Transcript for Piscataway Zoning meeting on July 25 2024

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Jul 25 2024 · Zoning
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Meeting Sections
  • 00:00:02 — Meeting Opening and Roll Call
  • 00:00:54 — Agenda and Adjustments
  • 00:01:10 — 24-ZB-30/31: Nor Academy – Use Variance and Site Plan 24-ZB-30/31
  • 01:02:34 — Adjournment
Meeting Opening and Roll Call AI  00:00:02 – 00:00:54
Board of Adjustment meeting called to order with proper notice confirmation. Full roll call taken with all members present: Weisman, Tillery, Patel, Regio, Bla, Mitterando, and Chairman Cahill. Pledge of Allegiance recited.
Speaker 0Morning Board of Adjustment meeting will please come to order. Adequate notice of this meeting was provided in the following ways. Notice published in the Coer News notice posted on the bulletin board of the municipal building notice made available to the township clerk notice sent to the Coer News and the star ledger. Will the clerk please call the roll?
Speaker 1Mr. Weisman? Here. Mr. Tillery? Here. Mr. Patel? Here. Mr. Regio. Mr. Bla. Here. Mr. Mitterando here and Chairman Cahill. Here
Speaker 0Will Thateveryone please stand for S Allegiance, United, United States
Speaker 2And to the republic, which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Agenda and Adjustments AI  00:00:54 – 00:01:10
Chairman confirms no changes to the agenda. Board proceeds to item number 5.
Speaker 0I assume there were no changes to the agenda tonight, Mr. Kinneally. There are none. Okay, let's move on to item number 5 24 dash ZB dash 30 slash 31 VA Nor Academy.
24-ZB-30/31: Nor Academy – Use Variance and Site Plan 24-ZB-30/31 AI  00:01:10 – 01:02:34
Ann Nor Academy seeks to relocate its K–4 religious academy from the Middlesex County Muslim Center to 399 Hose Lane (Block 6003, Lot 1.02). Application includes use variance (schools not permitted in BP1 zone), parking variance (264 spaces year one, 228 year two proposed vs. 331 required), and minor existing side yard setback variance. Applicant proposes phased improvements: year one includes parking reconfiguration, handicap spaces, concrete walks, signage, and EV charging; year two adds drop-off lane and additional EV stations. Four expert witnesses testified: Chael Malik (Academy board officer) confirmed 150–170 K–4 students, 20 faculty, drop-off/pickup hours 7:30–8:00 AM and 3:15–3:45 PM, no full-size buses, and adequate parking; Donna Bullock (PE) detailed site improvements and phased construction; John Ray (traffic engineer) presented traffic study showing level-of-service C or better, with 145 surplus parking spaces after dedicated allocations; Kendra Lely (planner) argued inherently beneficial use with no detrimental impacts. Applicant agreed to extensive conditions including landscaping per staff discretion, 8 active EV chargers (4 by November 2024, 4 by school year two), potential full parking lot resurfacing if staff determines necessary, removal of rear fencing and debris, PVC conduit installation by spring 2025, and bonding for deferred work at 125% cost. Board sought clarification on year-two drop-off procedure (confirmed staff will assist children from vehicles). Vote passed 6–0 (Weisman absent; Tillery, Patel, Blo, Mitterando, Cahill yes).
Speaker 3Thank you Mr. Chairman, members of the board, board professionals. My name is Tim Arch. I'm an attorney licensed in the state of New Jersey, and I'm here representing Ann nor Academy. Ann Nor Academy is a religious academy that is currently operating out of the Middlesex County Muslim Center down the road on hose lane. This is an application involving block 6 0 0 3 lot 1.02, which is 3 99 hose lane. The proposal tonight is we're seeking to utilize an existing vacant portion of the office building at 3 99 hose lane in order to move the and nor Academy, which is a kindergarten through fourth grade religious academy. This proposal is going to include also site improvements to the existing parking field to provide a safe and efficient pickup and drop off area for the children. Because of time constraints related to the upcoming school year, some of the improvements are proposed to be phased between school year one and school year two.
Speaker 3So we'll be discussing when we get to sort of the parking layouts, we'll be discussing two separate parking layouts. One that applies to that can be immediately implemented for year one and another that it, that involves a little bit more infrastructure that's gonna be implemented for year two. In addition, the board should be aware there is a sister application that is pending that hasn't been before the board yet, that is pertaining to a proposed adult daycare use. That's also gonna be proposed on the same site since it's not yet before the board. We're not gonna be going into details on that use yet. However, our parking and traffic analysis does factor in and anticipate coordinating with that proposed future use. So you may hear some testimony about how the users are well suited for one another, how it relates to the parking needs and the circulation, but we anticipate speaking more about that later when that other application comes before you.
Speaker 3But just so you know, we may be mentioning a, a future adult daycare proposed use there and how that coordinates with the Ann nor Academy that's here tonight. So the relief that we're seeking tonight is obviously a, a use variance. The religious school is not permitted within the BP one zone. There's also an existing side yard setback variance where 25 feet is required and 24 and change feet is proposed in existing. I imagine you'll hear about a sentence about that existing variance. And that's pretty much all all we'll need to talk about that. And then the last is a parking variance where 331 spaces are required per calculation of the ordinance. And we are proposing 264 spaces under the year one layout and 228 spaces under the year two layout. That sounds like it's a big deficiency in spaces, but what you're going to hear is if you break down that amongst the uses, the school requires 165 spaces per the ordinance calculation.
Speaker 3You're gonna hear that because it's pickup and drop off and it's K through four that the only people that are gonna be utilizing those spaces from the school are gonna be faculty and you're only gonna have about 25 individuals using it. So for 165 spaces required per ordinance, there's really only gonna be at any given time beyond the pickup and drop off about 25 people using it related to the school. In addition to that, there's an existing office use that's there, that's actually the owner of the property has their office there. And that's a, that's a company called Onyx. And I believe some of the representatives are here tonight if you have any questions for them, that office use is calculated to need 135 spaces under the ordinance. And anecdotally, in speaking to them, they only have about 16 to 20 employees that park at any given time there. So if you look at the, the, the discrepancy be between what is needed under the ordinance and what is needed in real life, you'll see that there is a, a vast amount of parking that is available there that that will actually, that will, that is going unused currently.
