Where did these questions? I don't know. I would [Music] Yes, he is. Yes, he is. Did you want to speak to you just Hey, Mike.
Mike. I'm going to try to plug the mic in again. Before there was a really high noise. Could you just plug that one in on the floor? I'm just going to see if it makes a really loud. We got to unplug it. No noise. Thank you.
See, it's it's hot, but it's no noise. [Music] Very sensitive. Not feeding me. Listen, in this day and age, Yeah.
[Music] I'll go back and put that one in now. See if it works. It's pretty hot. Yeah. That's this. So much air condition, huh? No.
you okay? Oh Jesus. Yes. All right. What's doing is that here. Well, back on the left speaker. Pull the plug.
That's the off switch. Just need She's clear. I think I had an extra one. I think you might have given me two. You're talking about too loud, huh?
Okay. [Applause] So, did we get this? This was recently. Did that come in your packet? Yeah. since last week, right? I think I have a comment on something,
but not this one. You know what? You're right. This meeting is called to order. This is a regularly scheduled meeting for which the date, time, and location is set forth in the annual notice of meetings adopted by the Waldorf Planning
Board at the reorganization meeting of January 2025 in accordance with the open public meetings act. said annual notice has been filed with a burough clerk. A copy posted in the vestibule of the Waldwick administration building and copies
transmitted within 7 days after adoption to the official newspapers of the burrow as designated by the governing body to wit the Bergen record and the Ridgewood News. Secretary, please call the role. Mr.
Here Mr. Mr. here. Mr. Binky, Mr. Here, Mr. Here, Mr. Pilico here.
Mr. Canilli here. Mr. Sha here. If everyone would join us in a moment of silent prayer and the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation
indivisible and justice for all. Thank you. Now is the time to ask anyone in the audience if they have business that is not on the agenda. They are welcome to step up.
Seeing none. At this time we have the approval of the minutes for May 7 since June 4 meeting was postponed until this evening. All planning board members have copies. Motion to accept as printed. Motion by
Paul Shhat John. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you. Uh resolutions. Can we put these two together and
the turfield and the because they listed they listed separate separate you should keep them separate. Very good. Say which is Yep. Board of Education SM25-1 for the Waldwick High School turf field
and site improvements. Members all have copies. Motion to dispense with the reading. Motion John. Second stand. Secretary, please call the role.
Yes. Motion to accept as written. Pardon me. Thank you. Motion Paul. Stan. Thank you. Now we can call the role. Menti. Yes. Mayor Gano. Yes. Mr. Leort. Yes. Mr.
Rando. Yes. Mr. Gowski. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Schultz. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Cather. Yes. Mr. Abstain. Second resolution board of education SM25-2 Waldwick High School parking lot and
improvements. Again, we all have copies. Motion to dispense with the reading. Mark. Second John and motion to accept as written stand and John. Thank you.
And now secretary, please call the role. Mr. Yes. Mayor. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Leundo. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Schultz. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Panther. Yes.
Mr. Abstain. Very good. Next up is review and public hearing for the bureau's draft. Fourth round, Paul. Fourth and final, might I say. We are ready for you. Can I just make a
brief statement before? Of course. Okay. Tonight's review and public hearing on the burough's updated uh housing elements and fair share plan will help us satisfy our fourth round affordable housing obligations. Each municipality must adopt and file assoc
associated resolution and proposed draft necessary to implement its housing element and fair share plan by June 30th which is why it is before the planning board for tonight but tomorrow night at the council meeting it will be put to a vote. Planning board needs to determine
whether the proposed draft is consistent with the goals and oblig and objectives of the burough's master plan. It is designated to achieve the goals of access to affordable housing to meet the present and prospective housing needs as outlined by the state. We have with us
tonight our uh planner Paul Dragel who will go through this with us and explain to us everything. And if you have any questions, we could uh have Paul answer any one of our questions. Thank you, mayor. Of course. And we all want to keep in mind to speak out if the microphone
isn't working. And uh sometimes I'll speak very loudly. Perfect. Thank you. For the record, Paul going on many years now. I've been personally involved for a number of years as well. Uh before we get into the
document at hand I think previously before the board attorney as it would be useful for the record the board and the public's benefit provide a very quick overview of the affordable housing landscape and how Wald and every other town got to this place where we are
lawsuits lawsuits of the year but two several court cases from back in the 1970s and not decisions that set the stage for the creation of the Fair Housing Act that was enacted did back in the 80s and set forth rules that eventually
created a council of local housing. So we're talking about affordable housing in New Jersey. Often times the acrony was utilized. Uh there were a number of rounds. The first round was 1993 and 1999. 1999 is the year I received my
professional planner license and the start of the third round. And now in in 2025 it's the end of the third round of portable housing. The first round 87 93 93 to 99 the second round. Third round
99 to05 was extended by 20 years. Oh my wasn't by any design. That was because of court challenges in action by the legislature and other however in the past few years there's been a lot of action. So back in 2015
based on more legal actions, more lawsuits, um rules were set for the third round that finally brought that process to an end for that part of the uh essentially for the housing appliance at that time. So in 2018, Waldick
adopted a housing fair share plan similar to this one to address the spirit bound obligation. And you should be proud to say that the numbers in there that were provided and adjusted as such were mapped by the burrow to provision affordable housing units that
were created. Look around the town and you'll see them at the train station along Franklin Turnpike. Uh and many other locations from assisted living to uh group homes and other types of projects scattered throughout the burrow equal up to 81 units of credit for the
third round. The wall is in good shape for the fourth round. Uh so last year the legislative economy did take some action and created new rules in a whole new process that put in place a deadline for better. By a few
days from now every municipality is required if they're participating in this process to adopt a housing fair care plan. the governing body essentially endorse that and then send it down to Trent and then be reviewed by
a program of it's called program judges uh who will essentially evaluate that and have help from planners and others to try to ensure that these plans are meet requirements and also look for challenges. Uh so at this point in time again planning board is statutoily
required to review this plan and have a public hearing so anyone from the community can offer their thoughts ask questions about it and at the conclusion of of the hearing tonight the board will be asked to potentially adopt this plan and send it over to the mayor.
So I know background I thought you for the catch up numbers messed up there but it did all right in the first round back in the 80s 90s and now the third round the fourth round going forward they should be 10 year rounds so 2025 to 2035
is supposed to be that fourth round it's not the last one law it'll be a fifth and sixth and going on every 10 years from that point forward the way the law is written but right now we're focused on how well we will address numbers divided and then the just get through it to deal with those.
So, we have a document dated May 2025. It's been available on file. It was sent to neighbor municipalities sent to the county and state as required by law. Um, I don't want to read the whole thing to the record certainly, but I think we hit a few key points on here. Uh, the first part, the housing element is primarily a
lot of the history I just mentioned as well as background information on the burough demographics on development that's occurred here in the past 10 years. um just other information that's required to put in there and is useful again for someone looking to see what the state of housing development is in
Walford. The more interesting part or more consequential part would be what's called the fair share plan that starts on page 18 and this is the section that deals with the obligations that the bureau has signed and has to address.
