oh yeah it's on okay good evening the meeting of the board of adjustment for the Bureau of Somerville for April 16 2025 will please come to order adequate notice of this meeting as required by the Open Public Meeting Act has been that on January 18th 2025 a
copy of the notice specifying the date time and location was posted on a Bolton board outside of Burough Hall given to the clerk administrator mailed facts or emailed to the Courier News and placed on the Burough website if any member of this body believes that this meeting is being held in violation of the Open
Public Meeting Act please state your views at this time none these proceedings are of a judicial nature only those items on the agenda that we can uh adjudicate will be heard all questions will be
directed to towards those uh items on the agenda proper judicial decorum must and will be maintained next item roll call here here
ah here okay any conflicts okay next item pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for
all okay okay next item approval of the minutes of the uh March meeting March 19th second move and second any uh discussion any question roll call please
yes okay next item resolutions would you like to read the resolution um the time we already [Music] I can just speak up if you want oh there
you go um yeah this works thank you uh the resolution for Ricardi has been distributed to the board uh this was a pretty straightforward matter uh that was uh approved unanimously
i don't see any the only one change and I appreciate the uh uh our board uh administrator secretary telling me uh I transpose the uh who would pay for the publication and I will correct that and
I would simply ask that the board approved the resolution with that one revision unless there are any other comments on the form and content of what what I provided you so would like to move it with the um with the corrections i'll move it with
the corrections second move and second any any further discussion roll call please chairman Adair yes robera Carpinets yes morgan McGlaclin yes rich O'Neal yes brian Badimky yes john Flores yes that was such an easy application i
wish they were all like that so this is next next resolution okay uh 188 West High Somerville mr chairman this is the uh essentially the appeal resolution whereby we uh overturned a decision made
by the zoning officer and that's not to imply she did the wrong thing but actually she did the right thing because she made the decision and left it to the board to decide which is what a which is what a zoning officer is supposed to do
um we determined that the uh application for uh that the application could be approved uh you know that the that the application could go forward and that the proposed use was uh that the propos
that the proposed use and proposed application was acceptable uh we did not approve the application let me there were in reading in reviewing the transcript we had a number of we had a number of questions from members of the interested public wondering if this was
an approval of the application no this was merely an overturning saying that it that it didn't need uh you know in in in conjunction with the building permit the building permit could be a building permit can be issued but uh the
applicant is still subject to further proceedings going forward in the development process um if there's any questions as to that you know on that one there's no there's no issue as to uh we corrected any issue
in terms of you know the bearing the cost of publication um and again it was pretty straightforward so I don't believe it's something where the board would I don't think the board would have any issues and unless there are
questions with respect to the existing form and content I would ask that the board adopt the resolution as presented so we like to move it i move for adoption second second yep
any any further discussion i brought up some points when we were doing this and Rich and I had a a conversation and Mike and I had a conversation one of the things we wanted to do with that is to get that out there
um inherently beneficial use is one of those terms that's going to turn around and bite us in the butt and I think that we're going to reach a point where how much is enough because right
now we don't know nobody in this town knows how many uh group homes we have and I know that in certain things on my job my job is considered an inherently beneficial use but the state has come in and said "Yes you can have a cemetery if
it meets this criteria right you can only and it must and you may not have more than five municipality and it may not take up more than x amount of acres or percentage of the acreage if they can put the cap on this kind of business I
think they need to take a look at inherently beneficial uses how many group homes or how many cell towers can we be hit with well we've been we've been discussing this i mean I'm chairman of the municipal land use law drafting committee and that's an an issue that
often comes up before us it's a uh a problem i mean one of the problems is that we have you know are the MLU or L the MLUL at section 66.1 essentially you know takes a lot of the
authority of the board away and federal law federal decisional law and federal statute law also you know kind of removes a lot of wiggle I don't want to say wiggle room but a lot of discretion from the board to control or otherwise
