like to call the meeting of the zoning board of adjustment to a order. Uh if uh Michael, if you read the opening statement [Music] this meeting, the zoning board of adjustment of the city of Trenton is
being held in accordance with the open public meetings act pursuant to NJSA 10 col 4 to 6. Act public law 1975 chapter 231. Notice of this meeting has been posted on the city's website, sent to the official newspapers times in the
trantonian and posted at a conspicuous location at city hall as provided by law. Jerry, would you like to call the role? Michael Rob here. Jackson here. Fred Gustanzo here. Amar's Joe. Caitlyn
Farrell here. Venita Kavahi. Mikail Herado here. Need Sanchez here. Ed Wingren, Denil McKenna here. Mr. Chair, we have a quorum. Super. Thank you. All right. Uh the first order of
business is approval of minutes of April 16th, 2025. May I have a motion to approve? Have a second. Second to approve it. Um, Michael Rob, yes. Ruth Jackson, yes.
Greg Castanto, yes. Caitlyn Fair, yes. Male Patado, yes. Danielle McKenna, yes. Zen Sanchez, yes. All right. Thank you. Now, we'd like to memorialize three resolutions. First, 25
C is a zebra. 54 SAM C Charlie Larry. at 54 to 66 South Clinton Avenue. We have a motion to approve. Make a motion to approve. Second Ruth is second.
Michael Rob, yes. Ruth Jackson, yes. Reco, [Music] yes. Daniel McKenna, yes. Ian Sanchez, yes. Second uh resolution is 24 Z is a zebra
1530 S is in Sam 1530 South Clinton Avenue. We have a motion to approve. Motion to approve. Second. En Sanchez. Yes. Dil McKenna. Yes. Male Malo. Yes. Caitlyn Fair. Yes. Breast.
Yes. Jackson. Yes. Michael Roth. Yes. And finally, resolution 24 Z is as in zebra, 240 W is Wilson, S is in SAM, 240 West State Street. We have a motion to approve. Motion to approve.
Enan Sanchez, yes. Denil McKenna, yes. Male Herado, yes. Caitlyn Fair, yes. Fred Castanzo, yes. Jackson, yes. Michael Roth, yes. All right, Michael, do you want to deal with uh the
231 East Hamburg first or you want? Uh, sure. Mr. Chairman, uh, the board received a letter from uh, management group with regard to the 221 East Street LLC
property. uh Anuba Sony who is the general counsel to Ajax as they we accept a letter uh to extend final uh approvals uh for the project uh which did receive uh approval on August
16, 2023 resolution 2023-11 the applicant completed resolution compliance on March 2024 uh and final plans were submitted on December of 2024.
Um the uh city ordinance at 13.13 CII does allow for extensions of time. Um and that is being requested for one year uh which would expire August 16th, 2026.
Pursuant to state law, the circumstances are usually circumstances are beyond the applicant's control. I understand from uh from uh Mi that uh the uh application uh seeking outside approvals that it's
not achieved yet. So those are circumstances not control. So I believe Mr. Chairman it would be appropriate to grant the one extension board agree to do so. May I have a motion to extend 23
Z221 eh 221 East Hanover? I'll make a motion to approve that. Second. Michael Rod. Yes. Ruth Jackson. Yes. Fred Costanzo. Yes. Caitlyn Fair. Yes. Male Vado. Yes.
And chairman Enan, I'm sorry. Tanel McKenna. Yes. Engines. Yes. My apologies. Sure. Mr. Chairman, I would not for the record also with regard to the uh agenda that 123 Bayard
Avenue uh had issues on notice. So I would ask Mr. Chairman to carry uh not not to carry but uh to just note for the record that this application will not be heard tonight. They will renotice. Read notice is required. Okay.
Um, may I have a motion to or do we know that jurisdiction? There's no motion. Okay, we don't need to announce for anyone here who's here on the 123 Avenue application. It will not be heard tonight. They will have to uh
reapply for a new agenda down the line. Not sure when with notice. Thank you. Thank you. All right, we'll go to the top of the agenda now. 24 I would like to call 24 Z as in zebra 695
PA and 695 to 697 Pennington Avenue Mr. Chairman. This uh is an application by Trenton cats rescue 695 697 uh zoning board number 24 695
thank you um 695 PA uh the it's block 34703 lot one uh it's in the uh It's uh in the zoning district N UT
back slash IU. Uh the pro the applicant is request a use variance and site plan approval with associated old variances to renovate and convert the existing veterary office building into an animal shelter
specializing in the rescue of cats. Good evening council. Good evening. Council, would you place your name on the record? Absolutely. Uh my name is Keith Salary. Uh, can you spell your first and last name? Sure. Sorry. Do you have a card?
Probably. My apologies. This microphone's actually louder than expected. Used to project it. Thank you very much. And uh, while I'm just entering this in, uh, it's Keith
Samari. Uh, S A L N E R I. I do find that the board has jurisdiction in that this matter is properly noticed. Mr. Salari, good evening. How are you? Good. How are you? Good. Mr. Salari, I understand you have a couple of witnesses over there. We do. We do. Can you just let us know who your witnesses
are so I can swear them in and then you're allowed then you can proceed with your absolutely. So, our first witness would be Elizabeth, also known as Issa. Fantast. Thank you. Uh, and you are the I have a member of the board members.
