good evening and welcome to tonight's meeting of the zoning board of adjustment good evening and welcome to tonight's meeting of the zoning board of adjustment of the township of union which is being held pursuant to the open public meeting law C231 laws of New Jersey dated
1975 notice of this meeting was advertised in the local source the newspaper of record and notice has been posted on the bulletin board in the municipal building adjacent to the municipal clerk's office roll call
mr wy here miss Martins here mr bentegan here miss Scott here mr johnson here mr mcneel here mr graves here miss Rickets here and Mr champion here there being a quorum present this meeting is now declared open at this time I'll
entertain a motion for the approval of the minutes from March the 12th may I have a motion and a second mr chairman I move that the meeting minutes of March 12th 2025 be as written and dispenseed with their reading second a motion all
in favor i opposed so moved are there any communications uh there no communications Mr chairman continuing with tonight's meeting our first order of business will be calendar
number 3446 rule debrie located at 422 Putinham Road block 1208 lot 29 applicant wishes to install a fence in the front yard mr derito how are you okay good evening Mr debrio I'm Rob Pansul the board
attorney i'm in the back here can I ask you to swear or affirm that the testimony you're going to provide this evening is the truth and the whole truth yes and for the record you're the applicant and the owner of the property yes have you ever been through this process before of trying to get a
variance before the board no okay you're here because of the issue of the fence being in the technical front yard area do you have any other witnesses tonight or you going to present it on behalf of yourself um presented behind myself okay i marked your application as it was submitted A1
so the board has that in front of them it has all the particulars about your proposed fence and the survey and the information why don't you summarize for the board what's in the plans that were submitted and why you need the fence in the front yard area it's a corner lot
and a majority of the property is on the uh colonial side and I'd like to close it all for safety purposes i have a sun room there that's easy to access i also have my daughter i'd like to for her to play outside get a little playground or something so just like to close it off
and also the neighbor in front he has a fence very similar to that the way I wanted to silent and it's an it's an open fence and I'm hoping it doesn't block anybody's view it's going to be aluminum with um I don't know what it's called it's
pretty much that you understand if the board grants relief tonight that you still need to go through the permit process with the building department okay can you commit tonight that if the board does grant an approval to work cooperatively with the building
department to asssure that the location that there's no sight distance or any issues with the line of sight and where the fence would be proposed in relation to the structure there may be some adjustments there but if as long as you commit to work cooperatively with the building department I'll note that for
the record okay and it's a six-foot fence that's proposed though yes and it's as depicted in the plans that I marked and moved into evidence correct correct okay and who it's a single family residential house yes and your plans are to continue
with that after if you get an approval tonight yep okay have you had any discussions with any of your neighbors about what you're proposing to do after you sent the notices i have anyone raise any concerns or offer an opinion to you no no not
really they were fine with it okay Mr chairman with those limitations and and conditions if the board has any other questions of the witness are there any board members i've noted it for the record are there any board members that would like to question the testimony of
Mr debrio hearing none are there any members of the public that would like to question the testimony Mr drito has testified to hearing none you can't hear me no sir
is there something wrong with my mic sir okay can you hear me now yes sir okay thank you thank you are there any members of the public that would like to comment on this application hearing none at this time we
can conference this miss Martin would you like to begin yes thank you Mr chairman um after hearing the uh homeowner today I think this is a very straightforward application um I understand why you're in front of the board today you don't
really have much of a a backyard so installing the fence um I could see why you want to install it in your sideyard so I will be voting yes mr graves i feel it's a clean application with no negative impact on the community so I'm supportive of the
application mr johnson I too will be voting for this application as long as he abides by the building department with the sightelines mr chairman Mr bentegna yes thank you Mr chairman yeah this is a good application i think
it brings no negative impact to the neighborhood um it's a sixoot fence i like the fact that he wants a fencing in you know so his kid has a place to play so I'm going to be voting yes tonight mr wy yes Mr chairman i think it's a
good application and I'm going to go run with my colleagues and vote yes mr mcneel I would agree with my Thank you Mr chairman i would agree with my colleagues um that is a simple application and provided that the applicant adheres to the requirements of
the building department I too will be voting yes miss Ricketts thank you Mr chairman i agree with my colleagues that this is the clean application and I do agree that you know you want to provide safety for your child which I which is commendable so I
too will be voting yes miss Scott thank you Mr chairman yes I will also be voting yes on this application very straightforward thank you as for myself it's a good clean application fence will not have a negative impact on the property or the
neighboring properties so I too will vote yes at this time can I have a motion in a second excuse you mr chairman I move that the board grant a variance optical to this application that council is directed to
prepare a resolution consistent with the board's decision second a motion roll call mr wy yes mr martins yes mr ventto yes miss Scott yes mr johnson yes mr mcneel yes and Mr champy yes
april 9th we'll have the resolution of approval you don't have to be present for that okay okay you don't have to come thank you thank you thank you our next order of
business will be calendar number 3450 Liberty Assets LLC location is 306 Carnegie Place block 5811 lot 39 applicant wishes subdivision to build a one family and a two family
dwelling on the lot mr gachion good evening Mr chairman members of the board should I open sir yes thank you as I said my name is Robert Gion the firm is Gion from Macco One Drive in West Orange i represent the applicant in
this matter to Liberty Assets LLC my client is the owner of 206 Carnegie Place they are seeking to have preliminary and final major subdivision approval in order to subdide the existing lot into two lots my client is
seeking to construct in addition to the existing home on Carnegie Place in order to convert it to a two family he's also seeking approval to build a one family home on Oswwell Place on an undersized
lot now we submitted just tonight an amended version of the plan for Oswall Place eliminating the parking variance there is no parking variance being sought anymore we have two spaces on site the other site we have four spaces
on site the properties are in a two family zone and that obviously permits both one and two families this is a use variance with regard to the density and there are a number of bulk variances have to admit I
don't understand the density variance but the board attorney says it should there is one as does your engineer i couldn't locate the ordinance that covered that neither could any of my experts but we will proceed as if there's a density variance
we'll the engineer will review the bulk variances and review the elimination of the parking variance that I just talked about the witness you'll hear from are Gilmer Argotti of Liberty Assets Adnan Khan the engineer Ali
Caresh the architect Brian Inendola the traffic engineer and Alex McClean the planner i'd like to call my first witness Gilmo Argotti can I ask the witness to swear or affirm that the testimony you provide this
evening is the truth and the whole truth yes and for the record could you state and spell your name with your affiliation sure my name is Guermo Argote spells G U I L L E R ML my last name is Argote a R G O T E and I'm the
owner of Liberty Assets LLC thank you thank you what is your occupation Mr agothi i'm a real estate developer and you just said you're the managing member of Liberty Assets LLC is that correct that is correct and can you tell us uh
what Liberty Assets owns what property they own on Carnegie Place um 306 Carnegie Place is that correct correct yes okay and what is it that you're seeking strike that what is on that property right now uh the property
consists of a single family home uh is on a very large lot uh for this area and um and the lot is quite difficult to manage because it um it faces um you have a property in Carnegie and in the
