Transcript for Piscataway Planning meeting on March 12 2025
Note: Transcripts are generated by rev.ai and may not be fully accurate. Please listen to the recording (below) if you feel any text is inaccurate.
Speaker 0 00:00:00 Is the only change. Speaker 1 00:00:01 Okay. Thank you. Item number seven, can, can I have a motion to pay the duly audited bills? Speaker 2 00:00:12 Madam Chairman, this is Carol Saunders. I make a motion to pay the duly audited bills. Speaker 1 00:00:16 Do I have a second? Speaker 3 00:00:18 Do I Speaker 4 00:00:18 Kinneally? I'll second. Speaker 1 00:00:20 Thank you. Roll call please. Speaker 5 00:00:21 Mayor Wahler? Yes. Ms. Corcoran? Yes. Ms. Saunders? Yes. Reverend Kinneally? Speaker 4 00:00:30 Yes. Speaker 5 00:00:31 Mr. Foster? Speaker 2 00:00:33 Yes. Speaker 5 00:00:34 Mr. Aria? Yes. And Madam Chair? Yes. Speaker 1 00:00:38 Item number eight, adoption of resolutions. Speaker 2 00:00:43 Madam Chairman, I'd like to memorialize the resolution 24 PV dash 8 0 9 V for LRN properties LLC, both variance and minor subdivision. Speaker 1 00:00:55 Do I have a second? I Second. Thank you. Roll call. Speaker 5 00:01:01 Mayor Wahler. Yes. Ms. Corcoran? Yes. Ms. Saunders? Yes. Mr. Aria? Yes. And Madam Chair? Speaker 1 00:01:10 Yes. Item number nine, adoption of the minutes of the February 12th. Speaker 2 00:01:15 Madam Chair, I'd like to adopt the minutes from the regular meeting of February 12th, 2025. Speaker 1 00:01:21 Do I have a second? Speaker 4 00:01:25 I'll second it. Speaker 1 00:01:26 Thank you. Roll call. Speaker 5 00:01:27 Mayor Wahler. Yes. Ms. Cochran? Yes. Ms. Saunders? Speaker 2 00:01:32 Yes. Speaker 5 00:01:34 Alex isn't here. Mr. Aria? Yes. And Madam Chair? Yes. Speaker 1 00:01:39 Item number 10 has been adjourned to April 9th. Item number 11 for discussion ordinance to amend and supplement revised general ordinances of the township. Chapter 21. Speaker 3 00:01:51 Madam Chair, if I may, this is just to add a fee schedule to the existing ordinance. As it stands today, one does not exist. Now we have a permit requirement and with that permit requirement we had to add to schedule. Speaker 1 00:02:04 Okay. Any discussion by the board? No objections. Can we have a motion please to amend Speaker 3 00:02:14 Madam Chair Dawn Corcoran. I'll make that motion. Speaker 1 00:02:17 Can I have a second? Speaker 2 00:02:18 Second. Speaker 1 00:02:19 Roll call please. Speaker 5 00:02:20 Mayor Wahler? Yes. Ms. Corcoran? Yes. Ms. Saunders? Yes. Reverend Kinneally? Speaker 4 00:02:27 Yes. Speaker 5 00:02:28 Mr. Atkins? Speaker 2 00:02:31 Yes. Speaker 5 00:02:32 Yes. Please let the record show Mr. Atkins is on. Thank you. Mr. Foster? Speaker 1 00:02:37 Yes. Speaker 5 00:02:38 Mr. Echeveria? Yes. And Madam Chair? Speaker 1 00:02:42 Yes. Okay. Item number 12. Excuse Speaker 0 00:02:45 Me, Madam Chair. I didn't mean to interrupt, but I had prepared a resolution indicating the board's concurrence with the ordinance amendment to be sent to the council. I believe Ms. Saunders has it. Speaker 1 00:02:58 Okay. Ms. Saunders? Yes. Speaker 2 00:03:02 Okay. Madam Chairman, I'd like to memorialize the ordinance to amend a supplement, the revised journal ordinance for chapter 21 zoning Section eight A for flood damage prevention. Speaker 1 00:03:16 Can I get a second? Yeah. A second. I second it. Thank you. Roll call. Speaker 5 00:03:23 Mayor Wahler. Speaker 1 00:03:25 Yes. Speaker 5 00:03:26 Ms. Corcoran? Yes. Ms. Saunders? Yes. Reverend Kinneally? Yes. Mr. Atkins? Yes. Mr. Foster? Yes. Mr. Eva? Yes. And Madam Chair? Speaker 1 00:03:40 Yes. Alright, cool. Okay. Item number 1224 PB 21 Stag Industrial Holdings. LLC. Appearing tonight is Mr. Michael Floyd. Speaker 6 00:03:54 Good evening Madam Chairwoman for the record. Michael Floyd with the firm of Archer and Grinder appearing on behalf of the applicant Stag Industrial Holdings LLC, which has submitted an application for major site plan approval, bulk variance approval design waivers for property located at 100 New England Avenue and identified as block 4 6 0 1 lot 2.01 on the township's official tax maps. This property is currently improved with an existing 101,846 square foot warehouse light industrial building. The property is located in the LI five light industrial zoning district in which the existing use of the property is permitted and the proposed use of the property is permitted. I would just add up front that we are not proposing to increase the size of the building. We're not proposing to increase the footprint of the building or raise the roof instead. This is a vacant building. Stag is proposing exterior improvements to help market the building and get a high quality tenant into the building as soon as possible. Speaker 6 00:05:00 And those improvements, as you'll hear from our witnesses this evening, involve modifications to the loading docks, additional trailer