All right. Second witness would be uh that would be Donna Bulock. That would be our engineer. Bulock. Bulock. B U L L O C K. Great. And I know you've got a wonderful planner here tonight. Yes. Do
is she number three or She is. She's rounding us out. Uh any other witnesses? Nope. That would be all. Uh I'm going to swear them all in along with our witnesses. Um actually, we do have um um
uh the architect here in case. Who is your architect? Uh Okconor. Sorry, Gary. Okconor. Gary, how could we ever forgive you? And I see you have uh how many exhibits are you going to have? just the one. All right. So, we'll call that exhibit two
one, sorry, two. A1 and A2. A1 looks like a um boundary and topog topography survey for the property. Yes. And A2 is essentially the the application cover sheet. Correct. Title
sheet. Yeah. All right. So, uh, our engineer is Joseph Gray. Our planner is Michelle Taylor. Our engineer is, uh, I'm sorry, our traffic engineer is with us tonight. And it's Mr. Aaron Shrager.
And, uh, I think we have everything. We get everything. Okay. So I'm going to have everyone rise. I'll swear you're on your permission. Yes. You all saw me sword this window to truth the whole truth and nothing truth.
And council the floor is yours with Mr. Chairman's resource. Thank you. So as an attorney, you know, it's always funny. I I usually have to come before these boards a lot to give um presentations because clients hire me to these developments. But tonight, I actually get to do something fun, which is
present for something I'm passionate about, which is rescue caps. Um so, as uh as your council pointed out, we are actually here tonight on behalf of Trenton Cats Rescue. Um, we're seeking a D1 variance uh in a property that's
currently being utilized as a uh a veterary hospital in order to run it as uh we call it a cat adoption center. I think an easier shortand might be a a shelter that specializes in cats. But um to that end, let's uh first have a
member of the board uh Lisa Tusay. Lisa, you want to come up? I guess you can mic I'll I'll ready. Sure. Okay. So, you can I guess we already um why don't you give us a brief history of
Trek and Cats Rescue um and Rose project that you're presenting before the board tonight. Sure. Uh can you all hear me? Okay. Bring the mic down. Bring bring the mic down if you would. I'm a little short, so uh so China Cats Rescue has been in
operation since 2011. Our primary mission is to conduct humane non-lethal methods of free roaming cat population management in Trenton and also to help reduce the burden on the Trenton Animal
Shelter by caring for the cats in the shelter and removing them as soon as possible into foster or permanent adoptive homes. Since our formation, we've adopted over 7,500
cats and neutered an additional 5,800 through TNR, which is tap trap neuter release and resident assistance programs. We're currently caring for approximately 300 cats and kittens, 110
of which are ready to be adopted. and I'm happy to hook any of you up locationations. The cats are spread across 60 plus volunteer foster homes. 20 community
foster homes, which is members of the community who find a cat or kitten and say, "What am I supposed to do with this?" uh the Tread Animal Shelter of course and the PetSmart Adoption Center in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania.
Having this facility would allow us to operate from a central location, making it easier to provide timely medical attention and routine care to every cat in our care and to consolidate resources
like food, supplies, and equipment. Having a central location would also make it easier for potential adopters to visit and interact with multiple cats at once, which would increase the chances of finding a good match.
Initially the facility will have an intake area, an isolation room, treatment area, comfortable living spaces for the cats, areas for kittens and nursing moms, neonatal area for
orphan kittens, cat socialization rooms, meet and greet rooms, offices, bathrooms, a break room, adequate laundry, cleaning, food prep, and storage spaces. Eventually, eventually
we hope to use some of the space for community outreach services such as public education about TNR and peter population meetings, celebrations, a food pantry, and ideally lowcost spay and neuter
microchip and vaccination clinics. We expect the facility to house up to 40 individuals uh at any one time. Our volunteer foster parents will bring their adoptable cats to our bi-weekly
events, increasing options for potential adopters. Thank you, Mr. Say. Uh, and where is the center going to be located? Uh, the location is 695-697 Pennington Avenue here in Trenton. And
does the uh does the organization currently own the property? We do not. But it is being in the works. Um, and how is that going to be exact? How is how is the organization going to obtain property? Uh, the current owner,
Dr. Peter Bats, is very generously donating the property to the rescue. Great. Um, can you tell us about the board about uh what staff will be on site at the facility? Uh the facility
will be staffed entirely by volunteers. Our prescribing veterinarian who is a paid consultant will visit regularly in accordance with state regulations. And uh how many staff be on site at any given time? Depends on the number of the
cats in the center and the level of care needed. Uh we expect anywhere from 2 to 12 volunteers every day in 2hour or 4hour shifts. Okay. And how many outside on staff visitors do you expect on a
daily basis? Initially, we expect 5 to 10 visitors during our bi-weekly adoption events. Eventually, we hope to have up to 20 visitors a day. Um, and what are going to be the hours
of operation in the adoption center? The facility be open to volunteers from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. every day. and a small number of senior volunteers will have after hours access for emergencies. Initially, our publicly accessible
adoption events will be held from 12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m. every other Saturday. Eventually, we hope to have enough public interest for adoption center to be open 4 to 8 hours every day, plus
additional hours for special events. Thank you, Mr. Say. And I'm going to refer now to what we had marked as I believe that was A1, right? Um yeah, so that was I'll refer now to what we have marked as A1. Uh Mr. Say, how is
the building currently being used? The first floor of the building is currently used as a veterary clinic by Dr. Peter Bats. And what will the first floor consist of? Uh once we take possession of the first floor, we'll have an intake area, a quarantine room, adoption areas,
interview/me and greet rooms, and operational areas such as like laundry and meal prep. Okay. And uh the second floor of the building, the second and third floors are residential at the moment. Uh we do have one tenant who we
are planning to stay and that half of the building will remain a separate apartment for the tenant. The other half will become administration and storage space for the rescue. Okay. And this is saying will animals be housed at the
facility overnight? Yes. Uh will veterary care be performed at the site? Minimal veterary care such as intake evaluations like routine wellness checks um administering prescribed medications will be provided to the cats that are
living in the adoption center by our volunteers under the direction of our prescribing veterinarian. No veterinarian services will be performed for the public. Uh will any of the animals be permitted outside? Absolutely not.
