##VIDEO ID:HSlqL2RCHOo## which we do not currently have in our current building strollers as an orthodox synagogue you are not allowed to drive on the Sabbath so most of our members walk to synagogue on Saturdays we will be adding a canopy outside the new building to be used for stroller parking on the west side in order to comply with fire codes within the building our parking lot we have 37 parking spaces and we are now able to add 20 more as an orthodox synagogue the majority of our members walk on Saturday and holidays and therefore the parking lot is closed on those days members can park their cars in the parking lot before the Sabbath or holidays begin and can only remove them after it ends Dr Smo please let the board know whether the operations of the synagogue will change as a result of the expansion so the simple answer is no we expect to operate the same but just in a larger space in terms of our sanctuary seating It's relatively staying the same the current seating allows for 334 people in the main sanctuary we are only increasing to 351 seats the reason we are not increasing this number by a lot is because on a weekly basis for our Saturday Services we are not filling the main sanctuary and we are not campaigning for new members so we see no need to increase the seating by much and I just would like to stress that this building is being exped expanded in order to meet the current needs like we said before of our membership the intention is not to use the expansion to increase the number of our members we do not have a religious school a nursery school or an in-house caterer and there are no plans to do this during the week our daily services are no more than 20 people and that goes from Sunday morning that goes from Sunday to Friday mornings during the day there is only a secretary in the building during normal business hours and an occasional visitor events bar and Bot Mitzvah baby namings brises these are not regular occurrences but they do happen throughout the month and they will continue the building has seldom been used as a wedding venue and does not compare to an actual venue such as Crystal Plaza in Livingston in terms of special events like holidays on kanuka and purum that happen in December and in March these will continue but they do not bring in more people than the sanctuary seats I and also just a very important point I'd like to emphasize there is never an instance where there are services and an event occurring at the same time Dr smilo please tell the board whether you have commercial vehicles that are frequently coming to the synagogue property so the only commercial vehicles that come are either FedEx or UPS delivery during the week we have no commercial vehicles that regularly frequent our building we do have private garbage SL cycling pickup once per week we advise the company about abiding by the rules regarding when they are allowed to come for a pickup out of respect to our neighbors if we need extra pickup we just call for an additional pickup when there is a special event in the synagogue there may be a food truck but our loading Space is really just it's more than adequate to have just one loading space in the new building Dr smilo the new building has an open Terrace which the existing building does not please tell the board the purposes and how it will be used so this Terrace is needed for a religious reason we have a holiday sucus that will be coming up in October where we are commanded by the Bible to erect a Suka which is a type of a hut for a 7-Day period which OCC which occurs during the fall out of respect for the Neighbors the terrorist will have high walls for privacy reasons as well as safety any lights on the Terrace will be faced in WS not outwards and there will be no built-in speakers to reduce the noise Dr smilo with regard to the neighbors the applicant owns the house at 18 Pit Road please tell the board how that property is used so that property is now used for our youth directors with a husband and wife and their family the previous youth director/ assistant Rabbi were living there and it was their private residents also Dr Smiler with regard to 18 print Road does the synagogue have any intention of tearing down the house to make a parking lot or does it have any plans for there to be a driveway or for there to be a walking path through 18 Pit Road to connect to the synagogue property that exists on Mountain Avenue no Dr smilo what is the relationship between the applicant and the township the synagogue is an important part of the Springfield Community we are honored to be part of the Springfield Community we have good relationships with the Township police fire and first aid departments the synagogue has been in the township over 50 years and is looking forward to many more years in this community Dr smilo in conclusion to your testimony would it be accurate to state that based upon your testimony the existing building no longer meets the needs of the applicant but the new building addition and parking spaces are what is required to adequately meet the applicant's needs as a house of worship and the applicant has been an important part of the community for that period of over 50 years yes thank you m Dr Smo I have nothing further for Dr Smo thank you so much no no no no don't go anywhere okay because we're going to go through questions I'm going to start with Mr Huber and work our way down and then we'll go from there and then our engineer and planner will ask you questions got well let me let me interrupt let me interrupt I know there's been discussion from the two attorneys working on a mechanism we're going to call call it as outlined in our board Engineers letter to figure out how to make sure that that will never be a parking lot going forward because we would not want a curb cut going out we would never want someone driving from Mountain Avenue through the temple out to Pit Road which they've conceptually have been working through that process so I I I can answer that um the board attorney and I have discussed this matter and we are willing to put a deed restriction that indicates it will not be a parking lot perfect I could also just say also that we stress that this is not a cut through from pit to the sh so I'm just saying you know we members do not cut through the yard or anything else like that if they if they ever wanted to knock the house down and put a playground or something along that line that would be fine but no parking lot no cut through and I think we solved that problem perect anything Mr Eber Mr yes we have no real other way of of using it if there's barot Mitzvah I mean you know we're not anticipating it being a common place to to be used it's uh there will be a door to wall it off so no kids and to prevent from safety and everything else like that but its main use is for our holiday of sucus that's that's where we congregate for those seven days and it's not for the entire 7-Day period it's just will be for sporadically throughout the times where we have to be in that Hut so Dr smer it's an infrequent use and it's seasonal so that in of itself makes it an infrequent use correct that's sounds better yes I do I'll go to you indicated uh regarding the parking lot that um obviously your uh congregants don't drive uh on the holidays but they are permitted to drive there before the holidays leave their cars there and then retrieve their cars at the end of the holiday or Shabbat how often does that happen that they that is done that's done every week week oh okay yeah so every week every week okay and is your parking lot full every week yes okay no I don't have any questions apprciate of Min m Kaiser just on the you currently on your property during that holiday we build it now in the parking lot build yeah do you want to save that for the engineer well iess I want to know the reason it's I mean we have more space and it's just we have we're able to add more and obviously we have the members but if we can get more parking spaces we know just um that's why we're just adding the 20 but is that Dr smile it's as of right now it's a pre-existing non-conforming condition that we're under in the number of we're under anyway so we're we were just we're trying to improve the situation and that would put 20 less cars on the street so this very few this will lessen the parking on the street people come on a Friday afternoon and they see that the lot is full they will drive back home and they will walk to sh so that's kind of you know that's how that is no double parking or anything else like that okay and for those that don't know sh is another name for the synagogue sorry yeah synagogue sh house of worship anything further Mr so I just have a couple um one um you're obviously going have a security plan I would would like that to be reviewed by the chief or his design to make sure that you know whatever cameras are pointed whatever direction or so forth that the chief has an opportunity to look at and help yes course and we have just so you know um chairman we have no intention of violating anybody's privacy with cameras but we cannot reveal the security plan in public I don't I I don't want and cameras now are only focused on our property they're not focused on any other outside property around perfect I just would like that Chief cook or his design review it with you to make sure that the case so I just want to confirm so there's no no additional no planned additional uh membership that it's just really the kids you know that should try to keep put the kids away from the shoel correct you're adding only 17 seats in the sh so yes 17 yes 34 334 351 you can't really grow too much with 17 seats per se and they're just adding classrooms moving the kitchen what else did you say and the rabis uh we're adding bathrooms um also yes we're adding classrooms the rabbi's office like I said there is a nursing room um there's more storage um and the the the smaller Sanctuary that's in our shoe we have a big one a smaller one that's also being moved make larger also okay I would just like to make a comment about what Dr smile said he did refer to it as a classroom but we do not have a school or anything this is these are youth rooms for the kids on the Sabbath and holidays no plan to have a school the majority of the children go to Yeshiva that's fine so it's just really we're gaining 20 additional parking spots on on site as well which will help exacerbate anyone parking off the pit or anyone parking on uh Mountain yes I have nothing further nothing further from the board so let's bring up your next engineer again from