Justice for all. Evening. Call to order the meeting of Cable Planning Board of May 7th, 20125. Beth, has this meeting been adi according with the open meeting public act? Yes, chairman. It has. Right. Uh,
ask for a roll call. Mr. Kandell here. Miss Lman here. Mr. Muller here. Mr. Shaw, Mr. Sataka. Mr. Velosen here. Mr. Williams here. Councilman Zabrowski here. Chairman Tai here. We have a quorum.
Memorialization of resolution application Thomas J. Fallon minor subdivision of 16 Charlotte Street Serville, New Jersey 08872 block 125 lot 6 6.1077.108 and
9. What's your pleasure? Can we get a motion? I'm I'm waiting for one. Make a motion to approve. Motion made and seconded. Anybody in hearing? None. All in favor say I. We'll do a roll
call. Okay. Mr. Kandell, yes. Miss Lman, yes. Mr. Mueller, yes. Mr. Shaw, Miss Sataka, yes. Mr. Velo, yes. Mr. Williams, yes. Councilman Zabowski, yes. Chairman Tai, yes. Thank you. acceptant for the minutes of April 2nd,
2025 and April 16th, 2025. I need a motion to accept them. Second. Having a motion to sec. Anybody opposed? All in favor? Opposed? Plan subdivision
hearing. Mr. Saxs, it's up to you. Yes. Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good evening members of the planning board uh professionals Lawrence Saxs on behalf of the applicant. Um we were last here uh middle of April and uh at that time we presented some uh additional traffic
testimony, some additional engineering testimony. Uh I think at the conclusion of that hearing, Mr. Chairman, uh you asked me if uh the applicant was resting and I said I was going to reserve that decision until this evening. Uh and
after reviewing all of the transcripts in this matter, uh we do not believe we have any additional testimony that we need to proceed forward at this point. So the applicant does rest. I know that uh the the chairman has indicated that you're going to reserve the public for
this evening and we certainly have no uh no objection to that. Okay. uh communication agenda and all right going to open up to the
public tonight. You can speak about anything that's on your mind. Go ahead. So um this evening is going to be the public hearing portion of the um site
plan application for uh 212 to 216 URville. Um now during um a public uh comment portion of the hearing, the public has the opportunity to come up and speak on matters that relate to the
application um that provide testimony uh with respect to various aspects of the application and objectors also have the opportunity to put their objections any evidence or testimony into the record. Um it's important to note that um public
comment uh on an application is limited to that application. Um it's limited to the facts. It's limited to the operation of the site, the traffic of the site, the design of the site, um and the um
intensity of use of the site. um individuals thoughts both positive and negative on um a a house of worship and location um is not really relevant as this is an
approved use within this zone. Uh but what is important and what should be part of the record are any thoughts or comments on the objective aspects of this application. Thank you. All right, I'll take a motion to open up to
the public. Motion. I have a second. Second. All in favor say I. Any opposed? All right. Anybody can come up. State your name. Just please be uh cognizance of what people are saying. We're going to
try not to be redundant. Try to keep your term your time under five minutes. And if you were called upon, we're not going to call upon you again until at the end. Ma'am, your name is that mic working. I have to repeat. Mariela McMahon, 210
Erneston Road. I want to know if there's going to be a fence put around the property when they start building. Mr. Saxs, can you answer that? Well, it is public comment, but I think I can answer that. Um, if there's any construction fencing,
if that's what you're alluding to, I think that's required by your construction department. So, whatever the construction department requires, if this application is acted favorably, we'll will comply with. I don't believe there's a fence on the uh proposed site plan. I believe there's landscaping,
extensive landscaping that's being provided. Also, when they bring these big tractors and your building materials and stuff, will Ernest Road have to be closed at any point? Again, that would be subject to whatever
construction officials require. Okay. You were no help. Anybody else like to speak? Good evening. James Komasburgger, 12 Center a Parlin. I got a couple questions on the um
underground garage and how deep it will be and how far are you going to dig? Because as we know in this town, Dupont had a chemical spill and it goes all the way up road and goes all the way to nine. Can you guarantee that none of
this chemical spill that's in this town will be affected? There is children in that whole neighboring area and that's a big concern. better. The board can note that um any issue
involving contaminated soil and or contaminated water is governed is out frankly is outside of the scope of this board and is governed by the state. Um should be brought up. I mean you are the planning board. You are here for our safety. The this planning board nor any planning
board does not have the authority over the the regulation and the requirements for the evaluation of environmental conditions. There are very strict state reguling is done on this property. Excuse me, sir. There are very strict
state regulations that govern that and that is outside of the scope of this board's authority. Okay. Um, as as far as I know, when you start digging like that, you have to go through the watershed and and they get involved. Do we have the report? They take they take
the samples. Did you get the report? Did I get the report? No, because they haven't dug yet. So, we're going to Okay. Something without that report. Actually, we have provided, I believe, soil sampling as part of our submission. And how far down was the soil samples done? I can't I don't know. I can't
comment on that. I mean, okay. Next question is, as we know, we've found live ammunition throughout that whole area. Is the core of engine uh army engineers going to be involved in any way to secure
if an ammunition is found because they were found on the property adjacent to it up at uh Samson school. It's been found in Eisenhower school and I have knowledge that they're around checking Eisenhower school for live ammunition
from the explosion way back. Are we going to be proven that we're not going to have that they're going to do the right thing if something is found? And sir, that is a construction that is a development and construction issue. It is outside of the scope of this board.
This board is a planning board. its authority is limited to the review of the plans, the review of the relief sought. Um the rules governing safe uh movement of ammunition is is a both a state and federal issue. Um and is also
gets to construction. Uh this board deals with the request to build and the relief for any variances or design waiverss with respect to the town's ordinances. Okay. So nothing's going to be done about the soil testing or any of this.
Well, that that's not true. No, it's a self-s serving statement, sir. You're this board does not govern that. The authority for environmental matters in the state of New Jersey is governed by the state DP, Department of Environmental Protection, and they published very lengthy and thorough
regulations on that issue, which developers, both commercial and residential, have to comply with. Um, this board does not have the authority pursuant to the municipal land use law to governing that issue. Okay. God forbid someone hits this chemical spill.
What's the next step? You said I can ask any question. These are questions I have. Okay. Well, and I would I would if you have questions about the you can re reach out to your construction code official. You can reach out to the building department or the state department of environmental protection, but that's not outside the
scope of this board's perview and its authority. Okay. Anybody else like to speak? Hi, my name is Kathy Scribbona. I live in Parland. the answers that you just gave this gentleman is there any way that you could give me the numbers for me to
contact being none of you are going to take any responsibility to anything other than I don't know what eman have this meeting for if you can't answer a question so if anything when it comes to the spill or ammunition anything
dangerous you referred it back to the government so the state so who do we Paul Murphy is going to approve this. Who has the right to approve this before any of this gets done? Who has the right
to approve it before what things are tested? Water testing, all of it. Who approves it? You guys, the Department of Environmental Protection here? I mean, in the town or in the state?
throughout the entire state, county and state, county, state, municipal. So, the state will let you guys know if this is feasible to do. They'll let the property owner know. And will they do the testing before the approval? I thought it was
all approved already. Depends on the state regulations. And do you know the state regulations? I do not know them by uh memory. You don't know them? Is there anything you guys do know? I know for a fact that
when when I sat on the board over at the county college, we approved every building over there with the stipulation that there might be ammunition. We did find two shells. They shut the job down. The Army Corps of Engineer came down, took the two shells down to Fort uh
Dicks and they were duds. But that's the procedure. Did it stop the the the construction of the job? Yeah, for about two and a half months. If the same thing happened with the uh EPA, if the EPA comes in, the same thing will happen. If they find that there's anything of
matter with it, the EPA will come in and come up with a guideline of what has to be done to to remedi remediate that just like they had to remediate down where they're building Bass Pro. But will they come in before it's too dangerous or
after they're digging and a chemical spill starts? Do they come When do they come in? when it is already dangerous. Being that they know there's been a spill and there is chemicals underground, you've got how far are they
going? 85 ft. Who knows how long? How how are they deep are they going? How deep are they going? They got to be going very deep. Never mind the people's foundation that live there. How deep are they going? So they hit something, the spill comes
up, the poison comes up, then the Army Corps engineers come in, then the environmentalists come in after kids are sick, after seniors are sick. Are you kidding me? How did this even get this far? How did it get this far? Because
when people own property in the state of New Jersey, ma'am, they have the absolute right to come before this a board, a land use board, and to seek an application to do construction. And many different government entities have different responsibilities throughout the land use development and application
process, then construction process. This board doesn't inspect property. This board doesn't determine whether or not your Excuse me, ma'am. Ma'am, excuse me. This board doesn't determine whether or not the electric is being built correctly. This board doesn't determine whether or not OSHA is being complied
with when they're digging trenches. This board's responsibility is to receive an application to determine whether or not that application satisfies the ordinances for the burrow. If it if there's variance that are needed, it's
this board's obligation to hear the evidence and to weigh whether or not those variances are granted. Now, subsequent to any land use board making a decision, sometimes parallel with it, but often oftentimes subsequent, there's outside agency approvals that are needed. Those outside agency approvals
are the Department of Environmental Protection very often for things such as storm water runoff, sometimes contamination, wetlands, the counties involved. Um there's sometimes or organizations involved.
Department of Transportation could be involved based on where the roads are. And so every entity has its own responsibility. An applicant has the right to come before a board in this burrow and submit an application for
construction. Now they may also need other approvals. They also need other permits. They also may need to satisfy other conditions. But this board can't say, "Well, have you done that yet?" Because what the law in New Jersey tells us is that applications that require a
land use approval, that require D approval, that require county approval, that require Department of Transportation approval, some applications require turnpike authority approval, depending how close they are to either the parkway or the How many have been approved already? And and excuse me, ma'am. And then whether or
not the planning board or zoning board or municipality approves it, if they if the entity doesn't obtain the outside agency approvals, then they're not able to move forward with that process. Okay. So, how far is it? How far how many people have approved this already? What
agencies approved it? We're not aware of that. And that and frankly this board makes its decision outside of the context and without of what other agencies are doing because it's they focus on their job and the D may have approvals the county likely has
approvals DOT there's many a agencies that may have to review this and did so what is your job actually then do you I mean what is your job well as I said ma'am any planning go to all these other entities. Any ma'am, any
planning board in the state of New Jersey, their obligation is to receive an application. Okay. So, is there any approvals on this building that have been granted by this board yet? Yeah. No, none. No, nothing. So, it's like nothing. They still have to go
through everything because I have heard so many different stories that it's been approved and this is just for show. Is it? No. Is it just for show? No. Yeah, we I don't know if the Anybody here buy a new house, build a new house, go on
vacation, get a new boat? Anybody? Excuse me, ma'am. That comment is not appropriate. Well, this isn't appropriate. What is not? This is This is the way the laws of the state of New Jersey say that if you're telling me there's absolutely no approvals on this yet, I will be very comfortable and
apologize to you. Is there any approvals that this can go forward? Now, so far, is there anything going to start digging now? This board has not granted an approval yet. They haven't had a vote yet. Now, has the applicant obtained county approval? We I don't know. You
can ask them. Have they obtained D approval? I don't know. Maybe they have. Again, that's outside agency approval. And how do we find out that then? How do we find that out? You could ask the applicant. You could ask the D, the Department of Transportation, all. And who is the applicant? Who who do I ask?
