Transcript for Piscataway Zoning meeting on July 8 2021
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Jul 8 2021 · Zoning
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Speaker 0Um, with, uh, Runnymede, I'm sorry. Richdale gardens that, uh, I represent the owner. We're doing two planning board meetings tonight. Uh, one in Verona. And when in here, and you're kind enough to put us last, but I know a couple of applications where journey, so we'll see where we fall and we completely understand it's summertime. You know, we're not expecting anything more than if we make it. We make it. If not, let's go home. Got the other one on.
Speaker 2All right. Okay. It is seven 30 chairman recording in progress. Sorry.
Speaker 3A zoning board of adjustment meeting. Please come to order. Adequate notice of this meeting was provided in the following ways. Notice published in the courier news. No notice posted on the bulletin board of the municipal building notice made available to the township clerk notice sent to the Korean news and the Star-Ledger will the clerk please call the
Speaker 2Roll. Mr. Zimmerman, Warren.
Speaker 3You're on mute. We say,
Speaker 2Okay. Warren's here. Mr. Weissman. Mr. Reggio, Mr. Blount, Mr. Patel, Mr. Mirando eater and chairman kale
Speaker 3Here while everyone, please stand for the salute to the flag for Liberty and justice for all Mr. Kennedy, are there any changes to the
Speaker 1Yes, there are, uh, the application of Kenya DNC 834 west seventh street is carried to August 12th, 2021. And the application of Dwight Mitchell is carried to August 12th, 2021 with no further notice. Those are all the changes that I have
Speaker 3Mr. Chameleon. Uh, before we begin tonight's meeting, I'd like to address something if possible. Um, with the exception of Mr. Chameleon, Mr. Chadwick, myself and Henry Hammerstein, you individuals never had the pleasure of being on the zoning board with, um, J moody. I'm sorry. It was a good guy and we lost them this week. And I want to, on behalf of all the, um, panel here for the zoning board of Piscataway offer my condolences to his family, his friends and loved ones. So with that being said, let's move to item number 5 21, ZB 36 V. Carmelo Medina
Speaker 1Is Carmelo Medina.
Speaker 4You need to unmute Mr. Medina.
Speaker 1Uh, Mr. Medina, I need to swear you in. Could you raise your right hand? Do you swear the testimony you're about to give should be the truth? Yes. Your name and address please.
Speaker 4Theresa court, Piscataway New Jersey, 0 8 5 4.
Speaker 1And your name please?
Speaker 4Carmelo Medina.
Speaker 1Thank you. Oh, you can put your hand down and please explain to the board what you'd like to do here.
Speaker 4I would like to replace my poll. My poll was broken by a tree fallen and I had to replace the pool. The pool I had was a much bigger pool. It was an oval pool. So they had the same pool. I had an older one pool.
Speaker 1Okay. Did you have an opportunity to see Mr. <inaudible> report in this matter? Yes. Okay. Can you comply with the landscaping and the permits that he requested?
Speaker 4Yes. The four trees. And he wanted me to put in,
Speaker 1Yes. And you'll have to get all the permits that are necessary.
Speaker 4Uh, if I don't do that, what do I have to do? We move to poop.
Speaker 1Yes. If, if, if we can't be sure that the pool was installed properly, then the, the zoning board can't grain and approval,
Speaker 4Then I'm in the process of selling my house and the owner that wants to buy the house does not want to pull. Anyway. I just heard that he doesn't want the post. So, you know, I went through all this, you know, thinking that it will be simple, then I'm very one word do is, are gonna be multiple. I have no
Speaker 1Choices. Then I assume you're going to withdraw this application.
Speaker 4Yes. I'm going to withdraw it. Yes. I'm going to remove the poo outta here and sell the house without the pool.
Speaker 1Um, Mr. Chairman, the applicant has indicated he wishes to withdraw his application. He has the right to do that.
Speaker 3Do we need to take a vote on that or
Speaker 1I will prepare a resolution for a future meeting for you to vote on recognizing that he withdrew it voluntarily.
Speaker 3Got it. Thank you. Uh, for your troubles and lenders. Some data.
Speaker 4Okay.
Speaker 3Let's move on to item 7 21 dash ZB dash 42 V. We're both Vargas.
Speaker 1Is the applicant present? Yes. Okay. Could you raise your right hand? Do you swear the testimony you're about to give should be the truth? Yes. Your name and address please.
Speaker 4<inaudible> 19 civil avenue, Piscataway New Jersey.
Speaker 1Thank you. Could you explain to the board what you'd like to do here?
