WEBVTT

METADATA
Video-Count: 1
Video-1: youtube.com/watch?v=vYJh02Hmx_Y

NOTE
MEETING SECTIONS:

Part 1 (Video ID: vYJh02Hmx_Y):
- 00:00:05: Meeting Called to Order and Pledge of Allegiance
- 00:01:07: Application Adjourned and First Variance Hearing Begins
- 00:01:37: Elimanco Addition Variance Presentation and Discussion
- 00:04:16: Public Comment and Vote on Elimanco Application
- 00:04:48: Thompson Air Conditioner Variance Review and Discussion
- 00:06:23: Public Comment and Vote on Thompson Application
- 00:07:28: Acmy Truck Parking Extension Request and Discussion
- 00:09:14: Public Comment and Vote on Acmy Extension Request
- 00:10:07: Snack Innovations Temporary Use Application Overview
- 00:13:21: Isaac Ben Zaken Testifies on Snack Innovations Operations
- 00:16:34: Board Clarification Questions for Snack Innovations
- 00:19:14: Alison Coffin, Planner, Explains Snack Innovations Variance
- 00:22:25: Public Comment and Vote on Snack Innovations Application
- 00:23:27: Adoption of Prior Meeting Resolutions & Meeting Adjournment


Part: 1

1
00:00:05.038 --> 00:00:36.603
Well, please come to order. Adequate notice of this meeting
was provided in the following ways. Notice published in the Courier News. Notice posted on the bulletin board
in the municipal building. Notice made available to the township
clerk. Notice sent to the Courier News
and the Star-Ledger. Will the clerk please call the roll? Mr. Tillery here. Mr. O'Reggio All right. Oh, boy. He was right at home that I saw him.

2
00:00:36.703 --> 00:01:07.133
Mr. Mitterando Mr. Ali. Yeah. Mr. Weisman. Here and Chairman Cahill. Here Well, everyone,
please stand for a salute to the flag. I know I pledge Allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America, to the republic
for which this nation, under God, indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Kinneally, Do we have any changes to t
agenda? Yes, we do.

3
00:01:07.133 --> 00:01:37.697
The application of Akshay Kumar Raj
six Joyce Drive will not be heard tonight. It will be adjourned until May 14th, with no further notice
 the application of N.D.K. Realty. South Washington
Avenue is not going to be heard tonight. It will be rescheduled for May 28th
with no further notice. Thank you. Appreciate that. Thank you. Let's move on to item
number six. 26 Dash ZB, Dash 12 V and Edniel Elimanco You're recording in progress. I need to swear you in what?

4
00:01:37.697 --> 00:02:11.397
Could you raise your right hand? Do you swear the testimony
you're about to give should be the truth? I do. Could you explain to the board
why you're here? Please apply for variance
in order to build an addition to my house. In order to have a growing family,
I just need more room, more space. And Mr.. He has a report? Yes. Jonathan, would you jump in here? Yes. Have you. Mr. Elimanco have you read the report dated
April 16th, 2026? Yes.

5
00:02:11.464 --> 00:02:42.061
Have you made any consideration
to reducing the size of that front porch
to lessen the relief requested? Yes. What are what are you willing to do? Well, whatever. Whatever the amount that you're looking
to get to reduce that. You say, John, six inches. Yeah, we can do it. We can discuss that. Okay. And you're open to you're open to the
the porch remaining open if it's approved. Correct. Okay.

6
00:02:42.061 --> 00:03:12.292
And the deck in the rear yard. What's the condition of the deck? It's. It's in good condition. The the as I told you yesterday,
the deck was replaced from original wood
to like a truck decking to like a plastic wood. So. Okay. Yeah. So we expect the are a couple many good years of that
that deck in good condition.

7
00:03:12.392 --> 00:03:45.391
Yes. Okay. And you are amenable to a five foot
temporary easement along Salem Street if and when the town elects to do a road improvement,
including a sidewalk construction. Yes. Okay. The staff is staff is open
to the approval of the application. If the board wants to
see a minor reduction in the porch, that's that. That would be fine. Really. It's just the covered the roof portion
that's an issue here.