Oh, they're sitting right there. Ma'am, is it what's approved from the county? County approve it. First of all, we have submitted in connection with this application um extensive soil testing, soil borings, uh
which have been reviewed by uh can I ma'am if you want to if you'd like an answer, I'll be glad to give you an answer. Thank you. Uh we have submitted soil testing. We have submitted soil borings. We have submitted an environmental impact statement. Um we
have received comments from CME which are very specific and very technical as to what has to occur. Uh if in fact this application is approved. Uh there is no evidence of any contamination of any nature whatsoever. There's no evidence
of any ammunition uh on site. Um you know and that's all contained in the reports that have been submitted. How far down did you go? I'm not I'm not I'm not the engineer, but that's all public record. It's all part of the plans. Um,
and you know, it's been testified to at prior hearings. Does anybody here know how far down it legally it has to go before they're approved? No. No. But I mean, they can say 20 feet and approved and that's it. And if they go 40, it's
no good. the engineer will know how far they have to go. Will they dig? Will they have that information? If they go 50 feet, has 50 feet been tested or is it just the soil on the grounds that we walk on?
Mr. Chairman, there's a comment on our report that I think maybe will address the the person's concerns. One of the conditions in our reports is a soils report which demonstrates the ability of the site soils to support the proposed structure should be provided. The manner in which potential groundwater issues
will be addressed as well as the need for special foundation support members should also be further reviewed. As was discussed with the board, this report should also address the potential impacts of vibrations during construction on the adjacent properties. So if this that's good for foundations,
if this if this application is approved, this would be a condition of the approval. So prior to con starting any construction, this report would have to be prepared by a licensed professional engineer who would examine the loads associated with the building, determine what type of soil borings are necessary,
how deep they'll have to go, and he'll have to issue reports saying that the soils can support the building. But does I don't care about the support of the building? Does the engineer know that there was an spill there in the 80s? Ma'am, where did you get the information
that there's a spill there? The spills I lived here for the past The spills that I that I see on on the maps are all under Hercules property over on the other side of Cheesequake Road. No, it went down to Ernston Road. I've been living here. I live here for 40
years. It was down Ernston Road. So, I mean, I just don't understand. I can understand that. And that's great for foundations because, you know, with them digging all that way to put in a
parking garage, which is absurd in its own liking, those foundations are going to crack. There's no doubt. I mean, seriously, they have to go very, very deep to get all the parking that they want.
For your information, ma'am, the bottom floor of the parking garage is approximately 5 ft below the grade of Ernston Road. So, where's the rest of the parking? Above ground building is being elevated. The bas based on the plans, the bottom floor of the parking garage
is approximately elevation 86. All right. So, that could have answered my first question I asked you then. How far down are they going? Five feet. Approach the whole building. That's five feet. That's as far as So why didn't you just answer me that
from the get-go when I asked? Ma'am, anybody else? Ma'am. You're next. I might not really have questions, but I have a lot of number. Okay. My name is Elizabeth Panella and I live at Temp
Parkway Place. My family has lived in this house for over six decades. We have always tried to be good neighbors and to help out the community. While I fully respect and support everyone's right to practice their faith
free focally, I am against any kind of construction of this size, which is over 20 times larger than the surrounding homes. The fact that it would be pushed back from Ernston Road puts it directly
behind my house. I do not believe a few trees are going to buffer or hide this giant building. This will greatly affect my quality of life. It will change the landscape of my yard, the surrounding
yards, and those surrounding the site. I will have to look at it when I wash my dishes. I will hinder my view of the morning sun. It will limit my bird watching and it will tower over any activities in the yards around it. I
also believe that such a tall structure will create shadows that might change sunny areas to shaded areas and harm plants and gardens in the neighborhood. I feel as if I am being invaded. This has already caused me great anxiety and
stress. I have worries about how long the construction is going to take, how this will affect me with noise and dust and rubble. What happens if my property is damaged? Furthermore, I am concerned about the
potential increase in traffic congestion and noise pollution that such a large facility could bring, especially with school traffic. I already Ernston Road is listed as one of the most overly congested and dangerous roads in the
county. Also, if their parking spaces fill up, the thought that worshippers would cross Bordingtown Avenue, park on Johnson's Lane, walk across Boarding Town Avenue to the mosque is not logical. The service may end before they
get there. I suspect people would be parking in the side streets of my neighborhood and limiting parking in front of my neighbors homes and my home with four 15 to 20 minute daily services that can start as early as 5:00
a.m. two large services on Friday afternoons and basketball until 1000 p.m. with everything else in between. Even if other activities are not at the same time as service, I believe it will be very busy. I do not think anyone
would build something this big mainly to use it one day a week. Additionally, the introduction of a largecale house of worship could potentially impact property values in the area. Prospective home buyers may be deterred by the
presence of such a structure in close proximity leading to a decrease in property values for current homeowners. I respect respectfully request that you reconsider the approval of construction of this building. I do
not think that is beneficial to the neighborhood to have such an unsuitable structure placed on this property. Thank you. Thank you. Name Nazim Sahib, director and Imam of Mashid Sadar and Community Center, 216
Ernston Road. In the name of God most gracious, most merciful. God of Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Moses, Mary, Jesus, and Muhammad.
May the peace and blessings of God be on all of them. And behalf of Mashid Sedar and community center, we would like to assure the public that we are committed to being
respectful and considerate neighbors. We will work to ensure that our center is a positive addition to the community, promoting harmony and
understanding. Our center will serve as a hub for community activities, education and spiritual growth of our community. We do believe and
convince it will enrich the community and provide opportunities for people of all backgrounds to come together. To our dear neighbors, we want to assure you that we
value your partnership and look forward to working closely with you. As we move forward, we will strive to be mindful of your concerns and work
collaboratively to ensure that our presence is a blessing to our neighborhood. We envision a future where our center and your community can thrive together
and we are excited to build positive relationship with you. A special thank you to the members of our community old and young who persevered through this process trusting us representing them.
Again, I would like to say thanks to all our neighbors. May God bless our neighbors and may God bless our city. Thank you very much. Thank you. You're the one I appreciate with the email. Name and
number. Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Kimmy Varry. I live in Parkway Homes. [Music] My name is Kimmy Varry. I live in Parkway Homes. Okay, that's perfect. Okay. I appreciate
what the imam said. Uh but uh I have a problem with him saying that um they want to be so neighborly. If that was the case, all of us that live there, well, around the surrounding
property still have wood from the trees that are knocked down up against all our properties that we get wood roaches every summer for years now since they did this. They haven't addressed it. They haven't cleaned it. And if they
were so neighborly, why is it still like that after all this time? We've complained about it. No one has done anything. It sounds great what he says if that was, you know, the case, but I don't think it is. But I would like to read my statement anyway. Be my guest.
Okay. I am a resident of Parkway Homes. As you may be aware, our streets are very narrow with no sidewalks and it's very tight to navigate through the area. We have only two ways out, which is Parkway
Place and Center Avenue, onto an already congested Ernston Road, which I'm sure you all know was uh just identified as one of Middle Sex County's top five most dangerous roads.
I'm concerned about flooding due to all the waiverss for setback and some of the proposed parking spots are in that setback area. So, if a waiver is not granted, they will lose even more parking
spots. If this 43,000 square foot building does not have enough parking for the droves of people that will attend the many daily services and all the other events in between,
uh, then you can bet that we will get overflow in the Parkway homes. I'm also worried about emergency vehicles being restricted. I live with my senior father who has cardiac issues. I'm concerned
about the hours of operation, the noise and the lighting that this magnitude of a project will certainly create because many of us residents properties are literally backed up to this site.
I am, as many of us here, extremely concerned about our homes foundations, which I believe Lawrence Sachs stated will not be responsible. No one will be responsible for any damages.
Didn't he state that at one point? That he couldn't be liable is what he said. No, not him personally, but um who he's representing. The the applicant has stated that one of the conditions that they're willing to agree to should this
and again nothing has been approved. Should there be an approval, one of the conditions they agreed to is that there would be monitoring and testing during the entire construction process um to ensure that that that construction is being done in a manner that does not
result in in off-site damage. Okay. So the properties that are connected literally to the property, you know, our homes, I think should be tested before the project starts to see if we have damage already
before they started to our foundation or if we don't have, you know, if we do or if we don't. So at the end of the day, if we w if we wind up with damage, then we know where it came from. So what is our
recourse in a situation like that? Situations that have r risen in town with compact uh the soil and everything over in Town Lake. They had that problem soon as they found out they um fixed
everybody's cracks. They the kind before so before any kind of work would possibly they didn't they didn't they didn't do any testing before that they did the impactions and then they found out that they had a problem they stopped it again the building so we have to have
damage in order for it to be rectified if I might uh at the April 3rd 2024 meeting this issue was raised the applicant agreed to a condition that indicated pre-development inspections of the foundations of the existing houses surrounding the property will be performed so prior to him starting work.
