Transcript for Piscataway Zoning meeting on February 27 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    Board of the municipal building notice made available to the township clerk. Notice sent to the Cory News and the star ledger. Will the clerk please call the role?  
Speaker 1     00:00:07    Mr. Weisman?  
Speaker 0     00:00:11    Here.  
Speaker 1     00:00:12    Mr. Tillery?  
Speaker 0     00:00:13    Here.  
Speaker 1     00:00:14    Mr. Patel?  
Speaker 0     00:00:17    Yes. Here.  
Speaker 1     00:00:18    Kalpesh. Mr. Regio?  
Speaker 0     00:00:27    Here.  
Speaker 1     00:00:29    All right. Roy's here. Mr. Blo. Mr. Mitterando? Here. Mr. Ellie? Here. Chairman Cahill. Here,  
Speaker 0     00:00:41    Will everyone please stand for salute? My pleasure. Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, America. And to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for Mr. Kinneally. Are there any changes to the agenda? There are no changes to the agenda tonight. Okay, Mr. Kinneally, for personal reasons, I'm gonna go with item number ten first to get that out of the way since it, well, it will be one of the most time consuming that we're dealing with tonight. So item number ten first. It's 24 dash ZB dash 78 slash 79 v Manjit Singh.  
Speaker 2     00:01:32    Sorry, there you caught me off guard, Mr. Cahill.  
Speaker 0     00:01:35    Sorry about that.  
Speaker 2     00:01:36    Not, not a problem. May I please, or hello members of the, of the board and board professionals? My name is Tim Arch. I'm an attorney licensed in the state of New Jersey. I'm here representing Manjit Bourgeois Singh. This is an application for a property located at 1781 West seventh Street. We are seeking tonight a use variance to use the property as a gas station with a small convenience store in a residential zone. While I'm doing my intro, I am gonna just real quick share my screen so that you guys have something to look at while I am talking.  
Speaker 2     00:02:17    Do you see the aerial currently? Yes. Okay. Yes, we do. Yeah, so this is the piece of property that we are talking about. It's this triangular piece of property here, located along Walnut and West seventh Street. There is an auto mechanics garage that is just to the bottom of the screen there. It's right across from where the Arbor rescue is, and there's some residences here on the back property line. In addition to the use variance, we are seeking some bulk variances, although the majority of these bulk variances are a result of the odd shaped lot. As you see, it's a triangle, so it has those dreaded two front yards. So for variances for lot width and frontage where, where 56.8 is proposed or existing and 75 is required, we are gonna be proposing a fence in a portion of the front yard area, which is not allowed by ordinance.  
Speaker 2     00:03:10    You're gonna see that that fence is part of the enclosure around the, the track receptacle, which is required by ordinance. There's, we are seeking the ability to put more than half of the parking in the front yard. Again, we have two front yards, so parking is going to, by necessity, have to be within the front yard area. And setback for an accessory structure is normally 60 feet. We are doing 16.2 and 17.3. We're proposing a, a canopy that's considered an accessory structure. And again, we have two front yards, so we're constrained by the, by how the property located. I, I'm, and just for the record, I'll mark this as a one, the aerial exhibit. Mr. Kinneally. Thank you. I'd like to then also go to what I'll mark as a two. And this is essentially a picture from Google Images or Google Maps that shows what the property looks like. Currently it's a vacant, vacant lot. Used to be the site of a Getty gas station and auto repair shop. I, I went as far back as 2007 is when I could find that it was actually active. So it's, so I'm, I'm assuming it's been at least 15 to 18 years that it's been sitting there, essentially unused.  
Speaker 2     00:04:29    I do want to note for the record or acknowledge that we do have reports. We have the tri-party report dated February 13th, 2025, Mr. Chadwick's report, which is dated January 30th, 2025. We have a fire approval letter dated 12 23 24 DPW approval letter dated January 17th, 2025, and the DNR engineering report dated February 12th, 2025. So I do have four witnesses. I don't wanna keep anybody waiting so we can get right into the witnesses. We can try to keep it as quick as possible. Stop sharing. My first witness tonight would be Mr. Veer Bois, who is, who is here as the applicant's representative.  
Speaker 0     00:05:19    Are you present, sir?  
Speaker 3     00:05:21    Yes, I'm here.  
Speaker 0     00:05:23    Okay. I need to swear you in. Could you raise your right hand?  
Speaker 3     00:05:25    Sure.  
Speaker 0     00:05:27    Do you swear that the testimony you're about to give should be the truth?  
Speaker 3     00:05:30    Yes.  
Speaker 0     00:05:31    And your name and address please?  
Speaker 3     00:05:33    Man, veer Bua. Eight Peachtree Lane in Chester, New Jersey.  
Speaker 0     00:05:39    Could you spell your last name please?  
Speaker 3     00:05:41    It's B-A-J-W-A.  
Speaker 0     00:05:48    Thank you. You put your hand down.  
Speaker 2     00:05:51    Okay. Mr. Mr. Bois, you, you are the son of Manji Bois, correct?  
Speaker 3     00:05:57    Yes.  
Speaker 2     00:05:57    Okay. And you are familiar with the location, familiar with the operation that we're proposing there, correct?  
Speaker 3     00:06:06    Yes.  
Speaker 2     00:06:07    Yes. Okay. I'm gonna go through some of the things that were in the reports and I just want you to acknowledge as the applicant if this is accurate or not. So one of the things they were asking for in the reports is the operation is the, the hours of operation and we are asking to operate this facility from 5:00 AM to 11:00 PM Is that correct? That's correct. Okay. And again, just to, to be clear, what we're talking about is a gas station and a small convenience store, we're gonna, we're gonna reuse what used to be the, I guess the service area and turn that into a small convenience store, correct?  
