um the property itself is raised from Mammoth Road itself um by maybe 10 ft.
Um, and we also put um uh not green giants, I think arbites along the side of the of the uh in front and on the side of Mammoth Road by Lake Avenue and Mammoth Road uh to potentially cover any noise that the
units are going to produce, but any noise that the units produce are going to be drowned out by cars anyways. Um, and of course, it's 10 ft above. One of the uh comments of Mr. Higgins in his report is that he recommends additional plantings wood in between them and Mammoth Road.
So I think I think the board's right. I think they're going to need to see photographs of what this looks like and I suggest that you not just take photographs of the contestants themselves but actually go to Mammoth Road, take photographs of what it looks like from the street. Okay. And since we anticipate Mr. Higgins will
be back next time, I will defer to him to ask further questions. The plan for sure. I can sympathize for you. I live on a lot very similar to this and mine are on the side but I got a little bit more space. All right. So what was the is there
anyone here from the public on this application? What's the next states again? And there's a rumor on the agenda that we carried this Mr. Chairman we just got a motion to carry to October 18. I'll make a motion. to carry the case.
No notice to the October meeting 16th. Okay. You have a second on that second. Second. And that can be an all in favor. All in favor? I. Any opposed?
All right. So, I understand there's no one here on this, but I'm going to make the announcement regardless. This application is being carried to the October 16th meeting at 700 p.m. in this room. you will not receive any further notice. Uh Mr. Gabby, I do ask that if
you're submitting new exhibits, which we're asking, you try to get those exhibits in to Nicole at least 10 days before the 16th. Sure. Okay. Um so that she has that she can distribute to the board and the board's not seeing it for the first time at that. Yes, please. Right. So just come back on the 16th.
Thank you. Thank you, board. Okay, now cooking now. All right, next case. Um, I apologize in advance and you'll you'll educate me on how to pronounce your name. Neoto
Poto 186 Delaware Avenue, block 25.09, 09 lot 11 in the R4 zone seeking permission to retain the front porch previously constructed within the front yard setback. Minimum front yard setback required is 30 ft where the existing
proposed front porch is 23.8 ft. Yes. Good evening. David David S on behalf of the Okay, Mr. Chairman, I have the following exhibits. Exhibit A1 will be the application itself. Exhibit A2 are the
front porch plans and layout. Exhibit A3 is the topographic plan and exhibit A4 will be the pool as built survey. And then we have the following board exhibits. B1 will be the zoning officers report. B2 will be the board planner's report and B3 will be the board
engineers report. And let me just swear in uh the board's professionals to the board's professionals swear that any testimony this evening will be the truth of God. Thank you. Mr. You just want to tell us or
Okay. Um we're here for uh a variance on pre-existing non-conforming uh house. It's a small ranch house. It's 152 square ft approximately. Um it's a single family. Uh Mr. Potto was the prior owner and the contractor. Uh he
was doing some uh primarily interior renovations at Milby Pool. Uh exterior renovations were uh simply cosmetic. Uh during the construction, the there was a front stairway, just a small stairway
straight up to the front door. Uh it was dilapidated. It need repairs. Uh and they thought it was okay to extend the extend the stairway uh alongside of it into a into a small
front porch. Um, the front porch is now 18 It's It's already been built. It's uh 18 feet 6 in long by 6 in uh by 6 in, excuse me, 6 feet uh deep. Uh it's an
uncovered front deck. Um and really just seeking to uh seeking for approval for what's what's already been built. um the testimony you'll hear is that you know was not uh didn't realize that he was going to be in violation of the uh of the setback
ordinance. He didn't go he didn't come any further out. He just went along alongside where where the stairway already existed. You want to swear in uh Mr. Poto, do you swear any testimony you're about to give will be the truth but the truth? I do.