There are two parts to that. Again, I won't go into too much detail here, but realistically break down the two simple parts. Presently, what's called the rehabilitation obligation that's determined by the state looking at existing housing stock household levels,
that type of thing that's set at 19. It's an obligation over the next 10 years for Walgreens to either itself work the county or other programs renovate upgrade 19 units within municipalities that are occupied by low
pretty straightforward process where we have one council as well uh where there's money available to homeowners or landlords theoretically come in like funding to help fix the roof fix the heating or the ventilation systems
siding anything has to be efficient with regards to its condition. The second larger part is called the prospective fe. That's the number of housing units that are supposed to be built over the next 10 years that are affordable to all of households. Uh the
original number set by the state when they set obligations to every community was 178. Our firm as a rural planner looks at that and utilize the form bill that's provided and in our opinion it should have adjusted
to 147 units again based on more detail survey but based on the three factors that were part of their earlier plan and you know essentially what can be built throughout municipality based on um there's a challenge by the builders association
that said that number should not be reduced from the 178 Eventually settled with the builders through a mediation process similar to nearly every town. I'm every time I've worked in house process I give you a number of
164. So that's a respectively affordable housing unit according to settlement reports that we would have to build or have built in the next 10 years. However, the process allows a
vacant land deduction. So our firm again helps municipalities with this by looking at what exists on the ground where there's land develop and ended up with a number of five that's the realistic development potential or RP five affordable units
could realistically be built as part of a set aside of a large a larger development. is similar to the pro project we've been hearing about in the last few meetings where there's 20% set aside for local units. That's how you calculate that. So that's five multiply that five. 25 would be the number of
units that could theoretically be built on all the vacant land here in the number that the BS could address in the next 10 years. The 164 doesn't go away. The remainder of the 159 is called unlisted
here, but that's essentially obligation that over time if a developer comes in let down a piece of land that works for development or the bur decides to go through the development process processes uh cause red to happen you would set aside some of the units to do
then development but again it's not a number that has to be dealt with directly um in terms of that obligation again what has this been ever occurred and remains that way since that 2018 plan was adopted 36 credits
have been created in the bur and you have four projects plus bonuses that have done that we're going to outline table here one turn three units of affordable housing were created there in that project that was approved and built the
county United Way project on Avenue that approved a few years ago had eight affordable units in there plus bonus credits for one bonus credit for 16 credits. There's also a group home life opportunities unlimited uh which has
four bedrooms that count as credits plus the bonuses of eight. And then lastly, the assuming it's approved and built the the Harrison Avenue redevelopment project would address a part of this need as well. That would be
So again that totals 36 in total when you find the number of units themselves plus bonus by the Harrison also has some bonus credit because of location. Yes. So that's nine units of credit for the six unit itself. one and a half to
one ext. So with that that is essentially the plan that's provided to address the number of funds. This is of course still subject to a process that's been set by the state. Uh there are challenges that could come in the future. The processes are set forward for that to happen. Not
saying it will happen or won't happen but that's just the reality of how this works. come forward past June 30th with two month window in this time that's open for potential challenge. If and when that gets done and the plan
is settled then get immunity for 10 years from inclusionary housing lawsuits as they call it essentially protecting municipalities from people coming in and saying I deserve to build a large project
that's the purpose of this whole process is to provide predictability to municipalities with A lot of information have to go more detail question.
Can you explain somewhere I read and I didn't mark it about the transferable credit something where we transferred from Bayon or Bayon to us? Yes. To Bayon. So process RCA or regional
contribution agreement that was formally created they law that's no longer an option but law was able to get credit they could back when that was a legal mechanism of the burrow to it action working through that legendary practice administrator was very heavily involved
in that process essentially taking money from all the projects here transfer to a location where there's desire to go so the credits again are just something for historical the way that it was investigated.
Thank you. But that's no longer correct. That's that was a question for some time and the last round of lawsuits in this last the latest wall basically made it clear that no longer under that program we actually got credits for something we wound up never
building even though it was based on us building it. Where is the life opportunities unlimited? Is that the new uh one on White Cross? That's the one in the neighborhood exactly
the single family home that's permitted as by right? Um oh that one yes near Christ Community Church. Um how about the one that's being built on White Act/
Oh, that's the one. Gotcha. those types of special needies housing credit because it's providing service credit for that plus the bonus
jump that the fourth round they listed all those bonuses oriented housing commercial sites Board members questions, comments name
comes up. No. So the way that good question to follow because there's always been the rehab obligation that kind of resets because in this case it's just it own separate entity if you will but um it doesn't
doesn't reduce the amount of the other obligation. So that works out that way. That's not really the case. It's kind of one. Yeah. If you add them all together. Yeah. It doesn't address that right because for example that could be addressed through $20,000 payment fixed housing since it's
the idea is to take existing housing make it up to code versus a lot more than 20,000 per building Good question. So there's actually there's two different ways that was dealt with. The first one is with the Department of Community Affairs came up
with its own calculations. So that was a report a while back about how this works essentially a statewide basis DCA looked at randome some cases it's actually a space that's
preserved or it's actually not really develop size examples. Highway medians in some casable state. Um so that's where the formula included that. So the state said one
thing again we looked at it boots on the ground and knowledge municipality and said well actually no 15. Um so that's how that that comes. There's two other factors in that initial calculation. Again, income and there's also the third one out before equalized non-residential
valuation. Basically, the percentage of your tax base that's because that actually factors in I can't go through the exact numbers right now, but essentially there are factors for every town about how much you tax base, what your income level is relative to the overall region, and then the amount
of land you have. And then they all got thrown together a complex series of calculations to come up with that number one 178 second I mentioned the second layer because then we can also look once that
number is all set to say what back you know where can we build and you look around you all know many spots find other than say and even here it's hard to predict because that's something that you
Harrison Avenue. So that's how we not 140. Yeah. Yeah. 178 or even that even the 159 that we got to support.
Yes. Yeah. Actually, um there's actually a good spreadsheet. I threw that back here. I looked around and the whole county level department. Search will pop up pretty easily. Those actually
calculations there are summary table plus actually spreadsheets showing the location of all. Anyone else on the board? Well, as a practical matter, we came up with
numbers. Those numbers were challenged because we need to. And the challenge came from the builders association. Right. That's right. And so the challenge comes from those who want
to make money building these things. That's al that's a challenge that was blank essentially statewide and wasn't editorialized here but literally did not follow the process that was supposed to
be followed the challenges it was not specific to our number in Walford it was just all these numbers where everyone challenged it lower so we should take it higher and that's why when it was under reviewed by the courts there was a lot of willingness on the courts to settle
more reasonable Thank you. Um Paul, I don't know if you can tell me, but maybe the mayor can. Um I don't know the exact address, but between 26 and 28 West Prospect Street or East
Prospect Street, I guess it is. Um past uh before I hikes, is it? That setback apartment complex. Is that any affordable housing back there? Is that just
east? West. It's west. Yeah, it's across on the other side. Okay. But not across the trans. So, do you know which one I'm talking about? Is that affordable housing? before because I didn't see it listed in the
grocery store. Yeah. Yeah. Before that. Yeah. Yeah. Right there. Right there. Exactly. Anybody could elaborate on that. Well, I guess it doesn't matter much since it was before. Okay. I was curious. Turn on page 23. This what did
that's not one. Not one. Okay. Those numbers 815. How many others are we missing out on that were done before? Smaller projects. We were built before
such as 106 and one radio project actually has a 47 some other. Thank you. Board members, anything else?
Uh, public questions, please. Seeing none. Yes. Did you have one? Come on up. His name and addressing. I don't think it's on. I think they
turned it on. All right. So then speak loudly, please. They turned him off because Okay, Mr. Cruz, raise your right hand. We have testimony about to give you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So, for God, and again, state your name, spell your
last. Good to see you, Mr. Uh, so I've been paying attention to a lot of things online. And your question, Mr. Cruz, got to go with questions right now. We need your questions first.
question. I understand that u in regards to CVS I think we're talking about the fair share housing at this point. Is that what you're asking about? The whole plan
affordable housing. We have a 10 year of course. Absolutely. You know it. Well, the adjusted obligation is five over the next 10 years. The number that was signed originally was 178 uh to settle the court 164 is the number that
would be over the next 10 years based on the actual available available land that would address it down to obligation five. So when you regard a whole new deficit,
what's the first project? This one here. Which one? Harrison. Well, we're not talking about Harrison, are we? We're not talking. We're not up to that portion. So, pardon me, but do you have questions on fair housing and the co
because you can come back when we're up to the But you can come back when we're up to the Harrison Ary development. That's fine. I believe together this proposal that will be on the agenda and discussed tonight for Harris will be
providing credits. That is why I asked that question. is related to housing and I like to understand that providable units including nine It's nine total credit. Paul, I think there's something that is
a little fuzzy in most people's minds. We've got a perspective need of 164, we've got a vacant land adjustment of five. So, is it entirely probable that at the end
of the 10-year period, we're still sitting on a perspective of 159 assuming the five get built? Well, no. Just because we I mentioned there's 36 credits applied that get to five. So,
make five away 31 surplus credits that start chipping away. So not the greatest but 159 318 the number would stand at 128 as of today actually what's in this plan currently and then any future
development whether it's project comes forward something none of us are aware of and has portable units those would also then lower that number it's not something that's an obligation that the proactively go out and say finding those
states. That's exactly what I ask. If at the end of 10 years, we're still sitting on a whole bunch of procedures. That's not a problem. The way the constitution was written, obligation out there, the way the law was written, the obligation is broken
into different parts and you're allowed to adjust it, but you don't erase the number that you agreed to. 164 number still is there unless the law changes sometime in the next few years. That's how it's written as an obligation of land. You still have to theoretically
accept that opportunity. But again, you don't need to go the difference being if it's in that RDP, you do have to try to again you've done it's done already. You don't have to go resone properties just to address the overall number.