Speaker 3     00:06:45    Yes.  
Speaker 2     00:06:46    Okay. And the intent of this, this isn't like a Wawa or a quick check or anything like this, this is like a real quick in and out grab a loaf of bread or grab like a bag of ice, that kind of establishment, correct? Correct. Okay. And one of the things that was mentioned in the reports was we're not providing any sort of meeting or tables inside the convenience store to encourage people to spend time there and you know, hang around, correct? Correct. Okay. And in terms of the numbers of employees that are gonna be on site, I apologize, I'm getting an echo. Is anybody else getting, yeah,  
Speaker 1     00:07:19    I think it's you, Tim.  
Speaker 2     00:07:21    Oh, is it actually coming from me? Yeah,  
Speaker 1     00:07:23    It's you because I muted everybody else. It can only be you.  
Speaker 2     00:07:26    Oh, I apologize. I don't know why that would be the case. Okay. Try to fix that next time. And so in terms of employees, we're only asking that there'd be two employees there, correct? One for the gas station operation, one for the convenience, correct?  
Speaker 3     00:07:44    Correct.  
Speaker 2     00:07:46    Okay. Some of the things that were mentioned in the, in the reports one was fiber optic cabling or the fiber optic trenching we're agreeing to put that in, correct?  
Speaker 3     00:07:57    Yes.  
Speaker 2     00:07:57    Okay. In add, in addition to that, there's an EV spot that we have located and we are agreeing that we would make it operational prior to co. Is that correct?  
Speaker 3     00:08:10    Yes.  
Speaker 2     00:08:11    Okay. And finally one of the things that was mentioned is indicating that there would not be a, a diesel fuel sale at the location. And one of the things we wanted the board to know is that there's actually two kinds of sales at a gas station. One is what's called low flow diesel pumps and is a high flow diesel pump, correct? Yes. Okay. And obviously the high flow diesel pumps are meant for large vehicles with large capacities and we understand that we don't want to try to attract any of that, we don't want that in the area, correct? Correct.  
Speaker 3     00:08:45    Correct.  
Speaker 2     00:08:45    But if you had your druthers, you'd like to have that ability to have low flow diesel to service small passenger vehicles and individuals that wanna fill up diesel canisters, correct? Correct. Okay. So our preference would be to, if the board would allow to us allow low flow diesel, but we also understand that, you know, we will defer ultimately to the board's concerns if they have overarching concerns about that, correct? Correct. Okay. At this time I have no further questions of Mr. Bois and I will try to find out why it's echoing.  
Speaker 0     00:09:22    Appreciate that. Does any members of the board have any questions for this applicant and about his testimony?  
Speaker 4     00:09:30    Mrs. Chairman, just one question. Sure. John, clarify the, is there gonna be sandwiches ready-made sandwiches at the facility?  
Speaker 3     00:09:43    There may be ready-made sandwiches, nothing will be prepared there.  
Speaker 4     00:09:49    Okay. There will be no preparation, won't be like a side kitchen or any of that sort?  
Speaker 3     00:09:56    No.  
Speaker 0     00:09:56    Okay. Mr. Bowell, I'm assuming lottery stuff like that?  
Speaker 3     00:10:04    Yes, it would be lot.  
Speaker 0     00:10:07    And cigarettes. Will there be any type of CBP cannabis or vaping?  
Speaker 3     00:10:13    Vaping? Not to this point, no. There might be, maybe there's some products that are, which are gendered, so electronic vapes, vapes,  
Speaker 0     00:10:27    I don't, I I think you should clarify that the town frowns upon vaping kind of cannabis related materials, so I would,  
Speaker 3     00:10:39    I don't believe those devices are considered cannabis. They're electronic vapes sold by many chains, like quick check and wallet. Okay.  
Speaker 0     00:10:51    Yeah, you  
Speaker 2     00:10:52    Would need to have, I believe you have to get a separate license or permit to sell cannabis related products that  
Speaker 0     00:10:58    Be And no vaping? I could not, the echo was getting no vaping.  
Speaker 2     00:11:03    I believe you can sell vape products, just not cannabis vape products. Okay,  
Speaker 0     00:11:08    Mr. Arch, you can proceed.  
Speaker 2     00:11:11    Thank you. Our next witness is Tyler Vanderbilt.  
Speaker 0     00:11:16    Sir, are you present?  
Speaker 2     00:11:19    Just so the board is aware, I I muted myself and I can still  
Speaker 1     00:11:22    Get that out. I know, I, I just, I, I just, I yeah, I'm echoing too. I just text the TV guy and said there's something going on. Can he figure it out? Okay. I'm sorry guys.  
Speaker 0     00:11:34    Mr. Rch, is your witness present?  
Speaker 2     00:11:36    Yes. Mr. Vanderbilt is, he is present. He needs,  
Speaker 1     00:11:39    He needs to unmute.  
Speaker 0     00:11:43    Mr. Vanderbilt, could you raise your right hand? Yes, sir. Do you swear that give, read the truth? Yes, I do. Your name and address please?  
Speaker 5     00:11:53    Tyler Vander balk. V-A-N-D-E-R-V-A-L-K 64 Valley Road in Butler, New Jersey.  
Speaker 0     00:12:01    Thank you.  
Speaker 2     00:12:04    Mr. Vander balk, if you can please just orient the board to the location, to the, get a voicemail, your plans and, and what we're proposing to, to put there.  