Thank you. I'll I'll up the any questions for Mr. Joe that way. I think it's pretty straightforward. The old patio or steps concrete. What explain? No, they were uh it was wood totally
rotted out. Um the first actually was stair was you couldn't even step on it. It was really dangerous to walk on. So there was like a about 5ft landing and then a few steps. So what we did was obviously replace the steps and then just go along the side and then put railing around it to keep it safe. wood
tracks would uh yeah we went with composite composite material was the p I'm sorry the porch was replaced also you said or so the front landing had to be replaced as well on the forge we not the porch not the porch itself there was no porch so it was a it was a
5ft square landing with stairs and we just extended it over so it looks a lot nicer now oh yeah and uh you know I live in the area as well couple blocks over I have a front porch We sit out there all the time. So, I just felt that it would be a little
bit more neighborly friendly sitting out front, being able to, you know, bring a little more uh liveless into the neighborhood. Any questions? Ron, I know Mr. Higgins was here. He
would say something along the lines of the uh the master plan now takes into account front porches as being a benefit to houses even if they get a little bit closer than the 30 ft. So do you want to say that on behalf of Mr.
I concur. He wrote it. Um I think in in the end you know just I just went through a case like this. Uh I I do part-time zoning officer duties today. If he would have kept in theory kept it the same, it would have been probably declared not an expansion of a
pre-existing nonconformity. But what he did is he expanded it. I understand your testimony. You didn't go any closer to the street. You just you just went sideways. Exactly. So that's what's triggering it. He's expanding that non-conforming condition. And now he's had testimony about, you
know, it looks bad. I think Mr. I think it points out in the master plan that these type of front porches are encouraged. I think the applicant must have read it because all kidding aside, front porches are are eyes on the street and you know people could sit out there
and just you namely, you know, I think it's a it's a it's a benefit. I think that's what Mr. Higgins was alluding to. Thank you. And I don't have any engineering concerns. Okay. Any questions from the public? Any comments the public would like to
make on this application? Have a motion to close the public hearing, please. Make a motion to close. Second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? The eyes have it. We have a motion for a positive resolution. A motion for positive resolution.
Second. Yes. Mr. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Congratulations. Thank you very much. Have a good night.
Take care. Okay. Our last item on the agenda. Take a sip before I read this one. Two Texas Avenue LLC, 219 Lewis Street, block 17, lots 26 and 44 in the R4 zone.
Seeking permission to convert an existing commercial style building to a single family residential structure. Construction of a second floor edition, twotory front edition, covered front and rear porches, as well as construction of an inground pool and pool equipment in
the rear yard. Minimum lot size required is 10,000 ft where 9,725 square feet is existing. Minimum lot width required is 90 ft where 35 ft is existing and 35 ft is proposed. Minimum
sideyard setback required is 10 feet where 23 feet on one side and 9.94 feet on the other existing or existing and 23 feet on one side and 7.5 ft on the other side being proposed.
Minimum both side yard setbacks required is 25 ft where 10.17 feet exist and 7.73 feet is proposed. Minimum yard rear yard setback required is 30 feet where 11.61 ft exists and
10.2 feet is proposed. Maximum building coverage permitted is 25% of the total lot area where 31.58 is proposed. Accessory structures must maintain a 10 foot 10- foot side and rear yard setbacks. The proposed plan
has a zero sideyard setback to both sides of the pool surround. 6 feet yards six foot yard set back to the pool water's edge. Three foot yard set back to the pool equipment pad. One foot sideyard set back to the generator. 5T
and 9 ft sideyard setbacks to the roof mounted AC condensers. 2.5 yard foot rear yard setback to pool surround. and 2.5 foot rear yard setback to the pool
equipment pad. Attorney for the applicant is Mr. Jeffrey Donner. Good evening, sir. Good evening, Mr. Chairman, and good evening, members of the board. I'm Jeffrey Donner. I'm here to represent to Texas AB LLC, the owner and applicant of
219 Lewis Street, also known as block 17, lots 26 and 44. Our application and I think I should start with this is seeking to gain certain variances so we can take a pre-existing non-conforming