back you also have an empty lot uh on Osworld so what we're seeking to do is uh on the single family house completely renovate it and make an addition to convert it to a two family house completely renovate the interior and the
exterior um and in the back we're looking to uh construct a single family house is it your practice to keep title to the most of the properties you own that is correct and you plan to keep title to the two family correct and you plan to try to sell the one family if
it's approved correct okay i have no further questions as witness mr chairman are there any board members that would like to question Mr argotti hearing none are there any members of the public that would like to question the testimony only the
testimony that Mr argotti has provided not a comment just uh just questioning the testimony come sorry yes how you doing i'm Roger Sanders um I stay at 308 Oswald Place in Box Hall i've been the resident there
and living in there for 30 years you said it's not easily managed and I want to know what do you mean by that you said the property is not easily managed and I was trying to figure out what did you mean by that the lot the lot from 306 Carnegie you got to come closer to
the microphone i'm sorry um the shape of the lot is uh challenging to work with because uh you have a property on 306 Carnegie and uh you have an an a lot in the back of the house that's what I meant but I don't
think you know Yeah i was just trying to understand when you say it's not easily managed that's what I was trying No no no no no that's what you just said and I was trying to figure out where we going state and what you said it's not easily managed um I'm just coming to find out
that you know the the place is kind of tight up there and the issue that we have is parking even if you put a a single family home there what they going to do about parking because parking is a problem again we just so you understand I'll respond if that's okay we changed the
plan that was submitted to provide for two parking spaces so it's a one family home two parking spaces on site will not be in the street all right and that being said right now there's a single family there right now and there's four
cars in that driveway right next to that lot that they want to put the single family home on the single family home will have odd that's what he That's where he want to put the home he's not on a corner lot no
it's not but it's still it's a on the side of the lot there's four cars parked a lot next to it a house next to it but I think we have to do the application so way all the professionals explain explain the project and that way you can pretty much understand what we're
planning to do okay yes and if you said it's two car spaces that you put for the single family home right with two parking spaces yes a garage and a space behind the garage yes and there will be no other people parked on the lot because there's going to be a house on
there all right that being said I'll have a single family you know townhouse i have three cars four cars and every neighbor up there is just about that so that being said if someone do come visit someone or you know what what else is about parking because well you're going
to have to as Mr agathi said we have a traffic expert he'll talk about the parking you can ask him whatever question you'd like about that yeah all right and that being said also too when you back out of your driveway on Oswall you have to move the garbage cans out of the way just so you don't knock them
over that's how small the block is you know I'm not debating you know about it you know one way or other you know putting the house there but like I said though there's an issue with parking there and it's tight there so you know thank you all right thank you Mr sanders
all right thank you thank you for your comments you're welcome come forward hello my name is Valerie Howell and I've been on Oswwell Place over 50 years i've been in Voxil all my life can you hear me tell me your last name h
O W E L L okay and the the parking is so bad on our street first of all it's a horsedrawn street miss Miss Howell that's a comment just you could question the testimony that Mr argotti has given if you want to comment one way or
another that will come at the end of the meeting if you have any test would you like to question what he has said he's he's proposed a single family home and a two family home it's not going to work it's not going to work it's terrible so I can't say anything else just the
testimony you could question his testimony only his testimony any other members that would like to question the testimony Mr aratti has given good evening everyone uh my name is Tanisha Royster i'm the owner of 326
Carnegie please i just wanted to get a little bit more clarification in regards to the proximity can you can you spell your name for the record please uh my house is under my maiden name which is Mayfield m A Y F I L D wait
I'm sorry there you go mayfield m A Y F I E L D tanisha 326 Carnegie Place i just wanted to um get a little bit more clarification for myself in regards
to uh the proximity of this new structure to 326 because there is an empty lot in next door to my house and I was just wondering if it was that empty lot i believe Mr green Wald or Greenspan
uh used to own that lot um so I was just looking for a little bit more clarification if that's okay if I might Mr chairman I have an architect an engineer will certainly put all that in in evidence when the when his witness the architect then you could question
his testimony okay no problem thank you so much thank you Miss Mayfield my name is Walter Leak 272 Oswwell Place in Foxh Hall i just want clarification you said you putting a one
family house and a two family house there's an existing house that's right next door to that vacant lot where the property burnt down years ago that's the lot there's a house next
door to it are you tearing that house down the house there's going to be a new house on Oswald a one family house the existing house is going to be a two family house with four parking spaces
so that's the vacant lot on Carnegie yes the vacant lot that you're talking about on Oswall place that's right behind the property that you're talking about
building not exactly but I don't I'm not I don't want to be a witness i'm an attorney there's going to be an engineer you can ask him exactly what you're asking now and he'll give you the answers i I'm not supposed to testify i'm an
attorney i present the case so the house on Oswwell Place is going to be a one family that is correct on that undersized lot well uh in the undersized right i'm not going to answer that question because there's variance having
to do with that but the homes Mr but it's similar to the homes on that street and I I can't be questioned i'm the attorney i'm trying to be courteous there will be several other witnesses that are going to testify tonight so this is just the first witness that laid the foundation so why don't we let the
record develop a little bit Mr chairman so we can actually Yes understand what we're talking about we have an engineer an architect coming up a traffic expert and you can question their testimony what am I supposed to do question for
Are you going to question the testimony that Mr argotti has testified too are you going to question Mr argotti's testimony if if not time for comments will come
later on in the meeting okay what you want me to do now do you have a question for Mr argotti oh now Mr gentleman behind you who testified my name is
Could you Could you use the mic please my name is Marcel Seuss i live uh 326 Kiki Place Voxville New Jersey 07088 you know the thing I don't need two f I got one family i don't need two family here
that's a comment i'm I'm trying to get the message across mr argotti testified he explained you could only question at this time in the meeting the testimony he has provided everybody that's coming up here has given a comment i don't like
this i don't like that that's a comment he he provided some testimony and we're going to have more witnesses and after each witness you'll be able to ask them questions and at the end of the meeting then the public can come up and make comments
because I want to I want to continue with the meeting and nobody has really questioned the testimony that Mr argotti has given somebody you know there's not enough parking he didn't say anything about parking he said he wants to build a one family and a two family house a traffic engineer will explain
the parking and then you could ask him about parking or comment at the end of the meeting yes I s on the senator sir can you have a seat should we
continue with the meeting thank you for the record Mr chairman uh we've learned and when Mr gion identified some of his professionals miss Scott actually has a business relationship with one of the professionals and would like to recuse herself to avoid any appearance
of impropriety i think it's appropriate under the circumstances so uh I believe that Miss Scott we do have a full compliment Mr giona board members but I think the wise thing to do since Miss Scott has uncovered a uh business relationship that she will recuse herself from further actions on the
board tonight so noted Mr pansula thank you Miss Scott your next um Admin Khan can the witness swear or affirm that the testimony you provide this evening is the truth and the whole truth i do and for the record state and spell your name
