e e e e e e e e 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 Andor The Star Ledger the two newspapers 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 yeah uh here miss Martins here Mr Benta here miss Scott here Mr Johnson here Mr mcneel here Mr Mr Graves is absent M rickets is absent and Mr Champion here there be a quorum present this meeting is now declared open our first order of business this evening is the adoption of the resolution for calendar number 3430 2936 voxhall Road Associates LLC located at 2936 Foxhole road block 47 03 lot 15.01 and it was for the construction of a multif family residence board members you've all had a chance to read the resolution at this time are there any board members that would like to comment make changes or adjustments or modifications to the resolution as it is written hearing none may I have a motion in a second to adopt the resolution Mr chairman I move that the board adopt the resolution as read and mod ified as accurately memorializing the previous findings of this board second a motion roll call Mr Wy yes M Martins yes Mr vent Vaga yes Miss Scott yes Mr Johnson yes Mr mcneel yes and Mr Champion yes our second and final order of business this evening is calendar number 3432 J Catz located at 553 Theo Terrace block 2509 Lot 10 and it's for the addition with insufficient front and sidey yard setbacks Mr Katz Mr Catz this is Rob panul I'm the board attorney can I just ask you to swear or affirm that any testimony you provide this evening is the truth and the whole truth yes sir and for the for the record just State and spell your name and your affiliation with the application uh J Catz j a y k a TZ owner of the home thank you is that a representative yeah Kenneth Abrams architect well you're the architect you're going to testify tonight as well can I ask you to swear or affirm that the testimony you provided this evening is the truth and the whole truth yes and for the record State and spell your name with your affiliation Kenneth K NN e t Abrams a b r MS and on the architect for Mr Catz okay Mr Cat I mean why don't you begin as the owner just give the board a general summary of of what it is you're looking to do I think you they understand why you're here in terms of the setbacks the pre-existing and what you're doing to expand on it okay and then we can introduce Mr Ram to testify I assume that's your intention okay uh good evening thank you for having me uh my name is Jay Katz I purchased the property of 553 thoro terce from the First Baptist Church the house was built in 1970 and it has two bedrooms and it has uh one bathroom we currently looked at the house and thought that we can put a extra bedroom on and and add an extra bathroom upstairs and then add an extra is that me sorry so Kenneth has put together some plans and when we looked at the setbacks the setbacks for the front and the side didn't um and anything that would be added on after speaking with Anthony anything add had added on had to be uh conforming so we had come up with this plan and that's why we're here in front of you so I brought the architect who created the plans and would like to discuss that with you and if you maybe you have any questions about what that is okay do you have uh you you live there as a single family residential home or your it is empty at this time it's empty at this time Y and your intention after the improvements if they're granted by the board is to continue with the single family residential that's correct use correct that's correct I don't know if any Gary may want to check if any board members have questions of the owner before we move on to yeah first week are there any board members that would like to question to Mr Katz at this time hearing none are there any members of the public that would like to question Mr Catz hearing none you want to call your Mr Abrams thank you I appreciate that before we Mr AB can you just State some of your credentials sure um I've been licensed licensed in New Jersey for 20 years um I have a m sorry I have a bachelor's degree from Georgia Tech and a master's degree from Arizona State University we'll accept your credentials thank you um just to kind of recap what what Jay was talking about it um the house is a house that's been sitting nothing has been modernized um we're looking to kind of renovate it as well as expand on it to offer more opportunity in that house um right now it's a like you said uh a two-bedroom one bath we're trying to maintain the footprint of the house by expanding it only a little bit so we maintain The Greenery in the in the back section of the house so we're not basically exploding this house or expanding it out more than it needs to be we're trying to do a modest addition or or renovation to this house and basically to um minimize the impact to the to the property um we're looking to build over the existing front porch instead of building off the back of the house and to meet the side setbacks or to to utilize the front porch basically it it infringes into the the left side by 2 and 1/2 ft and the right side's okay but it also infringes into the front set back we're not trying to make it any bigger than what the extent of the ex existing house is which is at that 16 ft that existing porch front setback is 16 feet off their street so it just basically matches the first floor plat uh footprint Mr Abrams I marked for the record A1 the application as it was submitted on behalf of Mr Katz I marked A2 uh what appears to be two pages of architectural plans I assume they were created by yourself yes uh why don't you just spend a moment just so iate the drawing so the board the board has that information just to for the record we we have it matching absolutely just in case I show yes two pages I I marked at A2 both you Knowle I will start at A1 my glasses so you can see on the on the right side you can see the the property site plan basically as you can see we're adding over the front of the you can see the hatched areas those are basically the two pieces that we're adding um one part um is over the existing one story in the back and then we're adding 32 square ft off to the side and towards the front of the house that's basically the existing porch and we're adding directly over that so the existing pla uh footprint as you can see in the in the site plans you have the existing first floor plan and you have the second floor plan um the proposed first floor plan is basically saying that we're just really opening up and reorganizing and reutilizing the space that's there make it more efficient make more usable um a more functional kitchen more functional um flow throughout the house so it you know it's more inviting it's more it's more usable um also placing a powder room on the first floor because there's really only one bathroom in the whole house so if you have a family you're only truly limited to a a house of maybe if you if you had a a parent two parents and maybe either two to three siblings all those siblings would have to share one room plus