industrial commercial use in the R4 residential zone and do away with it and replace it with a single family residence which is permitted use in the zone. Uh the property, as you will see from the testimony we'll present, is
highly irregularly shaped. It's 225 feet deep, maybe 225.5 ft deep. And at one point, uh towards the street, it's only 35 ft wide, although it widens up at the as you go back in the property. Uh most
of the variances that we're seeking reflect existing conditions. Uh the uh the property was first developed in 1908. Uh it was used until I guess relatively recently as a uh facility to
make cabinetry uh you know in a residential zone. Uh the placement of the building is what causes the sideyard setback difficulties. Uh the lot itself is uh 275 ft shy of the 10,000 square f
foot uh requirement for the R4 zone. But that's the lot that we have. Although we are improving it by seeking to uh consolidate the rear lot, a small and also non-conforming rear lot, lot 44 with the main lot, lot 26, which gets us
to the 9,725 square ft. We're going to present tonight two experts as witnesses for the application. One is seated to my right, Walter Joseph Hopkins, PE, and one is seated in the uh
uh audience at the moment, Edward O'Neal, our architect. And uh with that, I'll cease my introduction. I think we said enough. And I'll let Mr. Lex proceed. Yes. So let me swear in our professionals to our professional swearing testimony if they give this
evening will be the whole but and I'll mark in the following exhibits. Exhibit A1 will be the variance application. Exhibit A2 will be the preliminary storm water management area evaluation. Exhibit A3 will be the drainage report. Exhibit A4 will be the
clock plan. Exhibit A5 will be the architectural plan. Then I have the following exhibits on behalf of the board. Exhibit B1 will be the zoning officer's report. Exhibit B2 will be the board planners report and exhibit B3 will be the board engineers report.
Those are all the exhibits that I have. Just a question. What's on the property right now? I believe it's a uh a vacant building and uh we'll be talking about that. I left out the fact that we are looking to expand the building. uh move it out a
little closer to the street, add a second floor, covered porches in the rear and the front, and also add a swimming pool, small swimming pool at the rear of the property. By the way, although Jerome Avenue backs up to lot 44, uh we're not seeking any access to
Jerome Avenue. All of the access will be to lose to Lewis Street, which is our front yard. And Mr. Honor, if a board does approve the application, you'll agree to go back to solvation, I imagine. Yes, absolutely. Proceed,
Mr. H. Yes, please. Do you swear testimony you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, but the truth of God? Yes, I do. And uh just state your name for the record. Walter Hopkin. And you are a licensed professional engineer in the state of Jersey. And your license in good standing? Yes, it is. That's all we require.
Okay. Thank you. Uh let me let me ask a couple of questions. Okay. M Mr. Hopkins, you do have familiarity with the property because you're a professional engineer involved in this project. Is that so? Yes. It's around the corner from my office also.
Based upon your familiarity and your involvement in the project, can you go through and give us the uh the details about the property? I think you have an aerial view of the property. you might describe that to begin with. Sure. I have a an aerial uh a rendering
of the of the site plan that was submitted to the board with a a u it's color rendered version with an aerial photography overlaid. Um the date of that plan is 82825. I do have smaller is exhibit A6. I do have smaller versions if it would
be easier for the board to see it. Great. Thank you. I think we should mark it as A6. Yes, sir. Thank you. Thank you very much. [Applause] So, yes, the the as Mr. Donner
indicated, it's a 9,725 ft parcel. Uh, two lots on the east side of Lewis, also known uh as a street address of 219 Lewis, block 17, lots 26 and 44. Uh the the parcels located in
your R4 zone. The surrounding properties, as you can see from the aerial um are single family residential uh in comformance with your with your ordinance. Uh there's an existing one-story commercial building with a long gravel driveway. We call it like a
shotgun lot. It only has 35 ft of frontage along Lewis, then expands in the rear. Uh the driveway is at least 100 ft and there's a like a gravel parking area that I guess was used in the commercial use previously. Uh that's what's there existing. Um
what's proposed uh again is to bring the the building into conformance with the surrounding uses as far as the permitted use. Consolidate the lots into one. Uh remove approximately 2200 square ft of the gravel driveway and parking area.