He's going to have an independent engineer inspect the foundations of the properties to determine the conditions prior to him starting to determine if if something happens during construction, there'll be a record to show that it was caused by the construction. Right. But I remember Lawrence Saxs saying I I I
should have been prepared with that that oh that we really he can't be liable. Yes, he did say something like that. Does anybody know this? And and I don't mean this with any disrespect to Mr. Sachs, but what what Mr. sack says frankly isn't binding because should
there be an approval the conditions that are put on the record as part of the approval in the memorializing resolution are what bind the applicant and the property owner. So regard so if a year ago actually 13 months ago the applicant
indicated that as a condition of approval they would agree that there would be preconstruction pre-sight work inspecting and they also agreed that there would be monitoring during it. So that is what controls um now I'm not going to dispute and you may have heard
misheard Mr. Sachs or maybe Mr. Sachs did say that um but regardless the condition that's that's what controls and that's legally binding. Well I I I just think you people are lucky uh that you don't have to
face the stuff that's going on with us because it's horrible. People work their whole lives to just buy a little something and to have it threatened like this. And it has nothing to do with
religion. It's just the quality of life. We deserve to have a quality of life. We pay taxes. We work hard. We just want to come home and relax. And it's chaotic. It's chaotic. But I'm not
done. Where was I? Yeah, it's horrifying the thought of worrying about our foundations. It's very unfair. Uh, so what else do I have? Yeah, that's pretty much it. So, this will just greatly affect our quality of life. We live in a quiet neighborhood
and we have the right to privacy and, you know, I hope we get it. So, thank you very much. Mr. Robinson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Jim Robinson Parlin. At one of the first I think it was the
first meeting in the burough hall last year, I had mentioned that uh the burrow's original schoolhouse, schoolhouse number one I think it is, is at 214 Ernston Road. And I asked the applicant if they would reach out to the
historical society to inquire as to whether or not the historical society had any interest in that building, either preserving it or moving it or or doing something. Uh, but I I asked that there be some kind of communication. We have a very active historical society in
this town. Um, they do wonderful things and I'm wondering what the result of that request was. I did send a letter to the historical society. I did not receive a response. Uh, certainly we're willing to follow up with them and uh
certainly as a if the board does act favorably as a condition of approval. Um if the historical society uh has any interest in any of the material anything in that structure uh we'll certainly cooperate with them. Thank you. I
appreciate that. And I would I would respectfully suggest that if this is approved that the board ask them to reach out to the historical society with respect to um that school. How many members of the board are currently
eligible to vote on this application? Everybody. Every that mean nine. Yes. How many are here tonight? Online. Okay. All right. Thank you. Um, this I understand the concerns that
neighbors have and everybody has about traffic and things like that. But from a legal perspective, I think this application uh rises or falls on the issue of parking. I think that's the only variance. So, I think it's incumbent
upon the applicant to do um one of at least two things. One is either satisfy the ordinance um and demonstrate to you that they have the required number of parking
or convince the board that they have an alternate scenario for parking. And I know there are a few things that were discussed um and this application dates back a while ago. One was the underground parking. I think that may have changed. I had suggested that they
look at van pooling which is what was recommended when the Dwaradish temple um was approved and that was something that they had agreed to. Um that was later thrown out. When the application was denied in a 4-4 vote and Judge Arian
said that that condition when an application is denied and it goes to court the conditions are thrown out. You we know well you you know that and I know that. And then there was this scenario about the I don't remember how many 22 or 24 or 26
spots on Johnson's Lane. I don't know, you know, I saw that there was a letter indicating a a lease. I don't know that um the board or the traffic safety bureau or anybody else has really looked into that and and and uh pine on whether
or not that's a safe um safe way of accomplishing parking offsite by having folks cross Bordontown Avenue. So what what I'm wondering is since there have been various
scenarios, would it be possible for the applicant or the applicant's professionals to reiter to reiterate what is the last version? What what are they proposing at this point to meet their obligation under the ordinance for
either have the appropriate amount of parking on site or to convince the board that they have some other safe um alternative for accomplishing the parking requirement? Would that be okay to do that?
Well, Mr. Chairman, go ahead. Mr. Robinson, uh you're you're correct that the only variance being sought is is for parking and that was that was actually put on the record and clarified at our last meeting. Um, and one of the other points I just want to clarify for yourself and for the members of the
public is that that additional off-site parking with the at the the former the the no longer being used establishment um is not being and we clarified at the last meeting is not being presented as to um meet or or reduce their parking
obligation. Okay. Um the applicant this application um is being presented based on the amount of on-site parking only and and and at the last meeting the applicant clarified that and also clarified that and well I will say I'll say clarified
Mr. Saxs can correct me if I'm wrong that they are seeking a variance with respect to parking. So parking on Johnson's Lane that's no longer on the table. Is that they may use it but that is not being considered that's not being
considered to satisfy the parking requirement. The okay the parking requirement must be satis must be satisfied by the on-site parking only. Okay. Thank you. I appreciate that. Okay. Well, does the applicant have any
response to that? I I think I think council has indicated what our position is, and I agree. The the 20 I think it's 22 spaces on Johnson are really just for overflow parking. Um there was a comment made at the last
meeting about uh uh making a condition that uh police uh monitor that intersection uh of Bordontown Avenue and Ernston Road. We're willing, I think we stated at that time, we're willing to do that. We make that commitment. Uh there was also a comment about uh putting a
crosswalk across Ernston Road um subject to the county. We will agree to do that. Um in terms of I'm not going to repeat the parking. I don't really know if I need to respond to Mr. Robinson's comments. Uh but um uh there was extensive testimony presented at the
last hearing uh as to the maximum occupancy that will occur at various periods of time and uh we did concede that if all of the uses are operating at one time, you would require 250 parking spaces. Um however, we know that that's
not going to occur at this site because we will not have all the uses operating at the same time. The highest use uh would be the Friday afternoon services which generated uh which uh based on uh the uh occupancy limitation on that
building only requires 107 parking spaces which we satisfy. So although a parking variance is is being is being requested, we believe we've satisfied that. We provided testimony from our traffic engineer and from our planner and I don't believe there's any further
response I need to give on that point. Okay. Thank you. And for the board's edification, Mr. Chairman, I just want to repeat something that I may have said at an earlier meeting. The this is a conditionally permitted use because the ordinance says
that a house of worship needs to be on one acre. The ordinance used to say 3 acres were required. This parcel is somewhere around 2 and a half
acres. Okay. So, a few years ago, the planning board, the mayor and council changed it to 1 acre. Um, I think there was solid reasoning for there to be a threeacre minimum. There might even be upon
examination solid reasoning for there to be a 5 acre minimum. Um I would suggest that and it's not related to this application because the mayor and council and the planning board change the ordinance so that they meet the
current ordinance of one acre because they are 2.5 acres. But I think after this application is concluded, it would be wise for the planning board and the mayor and council to revisit that and
perhaps raise the minimum for any house of worship to back to the three acres that it had been before Mayor O'Brien and the council changed it or perhaps even more than three acres. I just think that that's something that's in the best
interest would be in the best interest of future applicants and certainly in the best interest of the community. So I would respectfully suggest that you take a look at that and see whether or not there's merit in that suggestion. Thank you. Thank you,
sir. You and the blue are next. So bird watching, huh? Bass and Muhammad. I live in 4207 Wills Drive, Parland, New Jersey, London, Terrace. Um, I just want to say a little
like very short story and then I will say my final word. Uh, I have no question for anyone. Um, just a statement regarding to all what's going on. Um when I moved to America 20 years
ago as a young uh man immigrant to seek a better life comparing to my home country. Um, we always watched America in the movies and how great the country
is and how organized and clean and the government has a freedom of speech and all that good positive uh culture that you wish to live in and immigrate to live in the great America and that's the
dream for many people all over the world. So um I started from scratch from dishwashing groceries uh pizza man cleaning wash cars limo driver taxi driver in New York
and then finished my education and I am a veterinarian right now. uh and people respect me as a doctor for their animals and uh if you can Google me my name and thank God I have a good uh reputation in
my field. Uh at one point when I was a limo driver uh I think the worst scenario for any taxi or limo driver to get a police ticket for speeding or uh bad driving mistakes. Uh for any of
you if you got stopped by a police or a trooper on the highway and get tickets no it's a give me just one sec. It's like a statement. Okay. So uh if if I'm saying
something wrong you can stop me. You can continue sir. So, uh, most of us as a regular human being will get very upset if you got a ticket, especially if you're going to pay a lot of money or you're going to get points
on your license, then that going to affect your insurance and all that and you get upset and some people cannot control their upset and maybe curse at the at the cup or misbehave. But when I got tickets, when I was a limo driver, I usually was
happy. And uh in one case, even after after the cop gave me the ticket and moved walked back to his car, I said thank you from the window. And I think he misard my thank you. He maybe heard it
as something you with a with a bad way, the f word or something. So he came back to me very angry and said to me what you said what you said because he thought I cursed him and I said to him I said thank you and he was confused like I
just give you a ticket that you may get six points and pay $600 in the court. How you say thank you? Why? I said because the way that you giving people ticket, you push the law and everyone will behave and the roads will be safer
for everyone including me and my family. So you doing your job to keep this country better. So my point here is to thank you as a board member and thank you all of you all everyone here and the
people that came in and attended all the previous meetings and fingerpoint some mistakes in our planning and criticize anything that we may going to
do to harm the community. I really appreciate this country. I appreciate the rules. I appreciate the laws. I appreciate the freedom of speech even for the negative way sometimes will support you to be better and
improve. So everything you criticize guys to this planning is actually going to make this plan end in the best way possible if it get approved. And if it was if it got declined at the end,
that's okay. It will be the best for the community anyway because that's the end of the story. But if it got approved and in the best possible way and shape and under the government requirement, I wish that we try to
accept that from both sides and shake hands and wish the best for the next step. Thank you. Thank you. Longwinded. Good evening. I'm Joe Carmasan, 322 Ernston Road. I live ac across the
street directly. Good evening. So, I have more of a statement. Excuse me. Not too many questions or anything like that. Um, I went over the master plan just so we're clear for everybody, you have the op, you do not have to ask questions. It is a public comment and question time. I just wanted to make
sure because people seem to be raising that. I thought the is the planner present? I thought the planner was supposed to be present tonight. The pl the planner is not present. We we decided that we reviewed the testimony of the planner uh from several meetings ago and there was no need to uh to have
him further testify. We were satisfied with the proofs that we submitted. Okay. All right. Well, I uh I had reviewed the master plan and the several min municipal land use laws. I just want to go over a few key points that I think
really pertain to the structure. So, in the master plan, it says goal one, preserve existing residential neighborhoods. 1 B discourage the removal of existing viable residential uses in favor of non-residential uses. 1
C encourage owner occupancy of residential dwellings. 1E emphasize the importance of vigorous code enforcement programs in maintenance of viable residential neighborhoods. Goal two, continue to encourage
aesthetic and site improvements in the burough's major commercial industrial areas to maintain strict limits on location of non-residential development, particularly highintensity uses to discourage urban
commercial intrusion in residential areas. Goal three, encourage and promote an improvised visual environment and the preservation of natural systems and environmentally sensitive areas. 3A, review development
regulations to height, coverage, setback, landscaping, achieve desirable development without artificial or arbitrary restrictions. Goal four, encourage the maintenance of the existing business community and
provide for a desire a desirable new development. 4 D encourage new development which will not place unmanageable demands on the burrow infrastructure and or will assume responsibility in an equitable manner.