Again, just so everybody understands, are the numbers we're looking at now based on a constant that has gone from this is round four, round three, round two, or does it have those numbers shifted each time?
the round four numbers and then quickly look at I have this information and then it puts in the plan but essentially when the law was written the formula was provided to say figure out what's the affordable need across the state how many units the state have to
provide to address it was 70 90 million some whatever the number is it was across the whole state then subdivided into six regions and those regions allocated to every municipality You subtract out urban municipalities. So not every municipality has an obligation. You subtract out islands
communities where you have wershed protection outlin. So it's actually not quite the 565 pounds splitted evenly but a few hundred pounds taking that overall number. That was a new number that was set in 2024
for this new. So there's no certainty. Yes. years is a long time. Yeah. Right. Like I said, I've been doing this 25 plus years and it's been every few years something new comes along. Again, I will
say this process is at least straightforward that it lays out deadlines. It lays out wild numbers are created. Not to say the right way to do it is to say it is a predictable way that alleged um at what point
something to the effect of if municipalities choose to participate. I'm assuming that choosing not to participate is result in third action. Well, we're action or even just a develop that comes to the court say
excuse me, you know, such and such town would not do anything. We have a proposal to buy housing units. We would like to build that and you have no protections that would have no protection to the courts against that. That's the soal judge and how big,
how tall, how many that would go by the judges. Uh or they still have to follow our ordinances. Yes. Well, now this is to say they're not decision for the town is not in the process that they say we're just going to go on our own. There's a reason they
say, you know, we want housing. I don't know what the reason would be, but yeah, that's even the towns that are challenging. Montdale's the leader of the lawsuit. Um All those counts are still participating in this process. They didn't opt out all together. They're hedging their bets.
They discover challenges and did nothing. The way the law is written on July 1, the open season on their way. Yeah. So, yeah. struggling along this recent favorably in some cases the county the
county didn't sign up for them still yeah yeah to say yeah certainly they're right to do that the point is that there's even those counts that are out throughout the China challenge are still for now at least participating stays
that for now we get a deadline deadline And did you say it's a new board that's come uh up? The affordable housing dispute resolution program. That's like a program for short. It's created for this law. It's retired judges.
The entire judges are essentially overseers of um whether you comply or not and we'll hear the case and they use what special adjudicators who are planners and myself not many of my firm but other planners similar
credentials are the ones that then review the nuts and bolts for plans they judges. Well, third round. Yeah, the the latest fairground was actually just in the courts actual sitting judges who hear
these cases special. I think that's what we had last time. Special master job was to kind of help and make sure and in that case give him credit where it was due. He helped us find. Uh so comments from the board at this
point and comments from the public. Seeing none, I think we're up to the portion to vote to move this along and a resolution. Basically the idea here is that this is
a resolution to comply with the requirements of the for and to recommend to the borrow man council and the bar comply.
except the um adjusted numbers and then we mask the flag so that it comports with that yellow really say that and that goes to the town
council tomorrow. Yes. Yes. And we do a roll call for that to vote. Yes. So a motion for the vote. Mark and a second. Stan
in favor and then we'll do I think so. I think we're good. Mr. Yes. Mayo. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Kowski. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Schultz. Yes. Mr.
Pilo. Yes. Mr. Panther. Yes. Mr. Yes. Very good. Thank you, Paul. Up to applications. Euro Street LLC. SR588 20 W Avenue.
Yeah. Jim, can I borrow you to see if we could turn that microphone on, please? Okay. Hello. Hello, Madam Chair. and members of the board. Good to see you again. Uh Russ Anderson, Berton Pacini LLP, Hasbro
Heights, New Jersey. I'm here on behalf of Euro Street LLC. George Rikos is standing to my right. Uh he is the managing member of Euro Street LLC and uh we're here for a site site plan tenant review application. Uh Euro
Street is uh planning a new restaurant in the uh 20 Wyoff Avenue, the former Boston Market facility. Um, we are here at this time uh pursuant to a contingency in the lease that Euro Street is in the process of signing uh
to get everything together to make sure that the board is comfortable with the demand to my right as well as the idea for the restaurant. Um, there are some details that are not worked out yet as far as buildouts and things like that, but the planned
I guess I'm going to call it the rehabilitation of the space. Uh, there are some things that are worked out. So, we want you to be comfortable asking questions and seeing where the day takes us as far as uh Mr. Fikos's testimony
goes. All right. Sir, would you raise your right hand, please? You sir, the testimony you're about to give should be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So, you die? I do. Please state your name and spell your last. George Chrysles. H R I S S I K O S. I'm
sorry. H R I S S I K O S. Thank you so much. You're welcome. All righty. Okay. She had it in my back wrapped in this. Mr. Anderson, good to see you. Well,
you're the same, Mr. Singer. Uh, you know, the, as I mentioned, the the development plans are uh are slim, but I would like to at least ask Mr. uh Chrisos's questions and hopefully the board will have appropriate comments. Uh Mr. Chasikos, you are about to enter
into a lease for the property we're talking about, right? Yes. Okay. What kind of restaurant is it going to be? It's a fast cash old Greek restaurant. Gina place. Okay. Um how many employees are you going to have there approximately? Uh probably maybe 30, 25, 30. Okay. And what's the plan as far as
the timing to open? uh December, maybe before that. Okay. Uh how many do you have other restaurants in the area? I do not know. Okay. Uh the the plan that you're going to make to
rehabilitate the space. What do you already have in in mind? Well, I'm changing the whole face of of the uh the place, refacing the whole building inside out, repaving the whole lot.
probably take that sign down the pole. I don't think they need it. So, just complete make it a brand new restaurant, brand new building. And are there any plans at this point for the interior of the space? Uh, my designers are working on which is not ready yet. Okay. Um,
is there any uh is there any plan to further expand your restaurant current than its current footprint? Is the building about going to stay about the same size? It's the same size. Okay. Okay. Um, and are you going to be on site every
day? Yes. Okay. What are your mostly my my sons will run? Okay. What are the hours of operation going to be? We'll be 11 to 9. How many days a week? I pro I think it's six days a week. Okay. Um, Greek food. Can you give us just a basic idea what the menu is going to look
like? It's the It's gyro chicken pork and it's going to have a rotisserie chicken rotisserie pork salads uh side dishes. Simple menu, not nothing crazy. Um as
far as security goes, uh do you have security plans in place, cameras, lights, things like that? Is that Yes. Uh have those plans been worked out or is that what your team is working on? My team is working on. Okay. uh you know uh frankly because there's not
much as far as the plan goes that's kind of the extent of my questions. If anybody has any comments or questions, please. Any what? I'm sorry. Drive through. No. How come? Well, you say how come this
came here instead of what's the difference between a regular site tenant review and it's it's up to my discretion to when I reviewed and whether this is something that's abstract to me or whether I feel that the board should hear this. Okay. And I felt this. Okay. Then you have no problems or anything
that you found. Absolutely not. Correct. Um, you know, I did see the survey. I wish I would have seen the breakdown of the parking spaces that are behind your property with the next lot. Uh, it all says that it's certified, you know, it's
because there are other parking spaces past your designated spots. Yes. I wish I would have liked to have seen that because these are strictly associated with post market or X on your property. Um, how many spaces are they directly
behind you and who is going to maintain them? Well, I I'm not sure how many. I think it's a little over 20. I I think if probably I will maintain it. That's You will maintain? Yeah, I will maintain it. Yeah, cuz I'm I'm going to use most of
the uh When you repay your portion of the parking lot, will you also repay the Absolutely. Yeah. the rest of it that's behind it. Yes. Okay. And put actually uh columns right around the property. Protection columns. Yes. That was one of
the reasons why I felt that it should be hurt by by the board because of mainly the the issues with the parking lot. I think it was something like that. Okay. uh poster preview application says seven days a week. You mentioned six days a week. Six days a week. Six days. Yeah. If if down the road you feel that you
may might be open seven days a week, this would be the time to adjust it. Uh like 10% maybe maybe not but I'm planning to do six days a week. The idea is if you come to us and ask for the seven days, you don't have to open seven
days, but you can open seven days. You ask for six days and you decide you want seven. Huh? You got to come back. I'm gonna stick with the six days. Okay. Yeah. Um so, are you done? That's it. Thank you.