with your affiliation adnan Khan a D N A N K H A N uh AWZ engineering and I'm the project engineer thank you mr scott what's your business address and where and what is your field of business uh
150 River Road Montville New Jersey and I'm the project engineer civil engineer from what school did you graduate what degree did you obtain uh bachelor's degree in bachelor's of science and civil engineering masters in construction management from NGIT you have a license in engineering at this
time that is correct and have you testified before zoning boards and planning boards or on a regular basis uh I have testified in front of federal court superior court hundreds of boards the board will accept his credentials mr thank you Mr chairman thank you Mr khan
would you uh did you prepare the subdivision plan in conjunction with this application uh I did would you review the location of the property uh are we getting the site plan on the screen
okay it's on the screen on the Yeah okay these are you don't have uh civil uh just for the record Mr chairman Mr gashion I'm sorry to interrupt mr wy has come forward as well and identified a relationship that
he feels uncomfortable and in an inability to be impartial so he also would like to recuse himself from tonight's proceedings i think it appropriate under the circumstances for he has alerted me to this and we still have a full complement of board members we still have seven so I think it's
wise mr chairman I think Mr wy can step down thank you Mr w for the record to Mr gion and and chairman I did mark A1 the application as you submitted it i marked A2
the uh original site subdivision plan from the engineer consists of seven sheets so collectively that is A2 i marked A3 the one sheet as a survey and I marked A4 and A5 you had two different sets of architectural plans for the single family and the two family
convergence so we're A1 through A5 for the record thank you any new exhibits we can pick up in number All right would you review the location of the property uh sure uh the property is uh again as you all heard like it's a
through lot uh with the Carnegie Place frontage as well as an Oswald Place and I believe yeah the plans are in front right there let's see and there's a screen up in front of you too okay let
me Okay briefly describe the existing structure on the property okay uh for let me just trace the Okay uh as as uh you all heard the lot lot is a
very art-shaped lot we have a frontage on Carnegie Place as I'm hovering my mouse this is a bigger section of the lot then we have a lot a portion of a lot that throughs uh and faces on Oswald
so if I trace the outline of the lot it will be something like this it's more like an L-shape but little skewed so the idea here is to subdivide the back portion of the lot as
one lot and keeping the existing single family home as the second lot uh the Can I continue or Well describe the existing improvements on the property if you would sure uh as so so this will be the final shape of the
subdivision on Osworld Street this is the new lot with a new single family home one correction I want to make between what you see on the screen and what the exhibit that the architect is going to show originally we were seeking
a variance for parking for this single family lot however based on the comment and based on our review we came up with another scenario we are providing two parking spaces for the single family home so the parking variance for single
family home is going to go away we are pro as the ordinance required we need for single family home of this size we need two parking spaces we will provide two parking spaces on site so this again will be the uh the one lot on Oswald and
the bigger lot will be the existing house is going to remain we are proposing an addition to the existing house so it's not going to be a brand new house completely the portion of the existing house will remain and we'll put an addition and make it a two family house and again two family house
requires four parking spaces and we are proposing four on-site parking spaces for the bigger house as well would you review the existing drainage yeah currently the topography of the site everything slopes down from Carnegie
towards Osweld there is no storm water management so everything just sheet flows all the water from uh from the house and the uh improvements on the property flows towards of course on to the adjacent lot to facing Carnegie as
well as um on Osworld so in under the proposed conditions we are proposing storm water management which as I mentioned currently doesn't exist we are proposing a drive well system for the smaller lot facing Oswald
uh where we are connecting all the roof leaders into the dry well system so any undetained runoff that is is happening currently under the current conditions will be all collected into the drywall system which will infiltrate the water
into the ground in the engineers report there is a comment usually a storm water management is required when you're increasing the uh imperous coverage overall we are increasing the impervious coverage on the smaller lot for the bigger lot we are reducing or the the
offset is uh not uh much for drive system however in the engineers report they recommend that they would like to see a driveal system on the big lot as well or the lot facing Carnegie which the applicant has no issue and we will do the same thing will provide a size
and adequate storm water management system for the bigger lot and connect all the roof feeders into it and uh into the uh new dry system and one thing I just want to throw it out there is like this dry systems that are designed they
are designed for 100 years strong uh any any runoff that will be collected uh the driver will be able to handle a 100 years strong storage on site for each lot after if the board approves this application the neighbors are concerned
about parking would you I know you've said the spaces but could you repeat the number of spaces on each lot and briefly describe the ingress and eress to those spaces sure okay I'm u putting up on the screen the
parking analysis and this parking analysis is based on the ordinance on the town ordinance and it clearly states what are the requirements for different uh bedroom size units so for the new lot
on Osworld by the ordinance of the town we are required to provide two spaces originally we were proposing one space but with the new amendment that we're going to present to the board or the architect is going to present to the board we have come up with a plan where we're going to provide the second space
as well on site so we will comply with the parking no variance required for the smaller lot the same thing for the bigger lot we need four parking spaces because it's a two family home so we need four spaces and we are proposing four spaces on the bigger lot so we are
complying parking is in complete compliance that is correct now are there any B you eliminated the parking variance are there any bulk violations in conjunction with this application uh yes we are seeking some bulk uh variances and they are listed also on
our zoning table on our on our cover page and of course we have a planner here who's going to testify in detail i can run quickly uh again for for the audience and for the board lot 39.01 01 is the existing
bigger lot facing Carnegi l 39.02 is that smaller lot facing Oswell so the lot size by the requirements the minimum lot size is 5,000 square ft uh for uh
Carnegie lot or 39.01 we are proposing 5,91 square ft and uh on Oswell lot it's 2,926 so just slightly less than 3,000 so that's a variance we are requesting then there are two pre because of the shape
of the lot uh we are propo we uh we have two existing nonconformities which we which are being carried out because we cannot change the shape of the existing lots so there are two pre-existing nonconformities for lot width and lot depth then the front yard uh for
principal building we are required 25 ft uh with certain caveats uh under the ordinance and our existing house on the bigger lot is 11.81 81 which is an existing condition however on Oswell lot
it will be 11 ft which is a variance we are seeking uh sideyard 5 ft with certain caveats uh is allowed the existing lot is 11.41 and the proposed lot will be 4.84 so that will be a
variance uh uh that we are seeking rear yard 25 ft again with some caveats is allowed the existing two fam existing house is 24.31 and the proposed will be 15.02 so that will be a variance we are seeking
then the building height 32 ft and twostory structures are allowed in the zone the existing house is 25.1 ft and twotory so which complies with the height requirements uh the proposed lot is
meets the height of 32 ft however it's 2 and 1/2 ft so that's a variance for the number of stories that we are seeking and that is because of the architectural shape and the architectural style the architect is proposing and he can go in a little bit more elaborate
that uh so that is the building height again for the new lot only for the number of stories not the height we are complying with the height requirement uh then uh we have uh building uh coverage 40% is allowed the existing