storage and reconfiguration of existing parking lot areas with me this evening. We do have four witnesses. We have Rob Hawkins on behalf of Stag Industrial. We have Tom Bashar Jr. A licensed professional engineer with Mohawk Land Development Consultants. Tom is the project engineer of record. We have Kim Decken, a registered architect in the state of New Jersey with TK Studio. And last but not least, we have Lance Landgraf Jr. A licensed professional planner with his A ICP designation to put the proofs on the record with respect to the bulk variances and design waivers that are being requested this evening. Madam Chair, I don't know if you'd like to have all the witnesses sworn at once or as they get called up to present their testimony. Speaker 1 00:06:00 We can swear them all at once. Okay. But we need to, you still need to, you still need to qualify those that need to be qualified. Speaker 6 00:06:08 Yes. Understood and agree. Speaker 2 00:06:10 They'd have to state their name for Speaker 1 00:06:12 The record. Speaker 6 00:06:13 Yep. Rob, are you available? Speaker 7 00:06:17 Yes. Speaker 0 00:06:18 Michael pr practically speaking, why don't we do them one at a time as they're called, that way the, that way the minutes will be clearer, I think. Speaker 1 00:06:25 Okay. Un Speaker 6 00:06:26 Understood. And that, that's a good point. So I'd like to call up first Rob Hawkins with Stag Industrial. Rob, are you available to testify? Speaker 7 00:06:35 I am Mike. Thank you. Speaker 2 00:06:36 Okay. Can you please raise your right hand, Mr. Hawkins? Do you swear that the testimony you're about to give would be truth and nothing but the truth? Speaker 7 00:06:43 I do. Speaker 2 00:06:44 Please state and spell your name for the record. Speaker 7 00:06:47 Robert Hawkins. Speaker 2 00:06:50 Thank you. Speaker 6 00:06:53 And seeing that this is Stag's first project in the township, I thought it was important for Rob to talk about stag its history with industrial development and the property in question. So Rob, just to start off, could you describe your position with Stag and your experience with Stag and Industrial development? Speaker 7 00:07:12 Sure. Good evening, Madam Chair and Planning Board members. My name is Rob Hawkins. I'm a Vice President of Asset Management with Stag Industrial. Stag Industrial is a public real estate investment trust. We own 591 buildings across 41 states. We have a portfolio of roughly 116 million square feet. Speaker 6 00:07:33 And Rob, why did stag purchase this property at Piscataway at 100 New England Avenue? Speaker 7 00:07:40 Sure. So we, we target, we we're known as the top 60 markets as tracked by CBRE. The Northern New Jersey market falls within that area, and that's where we invest. Speaker 6 00:07:52 Okay. And the, I stated up front that this building is currently VA vacant. Who was the last tenant in the building? Speaker 7 00:07:59 The last tenant was strato. Speaker 6 00:08:02 And why now are you proposing these site improvements to the, you know, the additional loading docks, trailer storage and reconfiguration of the, the car parking? Speaker 7 00:08:10 Sure. So the building was set up specifically for the use that straddle had in the building. We're trying to provide, you know, additional improvements to the building that we think will appeal to the broader market. Speaker 6 00:08:23 And based upon your experience with stag and stag's experience with its national portfolio and working with your broker, it's, it's your opinion that these proposed improvements will help to market this building to get a high quality tenant in there? That's Speaker 7 00:08:36 Correct. Speaker 6 00:08:37 Thank you, Rob. That's all the questions I had for Rob at this point. I don't know if there's any board members that have questions about stag its portfolio, how it operates, its buildings. Speaker 1 00:08:47 Any members of the board. Do you have any questions of Mr. Of this witness? We do have to open it to the public though. Members of the public, you've heard this testimony of Mr. Hawkins, does anyone in the public wish to ask any questions? This witness? No. Madam Chair closed to the public. You may call your next witness. Speaker 6 00:09:14 Thank you. I'd like to call Tom Beshar Jr. Tom, are you available online and ready to testify? Speaker 8 00:09:21 I am. Speaker 2 00:09:25 Amen. Mr. Beshar, can you please raise your right hand? Do you swear that the testimony about to give we the truth and nothing but the truth? Speaker 8 00:09:32 I do. Speaker 2 00:09:33 Can you please state your name for the record? Speaker 8 00:09:35 Thomas Behar Jr. Speaker 2 00:09:37 Thank you. Speaker 6 00:09:39 And Tom, before you begin, if you could just speak to your education credentials, licenses and experience testifying before boards of New Jersey. Speaker 8 00:09:48 Sure. I am president of Mohawk Land Development