This will result in a slight incre decrease, excuse me, an imperous area with a combination of the the decrease in gravel, which your ordinance considers impervious and the various other improvements that were proposing. So, we kind of tried to balance that as
far as coverage. Um, there's a second story addition over the existing building and then there's a twostory uh expansion out towards Lewis Street that you'll see on the on the rendering. uh the existing building is is the
photograph and then the the addition is the we'll call it maybe a a brown or or orange depending on which version you're looking at. So that's a two-story extension. And to mitigate any increase in impervious even though we're we're balancing it, we did propose um because
I know how sensitive the the township is to drainage, proposed a roof leader recharge uh for the extension in the front. In the rear is a is a small pool, a 24 uh x 12t pool surrounded by pvious pavers to encourage water infiltration.
And in addition to that, we also have a recharge system back there to mitigate any additional runoff um to adjacent properties. Um from an engineering standpoint, that's really the bulk or really the substance of our uh application and and proposal. There's
several nonconformities uh that the the architect who is also the planner on this project will will go over uh and Mr. Donner kind of touched on them briefly. I'm available. Mr. Mr. Matlac had no issues in his letter, but I'm here to answer any questions or
anything that the board or the professionals would like. Before we open it to to the board, I'd like to just cover a couple of additional things with Mr. Hopkins. Um, I know you've talked about the drainage. Uh, in terms of the uh drainage coming
down from the roof, how's that handled with the with the roof leaders? It it goes into a roof leader recharge system. Okay. And I believe there was at one time some discussion from Mr. Matlac about a recharge trench at the rear of the property to prevent water in the
surround of the swimming pool from going onto a neighboring property. Has that been addressed? Yes, that was added. All right. And the uh drainage report that you have uh does that report conclude and support the fact that the storm water drainage that
would be visiting the property would be handled and not pose any kind of difficulty to any of the surrounding properties. That's correct. Okay. Now, there was also some discussion about uh seasonal high water mark and I believe you have the Whitehead report that uh you provided.
Uh does that show a seasonal high water mark substantially lower than the bottom of water proposed pool is going to be? Uh we we didn't compare it to the pool. I think Mr. Matlac had a previous comment about just identifying the seasonal high water table as it uh
relates to the storm water recharge systems to make sure that they function properly. I believe we provided information which addressed that concern. Okay. I believe that's all the questions I have of uh of Mr. Hopkins. Uh,
so the board has questions. Anyone have any questions? Engineering. I got the boring stuff. I'll add that there were a few iterations of this plan. Uh, we did a few review letters and uh, I agree with the testimony that that my previous
comments were addressed, some changes were made to the plans and I don't have any other engineering concerns. Okay. questions. Ron, do you want to jump in? I think I want to wait for the the planner. Okay. I kind of feel Keep it all in once and if the engineer
needs to come back, we'll do that. Is that okay with you, Don? Uh, that's all the questions I have for Mr. Hopkins. If the board has no questions and I guess we're doing questions from the public later, I would open it. Yeah. Yeah, if we could. Does anybody have any questions um on what Mr.
Hopkins just testified to? And again, this is engineering questions. These are engineering questions. There'll be a public comment later on about the call application. I just want to confirm. Sure. You can come on up. Get you up here. Could you give her that mic?
You in your name and address. I'm going to swear you in. Okay. Do you swear your testimony you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. And just state your name for the record. Dorothy Goodrich. You just spell the last name.
G O O D R I C H. Your address, Miss Good. 221 Lewis Street. Ours. Thank you. Go ahead. And where are you? Where are you in conjunction with this property? Right next door there. Just so the whole this house.
No, the other house. Yes. So everybody sees it's the home without the pool. Without the pool. Yeah. To the right. If you're Yes. If you're looking at Jeff's you can see ours to the right. Okay. My I just had a quick question was and
it sounds like you the concerns about the draining drainage have all been addressed. Is that correct? Everything all because that was one our engineers indicated that he's satisfied that been addressed. Okay, because I had looked at
some of the earlier reports and there were some issues that were raised, but it sounds like all that's okay now. That was why I was just going to ask for my seat. Mr. Matlac did a good job of making sure that we we had bel suspenders on this one. So, we we have addressed so the roof leaders the the gutters come down,
right? And then they go into the ground um so it doesn't spill off and then it goes into pipes and then it percolates into the ground. So there'll be no runoff and we're reducing about two just over 2,000 square feet of that gravel parking area
that was in the front. Okay, that was the only question I have right now. Thank you, Mr. Hog. On that on that point, could you show us on that map where the the water from the roof will begin percolating to the ground?