limit some of these kind of uses so you know at this point we can only do what we can do within the bounds of the MLUL and federal law uh do I think it could be a problem yes this is no different than what we discussed back in the day when cell towers were continued
considered to be inherently beneficial uses and ultimately there were there was some push back on that and so they still basically you know that that can be a contestable issue right doing that right
and uh they're they're the problem at this point is and admittedly the the I I the draftsman I'm one of them but uh we've tried to make changes and the legislature really doesn't want to do
anything there i mean they're they're definitely uh subject to the uh the concerns expressed by interests representing you know disabled obviously the disabled and developmentally disabled you know those people who would
need housing like this you know in the case of what what the use is here the question is is how far you go the joke always was is one of these days we were going to have adult bookstores as inherently beneficial uses i thought they No we're not we're not
well the I think I think that was probably baked into the development of the internet because people people do things in their own uh living rooms now but there's always discussion you know that issue with um the issue with
electronic vehicles i mean that's been a that's been a real very contested issue that now yep we're dealing with it now and of course we're dealing with it even more given some of the controversies
that surround electronic vehicles um so it's it's something it's something unfortunately there isn't a lot we can do the most important thing I think is that we let we make sure our legislators know that you know this is a this is not
a good idea and we don't want that or you you know in certain instances I don't want to sound like no uses are inherently beneficial but you know I think we have to be far more sensitive as to uh as to what's in there as Bill
Cox said God rest his soul he used to say inherently beneficial can also mean inherently dangerous and that's kind of where we are i mean that's not to cast dispersion on what we did at 188 West High Somerville
i mean that was a that was a good that was a good use uh and and a valuable use and it's in the hands of you know people that we've worked with but not everyone has been like that we know and we know that well fortunately for us the even
though we can't use that as part of our um approval is that the last three or four that have come before us were all private corporations that were paying taxes correct if we had 18 correct 18 of them were that weren't paying taxes
well you I do think I mean that was not the deciding factor for the board here but you know to some extent it does make a difference because you know from a municipal policy standpoint a ratable is preferable to a non-ratable yeah with especially with a town like Summerville
with 40% of our property being tax exempt okay it's been moved second we've had discussion roll call please chairman Adair yes roberto Carpinets yes morgan McLaclin yes rich O'Neal yes brian
Vadimsky yes john Flores yes okay next um for application 106 bets good evening Mr chairman members of the
board for the record Bruce Rosenberg on behalf of Emanuel Ventures LLC um you have the plans Mr chairman members of the board this is an application to demolish uh the existing
uh building that's on the property uh it's about a half mile up the road i'm sure you've passed it and you've seen it uh this is a dilapidated uh property that really should be demolished and should be the subject of redevelopment what Emanuel Ventures is proposing to do
is uh uh construct a duplex uh on the property uh uh which is consistent we believe with the intent and purpose of the redevelopment plan uh for Veterans Memorial Drive and would be a nice addition we believe to the corridor uh
between uh this area uh and what's going on and what has been going on u for the last several years in terms of redevelopment i have two witnesses this evening i have Christopher Dowardy he's our architect and I have Paul Reichi our land use planner and if I may I'd like
to call uh Chris Dowy our architect first and I believe Mr gibbons everything has been previously submitted to Mr bacon in terms of our notices and everything else the board the board has jurisdiction to proceed mr dowry would you please raise your right hand do you solemnly swear the
testimony you're about to give in this matter will be the truth so help you guide i do please state your name and spell your last name for the record sir okay my name is Christopher last name is Dy d O U G H E R T Y i reside at one
Iron Forge Square uh unit 25 in Pmpton Lakes New Jersey i have been a registered architect in the state of New Jersey now for 29 years and I've offered testimony before about
15 to 20 boards during the course of my career you've been here before haven't you i may have i thought you have thank you Mr chairman mr mr dowy I'm going to ask you to uh I guess if you want to set up your easel although
everything has been uploaded but if you want to you know testify from the boards can I make use of that one i believe I have a damaged leg on this okay sure absolutely yes i would also know I'm familiar with Mr dowy i'm the zoning board attorney in Puquanic so I familiar
with your familiar with your work and reputation you're very good michael thank you Mr chairman this is a exhibit it has been uploaded everything has been uploaded uh to the system and Mr gibbons I don't know what your brothers if you