the public oh wait actually I take that back Mr disco and Mr Mr Mr can you ask any questions sorry I apologize um sure just the board answered most of my asked most of my questions and most of my questions are for the other professionals but one question I have is can you describe the parking as it is today or currently when you have these special events a bar mitzvah or any one of those type of special events Yes again PE we do fill up the parking lot and if there is need they do Park on Mountain Avenue or shike or they will park on pit and and you're looking at no more of a 3 to 5H hour window when this might be happening for the brises and brises are less than that um in the barbat Mitzvah but it depends how big these Bar Mitzvah are um so the parking lot might get full it you might not you know so but if there is Overflow they park on the street or they will walk if they live on pit or others you know spots and one more question the events the religious events that take place on the terce um is there a certain time a year or how often does that occur or once a year in the fall once a year in the fall for a 7day period okay thank not living there for sday period just you know understood not that big but so you you're aware that we have a Township ordinance at 11 o'clock yes that's our noise ordinance that we will comply with that's fine for your testimony you mentioned about the garbage pickup and recycling pickup once a week yes is there a set day and time range that that happens in now should be happening past 7 o'clock in the morning I don't know the exact day we can check that for you okay is there any anticipation that the frequency will increase as a result of this no uh no and like I said if there is a barbot mitzer or if we need like just an additional pickup we just call otherwise no we don't anticipate that at all okay proposed plan accounts for one loading area yes the door is that sufficient for your operation 100% thank you again um I wanted reiterate you know the garbage and to try to make sure you talk to the garbage company to see you do have residence behind you if there way I I know you can't control them they come on a route and they're going to come in and come out we do our best and if there's a problem you know we make sure to call the company like I said we we don't own them we we try our best to comply with our we know we have neighbors we don't want neighb us be angry at all okay thank you but please be aware that all the witnesses that testify must be at every single oh we know yes so that way when the public gets their time to speak they have an opportunity to cross-examine or ask whatever questions we will comply perfect okay so Mr chairman at this time I would like to call Danielle Lasher of dynamic engineering Consultants she is a licensed professional engineer but I will let you do her credentials thank you so much thank you Dr SM please raise your right do you swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to give is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes I do uh could you please state your name for the record to spell your last name sure Danielle Les grer l s c r i n i e r um Miss Les grineer yes um if you could so uh Council has already said I'm going to uh do just a little bit of a w of wader um could you just identify what your current profession is sure yes I am a professional engineer in the state of New Jersey and my license is in good standing I work through the firm Dynamic engineering consultants for which I am a project manager I have about six years experience designing various commercial residential mixed use uh projects throughout the state of New Jersey and I have a bachelor's of Science and civil engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology okay very good and have you um appeared before other planning boards in state of New Jersey yes and have you been accepted as an expert in those planning boards um any other land use or uh zoning board applications that you've appeared on as well yes um and that's only in the state of New Jersey or are you also licensed anywhere else I'm only licensed in the state of New Jersey but I have appeared before boards and um thank you board will accept you as a as an board have any concerns NOP okay okay thank you so miss leser if you would be kind enough to tell the board and explain to the board why we're doing this expansion from the engineering perspective and go through the site plan sure um well yeah from the engineering perspective uh our client came to us with their need for the building expansion and then from there we took it away for the the site design itself um and I'll get into details of that uh first I'd actually just like to orientate everybody who here here today with the existing conditions of the site unfortunately my exhibit is very far away from me but uh that is our first exhibit for this even is that the actual plans that they have or do we need to mark this yes this sheet is entitled aerial map and it is within the site plan set that was already we don't have to mark it as an exibit yeah so yep like like I just said that's the aerial map exhibit which shows a bird's eye view of the site and the surrounding area under existing conditions today North is located towards the top right of the page and the scale is 1 in equal 100 ft uh the subject property tonight that we're speaking about is Lots 33 34 35 36 and 39 all within block 1801 the lot area total is approximately 1.67 Acres the mailing address is 339 Mountain Avenue that's for the synagogue itself and the site is located within the S60 Zone which is a single family Zone as Mr Relic already stated the existing use is the place of worship which is a permitted use in the zone as well as single family dwellings which are also permitted uses those single family dwellings are located on Lots 33 34 and 39 and the place of worship is located on Lots 35 and 36 uh that same use takes up both of those lots today which will come into play with our lot consolidation portion of the application under proposed conditions those two uses are remaining the same the place of worship and the single family dwelling however under proposed conditions only the single family dwelling on lot 39 will remain and like was testified earlier that is for the Youth director's residence the other two dwellings will be demolished under proposed conditions in the surrounding area to the north we have the Mountain Avenue and Shunpike Road intersection with the Springfield Veterans Memorial Park and other residential uses Beyond to the east we have Shunpike Road and single family D single family residential uses thank you it's page two of the plan though just see you have it it's fine turn it and like in two minutes we'll turn it back to the public so that way they can see it go ahead I'm sorry no problem to the east we have Shunpike Road with single family residential uses and the DU you spiritual Institute to the South we have more single family dwellings and to the West is Mountain Avenue with more single family dwellings the site is a corner lot on Mountain Avenue and Shunpike Road which are County Roads there is a oneway entrance driveway in only from Mountain Avenue that exists today and off of Shunpike Road there is a full movement driveway which is about 24.7 ft wide 24 ft is required there are also residential driveways servicing the two existing dwellings which are towards the west of the congregation building one of those services is uh it it's a joint driveway that Services both the adjacent property to the west and it is bisected by the subject properties property line and also Services one of the buildings that will be demolished to the east of that the other driveway residential more to the east Services the single family dwelling solely that is being demolished the existing synagogue building is approximately 13,600 Square ft it is a one-story masonry building place of worship as I already mentioned there are 37 total existing parking spaces located to the East and to the south of the building there's approximately 58% of impervious surface cover uh within the entire tract which does exceed the requirement I'll get into more of that later then there's the 2.5 story frame dwelling like I mentioned and the twostory frame dwelling located on Lots 34 and 33 respectively and each of those homes each has a garage which is located in those rear yards the existing single family dwelling of 1500 squ ft which is located on lot 39 that's going to remain youth director's home and there's also an existing playground located between the two dwellings and the synagogue building any questions on existing conditions great so next I'd like to introduce my next exhibit that a page of the existing plan no it is not a separate that needs to be marked so for orientation purposes again North is oriented towards the top right of the page same as all the plans within the plan set scale is 1 in equals 20 ft again same as all the other plan sheets and so this rendering depicts both the existing and proposed addition and all the other proposed site plan improvements in white is the existing synagogue building and in that dark orange color is the proposed addition just to the South the expansion is two stories and it's approximately 7500 ft in footprint in terms of driveway access the locations of the driveways are very similar to existing conditions one off of Shunpike Road which is full movement is going to remain as is there are no improvements to that driveway proposed you can go both in and out of that driveway to access those parking spaces then we have a proposed Inon Ingress only driveway off of Mountain Avenue which is to which is along the western property line that driveway is a similar location to the existing Ingress only driveway but it is pushed a little bit further to the West because the existing driveway location would be right about where the addition is going to go um that one driveway that is being removed that's roughly where the proposed parking lot is going to be in that dark gray shade I'll get into that in a moment but that shared driveway that was currently being used by both residential dwellings the one which is to remain off site to the west and one of the ones that is being demolished on site that shared driveway is going to remain and we understand obviously that's another private owner unrelated and they need to be able to access the same way that they access today so about half of their driveway is located offsite on their property and half of that driveway is going to remain on the subject