Is there any plan for outdoor seating? Yes, if I'm allowed to. Yes, I could jump into that one. So, we have a provision for an outdoor cafe. So every establishment can you know have certain number of seats for outdoor cafe
providing that they meet certain obligations as the audio cafe stipulates. So that's something that could be addressed after the approval. Okay. We're um I'm going to be honest with you. We're
at a bit of a disadvantage here because everybody's seeing this for the very first time tonight. So, here's my question. What is the square footage of space? Uh, 2,985
approximately, I think. Approximately. Yeah, close to 3,000. Okay. Somebody quicker than that with math than I am, John. So, how many how many tables did you expect to have and how many seats?
I think probably about 50 sitting 50 4550. Okay. The calculation for both seating and parking
is laid out in the burough zoning ordinance. Joe, I'm trying to remember. How does the um how does a rest a sit down restaurant modify off of 200 off of one
every 200? I think it's stipulates no less than 200 per of 200 square feet per there might be stipulation per number of
employees at that time. Right. I don't think it should be an issue with parking especially with that overlay parking that's behind this property which system maintains I don't think that should be an issue with parking. Okay. And as a practical matter
board of health and fire are going to determine the occupancy. An applicant will comply with whatever. Oh, expected. It's just, you know, normally we're looking at some numbers. Sure. You said something about the sign you're getting rid of. Are you going to place
another sign? Not on the front. No, I don't I don't think I need on the building. On on the building itself. Yes. Is he talking about this parking out behind this overlay parking?
How much is how much is out there? About 20 spaces. About 20 spaces. Yeah. A lot. Quite a few spaces. So, it's about 20 and 20. Correct. So, we got it. And the access to that extra parking is no problem. It's actually through
existing, you know, restaurant plus the two other buildings that are following right afterwards. Okay. Have access. All right. And there are there agreements in place. Are there agreements in place? Yes.
As in signed agreements? Not signed. Okay. Existing, do they [Music] alcohol? No. No. No. Bring your own. You said this first. Are you a
restaurant now? I I used to own a restaurant. Yes. And And now I own a meat company. Okay. Are you a part or you just by yourself? It's me and my kids now. No. Yes. And you live in the area or My son live I used to live in this area. My son still lives in Okay.
Anything else? I don't think so. Board members, any questions? So, you're primarily looking for as a sit down restaurant versus a fast food
pump pretty much. Yes. Anyone? Public have any questions? Seeing none. I have a little comments are up should be corrected.
Well, okay. That was unfortunately the previous owner uh had the survey prepared. So, okay. Thanks, Joe. Ker knows better, too. No comments by the board. comments from the public.
Seeing none first and a vote. Okay, that makes sense. Haven't done this in a long time. We happen to have a tenant in converation. Okay. So, uh board members, yes, Joe. Motion
to approve. Motion to approve the application. Thank you. Second, John. And a roll. Mr. Valente. Yes. Mayor Denno. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Yes. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Schultz. Yes. Mr.
Bilico. Yes. Mr. Pilly. Yes. Mr. Sh. Yes. Great. All right. Thank you to the board. Here's the situation. Thank you. You are approved. There is a period during which any
member of the public can object. That period is 45 days from the date that the resolution of approval is published. Now you actually get the benefit of a short period because our next meeting is the
9th of July which is only about two weeks and the resolution will be there then and it'll presumably be published within days. If you want you can go to the building department tomorrow and get a co or get
your permits. That's up to you. you do it at your own risk. Um, in case somebody comes in and says, "Oh my god, no, not a restaurant there. How could we do that?" The long and short of it is can't remember it ever happening, but
the law does provide for it, and I'd be remiss if I think I'd wait till July 9th. Not at all. All right, you're all set. Thank you so much, sir. Good luck. Thank you.
Next up, Harrison Avenue redevelopment continuation. Madam chair, I have to recuse myself from this. Very good. Can I just make a quick statement? Of course. Everybody up on the board here, be very careful what you say. You got
camera, you got uh microphones, and you have other people hearing things. It was brought to my attention that one of the members here did not like when another member was talking at one of the uh applications. The member here said that the person that was questioning is a loose cannon.
He has to go. That's not the way we operate here. If I hear it again, that person will go. Mrs. Wick, we respect each other. Everyone has the right to open their mouth and voice their opinion on this board, even in the public. Public has the right to come here and voice their opinion and talk. To hear
stuff like that is not what will happen. And as I said, if it happens again, it will be removed. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, we always like to join us. Oh, yeah. There you go. Um,
so we didn't talk about this before, but we will now. 10:00 is a hard stop as we've done before. Uh we do need folks to speak up. Uh we do have a reporter here. Uh court reporter are you still um
and we are here. We're all most of us members of the community. We talked about it previously that we'll be respectful and we'll be kind to each other. And if that's not something you'd like to participate in, you could probably just go now. So, we appreciate
your time. We appreciate you coming out. We appreciate your opinions. And I think it's time for Mr. Whitaker. Thank you. Good evening, members of the board. For the uh for the record, Bruce Whitaker from the former McDonald
Whitaker representing the applicant and continuation of the public hearing. Mr. Singer, it's good to see you back again. Yes. Good to be back. I thank you for mentioning that. I was remissed with that. Happy to see you. Uh, as you know, we have presented to you a series of witnesses, both civil engineering,
architecture, um, traffic engineering, landscape architect, and we presented our entire case. Some questions had come up by board members. Uh, and the concept was to go back and revise plans to address uh, the questions that were raised by
board members and by members of the fire department. the fire chief raised some questions about safety aspects of the site. Uh, one of the questions that was asked pertain to uh the ability for your trucks to be able to maneuver uh on this site and for that purpose I've called
our engineer back to review that with you. Um based upon suggestions made uh my client has had the ability to meet with the Walwick fire chief and uh on the basis of that they have come to an agreement of things that needed to be revised on the plan. I'm going to list
them for you. Uh the water line for the fire line I'll say will be a 6in line. Um the parapit that was point of a discussion will be 2 feet not 4T and that's shown on the revised architectural plans. Um the sprinkler
system in the apartment units is alo already a 13R above the garage. Uh the applicant is going to attempt to upgrade the uh 13D sprinkler system in the other part of the building to a 13R and we'll work with the fire chief to establish an upgrade assuming it is not cost
prohibitive. Uh some in substance the concept of the meeting was that they will work together to get all of these things resolved. Uh the last aspect uh that was reviewed as I understand it and has been reviewed is that the fire chief has had the ability to look at the
maneuverability of the equipment that Wald has and in fact cho will show you that he even picked on a an engine larger than what Waldick has uh for maneuverability purposes and it works. Uh I understand the fire chief is here this evening and he can obviously concur
my representation and I know Mr. singer that there was a lot that I just put on the record and for that purpose I've got a memorandum from this afternoon that you with those conditions. Thank you sir. Seven substance I'm going to have
T-board testify as it pertains to the maneuverability so that the board members can see what the fire chief has already seen. Uh there's one other aspect before we get there. Uh there's been a request made for and t you can point it out uh to have accessibility
uh as a second access for emergency access and t point out where that would be at the north end of the site uh leading up to street and we've agreed to install grass pavers there for emergency
access. And before we go any further, different towns interpret grass pavers a different way. Some say it's pvious and some say impervious. Uh if the town says it's pvious, we're fine. Uh if the town