want to mark it or not it's all in the record already it's been updated now you submitted all this with your application this was not this is the only thing that has not been submitted for the record I'd like to I'd like to have that marked as applicants A1 thank you so referring
to uh applicants A1 uh Mr dary just if you would uh I know the board members are all familiar with the property but this exhibit sort of shows the property and its surrounding land uses is that correct so maybe you can just review with the board uh going in a clockwise
direction can you do me a favor and just uh take the standing microphone and speak into the standing microphone you can take it off the stand we sound good okay thank you um okay uh basically what I did was kind of did a
walk around uh through the neighborhood uh where the uh proposed work is going to be done um this is directly across the street this is a residence that goes down i I have forgotten the name of the the the street that it goes along there
i'm sorry um looks to be a two family i'm sensing that there were in walking around I noticed that there seemed to be a mix of single family and two family residences in this area south of where the large condo buildings are uh are
located um that would be the Cobalt is the closest propert okay um this is Veterans Memorial Drive going southeast um this is the residence that uh is proposed to be removed um this is the uh steel business that's
right uh next to adjacent to the uh uh uh to where the property is um it's been mentioned to me that there was an effort to purchase some land from them they turned it down but you know that's I am assuming that this is still active yes
it is we have um another residence which is right next to it going north towards where the buildings the condo buildings are located and this is a corner property um uh right over the corner of Hamilton Street and Memorial Drive and
if you obviously going straight down you would see where the train tracks are located any questions on what I have here just continuing continuing on here uh I went up to the corner of Veterans Memorial Drive and Hamilton Street again
this is the mixture of residences thank you Edward um to continue on down uh Hamilton Street away from the property uh northeast view along Hamilton Street uh this area seems to be very pretty well established it's
been there clearly as that residential use for quite some time looks very stable and then these are the two large condo buildings which are directly north of Hamilton Street roughly above uh where the property is going to be located so we have a mixture of single
family and and uh two family and the like below Hamilton Street and these larger condo structures going above thank you and and just if you would go back to the first sheet and I just wanted to uh ask you to uh state for the
record um if you would you heard my opening statement just the condition of the existing building even if you can call it a building uh it's a it's a mess and the entire property is a mess it definitely needs to be completely cleared out um I made it clear to the
clients that uh you know we we're are looking really at a total tear out of the property foundation wall included so very good so so let's uh if we can go to your you know sheet of the first set of plans you submitted and just review with the board what it is that the you know
the the applicant would like to build here and these were previously submitted as I understand they were Mr gibbons all of these have been previously submitted with the application just want to get that on the record sure sure
okay as I mentioned it will be a total tear out of the existing structure and it's replacement with um uh basically a duplex okay uh three bedrooms two of them um the owners are looking for
something that uh would be you know immediately available also accessible to train service that is nearby um the owners uh requested that we have just just a basic layout including you know just a living room some office
space down on the first floor kitchen powder room and then upstairs decentiz master bedroom and uh two other bedrooms on each side only one bathroom per unit uh there was no uh no uh study given to
putting uh master bath in at all um and then finally uh parking underneath the duplexes okay it would obviously be tandem parking so there would be obviously some coordination as to who's getting in and who's getting out we
understand that the site is only 50 by 50 in size 2500 square f feet it's quite tight but we felt that this was the best way obviously to deal with putting the cars getting the cars off the street since there is no on street parking lot allowed in that area of Veterans
Memorial Drive very good can you uh refer to uh your other sheet about what the um elevations and what the duplexes will look like please um basically they're basic units the both of them there will be vinyl
sighting okay um here are the two garages at grade level uh slight upbringing to bring them up above street level uh skim clo coat plaster just to cover the exterior walls thoroughly um
slight overhangs to give some relief to the uh so that they just don't look like it it just doesn't look like a box with some glass in it so we the owners agreed to go with this type of a format where we have bedroom windows upstairs here for the master and then down below these