property under proposed conditions um and I will get into buffering in a second but you will see there is a green strip just on the western property line and that is basically going to act as a buffer between that existing driveway even though it is still on the subject property but it will be used by that other residence if one doesn't already exist yes and in addition to that she's going to explain how we're not using it as a driveway right yes that will not be used by the synagogue whatsoever um it was I guess shared use for that dwelling that was there but the dwelling is no longer there so it serves no purpose under proposed conditions um we're not even proposing any any access like I said that green strip is going to be landscape so there would be no purpose for the use of the synagogue that's to the benefit of the neighbor sure yes now in terms of parking that gray hatched area that's kind of underneath where the buildings are the darker gray color to the South and to the west of the proposed Edition that is new pavement parking area and the lighter gray area to the east of the existing building that is the existing parking today it's come to our attention uh since we've received some feedback from the professionals that the parking lot is not in the best conditions so the applicant is amenable to repairing the parking lot and resurfacing it as a part of this work the applicant will repave the parking lot okay in terms of the parking requirements uh under existing conditions there are 334 seats within the synagogue the parking requirements within the ordinance are based off of the number of seats so the current requirement for what's built there today is one parking space per three seats so that yields 112 spaces that are required like we previously stated there's Serv there's 37 spaces existing so that is an existing non-conformity under proposed conditions there is a slight increase in seats and the same ratio applies of one space per three seats so that yields 117 spaces required however we're proposing to increase the number of parking by 20 spaces to 57 Total Physical spaces which is still deficient in terms of the requirement in the ordinance however it is an increase of 20 spaces and due to the incre inrease in seats being so small and the increase of parking being larger the ratio of seats to parking is actually being increased under proposed conditions of those 20 new spaces three of them will be accessible so they will be compliant with ADA requirements those are located you can see those light blue stripes just to the left Page side of the proposed Edition that's going to be the closest route to the entrance of the building or to the proposed addition also we have two electric vehicle charging spaces similar in that location and one of which will be Ada accessible to comply with the state requirements again I'd like to reiterate we do we are seeking a parking variance for those uh for the number of parking spaces in addition to a design waiver for a part of the configuration of the parking lot so as I mentioned the Ingress only driveway is going to be coming from Mountain Avenue similar to existing conditions so if you're coming in from that direction you're going to be traveling to the east you can either Park in some of those spaces that are going to be located in the new parking area or you can make your way down towards the bottom of the page and through the driveway that lets you access the Eastern parking area that's a very similar circulation pattern to what's there today so if you don't park in one of those spaces more immediately you make your way through and you'll pass by some angled parking spaces which are located along the southernmost property lineer can you just tell them about credit we get for the two EV charging stations sure yes uh based off State requirements um if you provide uh excuse me electric vehicle charging spaces or make ready spaces that allows you to basically double count those so you can either take two away from the amount that you're required or they count as two spaces um so technically you can look at it as if we're providing 59 spaces whereas only 57 physical spaces are being constructed so the the variance relief is slightly decreased because of that thank you for explaining of course yeah so as I mentioned you'll reach those angled spaces which are located just below the proposed addition the area behind those angled spaces while they are angled they're not quite 60° but they're also not exactly perpendicular and we understand that those cannot be considered 60° angled parking spaces so we are seeking a waiver for the width of the driveway that's behind them uh what's required for 90° since I suppose that's what they're being considered is 24 ft wide whereas we're only proposing 19.1 ft wide however we do believe that is still functional it is still feasible for people to park there we went we ran a passenger car in our truck turning um software within AutoCAD and we made sure that even in the most restricted space somebody could adequately access that space and back up out of it so about a fire truck not a fire truck a passenger car in the parking space what if a fire truck had to get through that fire truck can circulate the site yeah yep those are with those cars parked there yes correct okay yes yep and that's they will that's part of yes yeah and those truck turning movements are within the site plan set at the end in case you wanted to review them I would just add Mr Huber that the fire department was at the TRC meeting and did not have an issue with that okay then in terms of loading um Mr smilo put on the record earlier that we do have one loading space per provided and he does believe that that is adequate to service the operations of the facility however only providing one loading space does uh Force us to seek a variance for that item two loading spaces are actually required based off of the proposed square footage of the building post construction so while two spaces would be required for the ordinance we are only providing one it does meet the size requirements um but we do feel like the number of spaces is adequate for the frequency of use and the type of use that they have we are also seeking a waiver for the maximum number of parking spaces in a continuous row um that maximum number is 14 and I'd like to point out that 15 continuous spaces do exist in the current parking lot that's located to the southeast of the existing building um we are restriping that area to allow for one more space because some of those spaces were oversized so that was a good way to get another parking space to help decrease the variance a little bit but not actually have to add additional impervious coverage so while we would be forced to seek that design waiver for having 16 spaces in a row it does make a better use of the pavement that's already there so if we didn't grant that you would just be have to put in like a cartway or something to put like trees in right so we could put like an island somewhere to break them up but that would lose a spaceace so it's better in your opinion it's better to have the additional space given this marking variant yes exactly can we look at whatever trees you would have put in that spot to move somewhere else so that we equal it out sure that can be discussed yeah like take a of that yeah thank you okay so the other facet of this application is the minor subdivision and lot consolidation the subdivision includes the relocation of the lot 39 rear lot line currently it's on an angle adjacent to lot 38 but under proposed conditions that rear lot line is going to align with the lot 38 rear property line so they will have the same backyard line whereas previously it angled out a little bit and their lot was a little bit larger that results in a reduction of lot area by about 1,800 Square ft for lot 39 however the lot area remains compliant at 0. 2 Acres while 0.17 acres is the minimum allowed for the area so we're not seeking any bulk relief as a result of that subdivision that 1800 square ft is going to get added to the congregation's uh lot area and that lot area is going to be Consolidated it just makes sense at this point in time to consolidate those lots since they're all being used by the synagogue so that's part of that consolidation and we did consider the subdivision and the consolidation in the other bulk requirements namely building coverage and impervious coverage so let start with building coverage there's 25% maximum permitted however under existing conditions looking at all the the subject properties 28.6 is currently existing so that's an existing non-conformity under proposed conditions due to the building addition but also taking to into account the dwellings that are being demolished there will be 38.8% proposed for building coverage and that includes the Lots combined under impervious coverage requirements 36% is the maximum permitted 58.1 is currently existing today so again an existing non-con ity and we are proposing to increase that to 75.9% that's an increase of about 9,000 square ft of impervious coverage under proposed conditions and M Les grer just let's reiterate through your testimony the pre-existing non-conforming conditions that exist at 18 Pit Road which is the subject of the minor subdivision and 339 Mountain Avenue are remaining unchanged is that correct yes thank you yep there is no other alteration proposed to the lot 39 other than the slight location of that rear property line thank you yeah no problem and that brings us to psych rating and storm water management so the site grading design was intended to maintain existing topography as much as possible it's also intended to maintain existing drainage patterns as much as possible uh also within the grading design we took into account the Ada accessibility requirements so like I mentioned we have those Ada parking spots located immediately Med adjacent to the proposed addition and provide an accessible route from those spaces to the building as required in terms of storm water management first I'd like to point out that our limit of disturbance is about 7 Acres Which is less than one acre we're proposing an additional about 9,000 foot of impervious coverage which is. 22 Acres less than 0.25 Acres so the 1 acre and the 025 acres are important when we're when we first start to begin looking at a storm management design because that determines whether or not it's considered a minor or major uh storm water development per njac C7 colonate which is the D's storm water management rule so because we are under those