Um, does the organization intend on accepting dogs in the facility? No, just cats and kittens. Okay. Um, regarding the outdoor areas for the property, um, what area outdoor areas will the current
tenant the organization plans on keeping be permitted to use? All outdoor areas will be shared spaces available to both the tenant and the rescue. Great. Um, and I'm going to refer now to the site plan which shows two existing um, sheds
on the property. Uh, Mr. Say, what did the organization intend on utilizing those storage units for? We plan to use them for the storage of non-edible items such as cat litter, extra cages, humane traps, and animal
carriers. Okay. Uh, and how will outdoor landscaping for the property be cared for? Our volunteers will provide routine landscaping services. Uh lastly, just to confirm for the record, uh the organization is currently before the zoning board to obtain use variance
relief for preliminary and final site plan approval to permit the use of the properties adoption center. Yes. Uh lastly, upon completion of all necessary renovations to the facility, uh will uh will the organization comply with all state licensing requirements? Yes. that
the comp completion of renovations and in consultation with licensing the facility will meet all state licensing requirements. Great. That is all I have to say to the board. I already ask
questions out or rotating agenda. Does anybody have any questions? None at the moment. No. Great. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Ste. So next we will have uh relations engineer Donald Bulock.
All right, if you want to just reintroduce yourself to the board and please provide the qualification. Donna Malok B U L L O C K. I'm a project manager at work in engineering. I uh have been working in the civil
engineering field for uh many years. I've acquired my license from Newer New Jersey Institute of Technology 25 years ago. I have done mostly um planning and zoning testimonies in Mammoth Oceans and Middle Sex counties. Um I'm expanding
out to bigger and better places and um my my license is current and valid. Okay. Um I think we can accept your professional. Thank you guys. Thank you. Um
this will uh so we'll refer now again to uh what we had previously been marked as exhibit A. Um can you please describe some parcels of the board? Sure. Um it's known as block 34703 lot 1 city of Trenton Mercer County. It
contains 12,284 square ft or 0.28 acres. It is located in the MU-T mixeduse uh transitional zone and the I-MU mixeduse industrial zone. The
property is located on the south side of Pennington Avenue, which is 83 ft east of the intersection of Pennington Avenue and Melon Street. The site access for the driveway is off of Melon Street.
So, as far as the existing conditions of the site, I'm referring to the the property survey that was prepared for this application. Um, it is a 190t deep by 60t wide L-shaped developed lot. It contains a three-story building with
porches and steps that front on Pennington Avenue. And to the rear of the building is a balcony and porches and the uh a one-story masonry building. Um off to the rear, as mentioned, there
are existing sheds on the property. There are existing kettle areas on the property. There is a gravel access drive from Melon Street um into the rear of the lot. Currently, there is no defined
existing parking area. It's just a grass/gravel area um where people park now. And there is a as you go closer to the uh rear entrance way, there's a concrete walk um up to steps into the
entrances. The property is surrounded by fence and adjacent structures. The drainage pattern of the property runs from a high point located in the midp point of the property, which then drains both toward Pennington Avenue and
then toward the rear of the property before draining onto Melon Street. There are no new utility connections required for the site improvements. the uh property and existing structures are in conformance with the MU-T and
I-NU zoning criteria. So that's a brief um uh synopsis of the uh existing use. So there will be no renovations, exterior renovations or there'll be improvements, but there won't be any building
additions um to the existing dwellings. we will have uh some site improvements and working with what we have in this oddshaped property. So um
we do propose to put a gravel parking area in the rear of the property. I'm going to switch the uh sheet over to exhibit A2 so that we can look at the site plan. So, what we're proposing is to have at the uh rear of the property
with an access drive coming in off of Melon Road to six parking spaces, including one ADA parking space that will be concrete for the uh van accessible parking. We do not propose any EV spaces because we have
less than five residential units and therefore is not required. There uh is a proposed concrete walkway that extends from the rear parking area to um as you go toward the um rear
entrance of the building to a ADA ramp to uh the rear access of the buildings. Um, as mentioned, the sheds will be for used for general storage and the kennels um on site will be removed. There will
be no uh dogs on site. Um, we would provide a bike rack in the front of the property. The uh trash and recycling will also be stored in the front of the property. And on garbage day, they will be rolled out
to um Pennington Avenue. Deliveries will come from Pennington Avenue to the through the main entrance. Uh the delivery sizes and packages are handheld. Nothing nothing that requires any heavy moving.