would be for the living rooms the garage down underneath it's it's a basic design um it's obviously restricted by the by the site conditions um couldn't get too much more creative than this but this is really what we're looking at here okay and uh have you
spoken I know Mr coos in his letter questioned the colors and things like that have you spoken with the applicant about kind of color schemes that you're looking at uh I have not but but this would certainly be an issue of some as said the design aspect of it in terms of what it looks like will be very
straightforward as you can see by the uh by the elevations and also the but there's not going to be anything unusual like bright pinks and yellows and nothing like that it's going to be subtle it's going to be consistent with other architectures in in the neighborhood correct yeah we we will definitely look to to fit it in i see
the basic uh color schemes of a lot of the buildings in and around the residential buildings in and around the area well yeah you've got about 14 with the same color scheme in the in the neighborhood especially the one right next to it yes and there's
14 more like that okay the same color scheme that would be the intent Mr chairman i think that we would be harmonious again we recognize that we're on the redevelopment zone we want to be obviously consistent with all of that um how about mechanicals Mr dowardy where
are they going to be located would there be any any issue whatsoever we'll have exterior we'll have compressors on the exterior okay they they will be sound we will make them nice and quiet okay they will be in the back area such as what what's available to us and air handlers
up inside of the attic space there will be some attic space that will be accessible from the second floor on both units on both sides um and you know we'll have basically a split system for both units very good and again in your opinion I mean you
know you were you were tasked were you not by the applicant to try to develop something that's going to be affordable to folks right isn't that the intent yes yes okay and and within walkability obviously to the train station and and you know in your opinion as an architect
do you think that this is this is architecturally and aesthetically consistent with with other properties that are that are on veterans i believe that it is yeah and I believe it I believe it should follow a basic mode you know we stayed five on 12 as far as the roof slopes go um you know and uh
really uh you know this it would be consistent with what should be consistent with what's going on here i mean I saw vinyl on other buildings throughout the area and uh similar types of you know window handling and design and the like very good uh in reviewing
Mr cole's letter that we were provided with you know one of the questions he did ask was with respect to this maneuverability of of the cars um you know from your perspective I know you designed it and you know do you do you think that we could still operate this
safely efficiently in the way that it's been designed well I I mean I believe so yes but it is tight to the to the sidewalk there's no question about it um and uh we could be open to coming up with some different ways of making sure
that the safety concerns for for the township are satisfied for the burough i mean we we you know this was just sort of like the fast fly in to get the two cars in there now what we can do in terms of providing additional safety uh controls in that area we will certainly
explore that uh as I said it's unfortunate that we've got you know a tight situation here and I tried to keep the rooms you know without getting out of hand as far as their sizes go to be basic and uh you know something that
somebody would want to move into okay in both instances very good uh Mr chairman and members of the board I have nothing further of our architect at this time anybody from the board have any questions of it yeah I do my concern is
Rich can you just turn your microphone over thank you yeah I think it works yep my concern is the cars backing out that's that's a major walk route for kids going to our grammar school from that end of town
they're all going out there on that side of the street as a matter of fact for the most part and I'm concerned with a car backing out of that that driveway hitting one of those kids and also having to back out onto Veterans Memorial which looks like a peaceful little road in your pictures but we all
know better you know someone's going to get clocked and and I would I'm not sure how you can manage that i'm not being critical of your design i'm just not sure how you can manage that i don't know dino of course yes but as I said we will I don't want to think on my feet right
now relative to that so I understand that like I said I just looked at the plans i I know the area fairly well so as all of us do and that's a heavily traveled walking street on that side of the street in the morning and then back in the afternoon and they're little kids
so it's just a concern we understand and and you know we certainly can work with the burrow in and township in terms of in terms of trying to address that issue specifically i think um it is
certainly a concern of ours as well um if there's some way to maybe you know push this back or push this further in maybe have not both cars underneath to provide better visibility i mean that might be something that we certainly could look at in in consultation with