Speaker 3Just to talk about the reports quickly, we do have a CME traffic report that's revised through 7 24. We have Mr. Chadwick's report, which was revised through seven 12. We have the fire report, which did indicate approval. That was on seven three. And then we have what I'm gonna call the tri-party staff report because it's signed by three professional staff members and that was dated on 7 24 24. So I do have four witnesses tonight. We'll try to be quick but thorough. We believe that through these witnesses we're gonna be able to hit upon all of, and address all the comments in the report. However, at the close of all that testimony, what I would like to do is be able to double back and address specifically that Tri-party report because that, that's the report that really has most of the conditions requested by the township in it.
Speaker 3And as you'll see in that report, it's, it's anticipated that we're gonna be entering into a developer's agreement to address certain aspects of the conditions in terms of timing and whatnot. And actually the, the township and and us have been in discussions about that already and have, and have actually laid out some specific language. And so I think it'll be helpful for the board to hear what that proposed language from the developer's agreement is gonna be, so that they can take that into consideration when they make their, when they make their ultimate decision. So that's my plan. Unless there's any initial or preliminary questions or anything from me, I think I'm ready to, to proceed. But
Speaker 4Interrupt, think Mr. Arch, there is a report for myself July 23, which was the latest submission that I received on the,
Speaker 5I
Speaker 6Emailed it yesterday.
Speaker 3Yeah, you know what, Mr. Chadwick, that's, that's my mistake. I think I just didn't update my, my revision date for that. I, I do believe I got your revised report, so thank you for that. Anything else, preliminarily,
Speaker 5I see you put on your first witness.
Speaker 3Okay, my first witness is Chael Malik
Speaker 5Is Chael Malik. Present. Unmute yourself, sir.
Speaker 6Yes. Good evening. Good evening.
Speaker 5I need to swear you in. Could you raise your right hand? Do you swear that the testimony you're about to give should be the truth?
Speaker 6Yes.
Speaker 5Thank you. Your name and address, please?
Speaker 6Chael Malick. 60 Timber Hill Drive. Timber Hill is one word that's in Franklin Park, New Jersey. 0 8 8 2 3. Could
Speaker 5You spell your first name please?
Speaker 6S like Sam, HOM like mark, a IL, last name Mallick, M like mark, a LIK.
Speaker 5Thank you.
Speaker 6Welcome.
Speaker 3Okay, so Mr. Mallick, you are a your representative for Ann, nor if you can just tell us what is your position for Ann nor, and tell us a little bit about the academy.
Speaker 6Sure. I'm on the board of directors and specifically I'm one of the officers on the board as a treasurer and under academy has been in existence for about 20 years. We currently operate out of 1000 hose lane in Piscataway, but connected to the MCMC mosque. We have about 450 or so students currently enrolled and in matriculation. And we have a dire need based on recent enrollments and registration to expand. And so we're looking to expand into 3 99 hose lane, which is the subject of today's matter for our kindergarten through fourth grade operations.
Speaker 3Okay. So just to be clear, 'cause you threw out a, a big number there, 400 something that includes the entirety of your, of your matriculating students, is that correct? That's correct, yes. Okay. We're talking specifically at this site about your K through fourth grade, right?
Speaker 6Yes, that would be about 150 to 170 students.
Speaker 3Okay, good. I just didn't want to have the board's heads explode. So in terms of employees that are gonna be on the site, how many faculty and employees are gonna be at that, at that one location?
Speaker 6So we anticipate about 20 teachers and faculty and admin.
Speaker 3Okay. The total
Speaker 620.
Speaker 3And, okay. And my understanding is, is that the idea for a pickup and drop off is that students are driven to the school and are dropped off and then are picked up at a, at a later break. Can you tell us at or at a later time, can you tell us what those anticipated times are or hours of operation for that are?
Speaker 6Sure. The drop off will be between seven 30 to 8:00 AM and pickup will be between three 15 to 3:45 PM
Speaker 3Okay. So in a, so sort of roughly seven to four would be a a, a rough estimate to, to what the operation of the school is at any given,
Speaker 6Correct? Yes.
Speaker 3And during the day, during the school day, do you anticipate having ver any many more than just those, you know, 20 faculty parking in the lot?
Speaker 6No.
Speaker 3Okay.
Speaker 6That's it.
Speaker 3One things that was talked about in, in the reports was, was the, the topic of busing. Do you anticipate utilizing school buses for, for this site?
Speaker 6Likely the smaller bus vans, but not a full size bus.
Speaker 3Okay. So, so sort of small van, something that's more akin to, you know, a small, you know, vehicle, like a, like a normal person.
Speaker 6Oh, almost like an SUV or a minivan? Yes,
Speaker 3Correct. Okay. And if, if there was any larger busing that was proposed in the future, we would be able to provide a, you know, a circulation plan and all that to the, to the township professionals for their assessment. Would that be correct?
Speaker 6That's correct.
Speaker 3Okay. One of the questions that came up in the reports was about deliveries. Can you talk about what sort of deliveries you get on the site and sort of the frequently of the deliveries?
Speaker 6Generally stationary products. So it would be no different than like an Amazon delivery that you would see in your neighborhood development coming through to come by and deliver stationary products, school products.
Speaker 3Okay. So you're not getting 18 wheelers or anything along those lines?
Speaker 6No, not at all. No.
Speaker 3Okay. And if the, if the township staff requires it, would you be willing to arrange it so that any sort of deliveries or drop-offs would be done at the front of the building, which, we'll, we'll actually see when we get to the, the engineering or the civil sets is separate and apart from where those drop-off areas is.
Speaker 6Yeah, that's no problem at all.
Speaker 3Okay. So going back to you're now, you're currently use utilizing MCMC, do you, do you happen to know roughly how many parking spaces are available in the total of MCMC?
Speaker 6Approximately 180.
Speaker 3Okay. So, so actually this site provides overall a much larger parking field than what you're now currently, currently using.
Speaker 6That's correct.
Speaker 3And you're only utilizing a very, very small portion of that, of that overall parking in, in MCMC, correct?
Speaker 6That's correct.