Um we do have uh existing fence on the site and some of that fence does have barbed wire on it. We will remove all barbed wire. There is a uh existing chain link fence
and barbed wire access gate off of Melon Street. We do we would like to propose a new gate and fence and we would like to match the adjacent fence located on the adjacent lot. I'm going to speak a
little louder here. So, here's our fence uh off of Mel Street. Um this fence is old. It's chain length. It has hardened wire on top. What we would like to do is is there's a fence here on lot two and three. Uh it's it's maybe 8 ft tall.
It's a very nice black fence. Um we would like to match the height for security purposes. Um so we would ask for a waiter to have a foot high fence and gate at this entrance way. Um, as far as the lighting goes, um,
there was a donation of solar power motion activated flood lights donated. Um, they intend on using that to light the rear of the property. Um, not necessarily in 100% conformance with light standards uh, for the for the
area, but this isn't a business. It's it's still has that residential uh, feel in the back. No signage is proposed, but we would like to update the existing vet hospital
sign to say Trenton Cat Rescue. And uh we do uh we are proposing we will propose one tree, one street tree uh in front of the building, possibly an eastern red bud.
And there is existing dilapitated curb in front of the building on um Pennington Avenue that looks uh looks like it needs to be replaced. We would be glad to do that. The design waiverss
we're asking for is fence height where 4 ft is required and we're proposing 8 ft. If that adjacent fence is 8 ft, if it's 6 ft, we'll match that. But I'm going with the eight just to make sure we
cover we cover our boundaries. Um we are asking for a waiver for uh lighting in strict compliance with the ordinance and we're asking a waiver for landscaping um because we're not providing any but we are um adding a street tree to
Erington Avenue. So that is what I have for the proposed conditions. So if anyone has any questions or you can think of anything you need to ask me to to include
cover everything I was going to ask. Can you point out on your drawing where you intend to put the tree? Um is it up in that little triangle? We we got a donation of tree from the local
nursery. Okay. We are planning to Thank you. It'll be Right. And that triangle thing, right? Yeah. Okay. There's currently a flag there. And will the flag pole be removed or Yes, the black hole will be replaced
with the tree. Okay. Thank you. In with the tree, out with the pole. Anyone else question? The tree. Is it a deep tree? I'm sorry. Is a deep root berry? No.
Anyone else? Thank you very much. Uh, thank you very much for welcome. [Music] All right. Good evening. McManus, if you want to go ahead and introduce yourself to the board and you provide the board with your qualifications. Sure. My name
is Elizabeth Mcmanis. I'm the licensed planner. I have my NJPP and my AICP. Both licenses are in good order. I've testified uh here a number of times. Um also I have a graduate degree from Ruckers in city planning, undergraduate
degree in uh environmental policy also from Ruckers. And uh in addition to testifying here, I've testified in uh several dozen other communities around the state. And you were here recently if I recall. I think we'll accept your credentials. Thank you very much. Uh
Elizabeth. Okay. Uh Mr. McManus, have you had a chance to review the application that you submitted tonight? Yes. uh why don't you go ahead and tell the board advis your position regarding the request the D1 use variance. Sure. So
folks uh we have a a use variance here because as part of the applicants or the uh location with the MUT or the mixeduse transition district the uh the animal shelter is not a permitted use. We have a little bit of land in the industrial
mixeduse, the MU district, and there the shelter is a permitted conditional use, and we do meet all of those conditions. So, our use variance is for admittedly the uh the majority of the property for the MUT district. And the first aspect I
wanted to discuss with the board is that I think that the board can find that this application is an inherently beneficial use. It's one that is uh so this use is defined in the municipal land use law uh inherently beneficial as a use which is universally considered of
value to the community because it fundamentally serves the good and promotes the general welfare and I think as a animal shelter that is uh providing services to the city the the board can make that finding in part because we are
addressing stray cat population by uh creating uh locations for foster homes or facilitating fosters that might not be on on this particular location. And that's certainly helping reducing the stray cat population. That's also further addressed by their TNR, their
trap neuter release program, which is directly addressing uh stray cats and cat colonies that might exist in the city. And all of that is, I think, a benefit to the community by getting stray cats off the street, making sure your animals in the community are of
better health. also facilitating adoptions into homes. Um, and then as part of all of that, it's also reducing the uh the load or the burden on the Trenton Animal Shelter and Trenton Animal Services by having this community use uh here in Trenton at this location.