determines that it is impervious, then at that point it would prompt a variance, we're not going to seek the variance as the applicant. But if the board wants that um emergency exit, then you can ask us for
it. We will certainly do it. But it's going to prompt the variance relief that the board would have to grant. I'm told it's a 1% over on impervious coverage. 1% for safety. That's where we are at. And we would grant that or have No, you'd have to you'd have to impose it
with the understanding that it's a variance you're imposing on us. Right, Mr. Singer. Yes. But I would point out that it would appear to visually appear as lawn area, right? But the grass pavers below the lawn may be
considered impervious. Every town's interpreted different ways. I don't know what we have here. That's pvious to me. Okay. So, your zoning officer says pvious. We don't need a variance. Um, and Jim, we do have it here. That's correct. Uh the um
the Bristol has it also because it goes back to the lakeside condominiums. Um that was the first place we did it. Yeah. And I think we treated it as pvious there. Correct. Well the definition of impervious is not the
word. So it's okay. So basically we're going to proceed saying it's not an issue doesn't require barance. Thank you Steve T. Well very briefly if you could walk us through uh the uh just while you have
it up there just show one more time where the pvious pavers would go. The pvious pavers would be between townhouse unit 17 18 and 19 leading from the parking area sidewalks out to Pre
Street. And that would still look like a lawn to anyone would still be cut and be maintained that way. Yes. Flip over the page there and let's take us through and just show what the um maneuverability of the fire trucks would be. The short answer is that
he l that to the driveway parking area analysis manufacturers uh specifications looking at both the Waldwick um
garage response uh ladder truck as well as the future Ramsay ladder truck that's on order anticipating a secondary response from Ramsay plus prospects street is a fully improved 30 foot wide
roadway. The driveway uh into the parking area and the garage area has a minimum ceiling height of 14 ft. Um the Walwig uh ladder truck has a height of
10t 7.7 with the ladder down. Uh the curve cut is 31 uh.8 ft. uh which is actually wider than the public roadway. Uh and analysis and the plan I'm referring to
is the three axle ladder truck access plan uh dated 52825 which shows the 90° turn for West Prospect Street into the um uh driveway
and parking area. The critical component is the left rear bumper of the fire truck that swings wide. Uh in this analysis we show presuming that uh one of the fire truck is traveling
approximately 5.7 ft from curb line uh which so it was not crossing the center line of west street. Uh there is one adequate maneuverability uh to make the turn into uh 31.8 foot
curb cut and there's a 25 foot wide driveway. Critical to that is that that area is currently and in the future should be um I have no parking provided photographs existing
no parking signs. Um the critical component is the swing of the left rear bumper of cars across the street. there's more than sufficient area to make that turn. Put the analysis
one step further. Actually, if one is making the right hand turn on Harrison, you see we indicate that cars may be parked. The area actually on the east west side of
Harrison Avenue is also currently posted no parking to the first driveway for a very good reason. If you look at the uh diagram, um there will be a conflict if there is cars parked in that area. That and is
normal for a fire truck to uh cross the center line of a 30 foot wide roadway as indicated in this um analysis. The short answer is uh with proper parking and the
experienced driver uh the Wick ladder truck or the future Ramy L truck uh just for the record indicate what plan that is because we got to mark it as an exhibit. Mr. Singer, it'll be A25, excuse me, 26. The traffic assessment
report was 825 A25 A26 and just identify that Tour it is titled free axle truck access uh for Harrison Avenue redevelop LLC dated 52825
confirmed That's the old truck and you talk to the cast chief about the new truck. Same same it's they're getting a new truck, not that one. We actually looked at the larger range. Yeah. Okay. Well, that's fine. I understand that. I just
wanted them to confirm that they are they are getting a new truck. So, I just want to make sure he's shaking his head. Fine. Yes. So, just don't take my word for it. I would have the chief just come up and confirm what I've just put on the record. T
board is done unless there's any other questions up anyone just chief can remind you you're still under oath. Yes sir. You need me to No, that's why you're still under oath. I um I do and agree with everything that was said
um prior to my Mr. Whitaker and people. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That concludes our uh presentation. Just want to move at this point, Mr. Singer, A1 through A26 uh exhibits into
evidence. Absolutely. We had had some public comment at the last meeting and at this point I've concluded. So at this point, it's up for the board to consider. I guess they want to accept public comment based on what we've had testimony on tonight. I think it would be appropriate given
the fact that these were these are some of the issues that came up at the last meeting and y'all have obviously taken time to work on listed I'm sorry on the new go through the situations
The document speaks for itself. It's been submitted. And there's um Mr. Whitaker, I'm looking at the May 30th Conquer Associates um report
and that um a third all of the board can rely on all of the representations there in correct and they can be incorporated in 10 resolutions. Yes. And and chief, you had asked about a third fire hydrant that's
incorporated. Yes. Right. So, Chief, you're fully satisfied with every from safety aspect. I just like to comment if I could with time. Okay. Couple of minutes. Thank you.
But yes, I am uh let me do any questions uh from the first. Sure. Go back to that. Mhm. Uh, planning board members, if you have questions or would like to uh comment, no, the questioning
questions about things that have changed and that's uh the latest was the May 30th after the May 21st. That was a large document. So, just I might not. So
if I'm coming down Harrison Avenue, I go north Avenue, I make a left on Harrison Avenue and then I'm going north of Harrison and I come up to West Prospect. So if the ladder trucks coming from White North on Harrison and makes the right on West Prospect, you can still
make that left hand turn. Make sure we're speaking talking about a lefthand turn of fire truck from street on Harrison West. So I'm I'm coming from right and make a
left coming up Harrison Avenue. You're going north. You have to get from Okay. White West prospect Harrison. So I'm not I'm stopping at West Cross. I'm going to make the right on West
Prospect. Making the right on West Prospect. Right off of Harrison. Now I'm going to make swing again. Those are all uniformly 35t 30 foot wide roads.
this analysis. If you look at the center analysis, a fire truck will have to cross the center line of the roadway if there's cars parked along one of the lines. I think
coming north on Harrison. It's coming north of Harrison. It's going to be you're going from a 30 foot wide roadway to a 30 foot wide roadway. There are not cars parked on both corners.
There's sufficient area. In this case, the curve line is probably that that is the reverse of what we showed you. but uh cannot have cars parked along the
northern curb line of West Prospect Street, but on the southern side of West Prospect where parking is allowed. I think that's what he's asking. You're coming in off of Harrison A
from the south. Yes. The question is, is there going to be not have cars parked? be both sides. Yeah, I we understand that you can't have parking on the side that the building is going to be built on because currently that is stated there's no parking. But on the side across the
street, there is parking allowed. And if you're coming from Harrison A, I think that's the question that Jimmy is asking. If they come on on Harrison A uh from the south side and turn onto that street and there's cars parked on that road, will they be able to turn in?
Well, you're saying that they can only come in from No, just because if you're parking one side of the road, cross the center, correct? But there's existing parking right now in front of me or those
establishments, the opposite side where you know any hair cottages right now. There is no parking there. No parking period. I understand. What he's asking is if there's parking on the side, are they going to have to cross on the other side of the road? But most likely in case of emergency, you're going to have
sirens blowing and everything else. So there's there' be no no vehicles not going to be traveling that direction. So if need be in any situation right now, they most likely can't cross the road. But it's not going to be any different than if the vehicle or the fire truck
was traveling from the opposite direction. John, you were going to say something. I forgot. Oh, it'll come back. It comes back. Anyone else? Questions? Questions?