Economic objectives. Balance land uses with capacity of the circulation system to ensure that proposed land uses will not overload the circulation system. Protect the visual and aesthetic
value of both new and older residential developments by promoting preservation of existing trees and planting new trees. protect character of existing neighborhoods, encouraging designs which are harmonious with those that exist in
the im immediate vicinity. Now, those are all um from the master plan. I cited them. You guys can look them up if you want. Um I also have some a couple from the Saveville Municipal Land Use Law
2610.4 referral powers of the planning board. Oh, you know what? I'm going to skip that. The applicant seeking variance waiverss. Front yard setback for signage. That's a variance. Off- streetet loading space. Another variance. 200 foot deceleration lane.
Another variance. Minimum 2% slope on all lawn and landscaped areas. A variance. Onsite parking in front area sidewalks between parking areas and buildings. Another variance. And head-to-head parking with planted islands. Not to mention the insufficient
spots which is a huge concern. Um the visual impact of the project would be significant should be consistent with cerevil master plan and master plan re-examination when warranted an analysis of existing air quality and
noise levels and lighting levels. I know we didn't do those tests, but there's going to be a lot of people here. The resident population, working population, and visitor population shall be estimated. Alternatives, discussion of site design,
project location alternatives were considered shall be provided shall indicate why why alternative was rejected. Um the parking requirements for nonresidential users. Um, this is 26-88.1 and I'm going to skip to number
three where it goes to places of worship. One parking space for each 250 square ft of assemblage area. So that's like over in the 200s if you do the math. Um, I also wanted to
read 26-88.2 the required off streetet loading spaces. They are requesting a waiver for this. Off- streetet loading for any use shall be one for the first 25,000 square feet plus one additional
space for each additional 15,000 square ft. The signage regulation. No sign shall be located less than 10 ft from a residential zone boundary. Illuminated sign shall not extend above the highest elevation of
the front wall of the building or no more above 18 ft above street level. Also another variance zoning schedule three bulk regulations houses of worship minimum area requirements 1 acre 100 ft lot
width 100 ft lot depth minimum setback requirements 50 feet in the front yard 50 feet in the rear yard. These are all variances. Minimum bulk requirement height 40 feet three stories. I think we were well above that. Minimum lot
coverage 25% of the building building and pavement 45% total should be the lot coverage. 26-96.8 is the lighting design. The style of light and light standard shall be consistent with the architectural
type of the principal building which does not fit the master plan. The maximum height of freestanding light should not exceed the principal building or 25 ft. Light shall be appropriately shielded and directed so lighting shall not spill over into adacation adjacent
properties. Almost there. 26.98.3 Driveways. All entrances and exit driveways shall be located to afford maximum safety to traffic. Provide safe and convenient egress and
ingress to and from the site to minimize conflict with the flow of traffic. 26-100 regulation of of nuisance elements. It just goes over the air pollution, the noise, the vibration, kitchen odors, and glare. So, that was
from just some things I found in the municipal land use law here for Saraveville that I think that all pertain to this. These are a lot of things we're changing to make this building happen if it gets approved. And I think it's a bit much, honestly. The
parking um is a is a big concern, like a huge concern. That building is giant. And we're naive to think they're not going to fill that building. And if you think a 100 spots or 120 spots is going to cut
it, it's going to be a big mistake. Uh emergency vehicles, emergency vehicles going down Ernston Road, people go to the fire trucks constantly rushing to Route 9. I live on Ernston Road. It sounds like New York City out there. You
guys know Route 9's got accidents. We had an accident on road last Thursday right at the merge with what two lanes go to one right there. You saw it. There was three cars involved. It's constant. It's constant. This is a huge concern. I know traffic is not a a big talking point, but the parking is really really
going to add to the traffic. This is these things are connected. Um I lived to this, you know, they operated for a year. I have photos where there's well over 200 cars there at a time. Uh playing basketball 11 o'clock at night. um they didn't operate in good faith. We
gave them a cease and desist letter and they operated for a year after they got it. We find them and then we dropped the court case. Um I don't know what's going on with all that. I know we couldn't talk about it because it was in litigation, but that's over now and we dropped it. So that's also uh very
concerning that they did whatever they wanted for a year with no recourse, no no repercussions. and now we're considering giving them a giant building in our town and we're be naive to think they're going to act in good faith after they haven't acted in good faith. Uh there's a lot of variances. Um police
police have been called there before. I've seen them there. Um the the garbage I I feel like they're going to do weddings and funerals and there's going to be food in those garbages. Uh this is another thing that we're not talking about here and they
could say no, but they're building commercial kitchens in classrooms. You know, this is this is something we have to seriously think about. Um basketball, he said basketball every night till 11:00 p.m. That's crazy. People can be talking in the
parking lot till midnight. You know, sound carries when there's nothing going on outside. I can hear voices. I can hear your conversation across the street on Ernston Road at midnight when there's no one driving down the road. Um, you know, the headlights late at night, they light up my house. The the
entrance and exit is facing my house. Every car pulling out of that place is going to light up my house. Uh, this is um seriously a quality of life issue. Um, that's all this really has to do with is honestly it's the location of it. It just couldn't be worse. Uh, I
think that if the building gets built, everyone's going to take every work around Ernston Road they possibly can. No one's going to want to take that road. So, Madison Park, all the back road, I mean, it's just people are going to be trying to go go everywhere. Uh, Johnson's Lane, you know how much cars are going to be going down Johnson's
lane? I It's just uh not a great spot. And I I really guys want you to put a lot of thought into this and really think about us and the town, please. Thank you. Thank you, Drew Weingarth. W I N G A R T H. Even
though I live in East Brunswick, New Jersey, I grew up in the Madison Park section and my parents still live in the same in the same house. Thank you everyone for your time, service, listening and
considerations. I do not envy this board since this is not an easy application. I have previously tried to ask questions in an unbiased manner and considered them if I were sitting on your side of the deis. In fact, I believe this is the se
within a year. This is the seventh meeting that we have all that we that we have attended here. I thank everyone from the public who talked whether for or against the mosque. It is not an easy thing to do.
And as a result, please do not mistake absenteeism for apathy. One of the most beautiful things about Middle Sex County and this area, whether Saraveville, Oldbridge, or East Brunswick, is how diverse it is.
It does not matter the religious denomination should matter if a should not matter if a if it's a mosque, a temple, a synagogue, a church, etc. since the same challenges would still
exist for each. Many people feel that to summarize it in a nutshell, many people feel that a square peg is trying to be placed in a round hole. Key word with all of this is impact. And
how does this affect everything? Basically, yes, property owners do have rights, but that is why the New Jersey municipal land use law is exists, which protects others as well.
I have previously come up here and compared the mosques in East Brunswick, which are both two beautiful structures. There's the one at 341 Dunham's Corner Road and 402 New Brunswick Avenue, but in comparing it
with this site, I strongly feel we're comparing apples and oranges. With the one at 341 Dunham's Corner Road, the average person, as big as it is, which is pretty comparable to this facility, the average person
wouldn't even know it's there as they're driving by. Compared to the one at 402 New Brunswick Avenue, it's very similar to this situation in and it's how congested it is. But they did not build a threestory structure at the 402 New
Brunswick Avenue site. at 341 Dunham's Corner Road, it is on nine acres, not 2.5. And ironically, the the at the the mosque at 341 Dunham's Corner Road in
East Brunswick just came before the East Brunswick zoning board to ask for an application and permission to be build a cemetery. Makes total sense because they have nine acres of property. Other major topic is traffic.
Unfortunately, we learned at the last meeting which of course is the main concern and it is beyond unfortunate that we cannot that the planning board cannot deny the application based on adding more
vehicles. Sorry. Um, per the traffic, I am not sure if the planning board knows this, but many of us attended on April 26th, Middle Sex County had a safety traffic audit
presentation at the Saraveville Library. Again, we have noted that Ernston Road has been um tagged as one of the most five dangerous roads in Middle Sex County and they are doing a safety audit uh for five of those roads and Ernston
Road being one of them. So, they had a call it a presentation at the Seville Library on on Saturday, April 26, which was between the last application and this one. Many of us were there and we were asked or pointed our concerns. It
might have just been that timing is is a coincidence. Not sure if this would have happened regardless of this application, but I'm glad it happened and many of us pointed out our concerns for this. I'm glad it was noted that per the Middle
Sex County Planning Board that you guys uh per their conditions that a crosswalk in front of um in front of the mosque was more was part of the condition if I
understand it correctly. However, I'm hoping that other crosswalks along that are also not ignored. There's the Villanova area and the one at Ruters. Never mind the two streets that are off
of the Parkway development on the on the Saraveville side. per the concerns I realized that a year was a long time ago and actually the engineer did do a great presentation um on April 3rd at the very first
presentation and I actually asked many people's concerns per the soil boring I believe I asked um what was being done and it was stated that there would be permeability testing he the Mr. Khan
explained that there was K3 and K4 and if I remember correctly the K4 means it's the permeability factor and the K4 means that the water runs at a slower rate while for the K3 it's a moderate
permeability but the also of the concern was was the soil bearing and what is going to be found in the soil the proper engineer for that is actually a geotechnical engineer We all know for those of us who live in this area that Saravel is noted for its
clay. I would hope that proper mitigation would be and support of this building would be done in the event if there's a high clay content within um the soil bearing results pertaining to parking which
again has been a concern. Um, I'm not sure with parking. Was electrical charging stations ever considered for this application? If it's required by state law, we're going to provide it. And I do believe it
is. Thank you very much. Thank you. Um, no, no, I meant thank I was thanking Lawrence. Sorry, not rushing you. I I'm sorry. didn't see you fumbling with papers pertaining to the overflow parking on Johnson Lane. The also
concerned would be the crosswalk going over Bordontown Avenue. And just to make the note that anyone who uses that area for overflow parking when they are going to leave their cars and leave that area,
there is a no lefthand turn onto Ernston Road at that point. So I hope that that is uh honored. Sorry. So, I know this board I know that this board will please consider all
testimony carefully and if the board is to look favorably on this application, please re-emphasize all conditions being established. And on a positive note, I know uh not enough people deserve
credit, but I'd like to give a positive shout out to the board secretary and the stenographer. Thank you all very much. Thank you for that. Ma'am, name and address, please. Annette UAS Parkway
Homes. I have two issues. Could you pull the mic down just a little? Thank you. I have two issues. The first one is the fumes from the underground garage. What will happen? Will it be above the houses?