Speaker 0     00:12:15    Before you do that Mr. Arch, what kind of witness is Mr. Vander  
Speaker 2     00:12:20    Pick up the phone. Oh, he's a, sorry. He's a licensed civil engineer. Mr. Vander, if you can please just put your credentials on the record so that the board kept you as an expert.  
Speaker 5     00:12:29    Yes, I'm a licensed professional engineer in the state of New Jersey. My license is current and in good standing. I have a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology. I have been accepted as an expert in civil engineering before many boards in the state of New Jersey, and I believe this board actually probably about five or six years ago. But  
Speaker 2     00:12:50    Your, your credentials are fine sir. Thank you.  
Speaker 5     00:12:52    Thank you.  
Speaker 2     00:12:53    Please proceed. Take it away. Tyler.  
Speaker 5     00:12:56    Tim, do you mind sharing a one since you have that file?  
Speaker 2     00:13:00    Yeah, absolutely. I can get back to it  
Speaker 5     00:13:07    If not, I have the aerial up as well. It just might not be the exact thank you. Okay. Alright. So a little bit just about the area. Obviously we're in a residential zone here, but we're not entirely surrounded by residential uses. If we look to the west, we actually have the fire department and then a large parking lot and, and open field with, with some pavement to the north. We have some single family residential homes and it south of us is what appears to be. Alright, thanks dear. A mechanic's yard or contractor's yard of some kind that is shielded by a six foot high fence for the entire frontage on Walnut Street on that property. And then additional single family all to the, to the east. And then Tim, I'm gonna go ahead and, and share the survey for a closer look to the subject property.  
Speaker 2     00:14:04    Yep.  
Speaker 5     00:14:13    Okay. This is the survey that was prepared as part of the application. This was done by Arthur Chappelle dated July 22 of last year, 2024. I believe this was filed with the application. This is the existing represents existing conditions on the site. We can see that the site is largely paved with fairly wide access points on both Walnut Street and West seventh Street, and particularly the one on Walnut Street extends fairly close to the intersection. We can see the location of the building that's an existing non-conforming location and we'd be looking to reuse that, that structure. Other than that, the site is, like I said, largely paved. We have some abandoned pylon signs, lighting, et cetera around the property. Moving over to the civil plans for the project. Can everybody see that? Yeah. Yes. Okay. Just wanted make sure it switched over. These are unrevised from what was submitted to the board, so I don't think we need to mark this.  
Speaker 5     00:15:20    This is on the first sheet just to get a look at layout for the project. Again, the existing structure would remain and that's towards the easterly side of the property. That prior maintenance garage would be repurposed. Again, as a convenience store and again, rather small convenience store as as they go. Most of these projects that we do for this client, he's really aiming for about 12 to 1500 square feet. We're looking at about under 1100 square feet, so a bit smaller of a site. It's probably appropriate to have a bit smaller of a small store. So we're not looking to do any additions to it or anything, we're just gonna use it in its existing footprint. Beyond the building itself, we're gonna be pro providing pedestrian access around all sides, but the rear, that pedestrian access extends out to both Walnut Street and West seventh Street.  
Speaker 5     00:16:11    Again for pedestrian access as well as bicycles if needed. This would be entirely separate from the drive aisles and vehicular traffic for safety. Speaking of the drive aisles, access to the site would be limited now to two driveways rather than the the three wide ones that were previously there. And these access points would be about O off, one off of Walnut Street, one off of West seventh Street. Those would be controlled accesses with stop bars and the appropriate signage. Once we get into the property, you can see that the gas service fuel service is centered with those driveways. We're providing for four fuel pump islands to service those vehicles with plenty of access around the sides of them and through the middle. Parking for the project is located both on the north and south side of the convenience store as well as to the west. Adjacent to the intersection. Parking requirements for this use would dictate that we provide eight stalls. We are providing nine stalls as part of the project.  
Speaker 5     00:17:21    And just speaking to suitability of the site for the use, many of these projects that we work on for this applicant, we, we end up asking for parking variances just because things do tend to get tight, but in this case we are providing the parking so that speaks to the suitable size of the property for the use. As far as the payment that was previously surrounding the majority of the property, this is being largely reduced down from 75.5% coverage down to 59% coverage. So we're losing at approximately 3000 square feet of pavement off of the property, which will be certainly a net benefit to the project.  
Speaker 5     00:18:04    Speaking to some other zoning, certainly we do have some variances required. We have existing nonconformities as far as lot width and lot frontage. Those will remain unchanged as part of the project, but you can see 56.8 feet where 75 is required. Other variances we're seeking, we have existing nonconforming setbacks. I'm sorry, we have the canopy. We'd be seeking setback variances in the front yard, 16.2 feet to the west seventh side, 17.3 to the walnut side. We are proposing refuse enclosure for the project. That's where the six foot fence in the front yard comes in. This is located to the north side of the convenience store. We have a loading zone there adjacent to sidewalk, which can easily approach the refuse enclosure. And that will be to, to pick up the refuse for the store. We are surrounding that fence, despite it being a variance of six feet in the front yard. We're surrounding that with vegetation to shield some of that fencing. Speaking of landscaping, we're providing new landscaping throughout the site. A heavy, heavy evergreen screen on the easterly side, lower shrub plantings around all the parking to shield headlights and to shield the parking lot and then some shade trees throughout the property.  