Questions? So much paper. Um full repavement of Harrison Avenue after roadway opening during construction. Yeah, we stipulated to a number of stipulations, right? That's what I did on the record. Did that on the record
last time. So, will there be a sidewalk on the other side? We're we're not There's none now, but you won't be putting another. There is no sidewalk proposed on the opposite right west side
of Harrison Avenue. There is a sidewalk on the east side. We're meeting all the streetscape requirements that's required by the redevelopment ordinance. Right. I remember now. Good. Told you come back. Chief, you had mentioned, if I
recall, that there was there was a question about putting your bucket up on the roof. Has that been satisfied with these changes? Yes, it has. Thank you. Okay, that's board's questions, public questions at this time. Please come
forward. Seeing none, we're up to comments from the board. We doing comments now or after? I have summation too comments now. Mr. Whitaker, you can sum up and then we
can do our comments. It's normally the way it's done. Mr. Singer. Okay. Thank you. So the Whitaker, this is my first redevelopment. I understand. So I'm learning as I go. It's not a problem. Even though it's a year. We all have to learn. I appreciate that. Not a problem.
The applicant is seeking preliminary and final site plan approval, uh soil movement approval, and uh some waiverss from some of your standards in your site plan ordinance. Uh the applicant is seeking the construction, as you know, of a mixeduse building. Uh it will have commercial space on the first floor.
There'll be 21 spa uh units thereafter on the second through the fourth floor of that building. In addition, we are seeking the approval for the 21 uh town houses, all of which have been shown to you and testified to. Uh what's important to note is that the applicant is meeting all of the zoning
requirements, meets all of the zoning code requirements, the redevelopment plan that's been confirmed by your engineer and by your planner. Um the applicant most importantly is fulfilling um the affordable housing requirement promagated under the redevelopment plan
but also promagated by virtue of your ordinances. So as you heard earlier this evening there are six unit credits and plus the proximity to the rail station at this point gives you a total credit of nine. Um you've heard the testimony of our civil engineer uh that met and
testify that it met all engineering criteria. You've heard the stipulations we've made that we can meet all of the requirements set forth by your burrow engineer. You've heard the testimony of our architect. You've heard the testimony of our traffic expert uh on the traffic expert uh stated and
testified to that the levels of service at the site uh and the levels of service on the street by virtue of this development will not change. Uh he testified to a level of service B and it remains that way. And he also testified that the ingress, egress, and the site
interior layout for parking and aisle width, etc. all meet acceptable standards under it uh provisions. You heard the testimony of the landscape architect that actually told you and explained to you that there'll be more trees placed on this site than exist
there today. Uh that testimony was provided and he showed that it would meet all of the landscape requirements of your ordinance. uh we've now had the ability to meet with your fire sub code official and you've had those stipulations given to you tonight and on the basis of that we will comply with
all of them and we will work with him uh through this development with with the applicant. Uh the waiverss that we requested are minor in scope. they were testified to. Uh a waiver is not a variance as you should realize and know. It just means that based upon the conditions of the property, some of the
minor issues pertaining to site development cannot be addressed and met but they are uh dimminimous in nature and there was no objection to them by your engineer or your planner. Um on the basis of that uh NJSA 40 planning board
shall approve uh the application and I respectfully submit to you that we have met all of those requirements and we respectfully request that you grant preliminary and final site plan approval uh waiver approval and the soil movement approval. Thank you. Mr. Whitaker
refresh my memory. We had testimony as to the sole movement. As to what? We had testimony as to the sole movement numbers. As to the what numbers? Movement. Yes. Did that at the first meeting. I'll go back to my notes. Yeah.
Okay. Um yeah, just so that everybody is clear, Mr. Whitaker has absolutely accurately
stated the law in terms of the requirement that when all of the requirements are met, the board shall approve Before tonight,
there was a question and that is that most of the commentary on the law has said that safety, fire safety in particular, but all
safety is a viable concern even when all of the criter criteria were met. Going into tonight, it appeared that there was a question with respect to
fire safety. And honestly, yeah, I'm the attorney. I'm also I also live in this town. And that gave me pause.
The fact that the applicant and the chief have sat down and the chief as our professional in that regard is satisfied. Slides us into this the world of shall as it were.
Everybody has the right to vote how they wish to vote. But the law does seem pretty clear in this situation. So you all should be guard guided accordingly. Comments of any sort.
Uh we will get to public comment. Yes. Okay. So we'll see the comments of the public and save the for the board. Public comments, please come forward. Hold on.
Yeah, you're ready. Bruce, can you move that microphone to the end of the table, please? Yes. Thank you. Thank you. You're still on you're still under oath, but if you could just reidentify yourself for the record. Sure. Uh Andrew Gugglerero, 51 Highwood AI, New Jersey. Um also the fire chief
of the burrow. Um madame chairwoman and board. Um, I would just like to say that I've come up here numerous times and preached safety um over and over and over again uh regarding this project and um I just want to say that they have uh
gone above and beyond and they have uh fixed all of the questions that I've had uh regarding safety of uh not only the residents that are be there but also my members um and residents of Waldwick. So, uh, just wanted to give that as my
comment. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Other folks, sir. My name is Randy Revly. I'm the owner of 37, 39, 41, and 43 Harrison Avenue. I've been before the board 10 times on my on
projects of my own. Six of them were within one block of this application. Before you start testifying, you raise your right hand, please. Testimony you give the testimony you're about to give. Show the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Sell
your I do. State your name. Spell your last for the record. Randy Revly. Re V. Thank you, Mr. So, my first experience with these properties was 15 years ago when I was walking from my office at 28 West
Prospect Street north on Harrison Avenue towards Frederick Avenue and there were rats running casually across the street. So, I called an exterminator and I also knocked on every door because I wanted to alert the owners that we had a problem in the area. Uh by the end of
the day, I was able to contact every uh home homeowner through the tenants that lived in them. There wasn't one owner in the buildings. They were all tenants and two of the tenants didn't even know how to contact the owner. So, I had to go to the tax department. So, these properties became obvious to me that they were investment properties and they're
destined for something other than what they existed as across the street from Rocket. So two years later, the hair cottage moved into what I refer to as Sharon the Sharon Juan building. All right. And I was able to acquire that
lot. Now with that lot having been acquired and since I had worked on, you know, as I said 10 applications on projects in the area and eight of them the applications were for projects within one block of this area. I was very interested in seeing this area
improved. So I set up with a bank to arrange for the financing to be able to acquire try to acquire a couple more properties and I did. That's when I acquired 39,41 and 43. So here I am with four properties. I hired Thomas Bay to do a study on a
mixeduse building and it was commercial and it was and it was residential half and half and I evaluated it and I thought I had three projects that I had approved by the board with a commercial component and they stood vacant for three two years and two of those
projects came back to the board and they got approval to build an apartment and that saved the saved the the place from being vacant for any longer. on my own property at 28 West Prospect Street. Uh I lived in 102 Franklin Turnpike. I didn't need an office. I just needed a lot to keep my two trucks on. So I tried
to rent that office for two years for $1,000 and I couldn't rent that office in that area. We have a problem on this side of Franklin Turnpike. So meanwhile, I I've acquired these properties. said Tom Ashbine is working on this misuse building and I decided I can't do it even though it's ready to go
to the board because I had these three experiences with commercial properties just wasn't going to take the chance. I'll make this quick going forward with from this point. I then went to a full apartment building. I said, "Tom, please design me the maximum residential building you can for these four
properties which are four of the eight in the application." and Tom came up with 20 apartments, 30 parking spaces, three stories high. I ran the numbers. I built two 25 unit, eight-story buildings in my career. So, I could run the numbers on what it would cost to build a
building and if it was viable and I came up with it couldn't be built. It didn't have the economies of scale. I mean, simply put, in real life, if you have a buildable lot and you take a you have a foundation on that lot and a roof air in that lot, it's going to be the same
whether it's a one-story building or a four-story building. And if you're trying to build a three-story building, you're going to come out of this, you're not going to even cover, you're not going to cover it. You're going to need four stories. That's what I determined. So, I wasn't going to go to buy those other properties. That wasn't happening
in my lifetime. I'm 75 now. So, by that time, I was about 60 68. And I said, I'm I'm going to have grandchildren pretty soon. I'm not going to get involved in this. So, I wanted to do a 20-year lease with a restaurant drive-thru on that property, three of them, and
keep 43 Harrison alone. So, I'm getting ready to go to a national realtor to get a 20-year lease is what I wanted to do. I'm just giving you a little history of this property and what I've tried to do with it. And I had people who had contacts with Starbucks, people had contacts with Chick-fil-A. They didn't
want to have anything to do with that location. I approached Dunkin Donuts because I thought they could use a drive-thru. I also made a pitch to Bombay Hut because I thought they would be they needed a place that was a little bigger than the spot they were in. I was right, but they didn't want my space.