house is 25.97 the new lot will be 46.44 which exceeds the 40% uh by about 6% and so that's the variance that we are seeking for the new lot do you have an opportunity to review the consulting
engineers report yes I did any comments with regard to that report no I believe uh the comments as I mentioned the major comment they have was the storm water that if the applicant is willing to provide for the bigger lot which the applicant has no issue and we will provide uh storm water management for
both the lots have no further questions this witness Mr chairman are there any board members that would like to question the testimony that Mr khan has given uh yeah uh Mr chairman I have a question concerning the dry well um based on the soil conditions
there is there any possibility that adjacent properties would would flood or basement would flood or accumulate water um because of the way this dry well is working uh again this is uh initial
design that we did again as required for any drive well system ultimately a soil investigation needs to be performed at the site in order to determine the type of the soil how fast they can percolate if they meet the standards then yes the driver will basically the idea here is
like to infiltrate and replenish the groundwater so that it will serve but in case let's say if the soil turns out to be bad that they are not infiltration then we have to modify our design and we have options we can go with a closed pipe system where nothing infiltrates
but we collect store the water and then slowly release into the municipal system so but that's something that will be t done at the part at the uh after the approval before we start doing the construction documents thank you
are there any board members any other board members that would like to question Mr khan hearing none are there any members of the public that would like to question Mr khan's testimony only his testimony hearing none your next witness
thank you very much thank you Mr keshi can I ask the witness to swear or affirm that the testimony you provide this evening is the truth and the whole truth yes I do and for the record state and spell your name with your affiliation ali Goreshi spelled as A L I last name
Qur Hi mr keshi where do you maintain your practice and what is your occupation i live in uh my home office in Tuksbury New Jersey and I have a bachelor's of architecture as well as a master's in
architecture degree from what school did you graduate and what degree did you obtain i went to um University of Idaho and I graduated in 1987 and you're a licensed architect of the state of New Jersey yes have you testified previously before zoning
boards and planning boards yes and we accept that as an expert on each and every occasion uh yes I was mr chairman I submit we'll accept his uh credentials thank you Mr ky try to speak as loudly as you can because there's a number of neighbors who are interested to hear
what you have to say would you describe the existing structure on the site yes it's a one family house in a little u poor shape uh what uh we are planning to do is uh we're going to put the small
addition to it and convert into two family house and would you review what that small addition will be yes uh so this picture shows you what exist
on the site we're going to add on the left hand side of this uh house and then it's going to look something like this and what you're showing now is a rendering of the proposed two family
should this be approved yes and would you describe that as to basically what its contents are sure okay so uh both stories will have one apartment and each apartment will have a
kitchen dining area living room and three bedrooms each and two full bathrooms and they will be identical to each other both floors and what would the exterior be made of it will be hardy plank which
is a very superior uh external material and the color will be u something like a little um cream or off-white and would you turn to the one family home okay this is how this uh lot looks like
right now and would you just describe again it's on the record but describe the change that was made with regard to the parking uh sure this was the original u proposal we
submitted uh but after talking to the uh to the board uh experts uh we changed this design to uh two parking spaces let me pull that out the first one
okay i'll note that as A6 for the record the rendering was submitted it's a new rendering of the proposed single family uh thank you Mr sensual so just describe that new parking accommodation please that's shown in the photograph right now
sure um right after the uh sidewalk we going to um make a 18 ft deep parking space for the car which is going to be parked outside and then we have a 20 ft deep um
garage so there will be two car so in front of that car is a garage an indoor garage is that correct yes i have no further questions this witness mr chairman are there any board members that would like to question the testimony Mr keshi
has provided just one uh Mr president not Mr president sorry Mr chair mr chairman I don't want any problems um just from the the the rendering I
just want to be clear that uh the second parking or the second vehicle will not encroach upon the street or the walkway on Oddswalk yes it will not encroach on
street or the sidewalk are there any other board members that would like to question the testimony this witness has provided hearing none are there many any members of the public that would like to question Mr koreshi's testimony only his
testimony at this time hearing none your next witness Mr inola somebody fell holy somebody went down oh my god are they breathing all right where were we
yeah I just called uh Brian into Dole okay yes any legis oh I don't think he testified yet oh I thought we had done that but yeah I'll bring him back up Mr k you all come back up no we're done
okay i thought it was done yeah I think he asked okay this is your next business right this is Brian my traffic expert okay can I ask Engineering in If you swear or affirm that the testimony you provide this evening is the truth and the whole truth i swear and for the record state and spell your name with
your affiliation ryan Inendola spelling up my last name I N T I N D O L A i'm a principal Neglia group and I serve as the principal traffic engineer uh for my firm and I basically work on municipal
scale projects whether it's reviewing on this side of the day or in the audience tonight tonight I'm in the audience to present the traffic aspects of the project that you are considering as a board president Dola where'd you go to school uh graduate um undergrad and
masters at NGIT and you have you're a licensed engineer in the state of New Jersey at the present time i'm a Mr chairman I should submit they'll accept his uh credential thank you thank you sir would you give us a project overview
please miss window yes so um the applicant is proposing to uh convert an existing two fam uh existing one family into a two family on 308 Carnegie and the back lot which I'll call it on Oswald is going to be it's a vacant lot
which will be a single family home so that is the crux of the application uh that the board is considering uh in the initial application uh well first I'll work in the neighborhood i want to describe the neighborhood because it's a really unique neighborhood and uh uh
it's kind of like a really uh compact like village neighborhood it's really a special neighborhood so uh Carnegie and Oswald as you may know are both 18 ft wide which is fairly unique so you have parking on one side of the street and
they're one ways and they're like a couplet one goes one way one goes the other way so like together they're like a pair that's how the this circulation pattern works so um when we were going through that uh so that is one way parking where from uh
one if you look at Carnegie place the one-way parking is on the near side of the proposed two family uh that's where it's allowed and then on Oswell Place the one-way parking is on the far side which would be opposite the
driveway what we're proposing uh we also looked at you know the trip generation uh modest uh comp two family compared to one family maybe one or three trips in the morning during the peak hour similarly for uh the one family one or
three peak hour trips maybe 10 trap 10 trips all day vehicle trips uh for the project uh and we looked at the the number of vehicle accidents on Carnegie Oswald uh there was any really notable
accidents there was one interesting accident that we looked at i think there was a uh someone in 2021 a four 450 van hit a utility pole uh and then I think there was another accident in the neighborhood where there was like a
fourc car sideswipe about three years ago uh so it's not really active for in terms of uh vehicle accidents so it tells me that the uh that the neighborhood the street is functioning as it should as a residential street uh
for the neighborhood that it's in uh it doesn't seem like there's a lot of cut through probably discouraged because the narrowness of the existing street so when we were going through the project uh to present this evening the original
application um for the Oswald uh uh property had uh was one parking space short and you know my job as a traffic engineer is to think about this stuff and say how how would the board perceive
this like it's a oneway 18t parking is packed on Oswald because it is a narrow street because you can't do do parking on both sides so what am I going to present to the board that that I could justify having one