Speaker 5     00:19:31    We are providing some drainage improvements as part of the project. This is moving over to sheet two. Again, we will have a natural reduction in, in runoff due to the, to the major decrease in impervious cover, but we'll be collecting our runoff rather than right now where it's sheet flowing out into the street, we'll all be collecting off the parking lots and brought into the storm sewer system. I should have mentioned on the first page, I should have highlighted our sign location. We're proposing a sign near the intersection was mentioned in the, the professionals reports that they would prefer to see a monument style sign there that rather than a large pylon sign, the applicant is open to that and, and we're willing to make that adjustment to shrink down that sign. You know, we could use smaller lettering and, and just to clean it up a bit with a prettier base rather than the typical gas station pylon sign.  
Speaker 5     00:20:24    Lighting for the project is gonna be provided by means of the lights that are recessed within the canopy. So we're, we're not gonna actually have pole lights strewn throughout the property. We're gonna be using those canopy lights that are gonna be casting out a little bit to provide lighting for the entire site. You could see levels range from about 0.3 0.2 foot handles to directly under the canopy. Excuse me, it's only 1.3 foot candles. So we're keeping those light levels nice and low for the residential neighborhood. I just wanna check our variance list, see if there's anything else I need to touch on.  
Speaker 2     00:21:07    I think we probably hit upon everything. If not, I'm sure we can, we'll we will come back around when the plan,  
Speaker 4     00:21:13    Who, who, who is in charge of signage, the engineer or someone else.  
Speaker 5     00:21:19    Yeah, I'd, I'd be happy to field the, the signage question. Any  
Speaker 4     00:21:21    Signage on the canopy,  
Speaker 5     00:21:25    Signage on the canopy? Typically we would have,  
Speaker 4     00:21:35    I'm just not on your plan. I didn't see it.  
Speaker 5     00:21:39    Typically it would just be the branding. So for example, this is gonna be a Delta station. So we would have similar, if you look at the pylon sign, the delta that's on top, a smaller version of that would be on the two sides of the canopy of the Walnut Street side and the West seventh side. And those are typically the height of the canopy facia, which is three feet by five feet in length.  
Speaker 4     00:22:10    Is that canopy gonna be lit or just the sign?  
Speaker 5     00:22:14    No, just the sign. Not the entire fascia.  
Speaker 4     00:22:20    The other question was, it has nothing to do with signage. The back corner of the property, there's some mature trees and I think there's a fence in there. The grading blade seemed to indicate it was getting changed. Is that not So are those trees gonna remain?  
Speaker 5     00:22:39    The trees are remaining. We are taking out that guide rail in the old, in the old fence. But the trees that are aligned that along that fence line, you, you're referring to? Oh, I don't have that up anymore, but yes, there, there's a group of trees along the fence line that will stay  
Speaker 4     00:22:56    Yeah, because they make a good buffer to the home behind it. Okay.  
Speaker 2     00:23:00    And we, and we're definitely, we definitely understand that and we wanna maintain in addition to adding as much landscaping as we can to, to maintain that buffer.  
Speaker 4     00:23:10    Thanks John.  
Speaker 5     00:23:14    And I should also mention we're gonna have new sidewalks along the frontage of Walnut Street and then the majority of West seventh as well.  
Speaker 2     00:23:24    I have no further direct questions for Mr. Any other members of the board of any questions?  
Speaker 4     00:23:28    I  
Speaker 6     00:23:28    Have a question or two. Just following up on the signage, the illumination for the signage, is that gonna coincide with the rest of the site? I believe you. What was the hours that we said with the previous five to 11. Five to 11. That'd be the same for the signage.  
Speaker 5     00:23:44    That's right. The the price sign would also Yes, that's correct. That would also turn.  
Speaker 6     00:23:48    Okay. And I know you made a comment about red lines on the drawing. You've seen our, as Tim likes to call the tri-party report, the, the changes to the drawings that we'd like to see made in regards to the, the trench drain landscaping, fiber optic, et cetera.  
Speaker 5     00:24:07    Yes, I, I saw that. I guess the only question I had was really on the trench drain addition because that the specific driveway you're talking about is set up to be a crown. So the street side of the apron is gonna pitch to the street, but the rest comes interior to the site. I didn't know if it would really serve a purpose. Certainly we could work with you on that.  
Speaker 6     00:24:26    Okay, thank you.  
Speaker 0     00:24:29    So is it safe to say that the applicant has satisfied or agreed to everything on your side impact?  
Speaker 2     00:24:36    Again, the only things that we would ask for is there is an indication on that that is indicates no diesel fuel at all. Diesel. Yeah, we would, again, we'll, we'll defer to the board at the end of the day, but we would prefer to be able to have low flow diesel because it services, you know, personal vehicles and doesn't service larger vehicles. I know, I believe that was what the concern for the of the staff professionals work. I don't wanna speak for.  
Speaker 0     00:25:01    Understood. Okay. Any other members of the board have any questions?  
Speaker 4     00:25:05    One clarification, going back to the lights, are we shutting the lights off at 11? 11 o'clock but for security?  
Speaker 2     00:25:13    Yes. I believe that was, that was what was asked by, by Mr. Mr. So you'll  
Speaker 4     00:25:16    Put that, put that on the plane.  
Speaker 5     00:25:19    Sure.  
Speaker 4     00:25:20    Okay.  
Speaker 0     00:25:22    All right, Ms. Arch, I think you can move on to your next WI expert.  
Speaker 2     00:25:26    Okay. That'd be William Byrne.  
Speaker 0     00:25:29    Mr. Bene, are you present?  
Speaker 7     00:25:34    Yes.  