Speaker 4I'm requesting for a bulk Marion to install a fence in that easement area area that the Naismith.
Speaker 1And do you understand that if the township ever needs to access that easement, that the re and replacement of that fence is your responsibility? Yes. And that's that's agreeable to you. Yeah. Those are all the issues contained in Mr. <inaudible> report. Mr. Chairman.
Speaker 3Okay. Any, any other people on the board have any questions for this application? Hearing none open it to the public. Anyone in the public portion have any questions about this application or comments? No, sir. Hearing none close the public portion. I'd make a motion to approve this application on second.
Speaker 2Was that Lauren? Thank you. Sorry. I can't look up at the same time, Mr. Zimmerman. Yes. Mr. Tillery? Yes. Mr. Wasteman. Yes. Mr. Reggio? Yes. Mr. Blount? Yes. Mr. Patel and chairman Keno. Yes,
Speaker 1Sir. Your application's been approved. We will memorialize it in a written document, meaning you don't need to be present for that. We'll send that document to you, but you'll need that document to get your permit.
Speaker 4I have to reapply for the permanent game. Is that,
Speaker 1Uh, did you, did you already installed a fence? No, no, no, no. Yep. When you get the piece of paper in the mail that from the zoning board, then you can go down and apply for your permit.
Speaker 2I'll email you everything.
Speaker 4Okay. Thank you.
Speaker 3Thank you, sir. Thank you. Let's move on to item number 8 21 dash ZB dash 41 V Santos Lopez.
Speaker 1Uh, yes. Mr. Lopez, could you raise your right hand? You swear the testimony you're about to give should be the truth. It's just your name and address please. It's
Speaker 3Not this Lopez and 46 more cell
Speaker 1Lines. Thank you. Can you explain to the board what you'd like to do here? Yeah.
Speaker 3I would like to install a fence in my backyard. It's over an easement as well.
Speaker 1And do you understand that if the township needs access to that easement, you would be responsible for the removal and replacement of that fence? I understand. And you agree to that? Yes, sir. Okay. I believe those are all the issues raised by Mr. Henderson in this matter.
Speaker 3Any other members of the board have any questions for this application? Hearing none. I'm going to open it to the public portion. Anyone in the public portion of any questions or comments about this application?
Speaker 1Uh, yes. I have a few questions. My name is Richard Barboza. I'm the immediate I I'm on the right hand side of Mr. Lopez. And I just wanted to ask a few questions. I need to swear you in. Could you raise your right hand? Do you swear the testimony you're about to give should be the truth? Yes, it is. Uh, your, you gave us your name. Give us your address again, please.
Speaker 5Yes. 42 Marcel lane and Piscataway. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Um, one of my questions is I know your inspectors. I'm sure they're very professional. They're very competent, but if an error should be made, you know, accidents do happen. If an error should be made, what recourse do I have if they should come or his, uh, Mr. Lopez, um, finished should come over into my property. What kind of resource do I have?
Speaker 1Uh, you would contact the township. They would send an inspector out and we were determined whether or not an error was made and whether or not it was on your property. If so, they would have to re remove it and move it back onto his property.
Speaker 5Okay. Now, if I have an, it goes, thank you, Laura, by the way, for sending me the documents. Thank you so much. Um, if, if I have, you know, if I have somebody independently, um, do, uh, do a survey and they may conflict with your findings, what happens then?
Speaker 1Uh, well, th that, that would then become a civil matter between you and your neighbor.
Speaker 5Okay. Okay. And one other question. Um, how am I to be sh or excuse me, how am I to be sure that, you know, the diversion of the fence will divert any, um, water or any drainage issues into my basement?
Speaker 1Uh, you would have to talk to Mr. Henderson about how they recommend that the fence is being installed.
Speaker 5Okay. And Mr. Henderson is who, I'm
Speaker 1Sorry. Mr. Henderson is an employee of the township of Piscataway. He's usually here at these meetings tonight, but he's on vacation this week.
Speaker 5And does he have an email address that I can contact them?
Speaker 2Email me tomorrow. Mr. Barboza.
Speaker 5I'll give you. Okay. Okay, Laura, thank you. You're welcome.
Speaker 3Is that it, sir?
Speaker 5Yes, that's it. Thank you. Thank you. Have a great day. Okay. Thank you,
Speaker 3Laura. Anyone else?
Speaker 2No, that's a chairman.
Speaker 3So, you know, I'm going to close the public portion and I will make a motion to approve this application.