Right. So, fast forward, I go to all the meetings. I've been to the mayor and council meetings and there were only two complaints. Uh, you know, there weren't any complaints now that I'm thinking about it with the mayor and council meetings. And I went away with three things from those meetings. One was the
building was smaller than I ever anticipated it being when I threw my properties into the group that approached me three years ago, by the way, that they've been working on this. And the the the the prop the properties, you know, they it was smaller than I
thought it would be. I really thought they'd be coming in with a fourstory full lot building. So, that was one takeaway I had. The second takeaway was it was so much more highly stylized than anything I could have ever imagined being built on that corner. And the third takeaway I had was that for three
years I had a chance to to to really work on this project and they nailed it. They took a component on West Prospect Street that addressed the commercial retail facade that was needed on West Prospect Street and they built arches in
it. I mean what I mean Arches is the is the building structure of the eons and that's in our historic district now. That's what we fondly call this area in this town. We call it the Waldwick historic district between Franklin Turnpike and Houston Avenue.
And then we went to the the mayor and council meeting. That's what I I came up with those three observations. And I I thought the the presentation was brilliant. And all the doubt that anybody had at the beginning was dissipated by this incredible outpouring from the public in support of this
application. And the vote was unanimous from the council. Then we came to the meetings here and I only saw two, you know, two two actually observations that were against this project. One was already answered which was brilliant by
the fire chief. that is no longer an issue and I was the only one of substance if it if it had any substance because I think you can't build an unsafe building in today's world you go to the building department they had 500 fresh pl pages of building codes and these are all for safety how to build a
building and how to use a building you can't get a plan approved if it's not a safe building number one so they addressed that anyway and that was that was actually excellent that they did that the other thing was that the traffic study should have been done at
12 o'clock rather than at rush hour in the morning or in the afternoon, which really, you know, the landscapers who park there at lunchtime, they cause a little congestion. I can't get into my own lot at times. However,
they're smart people and they call in their lunch orders to Ike. They're going to drive around a corner. They're going to drop a guy off. They're going to pick it up. They're going to pick up their sandwich. They're going to go back to the work site. So, they're not going to cause any problems to the parking and the traffic in that area, but it's irrelevant anyway because it wasn't
really an argument. So, in conclusion, you know, this this building that's here tonight, I'm hoping that the board sends them away with the unanimous, you know, vote of approval because this building, it addresses all
the properties around it. You have the facade, which is the commercial on the first floor on West Prox Street. When you're standing on a sidewalk, you don't see the building. You just see the facade of your commercial. You step back, you'll see the four-story
residential, but that's what's needed for the economies of scale that you need to build this building. And then if you walk down Harrison Avenue and up Frederick Street, it has a three-story facade, parking, and two levels above it. So, it integrates kind of seamlessly
into the residential component, which is north of Harrison Street. Right. It it was brilliantly conceived. And this building being built isn't in a isn't a transition property between the historic district and what's going to happen on
Houston Avenue. And this building, if it doesn't get built, I'm afraid your next application is going to be a lot bigger, a lot denser, and not as highly stylized. But this building, if and when it's built, will set the bar for every
future building that's built on Houston Avenue. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Anyone else? Comments from the public? Yes, sir.
Mr. Glad to uh Mr. Cruz, you're still under oath. I am still under oath. Okay. Ray Cruz, 15 Cypress Court. I just uh I wrote a few notes here. I I did get a chance to spend unfortunately whatever free time I have to read
through a lot of the meeting minutes, especially the ones from November 10th. I believe that meeting there. It was clear to me that uh the members of this board care deeply for this town uh and you were going to
put uh Mr. Mr. Whitaker right there, Mr. Whitaker through the ringer to ensure that all your questions are being answered. It looks like we're here. Um it looks like all those questions have been answered. There's been strong support from the public. Uh the board is
here at the behest of the public to serve the public and you all know that that's why you do this. You care and love for the town and the people in this town. Um in the 20 plus years I've been here, I've noticed uh a lot more younger
people moving into the town, professionals like I used to take the train going back to New York City. 2020 was, you know, a horrible time, but I see a lot more economic movement and people and traffic inside this town. I work remotely now, but that that's, you
know, I remember when I was sitting here winning the lottery ticket of getting a parking sticker for my uh my train my train uh my train parking spot. It was like two years, three years. Apparently, that was a record time back then. Um,
this development looks a lot better than what we have there. Not just that, but apparently we're supposed to be getting some tax revenue out of this, right? We're in tight financial times, right? You did raise taxes because you had to
gladly pay my taxes. We want to see some return on that investment. That investment includes the infrastructure of our town, right? being proud to go downtown, to go visit, you know, uh, Bagel Nage, and then maybe just walk
down the street. Uh, one thing I personally wish there was some sort of plan for what's going on in the CVS property, right? I did read that there was a there was that was a lease there, right? Right. Sorry. Right. CVS,
Walgreens at this point. Listen, I'm getting old. All right, Paul. So the point is that uh you know that that that would be that would be an amazing home run in that position. So I really do hope that this board considers or whoever is in this board in 5 years
when we have to do this again which is really where my I really do believe we have to do this again. We have to continue to think forward in our master plan to beautify and to bring in more commercial revenue, tax revenue as well
as give the adhere to our our our legal obligations uh Mr. Clifford from you know Mr. Singer from uh in relation to our the law but do it in a way that's thoughtful and start thinking about it now. Right. We have an opportunity here to approve a plan that the public is
obviously very supportive of. We don't want to go to Rididgewood. I don't want to go to Glenrock. I don't want to go to these places that have these fully developed downtowns, right? Uh that looks seamless. You know, I love going to Kilwins for for ice cream. I live my kids love it. I years. Well, they're not
20, but I've been here 15 20 years. This is where I want to be. So, let's make it a place where people want to stay, which they do. And they come back and they say, "I was born here, raised here. My children were born here, raised here. has given me more reasons to do that.