Speaker 0     00:25:35    Could you raise your right hand? Do you swear that the testimony you're about to get to be the truth?  
Speaker 7     00:25:40    Yes, I do.  
Speaker 0     00:25:41    Thank you. Name and address please.  
Speaker 7     00:25:45    Sure. It's William Byrne. My office address, 10 Main Street in Chester, New Jersey.  
Speaker 0     00:25:50    Thank you,  
Speaker 2     00:25:52    Mr. By, if you can please just put your credentials as an architect on the record for the, for the board.  
Speaker 7     00:25:58    Sure. I'm a licensed architect in the state of New Jersey. I've been licensed as an architect since 1994, so just over 30 years. And I have, I've testified before, you know, many land use boards throughout the state of New Jersey. I, I do probably several times a month and I've been accepted as a expert in the field of architecture. You're  
Speaker 0     00:26:21    You're great sir. Thank you. Your credentials are fine. Please proceed  
Speaker 2     00:26:25    Mr. By Laura's yours.  
Speaker 7     00:26:27    Okay. I think actually my associate is going to screen share if she could be made a panelist. Here we go. Okay. So this is, this is sheet number one, unrevised as submitted. And this sheet reflects the exterior views of, of the building and what, what we are proposing. Essentially what's there now as, as was shown in Tim's photo, it was sort of a derelict service station from, from another era. And, and so what we're proposing is to obviously convert that into what would be a, a very small, convenient store. And as part of that conversion, we are removing the service bay doors as well as the entrance that's, that's currently there and replacing that as seen in the upper left drawing with new storefront type doors and window panels with transoms. The overwhelming goal of what we were trying to accomplish with these renovations was to make the building look more compatible with the residential neighbors and something that has just a, a more friendly, more neighborhood type feel.  
Speaker 7     00:27:38    And so as part of what we're doing is removing the brick veneer that surrounds the three sides as well as the sign panels and things of that nature that make it much more commercial and, and much more automotive in appearance and trying to make it much more of a neighborhood shop feel. As part of that, we're, we're proposing the addition of some stone details as we see across the bottom and surrounding that main front entrance door and the, the remainder of the front facade as well as the left and the right facade are going to be clad in fiber cement, clapboard type siding. Again, something that we feel is more consistent with the residential transition to the homes, you know, adjacent and, and you know, just in general, we, we feel it's just a much nicer, softer look for this type of, this type of use. The roof that exists around three sides is a parapet roof currently is, is a shingled roof. And, and we're also proposing to change that texture, that material to a standing sea metal, which again, we feel is a little bit more of an upscale appearance to the, to the building and, and will hopefully enhance the, you know, just the overall feel.  
Speaker 7     00:28:49    The, if we could jump to the next sheet, this is sheet two of our submission again Unrevised. And what this reflects is the floor plan. Again, as, as mentioned by Tyler, the footprint of the building isn't changing. So we're not proposing any adjustments to the size. It's, it's presently just under 1100 square feet. And as as mentioned, we're moving the main entrance to the market, to the center. So we've got those double doors dead center on the, on the front facade. And as we come into the, into the market, we've got open floor area that's likely going to include, you know, movable or freestanding racking for, for product breads and chips and things of that nature. We've got coolers on the opposite wall across the back in the center section. And again, those would typically contain, you know, your milks, your eggs, you know, sodas, drinks, things of that nature.  
Speaker 7     00:29:43    To the left we have a new handicap com, a DA bathroom. So again, the bathroom that exists on the facility. Now, again, not in great repair, but nonetheless not sized appropriately. So we'll have a new handicap bathroom being located in that left back corner to the right back corner. We've got a storage area with the triple compartment sink, mop, sink, hand sinks that, that sort of thing. So we have cleanup for the coffee products that'll be sold there. And again, to the right we have a a checkout area for the, for the attendant. And so for, you know, again, just, just to service the market.  
Speaker 7     00:30:19    So, you know, again, basically that, that is the, the extent of the proposed changes. We, again, the overwhelming goal here was to try to, you know, make a very efficient, you know, small scale, small scale neighborhood type market. Again, as Tyler mentioned, there's good pedestrian access. This type of market we've seen in other, other locations and other towns that we've been involved with, you know, really serves the motorist well. But it also serves the community to some extent because it's just a much easier place when people can walk or bike to this type of, of, of small market and, and just pick up things that they may need without having to maybe get into a car and drive to a, a busier, you know, center shopping center or food store. So we, we feel that this prototype is something that we've done, you know, many, many times over the last, you know, few years and, and it really does seem to make a very positive, impactful, you know, conversion. So that basically covers what's being proposed.  
Speaker 0     00:31:22    Any members of the board have any questions or comments? Hearing none, Mr. Arch, we move on to your fourth witness.  
Speaker 2     00:31:30    Our final witness is Mr. Jim Higgins. He's our professional planner and I believe he is available.  
Speaker 9     00:31:36    Yes I am.  
Speaker 0     00:31:37    Mr. Higgins, could you raise your right hand? Do you swear the testimony you're about to give you the truth?  
Speaker 9     00:31:42    I do.  
Speaker 0     00:31:44    I believe Mr. Higgins has been accepted as a professional planner before this court previously. I agree.  
Speaker 2     00:31:50    Mr. Higgins, take it away.  