Speaker 2Okay. Mr. Zimmerman? Yes. Mr. <inaudible>. Yes. Mr. Weissman NGO, Mr. Blount? Yes. Mr. Patel. Yes. And chairman kale,
Speaker 1Your application has been approved. Uh, we will memorialize it in a written document at our next meeting and send a copy to you. You'll need that copy to get your building permit. Thank you very much. Your fence permit. Thank you.
Speaker 3Thank you. Let's move on to item 10 21 dash ZB dash 23 slash 24 V Ridgedale gardens and Piscataway LLC.
Speaker 1There is a possibility that this applicant is tied up in another zoning board hearing.
Speaker 0Actually Verona had a power outage and they could not get a quorum, our attorney or engineer or architect or old logging on right now,
Speaker 6If we can just use something more of your time.
Speaker 1Okay. So Mr. Chairman, they were supposed to be in another zoning board meeting and we possibly were going to move them to the end of the agenda. But since, uh, Verona had its issues, they're logging on and they should be here momentarily.
Speaker 3Should we move on to item number 11 before we sh we fall back? Uh, we don't know how long it's gonna take for them to log in. You know what else? We'll take a brief five minutes and, uh, I'm going to call Mr. Chaplin. Yes, they have. Okay. That's they haven't logged in by then. We'll move on to item number 11. Okay.
Speaker 6Thank you very much. You're welcome, sir.
Speaker 1Okay. Chairman, can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you, Mr. Skolnick. Okay. Thank you so much. We appreciate your indulgence.
Speaker 6Um, can we just give one second, please? I'm on the phone
Speaker 1For five minutes.
Speaker 3A couple of minutes more.
Speaker 1Okay. Thank you, chairman. You're welcome, sir. We, uh, up until this afternoon, we were, the same group was first on and another town. They have power outages and we were sixth on your agenda. So we tried to do the unthinkable and go for two hearings in one night. Of course, an abject failure. Can't do it. Cannot be done. I feel bad for Verona. I feel that, uh, they don't have a quorum. They have power, so they only have three. Uh, we'll have to re notice there. So thank you. We appreciate it.
Speaker 6So a pleasure.
Speaker 1I see that I have my engineer on who and my architect, if we need 'em and one of my clients as well. So we're ready to go whenever you get another minute or two on our end, if that's okay, then we appreciate it. No problem,
Speaker 2Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chadwick is calling in. He's having technical difficulties also in his computer.
Speaker 1Okay. Let's wait for him to connect before we receive, I'm just going to block the video for a second while I try to lower that light behind me. You went from bad to worse synthesis with Scully. Yeah. Okay. You look like you're being interrogated. Okay. Hold on. I'm going to put some light on in the background. I work on my lighting situation. I can get my head to block the line up. You okay?
Speaker 6Nothing yet? No.
Speaker 2I told him if he had a problem to call back, he had a secretary on the other line. They were trying to call on him. He hasn't called, I guess he's still trying. Well, he has everything. I don't know if you want to just start. Hi, John.
Speaker 1Okay. Let's proceed. Now. I already announced its original gardens. And at this getaway, LLC fact, your chairman Richard Skolnick on behalf of the applicant, we're here tonight, seeking site plan approval with some bulk variances, no D variants. There's not a D variance in this application while the board had jurisdiction over this cause of some prior D variances. Our address is 300 north Randolph hill road. And it's identified on the tax. Maps is blocked 24 0 6 lots 27.02 and 31.01. Uh, we're looking to renovate an existing building and converting a portion of it into a fitness room. Uh, we're proposing a new garage and storage area and an outdoor amenity area with an outdoor grill area, a tot lot, and a dog run. We have a couple of variances. Uh, we're looking for one foot, uh, in terms of the height of the fence for the dog run four feet required or permitted, we're proposing five feet just to be on the safe side. And then, uh, the proposal has a couple of setback variances for the, um, front yard and for our accessory structures. But the setback is to a paper street and our engineer will go through the plan. So there's nobody really over there. It's a paper street, but, uh, we did notice for these variances. So I just have one witness tonight, our engineer, Mike Roth, he's also a professional planner.
Speaker 1And, uh, if you need him, uh, I have our architect here. And as I mentioned, uh, we have, uh, my client on the phone also. So with that, if I may, Mr. Chairman, can I, uh, uh, claw Michael Roth, uh, asked that he'd be sworn and I'll qualify them, please proceed.
Speaker 8Good evening, everyone. This is John Chadwick. Apologize for the technical difficulty. I'm present.