with Mr cole as well anybody else yeah am I reading this correctly yes and then you're going to put the compressors in the back yeah i
mean the room is available yes i mean that's I understand your concern yeah i you know and you're going to space no no none to speak of so you have children
what do you do with the kids um go out and play in the street we did yeah but it wasn't Veterans Memorial when you were there it was Franklin Street robera can you just turn your microphone on for me please i'm sorry no worries so I I think this is very to me
very concerning no backyard no front yard no sideyard and you want the cars backing up where the kids walk i got some problems with and it's it's not a reflection of your professional
design work i'm not it's it's to me it's like the proverbial 10 pounds of sugar in a fiveb bag i use a different word sugar well we are being
recorded gentlemen sorry about that so I don't know if I have a question in there but that's my comment i'm very very concerned that this is possibly overly ambitious for the size of the lot and I understand what you're
trying to do but maybe it's a little too much bruce you might want to take a recess on this right now sure absolutely may we have a fivem minute recess certainly sure can everybody just turn their
microphones off for now you need me good evening Mr daniels good evening Stuart maybe they should pull it out and try to resume ready thank you Mr chairman okay thank you
thank you for the opportunity to uh to adjourn for a little bit um we've obviously heard you know two major comments from the board members and I think that we certainly would like the opportunity uh we're not going to sit here and and and draw changes on a plan
that that we don't do that no um however in in in in an attempt to try to make sure that when we come back we have addressed all the concerns that the board members may have um is it possible just to make sure that we you know hear from the other board members of of any
other concerns they may have we've heard the two major concerns which are the issue of of vehicle you know ingress and egress from the units and the issue about the size of the units themselves you know in terms of setbacks and things of that nature but but generally if I
may Mr chairman I I just want to make sure we get other comments that the board members may have you know so that we come back you know we can have a productive meeting with the board i know you're coming late but yeah speaking it into the mic yeah I
think um in review is I honestly the setback is one of the biggest things i mean it's there's no way around it veterans Memorial is already a narrow street as it is as you're going towards East Main Street um I I I don't see how
it's going to be safe for um especially a twocar garage each side for two cars to be able to go in and out safely on that street um overall looking at the size of the apartments I mean um we don't I don't
see too much i don't think we have enough room for a backyard right there's no backyard here at all right yeah um very tight even as it's configured right now backyard's like eight or nine feet long okay yeah
uh just wanted to see where where we would be as far as you know a living arrangement for a family you know I mean we do have the park right down the road the park is right down the road yes absolutely true right it's right down the road but you know those are some of
my concerns coming in late thank you Brian yeah that's that's basically it it's I know yes it needs to be done somethingvious obviously Yes replacing what was there a small single family would be the best way to go but then
wouldn't have to be here um so I get it it's it's the same old thing they try trying to maximize what we can get out of it i understand that but I just don't know if uh I'd hate to say yes to something or
the way it is that's for sure but um that's really the concern is just can this You put four cars two families on where they step out into the street almost is what that's what that's
the impression that's the setback issue i get it yeah it's understood i think the backyard like you said it's already like that so people grew up there with no and the park down the street you know I'm not that's not such a big deal for
me it's just that falling out on the is what hits me understood there's no street working no on street working i I I just for me I understand why you're want why you want to put a two family there i I think
there I understand the property has some restrictions but I think it's our job to try to make things better and even where the backyard now maybe or a while ago was 8 feet now it's going down to three
feet our job is to make sure a really good project goes there that will be beneficial to families and I I would support Brian with the idea of a nice single family house i know that doesn't have the same financial benefits as a
two family but I think it fits better on the property well I think I pretty much said what I was concerned about pedestrian and vehicle safety in the garages are a big concern the absence of a backyard and all that kind of
stuff it's not good it's not a good quality of life for anybody but I'm more concerned about the pedestrian and vehicle safety thank you sure so you use the term uh counselor affordable what what was your definition
of affordable you said this was designed to be affordable oh obviously uh as our architect testified you know this is meant for for folks who are middle inome folks that's that's that's who it's for middle income folks single family one