Consultants. I graduated from Villanova University in 1993 with a Bachelor of civil engineering. I have over 30, 30 years of experience in cite civil land development engineering. I'm a registered professional engineer in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. And I have testified numerous times as an expert witness in New Jersey before planning boards, zoning boards, joint land use boards, and environmental commissions. Speaker 1 00:10:16 Thank you Tom. He's, he's qualified. Speaker 6 00:10:20 Thank you. And Tom will be sharing his screen this evening and referencing four exhibits. So Tom, if we can start with exhibit A one, which is an aerial photograph of the property in question and the surrounding uses. Speaker 8 00:10:34 Okay. Can everybody see my screen? Yes. Okay. Before I start, I'd just like to say we did receive comments from all of the professionals and we will comply with all of the comments. As detailed in my response letter dated March 7th, 2025, we, we would certainly agree to work with, with the professionals to address any, you know, remaining issues as a condition and of any approval that the board might grant tonight. Speaker 8 00:11:25 Yep. Okay. This first exhibit here, this is directly from the site plan set. This is an aerial exhibit. It's drawing C 0 0 1 0 sheet three of 20. We use a company called Near Map. This picture was taken in February of last year. The blue line represents the property line. It's about 8.14 acres. New England Avenue is a cul-de-sac. It terminates in the lower left corner of the site in this area here. Colonial Drive comes into New England Avenue at about the midpoint of the site in this area right here, Centennial is down off the bottom of the sheet down in this area here you can see the surrounding uses are all industrial in nature. The existing building is, as Mike said, 101,846 square feet. There are, there is a large car parking lot on the southern portion of the site in this area here. There are smaller car parking lots on the southwest corner, the west side of the building and on the north side of the building as well. There are currently three full access driveways into the site, one into this large parking area here, one into the loading area. The loading area is in the lower or the south east corner of the building in this area here. And there's a, a, a driveway on the northern portion of the site to access this parking in front of the, the office appendage, which is this white rectangle in this area here. Speaker 8 00:13:02 There are no stormwater management facilities on site. There is a storm sewer infrastructure that connects into New England Avenue and the site has all public utility connections, water, sewer, gas, electric, and telecommunications. Speaker 6 00:13:20 Thank you. Tom. If we can move to exhibit A two, which is the overall site plan that was submitted with the application. Speaker 8 00:13:27 Yes. Speaker 8 00:13:34 Okay. Again, this is exhibit A two. This is directly from the site plan set. It's drawing C 0 1 0 0 sheet seven of 20. We've rotated the view slightly and zoomed in so it fits nicer on the sheet. North is now pointing to the right and slightly up scale of this drawing is one inch equals 30 feet. The building is the brown shaded area, existing loading docks in the lower southeast corner of the building. We're proposing to eliminate all of the car parking in the southern portion of the site in this area here. We'll be adding six new loading docks to the southwest corner of the building in this area here we will reconfigure this portion of the car parking lot into trailer storage and we will slide this driveway over and widen, widen it to accommodate two-way tractor trailers. This existing driveway will also be widened for the loading court to accommodate two-way tractor trailer movements. Speaker 8 00:14:35 We are also proposing new sidewalk along the entire frontage of the site and a new fiber optic cable for township use. Unfortunately, the, all the street trees along New England Avenue, we're in the way of the new sidewalk and fiber optics. So we are proposing to remove them and replace them with new street trees along the entire frontage. We are replacing all of the curbing between the two drive re reconfigured driveways in this area here. And we're gonna widen this driveway. It's currently 22 feet wide. We're gonna widen it 25 feet to meet township standards and we will replace the curbing along the entire frontage of that portion of the driveway as well. We're slightly reconfiguring the, or not reconfiguring, but res striping and, and reconstructing a portion of this parking lot so that it meets a DA accessibility requirements. We'll have new sidewalk, new curbing, same with the proposed parking along the west side of the building in this area here we'll be res striping that we'll be putting in 11 new electric vehicle