Speaker 1Good evening, John. Thanks John. Welcome board. Mr. Roth, could you raise your right hand? Yes. The testimony you're about to give should be the truth.
Speaker 7Yes. Your name and address please. Sure. My name is Michael wroth of Roth engineering LLC. And the business address is 52 Quill, Ron long valley, New Jersey.
Speaker 1Thank you, Mr. Roth. Uh, can you give your qualifications as a civil engineer and as a planner?
Speaker 7Yes. I'm the owner of Roth engineering LLC and have, um, um, designed to manage the number of projects throughout the state. Just like the one I'll be going over tonight. I graduated with a bachelor's degree of science and civil engineering from New Jersey Institute of tech technology. I'm also a licensed professional engineer and planner in the state of my license is a good standing I've appeared before other land use Fords previously. However, this is my first appearance go through this court and look forward to, uh, going over this project tonight.
Speaker 1Thank you, Mr. Roth. I think that your qualifications are with an admirable, please proceed. Thanks. Okay. And now does Mr. Roth have shirt screen-sharing ability?
Speaker 7It appears I do. Mr. <inaudible>.
Speaker 1Okay. Uh, so Mike, can you go over the, the site plan?
Speaker 7Sure. I'm going to start with a, um, exhibit, um, I'll refer to this as a one. Was
Speaker 1This part of the submitted set?
Speaker 7It was submitted? Um, it was not part of the submitted set of, but it was submitted prior to the hearing.
Speaker 1Uh, why don't we mark this as a one with today's date,
Speaker 7Just to be clear. Sure. And I'll, I'll give you some information on, on this plan. Um, so we'll refer to this as a one existing conditions, aerial map. This, uh, this plan is dated June 18th, 2021. It's at a scale of one inch equals to 60 feet for orientation purposes. North is to the top of the page. You it to the right Southwest to the bottom of the west is to the left. This is an aerial map dated September 21st, 2020 with the subject properties outlined in red, the subject properties are lots 27.02 and 31.01, a block 24 0 6 that make up the Ridgedale gardens apartment complex, which is outlined in red. The project proposes improvements that are only on lot 27.02 to the west, which is this larger parcel. This 10.5 acre tract is located in the RM multi-family residential zone district. The surrounding properties consist of a school to the north, within the ER zone, an apartment complex to the east within the RM zone and industrial properties to the south and west within the LIC zone.
Speaker 7The property has front to John north Randolph, Phil road from the Northwest to the Northeast old new Brunswick road to the Southeast, the railroad to the south in old north Randolph hill road to the west. Although the property has multiple furnitures, the only access points to the site are from north Randall, Phil road to the Northeast and Northwest old new Brunswick road to the Southeast is a public roadway, but there's no access to the site. And finally old north Randolph, the road to the west is an unimproved street and there's no access to the site. So just to focus in on that a little more, I don't know if my cursor shows up on everyone's screen, but this is the property line that's in question. And the, um, um, amended, the improvements are proposed between old north Reno fel road and this last row of apartment buildings to the west of the site.
Speaker 7And as you can see from this Ariel there's real public roadway, it's essentially as Mr Skolnick mentioned a paper street. So to review the proposed improvements in closer detail, I'm going to flip to my next plan, which I'll refer to this as a two exhibit, a two entitled site plan rendering dated June 18th, 2020 at a scale of one inch equals 30 feet. The proposal permits are rendered in color and overlayed on the same aerial map. The view has been twisted and the new orientation is as follows north is to the right east-west to the bottom south is to the left and west is to the top. So again, we're working between the areas of the existing buildings and old north Randolph Villa road, uh, which again, just flipping back to <inaudible> to orientate everyone correctly, uh, was, was this area in here. So we, we rotated the view just to show the proposed improvements better.
Speaker 7The project proposes the following improvements. Um, a portion of the existing Northern building is going to be that is currently used for storage will be converted to a fitness room. And that's shown by this black line here, if you follow my cursor, a small addition to the Southern building is proposed, which is shown by this brown area, uh, which has brought a, a storage area, which is essentially relocating the other storage area. Uh, in this building here, that's being converted to a fitness room. The addition is proposed 64.3 feet from the front property line of old north Randolph hill road, where 75 feet is required, therefore variances being requested. So again, that dimension is from this corner of the, of the building, which is the addition for the storage room to the, to the property line of old north Randolph, the road, the project results in a slight increase in building coverage, which is in compliance with the 20% maximum requirement where 17.6% is proposed. The project also proposes an outdoor grill area shaded in tan, which is where my cursor is moving right now, a tot lot shaded in green and a dog run also shaded in green, which are all located to the west of the existing buildings, uh, between the existing apartment buildings and old north Randolph, the road, the grill area, and the top lot are located 25 feet from the property line. And the dog run is located 12 feet from the property line.