8
00:03:45.391 --> 00:04:16.356
If there was no roof,
this would be compliant. It's a four and a half foot deep covered area and it's encroaching. Three and a half feet into the front yard. Setback. So your recommendation is 31
and a half feet. 31 and a half feet is
what's being proposed. If it remains if it remains open,
it's it's not a big concern to me. Okay. Any other members have questions
or comments about this hearing? None.

9
00:04:16.356 --> 00:04:48.021
I'm going to open it to the public. Anyone in the public have any questions
or comments about this application? No one, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Laura. Closed
the public portion. I'd make a motion
to approve this application. Can I get a second? I'll second it. Please call the roll. Mr.. Mr. Weisman? Yes. Yes. Tillary! Yes, Mr. O’Reggio. Oh, right. He's not here. Mr. Blount is here. Mr. Blount. Yes, Mr. Mitterando? Yes, Mr. Ali.

10
00:04:48.021 --> 00:05:20.586
Yes. And Chairman Cahill. Yes. Your application has been approved. Will memorialize it in a written document at our next meeting,
and we'll send that document to you. Good luck. Thank you. Board members. Goodnight, sir. Let's move on to item seven 
26 dash Z.B. dash 09 V Michael and Aldora. Thompson, Michael and Aldora. Thompson, Present. Can you please? Yes. Yes. Okay. You were sworn in at the last meeting. You remain sworn in to tell the truth. Yes. Yes, yes.

11
00:05:20.586 --> 00:05:51.651
I can discuss this with your contractor
and Mr. Mizrahi. Yeah. Jonathan, why don't you jump in
and see what you think we resolve this? Yes, we. We spoke with. I spoke with the applicant, their builder. They both provided documentation
from the manufacturer of the wall system building system, showing
that a wall mounted bracket is feasible. So we are in support of the applicant
moving forward with moving the air condensers
onto the wall

12
00:05:51.684 --> 00:06:23.116
using such a bracket. Michael and Aldora, that's. It's good with you, right? Yes. Yes. And we're so we're still going to require
the fence to be moved out of the right away, as well as a memorandum
of restriction to be recorded with respect
to accessing the easement areas that we discussed
at the last meeting. Yes. And we already moved the fence. So we'll just
just have to look at it at once. So you do have to get a permit
after you get your resolution. We have the permit  already.

13
00:06:23.116 --> 00:06:56.649
You had to have a permit
to be in the right location. You'd have to get just a zoning permit
just for that fence. That was the issue. You didn't have
a zoning permit for the fence. We can we can square. We could square it after the, okay. Yeah. No, we didn’t know we had to have a Okay, that's.
That's fine. That's why we're here. Any other members have any questions
or comments about this application? And I'm going to open this to the public. Anyone in the public have any questions
or comments about this application? No one chairman. Okay. Closed the public portion. I'd make a motion
to approve this application in a second.

14
00:06:56.716 --> 00:07:28.247
I'll second. Please call the roll. Mr. Weisman. Yes, Mr. Tillery? Yes. Mr. Blount? Yes, Mr. Mitterando Yes. Mr. Ali. Yes. And Chairman Cahill. Yes. Our application as amended,
has been approved. We'll memorialize this
in a written document at our next meeting,
and we'll send that document to you. Good luck. Okay? Thank you. Thank you. Michael. Feel better? Okay. Oh, thank you. I appreciate you. God bless,Thank you. Let's move on to item number nine,
which is 26 Dash ZB.