Speaker 3Okay. So based on your experience, based on how much you've been doing it, do you believe that the parking that is being provided at this site is more than adequate for both your needs and the additional tenant's needs at that site?
Speaker 6Well, yes. Well, more than adequate.
Speaker 3Okay. And just to confirm, since this is K through four, you don't anticipate that any of your more gifted fourth grade students will be driving and parking at the site during the school days, correct? You're gonna discourage that?
Speaker 6That's, that's correct.
Speaker 3Okay, good. I have no further direct questions for Mr. Malick. I would turn 'em over to the board.
Speaker 0Anyone on the board have any questions or comments?
Speaker 4I have one question. Is there anything Okay, John, in terms of lunch, how are you handling that?
Speaker 6So the students bring their own lunch, Mr. Chadwick,
Speaker 4So there's no catering?
Speaker 6No.
Speaker 4Okay.
Speaker 0Thank you John. Anyone else on the board?
Speaker 4The last question, is there any kind of medical staff as part of the administration administrative staff?
Speaker 6So as part of the, one of the requirements, and it's part of our floor plan as well, is to have a nurse on site. So yes,
Speaker 4Full time, full-time,
Speaker 6Full time.
Speaker 4Okay. I didn't notice that. Okay.
Speaker 0Did John, okay. Anyone else on the board have any questions or comments?
Speaker 7I had a question, Mr. Chairman. Sure. I was curious if you were planning on doing any special events as a whole school, like a graduation or a talent show, a situation where there'd be unusually high traffic coming to the site outside of that seven to four window? We,
Speaker 6We have not talked about that, but if we were to do that, we can certainly do that on our main campus at 1000 hose lane, we have the facilities there with our gym, which is used for as a multi-purpose type of a room. Most events, graduation events take place over there.
Speaker 0Okay. Thank you. Thank you Jonathan.
Speaker 4I do, I I do have one other question. Sure, go ahead.
Speaker 0In
Speaker 4Terms of recess exercise, is there any provision for that?
Speaker 6As of now, there is not. We, we have in the floor plan proposed a gym for light activities, dodge ball and that sort of thing, but outside of that, there is not,
Speaker 3There's nothing, nothing planned outside of the building currently? Correct?
Speaker 6Correct. Okay.
Speaker 4But there is inside facilities of sorts, there will be a, a room that's a sort of a recreation multipurpose?
Speaker 6Yes. Or is
Speaker 4It gonna be a classroom? Most of the time
Speaker 6It's gonna be a classroom most of the time, but we have provided a gym type of a location for light activity.
Speaker 0Thank you, John.
Speaker 6And, and that's to keep in compliance with any sort of disruptions to other tenants and so on and so forth. So for that reason, I, I emphasized light activity.
Speaker 0Tim, I think you can call your next witness.
Speaker 3Okay. Our next witness is Ms. Donna Bullock, who is our professional engineer.
Speaker 5Is Ms. Bullock present?
Speaker 0Donna, you're muted. It's okay. There you go.
Speaker 8Thank you.
Speaker 5I 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?
Speaker 8Yes. Your
Speaker 5Name and address please?
Speaker 8Donna Bullock. B-U-L-L-O-C-K 1 37 Central Avenue Island Heights.
Speaker 5Thank you.
Speaker 8I I'm a professional engineer and project manager at Morgan Engineering. I have been giving professional testimony in front of planning boards, zoning boards, committees for, for 24 years in front of for site plans subdivisions.
Speaker 0Ms. Pollock? You're fine, you're fine. Oh, thank you. Your s are great. Let's, let's
Speaker 8Proceed. I just babble on. That's okay. Okay. So I'll just, you know, just briefly discuss some of the characteristics of the site. So we know that it's known as 3 99 hose lane block 6 0 0 3 lot 1.02 in Piscataway, Middlesex County. It is located in the PB one zoning district and the site contains 4.8 acres. The fully developed existing site is located on the east side of hose lane, also known as New Jersey State Highway Route 18. There's an existing two story masonry office building, sorry, three story masonry office building associated parking areas with concrete curb, concrete walks, pavers and trash enclosure. And there is a two-way access drive onto hose lane at a controlled intersection, which discharges onto a divided highway for the proposed application. The proposal, as you just heard, was to repurpose the existing building into an elementary school, a NORS Academy, and to accommodate this use the sites parking area and site circulation will need to be upgraded. Improvements include additional handicap spaces, reconfiguration of parking stalls, res striping, existing stalls, and the addition of concrete walks and traffic control striping the existing,
Speaker 3I'm sorry, I I hate to interrupt you. Do you want me to, I can share my screen so I can bring up the, the overall plan. Do, were you intending to do that or, or do you want me to do that?
Speaker 8I, I have not learned how yet. Okay,
Speaker 3I'll
Speaker 8Not a problem. So if you wanna put up sheet two of 11 I that would be great. But I just have a few more brief things before I'm gonna get into the year one plan and the year two plan. Absolutely. Just another comment. Yep. The existing parking count is 187. The proposed number of parking stalls is 77, therefore we have a total parking criteria of 264, where 331 is required as stated by Mr. Arch previously. Therefore, a variance is required for the number of parking stalls. We are short by 67 spaces. And this parking, the, the, the parking criteria for this and improvements doesn't include any expansion to the existing building. And there's no expansion to the existing paved parking area. It's more of a reutilization of the existing paved area. So there's no increase in impervious area. So the intention is to complete this in two phases and we have a site improvement plan year one, which is sheet two of 11 of the site plan set, which is dated 6 13 24 entitled Use variance and preliminary and Final Major Site Plan. So as you can see on this plan, if we, if we talk about all the things that we're improving, if you go up to the top portion, keep going. So right here, so you, you, you see that we have the addition of eight handicapped parking stalls, handicapped striping, a handicapped ramp that is going to give access onto the sidewalk.