And so if the board is inclined to find in favor of this being inherently beneficial use, that means that we automatically meet the positive criteria as opposed to needing to provide some particular suitability as well as additional purposes of the municipal
land use law as opposed to just purpose A which is promotion of the general welfare uh which an inherently beneficial use automatically does. So, I'm happy to provide that additional testimony about suitability and other purpose of the municipal land use law, but I thought I would pause to give the
board a chance to say please do give that testimony or to move on to negative criteria. I'm I'm just puzzled to hear. We currently have a veterary hospital that kennels dogs perhaps for extended period of time and
we don't know how long they're going to be there. And now we're going to change to to to a cat facility. I'm having trouble understanding why this is even before us. Why why is it just just de
facto acceptable? Well, that's a great question. Uh so, um I understand the part of my testimony that you're going to hear and I would have given the positive criteria is just frankly how similar this use is to what exists there. But but the reality is
this is uh referred to as an uh excuse me the existing use the vet is an animal care facility which is a permitted use in the district. This is an animal shelter and the city code differentiated between the two.
Okay. So be it. Okay. So should I should I go on and talk about particular suitability for the positive criteria any purposes? I'm happy to but I don't want to bore folks. I I I for one would like to hear any negative criteria that that you might
offer. Okay. I can always circle back to uh other positive criteria if that's necessary. So um presuming for the moment that this is inherently beneficial use that means we've satisfied our positive criteria. And so for the negative criteria there's two prongs uh plus the Medici test. And the
first one I'll start with is whether there's any substantial detriment to the zone plan. I think the board can find no there isn't. Um, and I'm going to focus on the MUT district because, as I said, that's the only district that we need the use variance for. Uh, the purpose of
this district in section 5.1D of city code is to accommodate moderately intense mix of commercial and residential uses, supporting and serving as a transitional area between neighborhood, residential or commercial areas, and more intensely developed
commercial or mixeduse areas such as downtown Trenton district. And so here we are uh we are a mixeduse building in this mixeduse district in the sense that we've got the animal shelter uh the the the cat shelter specifically and then the residents on the upper story. So, we
do have a mix of uses and we have uh a proposed use that I think is not too dissimilar than other uses that are permitted in the district uh which include things like office, medical office, um uh animal care facilities,
but retail and social service as well. Um, and so as I look at the the district purpose, which is to uh promote this uh moderately intense mix of commercial and residential uses, I think we're in line with that, particularly as you hear Miss
Tusay talk about uh the anticipated service and the type of community outreach we're hoping to be able to do as the shelter gets up and running and and becomes uh has a greater presence here in Trenton. Um, in addition though, I will say we are we have that small
area in the industrial mixed use and that's certainly the district that is located directly behind us. And I wanted to highlight that uh that we meet all of those conditions. And those conditions I think start to speak to what the drafters of the code were thinking about
what would be appropriate. And some of these conditions include that uh exercise areas must be located if they're outside to the side or the rear of the building. Of course, we don't have any here. These are all cats that will remain inside. There's another
condition regarding uh exterior ex exercise areas and uh whether they're covered from from the weather. That certainly doesn't apply because again all of our activity for the animals is inside. Talks about overnight boarding etc. And so we are very much I think in
line with what's intended for this area by uh having this mix of uses by following the the guidance for this district that includes some of our property but also to the rear which is very focused on keeping the activity of
the animals inside. And I suspect it was really geared towards dogs as opposed to cats. you know, the nature of having uh the cat shelter is you just don't have the barking, you don't have the waste associated with it, and so it's it's literally a much quieter use. I've also
taken a look at your master plan, and unsurprisingly, the master plan really doesn't get into uh animal shelters, but it does have some general goals about um having a safe environment where residents are free of of hazards um such as land, air, water, building
contamination. So, it's not a contamination issue, but I think part of providing an animal shelter is uh just improving the community, getting stray animals off of the streets. We're providing a safe environment for the animals. But in terms of the people,
it's just really about better uh or really improving the the neighborhood and trying to provide better care and really just a reduction of the stray animal population. Um, and so for for all these reasons, I
think that we are not uh we're certainly no substantial detriment to the zone plan as required by the negative criteria, but I think that we're we're not working at cross purposes with what's intended for the district. And all of this, I think, can be should be
considered in context the fact that what exists there today, which is a very similar use uh animal medical facilities or or veterinary office. And so it's a continuation of having a place here on Pennington Avenue where animals are uh
are being housed and being cared for albeit in uh in a different manner than in the case of a vets's office. And so for the the second prong, it's uh substantial detriment whether there's any substantial detriment to the public good. And I think quite honestly the
answer is clearly no. And in fact, this is a benefit to the area and a benefit to the city as a whole. In terms of the city as a whole, we are providing a service that's going to reduce the the burden and the demand to the Trenton Animal Shelter by taking care of cats
handling uh the uh the trap nut release program that's just ultimately going to reduce stray animals in the city. Um and that too is a benefit not only to city services but also to your residents. But then in addition to that and looking a
little closer to the site, uh, one of the things that will result from all of this is really just breathing new life back to the property. Now, the property is not vacant, but that we've had the same the same business here operating for about 20 years. And for as long as I
can remember the property, which is probably close to 20 years, it has looked exactly the same. And so just simply by uh bringing a new user that's going to add the street tree and do various improvements to the property, it's going to uh like I said, bring a