15
00:07:28.281 --> 00:08:01.814
Dash ten V, I want to say Acmy
as it seems seem like I think it's Acmy. I think you're right to ask me. Well, we'll do Acmy. Hello. Good evening. Members of the board. Board professionals.
My name is Tim Arch. I'm an attorney licensed
in the state of New Jersey. I'm here representing Acmy,
although it's actually called A C M Y. I just. You're going to go. But in any event, we're here
for an extension of a six month temporary use permit. If you recall,
this is a warehouse property. You granted us
the ability to store or park

16
00:08:01.914 --> 00:08:33.179
in 20 delineated
spaces in the back of the warehouse trucks for a third party. And you would be able to do what you do. You would be able to do that
normally if they were associated with the warehouse business. The only thing that was different
was that these were third parties that were not associated
with the primary warehouse business. So we're here, quite frankly, we haven't
actually put a truck back there yet. We did the striping all of the
all the lighting that was required

17
00:08:33.179 --> 00:09:03.543
was put there, I believe, as part
of the application of the extension. We provided pictures to show that
the striping and the lighting is there. So we're just asking to extend that
for another six months to have the option to utilize that. I will also tell the board that I believe
that there is a interest in purchasing the property
from a another individual. And so we're planning to meet with
the township staff with a concept plan. So it might be that
this never really comes to pass, that we have the trucks there,

18
00:09:03.543 --> 00:09:34.941
but we want to keep our options open
for another six months to have them there. So we would have understood and all the conditions
obviously would stay stay the same. Yes. Okay. Thanks, Tim. I appreciate it. Members of the board
of any questions about this extension hearing? None. I'm going to open it actually,
without up to the public to by. Yes, we do. Okay. Anyone on the public portion
have any questions or comments about this? No one Chairman
they closed the public portion. Make a motion to extend this additional
six months to six months.

19
00:09:35.007 --> 00:10:07.707
I'll say seconded it. Thank you. Mr. Weisman. Yes. Mr. TILLERY. Yes. Mr. Blount. Yes. Mr.  Mitterando Yes. Mr. Ali. Yes. And Chairman Cahill. Yes, but memorializes at our next meeting. Oh, I'm sorry. Roy was back. Mr. O’Reggio Yes, thank you. Sorry, Laura, back me up here because on my copy
I have NDK as number ten, but I took it off your update this afternoon.

20
00:10:07.707 --> 00:10:39.405
It's item number 10 26 Dash ZB Dash 07V Snack Innovations. That is correct, I believe. Hello again. Board professionals and board members. My name is Tim Arch attorney license
in the State of New Jersey and I am here now in my capacity
representing snack innovations. So Snack Innovations is a company. They're a snack manufacturing company,
as their name might suggest it, back in 2016,
they came into Piscataway and they started operating
out of a location at Ethel Road.

21
00:10:39.538 --> 00:11:11.370
So they've been here a decade. In that time that they've been operating
there, they have grown substantially. They've been very popular. And quite frankly, they're busting
at the seams at their Ethel Road location. So they've recently purchased a location
at 1690 South Washington Avenue, which is a site
where manufacturing is permitted. It's a site
that has two warehouses already there. It's a it was previously the M&M site, M&M being the not the candies, but the the entity was called M&M.

22
00:11:11.370 --> 00:11:44.470
But in any event, they they absolutely
need to get into this new location to start operating because, again,
they are at absolute full capacity at Ethel Road. They're going to continue to operate
at the Ethel Road location as well. So they're staying in Piscataway. They're just having a secondary location
in Piscataway as well. So basically what snack innovations does
is they make healthy, delicious snacks. And actually the only product line
that they will be making in this in the new South
Washington facility is a product called Drizzle licious, if I can get it
not to blur or maybe if I make it my face.