Will we be smelling it? How will that be taken care of? Well, I'm not sure that you're going to see the underground garage since it's going to be underground. Um, I know that there was testimony, I believe, at one of the prior hearings from the
architect, uh, that obviously, uh, uh, any any vapors will obviously, you know, dissipate up into the atmosphere. I don't think there'll be any, uh, pollution that's generated at ground level as a result of this underground garage. But don't Won't they have fans
in there? I'm sorry. Will, will they have fans in there to You don't want to have automobile there. Yeah, there's got to be some type of There's a ventilation system. Ventilation is is going to be in the basement. Okay. Next thing is the sewer
septic. I live in that area. I have a problem. Every month Sarville comes out, does the clean out. Any more um sewage, it's going to
be more of a problem. what's going to happen. I tried to get a list together from the sewer department, but there was not enough time. Um, but I do know they come on a monthly basis. Otherwise, it goes in my basement and my neighbors and
I don't know if anybody else has that problem. She's behind, right? And this was brought up a year ago when it first Your house is behind the mosque. I'm on Two Parkway Place. I'm on the corner. Okay, it's my house. And then the I
guess number uh three. Okay, across the street, they also have the problem. They redid the sewer years ago when they redid the road. It didn't help. So to me, that's a big concern because now you're going to have a lot more sewage
coming down. What are they going to clean it out every week? If I have sewer problems in my house, are they? Because what happens is it pushes the crap into my sewer pipe and then I have to pay to have somebody clean it
out when it gets that bad. You have it too. Okay. Okay. Okay. So, has anything been taken into consideration for this or have they studied anything? Because this was
brought up a year ago when it first started. This is one of the issues I had answer that. Mr. Chairman, I can read you one of the conditions set forth in our report. Indicates a sanitary sewer analysis report should be revised to include calculations that demonstrate the
adequacy of the existing sanitary sewer downstream of the pro site improvements to accept the increased sewage flows. In addition, approximately a year ago after the questions were raised, I did speak with Mr. Lightner, who is the director of the water and sewer department. He indicated that from his standpoint, he
did not see a problem with capacity in the sewer lines. the problems the problems in the area are not caused by excessive flow. There other problems that he felt that were the cause of the problem. Have they been corrected? Will they be corrected? Because see, I don't understand why once
a month they have to come and do that. And if they don't, then of course it ends up in our basement. This applicant would be required to demonstrate that the system can handle the increased flows from his development. He's not going to be responsible for correcting existing problems that may exist in
front of your property. I understand that. But something has to be done or they Why would they consider adding more sewage to a sewer system that's not working right? Again, Mr. Lightner did not feel that
the problem was a capacity problem. That's up to them to demonstrate. They'll have to submit a report to demonstrate the system can handle it. But he did not feel that the problem would be associated by this new development.
Okay. Thank you. [Music] Ma'am. Hi, my name is Corey Penlin. I live at Liberty Street. My concern is not the mosque, it's the traffic. My only
concern is I just got my driveway done and I live I have three neighbors. The cement truck coming in, the dump trucks coming in caused a problem on my street with
three neighbors. So is that going to be a problem with the construction on the traffic of Ernston Road? meaning cement trucks coming in, you know, uh dump trucks coming in, dump trucks going out. I mean, it took three
dump trucks for my driveway. You're you're building a whole entire building. So now you're going to have one It's only two lanes. You're going to have one lane. So, if they only have right now one
driveway, how are all these trucks going to go out? The only thing I can indicate to the uh to the member of the public is that certainly, and I I just know this is protocol, we're going to have to provide a construction schedule to the
construction department. They don't generally want you know x number of dump trucks arriving at the same time. Also there are weight limit there are weight limitations that have to be complied with as well. So
again whatever the construction department requires will comply with. Okay. But you also it's not just one dump truck at a time. So, for example, my cement was going out, the cement's coming in. Another truck's
coming in. You're building a whole building. So, you're going to have electrical coming in. You're going to have every You're going to have your contractors coming in. You're going to have everyone coming in. They have a right to do that. So, that is you're
talking about a two-lane road and you're talking about a little area. So, you're gonna have to figure that out. You're not going to work from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. I agree. There are certain hours of operation that construction can only
occur. But again, the construction officials in every municipality in New Jersey, not just Serville, impose strict uh strict conditions on how construction will occur. U so we'll certainly comply with that. I was trying to get to dinner
two Mondays ago down Ernston Road. at 6:00 p.m. on a Monday and the traffic was stopped from Ernston Road around the gas station. That was on a Monday, not even on a
Friday. So, you guys just have to think about the traffic that way. Thank you. Carolus Espazito, 6 Villanova Road. Um, this question over the course of this whole process has actually never been answered. According to Sarville Municipal Land Use Law
26.652F, a discussion of site design, project location alternatives um should be had about what was cons I'm sorry, were considered shall be provided. It shall indicate why alternative were rejected and if it would have result in less of a negative
impact than the proposed development. We've never had an answer to what other sites were possibly considered and and why they were rejected. No answer. Okay. That's just part of the serave municipal land use law that that
should be part of the discussion. Um, another question I have is has the fire marshall for Saraveville approved the site plan yet. Mr. Chairman, I believe the applicant provided a copy of plans to the fire official for review, but if there's favorable action taken by this board,
it's a condition in our report that we would need to receive a sign off. Okay. Okay. So, if the fire marshall makes any adjustments such as um access to the rear of the building or um increasing the width of the turn radius
or something, the site plan would then exceed the 45% um of pavement allowed because right now the proposal is 44.83% of the land. Um my next question is actually
it's a comment and I know the um site for Mr. D's is not part of the parking. However, it keeps being stated that there's 22 spots. There are not 22 spots. There are 19 parking spaces at Mr. D's. I've been to the property. It's
19 spaces plus one handicap spot. So, I just wanted that for the record. Um, my next question is, did the applicant submit written approvals for Middle Sex County? because it keeps being talked about that Middle Sex County wants this or Miss Middle Sex County doesn't care
about the deceleration lane, but I've have yet to see any written statements from Middle Sex County in regards to this project at all. Middle Sex County, I believe, has conditionally approved the application.
Um, believe that letter has been provided to the staff. So, but Okay. Okay. So then what are the conditions that if it's like conditionally approved like what are the conditions they're approving it on? Don't have I don't have that off the top of my head ma'am. Okay. So if Middle Sex
County is approving this project based on your approval as a seral planning board I hope you're looking at that closely to see what variances and things are. Middle sex county approves it independently of this board. Okay. So then I'm curious from
the board what those conditions are if that's been provided to you. Um my next question is what happens if any of the stipulations that the board puts into place are not followed such as you know um how what usage of rooms and how many
people that brings in and or um hours of operation. So what happens if those conditions are not being followed? So ma'am there's two really types of conditions that will be placed on an application like this. The first are um design design and construction conditions, right? What we talked about
pre pre-sight work evaluations of of um uh neighboring and adjacent properties um uh construction controls then conditions about about the actual how construction will take place and the building will be built and that that's done through the through the building
department, right? Construction code official. Um once the building is operated and the conditions that are placed on part of the memorializing resolution regarding the operation of the building that becomes then a code enforcement issue. And so if the if the
applicant and subsequent occupant is um failing to comply with those conditions which are legally binding and are part of the record um then it would be handled by the code enforcement office and they would be subject to to code enforcement violations. So similar to what was happening though approximately
a year ago. So that fines would be assessed and it would be up to the applicant to pay or not pay those fines. Correct. Well, I mean depending on the severity of the violation, it could end up in court. I mean it's it's a it's a
very wide range. Okay. Been there, done that with court, I think. Um right now the amount of parking is severely insufficient, I think, as we've all been talking about. and there's really not room for growth. So, the congregation or
um that might be the wrong word. I'm sorry for that. Um you would expect there to be increased growth. So, right now, if we're looking at parking and we're busting at the seams and we are 143 parking spaces short, that's not really giving room for growth over the
years. The traffic studies had to have room for growth. I don't remember what the percent was, but it had to um or that um you know have a certain percentage over the next couple years that you're expecting there to be growth. You would expect that your membership would also grow as population
and traffic would be increasing as well. Um I have here um and in the CME report from April 16th items D5 and D6 they're discussing um a detention basin and I didn't see any of that on any of the um
plans. So my question is where are these detention basins and how would a detention basin affect the quality of life for neighbors mosquitoes gross things that live in that kind of water etc. And if the um land in Saraveville
is clay like what's the I don't know the permeability or whatever like how long is that water going to be sitting there for giant mosquitoes and like I said gross things to be living in that. Does anyone know where these detention basins are?
It's located underneath the parking lot. All underground basin. Yes. Okay. So, I believe D6 talks about above ground. There are some water quality elements to the design and I think that's what D6 is referring to.
like a fountain like a what's a water quality element there there are certain type of BMPs which are best management practice devices that are referenced on their plan and we had some questions about that design okay so all the items in
section D relate to the uh storm water system they still need to provide additional information to verify complies with the burough ordinance requirements okay so they haven't provided that information yet that's correct They've indic They've indicated they will in the future, but it hasn't been submitted yet. Right. But they've
rested. So that's where like I don't understand how you can rest if you haven't provided all the information for you guys to make these decisions. What was indicated previously was that the applicant would comply with all the conditions in that report you're referencing. So anything that's outstanding, they would provide if the
application is approved by the board. Okay. Um the next thing is I live on Villanova. So on Sunday when St. Bernardets lets out. Villanova backs up at least 200 yards on Villanova for about 15 minutes and there's multiple pathways
out of St. Bernardet's. You can go left on Princeton, you go right on Princeton, you can go across, you can come down Villanova. There's multiple ways out. So, I'm trying to envision if this is approved, what would that look like when there's one road out after services are
over, after prayers are over, after Ramadan is over, whatever it might be. I can't envision what that would look like for this location to have one exit onto Ernston Road when St. Bernardet's right there is
backed up for a good 15 minutes at least 200 yards um with multiple pathways out. Um and again about the variances, there's a variance for 16 spots that would be part of the setback. So if you
took that out of the equation, if you did not approve that, now we're even grossly more insufficient in parking. Um there was a variance for the deceleration lane. There was a variance for sidewalks, curbing, and the loading area. Without that variance approval,
again, the amount of paved land would go over the 45% allowed by the several municipal land use laws. That's all I've got other than I'm really concerned about this size of this project in the location of the project
and the ramifications that inadequate parking will do to the entire area of Saraveville and Oldbridge. You're dealing with two towns here and it's just really not a good situation. Thank you very much. Thank you.