Speaker 9     00:31:53    Well, I'm not gonna bother to repeat the description of the site of the surrounding area. I think that's been described very well by the prior witnesses. What I will do is go into the reasons for the granting of the requested use variance. The, the site is in the R 7.5 zone, the gasoline service station fee in store combination is not a permitted use in the zone. The permitted uses in the zone. The principal permitted uses are single family residential uses and governmental uses. There are a number of conditional uses that are permitted in the zone, which include public utilities, hospitals, basically schools less but not colleges, places of worship, wholesale greenhouses, cemeteries and solar energy systems. And quite frankly, when I look at this site, the unique nature of the site at a signaled intersection and it's been, it's essentially been fully developed in the past and it has a existing building on it that while it's, I would call it a derelict building, it's not dilapidated and it clearly can be reused.  
Speaker 9     00:33:03    I don't think any of the permitted uses are really appropriate to the site. The applicate applicant is proposing a gasoline station with a convenience store. And I think the site is particularly suited for that use primarily because first of all it had been utilized for years as a gasoline station with a auto repair facility. That whole industry has changed considerably, which is why I, I would suspect that's why it's no longer in operation, hasn't been in operation for years. The auto ser the automobiles have gotten much more sophisticated and a, a small operation like the one that was there would've trouble surviving. But the convenience store would be a asset to the gasoline station. The, the whole nature of that industry has changed to go from gasoline stations with auto automobile repair facilities to gasoline stations with convenience stores. And in most instances some sort of additional income is necessary to help support the gasoline station use on a site.  
Speaker 9     00:34:10    And that that's universal within that industry. The site is particularly suited, in my opinion, for the use, first of all due to its prior right, the fact that it is at a signaled intersection which does allow for better traffic control. And also you have the existing building and the access to the site, which is very well suited to the proposed use. I think a number of the purposes of municipal and use law are advanced due to the granting of this variance that those would include to encourage municipal action to guide the appropriate use and development of all lands in the state in a manner which will promote the public health, safety, morals and general welfare. And in this instance you have basically a derelict site. It has a vacant building that's been empty for years that I think is, is a detriment to the neighborhood that is within it is then to basically an attractive nuisance.  
Speaker 9     00:35:07    And this application will eliminate that attractive nuisance and provide significant improvements to the site functionally and aesthetically provides sufficient space and appropriate locations for a variety of use, including commercial uses. And again, the use that's being proposed on this site was the historical use on this site, absent the automotive repair and adding the more appropriate small convenience store, which as was testified earlier, will not only serve people that are getting gasoline at the station, but also serve the immediate neighborhood and be a convenience to the immediate neighborhood. Another would be to encourage the coordination of various public and private procedures and activities shaping land development with a view of lessening the cost development into the more efficient use of the land. And clearly by doing the adaptive reuse that the applicant is proposing of the service station, that is a much more efficient use of the land.  
Speaker 9     00:36:09    I don't see how the site could reasonably be utilized for single family residential use. So I don't think that would be an efficient use of the, the land. So I think what's proposed here is much more efficient than what would be permitted under the zoning to promote a desirable visual environment through creative development techniques and good civic design and arrangement. And again, you have a derelict site here that's unsightly the building's unsightly what's being proposed is a development by substantial visual and functional improvements to the site. Primarily the visual improvements I think are gonna be a substantial benefit. So when I look at all of these aspects and, and put 'em both together, I think there are special reasons for the granting of the variance. I think the general welfare is advanced not only to the particular suitability of the site, but also due to the, the application does enhance a number of the purposes of the municipal land use law.  
Speaker 9     00:37:10    I don't see any substantial negative impact to the surrounding neighborhood. I think that the plan as proposed is providing sufficient landscaping and screening the uses that are adjacent to the site, the residential uses will be protected and buffered by the ex, the very substantial evergreen screen that will be proposed. And the other uses that abut the site are non-residential uses. So I don't see any substantial detriment. And as far as the impact on your zone plan and your zoning ordinance, the, when you do a zone plan, when you do a master plan, you do his zoning ordinance, particularly in a large community such as Piscataway, you don't look at every individual site, you look at the general character of an area and if you have one small site or a couple small sites that are different, you don't create a separate small zone for those sites when you, particularly when it's surrounded in, in a residential area.  
Speaker 9     00:38:07    And it's much better if, if you, for example, if this site were to be designated commercial use in your zone plan, there would be much, there will be fewer controls over the development on the site. 'cause when you have a use variance situation, you, you can have much more stricter controls and more specific controls that are specific to the use and the site that might not be envisioned in the ordinance when the ordinance creates standards for a very small commercial area. So I think what's being proposed here is not inconsistent with your zone plan or your zoning ordinance. And I think it's really intended that this site be developed with variances, with use variances that would make it more appropriate and make it fit with the, with the character of the area.  
Speaker 2     00:38:54    Thank you Mr. Riggins. I have no further question.  
Speaker 0     00:38:57    Any other members of the board have any questions for this witness? Comments? Hearing none your summation, Mr. Arch?  
Speaker 2     00:39:07    Thank you. I I think it's i'll, I'll be very brief. I think it's, it's very obvious that this is a site that is in need of some of, of a viable use to come in and really revitalize it. It is, as Mr. Higgins said, it is, it is not a site that is suited for a single family residential because of the, the constraints and the shape of it. We are not proposing a mechanics garage, which is what was there before. This is, this is not going to have any mechanic component to it. It's merely going to be for gas station to fill up and to go and a small convenience store, which we believe will service the neighborhood. We don't think any of the relief that we're requesting is, is anything unreasonable. And with the, with those small exceptions that we talked about on the record, we are complying and agreeing with all of the professional reports. So we would hope that you look favorably upon this application.  