So, I support the project and I hope that all of you will start thinking not so much about what was in the past and all the beautiful memories that you have of what the past was even yesterday at Walt Lake, but
think about what the future could be and how beautiful it'll be if we do that investment today. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Anyone else in the public
comments? Seeing none, uh, we will have comments from the board. Anyone? post. So,
you know, sitting here and listening to the presentation, you know, I know there was a little bit of opposition initially and I understand it was all safety related and I think that's a great uh situation where an applicant and potentially our fire department who, you
know, and a building department, you know, I have to dredge a soft line because I'm a planning board member. So I have to be careful what I say to the public away from these meetings. But I think the fact that you know both sides came so well and meeting you know the c
some of the safety requirements and the fact that it is going to be an unusual building for Waldwick. Um I think it's a great thing and I'm looking forward to see this being built. Thank you Joe. Um I think going through the whole
process we started out in the beginning of the process. I think this is a great process for the town. I think it's great for KOA. It's great for um what it what it stands for. Uh way back when when um we started this they the council came to us and asked us for our suggestions. Um
I'm very happy that Mr. Whitaker has done a very good job in dealing with it at the safety. um they seem to be working with us but ultimately in the beginning the first thing that we suggest and I think the only thing that we did suggest to the council was that
we don't like the height it's 55 it's a total with the total all the way to the top is 58t tall um at it's going to stick up like a sore thumb in the middle of the town. Um we we suggested that that's the only suggestion we made to the council. Well,
they got the planning board to I mean the the planner to to give them to work with them on the ordinance and they made ahead went ahead and said um we we'll we'll let them go at at that height. Um when I talked to Mr. Whitaker about it um he said well the planning board I mean the council already approved it so
we can't say anything against it. Well, I'm just saying this now. I I very much approve of this whole uh the way you set it up and everything like that except for the height of the building. I just don't agree that it's can be what 23 feet higher than any building any other
building in the whole in the whole town. I just don't agree with that. Um and I've seen buildings go buil be built three four stories tall over in Hokus. Um I just recently I don't know if they finished it yet or not the one in the center of town and it sticks up and it's
hidden behind everything but it sticks up. Um I don't know why I think it's out of place in that little town. However, you have to be mo you have to modernize the town. Um I am looking forward to what the council can work out um with the Houston uh project down by the
railroad tracks. Um I'm hoping that we can work out we can be here for that development as well. I just don't, you know, I don't I don't agree with the height of the town and that's what we made suggestions and nobody listened to us in in the first suggestions. So, um, like I said, I just want to reiterate that I think it's a great project. It's
just not what I wanted to do and what we all discussed in the beginning of the this whole process when this process started. So, that's just my opinion. Thank you. I'm not saying whether I'm going to vote yet, but that's my opinion, too. Thank you. We appreciate that.
John, I was very concerned uh in the very beginning because it seemed to me that everything was kind of backed in and I I felt like I was being fed information
strategically to uh in this is in the beginning in the very first meetings and it made me very suspicious. ious and wary. Um, and then at the last meeting,
I was under the impression that the chief's uh the fire chief's uh suggestions were being discounted. Um, and I was prepared this evening to vote no based on the fire chief being
rejected. Uh but that said, coming back today and seeing all this work that you've done and the uh the work that you've done together with the fire chief that you've collaborated and uh and come to an agreement and that now
the chief is fully satisfied. Other than that, I had no problem with this plan. I think the way it was initially brought to us was ridiculous. Uh we weren't we were we were being spoonfed information and uh
it created a lot of hate and discontent and I think we've we've overcome that. I think this is a this is a good project and I fully support it at this point. Thank you John.
Uh, from my side, I've always had two concerns, and the chief addressed them tonight. Thank you for the negotiation. Second concern I have, and I don't think we can address it here, is how we're going to pay for this. And I I'm looking to Mr. Richie because he promised me my taxes won't go up. And I and I thank you
for that. My concern is how we're going to pay for this. And I don't know if I can voice it anymore. It's going to be very important how this gets financed and how it affects the public. So, from the redevelopment, I'm all for it. Mr.
Revly, I think you've uh maybe exaggerated a little bit with all the rats running across Harrison AB. I lived there for 37 years. I probably walk it every day. I run it every day. I haven't seen one, but I I'll leave that up to you to recant that
if you'd like. But again, for the fire side, I appreciate you made the changes. It's very good. from the finance side. That's the the red herring, the white herring, and I'm very interested to see that. Thank you. Thank you, Jim.
Anyone else on the board? Uh I agree with my colleagues and my uh fellow board members on quite a lot of what they've said. I'm very happy and very proud that the chief and uh Mr. Whitaker and the
redevelopers have worked together and made a plan because safety is top on the list. Uh height was our thing. Uh however we were spoonfed the information, height
was our thing and we were all for it. um if it wasn't so tall and now it's gone beyond being tall. Um, I'm concerned about our resources
because uh pretty much besides the water situation, the water man breaks uh where there's dark water running, smelly water running, um where they're fixing, streets are closed,
that concerns me. 95 extra 9,500 extra gallons per day uh in increased water. our um small but mighty uh volunteer
services and I I can't really see even though I love the whole facade and how it looks the fact that right aid is still there just doesn't seem right and
hair cottage will still be there and that doesn't seem like it goes with the rest of it. And the building is going to look at the rocket place and the disarray directly across the street from
it. So, I don't know when that's going to be redeveloped, but somehow it just it seems a little discombobulated to me. Um, not to say that I'm not about redevelopment.
I feel like it might be a little overkill. Um, so there could be more said. Um, traffic wise, I wasn't really crazy about it. I I'm not crazy about it. Uh, I know they've done studies, but
um I wonder how the other towns are fairing that have all these redevelopments. Ordinances have been followed and that's great and that's after safety. That's the next thing. But I don't know who's next in line or where
comes down the line. But I'm not 100%. But that's why we're seven people, nine people that have to vote. Um, it doesn't mean that we don't respect everyone that's been on board and all the hard work that people have
done, uh, us included. Um, and we can't all agree all the time. So we will uh take it for a vote and then move as
the process deems fit. Mr. Singer, do you have anything? I think you grab any consideration from Mr. Whitaker. You've heard what the residents have had
to say. You've heard what the fellow board members have had to say. Yeah, it's up. I'd like to place just one comment on the record in response to comments of the board members if I could have that opportunity. Okay. I repeated and stated earlier what
the municipal land use board law requires of every board member in every municipality in the state of New Jersey. And I don't say that to admonish anyone. I don't say that with any disrespect. But there is a litmus test that has to be followed by every board when they take every board member when they take
their oath of office. And I respect Mr. Chhatz what you have stated about your concern about height but and I respect the comments made when you're concerned about quote redevelopment. Munipal land use law as you know provides a process in which an ordinance
is proposed. It is sent to the planning board for review and recommendation. And it's not always that the governing body will accept recommendations that a board or planning board may make. But the planning board doesn't then have the
right if the ordinance has been passed by the governing body to take and determine they're going to have a referendum because they disagree with what a mayor and council have done. That's outside the jurisdiction and limits of what the board has to review.
So the height issue is not a height issue because we meet the code requirements. Water is not an issue because we've had no u negative feedback from the water department or the DPW. The traffic information that we've
provided is uncontroverted. Yes, no one has been able to say that what we've said is wrong, including your own professionals. And that's what this process is about. And finally, the concept of what's going to be done in the neighborhood around
there. I think we heard it already from Mr. Revly. This is a start. I've been doing this work for a number of years. I've been fortunate enough to be before this board for a number of years. And everything starts somewhere. And I think what you're seeing here is the first of some redevelopment that's going to
occur. And there'll be other things on the agenda. Uh and that's progress and that's what's required. It's a bitter pill that everyone had to swallow when affordable housing came to every municipality, but it's a pill that every municipality has to swallow and there's a way to do it and I believe what the
applicant is proposing here does it in the right way. Thank you. Thank you. Is is redevelopment this specifically about affordable housing? It's not. It's a it's a component. It's yes, but it's not
totally when you're doing redevelopment, uh, you have a factor of affordable housing required and this has been pointed out to meet your requirements, right? As you heard earlier this evening where Paul testified to you and showed you what the plan is. This is part of
the counter. Thank you. Motion to bring to the vote. Motion by anyone. John and state uh and we can take a vote. Please need a
kind of need a motion. Whether you're asking the attorney to write A resolution in favor or a resolution deny. So it has to be captured that way. So you're voting one way or the other. A
resolution to move forward or not. To approve it or not. Very specific. So can we use the same people that motion? Sure. Okay. To approve a resolution to move forward.
That was John and Stan. Very good. And we could call the vote. M. No. Mr. Yes. Mr. Rando. Yes. Mr. Paloski. Yes. Mr. Mistellig.
Yes. Mr. Schulz. Yes. Mr. Basilico. Yes. Mr. Pan Kelly. Yes. Mr. S. No. Thank you very much. Thank you. All set. Thanks everyone. Thank you.
Uh we're back here July 9th, two weeks from Wednesday. Um, we didn't we're not doing old business or No, it's too late. Motion motion to sorry,
ladies and gentlemen, we are still in session. Would you like to be a motion to adjourn? Good. So, we'll need the trans