Speaker 8So we have have that going on. And right to the top of that, we're adding a four foot wide concrete walk adjacent to the area that's entitled Reserved for drop off parking area and signage. Right to the right of that, we have three existing standard parking stalls that we will be converting into three van accessible stalls, oversized vehicle as, as mentioned prior, not buses, but more of like a, like a SUV type vehicle. We are also, if we scroll down a little bit, we're gonna be removing the concrete around the generator. We are gonna be providing hair prints, hair pin striping for the new 77 parking spots that are currently not striped on site. We'll be providing traffic control striping, such as the, the flow arrows for control. And we also not shown on the plan, but we will provide four EV parking spaces with this phase.
Speaker 8We will patch and repair the entire parking area. We will implement supplemental plantings and landscaping as required. We will remove a rear fence located at the rear of the site. That would be in the way of parking, circulation and parking to those stalls. We'll remove that fence and the debris and we will keep the trash enclosure there. And we will also add additional lighting at the school's entrances to maintain the 0.5 foot candles as required by the ordinance. So that's my summary of the, the phase year one improvements. The next sheet, which is sheet six of 11.
Speaker 8So basically right here is, is pretty much the, the improvements on, on this side. So we'll be constructing a drop off lane and a bypass lane adjacent to adjacent and parallel to the existing building. We'll provide flush curb and ballards. We also construct a, a curb upgrade island and this would would require the removal of 18 of the parent parking spaces. In addition to this, at this time, we will add four additional EV parking spaces. We will mill and resurface the entire parking area. We will strife the area that's milled and resurfaced. We will add trees and landscaping within new Curbed islands with coordination with, with the landscape architect. We will complete all the landscaping on the site and we will add a PVC fiber optic conduit. So in, basically that's the phase one and phase two that, you know, to deal with the school year as stated before. So there won't be an interruption so that the, the phases, the construction can't be done in a, in a, in a nice calm manner. So it won't just disrupt the school year and everything will get done and just come out with a really nice, a nice sight.
Speaker 3Thank you Donna, one thing I just wanna point out, as you were saying, the, the, this new drop off lane bypass lane that is gonna result in a reduction of the, the parking spaces. I just wanna make sure that the board is clear that this is, that this is specifically designed and requested by the township professionals for that phase two. And so I just wanna make sure that they're aware of that, that this was a design that they had, that they had wanted us to put in, which results in a slightly re a slight reduction of that, of that parking count.
Speaker 8Yes,
Speaker 3I believe that is all the direct testimony that I have for Ms. Bullock and I will stop sharing or continue sharing if you want me to.
Speaker 0Any other board members have any questions or comments? Jonathan?
Speaker 4I I have one quick, quick question. Sure, sir. The landscaping plan showed additional landscaping around the generator, I assume that still stays.
Speaker 8Yes. This, this,
Speaker 4The island, the island is created with the year two circulation plan. Is that intended to be landscape?
Speaker 8Yes, it is.
Speaker 3One thing I do want to clarify about the landscaping plan, Mr. Chadwick, and we'll, we'll, when I sort of go back around at the end of all the testimony is that we will be agreeing to, to landscaping at the discretion of the staff and, and in terms of the timing and, and you know, adding in additional landscaping islands. And so all that will be discussed at the end. So hopefully I'll be able to come back around to that and explain, but it's gonna be up to the staff to there, there may be modifications to the landscaping plan based on the township staff's recommendations.
Speaker 4There was a lot of information provided in the testimony. Is that part of the developer's agreement in terms of repaving Correct. Patching first, repaving second re striping some of it first, all of it second. Is that part of the developer's agreement?
Speaker 3Correct. It is. And, and as I said at the end of testimony, I'm gonna go and, and highlight all of the specifics that have already been discussed about that developer's agreement with the township. So you, you may get additional clarity at that point.
Speaker 4Fine.
Speaker 8And I also did try, as I was speaking through the phases, address items in the letter so that as we go back through those items at the end, they, they would've been addressed in my testimony. I'll be glad to, to talk about them again at the end. Okay. Thank you.
Speaker 4Jonathan, you have your hand raised?
Speaker 9I, i, I have my hand raised. Yes. Mr. Chairman, on this, on this sheet, if, could you pan up to the top of this particular sheet please? So that's good enough. So on the, on the year one plan, there was a note that said remove the striping for the parking spaces here. And, and then now in year two, it looks like it's just like elongated parking spaces. Are you intending to like fully retrip that parking area as regular parking spaces or what are you, whatcha planning to do exactly in that area?
Speaker 3Oh,
Speaker 8I'm sorry. Sorry. The intention was to remove the six standard parking stalls that were shown and stripe it as shown on this plan now so that the, the, the, the, the, the buses or, or the small vehicles can park there that are larger than a regular spot. It's, it's, they're intended to be left just as shown.
Speaker 3And one of the things that I will add to that is that we will be agreeing to retrip as necessary retrip and sage as necessary in the discretion of the township staff as they, as they review this. So again, we're, we're open to any, any, you know, res striping, a reconfiguration of striping that the township staff requires us to do.
Speaker 4Is there any busing to the existing school?
Speaker 3There is, is there any existing busing?
Speaker 4Yes,
Speaker 3I would, I would've to ask Mr. Malick again if yes, you're asking to the MCMC school?
Speaker 4Yes. Is there busing?
Speaker 6Yes, there is one full bus that comes with students that are based in Piscataway. None of the small ones? Not to my recollection. Every time I've dropped off my kids, I don't recall seeing any of the smaller ones.
Speaker 0Mr. Malick, while you're available, when does the school year end?
Speaker 6We coincide our school year calendar with the public school. Okay, well then, so holidays and all of that, so yeah. So there'll
Speaker 0Be no, no summer classes then?
Speaker 6No, not not on this new proposed campus, no. Got
Speaker 0Any other members of the board have any questions or comments?
Speaker 7I had one, yeah.
Speaker 0Johnson,
Speaker 7My question was concerning site lighting, one of my comments was, excuse me, insufficient lighting at the entrance for the year one. I was wondering if you could speak to that condition. We,
Speaker 3I believe it was testified to, but we will agree. One thing I will point out is all the operat, all the hours operation are during the daylight, so it may not be necessary, but we will upgrade to, to the appropriate foot candles as indicated on the report.
Speaker 7Okay, thank you.
Speaker 0Thank you John. I don't think anybody else you can go on with your next expert.
Speaker 3Okay. The next person to testify will be Mr. John Ray. He's our traffic expert.