Speaker 0     00:40:03    Thank you, sir. Any members of the board have any comments or questions they'd like to offer at this time? Hearing none, I would personally like to go out to the site before we vote on this. I don't know if that's something that your client could hold onto for a couple of weeks. What, Laura what's our next meeting? March, what? March 27th. I would be prepared to vote on at that time, but I, I'd really like to go out and take a look at the trees that Mr. Chadwick was speaking about to absorb all the possibilities of this application. So I would say that we push this out to the, to March 27th and give myself and other members of the board the opportunity to go out and take a look at the location.  
Speaker 2     00:40:52    Mr. Bourgeois, is that, is that something that is agreeable to you? It means that we would, we would put off on a, on a vote. We wouldn't have to represent the entire application again at that time, but we would put off a vote until the board members had a time to go and do a site visit and to, you know, make themselves more familiar with the site. Short of that, we can obviously ask them to, to push it to a vote tonight, but they do have the ability to, to ask for the adjournment,  
Speaker 3     00:41:22    I believe. That's fine. That should be more than acceptable.  
Speaker 0     00:41:26    I appreciate that. It's, it's been a couple of years since I was over in the a section and I do remember the, the dilapidated gas station. We approved the Dunking Donuts down the street on South Washington and I remember going down to the, for that, that, like I said, that's a couple years ago. So I I appreciate your understanding and affording this board the opportunity to go down, look at the place and then we'll vote on it on March 27th. Mr. Kingley, anybody that's here from the public, this matter is going to be continued to March 27th, 2025. There will be no further notice by the applicant at the March 27th meeting. Any member of the public that wishes to speak for or against this application will have an opportunity to do so. This meeting on this application is concluded tonight and will reconvene on March 27th. Okay, let's move on. Item thank you. Item number, gimme a sec. Six. Yeah, I lost my, my train of thought here. Gimme two seconds guys. I apologize. Too many notes. Item number 6 24 dash ZB dash 74 v. Lucas Garcia Arena Is Mr. Garcia Arena present?  
Speaker 10    00:42:51    I am, I am.  
Speaker 0     00:42:52    Okay sir, I 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 10    00:42:58    I do, I  
Speaker 0     00:42:59    Do. Your name and address, please.  
Speaker 10    00:43:02    Lucas Garcia, 1600 West fourth Street.  
Speaker 0     00:43:07    Thank you. Could you explain to the board what you'd like to do here?  
Speaker 10    00:43:10    Yes, I wrote something down to make it easy for myself. I have a pizza slice shaped corner property with no privacy. I like to replace the chain link fence on the Elk Street side. There's the Elk Street and then the fourth Street with a six foot vinyl fence. Elk Street is a one-way street. It's low in traffic. The fence would not interfere or obstruct any drivers approaching the intersection. It would actually start towards the back of the house and go all the way back to the garage. If you guys have the, the survey, you, you will see that on the eastern side or on the right side of the of the property. I've had a lot of issues. I've had unknown people open my chain link gate to cut across my backyard to avoid walking to the corner. There's actually a liquor store down by Rock A in fourth Street.  
Speaker 10    00:44:07    So I've had a lot of traffic people, I've actually had to put a, a lock on my fence to avoid that from happening. And like I said earlier, I have no privacy. I want to be able to grill, give my dog and future kids a safer space and enjoy some sense of privacy. I don't have a fence on either side. I have, there's anyone walking on the street on the sidewalk on either side of my house has complete clear view of my backyard. I, I gotta a grill. I haven't used it yet just because it doesn't feel it doesn't feel right.  
Speaker 0     00:44:40    Thank you sir. Jonathan, can you jump in on this, sir?  
Speaker 6     00:44:46    Yes, certainly. Mr. Garcia, have you seen the report dated December 18th, 2024?  
Speaker 10    00:44:54    I don't believe so.  
Speaker 6     00:44:56    I mailed it to you. Okay, so in that report, I'll, I'll walk through it with you now. So one of the things that staff was, wanted some more information from you on. As you said, elk Street is the quieter of the two streets. You're only asking for the fence along elk and not to enclose the entire yard. Could you explain why?  
Speaker 10    00:45:16    Yeah, well because Elk Street has a larger, wider view on 1600 on the, I'm sorry, on the fourth Street side I have some landscaping and that's kind of where the cars are parked. So it sort of blocks most of the view without requiring a fence. But on the other side, on the Elk Street, it's, it's completely a wide open. So just putting a fence on that side would gimme sufficient privacy to be in my backyard and not have full, you know, vision of all my surroundings. It it does, if you drive by the property, you'll see exactly what I'm talking about or even look on Google maps, you'll see what I'm referring to the, that has some privacy already.  
Speaker 6     00:45:58    Okay. And one of the other comments we had was to have the fence run from the, the back corner of the house where it looks like there's a, a landing next to the bill code doors, have it run from the corner of the house to the corner of the garage where it currently is. Just to have that be set a little bit further back from the street. Is that something you're agreeable to?  
Speaker 10    00:46:21    Absolutely, yes. That's, that's reasonable.  
Speaker 6     00:46:24    And just for the, the board's, for the, for the sake of the board, while it is a six foot fence, the top 15 inches is an open picket, so it isn't a, a full six foot solid fence. We would require there to be some buffering, just a landscape buffer just so that way it's not a huge white visual impediment. So if we could get some landscape screening in there installed within, say, 90 days of the installation of the fence.  