Muhammad Navid, 34 Cory Street. 34 Cory Street, Arland, New Jersey. Stand Stand closer to the mic, please. Thank you. All right. Is it any better? Yeah, much better. Uh I'm not sure if there was so much u uh back and forth
when there were new warehouses that were coming up in Sville and new apartments that were coming up. But uh besides the point uh I want to raise a couple of points here and I've been a serville resident for uh more than 15 years now.
Um and um I see that there is a there is a temple in the area and I think it's a very integral part of Sville right and I'm sure there was push back when that was getting approved whenever that was
and we um the proposal for Maj Sadhar is to become an integral part of Seville also and why is that so right u because we have so many apartments. We have made
Sirville our home. We have made uh we have so many apartments that are being built in serville. We have gymnasiums being built over here. We have restaurants being built over here. That's the body part of ours, right? But what about our
souls? Our souls need a place. And that place is the mosque. Just like there's church, just like there's the temple, we need a mosque in the area. And that's what we are proposing over here. We have been obliging to whatever
is needed. There were certain things that were missed and we are trying to oblige to that. We have been coming to the board meetings whatever is needed. All the kids, all the ladies, all the elders, we have been here trying to follow up as to whatever is needed.
uh our only ask is that a mosque is a place for us to have a peaceful dialogue. It's a community center. It's not only for uh for one community, for one religion,
but it's for everybody. Uh we ask um uh that uh the board please approve this and of course like the imam said earlier we want to have a collaboration and uh we want to make this uh not something that is painful for uh anybody even the
neighbors we want it to be something that is uh an integral part of cerevil going forward. Thank you. [Applause] Um, before you speak, I can't speak again. No, not until everybody else is done. Okay.
You didn't listen any sir. Yeah. Good evening. Michael K, 12 Vincent Street, Parland. 12 Vincent Street, Parland.
This will lift it up. Okay. Um, thank you all for your time, attention, experts, opinions. Uh, been coming for 15 months and I know how challenging it is for me to come here. For you to be in intimately involved with it is something
extra. Um, I don't believe this site is worthy of the magnificent structure. I don't think they'll be happy there. Uh, a short-term win is going to create hardship for decades. I believe this site is too
small for the structure, parking, safe access for attendees and the public driving past. The variances required to prove the application should not be granted. Insufficient parking against burough requirements. The number is contested. I
still don't know what they're providing versus what is suggested and demanded by the burrow. Trust it'll come out in the wash. However, indisputable is that they're requesting parking in the setback. That is a variance. I got 15
spots. Might be 16 spots. by their drawing CO3. There are 11 directly in the driveway within the first one is within 25 ft of an active roadway where people go 35 miles an hour
plus. We all talk about traffic. We all deal with the traffic on Ernston Road. For safety, I'll tell you that there are people far exceeding 35 miles per hour when there is not bumper-to-bumper traffic because it's a opportunity to
drive unimpeded between Route 9 and the traffic light at board in 10 Avenue. Traffic engineer, I'm not going to ask the question. It's comment period. I'm going to tell you people anecdotally they far exceed 35 miles per
hour. Parking in the setback is it uh no deceleration lane. People are exceeding the speed limit of 35 miles an hour and they're going to get to zero miles per hour with cars in a driveway because there'll be
birectional traffic. I still haven't seen a drawing that shows a dedicated exit. They both still show in and out. I don't think it's safe to decelerate to pull into a driveway that
tight with incoming traffic. I have anecdotal 40 years of experience driving into Center Street and Parkway Place and if there's a car in the opposite direction, I have to come to nearly a complete stop because of the radius of
my turn into the street. So, people are not happy when they're doing 35 plus miles per hour on my tail as I have to come to a near complete stop to pull into Parkway Place. So, I don't know if that's a variance or because the county is not mandating it,
it's not a variance, but I will tell you it's a safety issue that's far more important because of the nature of the parking lot, the already limited parking
available, the cars that will be parked very close to that active driveway where that deceleration will take place. Like it or not, it will be right there on the property. I count 11 spots directly in that driveway that there is no other way
out of those spots besides into the oncoming or exiting traffic from the site. So, in terms of a quick turnover of a parking lot, I'm not a parking engineer. I cannot testify. However, I can anecdotally tell you that there's a
car in front of me. I cannot drive through the car. If there are multiple cars in front of me exiting parking spots, I cannot access the exits, nor can I get onto the site, which has more negative impact on Ernstston Road because they will not even make the site
because the driveway is full. Regardless of a patrolman dictating, directing traffic in and out, once it already happens, it will impact further upstream and downstream, and it will not make for
a quick ingress or eress onto the site. I've got notes and pictures. A lot of people have gone into many of the items already. I don't want to waste anyone's time um going over
it, but you've got parking concerns by the numbers. We've got electric mandates for vehicles. They claim they're not going to park under the building. It's going to reduce the amount of parking available for EVs to the surface lot, which already is small, which will be
reduced by 15 or 16 spots without the variance being granted. I believe that the lack of uh separated island in the parking lot
proposed creates pedestrian hazards into a very active parking lot with the majority of the parking spaces mandating people pedestrians walk through the driveway of the entrance and
the exit of the lot to get to the building. There is a single walkway through the middle of the parking lot with an island to separate it decoratively, but not from the traffic
coming in and out of the parking lot coming in and out of the under building parking lot. In my opinion, because the building is at the maximum imperous surface, there's not enough room left over to provide safe access for
sidewalks. Not enough impervious surface metrics available to provide rear building access to fire officials, emergency cleanup, maintenance because it's all in the building. I haven't seen again I haven't
seen drawings that show an updated exit plan still have double not take any more of time again thank you very much good luck appreciate your time anybody else like to speak on this matter sir
Vanessa Carney. Vanessa Carney. Excuse me. First, I'll go with the gentleman that lived across the street. I grew up in Parkway. He commented on all the variances. If I wanted to do a variance
on my house, I'd have to get all the neighbors to approve. Apparently, that's not the case in this situation. They just get washed away. I have to get everybody else to sign off. If they don't sign off, I don't get a
change in my house. That's okay. Not a big deal. The gentleman that said, "You deserve the mosque." You definitely do. It's just the wrong location. There's so many other
locations that you can build a mosque and have your parking in several that doesn't affect a small tight fit community. There's there's no
reason when there's so many other spaces. They're we're building everywhere apparently. So why not build a mosque where there's space, not where it's closed up? Thank you,
sir. You're next. Tom Kasovich, uh, Parl. Um, from what I hear from everybody, the common thread is quality of life. And what we see here is the
deterioration of which the people that have lived here for years don't want to see their communities
um further degraded. There was a time, and I'm old enough to remember, when you couldn't dig a hole in the uh urban uh the uh suburban uh
areas due to uh green spaces, uh global change and the such. Now you have to deal dig a hole. What changed? How come you how come we
were building over and over and without regard to uh the quality of life? I don't understand. First you can't build. Now you can build. They're building on the wetlands. They're building in our communities, in
our homes. They're tearing down the homes to build a building. I don't get it. Maybe you can explain it. Um, from what I hear, I hear people with their genuine
concerns and they are genuine, but as a response, I hear promises. We have legitimate concerns and they are real. They're not imagined. But then we hear promises that
don't worry about anything. everything will be okay until it's too late. We have to live with the with the fallout, the noise, the congestion, property values decline, and
likely un some some unforeseen uh issues like one gentleman or lady, I don't recall who said that there might be hard feelings for
decades. Well, that's a real concern, too. A lot of people are not going to be happy and those things don't go away. Look at the news. That's pretty much all I have to say. Thank you very much,
sir. Good evening everyone. Sayyad Ali, 44 Kier Street, Barland, New Jersey. Um, I've been following this hearing uh from the time the application was filed. I've attended most of the hearing either in
person or uh virtually. uh a few things that I wanted to just learn or perhaps bring up the question to just answer some of the questions were raised by our neighbors and other speakers before me. This is the
application for the planning board to consider and approve or deny. But the construction will not begin when the applicant has to file an application or get a permit for anything. Is that correct or not? It's correct. Right.
there there will be application at every stage of the process right for demolition for digging and those permits have to be approved by the construction official before anything begins. That's correct. So all those concerns raised here about the environment about the the
ammunition or anything found under the ground will be addressed at at at every step of step of the process. So it's not like if the application is approved today which I hope we do it will start the construction tomorrow. There are stages that the applicant has to follow
for each step of the process including demolition construction foundation you know framing roofing and and so on. So and and that for that purpose the town has its own officials building department construction department who
has to come inspect and you know look at the permit application approve it and then come back and inspect and approve the building. So it's a process that we all have to go through just like when we built our house just like we had a big giant you know warehouse or the the
arsenal uh facility that was built on uh on cheese I believe. So that is a huge structure. I don't know how many objections and and concern were raised when the entire you know wooded area of
many acres were actually taken away and and those arsenal project was built. I I've seen a lot of those here for such a small project. All I can say and and perhaps as part of the community that that is uh that belongs to this
community center that this center is only going to add more beauty to the town and bring more you know more not just in terms of look when we operated here for almost a year year and a half we have tried to do
as best as possible with our neighbors. We were visiting them throughout all holiday seasons. We were, you know, trying our best and we'll continue to do that. Now, it's up to our neighbors also to do reciprocal, you know, e effort to
try and and build a relationship and that's what we're going to we're going to look forward to when when we're there. Uh, God willing. Thank you so much. Thank you, sir. Ma'am, the lady from Oldbridge. Good evening to everybody here tonight.
Respected planning board and congregants, neighbors, friends. I've known my applicants fresh 216 Ernston Road. Fresh. Thank you. I've known the applicants for many years and even
taught the children of some of the applicants. I would request to take a moment for everybody in this room to reflect. Reflect for a moment and try to take a human first approach. Respect is the foundation of
our faith and all of your views are respected and taken into consideration. Please remember this is a communityrun project. The religious activities of this entity encourage morals, ethics,
and how to be better humans in society. This community has hired attorneys, engineers, consultants, and professionals who also follow and go by
code. For years, this community has been following and cooperating and have been law-abiding citizens who undoubtedly will satisfy ordinances issued and construction codes required. The law of
this state requires checks and balances and the applicants will work hard to ensure that those requirements are fulfilled. Our faith encourages to be kind to your neighbor. Make sure your neighbor is fed, sheltered, and clothed.