parking spaces in this area of the site. Speaker 8 00:15:56 And the total site improvements will include 55 new trailer spaces, 12 total loading docks and 94 car parking spaces. The ordinance requires 104 parking spaces, so we would ask for a variance for the number of car parking spaces. And there are two existing non-conforming variances that we would ask. One is the building setback. The setback requirement is 80 feet and we would ask that the existing building, which is between 79.7 and 79.9 feet, we would ask for that variance. And there's also two existing signs that are located 20 feet from the property line or the right of way line rather. Those two signs, one's in this area over here and then one's just to the left of this driveway. And this area over here variances for those two signs were previously approved. And we would ask that they are reapproved with this application. Stormwater management for the site, just real quick, we are proposing to reduce the overall impervious coverage for the site as well as the vehicular impervious coverage. We are not proposing to train change any of the overall drainage patterns for the site. So we do meet the, the requirements at NJA seven eight. We are reducing all of the runoff for the two year, the 10 year, and the a hundred year storm events coming off of the site. Speaker 6 00:17:40 Thank you. Tom, if we can move on to exhibit A three, which is the landscape plan. Speaker 8 00:17:45 Yes. Speaker 8 00:17:55 Let me know when everybody can see it. We can see it. Okay. This is the landscape plan again, this plan is from the site plan set. This is drawing C 0 5 0 1 sheet 14 of 20, same scale and rotation as the last exhibit. We are, as I mentioned, we're proposing new sidewalk and fiber optic cable within the right of way along the frontage of the site. We are proposing new street trees along New England Avenue to replace the ones that we removed for the sidewalk and fiber optic cable. The, the proposed sidewalk will be porous pavement and that will allow the water to run and infiltrate into the ground and will promote the growth of the street trees. It's not intended at all for stormwater management purposes. Speaker 8 00:18:46 In front of the new trailer parking area, we are proposing a screen of a double row of evergreen trees and between the evergreen trees and the street trees, we're proposing new ornamental trees. The, the existing parking lot is located within the building setback line. The, the front front yard setback, which is an existing condition, it's not permitted under the zoning ordinance. So we would ask for a, a waiver to allow this to remain. It's, I believe it's 32.6 feet. And we would also ask for waivers. We're, we're proposing new ornamental trees between the street trees in the parking lot, but we're not proposing new screening. We also currently don't meet the, the landscape area requirement or the number of deciduous trees required within the parking area based on the, the area of the existing parking spaces. So we would ask for those three waivers for this front parking lot for the interior parking lots. We are also asking for a waiver. We're putting new landscape islands in with shrubs. We're also taking out impervious coverage along the building and providing it's about 13 feet of grass strip between the building and the new concrete sidewalk. We don't meet the deciduous tree requirement for interior parking lots. It's one tree per thousand square feet. So we would ask for a waiver for that requirement and the, the applicant will pay a fee to the township's tree fund in lieu of providing those additional trees. Speaker 8 00:20:40 On the backside of the building, we are replacing some of the existing landscaping just to clean up the back portion of the site. There's gonna be two new ornamental trees and then we're proposing ornamental grasses to separate the loading cord from the trailer parking storage area around the office. Appendage in the building, there's existing landscaping that's become overgrown. We are proposing to remove all of that and replace it with new shrubs and then new landscaping along the frontage of, of the building between the parking lot and the building itself. I think that's it for the landscape plan. Speaker 6 00:21:26 If we can go to your last exhibit A four Tom, the lighting plan. Okay. Speaker 8 00:21:32 Okay. Speaker 8 00:21:41 And again, this is right from the site plan set. This is drawing C 0 6 0 1 sheet 16 of 20. Again, scale and orientation is the same as the last exhibit. Basically we're gonna reconfigure the existing lighting to accommodate the re reconfigured parking, trailer storage and loading docks. We're gonna be removing all of the existing poles and light fixtures and putting in all brand new poles and energy efficient LED lighting. We have identified a one waiver that we are required. There are two