Try to do it so everybody can see. So these the roof leaders along here will be piped to the grass areas in the front and then it'll go directly into the ground. So within the width of the driveway, uh it'll it'll be in the grass area
between the addition and the driveway. My point is it's not going to be 2 feet off of the property line. It's going to be No, sir. Okay. And then the backyard, where's the the backside? Where's that water going? So, the backyard underneath of the um of
the PA area, there's a uh again, Mr. Matlac does a pretty good job of making sure there's a there's a whole model that we do of the groundwater and what the impacts would be to the neighbors. So, we've gone through that those calculations with Mr. Matlac to to prove
to him that it won't affect any of the neighboring properties either above ground or below ground. Thank you. Hello. Do I need to be swear in? Can you swear? Swear testimony you're about to give will be the truth of all truth only God. I do.
Just state your name for the record. J Schlman. S H T T S H T T U L M A N. And your address? 400 Jerome. Thank you. Go ahead. I also own 401.
Okay. So, so you you live at 400, but you own correct 401. Correct. So, I just want to make sure I understand because this photograph conveniently leaves out Jerome Avenue. So, this is the property line which is
how how many feet off of Jerome Avenue and its narrowest point? Is it 10T? I'm not sure I understand the question. And its narrowest What is the closest this how close is the is is the property line
to Jerome May I note I think that our architect who's also our planner is going to specifically cover that I don't think Mr. Hopkins to address that. I don't think he has that information necessarily, but we will get to it with our next witness.
Do you Okay. Is it I believe it's 10 ft. I'm not testifying. I I need a witness to Well, I think it's in the submissions. Yeah. So So when this works that this witness doesn't know the answer to that question, but their next witness will. So you're So you're saying that u this
is the existing building. So all of the runoff you're saying is piped going into the ground and running towards Lewis. Is that what's being So the the roof leaders from the addition are being piped to and the rest
of them are being piped to a two separate um systems that are between the addition and the driveway and the grass area where I pointed to previously. I can come back up there and show you again if you'd like. I think he's also asking it is the roof
leaders from the existing structure also being piped that way. Yes. Yes, they are. Okay. So, be in this area. Okay. And do they run do you know if it from this point it just percolates. It doesn't run towards Lewis. Is it
It's an underground pipe. So, it goes into it goes from the pipes from the roofs down into the ground and there it stays. They're they don't they're not conveyed. They're meant to go into the ground to percolate into the ground. And do you know are there any inlets on
Lewis sewer inlets? Uh I don't know. I don't know. You don't know? I don't. I think that's rather significant if we know what was the question. If there are uh I don't know what they're called specifically right inland storm drains storm drains on on Lewis
Avenue in proximation to the property there's a drainage structure in front of the house next door on the top of the page. Oh this way. Yeah. Okay. Sort of about where that that I think that's a car parked there. Okay. And this was this question this
question now is limited to engineering. You said to whatever he testified to. Okay. So, um, so what is dropping a pool in this area which is you can't see it because it's
omitted. Uh, so approximate to to Jerome. Um, I guess from an engineering standpoint and a runoff standpoint. Um, don't is there a concern or I have a concern um
about Jerome this area of Jerome Avenue which is a dead end street becoming flooded. So I I there's a the um so the pavers around the pool are pvious. So they're they're designed so that again the water
is not meant to run off. It's supposed to go into the ground. Um, Mr. Matlac wanted some additional assurances of that. So, we did add two inlets between the pool and Jerome which are meant to collect any runoff that doesn't get
captured by the pvious pavers and again direct those into the ground. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions for this witness? Okay. Next question. I'll excuse Mr. Hopkins and I'll call
Mr. Edward O'Neal who is our architect and planner. Just going to move. Thank you. One out of the way. Do you swear any testimony you're about to give to all truth?