Speaker 7These features are considered accessory structures, which require a hundred foot front yard setback from old north and off the road. Therefore three variances are being requested. One for each structure. In addition, a five foot high chain link fence is proposed around the dog run where no fence within the front yard setback line shall exceed four in height, therefore verus has been requested. And as mentioned previously, the fence site is proposed is provided for safety purposes. And this is a standard for the property owners dog runs that they have on other sites. The project results in a very minor increase in an impervious coverage of only 0.3%. Over the 10.5 acre property lighting is proposed to protect public safety for the walkways that these new spaces and, uh, next there's a, there's no change in the number of parking spaces provided. There is a, um, um, existing handicapped space that is located, uh, to the, to the Southwest of this existing building here.
Speaker 7And we're simply just making the handicapped space up to code by providing the necessary, uh, striping and curb ramp. And this access point provides for ADA access to the, um, amenity spaces. So in, in summer, we are requesting five C bulk variances that are all related to the front yard setback of old north rain off of road. Both the C1 and C2 criteria can be applied to our request for variance relief, the property line of old north Randolph field road, as you can see from the aerial mapping is an unimproved street. That technically is a front property line, but serves more as a side property line to the neighboring, uh, property, since there's no real public roadway. This unique condition creates a hardship by enforcing the area to the front yard setback requirements, therefore satisfying the positive criteria for the C1 variances for the C2 criteria.
Speaker 7The property is being greatly enhanced by these improvements to benefit the residents of the apartment complex and a results to know, um, um, uh, detriment to, to the project next for the negative criteria we investigated the surrounding properties. There is no detriment to the property, to the west based on its current use in that there is existing landscaping and buffering, uh, between the two properties. One other thing to note this area between the apartment buildings and adjacent property is currently open space, which provides an area for the people of the apartment complex to use. And we're simply just making it a more formal, um, space that meets current lifestyle trends by providing the dog run, uh, tot lot and, uh, grill area based on these reasons is my opinion that the variance can be granted with that substantial, uh, detriment to the public good, and that it will not substantially impact the intended purpose of the master plan and zoning ordinance.
Speaker 7Um, we have received a, uh, township comment letter. I'm referring to the memorandum from, uh, division of, uh, engineering and planning prepared by Mr. Henry hinter Stein stated June 30th, 2021. I'm just going to hit on a couple of the key comments that required some testimony. Um, comment, number two, we would just like to note, um, within this comment, they asked that the FA at the fence for the dog run, um, will be plaque. The owner would like the flexibility for it to be, um, either black or green, uh, green would potentially be an option if we would like it to play it with landscaping, uh, comment number six, we will provide the drainage calculations for the proposed storm water system, uh, for the project site only. And a number seven as mentioned in testimony, we're not adding a new handicap space, we're just bringing the existing one up to current standards and it does provide for, uh, access to these new spaces we're proposing and comment.
Speaker 7Number eight, we, um, agree to provide the, uh, evergreen trees to provide buffering from north Reno road. And I believe the intention was to, to provide buffering, um, in this area here to, uh, buffer the public roadway of north Randolph road. So we will comply with that comment and a number nine. Um, the, uh, the ownership team has, uh, um, reviewed the, the dead trees within the project site. And we will be, uh, replacing up to six trees, uh, for comment number nine. And lastly, comment number 10 was regarding outside agency approval. We already actually, um, received Middlesex county, um, approval per their letter dated April 20th, uh, 2021. Um, that concludes my testimony. I will turn it back over to, um, uh, uh, Mr. Rick Skolnik
Speaker 1And I'll turn it back over to the chairman. We have the architect here, got the client as well on the line chairman, but that's what we have. Okay,
Speaker 8Mr. Chairman, if I could just, I, I discussed this with Mr. Roth earlier today and, uh, he's basically confirmed our conclusions. I did have a report for some reason or other the gremlins. Got it. Uh, the other is four items in the report. Three of them have been addressed for the testimony. The last item is the elevation
Speaker 1You'd have to Mr. Rother, Mr. Skolnick, is that acceptable to your client to include the windows.