23
00:11:44.470 --> 00:12:14.800
There you go. Drizzle licious is a it's a rice cake snack and immediately you hear rice cake
and you think it's not good. This is the most addictive snack
I have ever tried and that is absolutely honest
and it is healthy for you. So I highly recommend
everybody go get them. You can find them at Target,
Walmart, Costco, pretty much any location. And the really cool thing
is on the back of the of the package,
it says that it was made in Piscataway, which I think is pretty cool
because you don't see that every day. So basically we're asking
for this temporary use variance

24
00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:47.867
to be able to start operating right away
because as I said, they're really over overpacked in their road location. So I do have
I do have two witnesses tonight. I have Isaac Ben Zaken,
who is the operations manager of Snack Innovations. And then I have Alison Coffin,
who's our professional planner. So unless there's any preliminary stuff
and by the way, I'll mention we agree and can comply
with all the comments of the staff report. And I'll note just for the record that one of the comments
refers to a traffic light

25
00:12:47.867 --> 00:13:21.066
that is going to be constructed
there based off of a prior application. I'll note for the record
that we have already entered into a developer's agreement
that is in the possession of the township to address that traffic light issue. So that is already that is already sort of a moot condition at this point
that's on there. But we agree to everything
in the staff report. So with that, I'm ready to proceed to my first witness,
unless there's any questions. No, please proceed and start. Okay. I would ask Isaac, Ben Zaken, if you can I see you there if you can be sworn in,
and then I'll ask you some questions.

26
00:13:21.233 --> 00:13:52.164
Mr. Ben Zaken. Yes? Raise your right hand. You swear the testimony
you're about to give should be the truth. Yes. Thank you. Your name and address, please. 944, 944 Avenue. R, Brooklyn,
New York. One, one, two, two, three. Thank you. All right, so, Isaac was everything
that I said in my introduction accurate? Yes. Okay. So like I said, snack innovations. You've been operating there in Piscataway
since 2016. You've managed to grow a lot.

27
00:13:52.164 --> 00:14:24.563
And it's true to say that that you require
this new site to really operate and you need to get in there
like yesterday. Is that accurate? Yes. Okay. And once you're up and running, it's
going to be devoted solely to this to this product line, drizzle licious, which is,
I think, your most popular product to date and goes
to countless different retailers, correct? Correct. Yes. Okay. So we need to talk about a little bit
about operational testimony. So creating this product doesn't doesn't
cause any sort of noxious odors

28
00:14:24.563 --> 00:14:57.596
or dust or any sort of nuisance, you know, sound, smells, toxic waste, anything,
anything to that extent, correct? Correct. It does not. And Mr. Mizrahi actually had the had the chance
to go visit your Ethyl road facility. And so he's going to hopefully back you up
on that when we get to his testimony. But I don't believe there's anything offensive in the
in the making of this product. So you have you you employ three shifts
or you intend to employ three shifts,

29
00:14:57.663 --> 00:15:31.563
75 employees, each building, each shift. So that's 150 employees per shift
and three shifts. So that's 450 in total. And is that correct? First of all, is my math correct on that? Yes, Correct. Okay. And they're not all going
to be on the site at the same time. But at most, when there's a shift change,
there might be a half an hour where you have the 150 that are leaving
and 150 that are coming in. So you might have maybe about 300 people
assuming that every single employee drove themselves in a separate car,
which they don't do.

30
00:15:31.563 --> 00:16:02.127
But assuming worst case scenario, you would have about maybe 300 people
onsite at any given time, correct? Yes, Correct. Okay. And the site has right now
300 and I believe, 38 parking spaces. So you're you're comfortable that you can
that you can adequately accommodate all of your employees, even at the worst
case scenario at a shift change, correct? Yes. Okay. And you also have in terms of loading spaces, I think the site has

31
00:16:02.294 --> 00:16:34.426
I think you anticipate
using about ten loading bays on each building, five for shipping,
five for receiving, and each building has well over ten bays
a piece, correct? Yes, I think 28 each. Okay. So so you don't see that
there's going to be any issue with not having enough loading bays
or loading spaces for your operation? No. Okay. No issues at all. Right. I don't believe I have
any other operational questions for Mr. Ben Zaken,
but if the board has any questions, he's happy to answer them,
any members of the board or.