thresholds this project does not actually trigger the major development requirements for that reason the pro the project is not subject to the groundwater recharge the water quality or the runoff quantity reduction requirements now that's not to say that we're not doing anything for stor Water Management because good engineering design we don't want to basically generate more runoff than what is currently there existing that would be negatively impacting the neighbors so what we are doing is proposing an additional underground detention Basin which is going to be located under a portion of the new parking area to the south of the building Edition and that detention Basin is designed to take the additional runoff detain it and release it at a slow controlled rate and what that does is actually decrease the amount of runoff that's leaving the site even compared to existing conditions so the a natural concern is that we're increasing impervious coverage and that increases the rate of runoff which leaves the site however due to this Basin we are not only meeting the existing runoff rates but we are actually exceeding the requirement and decreasing them under proposed conditions Miss Les crer is it accurate to state that your testimony is indicating that there will be no additional storm water that will flow off site that's that's correct thank you yes is it your testimony that none of the storm water will affect any of the neighbors with the additional runoff I mean I know there's a curb obviously right can you can you testify to the fact that with those two southernly properties that are in between the temples the house and the runoff from that parking lot is there any chance of going on the neighbor's properties so the way that we addressed that was currently today there is some runoff going in that direction but what we're doing with the parking lot design is actually grading it towards the inside of the property and capturing it within that detention Basin and discharging it to the underground system that's already within Shunpike Road so they should be experiencing less runoff based off this design because we were taking what was flowing Overland even some of which which was flowing South we're directing that towards the property detaining it in the proposed Basin and sending it underground to the conveyance system within the roadway can I interrupt you Mike would you agree with that yes you agree okay continue I'm sorry sure no problem in terms of of utilities obviously this is an existing synagogue which is currently being serviced by the various utility companies those same companies are planning to service again the proposed Edition today um it's been brought up that we uh were requested sanitary sewer calculations which we did provide uh to you today we understand that you probably need some time to review them um but we're amendable to any conversation or discussion about that going forward in terms of site lighting there are six wallmounted lights proposed at about 9.25 ft in height the height is dictated solely by the canopy height which is going to be proposed on the proposed Edition the canopies are shown in that lighter orange color on the west south and Eastern sides of the proposed Edition for those who can see so there will be building mounted lights along those canopies then there will be four freestanding lights proposed throughout the parking lot area to eliminate the parking lot those are at a mounting height of 18 ft that height is compliant with the ordinance standard and the lights as we previously said are directed away from adjacent neighbors we are also using cut off Shields as we understand some of the lights are located close to the adjacent property lines due to the fact that the parking lot is the perimeter of the site but those lights do have cut off Shields to make sure that we cut off that light and the light is directed inward towards the property so miss leser you've done what you can do to diminish any glow or any lights directly going toward the neighbors is that right that's correct thank you yes and in terms of landscaping we have a diverse planting list that is proposed and shown on our landscape plan that's within the site plan set there's about 225 new plants proposed 28 of which will be trees and there are two primary areas where we really wanted to focus on buffering and Landscaping uh one of those is adjacent to lot 32 which is where that shared driveway is that I've been mentioning uh where our lot line bisects that driveway so I mentioned that green strip earlier which is just planned right of that shared driveway that's on average about 6 feet wide of landscaping that's going to be proposed there to enhance the buffer to that neighbor so that none of the cars that will be parked in that lot will be as visible as it as they would be without any sort of buffering can you address some of the parking that's so now I guess the house in between where the the rabbi or the religious folks are living there's now a parking lot in the back can you address how you buffer that that's important for me to Sure yes yeah that was actually my next Point see I read your mind yes read my mind um so there is a strip of landscaping proposed just along that property line as well um those are mostly arbery trees that was recommended by one of the Town professionals but we can tailor that mix to also have um tailored junipers or Skyrocket junipers which can get up to about 30t tall in addition to the additional plantings we're also providing a 6ot vinyl fence um in our plans currently it's proposed as a white vinyl fence but it was brought to our attention that the existing one is beige and white and so there's no issue with making that match the existing fence if that's two tone fence what is the exact space from their property line your park where you actually get paid how much buffer two feet which is the same existing conditions actually in the worst spot is 1.6 feet so I don't know what the board is mindset of but I'd like to see you know whether they have 56 55 parking spots I'd like to see one of those parking lots disappear in more of a buffer for that neighbor that gives them the ability to have less parking close to their property line and more of a buffer with more trees to naturally grow into yeah I don't know what the board feels like that what is your thoughts on well miss let me ask a question the professionals had raised the issue of compact parking spaces that would allow now for a bigger buffer area without having to lose parking spaces yes is that something that's been considered we know that we would need a waiver for that but I thought it was a very good suggest yeah so it has been discussed that we can provide what's called compact parking spaces which are about 2 feet shorter than the traditional parking space our proposed parking spaces now are 18 ft long but a typical compact space is about 16 ft long unfortunately the Springfield ordinance does not have anything that allows for that um written in the code but if if the board is willing to Grant a waiver for that to allow for additional buffering that's definitely something that can how much would they Mike how much would they gain by buffering with doing smaller spots than the middle area two extra feet you go from two to four so I don't to me that doesn't I would rather see losing a spot and giving nine feet that's 11 feet with some trees planted there like we talked about that island of relocating some trees putting more trees there to naturally give a buffer the F 55 56 to me I would see that trying to buffer that property line would be more important but let M Les let me ask this followup question with the extra two feet that you would gain with the compact parking you can plant a different type of species is that right that can grow dollar yeah there would be a little bit more room for a drow excuse me a tree to grow um which could reach a higher growth height so I'll rephrase Mr disco would it be better for them to leave lose one spot and increase the parking variant to give more Ben more more benefit to the neighbor to have more of a buffer more trees and less having a car closer to the prop well I think we're talking about the section there where the angled Sly angled parking spaces are right behind the resal so you couldn't just lose I no I'm talking about going to the far left far left if you lost one there you'd be able to create get nine extra feet above get nine extra feet so my suggestion and I don't know what the board it seems like people are shaking their hands heads that I would rather see additional buffer to that lottin block to be able to put more trees more space I I was out there I know the house is very far set back and I think they do have a shed but for you you want to be good neighbors we talked through that your your board president testified to that I'd like to see to me losing one spot if not two but F at least one would give nine plus two 11 feet of width yes yeah I think the applicant would be amendable to something like that if that's the preference of the board obviously when we were doing the site design it's a given and take of how extreme the variance is versus allowing room for buffers so we're getting 20 extra spots and no new members so if it's 19 it's 19 but I'll we when Mr disco gives the board some information we'll talk about that okay I would just make one comment to that um there had been some quite a bit of discussion with regard to the banking of a spot or two spots um and there wasn't clarity as to which spot so for purposes of this hearing I mean we don't want to lose a spot that's directly in front of our doors I get it but I'm also want to be very mindful of neighbors that are potentially having a parking lot now as opposed to before so what lot and block is that M so can we identify which spot yeah well I mean I can walk over there but Mike if you can identify you I think you lot 32 is immediately to the west to the left of so be you're trying to protect about 40 the Glazer property yeah yes but isn't that the spot that points to the garage yeah the the head of the space does face a shed it's already blocked well I'm just saying it allows to get more you can finish testimony and we'll ask Mr disco his thoughts sure yeah that's no problem um I didn't have too much else to say actually but uh other than there is Landscaping throughout the site including additional Street trees that will be along Mountain Avenue which will hopefully uh just create a better aesthetic environment for the area um and Mr Relic I'm not sure if there's