utilize one bathroom for all those people so I mean you have a Max usage of that space But by expanding it out having the usage of the powder room on the first floor so you don't have to go upstairs to to use the bathroom um since you'll be on the main living space um then on the second floor what we're doing is we're expanding over the front porch then we're expanding over the the back addition piece that's existing so that allows us to a add another bedroom so it gives you more opportunity for whoever wants to to to live in this house B put U amenities on the second floor like the laundry which is something that most people want these days so it gives it efficiency of in usage and then the last thing is to um add more storage space plus an additional bathroom so as a lot of houses these days um we have a primary suite and then if there are two bedrooms or however many kids are in this in this area that they can utilize their own bathroom that's a hall bathroom then on the second page a V2 basically shows you can see that towards the left side you have existing front elevation and you have the existing right side elevation I know should have given you the small sets it'll be easier [Music] [Applause] you could if you look at the right side elevation of existing which is the bottom left corner you can see that the roof line stops at the front and the back so you can see that the there's only the one story in the front section of the house and the back section of the house and we're basically so we don't expand out past towards into the backyard we're trying to basically infill those two areas so basically utilizing the space that's already there without expanding out the house more than it needs to be um and then the roof line is being reworked so that it it can utilize a fullsize second floor so it maxes out the footprint of the first floor on the second floor without expanding the house and then the final piece is just just let me know if you have any questions so far is that right now you have the side entrance from the to go in and out of the house from to go to the backyard or the side side ENT a side entry for the driveway now this basically with the reorganization of the footprint and and the layout on the first floor it allows you to basically utilize the back it's like a connection between front interior and exterior to the backyard so you can utilize the backyard as much as possible and just be directly connected so if you want a barbecue patio anything else it basically allows you that direct access instead of going out the side entrance and down the H down the driveway to the backyard so again it's just a more or less it's reorganization of the of the footprint reworking the spaces inside adding amenities better better amenities such as the kitchen eating space dining com combining it all together to make a better better flow and usage of the space as I asked Mr Catz it's set up for single family residential that's the intent with such normally on applications coler's engineering who is the township and Boards of Engineers would review they try to keep the cost down for homeowners and single family uh you wouldn't have any objection I guess this is from Mr Catz but you as the architect uh working cooperatively with the building department and our engineering as it pertains to code safety issues they're going to be applicable through the permit process I just want to note it for the approval yeah no problem y thank you whatever is needed did you speak to any of the neighbors or did they get any feedback when the notices went out about the devel I haven't heard from anybody and I've been going to the house every day so know I do note for the record too that notice did go out jurisdictionally they were obligated to notify the neighbors uh I don't know if we got any feedback as well from the building so are you finished with your testimony Mr Abrams are there any board members that would like to question the testimony Mr rrams has given this evening hearing none or there any members of the public that would like to question Mr Abrams testimony hearing none are there any members of the public that would like to comment on the application hearing none Mr Katz would you want to make a closing statement or uh I just wanted to thank you for your time and reviewing the application um I don't know if anybody has any questions of me while I'm here in front of you so now pretty straightforward from the legal perspective the architect did a good job we like when the homeowner brings their professional I know this is probably something not you're not used to verse that's why I've been trying to move it along a little I don't vote but it's it's a pretty straightforward application going straight up from the original Foundation yes happens a lot and if you're in Westfield you know when you're in these smaller towns with limited square footage Andor lot space there's not much you can do really right it is vacant now I imagine you can determine that the house is in need of repair and upgrade so that's also a benefit that can go into the consideration okay at this time I believe we can conference this Mr Ben vegna would you like to begin yes thank you Mr chairman based on the testimony tonight this is a good clean application I'll be voting yes Mr Johnson yes I agree you did a good job your architect your home owner I see no detriment to neighborhood I also will go gu Miss Morts thank you Mr chairman um I think this is a great application very straightforward beautiful design I will be voting yes Mr mcneel thank you Mr chairman um I would concur with my my colleagues U very straightforward uh application the architect professional did a great job in explaining it and I intend to vote Yes Miss Scott I'm everyone guys a great job very straight forward um congratulations on getting a new home thank you thank you so much Mr Wy yes Mr chairman I agree with M I see nothing negative in this application I think is a good application and I'm going vote Yes as for myself it is a good clean application I swung by the house it is rather small so this Improvement will really Spruce it up uh the variance is requested will not have a negative impact on the property or the neighboring Property Owners so uh therefore I will vote Yes for this application at this time can I have a motion in a second to adopt the resolution I mean to Grant the application Mr chairman I move the board Grant the variant's app his application and the council is directed to prepare a resolution consistent with the board's decision second roll call Mr manguso Mr Wy yes Martin yes Ben Vaga yes Miss Scott yes Mr Johnson yes Mr mcneel yes Mr champy yes on July 10th the board will pass the resolution it's a regular meeting night for us and and I could send a copy to the architect if you want ahead time the information thank Youk you so much everybody I really appreciate your time thank you so much thank you Mr chairman there be no further business coming before the board I move that we adjourn second all