We are one community, and I ask that we come together and support each other. The applicants will fulfill their end of the deal, and like our cleric said earlier, this center will enrich the neighborhood with service, with mercy,
and with harmony. To the neighbors and community members that are here with us today, I understand your concerns and I understand the fear. It is normal when there is an unknown factor presented, but I encourage you to get to know the
applicants and witness the love and mercy these folks have to give to you and your communities. And I thank you also for the efforts of attending and asking your questions. But I also ask you to have open minds and open hearts
and allow this beautiful community to further enrich what you've already built. Thank you to the planning board for taking the time to listen and carefully consider this decision. We appreciate your support and we humbly request that you allow our congregants
to peacefully worship and coexist. Thank you. Thank you. My name is Glorinda Capone. I live in Laurel Park section of Seville. First and foremost, this has nothing to do with the people in this room not wanting
a mosque being built in Seville. You don't get that as a resident of Seville. It is about where this mosque is being built. I have been a resident of Sarah for 36 years. My husband and I have lived in
Laurel Park for 30 of those years. My backyard faces Ernston Road. As it was stated earlier, Middle Sex County designated Ernston Road as one of the most dangerous county roads in this town in in the in the
county. One of the five most dangerous. They had a public meeting on I'm not going to go over that part of it. Okay. But the bottom line is that you're being asked to approve a 40,000 square foot plus 40,000 plus square foot building in
the middle of Ernston Road in the middle of residential homes. If approved, this is going to create additional safety issues, not just for the members of the local residents, but for members of the
mosques. Ernston Road is is a death trap. It is hard to get around Ernston Road morning, noon, night, weekends, and let's not even talk about when school's letting out. Additional traffic, cars,
pedestrians crossing roads will be impacting the quality of life of local residents. I know it's been mentioned by this board numerous times that traffic isn't a reason for an approval to be denied. But
is quality of life of the Saraveville residents is the impact it will have on the value of our homes. The extra time it will take to get children to school, to sports, to work, to medical appointments. Not to mention, God forbid
there's a medical emergency in my development. You can't get into my development. An accident, a fire, and of lately, as the gentleman mentioned earlier, Ernston Road has been the hub of emergency vehicles going up and down
the road morning, noon, and night. At the last meeting, it was stated that activities won't be going on during prayer times. We all know there will be an overlap. It's a given at any house of worship which will impact
traffic in and out of the mosque. I ask the planning board to please consider how this is going to impact the quality of life. That is it. The quality of life of the local residents. There are apartment
buildings, everything being built all over this town. There is a better location for this mosque and we welcome you to Sarville, not on Ernston Road in the middle of our homes. Next. Next. Thank
you. That's okay. Good evening. myrr Jacksonf Parllin. Um, can you hear me? Well, I just had two comments on number one, location, and number two, quality of life since it's a major concern. Um,
locationwise, personally, I've been living in this town for 20 plus years, so I am a resident of Saraveville. Um, we are all neighbors. And I would say that Ernston Road, the mosque being on Ernston Road is imperative. Last Ramadan, unfortunately, we couldn't
practice at this location, but we were at Samul, and I'll tell you that it was a huge blessing to be able to finish teaching, go back home, break your fast, eat dinner, and make it to prayers on time because of the location. Now,
think of the that Sadar two minutes from Samil. It's the same thing. A mosque is a per is meant to be in your daily life, not something far away. It's supposed to be at the center of your life, the
center of your community. The neighbors of Seville are of all denominations. So when we say the neighbors need a mosque, the neighbors do need a mosque. We need a center to put our hearts to our spirituality.
It's the same thing as school, as medical emergencies, as anything else critical in life. Our souls matter. Without it, we are nothing. Our communities matter. And the next thing is the quality of life.
The quality of life since the musk has been in cereal for me has personally improved greatly. To be given a purpose, to be given the opportunity to teach, to volunteer, to give back to comm the
community has not only helped my life, but help me realize that we are not meant to live alone in this world. I have met people that have lived in cereal alongside me that I didn't know for years. And it's just through the mosque that that was possible. I also
want to make note about other locations. If anybody is given free land, please give it to the masid. That would be nice. But unfortunately, that's not the case. So, if we can make do with our location and we could follow all the
rules and everything, we can improve this community. We need a mosque in Saravel. We need it on Ernston Road. We need it at 212 to 216 Ernston Road. Thank you. Thank you. Yo yo,
you're out of order. You speak through the chair and it's not your turn. Good evening. My name is Debbie Lynch. I live on Palaski Avenue here in Saraveville. And once again, I'd like to re reiterate what other people have
already mentioned. We are not opposed of the mosque here in Saraveville. We're opposed of the location. At all these meetings, we've all talked about the traffic, and I know traffic is not the determining factor, but we talk about the traffic and the
congestion in front of where the mosque is planned to be built. Nobody has considered what happens on the other side of Bordontown Avenue. And I don't live directly in that area, but for any people who were at the meetings for the
um bus depot here in Saraveville, the people from Laurel Park all came out and protested because they can't make a left-hand turn on Ernston Road. The people, including our mayor, commented that he can't make a right-hand turn on
Ernston Road. Now, all that traffic is going to bottleneck in front of the proposed building. Where is that going? Further down Ernston Road. We only have what? Three major roads in Saraveville. Main Street, Washington, and Ernston.
Washington Road is going to be a deadlock. I live on the other end of town. We're not going to be able to move. 3:30 last week, I think it was last Monday or Tuesday, the Main Street extension was backed up all the way to
the fire building. Several has not stopped building in the last two years. We have more apartments going up. Riverton's going up, which is proposed how many thousands of apartments. How are people getting to Riverton that live south of
Route 9 in Marboro in Freehold? To get there, they have to come down Ernston Road. We're doing nothing in several but bottlenecking our roads. We have a Wawa now going up. We have more apartments going up on Main Street. We have condos
going up behind Casaverie and thousands of apartments and condos going up in Riverton. We are not going to be able to move in this town and that is what we are asking. A different location would be great and we welcome you
and there's nothing wrong with traveling 2 minutes to get to where your soul is going to rest. I've been a resident in this town between my husband and I and my parents before me for over a hundred years and I travel now 15 minutes to
South Amboy to go to my church and there's nothing wrong with that and we are a good community here in Saraveville but we need to respect one another and our quality of life. My quality of life has changed drastically in the last two years because of all the
building that they're doing in this town. They're turning our town into a little Manhattan. This isn't the town I grew up in 70ome years ago. And the thing that really scares me even more
is the gentleman that spoke about the East Brunswick Mosque and now they're they're building more and they're building a cemetery. How many more houses? How many more plots of land are they going to acquire on Ernston Road?
And are we going to be here next year and the following year because we've been here for two years already trying to approve more buildings going up or for more more parishioners to come or are we going to be here for a
burial ground the next time? Our roads can't take this. We need to find a different location. and you would have the support of everyone here in Saraveville. That's it. Thank you. Anybody else? Which s in the back
with the brown hat. Mike Weaver, Temp Parkway, Parland. Um, good evening. Most of the stuff that I has has been brought up already that I was going to go over, but there is one request is that before they start building, I know they have to do a
rodent uh rebatement, I believe it's called, where they have to set out traps when they're going to knock down the buildings and stuff like that, but because this all started in 2019 and when they started cutting down the trees, a lot of the trees are still
sitting there. Some uh building debris has been dumped on the property since then from a landscaper or something like that. Plus firewood. Uh three trailer loads of firewood have been dumped on the property since then. It's breeding ground for rodents.
Beating breeding ground for uh bugs. So, what I'd like is if this does get approved is that you guys do instead of just setting the traps a week before the building gets knocked down, do a six-month or a one-year re uh rebatement before that. This way, it can take care
of all the rodents that are already living there now inside of these trees, the dead trees laying on the ground because I get them all the time in my backyard. I have road I have mice living in my shed in my lawn mower and stuff like that because they're all breeding
over there. So I would just request that the uh the board does do something about that. Has them make it so that they have to do a six month or something like that. And that's it. Thank you. Anybody else that hasn't spoke like
to speak? Anybody else that hasn't spoke like to speak? Hang on. I have a question. If everything gets approved by EPA, you know, everything gets approved, who has the final word? Is it
you guys you nine that vote on it? If everything else is approved from the county, There there is no final approval. It's an application such as this requires approval from various entities and they have to get it the applicant must get it
from everyone the county the state municipality and so it's it the generally and the applicant has the right any applicant has the right to to seek these approvals in the order that they they choose right I deal with a lot of clients who who may
be down in southern Jersey in the Pinelands and you have to get Pinelands approval to build there and and that that can be quite an ordeal so often Often times an applicant will say listen I want to know if I'm going to get filance approval before I come before a board but they're not required to any application such as this which has other
approvals what we call outside agency approvals if it's approved it says subject to receipt of all outside agency approvals and when outside agencies give those approvals like if they give it ahead of a of a municipal land use board doing it they also say this is conditional on you actually getting
approval from everybody else who has to do it so that the state of New Jersey doesn't prescribe these specific specific order of operation as to to to how you have to go about it as an as an applicant. Okay. But if all of those entities do approve, do you guys have
any say after that? Well, this board has its say when it's supposed to. It doesn't matter when those approvals come in. This board's review of this application is limited to the scope of this board's authority, right? And so whether or not if if an applicant
doesn't get outside agency approval and let's say they get board approval, well they then they're stuck because they can't build. If they don't get board approval but they have outside agency approval, well they're stuck. They can't build. So who approves first? There is no side or you guys? There's no there's
no prescribed rule for that. The applicant has the right to obtain those approvals in any order they want to. And every applicant does it differently based on the project. Sometimes you wait and you you if there's significant county issues, an applicant will go to the county first because they want to know that they're going to get that.
Other times they just go to the municipality first and then after getting municipal approval, they'll seek to get outside agency. And have they gotten approvals yet? The applicant testified earlier or should say the applicant's attorney made a representation on the record as to the
county approval. Now, there's a number of approvals they need and they were all set forth in the application that they've received county approval. Right. I know the county, but what else did they get approved for? Who else approved you guys? Do you have a list of that? Well, I I
can tell you that there are certain outside agencies in Middle Sex County that will require our approval. We will not seek those approvals until we know what's happening with the local land use board. For instance, there's something called the Freehold Soil Conservation
District. I'm not going to apply for that if I don't get an approval here. If we get an approval from this board, then we'll apply for freehold soil. So, you guys do the approval first? That's my question. Who starts the ball rolling? Well, let let me give a generality on
it. Yes, most applicants will go in front of the municipality to seek either a zoning board or planning board approval before they spend money on other outside agency approvals. Right. That's the norm. That's what I thought. So my question
is you guys have to approve it first before they go on. They No, this board does not. The applicant can choose, but the applicant could go to seek all the approvals at the same time. He don't want to. He wants to get approval from you guys. That's his choice. Okay. So is
that it? That's what he's going to do. Before he gets approvals from anybody else, you guys are the ones that are going to vote first, right? One way or the other. One way or the other. Now, does it have to be all nine of you agree or could it be 54?