Speaker 7So to touch upon that, um, we'll start with the fitness room, which is, which is this area here, um, w uh, shown by the, by the plaque line where my cursor is. So for that, for that use in that building, um, it will consist of a, have a storefront door, which is, which is essentially a large window and a door, uh, which is at the front face. Um, there's no windows at the side and in the back, there's two, two smaller windows. Um, and then for the, um, addition for the garage, which is to the south of the site, this brown area, uh, we simply just have the, the front door and there's no, uh, windows at the front side, or right.
Speaker 8I refer to small windows in the gym area,
Speaker 7Right. Those two small windows are, are being, um, are part of the plan and are at the backside of that fitness room, that tech
Speaker 8Okay, fine. So we agree. Okay.
Speaker 1Okay. Thank you. Any other members of the board have any questions? Yeah. Steve wise. Sure. Steve good for the section, the base section, we have grills in the receptor garbage receptacle. Um, Mr. Chadwick, are there any issues with fire concerns? There's no, I don't see an adequate way to get a fire truck or an engine in there. If there is an issue, when there's lots of, uh, fuel to burn,
Speaker 8You may want them to put something underneath you mean non-flammable, uh, base under the grills. Um, beyond that, I have no suggestions.
Speaker 1A lot of our fire calls that people discard their Coles thinking they're out and they put them into a receptacle and some point evening receptacle catches fired nights. And it, my concern would be, be a safety issue. There is, there is no way I don't see, I don't see in this picture, I'm looking for hydrants. I don't see them.
Speaker 8Maybe, maybe, maybe require then, you know, uh, some sort of metal concrete receptacle for, uh, ashes that would make some sense that I would think it would be used.
Speaker 1Well, let's go past the Mr. Gore pyramid. Uh, my client's indicated it's going to be natural gas grills, not Coles. So would, would that be reasonable to address that concern? I don't think we'll have, we'd have a problem with some bins or containers, but there've been indicated that it's, it's going to be natural gas. That, that Olivia is a big portion.
Speaker 3Mr. Weissman, is that okay? Okay. Any other members of the board hearing none, I'm going to open it to the public portion. Anyone in the public portion of any comments or questions about this application? Sparkly, muted, Lord Mr. Chairman. Okay. I'm hearing now. I'm gonna close the public portion. Uh, I didn't make a motion to approve this application. Hold the roll, Mr. Zimmerman.
Speaker 2Yes. Mr. <inaudible>. Yes. Mr. Weissman. Yes. Mr. Reggio.
Speaker 3Yes.
Speaker 2Mr. Blount. Yes. Mr. Patel.
Speaker 3Yes. Yes.
Speaker 1Mr. Sherman memorialize this at our meeting in August. Thank you so much. We appreciate it. We were concerned. We weren't going to get hurt tonight. We were six on the agenda after a use variance, there was no way, no way possible that we would not finish the other application and make it onto this agenda. So there you go. For prognosticating. We're glad
Speaker 3To accommodate even a broken clock is right. Twice a day.
Speaker 1We appreciate your time board members. Thank you so much. August 12th, Jim. Yes, that's the date. Okay. Thank you so much. You're projected.
Speaker 3Let's move on to item number 1121 days. Does he be there's 21 V Muhammad rod one.
Speaker 9Ah, yes. Good evening. My name's John Sullivan. I'm an attorney with the offices of best stolen Sullivan representing the applicant.
Speaker 1Good evening, Mr. Sullivan, please proceed.
Speaker 9Thank you. Uh, Mohammed rod, Juan is the applicant. He's the owner of the property located at 28. Curtis AV. Uh, the site is fully improved with the one and a half story. Two family dwelling, a garage in some related site improvements. It is located in the, our 7.5 zone district, which does allow single family homes as a principle permitted use, but it does not permit two family dwellings. So the application before you this evening is for the issuance of a certificate non-conformity pursuant to N JSA 40 colon 55 D desk 68. And in particular, I'm asking three certificate of non-conformity, uh, for a two family dwelling. Along with the application, we have submitted, uh, several documents, including municipal tax records, the property deed site photographs, uh, smoke detector, carbon monoxide detector certificates for each unit, a construction permit survey, a set of floor plans and the zoning permit denial. Uh, the only I have this evening is Mr. Radwan and I saw him earlier. And hopefully he is, uh, yes, there he is. Mr. Rad won
Speaker 10To ride one. Can you raise your right hand? Yes, sir. Do you swear the testimony you're about to give should be the truth? Yes, sir. Your name and address please? Mohammed Kara Dwan address 28 court is avenue <inaudible>. Thank you. Thank you,
Speaker 9Mr. Radwan. Uh, you are the owner of the property located at 28 Curtis avenue? Yes, sir. And how long have you owned it?