Edward William Edward William O'Neal Jr. And you are a licensed architect state of New Jersey. Yes. And a licensed planner also. And you're testifying in both capacities this evening? Yes, I am. Okay, great. And both licenses are in good standing. Yes, they are.
Mr. O'Neal, have you been qualified before this board in the past? We don't need those. Okay, we're good. Okay. Thank you. Uh Mr. Neil, uh you are the project architect on this application.
Yes. In that capacity, uh were you involved in the preparation of the architectural plans that have been presented? Yes. Could you give us an overview of what the plans are showing and what we are
proposing to do with the property? Certainly. Um, as was previously stated, we're looking to take an existing non-conforming building and make it into a conforming use, which would be a detached single family residence and the
medium density R4 single family residential zone. So, we would eliminate the non-conforming use. Um, we were also, if I can Whoa. This area here is the existing first floor of the
building. That's the old cabinet shop industrial use. And Mr. O'Neal, you're referring to what? Uh so that we have for the trans uh this is sheet C 100 of your of your architectural plans that the board has. Yes. Dated February 21st, 2025.
Revised through June 10th, 2025. Yes. Okay. So that's exhibit A5. Yes. So this area here is um 240 square ft.
What we are proposing is to remove 9 ft of the back of the building but to maintain the roof to act as a covered area to the pool. Uh realizing that the pool is required by my client for health reasons.
This then would be the twostory addition to the building and that is um 600 square ft on the first floor and it's a twostory area which contains a master bedroom suite um and some other bedrooms
on the second floor and that is um a total of 1,192 square ft which also includes the finishing of the existing attic. and the addition of two bathrooms.
Now, since the application, we are going to amend the plan because Mr. Matut's grandchildren no longer will be coming to visit on long-term relationships, which is what these were.
So this bedroom which I believe is bedroom number three will be kept as unfinished attic space. This area which is bedroom four will become an exercise area. Again um Mr. Matude has a exercise regimen he must
maintain and we will eliminate one of the two bathrooms. So that will reduce the size of the house by 610 square ft. Hold on. Wait a minute. So, so you're completely changing this application? No, we're we're basically changing the
we're eliminating uh this bedroom, but not the square footage of it that it'll be unfinished attic. And this, which is the same size, are you going to do a deed restriction that that's never going to become a bedroom? I I think the request for the deed restriction that the property would
never be used as anything but a single family residence. I think we're willing to do that deed restriction. Well, but that's a useless deed restriction. Um because because you're not allowed to do anything but a single family home. The the the question is you're offering us today that you're that you're eliminating a bedroom.
You're obviously doing that for a reason. But then you're sitting here saying, "Well, yeah, but we might change your mind later on and we wouldn't have to come back to the board." Well, so you have it both ways. either either either Telus is going to be a bedroom and potentially could be a bedroom in the future because his grandchildren decide they're going to be coming back
to the house again or they just they're never ever coming to the house ever again. So, we don't need this bedroom in which case Steve restricted the fact that it isn't going to be a bedroom. I I would like Mr. Matut to testify his thinking on that so you understand the evolution. Okay, it's not it's not nearly as mysterious and it's certainly
not nefarious. We we will in fact explain what his thinking has been and uh and I know there was some concerns along the way by Mr. Higgins as to whether it might be some kind of multifamily use because of the size of the bedroom and the and the size of the
driveway. We've reduced the size of the driveway substantially. The intent here is not to leave this open for some type of multifamily use. But Mr. Matut really should testify to that because I'm not a witness to that. And that's fine, Mr. Donn. The concern is you're eliminating a bedroom, which
is going to change things about the application. It's going to change the RSIs. It's going to change uh the way the board looks at the application. But if you're basically telling us that you're reserving the right to ultimately make it a bedroom again, it's sort of a meaningless offer that you're removing
it as a bedroom. There obviously were concerns about it being an extra bedroom from a planning perspective, which were addressed. And you're obviously acknowledging that by coming in here and saying, "Hey, this isn't going to be a bedroom. That one's not going to be a bedroom. That one's going to be a gym. This is going to be a vacant space. But then at the same breath, you're you're you're basically saying, and I know
you're not testifying. You're the attorney. I get it. But at the in the same breath, you're saying, "Yeah, but we might go back and might make it a bedroom. We might we might make them both bedrooms in the future." Reserving that, right? Right. I'd like to have after Mr. O'Neal, Mr. Mat get up here, answer those questions, and tell you what he's
prepared to do to meet your concerns. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Um, let's see. Where was I? Oh, so that totals that there's 2,190 square ft of existing, 1,792 square feet proposed. There is no attic,
additional attic, and there is no basement to the building. Um, so therefore, size becomes, ground floor size becomes an issue because there's no extra space for those things. There's also no no garage, no detached garage.