Speaker 5Mr. Ray, are you present?
Speaker 10Yes, I am.
Speaker 5Could you raise your right hand? Do you swear that the testimony you're about to give should be the truth?
Speaker 10I do. Your
Speaker 5Name and address please.
Speaker 10John Ray, REA professional engineer with McDonough and Ray Associates. 1431 Lakewood Road, Manasqua, New Jersey.
Speaker 5And I believe Mr. Ray has appeared before this board before as a traffic engineer.
Speaker 0I agree. I have Mr. Mr. Arch, please proceed.
Speaker 3Mr. Ray, please proceed to, sure.
Speaker 10Okay. So what my firm was engaged to do was to prepare a traffic and a parking analysis for the proposed academy. And I I will say upfront there is also a, i, I don't wanna call it a companion application, but there will be an application coming before the board for an adult daycare center, which will occupy the first level of the building with the K through four and nor Academy occupying the second floor of the building. So I just wanted to put that out there because when I did my traffic study, I assumed the worst case scenario, full build out for year two for the and nor elementary school and for the adult daycare center, which will share the building share access, share, kind of share the parking lot, but have their own dedicated parking in an area that will not conflict with the, with the academy's parking.
Speaker 10So we did do a full traffic impact study for full build out for year two, which will include 260 students and for 102 patrons at the adult daycare center. So what we did was, we've been out to the site on numerous occasions to review existing traffic and parking conditions. As you know, there is a large parking lot which serves the office building, which no longer has any tenants and that, that's why we're repurposing the building. We conducted traffic counts at the intersection of Route 18, and I believe the name of the street that we're using to access hose Lane is Lloyd Drive, used to be an office building and on the opposite side of hose lane, it's Erickson Drive. It's a four-way intersection signaled with a pretty new traffic signal with all of the typical amenities you would find with a current or modern traffic signal.
Speaker 10So we conducted those traffic counts in early May of 2024 schools were in session. Rutgers University was in session. We wanted to make sure we got the traffic counts when, you know, Rutgers was generating traffic. So that's when we conducted our traffic counts. We generated traffic for the daycare for the and nor Academy 260 students. And for the adult daycare utilizing instituted transportation engineers data, we projected traffic volumes at the signaled intersection. And again, all of our traffic was assumed to come through the signaled intersection. That's the way access is gonna be provided to the property. That's the way access has been been provided to the property. And so we assumed, again, a worst case scenario, all of that traffic comes through, through that signaled intersection, we projected traffic to a design year of two 2026. That is when year two of the academy will be up and running.
Speaker 10And we'll have the 260 students that the maximum number of students that are projected and when the adult daycare will be up and operating as well. We calculated the level of service for the build and no build condition at the signaled intersection at hoes lane. With a finding that for both the morning and afternoon peak hours for the 2026 design year, we will have level of service c or better conditions at the signaled intersection, meaning that the intersection will operate well within accepted traffic engineering parameters. The second part of the study, if you will, that we did was, was to work with the town's professionals and with Mr. Chen, the town's traffic engineer to provide a two-phase plan for the parking lot. And as Donna Bullock has indicated upfront in her testimony for year one, we will be utilizing a a, a procedure where the parents will have to park in a designated parking space for parents and there were 28 of them for year one and walked the child into the school, sign them in with the same procedure happening in the afternoon where the parent would have to pull into a parking space, go into the building, sign the child out.
Speaker 10This is a procedure that is very typically used by daycare centers. Childcare centers such as the Goddard School, KinderCare, all of the different national daycare centers all operate under the same procedure. So this is not something that is new and is something that the applicant is well aware of that has to be done for the year one operation. And I must add for year one, it is my understanding and somebody from the academy can correct me if I'm wrong, I believe we will be limiting the number of students for year one to be 150 students. And I can tell the board that that is a very typical number as far as a childcare or daycare center. They typically have capacities of 150 to 180 students. So what I'm saying is for year one, we believe as far as the parking and the drop off in pickup procedures, the academy will operate very similarly to a daycare center or a childcare center.
Speaker 10For, for year one, the year two plan has been developed after consulting with township professionals, there was a desire for a, a drop off lane to be constructed. And that's what Donna Bullock testified to as far as the year two plan. So in year two, the drop off lane will be constructed and the, in the, the population increase at the school will go up to two, a maximum of 260 students. And for year two, the drop off lane will be utilized for drop off and pickup with assistance from the academy staff, helping the parents get the children into and out of the car. It's gonna be a K through four operation. So that will be the, the second part of the operation with respect to the amount of parking that's there. I know Mr. Chen, your traffic engineer has summarized the, the, the need for the parking variance in his report.
Speaker 10I've gone through the, the, the plans and, and taken a look at the parking spaces that are going to be dedicated for the and nor academy and for the adult daycare. And I've counted the balance of the parking that will be available and it's 145 additional parking spaces over and above what's dedicated for, for the elementary school and the adult daycare center. And if I'm not mistaken, Mr. Chen and his report has indicated that the, the empty office space that will still be in the building that could be occupied by an office tenant, would require 135 spaces under the Piscataway zoning requirements. So we have 145 spaces left, 1 35 will be required for the balance of the space in the building. So I believe the, the variance for the parking can be granted without having any kind of a negative impact on the parking situation. And I guess that about summarizes it. We will continue to work with the towns professionals and with Mr. Chen to make any, you know, minor adjustments to, to striping signage, things that may be necessary. But I believe we've gotten to a point right now where the plans are pretty much in conformance with the requirements that have been set forth by the towns professionals and by your traffic engineer and that basically summarizes it.
Speaker 0Thank you Mr. Ray. Any other members of the board? I was gonna ask any other questions first. Any other members of the board have any questions or comments for Mr. Ray? Hearing none,
Speaker 4I have one question. John, you mentioned that the staff would come out to on the, the year two plan where you have the parallel drop off area. Yes. Are staff gonna come to the car to get the kids or is it gonna be a different procedure than getting the parents getting out of the car and going into the building?
Speaker 10I I can let Mr. Malik, you know,
Speaker 4The reason I ask that question is yeah, it would seem to me if the staff took the children from the car to the building that the lane provided for drop-offs would be fully adequate.