income two income that's what it's designed for sure okay you know these aren't these aren't going to be you know $750,000 duplexes that nobody can afford they're affording them right here
so a couple things yeah the vehicle safety uh that is an accident waiting to happen it's not just with the uh the kids walking that's a very very busy street it's the offshoot of uh parallel to Main Street and it's going to get
busier and busier it's a cutthrough street it's a We see it all the time the other thing is I will make a comment about the the architectural design of the building it's really unappealing and and I sorry if I'm critical with that but when I look at it I I look at the
building next door uh the one that had been renovated and again that's very unappealing that that doesn't look like the the the homes in Somerville that we would really like and I will throw this out robera mentioned something about a single family home you know in certain
areas and I believe it's California I was reading that they have these little mini homes very very small homes and it would probably well it still would need a variance uh because of of the location uh but I think you would be able to get a rear yard you' get a sideyard you may
even be able to get a driveway that would go next to it uh that would be a little bit more appealing and a little bit more safe now economically it may not be the right thing that you're looking for but uh the property is what it is so thank you
uh yeah the um the the garage and getting out of the garage is my primary concern i'm I'm thinking of the morning where the person who has to leave is the one parked further in so then for one person has to back out onto the street
wait for the other person to back out and then and then pull in in the meantime there are people trying to run that yellow light to get to work um and it's a it's an accident waiting to happen and and I I I can't support that
um regarding single family dual family I've spent a lot of time in Historia Queens recently and like it's all properties really close together um they fit a lot into a small space i appreciate um one that um we that we're
trying to do something there because something needs to be done there for one um two if three feet a three feet backyard may as well be a zero feet backyard there's nothing that's going to happen in a three-foot backyard um you
can't play pickle ball you can't play anything back there in three feet but as and I would be more I would have more of an issue with that if there wasn't a park right down the street um so if if there's a way that we can make the
parking safer um and sacrifice something else in order to make that happen um I appreciate the uh angle to try to make it affordable too so uh again my my concern is is
primarily the safety thank you when I was walking through there this morning it brought back a lot of memories that None of those properties have um much of a backyard uh one of the problems that I
do have was is with the underground garage i remember when the International Sheet Metals uh building was being built back in the 1950s and as they were digging they were coming up with water has a high water table and flooding so
you're going to have these underground uh garages these cars are going to be submersed in the next sto the next item which is coming again uh the uh the other thing is I I appreciate the
um the capital investment in the neighborhood i've been part of this neighborhood for all but two years of my life and um as I said um I used to live next door and my aunt owned the other the duplex next to it
they they're like 90% coverage 90 95% coverage and there are as you go through that neighborhood many 50 by 50 lots or equivalent sizes with maybe we can go with a smaller home
smaller single family but I'm concerned about the parking uh entrance and egress and um because when I was growing up on that road it was much wider or the the road was more narrow you had more of a
setback what I was there this morning from the you have six foot setback to the sidewalk that's dangerous and then backyard when you open the door you're trespassing on somebody's uh property in
the back uh I'd go with a smaller mini home i couldn't support a two uh two family threebedroom with only one car only one parking space per car the other that neighborhood is that it's reaching
a tipping point it's in an R2 zone and with all the multiple family dwellings that are go have been going up and are being proposed we're at the tipping point of making it an R3 um and we're losing
u the character of the neighborhood i've just go right around the corner two doors down that's fifth generation in that house and down the street uh the Moore family when I was in there with talking to my friend and his
grandson went by him he's fifth generation in this house so we're we're losing the character i'd like to see the capital uh investment as they're doing right around the corner as you go under the the bridge putting a brand new single family
home there but and I'd like to see more single families my concerns thank you Mr chairman and and thank you so much for all the input uh we obviously have a lot to think about um and we would ask uh we don't have
obviously a carry date because we have plans that have to be revised and we'll go back and caucus with the developer is there a deadline uh in terms of you know use you because you're you filed and we've commenced uh do we need an extension of time oh we can give that