little bit more life to this portion of Pennington Avenue. But in addition to that, our application really predominantly involves the interior of the building and the rear of the building. And what that means is uh there's going to be less construction, so less immediate impact on the
surrounding uses. Um, we're also going to be removing that barbed wire and improving the fence along Melon Street and that's going to have an improvement to uh the appearance of the site while maintaining safety on the property. U I think I said the we're adding the street
tree. And I also want to note the fact that we're less than half of the permitted impervious cover on the property. And all of that in the context of uh of our immediate area, which although we're in the MUT district, we're actually surrounded by industrial uses. And then we have residential uses
a little bit farther. There are uh homes and apartments a little bit farther north on Pennington Avenue as well as to the south on Pennington Avenue. Uh, and so I'm pleased to see our property start to bring a little bit more life back to the street and and hopefully help uh
city residents maybe adopt some lovely new family members uh cats. And so bless you. Thank you. And so then the the last component for the for the variance criteria is the Medici test. essentially how do we reconcile the need for this use variance against the variances or
against the uh the omission of the the use from the zone district. And what I would offer is that this is a pretty unusual circumstance in the sense that we're going from a vet clinic to an animal shelter. We're not newly introducing animal care to an area notwithstanding some of the similar uses
that are permitted. It's really uh you know an adjustment of what's happening on the site now which is animal care and and uh limited boarding already. And lastly, I just want to highlight once again there's no outdoor activity areas for uh for the animals. And again with
just cats, the nature of it is the impact is just so much less uh than it might otherwise be. You're not going to have the barking uh you're not going to have the outdoor runs that you might have for a dog shelter. And so this really is a a much wider use to introduce to this area that although
we're surrounded by industrial uses, I do want to recognize we do have residences in the area that could be impacted if we had 30 dogs barking outside. Um and so with that, I'm happy to answer any questions. I have um a a question, two questions
actually. One, um the existing uh vet clinic is the only vet clinic in city limits. I know Peter Bats well who's been my vet for many years. Wonderful guy. Um I know that this use has nothing to do with him leaving. He's
retiring. Um but I'm curious if there's any if there has been any opportunity presented for veterary services to be introduced to that space since we the city will be losing a significant asset
with the the absence of vet services for the community. I I don't know that I can answer that question. If uh if our applicant has any information uh we would love to pro provide Spain news services, lowcost uh microchip
clinics, vaccine clinics, anything. Well, the microchip clinics and the vaccine clinics are relatively easy to provide. The spay and neuter services require a surgery suite um and veterinarians on premises which is going
to be a little more involved. We would absolutely love to. It's going to depend on feasibility, public interest um and frankly if we can get a veterinarian to perform the services and those services would be limited to
cats is is what I'm understanding. If we can get a mobile vet, a mobile vet to come in to do spay and neuter, that would be open to dogs. But if it's inside the premises, that is cats only. And to your knowledge,
there's been no interest expressed in the property by another veterinarian clinic or That's correct. Okay. Um, my other question is about the trash. It was mentioned that trash would be um kept in the front of the building. I'm
not to my knowledge I don't believe it's currently kept in the front of the building. And I do have concerns about it is it's off to the side. There's a tiny little alley um the Yeah. next to the warehouse. Uh and that's where the trash cans are kind of tucked away and
it will continue to be stored there. Exactly. Thank you. I have a question with the because there is a resident on site and the hours that you are proposing are longer than the
hours that they're used to. So I'm not have you discussed it with them or any because now you're changing the the neighborhood with the publicly accessible I'm sorry. But the the
publicly accessible hours um initially we're expecting will only be from like noon to 3:00 p.m. every other Saturday. The volunteers need to go in to take care of the cats that are living there. Uh and we are going to have those hours
open from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. I don't expect our volunteers will be there for all 12 hours. I expect it'll be in 2 to 4hour shifts. And the amount of volunteers will depend on the number of cats we have in the facility and the
type of care that's needed. Neonatal kittens, little orphaned ones that require bottle feeding, obviously require more care than an adult hanging out in a cage. Okay. So that's not so not to the public
before it all goes out to start losing the volunteers that need to come in there. And you said there is a maximum of 40 cats that would be there. Yes. Just for the record, can you compare and contrast that with the existing operation of of the veterary? The vet
clinic is currently open on Mondays and Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. by appointment only. And there's operations going on be beyond that by volunteers and
professional the veterary staff. No. Okay. That is it for the veterary part. And the the veterinarian is planning to retire uh at the end of this month. Will there be any kind of alarm system
for the building when no one is there? cameras. The resident um is going to be our first line of defense. There the donated motion sensor lights have cameras in them. So, those will be set
up. Right. That's only in the back of the building from what I understand. The the motion activated uh lights with the cameras will be in the back of the building. Yes. So, we have nothing to the sides and front. The sides are inaccessible because of the properties
on the other side. The front? Yeah, the front is open. Okay. Thank you. I have a question. Um, how do you handle the folks? Say the cats that came rescue
under your care and they expire, you cremate, do you marry? How do you We cranate. Um and we don't do that on premises obviously. Yeah. They would um whoever performs the youth in Asia whichever veterary clinic
we work with be Northstar blue pearl anywhere that's yeah counselor that's all we have the only question I have I'm sitting here thinking I own cats I love cats
but they're sneaky little Yeah. And they, you know, they they find their way out of things and into things. What's to prevent some cat from hiding by a door and waiting until it opens and it's it's out? We have um we're planning to have
like a DMZ, like an air lock, right between the public entrance in the front of the building and where the cats are. So that'll be our reception area and no cats will be allowed in there. And if
someone escapes from the adoption room into the lobby where the reception is, they will be reclaimed before the outside doors are opened. Cuz you are right, they can be.