anything else I missed just to sum up your testimony from the engineering perspective um based on the type of building and the parking spaces that are being looked at you have in fact covered storm water drainage you've given sewage calculations to the engineer you've dealt with the landscaping and youve I guess in your opinion put together the best engineering plan that's in the best interest of the synagogue and the neighbors correct correct thank you I don't have anything further okay so before I open to the board I want to because it's engineering let Mr disco go through maybe you can answer the first oh that I'm sorry and you did review Mr disco's and Mr mista's yes review letters and you've hit all the points is that correct I hope so unless I missed anything let me know all right so let's start with Mr disc so if you can go through with you know I you spend a lot of time on this application but if you can incorporate what one of the things I brought so go ahead all right I'll just start with the landscaping that's fresh so uh you have three lots there you got lot excuse me four Lots Lot 37 is at the corner of pit and shun pipe so essentially that's up against the existing parking lot there's essentially no change there for landscaping okay next to that is lot 38 the prer lot that's where the begin the angled parking begins and that angled parking continues across lot uh 39 which is the temple Lo property did prer have parking in his backyard prior there was an asphalt paved area directly behind his lot that's not changing is that correct Mike we're actually proposing 300 square feet of landscaping right behind his property line so the the lot 38 or the praiser property is the one there's an angled property line there which is the current inter connection from the driveway off of Mountain Avenue to get access to the existing parking lot so that area doesn't change too much the the area behind the the remainder of the praiser property watt 38 and 39 is currently where the I'll call it the playground is now that used to be a residential structure repr okay so there minimal Paving there now there is a strip of Paving there but the whole new paring will be behind and then um going further west lot 40 the Blazer property which is the one you were referencing that has a existing buffer now of at least 6.1 feet looks like it's probably about seven feet if we take away one parking spot there you would get that up to 16t or you could take half of the parking spot and shift the parkings towards the front maybe you could pick up that once while so there's some certainly something that could be done there needs to be a continuation of at least the same buffer or more yeah can't shrink it the pinch point of the buffer is behind 39 that's that's where you got the angled parking so you just can't take out one of those spaces to facilitate an entire shift or increase of The Bu take out one or two and partially increase that you took out one for instance you would remove you could have a substantial buffer 18 behind lot 38 CER but that wouldn't impact at all lot 39 the temple so you can you know depending upon how you look at this the other suggestion was maybe they could look at the 60 Dee angle maybe it pick up a a half a foot or a foot in condition in conjunction with the EC compact car and maybe abandoning or banking one there so there's there's things you can do it's a question of what's more important the one parking spot or more about I think want more I think more buffer but I think we'll open up to the board when we get to it but I think the board would say you figure out a great plan for us and when we come back at the next meeting let us know what's the best plan that you can come up with but my thing would be I'd rather give them less one parking or two and have more of a buffer for the residents that would be great we my suggestion would be to review that between now and the next meeting and come up with a plan but we'll open up to the board but continue your testimony before we open up we going to move off landscap I'm just going to go in order okay there was a lot of things here so um just to confirm this is comment number two now sure I could not compare directly the lot 39 lot width existing to propose because the the chart didn't have it yes you just put on the record that the lot width will not decrease as a result of your land distribution that's correct on comment number eight will there be any Gates conect connecting on along anywhere on the property the temple property proper to any of the residential so there is currently a gate there today between lot 39 which is our the the theg the congregation yes to the congregation property and from what I understand that is only utilized by the residents of that dwelling that's to remain then yes no I think they agreed on the record that no that wait what no no one other than the resident that correct can use that I think what we've done in the past with other applicants you could probably send a letter out to all congregants reminding them that it's for this person's only to use no one should be cutting through their and we represented at the TRC meeting that we would be more than happy to create a letter and put it on our website so that that won't happen that's fair but the gate remains and I wasn't suggesting that it's happening I don't have any knowledge of whether it's happening I just want to prevent it from happening that we it becomes more of a cut through yeah no I I agree I was there on uh I guess it was Monday the 12th when I went for a walk with my wife and I didn't see it as a cut through because I wanted to see I know that that it was a holiday for uh that day I didn't see it but I want to make sure that they're aware that that cannot be a cut through whatsoever be unfair for the neighbor to the right or neighbor to the left to have people just walking through and walking through yeah uh item 12 I think Dr Smo answered but one truck loading space seems to be sufficient you agree with that yes 13 was really The Isle width issue adjacent to lot 38 there where it it nexts down to 1819 ft they're going to need a waiver for that unless those angled parking spaces change in some fashion or unless the sidewalk or the building Corner changes so you need a waiver yeah so at the next meeting you guys between now and the next meeting engineer meet figure out the best and and comment 14 in the review really piggybacked that a with issue that's the pinch point I'm calling it where you have a twot buffer the parking space the insufficient aisle width to accommodate perpendicular parking and then you have the sidewalk in the building corner so it would be our goal to somehow increase buffer there and rectifying if at all possible the aisle width or parking space okay that to me seems the most logical place that it's weak at and also where we could probably do so sounds like a good start the our ordinance requires a two-year replacement uh on the Landscaping it's currently shown as one I I presume there'd be no issue in regard we we agree to that yes um it came up in the earlier testimony about the the overhang over the stroller parking the Springfield ordinance requires all roof overhangs to be included in building coverage so for the applicant I need confirmation whether those overhangs that in the light orange or beige are included in the building coverage they are okay so the 38.8% represents those three overhangs that's the way our ordinance is really uh item 19 was the um lighting and the shut off so our ordinance right now geesus that's loud requires a 10 pm shut off or one half hour after uh closing this is geared for business obviously when you hear language like that so I think it would be important to know when the light shut off is going to happen what the typical um activity would would cease that you would need to shut the lights off I there's been some thought to that Miss Les crer um and I had looked into this and she's got the information on the um the ordinance that we were looking at because ours do go Dusk to Dawn because there is um there are services that happen very early in the morning and later in the evening um early in the morning it's still dark During certain times of the year and for security reasons because it's a synagogue and because there are tours and expensive items in there we don't want it to be a dark location okay but the lighting levels that we're showing then is going to be around the clock is what I'm hearing or no so in the ordinance we noticed that it actually says you can have dimming devices that mitigate after 1000 p.m. or after the half hour after it's closed and it also excludes security lighting so but I actually didn't see a specific light level that dictates the amount of dimming or the security lighting so if you have a recommendation we're happy to specify that on our so you're willing to dim though in order ABS okay yes we're just not willing to go dark understood I'm confirming in number 20 are there any signs proposed ground or wall I didn't see any on the architectural plans I didn't see on the state uh there's no ground signs proposed and I would defer the architect if there's anything that's going to be on the addition um but I don't imagine there would be anything substantial at least to the rear because that is not Street facing okay there there currently is you know the one-way signage um that obviously the one that's up there now has been there forever so that will be replaced so you can actually read that it's one way besides traffic sign what're right besides uh traffic and directional signage yes um on the new addition I would just note this and this hasn't been decided yet whether or not on the new addition itself that there would be you know congregation Israel or the name of the building whatever that hasn't been decided yet but if need be and it doesn't comply with the ordinance we will come back if you ever get to a motion I think if there's going to be signs just put in there a condition that they be compliant to Y of course they'd be complying or they got to come back um item 22 Dr smile o consented to the paving of the lot to the existing lot to the southeast items 23 and 24 were were additional sidewalk and curb repair requests because of the conditions out there I don't know if there's if you I didn't hear that testimony yeah it's been discussed the applicant is in agreement that we don't want a tripping Hazard and you are correct that you pointed out that some of it is not level it will be addressed to the satisfaction of our board engineer