parking space for single family home and I really couldn't come up with justification to the board what the applicant was willing to do uh when we had a a couple technical meetings was they were able to uh drive the garage
into the site to do an inset garage and then if you look at the residential site improvement standards that we have to comply to um it's two parking spaces for single family that's your standard and also the state standard so we were able
to provide a garage space and like a half carport space which meets the 18 foot um clearance that you need for a residential site improvement standard stacked parking garage and driveway combo so it's compliant with respect to
a state standard and so we were you know and that's why we have the exhibit uh I might want to bring it up if you don't mind so then you see uh on the uh on the screen that you have the halfcar port and the garage beyond so we thought that
was a novel solution uh that the board can have the assurance that there's two parking spaces in this process because there is no nowhere else to park in the neighborhood we recognize that right away and so that's that's what I'm presenting as your as a traffic engineer
tonight um Mr mr gashion if you have any questions that you Well I there were community concerns just if you'd point out what the community concerns are how they're addressed you did already but repeat that and then tell us your conclusion okay so then uh as the applicant's traffic engineer we had to
present a project that did not uh exasperate the existing uh parking situation we recognize that so we needed to be self-parked to present to this board and we are for the Carnegie property four spaces are required four
spaces are provided for the Oswald property two spaces for the single family home are required and provided and I think that as an applicant traffic engineer that's what we can address were in the context of the ordinance and
recognizing that this is unique neighborhood uh with narrower streets parking on one side one ways so we made the project fit into the neighborhood by providing the required number of parking spaces no further questions mr chairman
are there any board members that would like to question this witness mr chairman I have a question um concerning the uh port parking or actually the car pulling in and coming out of the driveway have you looked at any
templates that indicate that that pulling in and pulling out would cause any any problems if a car is parked on the right side uh of Oswald so if we look at Oswald we got to we have to I have to tell you where the parking the oneway parking the oneway parking is on
the far side away from us right so then if you're pulling out you can start the turn at the in the driveway because there's not a car blocking you on the project side so you can make that turn comfortably
and like anybody else has to do on that side of Oswald it's tight and you have to be mindful that there's going to be a car opposite you nine feet away because if it's 18 feet it's it's a eight for the parking space and say 10 for
circulation so we have to start the turn in the driveway and we can because there are not cars channeling us on our side so we get the benefit of just we are parking the parking is on the right side for us and so the width of of the
depressed curve is wide enough that you can start that that turn while you're still in the parking right of the sidewalk yes you're going to have to start the turn like as your rear tires hit the street like at
the bottom of the of the um depressed apron you you would have to start your turn there's no doubt about it are there any other board members with questions mr chair I just have one more question if I could based on short questions is
this street a heavily traffic street or is it a very short street and doesn't that have much traffic on it well uh as I said I believe that in looking at the accident rates that that this is the traffic that's on the two streets is area traffic i don't believe there's
much cutth through because of the narrowness of the street uh there might be some you know you know with the modern um wayfinding uh apps they'll send you anywhere now but uh overall I think the street is in the boxhole
neighborhood generated or coming from and to work just the way that this is uniquely situated again I have no further question mr chairman Miss Ricketts you had a question yes so when you were discussing and describing the car and being able to pull out the
driveway was that a specific size car would that you know let's say an SUV with an SUV would that be taken into consideration and would there still be enough space for that particular SUV right so when I look at your your question we look at the um a template
car it's called a PC car passenger car which is a design vehicle which is uh it's the equivalent of I would guess if you remember the old Chevy Caprices the bigger sedans or the bigger police cars so it's has the same wheelbase as a
midsize like Tahoe uh so that's like the equivalent and that's what we use as our divine our design vehicle any other board questions hearing none are there any members of the public that would like to question just the testimony that this witness has
provided mr leaks so my question is uh this is about the parking you said that this inset garage door creates a parking
spot so that's the second parking spot that you needed and you said that it's a lot of parking parking on Oswel Place is jam-packed you said that right so I see you got a lot of data on the
the the um the the traffic on our place and Carnei but they don't take into consideration that if a person comes home the other person that's in the house they got to come out and let that
person if that person is parking in the garage like somebody mentioned a pickup truck that's not want in that garage so the person that has the the the pickup truck has to park on the outside so the
person that has the car that ditch on the garage every time that person comes home they have to let them come outside and where they going to park at because you already said there's no parking on Oswwell place so where's going to park in the middle of the street you know
with traffic coming up and down the street until that person comes out of the house and lists them in the parking spot not saying that if they come home in the middle of the night you got to wake your wife up tell her to come
outside move your vehicle so I can get in my parking spot and I don't see how you could consider that as a legitimate parking spot and the other thing the street is very narrow i heard you saying about the feet
or whatever the gentleman that just crashed out had passed out over there his driveway is a directly across the street from where they where they building this house where the driveway for this one family is going to be and
um so both of them coming out the same time or whatever whatever you know is very tight on our place as you know cuz you you've been there so that's my comment you know so what do you think about that does he want the witness to
answer a question well I asked him a question the question was how are you going to count a parking spot okay he'll answer it so so I have there's a I think there's one question and I'll state the question
that I'm going to answer the if you have a pickup truck which is uh the largest pickup truck is about uh 175 uh in length unless it's not an extended pickup truck 17 foot five will fit in
the garage because the architect has designed a garage of 20 foot depth so a pickup truck can fit in the garage space so that scenario is accounted for in the depth of the garage so that a 20ft space
is very generous for uh for any parking space even a municipal space most municipal spaces are 9 by8 we have a garage that's 20 foot uh uh in depth and that would take the larger vehicle it would be a larger Suburban or um the new
Expeditions all those vehicles would fit in this garage in terms of switching cars out I have the pleasure of doing that every day at my house car in car out car in car out i'm up early i got to do it myself so I got to you know go out
in the street find a space like you're saying and do that uh it's part of you know living in New Jersey but it's not insurmountable and I think there was a second question if there's a conflict with someone getting out of their directly opposite
uh driveway opposite the street actually that's a benefit to us both because there will not be a parked car there when the uh house across the street on Oswald needs to pull out there'll be a gap where our driveway is And conversely
when we pull out there'll be a gap the situation where there's we're pulling out both at 8:05 a.m in the morning we that is a typical situation on any residential street that they'll you know that's managed uh and it
doesn't seem to be an extraordinary safety uh risk so that's I think I answer the questions uh Brian uh this is the zoning i would like to uh add something
um would uh anybody be well would you be opposed or or the attorney be opposed to making sure that that stays a garage and like it always has to be a garage when I mean like not for storage has to be a garage definitely would not be opposed to that okay i mean that that would be a