extension Mr gibbons if you need a letter I can get it to you tomorrow um I'm trying our next meeting is the 21st so uh Mr secretary uh do we have a date do we have a date on this august yeah our
next available meeting as of right now is in August um so I would say if you could put it through August 30th August 31st thank you for that correction so we're going to adjourn this until uh
the August meeting yes yeah we can do that someone like to move that we adjourn this until the August meeting i'll move it second move and second all in favor i opposed
thank you very much we will uh reconvene and work on some plans thank you Mr okay okay what do we have next what do we have next Ryan executive session okay so we want to
move that we go to executive session second all in favor i I Yeah we might as well yeah do we need a roll call for executive session or no i thought I just Okay yeah yeah we do we actually do
right and you take you take notes we don't have a We don't have a you know transcript of it chairman Adair yes robera Carpinets yes morgan McLaclin yes rich O'Neal yes brian Vimsky yes john Flores yes steuart
Daniels yes are we are I got no problem with that as long as you can do it safely two ice cubes in one much fun you know you know I was far right oh
yeah i've been here you know I'm color blind right okay i'm color blind okay okay excuse me ready okay someone move that we come out of
exe executive session move and second all in favor i opposed okay someone like to uh make a motion to dismiss can everybody just turn their microphones on so we have this all on record okay
i I will move that we dismiss this application without prejudice i'll second it moved and seconded any further discussion roll call ryan chairman Adair yes robera Carpinets yes morgan Mccclaclin yes rich
O'Neal yes brian Viddimky yes john Flores yes steuart Daniels yes was that a yes Duke that was a yes i thought you were auditioning for the Temptations okay Scary we have another one on don't
we that was related to 610 Bill Avenue okay why don't we I just to be just to be safe would someone like to move for um dismissal with without prejudice for
610 Bell Avenue yes so I would I would ask that that be done i will move that we dismiss without prejudice the application Oh sorry i'll move that we dismiss without prejudice the application for Bell Avenue Holdings at 610 Bell A i'll second it move and
second any further discussion roll call please chairman Adair yes robera Carpinets yes morgan Mccclaclin yes rich O'Neal yes brian Padimky yes john Flores yes steuart Daniels yes okay i think we have another 205 mr
chairman we have 205 chairs for dismissal someone like to move for dismissal for 205 chairs i'll move it move second i'll second it any discussion yeah why why is it being just so we all know why it's being
dismissed it's been carried for a year and a half and there's no date given for when they're going to reappear essentially for failure to prosecute
this is the Granite building that had the adult daycare in the first floor that was heard in October of 2023 we never got through the testimony because the applicant's attorney had a
issue um they've asked for continuances ever since October 2023 it was scheduled Ryan two months ago about two months ago and they asked for it to continue the day or the day before the meeting
and was taken off okay again this is this would be a dismissal without prejudice it's been moved second any further discussion roll call please chairman Adair yes
robera Carpinets yes morgan McGlaughlin yes rich O'Neal yes brian Vadimsky yes john Flores yes stuart Daniels yes any further business to come before the board we have one item uh 340 Union
Avenue there is a the applicant i think there's drawings in front everyone this is the five unit townhouse at 340 which is on North Alton and Union there is a
request to leave a utility pole in place and that would require a driveway if you look on I do believe it's shown as sheet four uh with a revision date if you look from uh David A
associates 32025 they would require the driveway to be curved to to allow the utility pole to stay that would mean they would have to back out on a curve you'll see it the
second to last house heading south on North you'll see the curve uh which the original design was relatively straight so I do believe it's a four and a half foot at the property line would be a
deviation 4 and 1/2 ft for the curve so the applicant is requesting I think there's a Ryan isn't there a description that was in the package from Yeah there should be uh two 11 by7 packets one stapled which shows the proposed change
and the single sheet is the original approved plans thank you so it's the um second unit from the top it's if you're heading No that's if you're heading it' be south when the
plan's going heading uh up on the street south okay you'll see the curve in the driveway as opposed to the original plan so you have a curve uh basically to eliminate uh keep the utility pole where
it is uh because PSCG in my experience has been is very costly and it takes months to get a pole move and it doesn't look uh any worse than the one just adjacent to it the curve there's one
curve that uh the board approved that would be the um The one the board approved was is well depending on how you look at this it's the third end it already had a curve in it okay so basically it' be