absolutely okay I I did receive the sanitary sore flow calculations today it you know whenever we have an increase because we're Springfield in 2019 we had 93 exceedances to rvsa this year as of June we had 33 exceedances we have we used to call them fines and we have penalties and uh Deeds there with that so we have to pay money to rvsa so whenever we have an applicant who increases sanitary swore we look for mitigation based upon the calculations I saw which were I I don't want to say negligible but minor and based upon the normal mitigation technique isn't there a connection fee there's a there's a simple you know we can have that condition and it won't even cost very much okay so they to meet the whatever the condition of rway Valley sewage Authority is is there any anticipated electrical Transformers to pet peeve of mine yes uh no there is not one going to be located on the ground however I would just just add that if it turns out that that becomes a requirement we have room in the basement so that it is not visible to the public will there be any branding on the EV charging stations no so you're there's a generator I think they testified on the roof on the roof but it we would have to work through shielded I know but there would have to be a cycle during uh normal hours not at night time to be run I think that we order says with the ordinance they do have truck turning plans in the in the plan set that you have for the U Springfield uh fire can you make sure fire sends us a letter or you talk to them that they feel like it's adequate we will do that uh could you just offer testimony on item 37 uh traffic engineer should offer testimony on site visibility from the ex existing proposed driveway along Shunpike Road we do have a traffic engineer here that's after is that's fine and I did have multiple conversations with Dynamic engineering Grace yes she's here Grace is here where are you there and so um some of the questions I had um raised in my storm War management have been muted to the sense that they provided the information that I didn't see in their extensive report and I'm very comfortable so on the record I'm saying that that they have tables in their storm water management report that document that not only um are they doing storm water management activities even though it's not a major development per njd but they are actually reducing discharges on site by various levels anywhere from 20 to 37% over what's the existing condition okay so that's something that's very important for the board because again just last Sunday night we had an extensive event that caus flooding throughout a lot of the township so if everybody reduced their discharges by 20 to 37% we would never have a problem but it's very difficult when you ask every single person in the town to reduce by that amount is it not that we don't believe her but is it your testimony that none of the runoff will affect the neighbors what I can say is that um as was presented by um Miss Jessica the Dan Danielle sorry I was closing there was an A in it somewhere um there there's curbing on the site and then the low points or where the drainage collection Phil facilities are are in the center of the parking lot so it's not directing the water to the edge of the parking lot where it could jump the curb it's actually directing it away from the property line to the center so it's a much if you're going to design something to alleviate a neighbor potential this is what they've done so I think I'm going to shut up and let Michael mrea talk Mr mrea I know that you did a site plan inspect you were out there if you could talk a little bit about that answer some questions sure U and I I thank them for that inspection because it was very helpful for me to walk to site understand how it operated um and the parking the movements and the need for the expansion once you go through the building it was a very helpful site inspection for me both interior and exterior um I don't want to rep I want to keep the testimony going um but I just want to touch upon couple of items I'm talk I'm speaking to my report dated August 23rd 2024 I I don't want to touch on anything that Mike disco's already mentioned he's mentioned a lot of the highlights in my letter and I want to stay in my lane and let Mike handle the the engineering I just want to reinforce the fact that and I've I've had the same conversation with uh with Dynamic engineering that there are in my opinion I think there's some very strong opportunities to further reduce the impervious coverage on the property and increase the amount of landscaping and buffering between this existing structure as it's Consolidated and structure I mean the entire property and the surrounding properties without reducing or removing any parking spaces with the ex exception that was discussed tonight so it sounds like you guys can meet and discuss this yes so I think there's some really solid areas I'm not going to go too much further than that it's just that I'm also looking at you know it's not just the landscaping and the buffer it's also how do we get the impervious coverage down a little bit and I'm not taking away any parking spaces so there are opportunities in my opinion I've I've had that conversation um with the professionals that Dynamic um one quick question question page 10 of 12 of my letter item number three under site plan review comments can you provide some testimony on the either the existing or proposed 10t by 20 foot wide trash enclosure um what it looks like what type of fencing will it have a cover is it a chain link fence that encloses it and if so I think my recommendation is that a more decorative fence is used to enclose that structure and I even mentioned is there an opportunity to put something on top of it um I'm not talking a large structure but again to keep all the trash enclosed with a with a better looking structure than a chain link fence right uh to answer your question I think on the plans currently I think it shows a chain link fence but I don't think it would be an issue to provide something more decorative than that well I do believe that the current trash um is enclosed with fencing not chain link at the current existing synagogue so we would certainly you know use a fence that would you know be similar to that of the fence that's the border for the properties so that you don't see the garbage I don't know about a cover on it because of the way the hauler has to come in and and lift up and over um but we certainly don't keep trash outside of the enclosure and we certainly would represent that that would be the case here as well okay so so you will improve the fence the the decorative nature of the fences yeah that's no problem okay um very quickly again Mike touched on most of these items um I'm now on page 11 of 12 we've we've talked a lot about the Landscaping I'm not going to reiterate that it's just that it's a big concern of mine and I think there's a lot of opportunities the are you the professional that we should ask a question regarding the lighting on the Terrace or should I wait for the architect um the architect would have further detail for the lighting on the Terrace I am aware that if there is any light it is pointed Inward and not outward and it does have a wall that does screen any activity on terrorist I'll hold off for the architect will ask those same questions and just to reinforce what Mike had mentioned Mr disco under lighting um the light while the lighting those was it four or five meet the ordinance requirement of 8 18 ft the fact that we're putting them very very close to these Residential Properties there's opportunities I think if you added one more light instead of trying to cover the area with one light post if you had two at a shorter level it might create a less of an impact on with the houseside shields with the downlight a downward uh direction of the of the fixtures that we could even further protect those resident cial property owners and I'd also like to hear more it doesn't have to be tonight but when dust the dawn it's dimmed that night the lights to what level I think there that should be established yeah sure we can talk about the light levels with Mr disco and if if the two of you have any preference for the dimming levels we can certainly look to accommodate that thank you Mr chairman that's all I have okay let me open up to the board for a couple questions and then we'll figure out what we're doing next Mr cquest any questions Rich you yeah no Marissa okay suree Alex I the ev's charging station I stepped out for a minute are they going to be I don't know if the right term is closed circuit open circuit are they going to be open to the public or or or like would me would anybody driving around the thing I plug in my app I see a a charge America station I'm assuming that's what it would probably be the network do I pull into your lot or no would it be just for your members of the synagogue it's a private parking lot for the synagogue it's not meant to be open but um you know okay Walmart is has a private parking lot but it pops up on my app and I pull in I think that's a legitimate question did they do we have an answer no I appreciate the question I honestly don't so maybe maybe we get that answer I mean because it's a synagogue and because we have our own security concerns I mean we weren't looking that this was going to be an open charging station for anybody that's driving down the street um you know you might not be looking at that but that's why I'm raising it because I'm pretty sure it's on a network and if you don't want people pulling in there I I don't know if there and I I'm I'm telling you I don't know if there is an option to take it off the network I don't know if there is a plan but I would as a as a synagogue as a security concern that might be something that you guys want to look at and then come back to us you want to probably make sure it's not on there I would think so that way you avoid that let's look into that for the next when you come back yeah it's a great question a list of things but good question thank you Mr um my biggest issue was the storm water uh dra but you you addressed that um are there drawings of that in the yes yeah there's a you g read I don't have to you don't have to present it but I'll take a look okay this was given to the professionals is a full book having to do with the storm water that's part of the it's it was part of our submission great yeah so that that was my biggest issue um a matter near and dear to my heart with what my neighbors have done to their property um