Speaker 10But I agree and I believe that is the procedure that will be in place. Mr. Melik can hopefully Cahn confirm that we will also maintain the, the parent parking spaces in the event a parent has to bring a child into the building talk with one of the teachers or one of the staff. Right. It'll be the possibility to use the parking spaces as well too. But for the everyday operation of the drop off and pickup, the, the, the drop off lane will be used
Speaker 4Because if you get to 260 students all coming in, in a half hour period, that lane needs to turn over quite quickly.
Speaker 10It does. You're correct, Mr. Chadwick, it needs to keep moving. That's why the staff will have to assist. Correct.
Speaker 0Thank you John. Thank you
Speaker 9One Mr. Chairman.
Speaker 0Sure,
Speaker 9Please. Mr. Ray, I have one question with regard and I I thank you for your testimony. You've answered a lot of my questions with regard to the traffic issues with regard to Route eight. We know that Route 18 is a state highway and is there any, is there any procedural issues do you see going forward with the possible need for access permit or anything, any similar documentation from the state?
Speaker 10Yeah, route 18 is under the jurisdiction of NJ, DOT. And what we have done, Mr. Chen, is we have applied for a letter of no interest. As you know, the DOT has a procedure if you are not making any physical changes to the access to the state highway and you're just changing a use, expanding or changing a use, as long as the new application does not generate 100 additional peak hour traffic movements, you typically qualify for a letter of no interest. We have applied for the letter of no interest. We hope to get that information shortly, but if the DOT for one reason or another disagrees and wants us to get a new permit, we will have to get the new permit. But I do believe we, we qualify for a letter of no interest.
Speaker 9And my other question is it, it, IIII assume that you had a chance to, you received my letter from yesterday. Yesterday D dated July 24. Yes. Is there any, is there anything specific within that letter that you or your professional team feel that would be, you wouldn't be able to comply with?
Speaker 10No, I don't think there, I I think we can comply with whatever, you know, details you will require. We'll we will work with you and your staff. I did wanna discuss the DOT, you know, you, you asked the question and I, I believe we qualify for the letter of no interest. We can justify the parking variance based on what I've testified to. So all of the other items, you know, which basically pertain to a lot of signing and striping for the traffic flow. We will work with your office. We've, we've provided crosswalks from the handicap spaces to the sidewalk in front of the building. Any other small items that we need to do? We, we can com comply.
Speaker 9Thank you Mr. Wright. At this time, Mr. Chairman, I don't have any further questions at this moment.
Speaker 0Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Speaker 3Chairman,
Speaker 0How would you like to proceed?
Speaker 3We have one final witness and that would be our planner. Who is Oop, who is right there? I'm here. Kendra Lely.
Speaker 11Good evening.
Speaker 5Good evening. Could you raise your right hand? Do you swear the testimony you're about to give should be the truth?
Speaker 11Yes.
Speaker 5Your name and address please.
Speaker 11My name is Kendra Lely, L-E-L-I-E. My business address is two East Broad Street, Hopewell, New Jersey.
Speaker 5Thank you.
Speaker 11Thank you. Mr. Chair, would you like me to go through my qualifications
Speaker 0Briefly?
Speaker 11I'm a licensed planner in the state of New Jersey for the past 30 years. My license is in good standing. I have a bachelor's degree in environmental planning and design and a master's degree in, in city regional planning from Rutgers, both from Rutgers University. That's fine.
Speaker 0Kendall, you have me as Hello.
Speaker 11Thank you. Please proceed. Sure. I I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna repeat everybody's testimony with regards to the subject property. I do just wanna mention that the surrounding uses include the high school, which is north and east of the site and office is south and west of the site. Future town center. It includes mixed use, multi-family residential is immediately across the street, route 18, which is a divided state highway. The project does require D one use variance. Schools are not permitted in the B one district. It does permit government buildings and professional offices, banks research activities for business and industrial activities as well. So schools are not specifically permitted, therefore a D one variance use variance is required. We are seeking a parking variance, as was indicated, and a very small existing side yard setback variance, which is really di minimus. It's an existing situation, could be considered a hardship.
Speaker 11And it's really on the, it's on the building that's located basically adjacent to the, to the next door neighbor building, which creates a, a full complex. So I'm gonna move into the use variance testimony. As you all know, for use variance testimony, you, you need to prove the positive criteria and the negative criteria. Mr. Chadwick, in his July 2nd memorandum, which is the first one, he provided schools and, and indicated that schools are considered inherently beneficial. I agree with that, obviously. And that's under the MLUL definition, which was added to the legislature in, in 2009. So inherently beneficial use, just as a reminder, is a use that is considered to be of value to the community because it, it really serves a public, public good and it promotes general welfare. And examples could, could include obviously a school, a hospital childcare center, a group home, and other such facilities.
Speaker 11And under this particular case law that the positive criteria is really assumed to be satisfied with inherently beneficial then that was in the smart SMR versus fair Lawn Board of Adjustment case. And then also most, you know, most of the time we as planners cite the, the, this the SITA case, which really indicates that we aren't really supposed to deal with site suitability as it relates to inherently beneficial. It's kind of assumed that that is is met. So I really wanna kind of talk to what the, the, the, the Zika case lays out for us for proving the, and, and, and for you to agree that this is use variance can be approved. So in the the cica, there's a, there's a, a different, I guess, weighing argument that is, is made. First we identify the public interest at stake, realizing that some uses are more compelling than others.
Speaker 11Second, we look at any detrimental effects that could come from the granting of the variants. Third, we look at any reasonable conditions that could reduce any of the detrimental effects. And then finally, it's a weighing process. You weigh the positive or what we would call the public interest against the negative impacts or effects and determine if the positive truly outweighs the negatives. So briefly, the public interest at stake. I'm gonna go through each of these points. As we know, this is a KK through four education to a community with a focus of religious education. It allows for the lower elementary s school students to begin and build their, their American mu Muslim identity through the teaching of Islamic religion. The school is accredited in New Jersey as well as follows the curriculum based on New Jersey standards and provides an Islamic educational instruction. And, and the mission really is that it, it does that and balances the religious, academic and cultural knowledge and imparts the importance of civic involvement in charitable work.