another curved driveway to eliminate a pole so that's the deviation uh doesn't involve any variances or other waiverss it's a site plan uh it's a deviation from the field conditions so these there's no other relief required for
this move or proposed move can it be done safely i think it can it just becomes a little uh inconvenient to back out on an angle i mean you're backing out if you don't do it you're going to get in the grass or something so as long as you pay
attention and turn the wheel you're backing down the driveway just has a curve in it mike you said it's expensive how expensive that's a good question i do I thought that the applicant provided a paragraph on the description i do believe it's in
the thousands thousands but its tow about this for a long time they knew about it right at the beginning i don't think that we should yeah that's this is the request
uh it's up to the board's pleasure you could obviously leave it the way it is or allow the the driveway to be curved with the one driver it's up to the board's discretion on how to handle this if we allow the way it is they have to
move yes the pole would have to be moved about four and a half five feet so the driveway will be relatively straight otherwise the pole stays and the driveway gets a curve in it so um it's up to the
board on how they feel about this i would say not having anybody else that has anything connected to the utility like other really big deal
it seems like it's relatively minor to me but I can also Morgan I would like to hear why why you would say no you know people's
back and you know when we approve this now you have five driveways backing out and very close I just think is ridiculous and again I fault the planner
or the designer on this they do it right at the beginning they should have seen it and if they wanted to do it at that time they should have came to us at the beginning and it's probably going to cost a little bit of experience with this it'll be about $5,000 so it's not
cheap it's not cheap the minimum the overall cost and also I mean just to add to that having it curve that way makes it more difficult to exit the driveway and head away from Union
Avenue it makes it a more acute angle a straighter angle is preferable sell that house to my daughter I'll tell you she's never going to leave but this is uh this is this is Styers right
styers was the uh the engineer i forget who the architect is on this uh if you've been out there the town homes are up they're framed the roofs are on them i'm sure
he's looking to this this year so uh he's bringing this the applicant's bringing it up because obviously the poll has to move he's trying to PSG typically takes months to do these type of activities so that's why it's coming
in front of you now either you make the request pay the monies or leave it alone that's why it's right in front of you now it's something that you he needs to know now what they're doing yeah i I would probably
side with Morgan on this because Styles is is an engineer that's very familiar with the town um there's no excuse but should we Can you turn your microphone on for us sorry no worries but should should we punish them or
should we just let just let the project go forward it'll be done people will be moving in i don't see it as punishing okay and I would I would bet you done pretty quickly i was going to say that this was a single family
home that we approved that's a lot to bear in a single family this is a five unit it's a minor expense they ask you to do this right uh it was no I checked the ordinance and uh there's no waivers so
the process is I think this board we typically do walk-ons so to Morgan's question no there was not one penny for the applicant i told him to submit the plans and narrative and we'll put it on the agenda at the next meeting uh our
was the chairman was good with that and this board is very receptive to uh entertaining these types of things on the fly without submitting an application paying application fees the board never the policy of the board is if it if the deviations don't require
additional variance we try to accommodate this like this essentially administrative amendment right this is the second deviation for this project I think didn't we have one for their utility connections we had an issue with the sprinkler system yeah with the shed
y u we got into an issue about a 13D which this board did not want versus a 13R which covers a lot more 13R power system requires a separate uh separate line so the board deviated for that because it wasn't on the plants
right they put a mechanical room on the end of one of the town homes and the board granted that as a dimminimous dimminimous exception essentially accommodate the sprinkler system so Rich you're 100% right this is the second
request on a deviation from the approved plans that's correct is it anticipated there'll be any further changes i hope not so I I I make a motion that we deny the request i'll second it move and second any more discussion
a vote an affirmative vote is for denial roll call please chairman Adair yes robera Carpinets yes morgan McGlaclin yes rich O'Neal yes brian Vimsky yes john Flores yes steuart Daniels yes
any other no Mr chairman I think that's I don't think there's anything further still on watch unless you have comments for the the board bring it for next month
okay okay okay motion to adjurnn moved and second someone want to second Richie S all in favor i