uh any other security measures in terms of physical security preventing people from getting into the parking lots when they're when they're not supposed to or being able to drive a vehicle up onto a property where they're not supposed to well there are ballards there there are removable ballards yes um so that the fire department can get in if they need to but they they come up and down um there's a rock collection that um they're big boulders that try to prevent anybody from storming the synagogue and then when when it's ultimately built those protections will you know be in place sorry have to ask that question no it's today's society and environment but any of your security plan will be subject to Chief Co yes yes for his design yes are the ballards going to be up routinely or the way they're used now is that they are um for example when the the parking lot is closed they're up Sabbath holidays they're up um during the the week and my um you know representative can testify if I'm not correct on this but um they tend to be down when just the secretary's in the office or somebody may be dropping something off along those lines and for the daily Services they're down so that the people can drive into the parking lot obviously if there was an event they would be down um I just have a couple of questions just about the lighting I just want to uh go over that a little bit how how tall are the the poles that are adjacent to the the uh property where the residents are sure they're currently proposed as 18 feet solely because that's what's stipulated in the ordinance um but we are certainly open to lowering them and to taking another look at what that would do to the lighting design uh like the planner had mentioned that might mean that we need an additional fixture in order to make up the required minimum light levels but I don't think uh the applicant does not have an issue with looking into that to to better the situation okay yeah okay how tall is the fence there 6 okay it's in accordance with ordinance he it 6 16 from grade but when you have the parking lot a little bit lower it acts as if it is taller yes yeah yeah because it's above the curb right perber no and that's for security reasons and they're not off now why don't we let's leave that Chief cook to us some information and what do they currently what what currently goes on dusk to dawn dusk to dawn yes let's let and are is there any dimming features currently I don't know the details but I've have not heard anything from surrounding neighbors over all these 50 years that that's been an issue all right full lighting from D let's they're going to meet with Chief C prior to the next meeting let's things because he said I think then Bo would be okay if he doesn't then we'll deal that's okay with public network I'm yeah I'm not a not an expert at all but I would assume if you're thinking in in trying to get credit for those spaces I'm assuming that it has to be public but I'm not 100% you should check into it can you guys turn your mic on okay so aren't lights there at night now no we are saying there are Dusk to Dawn there are two existing light poles uh towards the bot bottom of the page in that existing parking lot against the adjacent property line currently currently and we are proposing to put the same number in the same location so there's really going not going to be much of a change correct as far as lighting goes yes and there's been no issues up to date no okay now I don't have anything else you're to say that again you're proposing to also have a dimming auction if that's what the engineer wants then we will comply I'd like to hold that and have police review it and see what it is from a security standpoint and may not be necessary that's right let's see what Chief cook has say say we also want to hear from the residents but I want to hear from the police first on what the appropriate security plan is for a synagogue or any place of worship whatever that matters so I would like to just T that hopefully ask Chief cook to elaborate on that have a meeting hopefully you can meet with him by our next meeting we will can I just ask a question about um the trees is there any I know that there's in the plan there's um proposed Demolition and removal of trees is there any way to modify so you don't have to take those trees down so I believe the majority of the trees that are being removed are unfortunately where the proposed improvements are located so no way yeah yeah we're doing additional plantings and I know there's a reimbursement in the event that we can't plant any more trees right we're not proposing to take down any of the trees that are near the intersection section corner all those are to remain out of the limit of disturbance but unfortunately some of the ones that are located right where the will be building yeah maybe Mike can review that with you so when you go back to the environmental commission you can be comfortable that we did what we could do and if if they can't plant as many trees on site that they need to they can go the the route of the um the tree replacement fund yes anything further okay so seeing nothing further know it's 815 do you think you can get your traffic traffic engineer I think we could get that one done let's try that so thank you for testifying just know that you have to come back on September 12th know if hands are butts let's do the traffic I want Mike to uh you know um comment a little bit on it as well so let's go go ahead he'll swear he'll affirm you I would like Connor Hughes from Dynamic engineering Consultants the traffic engineer if you could go ahead and do about to give you swear airm the testimony you're about to give is the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes I do uh could you state your name again I know for the record and spell your last name certainly my name is Connor Hughes last name is spelled h u g h s okay Mr Hughes uh could you uh represent and identify for the board um your current profession Charley I'm a project manager at Dynamic traffic partnered with Dynamic engineering uh address is 110 Main Street sorry 245 Main Street Chester New Jersey I am a professional engineer in the state of New Jersey license is in current good standing um I've been practicing for about seven years in which time I performed hundreds of different traffic impact studies for various commercial residential industrial types uses House of worships um I've performed testimony in front of various other boards over 30 boards throughout the state where I've been accepted as an expert witness in traffic engineering thank you Mr H does the board have any questions nope we accept your qualifications Mr H before you testify I just want to point out that there was a traffic impact study um we actually did two because the first one expired by the time we got to the board so this one is dated August 8th of 2024 and it was submitted to the professionals review that yes you agree with the findings yes thank you Mr Hughes if you could summarize our traffic impact situation yes absolutely um so as mentioned we did perform a traffic impact study um dated August 88 24 uh the first part of that is establishing our existing conditions so we went out and did uh manual traffic counts at the intersection adjacent to the site at Mountain Avenue in Shunpike Road um we also counted the existing site driveways along with the opposite Road of um Q Drive opposite the site um so we did again manual turning movement counts at those intersections um we conducted those counts during the uh typical service times associated with the synagogue schedule um particularly on Wednesday May 8th 2024 we conducted uh those Counts from 6:00 in the morning to 9:00 in the morning and then on Friday May 10th 2024 we counted from 6 o'clock to 8:15 at night um so again those times being selected because they they correspond with the typical service schedule Associated uh with the use um once we have those counts established what we look at is the highest single hour of traffic volum volumes out of those two periods that gives us what's we called our peak hour um so we looked at the peak hour for both of those time periods weekday am weekday evening um and then we have to project into the future to establish our future operating conditions the first part of that is looking at background growth we looked at the New Jersey do um background growth rates they determine those based on the roadway classifications area that you're in um that reduces a rate of 2.25% we grew that for two years as is typical um for a traffic impact study one projecting your future conditions the next step on that is projecting your trip generation uh associated with the the use now this is a bit of a unique situation since as mentioned multiple times the congregation is not anticipated to expand with the physical building addition or the additional parking the size of the congregation will remain effectively the same so in that sense there is not going to be any additional trip Generation Um from this project and as well as the parking demand will effectively stay the same as well um so essentially the trip generation that's being um that's out there today will also be the case once these additions are instructed however just to provide a conservative analysis and to give some sense of what the conditions look like we took the existing C or driveways came up with a trip generation rate based on the size of the building currently and prated that to the um the size of the building with the addition to come up with a future trip generation for the site again just as a conservative measure and to have some sort of analysis in that in that build condition um and just to go over the the the numbers real quick currently we counted a total of 11 trips in the morning that's one inbound and 10 outbound in the evening period we we counted 25 inbound and two outbound for a total of 27 trips um when we add those with the addition with the rate that we counted um that becomes 22 trips in the morning and 53 in the afternoon which is what we analyze as our our build conditions again as a conservative measure um and what those results showed is that effectively the intersection adjacent as well as the driveways operate at the same level with or without that added site traffic um so in realistic terms again it's effective effectively going to operate the same as it is today with the exception of any background growth that happens in the area additional projects things of that nature um but even the conservative measure of adding that site traffic essentially