Speaker 10Harvey.
Speaker 9Okay. And you bought that from a, uh, a bank that had foreclosed on the property, correct? Yes. Correct. And prior to buying it, um, how was the property marketed? Okay. And there were multiple listing and things like that indicating that it was being marketed as a two family? Yes, sir. And did you visit the site before you purchased it? Yes, I did. And, uh, based on your observations, did it appear to be a two family or a single family or something other than that, And prior to closing, you did apply for and receive a smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector certificate for each unit? Yes. And based on all of that, did you believe that you were buying a two family home? Yes. How did it come about that you, uh, that you learned that the, uh, township was indicating it was not a two family and resulting in you bringing this application?
Speaker 10Is that what supplies for me? Because when I bought the post to family and that family to entrance and front to back boots, uh, two kitchens to, uh, <inaudible>, uh, two boilers, everything goes to
Speaker 9Okay. And you learned of that because you applied for a construction permit and the zoning officer issued the zoning permit denial. Yes. Now you submitted a survey, um, and that survey is dated October 20th, 2017, and that's accurate and shows the, uh, condition of the property as it was in 2017, as well as now. And that shows the house, the driveway and a garage, and they're all still there. Okay. And what is the, uh, what is the total number of, um, of parking space is available on the site? Uh,
Speaker 10At least six, six cars.
Speaker 9And you also submitted a set of floor plans that you prepared, correct? Yes. Correct. And that shows to two separate, uh, a single or two separate units. Is that correct? Correct. Yes. And is this a side by side duplex type of setup or is it a first floor? Second floor type of setup?
Speaker 10The side by side. Okay.
Speaker 9And could you briefly, I know you mentioned it before. Could you just briefly mention, um, the rooms that each unit has
Speaker 10As a unit, a unit, a has three bedrooms and a kitchen and two bedrooms and the living room and unit B have one bedroom living room and kitchen and the best.
Speaker 9Okay. And you sent some site photographs along with this application and in those photographs, um, the purpose of those was number one to show that each unit had its own separate front and rear entrance. Is that correct? Correct? Yes. And, um, it also indicates each unit has its own separate mailboxes. Yes. And then the separate rooms that you just mentioned? Yes. I want to talk a little bit about the utilities. Um, does each unit have a separate hot water heater, furnace and air conditioning, or are they shared utilities
Speaker 10And Sybil electric meter also.
Speaker 9Okay. And do they have separate, uh, gas meters as well?
Speaker 10No, it's only one gas meter because it posts three gas meters. The township forces me to remove two of them to allow me to get the guests to the house.
Speaker 9Okay. And what about water and sewer? Are they a shared in common or are they separate?
Speaker 10<inaudible> I'm not sure about this.
Speaker 9Okay. And you also submitted the property tax records in connection with the property, correct?
Speaker 10Yeah. To, to family for the tax? Yes. I be for two families.
Speaker 9Okay. And those records show that the, uh, that the home was constructed in 1914, is that correct? Yes. And when it talks about style, it mentions a cultural multifamily. Yes. And in terms of number of units, it mentions a two, correct. All right. Now you, um, you perform some renovations to the property, is that correct? And in connection with that, you did obtain permits and one permit in particular, which we submitted a number 2018 2 0 2 6. Uh, that indicated that that was, uh, limited to replacing the gas piping and unit a correct?
Speaker 10Yes. Correct.
Speaker 9Uh, so what is your, what is your background? Are you, um, are you in construction or, um, have you bought and sold properties before and fixed them up?
Speaker 10Yes, I did buy a lot of properties and fix them up. Yes. Okay.
Speaker 9And based on that experience, uh, the construction of this home, did it appear to you that it was originally built as a two family or was it converted at some point from a single family to a two family? Now we received, uh, the township reports and you've had a chance to review those. Yes. And the first one was from the director of public works, which didn't have a comment. The second one was from Mr. Chadwick, which is a planning report. So I'm not going to ask you to address that. And then the third one was from Mr. <inaudible> and he had, uh, made a couple of recommendations. First was to revise the floor plan to label the rooms. Second was to provide an architect certification that the building has appropriate unit separation per building codes. And the third one was to pave the driveway. Are you willing and able to comply with each of those conditions?