32
00:16:34.426 --> 00:17:06.158
Jonathan, do you have anything overview
that you could add to this? I just know
there was a couple of conversations that were had between staff,
the applicant and Tim with your your team. Maybe I wasn't fully in the loop
or for the benefit of the board at least. Is there going to be any sort of
transportation between the Ethel Road location and this location for employees
since you're maintaining production of both facilities? I believe currently what they are doing
is they're utilizing,

33
00:17:06.392 --> 00:17:39.158
with the permission of the township,
they're utilizing the South Washington parking right now to sort of accommodate
that overflow parking at Ethel Road. I'll Isaac, I'll ask you
when everything is up and running, when you have both sites,
do you anticipate anticipate the need to have shuttling back
and forth to the sites? No, we should not be shuttling
because we're going to remove some of the a little bit of the production out of 41
and move it into this new building. So those workers that are being shuttled
will not have to be shuttled.

34
00:17:39.158 --> 00:18:10.289
They'll be working there. Yeah. So I think right
now, temporarily we're doing that once everything is up and running,
that won't be necessary anymore because it will have relieved
all the pressure at the at the other site. Good brand, the sanitary sewer forced mean
calculations. Is that something you're working on
or ready to provide? Yeah. I spoke to I spoke to Alan Ben Zaken,
who is who is one of the owners. He has reached out to the the engineering firm that
did the original sewer calculations and

35
00:18:10.389 --> 00:18:43.322
and hired them to to do an updated
calculation based on the new use. I know Mr. Herrera said that it's as easy
as plugging in some numbers. It turns out it's not as easy
as just plugging in some numbers, but we will be able to get that
get that to you well before the both buildings are fully operational,
which is I think the the intent is that to make sure
that it can handle the capacity, but it's going to take a little while
to ramp up to that capacity. So we'll certainly get that as a condition
of approval as quickly as we can. And the product is still not anticipated
needing

36
00:18:43.388 --> 00:19:14.019
water for the production of the product. It's just going to be popping and baking and the the coating of the product. There's not going to be water, water based
elements of the preparation of the food. All right, everyone. But I believe. I believe that's correct. Correct. Yes. Okay. That's all I have, right now. And yes, I did visit that Ethel Rd. locati Bursting at the seams
is an understatement. No outside sound and smell
environmental impacts at that location. Okay.

37
00:19:14.019 --> 00:19:45.751
Thank you, Jonathan and the other members of the board
of any questions for this witness. Do I Just two quick questions,
please. John. Retail sales are not permitted, correct. No, there's no retail. There's
no retail that we are proposing, no contemplation, No, at this point. And this run, 24, seven
or five days a week how does it operate five days, five days, 24 hours,
five days a week. Okay.

38
00:19:45.751 --> 00:20:18.250
Thanks for the questions. Okay. Any other members
have any questions for this witness? Okay. Tim, put your other expert on. Thank you. Next would be Alison Coffin,
a professional planner. Could you raise your right hand? Do you swear that the testimony
you're about to give should be the truth? Yes, I do. I believe Mr. Coffin has been accepted as a planner
before this board. Couple of times
My license is still in good standing. That's good to hear. We please proceed, if you will.

39
00:20:18.350 --> 00:20:48.981
And the property that we're looking at is at 1690 South Washington Avenue. It's just shy of 25 acres
and it has site plan approval for a development with two warehouse
buildings which have been constructed. The applicant's requesting that temporary
use permit to use the buildings for food manufacturing. And it's located
in the M2 industrial district, where food
manufacturing is a permitted use. There is at this point
no change from the prior approval that would trigger
bulk variances for the site.