stipulation because and that's a condition of the approval we say I have no objection we expect to be used for parking okay i because I you know like I said whether you are approved or denied I just you know at least that gives me uh the authority to uh you know to uh
enforce it you have no objection to that being condition should we get approved thank you thank you for the suggestion are there any other members of the public that would like to question just the testimony this witness has
provided next witness Alex can I ask the witness to swear or affirm that the testimony you can provide this evening is the truth and the whole truth i do if you could for the record state and spell your name with your affiliation yes uh my name is Alexander
McClean uh last name is Mcc L E A um and I'm uh here my your business address and your occupation address oh yeah um my address is 137 Heckle Street Belleville New Jersey your occupation oh
plan um yeah professional planner yeah and what school did you graduate what degree do you obtain i went to Rutgers University i got my masters in city and regional planning and you're a licensed planner state of New Jersey licensed planner nationally certified mr chairman I submit the board will accept his
credentials okay alex would you review this site from a planning perspective sure uh yes so the subject property uh consists of a single irregularly shaped through lot uh this is lot 39 uh
measuring approximately 8,828 square ft uh it's located on the west side of Carnegie Place between Laurel Avenue to the north and Aster Place to the south uh the property has been improved uh with the ex existing two family single family structure that
was built in 1923 according to tax records um in the area uh as we've kind of discussed already is the uh it's a mix of a one and two one two and three family homes and I just wanted to I have hard copies of my exhibit to share but I
can also pull it up on the uh on the on the screen too so good it's on desktop i downloaded Oh you did okay okay great oh no because I'm not seeing the uh Oh this is these are the architectural
yeah I need the um No the plan my planning exhibits i don't know if you can see uh Microsoft page no no it should be I think you got to pull it down to um from the I saw it was in the email box
yeah this one's talking about you okay this it no no no yeah I got to go to the email oh yeah planning exhibit yeah this
is one yeah it's me and I'll just I'll check that there you go it's up okay we'll note that as A7 for the record the Planners Aerial Exhibit there's an extra copy
i'll pass that out you go ahead and Okay it's all right i think they all they got it yeah i'll give the board a minute to review to to get a copy there it's on the desktop yeah oh it's on the
desktop okay that's the last one okay all right um yeah so as I mentioned before it's a the surrounding land uses are a mix of one and two one two and three family homes and you can see here I just want
to just um focus the board's attention on the parcel sizes here so jeez um yeah so you could see that the that the rear of the of the property the
applicant's property u that's facing Oswald Place is is roughly the same as a lot of the uh the neighboring lots some of the some of the lots are even smaller than what is being proposed for proposed lot 39.02
would it be accurate to say that more than 50% of the lots in the neighborhood are the same size as this lot or smaller is that correct i mean I don't have the the number there but I mean it's I think it's 54% in the immediate area oh
yeah um yeah I would say that i mean it's at least on on Oswalt Place um so essentially the the majority of the the lots in the surrounding area don't comply with the 50-foot uh frontage requirement that's being um for this
district and is the depth of the lots not 100 ft like would be typical of all these lots are all less than 100 on Oswald that is correct yeah cuz you're Yeah we're seeing that there it's the same depth um for those those lots on Oswell Place as what's being proposed
for the proposed lot 39.02 and the zone are two family homes permitted in the zone it is and would you review the zone conformance issue yes and um and to and on that point um I've just I've included another exhibit
here this is u my plan my second exhibit uh some of the the the some of the number of units in the surrounding lots so you could see that in Carnegie Place is you know you have um three and two family homes you know some across the street from the the applicant's property
um on Oswell Place you have you know several single family homes uh you got some two family homes right right not not far away and then you have a four family uh south down Oswald Place so you know it's it's in keep it's in keeping
with the character of the density in that neighborhood so and the current condition of this lot is significantly oversized is it not compared to the neighborhood it's oversized by is it was it some approximately 3,000
approximately 4,000 it's oversized by right correct yeah so and would you review what relief is being sought yes so I mean we definitely require um C variance relief I would say
C2 variance relief um since you know we are doing some sub we are doing a subdivision so we can't really claim a hardship here um but the uh I know the the engineers report had identified a density um variance
um I didn't see that looking at the uh the the table provided here for um for F or for for uh density unit per acre but I'm gonna but I believe that there's um the engineer has his reasons
for including a uh request for a D5 variance but um I'll get into the proofs now um so so for D5 variance relief uh the applicant is required to prove
um special reasons per the uh uh grubs decision the 2007 state state superior court grubs decision which pretty much says that the D5 variance is akin to a D3 variance so you have to provide special reasons um there's no need to
prove that the the lot is um particularly suited as well um per the Covington case and and in this case the special reason is definitely advance uh the the relief is being satisfied
because it advances multiple purposes of the MLO particularly purpose A for advancing the general welfare since it's providing new uh fresh housing uh when there's an inventory shortage across the state um there's purpose C for adequate
light air and open space as we saw with the architect and the engineers plants um purpose E um for the promoting the establishment of a appropriate populations as this is a single family home
uh on where Osw on Oswell Street where narrow lots are less than the required 50 foot lot frontage requirement um purpose I for desirable vision environment uh with by providing a very attractive new home on Oswald
Street and that would beautify the streetscape uh and purpose M for efficient efficient use of land since we are not demolishing the existing uh home and we are matching the density of the surrounding lots as you as I indicated in my in my second exhibit now
is the proof for a D5 dramatically different than a D1 because you're not introducing an unauthorized use into the area is that correct that's correct and would you review the negative criteria so uh I believe that yes so in regards
to negative criteria I believe that relief can be granted without substantial detriment to the public good and without substantial impairment to the intent and purpose of the master plan and zoning ordinance as um you know there are several pre-existing conditions here um five of them
according to the uh engineers report uh the applicant has demonstrated a commitment to meeting the current zoning district requirements um uh many of the deviations um a few of the deviations from the
zoning ordinance requirements are dimminimous particularly lot coverage where we are allowed 40% and we're proposing 46.4.44% um the building height we're hitting the 32 foot requirement um it's just a technicality because it's a half
story being proposed so there's no real impact to the streetscape and we are not impacting um parking so no variance is being required for that and based on the renderings that you've shown or have been seen would there be a dramatic aesthetic improvement to have two new a new house
and a very new looking house introduced into this neighborhood yeah as I as I indicated yeah advances purpose ice for you know beautifying the streetscape and and creating a more desirable visual environment and would you tell us your conclusion so
my conclusion is that uh we this applicant is proposing a use that's in compliance with the district so the density is appropriate uh we're providing a a new modern housing uh at a time when there is a statewide inventory
shortage um a new home on on Oswald is a single family home residence um which is consistent with the surrounding homes on that right of way the two family being proposed uh on Carnegie again is consistent with the surrounding homes in that right of way we have u mitigated
issues related to parking and storm water management um and for those reasons I believe that the statutory criteria has been met and that relief is is warranted no further questions as you witness mr are there any members of the board that
would like to question Mr mcclean's testimony hearing none are there any members of the public that would like to question Mr mcclean's testimony question step up question all of this because this is
