there that's better this is to advise that notice of the time date location and to the extent known agenda of the subject meeting was prominently posted in the public place reserve for such or similar announcements on February 25th 2025 mailed to the Princeton package times in
West Windsor Plainsboro news on February 25th 2025 and filed with the Township Clerk on February 25th 2025 call the rooll Please Mr church here Mr MOX here Mr Van
Dyke Mr Roa Mr Jacobson here Vice chairman hobman here chairwoman Abby here Mr fredkin here
yes we have two people missing but we have a quorum minutes of February 6th 2025 does anybody have any comments Corrections hearing none do we have a motion to
approve to approve the minutes of February 6 moved by John Raider second second by Mr Church all in favor say I I any
Nays motion passes who abstained V okay so note the abstention by Henry chairs comments and correspondence I have done Sam you have anything no public comment this would be for
anything that is not on the agenda for tonight if anybody has anything they wanted to come up to the podium about please do so again this would be for something that is not on the agenda about the application for this evening seeing no
one uh close public comment application ZB 247 step jensx 1736 Old Trenton Road if you could come forward please and while Mr jenss is doing that
we've reviewed the notice of this application and the board okay can everybody hear me could uh excuse me be sworn in by our attorney please oh sure yes if you could please raise your right hand do you
swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth I do if you could State your full name for the record and spell your last name please sure Stephen jenss Jen KS um good evening uh chairperson Abby members of the board and Township professionals um my name is Stephen jenss um and I appreciate the
opportunity to speak to you um before um regarding my application for a variance to construct a uh Pavilion and Patio on my property at 1736 old Tron Road West Windor New Jersey my family and I have lived in West Windor West Windsor for the last nine years and we have a deep
appreciation for the character and quality um of life that this Township provides we're committed to maintaining and and improving our home in a way that aligns with the goals and the of the community while also meeting the needs of her family the variance we are
requesting pertains to the setback requirement at our um as our proposed uh Pavilion would be located approximately 12 feet from the property line um rather than the required distance we believe that this request is both reasonable and
Justified for several reasons the physical constraints of our land um our home is situated ated on a narrow trapezoid shaped lot which significantly which significantly limits the build the build buildable area behind our home um I refer you to the pictures that we took
in our in our application and due to this irregular shape construct uh constructing a pavilion and Patio in compliance with the standard setback requirements is Impractical Additionally the existing home is already positioned 14 ft from the neighbor's property line
and um and and a placement that is grandfathered into the zoning ordinance given these constraints the property location um the proposed location is the most feasible and functional option of uh for our project um and then also
behind um beyond the shape the our our lot shape our property contains a septic tank and a field located in the back of our home uh this further restricts our ability to place the Pavilion and Patio elsewhere any relocation of the structure um to comply with standard
step acts would either interfere with the septic system or severely limit the usable outdoor space as a result we are constrained to the proposed placement without the variance we would face significant practical difficulties in making our back backyard a safe and
usable space from a safety perspective our current patio includes um a makeship step that presents a safety uh risk for anyone entering or or exiting the home including our children and without the ability to construct a properly designed uh Pavilion and Patio we would like a
safe functional outdoor area where our family can gather and enjoy our property the variance would allow us to make necessary improvements while respecting the overall character um of our neighborhood and finally we have engaged with our neighbors to discuss our plans and they
have expressed no objections um again thank you for your time and I appreciate the opportunity to to speak thank you so just for the record um this would be 12 feet from the
property line yes and the approximate distance from the property line to your neighbor's house I think you we asked you to get that information if you could just state that for the the record again yeah it's between 80 and 85 feet okay yeah thank you
yep questions you could stay up here for yeah okay in case anybody has questions for you sure are you going to keep the patio we're going to replace it in kind so it's it's brick right now and then we're just G to replace it with some
some Mason Stones so it's G to be the same footprint so you'll still have a patio yes but you're going to have a pavilion as well your map you right now have a curve walk from the patio to the uh rear of your house you want to put a
pavilion there which would be actually getting close to the patio yeah so it' be a more convenient way to get to the P correct so the variance is just for the setback of the Pavilion for the Pavilion
that's correct what is the sidey setback in the zone 20 20 feet okay so the house is already you know ft at at that corner yeah um so it's
like it's already into the sidey set but by the nature of this circumstance right it's only really going from 14 feet to 12 feet right at the corner of the patio at the corner only one
corner right Clos this corner yeah yeah just the nature of again we're on the other side of the trapezoid right on on the base of the trapezoid so anything that if we build anything back from where sliding glass door is right now anything would require a setback
okay and um the consideration is also because there is a septic system in the backyard as well we actually had pipe and the septic system and all of that yes yes we actually had our septic system or our tank moved closer to to the field to prepare for this as well
too so and by observation the the house at the other end uh at the other side is also over the setback at 16 right 15 15 that would be also a 20 yard setback the