54 is a winner either way. 54 is either. So, that's it. Five. So, if five of you say yes, then that's it. That's the approval. Either way. Either way or say no. That's the approval. 54. Okay. All right. So, you
guys asked my address. What's your addresses? Do you all live here? Well, to serve on a on a municipal land use board, you have to reside within municip, right? Yes. You all live in the
town. Do you all live near Ernston Road by chance? Any of you live by Ernston Road? Anybody? I live right off of Washington Road. Sometimes it takes me three lights to get out. Oh, I know. I
know. I know. I know. So, me, too. Well, now it's going to take you 12 lights if you say yes. Unfortunately, we can't deny it on traffic. Well, there's so many other things you can deny it for. There's so many other
things like I don't understand 42,000 square feet. They can't make it smaller, a small mosque. How many people, how many towns are going to come here for this mosque? We know when the Indians
have their holidays, they come from Edison, they come from all over and we have to have, you know, the cops, the traffic, you know, what are they, what's going to happen with them, you know, they're going to come from other towns on Ramadan. They're going to come from
all over. I mean, it's not just going to be how many how what's the capacity of the building? How many people does it hold? The applicant has provided thorough testimony as to this. Um there was an opportunity to question both the
applicant's representative, their engineer, their architect, and their planner on these items. And has been done numerous times over the past. Yeah. Well, I wasn't here because you how many people the building holds. Well, if you had been at the last
meeting, ma'am, I wasn't. All right. Well, all right. Well, at the last meeting there was a representation made and a condition made that there are strict occupancy limitations. And what's the occupancy? I'm not going to ma'am I I don't you know we we rehashed this at
the last meeting. Uh the believe the uh the house the house of worship ritual rooms have an occupancy of 321. It was reduced from 454. So at any given time there could only be
300 people in that building. That's correct. At that and and again if you had been at some of the prior hearings you also would have known. Well anytime I want to come they were called off. I won't answer if you want to interrupt me. That's fun to know how many people in a
42,000 that's it 300 people can only worship at one time. Chairman am I compelled to answer these questions? Okay. I mean, the testimony was This testimony has all been all been rehashed. Just because you weren't here, we're not gonna we're not gonna That's
what I can I read it somewhere. Is it somewhere where I can read up? You can you can go to the burrow hall and get all the transcripts. That's then that's what I'll do. But everybody here lives by Ernston Road. Anybody? You do. You're the only one.
I'm hoping I can count on your vote. Well, and I will just counsel members of the board that it's inappropriate to ever base your vote on a personal interest or on how an application would affect your own personal property or your life. Listen, everybody needs to be realistic, too. You know, everybody has
to be realistic. You know that there's plenty, and don't get insulted because I'm not picking anybody out, but there's plenty of corruption when it comes to things like this. May I have your may have your comments, chairman, the second time, I think you should sit down. No,
because that's unfair. I'm I'm not going to sit up, ma'am. I'm not going to sit up here as a chairman of a board and have you degrade my board. That's not fair to anybody. Wouldn't let them do it. I'm not going to let you do it. Well, because if it wasn't, you guys
would know. That's not true. By the way, you should apologize to this board. I'm not going to sit down. Not apologize. Sit down. Thank you. But I wasn't picking out you. I don't care who you're picking out. Saying it is wrong. No,
it's not. Yes, it is. It's true. This is a bad word. Hurts. The truth hurts. Um, Carol Espazito, six Villanova Road. Um, one thing I just want thought of while I was sitting there is originally
the applicant um stated that Ramadan facility um services were are were not going to be happening on site. Recently that has changed that they will be hosting um the month-long of Ramadan on site. So again with a celebration of
that extent and for that long period of time yet again the parking situation will be extremely insufficient especially for some large celebration that lasts an entire month long. I know um Eid would considered um was still
going to be held off site at um the park um Kennedy Park. However, Ramadan is now going to be um celebrated at Ernston Road and again parking huge issue for that um
celebration. The other thing I would just wanted to ask the board, can you just explain the process after we finish tonight? What happens and timelines? Go ahead. So, uh ma'am, what what's going to happen? And chairman, you're okay if I
disclose it? We've discussed this and I'm going to have the attorney explain what we're going to do. Okay. Thank you. So the the last portion of a land use application is the opportunity for public comment, questions, and put evidence in the record. And that's what we're doing right now. Um, generally
then the application is closed. The the the applicant's actually given an opportunity to do a closing statement or a submission. Um, and then the application is closed and it goes to the board. Um, generally then the the board would hear a motion. However, in this particular case, um upon the advice of
council as well as the other professionals, um we're recommending that the board not take action tonight for the reason that um I've spent time over the since the last meeting. I know the other professionals have going through the record identifying the various conditions that have been agreed
to. Some of those conditions are then subsequently modified because there have been subsequent changes to the plan as you know. There have been changes to both the parking structure, there have been changes to both occupancy, there's been changes to use. a lot of changes as this as this is developed. And um in
doing that, you know, we we sort of determined that it it in order to ensure that all the conditions are crystal clear um set forth in writing and that all the members of the board are fully aware of the conditions that have been agreed to and maybe some that have not been agreed to. that it would not be uh
prudent to to rush to a vote tonight until we had an opportunity to go through the complete record and identify each and every condition and be able to articulate to members of the board and the public how those conditions would affect the would affect the development as well as the operation of this site.
Um so what what is going to happen when public comment closes tonight is that Mr. Saxs will be given the opportunity to provide his summation. The um application will then close um the meeting since there's nothing else unless there's old business or any other any other matters on the agenda. the
meeting close and at a subsequent meeting the board without hearing any additional testimony, comment or evidence will have a vote um that will be on the full application as to the most current version of the application that's been introduced by the applicant
and with all of the conditions that and variances as well as all the conditions that have been requested by the public by the board have been agreed to by the applicant. And there may be conditions that board members want to put on the applicant may not have agreed to but that that's so that's the process that's
going to occur. Is there a timeline that you have to do this within like is there a set number of days that you have to come back is already booked. Our first meeting open is June 4th. So that's when we intend to have that not only when we gather all this information that we have
so that we can make a correct vote. We're going to have it delivered to Mr. Saxs. So if he has any questions on what we're what we're looking at to make our decision, he he can have some input. But that's it. Okay. So I encourage the board because this has changed
significantly. I not really sure on any given meeting when I come here what I'm actually looking at for the pro the the building structure. So, I really encourage you all to really take that time and go through everything because it seems like every time we've been here, there was always a change and
that's why we want to do this. I just I just asked the attorney if we could when we have the agenda put up that we can put put up everything that's being asked and agreed upon, okay, to everybody. So, we're not trying to do this in the dark.
We're trying to keep it as transparent as possible. We want to make the best choice that we can for the town and for the people that live in town and worship in town. So, thank you. Thank you, sir. Go ahead.
Nazim Sahib, director and imam of Mashid Sadaran Community Center. First of all, I I would like to say that before now, I have never appreciated the type
of job members of the council normally do. I mean sitting here and coming here for the past months I have a deeper appreciation for the job that you guys
do your commitment and your perseverance and patience to listen to us. It's not easy and volunteering I mean it's I'm not sure if I can able to fit into that situation to do what you're doing. So I would like to take this opportunity to
uh to commend you guys for doing an amazing job sitting there listening to what we have to say. Secondly, as the imam, someone who leads the community, I think we need to learn to
appreciate each other's religion and try to learn a little more about them. It's very difficult for me to to look at a person who is a Jewish person or a Christian brethren or from the Hindu
faith or the seek faith and judge that practices based on my personal practices. They cannot do that. And so it is very important for us to be more open, learn about the different culture to appreciate what and how people
worship. This was the teachings of all the prophets including Abraham and Moses and Jesus including Muhammad and peace be upon all of them. They were brothers and they taught us how we should able to appreciate each other's culture, each
other's religion that we can coexist within the community. So what I've been hearing is like we want this mosque but we don't want it here. that
somehow is based on how I perceive my worship to be. You see in Islam we worship five times a day and you need accessibility to a house of worship. That's how we we worship. And so it is
very important for others, my Christian brothers, my Hindu brothers and Jewish brothers and friends to understand and appreciate my modus operande of how I worship my creator each one of us. And so I cannot judge you based on how I
worship. You have to be able to look into deeper uh understanding of my worship and able to appreciate and then we can able to understand why we need a house of worship that is access I mean
very accessible for the community that they can go to worship and you could imagine we were sitting here we we finished one prayer right within five minutes most of you probably did not know you see a few people went out they pray and they came back within 5
minutes. That's how it is. And so when we appreciate how we worship and the culture of each other, I think we will be able to coexist and appreciate the understanding and try to live together in a very peaceful way. Thank you.
Anybody else like to speak on this matter? Anybody else like to speak on this matter? Seeing none, seeing none, I'll take a roll call vote to close uh and then have
you, you know, Mr. Chairman, in terms I'd rather I think I'd rather sum up at the next meeting because I'd like to review all the conditions and perhaps reference them in my summation and I promise you I'll be brief in that summation. So, we can't put a timeline
on it, but it it you know, we're fitting it in that day. So, okay. Going to need to be brief. I will be brief. Okay. Can we get a motion to close? And need a motion to close.
Second. All in favor? I opposed. Um, all business, new business, administrative matters. Our next meeting um is May 21st and we will be located back at Burough Hall. Yeah, Mr. Chairman, I'm I'm assuming
there'll be you're going to need to carry Well, I think you're you're going to carry it till June 4th, but that would be without further notice. That's correct. That's correct. Okay. Does everybody understand that we need a motion for that? We shouldn't carry
that. What are we doing? Carry for the notice here. Everybody understand that we're going to carry this to the to June 4th and it's not going to be here. It's going to be at Barl Hall. Other way around. No, I think we want to
do it here. We want to do it here. We can't do it. No, we can't. Barrel Hall. Barrel Hall. Yeah. It's going to be June 4th at Barl Hall. 7:30. And you don't and you you'll carry over close to the public.
Close to the public. All in favor? I Yeah, Mr. Chairman, just for your request, yes, I will consent to this being carried till June 4th at Burrow Hall at 7:30 p.m. without any further notice, at which time the only matters
that will occur will be my brief summation and obviously a request for a vote. Okay. Thank you very much. Before you leave, I'd like to thank the public for everything that they did. I'd like to thank thank the court synographer and and the board
secretary, all the professionals on both sides and especially my board. Thank you very much. Can I get a motion to adjurnn? Second. All in favor? Thank you. I know. I asked you this before.