40
00:20:49.081 --> 00:21:23.181
So not proposing any changes
at this time in front of this board. So the essence of this application
is to determine if the site which was approved for warehouse use can operate with the proposed food
manufacturing use temporarily. It's my opinion that it can accommodate
the use proposed. The primary concern here
from a planning perspective, when both the approved and proposed
uses are permitted in the zone, is the ability of the site
as it was constructed to accommodate
the potential differences in staffing. In this instance, the site was developed
with 338 parking spaces

41
00:21:23.282 --> 00:21:54.479
to support uses warehousing and the change
to manufacturing use as it's proposed, which has 150 employees
onsite, is the largest shift, with the 300
potentially present during shift change. If everybody drives
themselves, can still be accommodated on the site with those 338 parking spaces. The other potential concern
I had would have been loading, but the site can easily accommodate
the needs of this use, which requires ten births per building and each building
has 27 28 loading births available. So for those reasons it's my opinion

42
00:21:54.479 --> 00:22:25.977
that the site can accommodate
the proposed manufacturing use and the board would be justified
in approving the temporary use permit pending full site plan application. Thank you, Alison. You're welcome. And important whatever. Any questions for the planner? Okay. Hearing none Mr. Arch You want your testimony? Yeah. Just to say that again. The standards part of the ordinance
is it's a two pronged test, essentially.

43
00:22:25.977 --> 00:22:56.808
Number one, is there going to be
a substantial detriment upon the uses because this is a permitted use
already in the zone. There is no detriment, obviously. And number two,
is it going to contribute materially to the welfare of the township? You've heard that there is a real need
for that Ethel Road location to alleviate
some of the strain on that location. So approving this
well will really be a help alleviate that. Overcrowding
will be a benefit to the town. Thank you. Thank you. Are any of the members of the board
have any questions about the certification you're in? I'm going to open it to the public.

44
00:22:56.808 --> 00:23:27.973
Anyone in the public have any comments
or questions about this application? No one. Chairman It closed the public portion. I'd make a motion to approve this. Can I get a second? I'll second it all the world. Mr. Weissman. Yes. Mr. TILLERY Yes. Mr. O’REGGIO Yes. Yes. Mr. Blount, yes Mr. Mitterando, Yes. Mr. ALI Yes. And Chairman Cahill. Yes, Mr. Arch We will memorialize this
in a few moments. Thank you very much. Have a wonderful evening, everybody.

45
00:23:27.973 --> 00:23:59.171
Can I thank you. Let's move on to item 11,
which is the adoption of resolutions on the regular meeting of April 9th, 2026. First resolution is on switch. This was a resolution of withdrawal. I would need somebody to move that
and second it in a voice vote or I would make a motion to withdraw it. I think for a second. I'll second it or Laura call the role Yes. Mr. Weisman Yes. Mr. TILLERY Yes.

46
00:23:59.171 --> 00:24:29.668
Mr. O’REGGIO Yes, yes. Mr. Mitterando Yes. Mr. ALI Yes. And Chairman Cahill Yes. Next, as Wilfredo Pagan,
which you voted to approve. Mr. Weisman. Yes. Mr. TILLERY Yes. Mr. O’REGGIO Yes. Mr. Blount Yes. Mr. Mitterando Yes. Mr. Ali,  Yes, Chairman Cahill. Yes. Next is Jayana Terantino, which you voted to approve? Mr. Weisman Yes. Mr. TILLERY Yes.

47
00:24:29.668 --> 00:25:02.767
Mr. O’REGGIO Yes. Mr. Blount Yes. Yep. Mr. Mitterando? Yes. Mr. Ali Yes, Chairman Cahill Yes. Finally, is snack innovations
what you just voted to approve? Mr. Weisman Yes. Mr. TILLERY Yes. Mr. O’REGGIO Yes. Mr. Blount Yes. Mr. Ali Yes, Chairman. Cahill. Yes. Those are all the resolutions. I have this evening, I'm up then. Item 12, which is the adoption of minutes, huh? Is that item 12 next?

48
00:25:02.767 --> 00:25:35.834
Because I have something that says water
adjustment, regulatory health, whatever. Number 12 adopts
the minutes from the regular meeting and number 13 is adoption of minutes
14 adjournment. Okay. Adoption of minutes from the regular
meeting of April 9th, 2026. All in favor. I item number 14 is a adjournment, 
all in favor. I, thanks for coming out, guys everybody. say happy birthday to , Courtney
she’s working through her bithday. Happy birthday. Thank you. Oh, happy.