But bedroom four is going to be out of space. Yes. Now you have attic space. Well, it exists. There's no new attic space is what I said. Okay. The way that the the way that the
cabinet shop worked is that the way cabinets and wood is done is that when the cabinets are cut, all the sawdust is actually blown up into the attic and stored. Then it's emptied periodically. And so that if you go up there, even
now, years later, there is still sawdust all over the place. So we're just we were just proposing at one point to renovate that by putting up pretty much sheetrock and doors. Um but we Mr. Matude has had to change based on
change in his family dynamic not to do that. So he's just going to leave it be. May I ask a question? Certainly. I'm I'm a simple planner, so I'm a little confused there. Um the drawing that you show the exhibit there that Yeah.
What is the original part of the building? What's the new this line right here? Let's let's take a look upstairs. Take a look at upstairs there. Is that the is that small box the original part of the building? This exists. That exists. The narrow portion of
does not. Okay. So the narrow portion including the bathrooms. No. Sorry. And these two. My my mistake. Those are new. Those are new. But are those going away? One we're proposing now one would go away and if we were fortunate enough to
be approved, we would submit that as a change document. So is that attic space then? The second one. Are you keeping them? No, it would be a bathroom to service the exercise room. Okay. The the one you're eliminating, are you still building on that square footage? No.
So you're going to have that bump in? Well, it bumps out. So, it'll be flush with what's there now. So, this would go away. The other bathroom will bump out. This would honestly I might shift it to center it. Okay, that's what I was asking. So, one
side's going to bump out. But there's also I have a fundamental we're changing that is changing so much in front of us. I believe a new application needs to be Yeah. We need to see what the final plans are. We can't sit here and be like, we're doing this, we might do
this, we might shift this, we might do that. I mean, we need to know what is being proposed. This is a completely different application than what was originally submitted to us. I understand that sometimes you make at the hearing changes to an application. You might say, "Yeah, okay, we decided we'll put a
window here or whatever." you know, they're they're minor changes that are made out of hearing, but these are major changes that you're talking about and and honestly, it could impact your proofs for your variances. That's why I was asking what's new and what's so if you're losing some space, you don't need
it, but why do you need that big expansion in the front? So, I would say, isn't there a bathroom up there as well? Where is right off the exercise room? You go up to the left. There's already a bathroom up there, right? You go up. No, he's No, no, no, no, no, no, no. It It is
unfinished attic. No, I'm sorry. The new part of the plan. Okay. Right. Right there. That's a bathroom right there. Right on the top left. Yes. Right. So, you're you're going to put a bathroom there and a bathroom in the exercise room. Yes. These are guest bedrooms.