Speaker 11I think we all understand that the importance of education and life and, and grant of this relief, meaning that the, you know, the public interest at stake certainly will broaden the access to educational resources within this community, but also the surrounding re re region in a meaningful way. Potential negative impacts. I I'm gonna submit to you that there are no detrimental effects with the, the, this particular application as John Ray just testified to traffic, there is no significant impact on traffic and the school will operate with an accepted traffic engineering parameters parking, pa parking is actually more than sufficient. While we're asking for a variance, the actual empirical data or the use of the property shows that there are sufficient number of parking spaces to not only handle the school, the existing office complex, but the proposed future potential adult daycare. So in fact, we have more than enough parking spaces to not only address a full build out of a, of an office space of, of the square footage, even though it's being used to, you know, with, with something less than what the ordinance would require.
Speaker 11But as, as Mr. Ray had just testified, he feels very confident that the, the, the parking spaces are more than sufficient. There will be no, and, and when we talk about negative impacts, we look at nuisance impacts like noise and smell or light. This will not operate out of the ordinary noise, smell light that would be coming from an office building. Actually, we're dealing with little people and these little people actually generate less of an impact than full grown adults. So, you know, I I just mention that, that that is something that we don't, we don't in anticipate creating any additional nuisance aesthetics, we are improving the property, not only from a parking lot standpoint, but also not, you know, not having to increase the, the parking lot size. We're able to save mature trees and green area and, and also really improve it by adding some additional landscaping and remove unsightly existing storage outside the site will operate, as we said, during normal business hours.
Speaker 11So we're, we're not dealing with any light intrusion or, or things that would occur out of the ordinary business hours. So overall, the, you know, the, this location and the site there, there really are no significant impacts. And, and while that's the case, we still have to go through the weighing process. I'm not gonna get into the conditions unless you would like me to. But the third prong of, of the seek a test is what conditions can be placed to mitigate any negative impacts. And while I submitted to you, there's no detrimental effects. The applicant is agreeing to a whole host of, of conditions all the way from providing charging ev charging stations above and beyond the required milling and repaving the entire parking lot res striping providing for the landscaping. And, and there are other items that I believe Mr. Arch will go through as well that we would throw into a developer's agreement.
Speaker 11So on balance, it's my professional opinion that the public interest in this case is a school over overwhelmingly outweighs any potential negative impacts. The board also needs to address again, the weight of the negative impacts if conditions can be imposed. And I would, I would submit to you that at all of the conditions that are, are being imposed, actually not only mitigate any, any potential negative impact, but it truly improve the, the operation of the property as well as improve the aesthetics of the property. So as, as it goes to positive aspects, if far outweigh the negatives, there will be no substantial detriment to the public good or your master plan. I would just submit to you also that your master plan has several goals and objectives that this particular application is, is, is, is ensuring and, and upholding providing continued expansion of on an economic and tax base.
Speaker 11As we all know, the office market has dropped significantly over the last four years. So empty office space, in order to fill that and reuse it is definitely a benefit to the municipality. We're providing an essential service. And that's one of your goals of your master plan as well as providing a, in my opinion, and I hope you would find the same, it's a compatible land use to the surrounding land uses of which one is a high school. This is a low intensity use. We don't, as we, as was indicated, we don't expect a negatively impacting any traffic Cahn congestion. So to conclude on the use variance piece of it, I believe there is, and I would ask for you to believe that there is too a compelling public interest at stake. The use of an existing building as an elementary school for an educational focus on Islamic principles. There are no detrimental impacts that would come from the grant of the variance. There are several conditions that will improve the site and when you weigh the, the public interest against the negative effects, it's my professional opinion that the positive certainly outweighs the negative and it would not be substantial detriment.
Speaker 0Thank you, ma'am.
Speaker 11You're welcome. Do you want me to go through any testimony on the parking variance at this point or would you like it to just be subsumed within the, the use variance?
Speaker 0I I think that we're in a good place right now, to be honest with you. Okay. I think if Mr. Arch would just go rounded up to the holy trinity of the three engineers that sent over the site impact, we can wrap this thing up. Yes,
Speaker 3Absolutely. If there's no questions from the board for Kendra, I I'm ready to, to
Speaker 0Jonathan or John, you the one? No, we're good to go. Let's wrap it up. Thank you Kendra. Okay,
Speaker 3Thank you. So I do just briefly wanna address the, the comments in the Tri tri-party report. Number one, satisfy affordable housing, we absolutely will comply with that. Grading plan needs to be approved by by the engineer. Absolutely. We agree. Application needs to be reviewed by township fire commissioner. It has been and has been approved. We agree with that. Revised plans, we will correct any revisions on the title block. We will agree five is calling for testimony. We believe we provided that. Six is also calling for testimony that I believe we have provided. Seven. Also calling for testimony about buses that I think we provided eight. I believe we provided testimony to that adequately. Nine. It's indicating these parent only parking spaces and they're asking for potential more signage and striped. We will certainly do that per the, per the township professionals. Same with 10. It's indicating just clarification to remove it if it's reserved for the adult daycare from this application submission.
Speaker 3We will certainly do that copy of a cross access easement. I believe we may have already provided that, but if we haven't, we will. And if it needs to be amended, we can do that as well. We 12 is no longer applicable because we've indicated that we're removing that fence so we don't have to talk about sufficiency of the, of the 15.6 feet. 13. We do agree that any additional striping we will agree with. I'm gonna skip 14 for a moment. I'm gonna skip 15 for a moment. I'm gonna skip 16 and 17. 18 is asking is about lighting. I believe we addressed that. 19. We will certainly agree to that. If there's any signage that we are proposing that it will be compliant or else we would have to come back before the board to request any sort of variance. We will provide a detail for pedestrian crossing signage.
Speaker 3We will remove the barbed wire on the generator enclosure. We do agree that all debris located in the rear of the property will be removed. We will agree that the, as we said, the enclosure will be removed and the debris will be removed, but the trash enclosure will stay. And I believe we addressed, we will agree with the PVC piping and the fiber optics and the developer's agreement. So specifically to the ones that I skipped, there is specific language that we had discussed about including into the developer's agreement. So I do wanna just indicate that the CME report does indicate the requirement of 12 make ready EV spaces a review of the applicable statute with, I believe the township attorney reveals that the calculation for the required spaces should really only be applied to newly added parking spaces. And that was part of the clarification and the revision of the state EV statute that came out recently.