existing lights right on the property line in this area of this parking lot here. Those are shoebox lights they currently spill into the adjoining property. This is a loading court for the adjoining building and I can go back to the aerial exhibit and show that area over there. But we would ask for a design waiver to allow the spillage onto that property. It'll be, it'll be less intrusive than it is currently today. These new fixtures will have arms and they will have back shields to prevent as much spillage as possible. But due to the location right on the property line, it just, we, we just can't meet the ordinance requirement of 0.5 foot candles. Speaker 6 00:23:10 Thank you. Tom. Just for the benefit of the board and any members of the public, can you just summarize the three variances in the design waivers that we are requesting with this application? Speaker 8 00:23:22 Yes. The variances are for car parking. We have 94 spaces where 104 are required. We have the building setback requirement where we have 79.7 and 79.9 where 80 feet is required. And we have the two existing signs. 20 feet is provided where 50 feet is required. Those are the variances. The waivers include the minimum off street parking, front yard setback, 80 feet is required and we are pro proposing 32.6 feet. The maximum lighting at the property lines, we would ask to exceed the 0.5 foot candles, permitted the minimum parking lot landscaping for front yards at 20%. We are proposed, there's 828 square feet proposed. We're proposing 430 square feet. The minimum number of deciduous trees is one per 500 square feet. A front yard parking area, nine trees are required. And we have zero in this front existing parking lot. And the number of deciduous trees for interior parking lots is one per 1000 square feet of is 10% of one per 1000 square feet of parking area. The required is 1,300. And I apologize, Speaker 10 00:25:13 I think you're bu building a forest. I think it's, you need 12 trees. Speaker 8 00:25:19 12 trees where zero are required. Thank you, Ron. Speaker 10 00:25:24 You're welcome. Speaker 8 00:25:26 And the, and i, I believe that's all of the, of the design waivers that we are requesting thank you to. In addition to the, the, the, I think I did say the foot candles spilling over the property line for the lighting. Speaker 6 00:25:41 Thank you Tom. That's all Tom's testimony for this evening. So certainly we can open up to the public or members of the board for any additional questions. Speaker 0 00:25:53 Tom, if you could unshare your screen please. Speaker 8 00:25:55 Yes, Speaker 0 00:26:04 Madam chair, you're muted. Speaker 1 00:26:08 Does any members of the board have any questions of this witness? We'll open it up to the public members of the public if you have any wi questions of this witness. Will you indicate I'm waving Ms. Buckley, do you see anybody? Speaker 5 00:26:25 I was muted also. Sorry. No one Madam Speaker 1 00:26:27 Chair. Thank you. Close to the public. Okay. You can call your next witness, sir. Speaker 6 00:26:32 Thank you. Kim Decken, are you available online and ready to testify? Yes I am. Kim, can you just state your education licenses and we gotta Speaker 0 00:26:42 Swear in, Speaker 2 00:26:42 I gotta swear in Ms. Decker, can you please raise your right hand? Yes. Do you swear that the testimony about to be will be the truth and nothing but the truth? Yes. Thank you. Please state your name for the record. Speaker 11 00:26:54 Kim Decken. Speaker 2 00:26:55 Thank you. Speaker 6 00:26:56 And Kim the, you know the drill. Could you state your qualifications for the record please? Speaker 11 00:27:00 I am principal of TK Studio. I am a registered architect, registered in the states of New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. I have a bachelor's of architecture, have been working in the field for 20 years and I have appeared as an expert for multiple boards throughout the state of New Jersey. Speaker 2 00:27:20 She's acceptable. Speaker 6 00:27:22 Thank you. Kim. I know most of our improvements involve the parking lot and and landscaping, but I think it's important for the board to understand the floor plan, the elevation and what some of these changes are gonna do to the facade. Sure. So if we could start with what's gonna be marked as exhibit A five, the conceptual floor plan? Speaker 12 00:27:41 Yep. Speaker 11 00:27:45 Okay. Can everyone see it? Speaker 6 00:27:47 Yes. Speaker 11 00:27:48 Okay, fantastic. So this is the building floor plan. It's oriented the same as the exhibits in that Tom presented. And so you can see this is the existing office area. This is our warehouse. This here are the existing loading positions that will remain and we are proposing to add six more on this side of the building. So we're mirrored over the rear entrance. Speaker 6 00:28:16 And cam, if we can move to exhibit A six. The