just outlandish it really is um Marjorie Lake was born and raised here all my life i lived down the shore and I relocated here i've been here 11 years
now and this is outlandish what I'm hearing what I'm seeing is outlandish there's no space the zoning the public the construction
workers it's embarrassing because there's no space there's nowhere to walk there's nowhere to park i have a small dog and it's
sad because you guys are allowing this to happen and as sad as it is it is going to happen you're allowing it to happen most of them don't even live there that's
right and it's so sad my grandmother would shake because it used to be beautiful there i was so proud to be
back in Union but if you walk on Oswald Street you can't you can't even park you can't you can't grow your pl flowers you
can't see the grass the sidewalks cracked the street is diminishing because of all of this and as sad as it is it is what it is it's nothing's going to change you guys are sitting here and
you're allowing it to happen over and over and over and and the construction people don't even live here where you guys live you probably can
park where where you guys sleep i can't even sleep at night because because I hear the traffic and see the cars and they zoom down the streets it's
bad any other members of the public like to question just the testimony Mr mcclean has testified i want to say something about just just
the testimony that he has provided comments will be heard at the end of the meeting okay so hearing none at this time mr mr chairman I have no further witnesses obviously after interested
citizens are heard I'd like the opportunity to sum up thank you at this time we'll open the meeting up to the public does anybody have comments miss How right we're not trying to be
disrespectful but we live on Oswell just want to state your name again valerie Howell 316 Oswell please the parking is very bad and the people that live on the opposite street on the opposite side from us they do have a
hard time coming out of their driveways that they don't hit our cars that's how bad the narrow that street is they do have a hard time and don't let it snow and ice it's very bad because of the street is so narrow i can understand uh
new houses and and people need places to live but you're putting people all on top of each other you can't even breathe my neighbor she's she my my girlfriend died a number of years ago and this lady bought her house she is fussing all the time because the people
are parking so tight on her driveway she can't get in and out of her drive and she don't know who the people are because there are a lot of new people in my area right across the street from me there are a whole lot of new people and they come with three and four cars but see real estate people when they sell
these places they don't really know the town either they just sell the houses so the people move here then they realize there's nowhere for them to park or have company and they're it's it's bad i I don't think maybe Carnegie is a little
bit better it's a little bit better maybe but not on not Oswwell that little spot right there is terrible there's no way that you're going and you're going to talk about oh they have a spot but who are you going to be able to be around and
say when they come in from work that they got to park in their driveway they're not going to do that and when they coming and moving in if they moving they're going to have company people you can't even have company you have to let people know my daughter sometimes and I've been
in the hospital many times and they have come and luckily I have a handicap but if it wasn't for that handicap they wouldn't be able to come because there's nowhere to park the parking is really people that do visit now they park on the sidewalks to go
visit people in in in the houses on Ozo they pull up on the sidewalk and park because there's nowhere to park that's how bad it is and people do park on other streets and the other street people they know it and they be fussing because you live on Oswel but you coming
over here to park because they they can't help it there's nowhere for them to park and a lot of people don't want to move they don't I'm lucky I I retired i've been retired for 11 years from Wake Firm Foods and I got a little little space a little
house it's comfortable but I've seen so many changes and stuff going on over the years i've seen people out in there trying to find a place to park people knocking on your can I can I can I park can I park in front of your driveway so I can get a space that's how bad it is
and it really is and you it does not need another I don't care how beautiful it's going to be it it it's it's not going to work and like I said people on the other side of the street when they come out their driveways they do have to watch on our
side where they come out because my neighbors are always watching they always watch make sure they don't tap my car because that's how close coming out of their driveways it It is and you can only turn but so much that's the only concern we have is
why why look at look what they did to Hilton Avenue yeah you needed houses but you didn't need that many houses on Hilton Avenue those people over there all on top of each other too you There's nowhere to park over there it's terrible every little nook and cranny you want to
stick houses it It's not right it isn't right it's not right i'm seeing the people on the street fussing because they have nowhere to park they got to park way down the street or around the corner and walk back to their houses cuz people come in
from work from different hours and that's where the problems and stuff come in and on the weekends people are running their errands but believe me they're trying to get back to get them a spot to try to a place to find a park and the two houses the two family
houses the first floor of course they got their own parking in their garage but the people that lives upstairs they got a park on the street and across the street from me directly them people have three cars directly across from me three cars next to them those people when they
moved over there they came with four Toyotas and a truck four where where y'all think y'all going to put all those cars at and then the house next to that it's a little house next to that
too that goes with that one family house the big house has two spots the little house next to the lot that on Oswell has two spots but it's really cramped it's really bad and I I I I just can't see it and I
I I love my town i try to keep my property up as best I can and like I said I've been on on Oso Place for 50ome years and I've been in Union all my life and I love my town but it's just crazy that every little corner and spot y'all want to stick
houses and neighbors are fussing about it all up and down the street we hear it all the time nowhere to park fussy can't have company can't have nobody to visit because they have your company have nowhere to park and that's why they park on the sidewalks and they do park on the
sidewalks and the cops don't bother them and I can understand because the cops can see they know they're up and down Oswell they patrol our area so they see this stuff too but it's really bad and I just can't see it i can't see why you would try to stick a house on that
little property i really can't and the house on Carnegie that was one lot when I bought my house the front was on my side and the back was on Carnegie so when the gentleman bought it they let him split it and make two
lots and the people that directly in front of me who moved over there they've been there four about four years now too all the new people in my area right there they've been there about four years and like I said they all come with three and four cars and then they realize they have nowhere to park them
because the parking is really that bad that sometimes they even park down on Matthews Way you're not supposed to park there but sometimes some people they ain't they they can't help it and they have to walk all the way back up the street cuz they don't have nowhere to park and especially the two families
because the landlord they don't care about where you park long cuz they got their own park i have one family but I do see all the problems that are going on on my street all these years that I've been there and it's it's not getting any better it's not gonna and
it's not going to get no better you put that house up there it's going to be even worse and it's it's nice to have new houses it's it's it's good to to build up your community but every little corner every little spot you want to stick a house stick a house stick a And
the traffic on Oslo place when my children were coming up on Oslo we had empty lots we had barbecues for the kids block parties there's no little kids on my street no more there's no block parties is nothing of the sort you better just be in your backyard
and and and and enjoy that but um I really think that it needs to really be thought these people professionals they're fine and a lot of us don't understand some of that but we do understand we got common sense we don't have to have all the book knowledge but
we got common sense to see how we're living and how y'all going to try to make us live with people piling all on top of each other like that it's not right it's not right i thank you