Speaker 3Nevertheless, we are agreeing to install a total of eight active charges, not just chargers, not just make ready chargers, four of which will be installed and operational by or before November 15th, 2024. The remaining to be installed and operational by the start of the second school year in 2025. The only other thing that I wanna mention with that, which was also discussed and will be in the developer's agreement, is if there are any delays caused by third parties such as PSEG that for some reason prevent us, even though we are diligently pursuing that, I, I assume that the township will agree if we can show them that we're reusing, pursuing that and some, and a entity like PSEG is causing a delay that they will, you know, work with us to, with that time period. And I'm sure that they will. One of the requests was to mill and pave the entire parking field.
Speaker 3If the township staff in their discretion believes that the, that the entire parking field is in such disrepair that it needs to be milled and repaved, we will agree to do that prior to the second school year. Our only request is that the staff prior to that milling and paving that the professional staff come out and evaluate the existing pavement area because there is a, there is a, a very large difference between the condition of the pavement in the, in the front portion of the parking versus the condition of the pavement in the rear portion of the parking. So ultimately, if the staff in their discretion believes that it all needs to be paved, we will agree to do that. We would just like the opportunity for them to come out prior to milling and paving just so that if there is a chance to recoup some costs or save some costs, we can do that.
Speaker 3And I believe that that is, that that's been agreed to and will be part of the developer's agreement. Yes, it has. We agree to work with the township staff to prepare an acceptable landscape plan and planting schedule to meet the township standards and the discretion of the staff. The landscape plan shall incorporate planting islands at the discretion of township staff coordinated so as to try not to negatively impact parking. Now we anticipate that if we are adding some planting islands, that it may result in a net reduction of parking from what we're showing now. And we just wanna make sure that there's an understanding that if, if the township staff wants us to do that and they, and in their assessment there is not a significant reduction of parking, that we would not have to come back before the board for a minor discrepancy between the number that we are presenting here today and what the township staff ultimately decides on.
Speaker 3It's common that field changes such in this as this can potentially take a take place during post-approval compliance. And so as long as it's not deemed significant, we would like to not have to come back here for something like that. We do agree that the, the staff approved landscaping plan will substantially implemented no later than October 15th. However, with coordinating with the township staff, we would like to agree on certain elements of the full plan being phased in such a way so that full completion is done on or before the start of the second school year. And again, we'll work with your landscape architect and, and the professional staff to accomplish that. We do agree that no outdoor storage or equipment and materials will be allowed. All debris and enclosure fencing in the rear parking area will be removed prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy with the exception of the trash receptacle. We do agree that the PVC fiber optic conduit will be installed by before spring of 2025. And we do agree to bond for all deferred work at 125% with cost estimates for year one and year two, which will be submitted to the engineering department, I believe. With that said, it addresses every possible comment,
Speaker 3But I'll we'll find out about
Speaker 010 seconds. Does any anyone on the board have any questions or comments?
Speaker 4I think the clarification on the kids in the second year, getting from the car to the school building is important.
Speaker 0Yes. Mr. Mallick, the one
Speaker 3He is. Mr. Mallick, if you can just confirm, what we had indicated is in the second year we were gonna have staff outside and present during the drop off to actually escort the children from the car. Is that correct?
Speaker 0Yes. Multiple staff.
Speaker 3Okay.
Speaker 4I don't, I don't know. It has to be a condition, but just a statement of fact within the resolution. Jim, I leave that up to you.
Speaker 0I'll include it. Okay.
Speaker 3I think it depends on how many pages he wants it to be.
Speaker 0I, anyone else? I'm, I'm assuming you're, you're settled Mr. Hart, correct?
Speaker 3Yes. That, that would be it. Unless you want me to
Speaker 0No, no, no. Please. Anything else? Any other members of the board have any questions or comments?
Speaker 9Just one from me, Mr. Chairman? Sure.
Speaker 0Mr. Chairman,
Speaker 9I thank Mr. Arch. I thank you for clarifying the electric vehicle requirement when I was com when I was completing the language, I forgot that it was supposed to be the proposed parking spaces only. So I am in, I am, I am concurrence with the eight parking spaces that you stated as required.
Speaker 3Thank you.
Speaker 0Thank you Mr. Chairman. No other members of the board have any questions? Good. I'm gonna open it to the public. Anyone in the public have any comments or questions about this application?
Adjournment AI  01:02:34 – 01:03:45
Roll call vote confirms approval with detailed resolution to follow. Board discusses favorable reception of 7 PM meeting start time. Chairman thanks attendees, including those participating while on vacation, and adjourns meeting.
Speaker 1No. One chairman.
Speaker 0Okay. Close the public portion and I will make a motion to approve this application with the language discussed. Can I get a second I'll? I'll a second. Thank you. Kalpesh. Call the roll please.
Speaker 1Mr. Weisman. No, we lost him. He had to go. Yeah. Mr. Tillery?
Speaker 0Yes.
Speaker 1There he is. Mr. Patel? Yes. Patel? Yes. Mr. Regio
Speaker 0Here.
Speaker 1Mr. Blo?
Speaker 0Yes.
Speaker 1Mr. Mitterando? Yes. And Chairman Caho? Yes.
Speaker 0Mr. rch, I'll be in touch with you regarding the resolution, which is gonna have to be quite detailed.
Speaker 3Absolutely. I understood. Thank you so much everybody. Just for the record, I'm loving the seven o'clock thing and you should really consider that.
Speaker 0Yeah, it's gonna, me
Speaker 1And Sean discussed that today. Yes, we did.
Speaker 0We did. It's coming around the mountain. I don't care what Clarkin says. We all favor of an adjournment, say aye. Aye. Have a great night guys.
Speaker 1Have a good night everyone. Thanks
Speaker 0For coming on esp, especially you people that are on vacation at Pop 10.
Speaker 1Yes. Appreciate everyone. Thank I
Speaker 0Really appreciate that. Thank you.