Anyone else? Just one question. Where is the main entrance to lots going to be? Is it going to be at the end of the walkway or is it going to be on Pennington Avenue? The main entrance uh will be on Pennington Avenue for ADA uh
regulations. We will add access to the rear of the building, but that will be restricted. Okay. And the tenant that currently lives there now, I mean, he gets he or she gets the idea of what's going on here in Oh, yeah. She's worked
for the vet for many, many years and she's very excited to have us come on process. Thank you. Anyone else? Should we call on our professional staff for comments?
Um, I have a question for the engineer. Um the the gate is about 10 ft away um from the driveway. So what is the plan with respect to the gate when people have to access the site to park? Will it be left open? Will it remain closed?
Sorry. Sorry. The plan is to during adoption days to have the gate open and we will have volunteers um either standing right there or watching uh through the cameras
to welcome people to the site, the public. But outside of those 3 hours every other week, that gate will be closed. We're expecting our volunteers to park on the street.
So, the concern that I have is that when somebody has to open that gate, they cannot pull off the road to do that. So, can the gate be moved so that they could park in the driveway? Absolutely. We're planning to replace the gate anyway. Okay.
So, uh the board has our correspondence and I think the I you know I commend the applicant. They they talked about everything we asked them to in the correspondence which most of the questions related to the operations were related to nuisance concerns that the
board might have and um so so clearly I think they responded to to most of those. I did have also a question about um when you say trash so um what do you do with the fecal matter or medical
waste that comes from the site? Uh feal matter would be regular cat litter scooping and we use a degradable substance. Uh we don't use clumpy clat
litter because that can mess up your pipes, right? And we don't want to do that to the city pipes. So the litter that we use in the shelter and the litter that we plan to use in this facility is pine shavings. Uh so the
only thing that would be going into the trash is the actual feces. Um the the urine dissipates essentially. There should be very little to no medical waste because we're not
really doing uh medical procedures. Uh we will have sharps containers on sites for vaccines and uh we have partners with our uh various vet clinics that will take the sharp containers for
us and exchange them. So, we do have a couple comments um regarding the use in general. Um we uh we do think that um that the general purpose of of zoning a is satisfied, but
we do think that um the board should really consider the particular suitability of this site because this is not an identified um inherently beneficial use by the courts or the statute. And so what we would say is that with the exception of the
residential property, the surrounding land use is not residential and there is no outdoor uh nuisance associated with this. And also based upon prior use, um I'm not certain that this is that much more intense with the exception of the
volunteers coming and and managing the cats on a on a daily basis. Um with respect to site plan issues, um the 8ft tall fence requires a variance and uh we we don't have an issue with
the waiver of landscaping. We do say that the there is a street tree waiver still required even though there is a street a tree and apple post on site. We don't have an issue with that waiver uh as there will be a well it will just be in the lawn area. That particular sidewalk is wide and there aren't a
whole lot of street trees there. So, we think that's probably acceptable. Um, we did ask for uh numbering to be placed on the building so that the shelter and the residents would be identified. That needs that's in our correspondence. That
needs to be done. Um, and I think that's it unless the board has questions for me. The type of cat litter that we're using is designed to not harm septic systems or
sewer systems. Okay, let's let's stop right there. Okay, what what is this stuff? It's it's hay, pine bedding. They use it in horse stalls. So when a horse pees on it, it kind of dissipates. We We get it from
Tractor Supply. It's not called cat litter. It's It's meant for horse stalls. But this will go into the trap sources is what you're saying. the when you scoop it out, you can leave the shavings
and they like absorb the urine and there's no clumping and the poop just goes into the trash. Right. We can actually even where the shavings go, they're there forever. They do disintegrate. Uh so you really don't
wind up throwing them out. Okay. Okay. So there there's nothing going into the source system. Very little. Okay. Very good. Thank you. Thank you. Just a couple questions. um the exterior uh areas of the yard that
were used for the dog rolls before. Uh what is the intent to use them for? Moving forward, we intend to remove the gated kennels. Uh we have no use for them and the storage sheds will remain. Um it will
basically be recreational area for the for the tenant that would live on site. Okay. and for our volunteers. Obviously, none of the cats are going to be out. Absolutely not. No cats outside ever, if I can have anything to say
about it. Uh are are any um interior renovations being done? They will. Uh some of the doorways aren't wide enough for ADA compliance, so we'll do that kind of adjustments, but nothing structural.