Mr lee i just like to say obviously we're fighting an uphill battle i see all these suits here a lot of money was spent on this project as I already as as I could see all these professional expert witnesses that were here the
numbers look good on paper yeah they look good on paper but in practicality and people's lives it it it don't compute you know I I stated how I felt about it and I just wanted to um
elaborate on you know on further my um my objection to this project thank you Mr any other comments yes oh yeah i'm in uh 36 at 336 KI place
in Vrol i'm okay i have no problem with I have no problem if you think it's okay where I'm at that's why I can tell what's your name my name is Marcel Seussell uhhuh
say again last name last name to C E U S i don't have no fair question so I'm okay i'm I'm on 326 Carnegi place and Vual New Jersey i've been living here for 16 years
i don't have any more questions so I can see this is this is time that you could comment on this application you can comment oh the application so the application that's okay to build new place new houses new house i have one
family house and if I have if you want to build one that's okay that's fine to me it's good to me where my neighbor where I'm at okay i got big property big lot yeah so we can be another another
family house another house thank you for your comment Mr okay thank you any other ma'am good evening my name is Mary Beasley that's B as in boy e A S L mary Beasley
e A S L E Y i'm at 345 Tab Place in Box Hall i'll just be for you briefly um I I looked at the pictures of the architect and I believe it's beautiful i believe
that the property value will be greatly increased in Box Hall recently I went to refinance my home i'm a single parent so my home is my investment one day will go to my son i went to actually refinance my home and the appraisal told me the
appraiser told me that if my townhouse was on the other side of the town it would be worth like $150,000 more so I'm okay with proving this because I think we need to make Vox Hall more competitive with the other side of the town and give other home owners the same opportunity if they want to sell their
home they can get six or 700,000 and not two or 300,000 so I'm okay and I'm fine with beautifying the area i'm not too far are I'm in walking distance from it and it'll be it's a it will be like a beautiful scenery to see this beautiful house both of so I think I made all my
points here and plus also would give more people an opportunity to enjoy our little town as well thank you thank you Miss Beasley ma'am good afternoon well actually good evening um I've been a resident of Union
a homeowner for more than 20 years state your name sorry regina Menddees Domen and spell that for us uh Menddees is mdees hyphen Domen d O M A N okay uh so um like I was saying I'm a
I'm a proud homeowner and resident of Union for uh more than 20 years even though I'm only 25 years old um I I've seen the development uh and I appreciate the development
um I I want to I want to remain in Union for much longer than the time I've already resided here and it's um and this I support this project because in
the end it benefits all residents um the the appearance of our town increases the property value and it makes it more desirable uh if there are uh uh for
tenants but also for small businesses i own a small business and um and yeah I want to see more residents able to frequent my business so uh so you know I'm I'm in
support of this project sorry I'm a little nervous thank you for your comments you're Thank you any other members of the public like to come forward and comment on this application if not then Mr cashion can sum
up did you want to make a comment you're okay Mr chairman members of the board i understand people concerned they're concerned about the parking but that's existing we're not going to contribute to that there are obviously
people who see the benefit of this beautiful structure you need new homes here i rode the neighborhood tonight yes the people maintain their homes but there is a new structure in the area this will be a big benefit and as some of the interested citizens talked about
it's going to help the value of their property the lots in this area are small there's only 70 some odd feet of depth to all the lots our lots are not different than anybody else's in fact the new one family is going to be built on a lot that's bigger than the average
lot in the area if you take the existing lot it's probably the biggest in the area period and it sits on two separate streets so the subdivision is definitely a positive storm water management improvement that is a positive the
density is going to be consistent with the density in the area the um it's an old neighborhood and as I rolled through there yes the people maintain their properties but not a new
home built in a long time to my eyes and I was there today and looked at it pretty carefully both streets again the parking yes there may be a parking problem but we're not going to create it we comply we got two spaces on the one family house we got four spaces on the
two family house we have more parking I'm sure than the vast majority of the other properties and it was a discussion that we wouldn't use our parking why would my owners of the property or tenants of the property not use the parking that's there they're certainly going to park on the spaces
that are available to them and again I think the beauty of the homes to be built is a big positive for the neighborhood i understand there are people in favor people against to people against are worried about parking i understand they're being worried about parking but again that's a pre-existing
issue not being created by us we are going to have sufficient parking on the two homes we're looking to put up and I thank the board for their time and attention on this case at this time I believe we can conference this
miss Morton would you like to begin yes thank you Mr chairman um I first want to thank the community for coming out and for voicing your comments today i also want to thank the professionals for their testimony today both properties are a permitted use for the area parking is in
compliance and I don't see any negative impact to the site or the neighborhood all of my concerns after hearing the testimony today have been addressed um it is a beautiful rendering so I will be voting yes mr johnson yes thank you Mr chairman i agree with
my colleague um I think the homes are going to be beautiful for the area and I understand the pro parking but as um we're bound by the zoning regulations and they have met the requirements for the parking so I too will be voting yes mr chairman Mr bentegna
thank you Mr chairman as for myself and his board you know we're concerned about the public and we do understand their concern tonight about the parking we do have to understand here that the applicant is supplying parking uh two spots on Oswalt and four spots on
Carnegie i also thought the Trafford expert did a great job in his testimony uh justifying uh the parking issue i also want to say that we all had a chance to see uh both renderings and a picture of what the project's going to look like
when it's complete i definitely think it's going to bring a positive enhancement to the neighborhood so with that being said I'm going to vote yes tonight miss Rickettts thank you Mr chairman i too agree with all of my colleagues and I understand
the public's um concern with the parking but we do as my colleagues have said keep in mind that the parking they the application does comply with the town ordinance regarding parking so I will be voting yes as well
mr mcneel uh thank you Mr chairman uh I too would like to thank the concerned citizens for coming out and voicing uh their opinion uh to the professionals you did an outstanding job um and you know sitting here thinking um if there
was no applicant in front of us and someone just went out and built um built out that property without requiring any variance you will have the same concerns um with parking that that you've expressed this evening um but because
the applicant has done a great job in in presenting this application I too will vote yes and Mr graves I understand the community concerns however the parking conforms with the
ordinance of our town therefore I'll be voting yes and as for myself anyway we knew when we got here that was already a done deal we knew that we knew it as for myself based on tonight's testimony the applicant justified the
variances that was requested by showing the property is suited for the proposed use both structures I feel are well designed and the parking requirements have been met therefore I too will vote yes at this time can I have a motion and
a second to grant the application mr chairman I move that the board grant the variance applicable to this application and that council is directed to prepare a resolution consistent with the board's decision second a motion roll call miss Martins yes vente yes
johnson yes mcneel yes mr graves yes m ricketts yes mr champion yes april 16th will be on the board's agenda for the resolution of approval thank you for the time and attention given to this case thank you Mr chairman there being no further business coming before the
board this evening I move that we adjourn second a motion all in favor i opposed so moved