conceptual elevations Speaker 11 00:28:22 I that visible? Speaker 6 00:28:25 Yes. Speaker 12 00:28:36 One Speaker 11 00:28:40 That is the showing you the system. Okay. Can you see that now? Speaker 6 00:29:03 Yes. Speaker 11 00:29:04 Okay. So this is showing, this is the existing loading area, the existing rear entry. And these are the proposed loading docks on the opposite side. They're basically going to be duplicating these. They're just nine by 10 instead of eight by 10. Speaker 6 00:29:27 I think Kevin, which is the standard, if we can move to exhibit A seven, which is a rendering of the loading area. Speaker 12 00:29:35 Okay. Speaker 11 00:29:48 You share them. Speaker 12 00:30:08 I don't know why it's not allowing me to pull those up. Really strange. Speaker 11 00:30:21 I have them open and it's not allowing me to grab them. Okay, here it is. Speaker 6 00:30:35 So this is ex exhibit A seven a rendering of the, the new loading dock area. Speaker 12 00:30:41 I'm not sharing the right one Speaker 6 00:30:47 Or I'm sorry. This is the front office. Speaker 11 00:30:49 This is the front office. I don't know why it is not sharing Speaker 12 00:30:54 The Speaker 11 00:30:54 Correct image. Speaker 6 00:30:59 We, we can just walk through this exhibit. Ken. Yeah, Speaker 11 00:31:05 This is the front office area and this is the proposed improvements for painting and cleaning up the entry with some efis to kind of give it a, a more current and updated street front. And then now I can move to the next one. There we're, that's the correct one. This is an image of the proposed loading dock area. So all this is existing, we're just painting what's here and proposing a new loading area at the Speaker 12 00:31:47 Rear. Speaker 6 00:31:50 Thank you Kim. I think that's Kim's testimony this evening. I don't know if there's any questions at this time. Speaker 1 00:31:59 Any questions of the, from the board hearing? No questions. Members of the public, do you have any questions of this person's testimony? Testimony? Speaker 12 00:32:11 No. Please indicate no. And Madam chair. Speaker 1 00:32:14 Okay, thank you. Close to the public. You may proceed. Speaker 6 00:32:19 Thank you. Last but not least, we have Lance Landgraf. Lance, I see you are Line, are you available to testify? Yes sir, I am. Speaker 2 00:32:29 Mr. Landgraf, can you please raise your right hand? Do you swear that the testimony about the give we the truth and nothing but the truth? Speaker 6 00:32:36 Yes, I do. Speaker 2 00:32:37 Can you please state your name for the record? Speaker 14 00:32:39 Lance Land Craft Junior. Speaker 1 00:32:41 Thank you. Speaker 6 00:32:43 And Lance, can you just state your professional qualifications for the record please? Speaker 14 00:32:46 Sure. I have a degree from Bloomsburg, university of Pennsylvania in Urban Regional Planning. I've been licensed since 1991. I also have my A ICP certification since 1995. Been in the planning field for 38 years. I think I'm the oldest person in on the, on the, on our team tonight, Michael. So showing my age a little bit, I've been qualified mostly in Southern New Jersey. I do most of my practice down here, but I've also been qualified as an expert in front of the New Jersey State Superior Court on multiple occasions. I represent the city of Brigandine for the last 28 years as their planner. And I currently sit as the director of planning and development at the CRDA, the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority in the city of Atlantic City. Speaker 1 00:33:32 Thank you. He's qualified to testify as expert. Speaker 14 00:33:35 Thank you chair person. Speaker 6 00:33:37 Thank you Lance, I, we've already had a lot of testimony from from Tom about the site information and the existing conditions, but if you could just go over what we are requesting in terms of the request of relief and then the required proofs. Speaker 14 00:33:49 Sure, sure. I eliminate a lot of my stuff with Tom describing the site and going through the variances. So tonight I, I think we're looking at two different types of variances. One a C one variance, which is the typical hardship type variance. And then the C two, which is the, we used to call 'em flexible CS or the purposes of zoning type variance, which somewhat matches a D one type qualifications for that criteria. The first variance I think is, is the hardship type variance, which is for the building setback at 79.7 and 79.9 feet, where 80 feet is required. The building is, is there, it's quite a large structure over a hundred thousand square feet in area. Very difficult to move that building. Even that threet 10th of a of a foot would be difficult to relocate. So we would ask for that to be considered a hardship type variance in, in this regard, the the hardship deals with physical features on a property, sometimes topographic features, but in this case is a physical feature of the structure being located. Speaker 14 00:34:51 Just a few, really less than an inch from the required front yard setback. I'll get to the negative criteria as I group these together after I touch base on the C two relief that we're asking for. I would also consider the, the signage variances, a C one a hardship as well. 