Okay. Are there going to be any uh it was testified that no additional utilities are going to be brought onto the site? Um are there going to be any any new mechanical units outside that should be screened from the from the street? I don't believe so. There's currently
air conditioning on site and there's no intention to to modify that. Okay. Um it was testified that the signage was going to be updated to obviously reflect your signage. No. Um,
you're going to reuse the existing signage. That's the idea. Yeah. We We're a rescue. We don't have a lot of money. So, we're trying to reuse the existing footprint of the sign and just change out where it says veterary hospital to
cats rescue. Okay. And then obviously that would um you would comply with all the trend ordinance signage. Okay. Um, and then I would just ask um any any uh improvements that are made to the site. You know, we have details for
everything that would on the auditing plans. I would appreciate it. Um, but I have no further questions. Thank you. Thank you. Any questions for Mr. How will people know you're there? I'm sorry. How will people know you are
there? Oh, it's a small town. People will know you're there. Um, we while we're getting established, we actually don't want anyone to know we're there. Uh there's a phenomenon that happens with animal
shelters throughout the world where animals are dropped off after hours and the last thing we need are more animals. Uh we will not be the municipal shelter for Trenton. Any stray animals coming
off the street will still have to go through the municipal Trenton shelter for the statemandated 7-day stronghold. So if somebody drops a cat at our doorstep, we then have to bring it on over to Echer Street.
But once we're established and we have that understanding uh with the shelter and the ACOs, then we'll put up the signage. We do run advertisements on Facebook and uh Instagram and in the US
one publication um advertising our adoption events and that's where we'll start. Thank you. Sure. Mr. Chairman, I just have something to discuss. I think Mr. Shider needs to discuss something as well. So, um, you
indicated that the lighting was was, uh, donated with the security cameras. We're going to need a little more detail about the lighting. Um, specifically, uh, the color temperature and the light levels and the orientation of the
lighting. So, um, and I realize that there's not a whole lot of residents around, but there is a resident upstairs. And so, we don't want, um, lighting that exceeds the standards of the city. Absolutely. I'm I'm a nature freak. I'm
very concerned about light pollution. Uh I had initially asked if we could just avoid adding lighting and obviously that's not um possible with safety concerns for the resident and and our volunteers. So, I would absolutely
comply with the uh temperature and making sure it's more on the warm end instead of the cool end and it's not super bright and going to illuminate. I don't have the specs uh at the tip of my fingers unfortunately, but we can get them. Okay. Thank you.
Anyone else? Thank you. Just for the board, we did not request a traffic report nor was one provided. Uh the proposed use is essentially same through the IT recommendations in terms of trip generation. We provided our commentary
on what um traffic would be anticipated, but it does not factor in what's going to be cancelceled out. So, we do not feel there will be an impact to the roadway. Uh all other of our concerns generally were covered through testimony including the lighting comments. This is all we have.
Any questions? Thank you. At this point, uh I'd like to open this up to the public. If there's anybody from the public that would like to speak on this matter, please identify yourself.
Come to the microphone. I'm going to count backwards from five, four. Her name is Kelly Ingram. Kelly, what's your last name? Kelly Ingram. I G R A N. All right. Appreciate you in some s.
I'd like to put on the record that Kelly and her husband are here and they're friends of mine. Um, I've been a resident for 38 years and when Trenton Cat Rescue started many, many years ago before you were
here, I I can't remember the woman's name, but I got involved with some of the um cat populations that needed tending to. And so, it was so great to see that this organization for years and they've just
started again to volunteer and they are committed to getting the spay I mean the strays spayed neutered so that the populations will decrease and they truly know what they're doing and they're committed and Dr. Bat's donating the
space um to them. Uh I just think this is really going to help our city. uh it's not the 100% solution because we as individuals have to be responsible too uh to make sure our cats and dogs are staying. So they're doing a great job
and I think anything we can do to help them help us would be really great. Thank you. Anyone else like to speak on this matter? Please state your name. My name is Mike Balazine.
Mike Balazine. Mike. Yes. Valin. B L E Z I N E. I'm a local property manager. I see. What is your address? My address 843 President Avenue. You ready? Facebook.
Yes. Okay. So, I'm a I'm a local property manager. I see a lot of properties in Trenton. I see what's going on in the streets. There are many stray cats all over the place. Uh me and my wife uh we try to help as many of them as possible. We catch them. bring
them to shelters to easel viewing and uh this would be very helpful to to the city basically all of those places are overwhelmed and something like this would be very beneficial. Thank you.
Anyone else? Five 4 3 2 1 Thank you. Council members. All right.
Shall we frame this in terms of motion? What's that? Repeat. Yeah. It be part of the the package. Would you like to motion or I'd like like to I like to make I'd like to make a motion that we approve the application
for 24 by other than me. Okay, that's right. I'll make a motion that um application 24-3-695PA 695697 Pennington Avenue be approved with all
the amendments that were mentioned here in the meeting tonight. That includes the use variance that is part of the reference. Yes. I have a second. Second. I have a second.
[Music] Michael Ross, yes. Ruth Jackson, yes. Greg Castanza, yes. Caitlyn Fair, yes. Male, yes. Neil McKenna, yes. Sanchez,
yes. Thank you very much. Wish you well. Item number two, 25- C-B