doubling what's out there today uh we still do not see a appreciable difference in those in those results um just real quick on on the site axis as mentioned along Mountain Avenue we're proposing to keep the configuration the same Ingress a Mountain Avenue full movement on sun Pike um but that Mountain Avenue driveway we're proposing to move that further south almost to the essentially as far south as we can far less away from that signalized intersection and also it'll be further offset from Q Drive um we're currently it's about 30 feet offset from Q Drive we're now increasing that to about 65 so we're essentially doubling that distance um so that'll provide for better um operations not only for the site but also for um Vehicles traveling along Q Drive exiting out to Mountain Avenue there's a little bit of a less less of a conflict situation there um so I just wanted to point that out and then the site distance along the Shan Shunpike Road driveway um that does meet Union County standards it's a Union County roadway um based on the speed limit of 30 miles an hour this requires a 200 foot sight distance in either direction uh which we do meet um so there was no issues with site distance or site visibility coming coming at a que coming at a queue you would have no making a right or left no site plan dist no no um out of are onto Mountain Avenue yes yeah from both conflicting with Q you wouldn't have any issue correct yeah because the Mountain Avenue driveway is only ingressed so there wouldn't be any any issue with that people coming out um so I think that pretty much covers everything from a a traffic perspective we we talked about the parking situation how the you know with the variance we're improving the variance condition um the additional parking spaces aren't intended to accommodate additional um congregants it's more to better accommodate the existing population um the parking ratio is being increased um so we do feel comfortable that with you know with that aspect as well as the street parking that's available on the surrounding roadways which again will be the impact on those will be lessened now with the additional parking being provided um that the additional parking will allow this to operate even more efficiently um even during those um special occasion types of events um so I'll wrap it up with with that and if there's else Mr here's just one thing you mentioned that it was unique that likely the membership is not increasing yes isn't it also unique that this is an orthodox synagogue where the parking lot is closed yes on Sabbath and holidays so doesn't that affect the traffic situation yes absolutely um with you know some other houses of worship you might have events where you have a mass influx of of vehicles um so it is unique in that sense as well how during some of those celebrations the parking lot is physically closed not to allow vehicles to enter and promote the walking uh walking to the site instead so even if they had they have 17 more seats and had 17 more members they're accounting for on site with right essentially yeah if that were to be the case essentially would be a wash as to how it operates okay Mr disco do you agree with everything yes and again the even with the analysis of the increased trip generation yeah the intersections still function at an adequate level now anybody who's driven Mountain Avenue Friday night trying to get home 5:30 yeah it's not great but what they're adding or what they will add or potentially add is not going to have a negative significant certainly negative impact on the intersection performance get into the level of services a through F we don't want to bore the board if you're an F that's a failure just like in school we don't have that condition here so there we pay only when David went to school correct yes that's correct do you have anything to add no comments on traffic okay do you have anything further with witness not on traffic open it up to the board the board has it let me open to the board um okay so that's fine you'll just have to read the minutes for the time so let the record reflect that um that Aaron is leaving at 8:24 so he'll have to read the minutes from 8:24 to the rest of this application hope everything's okay go ahead Eric the two days you did it was a Wednesday and a Friday yes that's correct Wednesday morning Friday evening again to coincide with the schedule of and I'm not saying I mean I know sday a lot of drive and park on the street so I think Saturday is the busy busiest time in the synagogue I think you know I don't know how much about it don't kill me I'm not going what I'm going to comment is that actually I walk every Saturday to and from synagogue and I do not see um a lot of cars on Mountain Avenue but I will say that the reason why we had them do the study when they did the study is for the very reason that on Saturday morning nobody's coming in and out of the parking lot at all period not allowed um and with regard to the times we had them do it we had them do it on a Friday night because that would be when you would get the most members who would come and leave their car in the parking lot and the reason we did the early morning is because that's when we have early morning Services when you would have the most people that attend early morning Services um the date you mean yeah it was um hold on Wednesday May 8th again 6:00 to 9: in the morning and then Friday May 10th 6:00 to 8:15 I would also just like I would also just like to add that in Mr disco's review letter report that he did a comparison um for of of or actually did it Google Earth to see the parking that went on uh over time and the most he found in the parking lot itself was 35 but then mostly the parking lot's empty so if the parking lot's mostly empty there aren't cars going back and forth in and out but Mr disco that's your report so you may speak to it it is so um yeah from 1985 forward we can use Google Earth to look at the site now it's random so so we have various days and you see the number of vehicles in the parking lot are 1 1350 023 plus 1 1 024 0011 00 5147 7 plus 21 so a Friday night I don't know if it's night Friday April 29th 2022 was when we had the 35 Vehicles actually after I did this I went back and looked was only one car on Pit Road none on Mountain so there was no um offsite parking on the street coincident with that day September 6 2021 was a Monday 23 plus Vehicles tree covered prevented me from you know getting that exact and August 16th 2020 is Sunday there was 24 Vehicles other than that all the days going back to 1985 show nothing more than that it's random but you know I would also like to add that you don't know whether the cars that the one car that's on pit or the few cars that are on Mountain have anything to do with our synagogue get it I think we can I think we can all say that there are is parking off site and it's allowable and it's allowable and same thing on Mountain it's allowable but I think what your traffic expert said which I took from and Mike reiterated is even if you put you maxed out and had 17 new members because there 17 more seats for them to go to you're not you're not doing anything different correct correct basic correct anything Sharon nope David parking is a non-issue no pun intended right turn your mic on uh uh just to drive home the point the the offside parking is for events right you're but your your your congregants are walking during service hours so it would be during uh Bar Mitzvah and and naming ceremonies would be hey when a ceremony happens right there's probably a lot of family members and friends that gather so unfortunately that happens just like any other house of worship during such events that they increase so it's not like people are driving there before the Sabbath leaving their car overnight on a street and then picking it up the the next day which is not allowed anybody by ordinance and SPI yeah so that's no different than somebody at a single family house having a party no exactly mer none Richard okay so seeing none you've got through three your Witnesses um at this point I'm going to ask to end the application for tonight carry this to September 12th and I think from what is is that your and I would like that's fine a letter of consent that uh you need a time or you can consent on the record you're giving addition whatever I consent to the carry to September 12th with no further notice yeah of course of course so at that point you're going to have your planner and your architect in whatever order that architect and planner also between now and then your engineers and planners are going to meet with ours to figure out some of the open issues that the board's raised so that way we can come back those issues you know are resolved correct and you'll have all four of your five of your Witnesses present everybody will come back okay perfect but at this time I'm going to um carry this application congregation temp congregation Israel of Springfield 92024 is being carried with no further notice to September 12th In This Very Room for the Public's record you guys can come everyone can come at 6:30 but we will have an application Jersey mics at 6:30 that will go before so I'm not saying anyone everyone can come at 6:30 but just to be aware that Jersey miks was supposed to be on tonight and we move them to next meeting so they'll go first Mr chairman I also represent um another application that you were going to put on the 12th is that being moved yes it's going to have to so then I don't do notice at this point yes don't do notice we'll have to figure out another date so at this point this application is carried the next meeting they're going to have two witnesses if they complete their two witnesses and resolve everything at that point in time we will open it up to the public to ask questions every member of the public is able to speak uh every member of the public is able to question every one of their I guess five witnesses um and so keep your uh your questions WR right written down so that way you're ready to ask them at that time so at this point I'm going to open the this meeting up to the public for any other thing other than this application before us um any members want to speak any members of the POG want to speak on anything else besides this application because we're not talking about it right now and September 12th is a THS yes September 12th is a Thursday uh In This Very 6:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. In This Very Room so seeing n uh can I have a motion to adjourn all in favor I okay thank you everyone