'cause they are existing, they moving them back into the site would not serve the purpose of the property and again, difficult to relocate. One, they would be pushed back into our parking area and the other would most likely get moved into either a landscape area or the truck turning lanes being expanded into the rear of, of the building. So the C two type variance is where we, we believe that we promote one of the purposes of the municipal land use law, the purpose of the act, and that the benefits would substantially outweigh any detriment to the, to those those purposes. Speaker 14 00:35:46 And so for the positive criteria, I talked about the hardship for the, for the C one, the front yard setback and the signage going into the flexible c it has to relate to a specific piece of property. Well, we are a specific site. We have this building, we're trying to bring it up to current warehouse standards and meet the the needs of what's been a growing need since covid, honestly, for warehousing in, in the state of New Jersey, our transportation corridors are, you know, very accessible throughout the entire state. So it, it helps that we have these warehouses located along those corridors. So also the fact that this site is located in a zone that permits this use, I think we're certainly talking at it about a, a specific location and a particular location. So getting into the purposes that I think we advance, I'm looking at section NJSA 40, call 55 D dash or two and section two point A or two a I'll say to encourage municipal action to guide the appropriate use for development of all lands in the state in a manner that will promote the public health, safety, morals, and general welfare. Speaker 14 00:36:56 Well, one, refurbishing a, a vacant structure that is kind of dated, bringing it into modern warehouse use is something that certainly helps first the site be a viable piece of property and brings a a could be a problematic site, a vacant property to a viable permitted use in this zone. We think the, the general welfare is promoted by again, bringing that house or house, excuse me, bringing that warehouse back to life again. We are also reducing the impervious coverage on the property and providing stormwater management on the site. We're reducing some of the, the paved areas and concrete areas and we're reducing the, the, the runoff by decreasing the parking areas. The new plan is adding stormwater management, as I said, and that will improve the environment by providing that, that water control on the property. Speaker 14 00:37:50 I think we're providing adequate LA air light and open space. The reduced parking, again, will allow the site to be better landscaped. We are adding significant landscaping to the property while not quite meeting the exact requirements of your ordinances and your, your design standards. We think we've done a good job at, at bringing the site back to life with new landscaping, providing new sidewalks, a DA accessibility to those parking areas. And in general, just a, an overall facelift, if you will, to the property. That was, that was section C two. Looking at section two G. Provide sufficient space in appropriate locations for a variety of residential recreational, and in our case, commercial industrial uses according to the respective environmental requirements. And to meet the needs of New Jersey citizens, again, we are permitted use in the zone. So I think we are certainly providing sufficient space and appropriate location 'cause we are permitted use the pros plan promotes the purposes of redeveloping existing structure to meet the more modern warehouse needs. Speaker 14 00:38:59 The site, as we've said, is per is permits, the use and the new warehouse facilities are more efficient with needs less staff than prior uses and therefore less parking. So that's the reduction in parking by 10 spaces. We think we are parking it adequately for our use and adequately for the future use of the warehouse in this region. Switching to the negative criteria, there's two prongs to that. We have to show that the granted requested variance will not cause of substantial detriment to the public good. And in that, again, the bulk variances that we're asking for are minimal in nature. The setback, as I talked about is, is very di minimis. Very minor, less than less than an inch or so, or just about a little over an inch or so for the building. These signage exist where it is we're asking to, to leave those signs in that same location. Speaker 14 00:39:47 We don't think they are a