other other side of the proper am I right I can't speak to that what the 15 where this side already you know the Pao are here this side of the property right oh okay that's already yeah yeah that's already over the
setback the other so it's it's a very constrain site well so even though the the um the house is angled it still is centered on the property well I wouldn't I wouldn't say centered basically it's it's as centered
as it can be I guess can can you tell us when the uh house was constructed actually 1985 1985 okay that was before the current uh before the current zones were established in the setbacks right
so it goes back before we had that rule yes yeah yeah yeah I see from your map 500 feet north of edberg Road yes and I'm just find it curious that the sides of your
lot are not parallel to edber Z I'm just finding it strange that they laid out the lots that way yeah because the other Lots next to it also my neighbor is actually here that could probably give you history of of our property it has been subdivided twice I
believe it used to be an Old Farm then it was sub subdivided back in the 70s I want to say and then sub subdivided again for to for our home in 1985 so um well but but luckily they made the houses
parallel to the road so that it is parallel to Old Trent yeah it is parallel to Old TR did that anyway yeah they would lay the lot I it's I I was it could have been subdivided years
ago when it was all farm and who knows what I was I was I was crawling at point so I I don't know that's not the strangest thing I've seen during my site inspections gotcha I've seen some go other questions from the board okay does one of the members want to go
over this maybe John uh yeah yeah I can do that if you like yeah I just briefly okay yeah I I uh was the site inspector uh our other two members of the committee could not attend that day uh so I went out there twice with Mr jenx
and uh we located uh the markers and made the best guesses we could as to where the property line was but very difficult because that at Eastern most one is 263 ft long and you can't really I'm not a surveyor we did the best we
could but anyway uh the upshot was that the the actual survey that we have seems to be accurate enough at least for the purposes of this application so I'm convinced that the uh that the uh actual setback requested is 12 feet plus or
minus maybe couple inches whatever you couldn't determine it exactly but so it is 12T that you're asking for so I'm I I'm convinced that that that's the true uh number that you need so thank you
John other questions comments um I don't see any problem with this it seems to make sense to me I'm sensing everybody else feels the same way um does anybody have any other comments
before we want want to uh did he did somebody else want yeah well we we have to do the public comment if there's anybody yeah yeah the public comment from a neighbor just before that yes if anybody would like to come up from the public to comment on this application
please do so now you could raise your right hand so I can swear you in you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes you can State your full name for the record please Robert Johnson JN s o n reside at 1738 Old Trenton Road uh been a resident there
since n uh 1992 um so we don't have any objections with this structure at all there there's you're are you right next door yes yes I am right next door but we're we're actually to the further side of the
property so we have quite a bit of space in between our property and his and their property so there's no objection at all and yes the lines are uh very obuse in that area uh I thought the same thing when I moved in yeah so yes okay
thank you any questions question thank you anything else anyone else want to give a comment uh hearing none does someone have a motion to close the public comment
to public comment who second I seconded by Henry all in favor say I to close public comment I all opposed hearing none that motion
passes um I don't hear any objections to anything it seems to make sense um I have a a list of things after we get the motion uh you want a motion to approve yeah I'm always to put out allia before
we vote or second before the reasons for why we would vote the way we vote oh when it comes to turn you can do that I'll do it after usually when I do it
C I always put exactly in the record you do it [Music] after we used to do it before then somebody said no you have to do it after that's what I thought okay the
motion okay but before before that I do wanna I'm I'm I was just asking about whether I should go through my list of things before or after and she recommends before the vote um I think the
uh the applicant was um asked to show that there was a practical difficulty or an undue hardship um I think he did so certainly there is a practical difficulty uh because of the trapezoidal
shape of the property um and the fact that the house is centered on the property same amount of space on either side building this Pavilion would only bring it to two more feet closer than it
currently is which is really di Minimus not really um that big of a thing we find that the relief can be granted without substantial detriment to the public good including any adverse
impact on any of the neighboring properties and it will not impair the intent and purpose of the r1c Zone plan where the applicant's property is located we also note that there is of course um the location of the septic system on the
property is a factor in um where things can be located on this property and this is a pre-existing non-conforming uh structure already um also we could note that you
know it's just a pavilion it doesn't even have siding on it so there is a view it's it's not like they're building a wall That's 12 feet from the property line uh it is all open to that so those are my reasons for why I
would vote to approve so John we have a motion to approve we did seconded by second by Dan second and by Daniel um call the rooll please yes yes yes yes thank you you're good to
go thank you okay good luck with it good luck uh we have no closed session or nothing else unless somebody has something they need to bring discussion Sam do we have anything for April okay I
will okay I will be in St Louis I will be in St Louis meet me at St Louis I told you last anything else motion to adjourn move move second and all in
favor I I I I I thank you everybody I'm sorry who who did it first I missed that it was a little bit too fast what was that who uh was the first to vote on the motion uh John made the motion and the second who was the
second John