Speaker 9That is all I have for Mr. Revlon, anyone on the board have any comments or you're done with the Sullivan? Is that your, um, if I could just sum up briefly, um, please I take that opportunity. Okay. So the municipal land use law, particularly section 40, colon 55 D dash 68, uh, does permit the board to issue a certificate of non-conformity, um, for this property. And in fact, any property, uh, a non-conforming use is one which was lawful prior to the adoption revision or amendment of the zoning ordinance, but which fails to conform to the, uh, current zoning ordinance as a result of such adoption revision or amendment in a case like this, where the buildings were constructed, uh, prior to the adoption of the zoning ordinance, we do rely on records and other available information to help make the determination as to whether we, uh, we have proved our claim for a certificate of non-conformity, um, case law shows us that we must show you more than a mere intention, um, that a non-conforming use was established.
Speaker 9And I think we've been able to do that here through the tax records. Um, the construction records, I think they're all relevant in making this determination. Of course not every record we'd love to see is available, and that happens in these types of cases due to the passage of time. But we do know a few things, and that was that this was constructed in 1914. Uh, back then the zoning ordinance had not yet been adopted. The tax records do show it as a two family fire prevention in the construction department, um, by issuing, uh, certificates or permits for each separate unit have recognized it as a two family, uh, the floor plans in site photographs, and the survey that we've, uh, submitted all show that this is a duplex style, two family dwelling, and the survey shows us that there is adequate parking for a two family use. Um, I believe all of this leads to the conclusion, uh, that it's more likely than not that this was in fact, the two family dwelling, um, and that it was built that way. And it's been used that way ever since. So we would ask you to consider issuing a certificate of nonconformity for this property.
Speaker 3Thank you, Mr. Salt. Thank you. Um, John Chadwick on the hill, John, you have any questions or comments?
Speaker 8Nah, you know it, I tried to go back through the census data that we've heard presented at a couple of cases, and I think they must've changed the address cause you can't find anything for the 1940 census, but I've been to the property and uh, I have to, uh, agree with Mr. Sullivan's comments.
Speaker 3Thank you, John. Appreciate it. And the other members have any questions for this application hearing none. I'm going to open it to the public public portions. Open. Any comments or questions Ms. Buckley? No, sir. Okay. Public portions closed. I'd make a motion to approve the application.
Speaker 2Mr. Zimmerman, Mr. Tillery. Yes. Mr. Weissman. Mr. Reggio, Mr. Blount, We can do it with the button. Come on, CalFresh.
Speaker 3Thanks for calling in. Yeah.
Speaker 2Thank you, chairman K hill was a yes. Yes. Okay. Thank you,
Speaker 1Mr. Sullivan, we will, uh, memorialize this at our August meeting and send a copy to you.
Speaker 9Thank you very much. Have a good night, everybody.
Speaker 3Let's move on to item. Number 12. Adoption of resolutions from the regular meeting of June 24th, 2021.
Speaker 1The solution is Rolanda Johnson. This application was approved Mr. Zimmerman. Yes. Mr. Weissman, Mr. Reggio min Rondo
Speaker 3Thumbs up for a yes to
Speaker 1The second. Uh, resolution is Angela Gomez. Mr. Zimmerman? Yes. Mr. Weissman. Yes. Mr. Reggio? Yes. With the Patel. Yes. You commit a Rondo. Jeremy K
Speaker 3Yes.
Speaker 1Third resolution Carrie and Matt Ella gear. Uh, Mr. Zimmerman. Yes. Mr. Weissman. I am saying thank you, Mr. Oh, Reggio? Yes. Mr. Patel. Yes. Rondo. Yes. Jeremy Cahill. Yes. Next resolution is sole ops LLC. 3 71 hose lane. Mr. Zimmerman. Yes. Mr. Weissman? Yes. Mr. Reggio? Yes. Tell yes. Rondo. Yes. Jeremy Cahill. Yes. The last resolution is sole ops LLC. 3 77 hose lane. Mr. Zimmerman? Yes. Mr. Weissman? Yes. Mr. Reggio? Yes. Mr. Patel Rondo? Yes. Jeremy Cahill. Yes. Those are all the resolutions I have.
Speaker 3Okay. I have number 13 at the option of minutes from the regular meeting of June 24th, 2021. All in favor.
Speaker 1Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.
Speaker 3I don't remember. 14th of 14 brother a gentleman. I make a motion to adjourn.
Speaker 1Ah,
Speaker 3Once again, everyone. Thank you for your volunteer work. Okay, good. Have a safe couple of weeks. We see.
Speaker 8And I apologize for my lack of secretarial,
Speaker 3John. No problem at all, sir. Better, late than never have a good night. Everyone.
Speaker 8You're welcome. Bye-bye.