detriment to any site triangles. The entranceways to the parking area and the loading area are not blocked by any of these, these existing signs. And we wanted to re retain that location of those signage. The positive benefits of allowing reduced parking as proposed to substantially as proposed substantially outweigh any potential detriment that might result from the granting of the bulk variance. Our client has a feel for the number of parking spaces that certain warehouse uses generate, and that's been successful for most of their properties for almost all their properties throughout their history of, of owning these warehouse type facilities. So we feel we have adequate parking for our use. Second prong is we must show that the granting of the variance will not substantially impair the intent and purpose of the zone plan or zoning ordinance. I have reviewed the township zoning and land development ordinances and the project is consistent with promoting the purposes of the zone and plan, zone plan and ordinance. Speaker 14 00:40:49 The purposes of the ordinance match those outlined in the MLU well, that I've already gone over. Project also promotes many of the same purposes within your zoning ordinance. The project capitalize and reestablishes an existing warehouse use promotes redevelopment. It ensures existing industrial development and commercial base and balances preserved and is and remains competitive. The the project project provides balance vehicular circulation to avoid congestion from vehicular safety, promote vehicular vehicular safety and provide ease access. Why? Where we're adding the second driveway and widening the existing driveways to provide better access to the site. It encourages development that produces tax surpluses, economic stability and job opportunities. These are all items that are in your, your purposes of your zoning and, and planning ordinance encourages efficiency of design, the new development and minimizes public service costs. So I think for all these reasons, the variances and I would also say that the waivers are also met by these same, the the variance, the waiver criteria is also met by these same purposes and that we can grant, the board can grant. I also represent board, so forgive me for misspeaking. I'm, I'm not on your, your side of the, the table tonight. I'm on the other side. I apologize that these variances and waivers can be granted for those reasons and the board should be comfortable with those reasons behind the granting of the variances. Thank you. Speaker 6 00:42:19 Thank you for your testimony. Lance. If there's any questions for Lance about his planning testimony in support of the variances in design waivers at this time. Speaker 1 00:42:31 Members of the board, do you have any questions? Speaker 10 00:42:34 No, thank you. I Speaker 1 00:42:36 Okay. And members of the public, do you have any questions of this witness or any of the witnesses that you've heard so far? Would you indicate so by raising your hand or waving your hand? Speaker 5 00:42:51 No. One Madam chair. Speaker 1 00:42:53 Thank you. Close to the public. Okay. Members of the board, if you don't have any question of the witnesses that you've heard so far, or if Mr. Floyd doesn't have want us, if he wants to sum up his, the testimony, otherwise I'll entertain a motion. Speaker 6 00:43:10 We have no further testimony. Madam Chairwoman. So, Speaker 1 00:43:14 Okay. Members of the board, what's your pleasure? Speaker 3 00:43:17 Madam Chair, this is Dawn Corcoran. I'd like to make a motion. Now we approve the application subject to the DNR report, CME report and the division of Engineering and planning. Speaker 4 00:43:34 Reverend Kinneally. I'll second that motion. Speaker 1 00:43:37 Thank you. Roll call please. Speaker 5 00:43:41 Mayor Wahler? Yes. Ms. Corcoran? Yes. Ms. Saunders? Yes. Reverend Kinneally? Yes. Mr. Atkins? Yes. Mr. Foster? Speaker 1 00:43:52 Yes. Speaker 5 00:43:54 Mr. Aria? Yes. And Madam Chair? Speaker 1 00:43:57 Yes. Thank you. Speaker 6 00:43:59 Thank you very much for your time this evening, Speaker 10 00:44:01 And thank you applicant team. You've been very cooperative. Speaker 1 00:44:05 Thank you Mr. Barlow. You, did you prepare anything? Speaker 0 00:44:12 No. No. I'll prepare a resolution for the next meeting and Mike, I'll be in touch. Speaker 1 00:44:18 All right. Thank you. Reminder. Thank you everyone. Our next meeting is April the ninth and our site planning meeting is March the 26th. Speaker 5 00:44:26 We need an adjournment. Madam Chair. Speaker 1 00:44:29 We, I will make motion for an adjournment that closes everything out. I wanna tie it up before I put a string on. If not, I'll take a motion for an adjournment. Madam Chair, this is Carol Saunders. I'm making a motion for adjournment. Thank you. All in favor? Aye. Aye the button. Thank you. Alright folks, everyone Patrick Day.