Yeah. My sincere suggestion is that figure out what it is you want to do your your client. Figure out what he wants to do. come back with final plans as to what you're actually asking this for to consider because right now this is a mess. And I'm not blaming you, Mr. O'Neal,
because you probably just found out tonight or or or or the other day. Obviously, not enough time to revise your plan. So, I'm not blaming you. But, uh and I'm not blaming the applicant either. His life circumstances changed, whatever. But come back with a plan that shows you what you're actually asking
for approval for. Well, I I think it's been testified that we're looking for a storage area and a workout area. Yeah, but this application, but Mr. Donner, this application's not been re has not been reviewed by our professionals for what you are now proposing. It's a completely different
application and and as Ron just said, it may it may implicate the proofs. What do you need all this extra space for in the front of the building that you're adding this new space? If now you have all this back space that now you can utilize, maybe you don't need bedrooms two, one,
and whatever because you because now you have bedroom four that could be developed as a bedroom. If I but if I could say that that let me if you don't mind, let me let me say something. The way this is going, right, I think you could continue and have a negative outcome or we could suspend this for a
month and you guys can come back with some additional thoughts. Well, if we suspend it, we'll have to be for two months because I won't be Okay, that's fine. M I I think I think Mark's trying to help you rather than go on and and uh I don't I don't view his comments and
being or even adversarial. Yeah, we're just trying to clarify, but maybe it's a good suggestion. Okay. I thought that we might be able to clear it up with Mr. Matut's testimony. And frankly, I didn't view the change from a bedroom to the uses we're talking about
now as that dynamic in terms of the rest of the property, but I could be wrong. So, we should make up our mind as what we're going to do and and presented in a uh consistent fashion, right? I mean, and again, Mr. O'Neal is even saying by I may do this, I may do
that. It's like that's not good. So, and I don't mean that again. I don't mean that in a negative way. It's just we need to know can't use the word may. Yes. We need to know what it is that you are proposing. Well, it's going to be on the drawings, so there's not going to be any questions. Okay. All right. So, it looks like we're
going to have an early night in this application. I do appreciate that. So, you're looking for November then. Is that what you're saying? I'm not going to be here. Could you tell me the date in November? Yeah, we're checking that because I don't even know what it is
as to carrying it. Well, as for what's been discussed so far, no, I mean, you can if if you want, Mr. Chairman, it's up to the board. No, just wait. Okay. So, so the sense I'm get the sense I'm getting is since we don't even know what's actually being proposed. Yeah, he didn't even finish his testimony.
Yeah. So, so wait and and come back. Yeah, he didn't finish his testimony. So, we didn't even ask any questions. Yeah. That's my son's birthday. You coming, Ron? Well, I would expect Jim is going to be here, but maybe I will be.
Bring your son. We'll sing. Bring a cake, too. 17 years old. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, members of the board. We'll be back. All right. So what's going to happen everyone is this application is going to
be carried to the November 10th what November 10 at I thought it was chang I was trying to change from November the second time what were you trying to change it There was um Did I ignore the request?
Yeah. So, so I think you're you're right. We did have this conversation. It's not the 17th, but um it was the week of Thanksgiving, Monday the 24th, which also would be because you have the planning board on for that night also.
board members. What was there a possibility of the board being available on November 24th, which is Monday, November 24th? It is the week of Thanksgiving. I'm good. I'm okay. Y Mr. O'Neal, are you both? Yes. Good. Okay.
So, Monday, November 24th. So, it's 24th now. Yeah. Monday, November 24th instead of the 10th instead of the 10th. Instead of the 10th. So, so again, we'll make the we'll make the announcement that this application is being carried to the night of Monday, November 24th at
7 pm. You will not receive any further notice. You need to be in this room at that time. I will tell the public that any new plans that are revised need to be in the office of the uh of the of the board by at least 10 days in advance. They
will be there. So if you want to see the plants, you can make an you can call the board secretary, come on in and see those plans, but they have to be in a little so that you can have the professional review. I know. We we can we can request that, but
so that the professionals can review it and we're not getting reports. You want it earlier than 10 days? if you could. Well, it's highly recommended because if we if these reviews need to be redone, it's for your benefit as well as the
board's benefit to be able to have have we're ready November 9th or so, 15 days. We'll just get them done as soon as we Yeah. Again, you have two months. So, we'll get them done as soon, but they will be in at least 10 days in advance. That's that's the so the public knows that's the legal requirement.
And is that a 7:30 start because it's a Monday? 7 o'clock, right? I mean the 7:15 caucus 7:30 start. Okay. So we're basically taking the planning board spot. So it'll be it'll be 7 o'clock that night. 6:45. 6:45 is 7 o'clock. Okay. Yes.
All right. So the public needs to be here so there is no confusion. 7 o'clock on November Monday, November 24th in this room. Thank you. Okay. Have a good night. We have a motion to adjurnn. Make a motion to adjurnn.
Second. All in favor? I. Thank you. Give me my pizza.