Speaker 10    00:46:58    Okay. I dunno exactly what, what that ref, like, what that means. So the, the, the example of the fence I sent in has that piece at the top where it's sort of open like you mentioned would Yep. If it were strictly closed off like a, you know, like the typical ones we see, would that be permitted or does it have to be the example that I sent in? They're both six foot, it's just the difference of the top part. One is you  
Speaker 6     00:47:23    Would be, you would be allowed to do either, either one. We'd still wanna see, we would still wanna see some shrubs, some landscaping at the bottom of the fence to soften it up.  
Speaker 10    00:47:33    Okay. On the street side? Yeah, right on the outside obviously. Yeah. Okay. I can, I can get that done. That's not a problem.  
Speaker 6     00:47:39    Okay. And then,  
Speaker 0     00:47:40    We'll,  
Speaker 6     00:47:41    I'm sorry, go ahead Mr. Chairman,  
Speaker 0     00:47:43    I was, I just wanted you to address the shed and garage replacement in, in the future. Yes,  
Speaker 6     00:47:48    Yes, yes. And then last, last two points, the shed of the garage, if you need to replace 'em or significantly reconstruct or repair them, it's going to need to be in a conforming location, but for the purposes of this application, we'll we'll allow them to remain where they are.  
Speaker 10    00:48:06    Okay? Yeah, the shed has been removed. The, the only thing that's there currently is the  
Speaker 6     00:48:10    Garage shed has been removed. Okay,  
Speaker 0     00:48:12    Good. Thank you Johnson.  
Speaker 6     00:48:14    Okay. And then we just made a comment just for the board, that prior board approval in 1990 permits this, this dwelling as a valid prior non-conforming use as a three family dwelling.  
Speaker 0     00:48:25    Got it. Thank you, Jonathan. Any other? Okay, no further  
Speaker 6     00:48:30    Question. Thank you.  
Speaker 0     00:48:34    Anyone else on the board have any questions? If not, I'd like to open it to the public. Anyone in the public have any comments or questions about this application?  
Speaker 1     00:48:42    Can you could just raise your hand? No. One chairman.  
Speaker 0     00:48:47    Okay. Close the public portion. I'd make a motion to approve this application. I'll second please call a roll.  
Speaker 1     00:48:55    Mr. Wasteman? Yes. Mr. Tillery?  
Speaker 0     00:48:58    Yes.  
Speaker 1     00:48:59    Did Kalpesh ever show up Mr. Regio? Yes. Client. Mr. Mitterando? Yes. Mr. Riley? Yes. And Chairman Cahill?  
Speaker 0     00:49:11    Yes. Your application has been approved on the condition that you comply with Mr. Mizrahi's report. We will memorialize this at our next meeting and send a copy to you. You don't need to be here for that. Good luck.  
Speaker 10    00:49:23    Thank you very much  
Speaker 1     00:49:25    Everyone sir. Good night. Thanks.  
Speaker 6     00:49:26    We'll be in touch.  
Speaker 0     00:49:27    Let's move on to item number seven, which is 25 dash zb dash zero three B Kabin and Ken Ja Patel are the applicants present?  
Speaker 11    00:49:40    Yes. Okay.  
Speaker 0     00:49:42    And he just 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 11    00:49:49    Yes. Yes.  
Speaker 0     00:49:50    Your name and address please?  
Speaker 11    00:49:53    Deon Ruth Place, Piscataway New Jersey.  
Speaker 0     00:49:55    And who am I speaking with?  
Speaker 11    00:49:57    This is Bennet Patel and Gel Patel.  
Speaker 0     00:50:00    Thank you. Could you explain to the board while you're here?  
Speaker 11    00:50:05    Yes. So when my house was built by the contractor, the canopy was built little larger than the plant showed by my architect. I'm seeking variance for that.  
Speaker 0     00:50:24    Jonathan, you wanna get of you sir.  
Speaker 6     00:50:27    Certainly we don't have an issue with the canopy remaining. The staff's concerns regarding the, the structures, the masonry structures, the landscaping, and the lights that are existing currently in the right of way. The, the road currently is a 50 foot right away. The master plan width is 66 feet. So we're going to need an eight foot right away easement on the Patel's property. So that would require all of the, all of the masonry restructures, the lights and the landscaping in that area to be removed.  
Speaker 11    00:51:07    Okay. So the question is, is that like the driveway that you're saying?  
Speaker 6     00:51:15    No, the driveway. The driveway is fine. So what what we're referring to is you have, you have masonry walls, you have a stonewall?  
Speaker 11    00:51:22    No, sorry, I don't have any, I don't have any.  
Speaker 6     00:51:31    Oh, I, when we did a  
Speaker 11    00:51:33    To the left of the driveway  
Speaker 6     00:51:35    When we did a review of the site on the side of the driveway, it looks like it's, it's less than a Oh on  
Speaker 11    00:51:39    The side of the driveway you mean the Yes. Okay. So by removing that, can I build like just a driveway on that top of it or how do you want me to remove it? That asking  
Speaker 6     00:51:54    However you choose to remove it is up to you. There's no restriction as far as I know for replacing that with additional blacktop for the driveway. But that, if  
Speaker 12    00:52:09    I may help out this conversation, if I could speak on behalf of the applicant.  
Speaker 0     00:52:14    Who are you sir?  
Speaker 12    00:52:15    My name is Corey Fernandez. I was the architect on the rebuild project originally.  
Speaker 0     00:52:21    Okay. Could you raise your wo could, do you swear the testimony you're about to give should be the truth?  
Speaker 12    00:52:28    I do.  
Speaker 0     00:52:30    Thank you  
Speaker 12    00:52:33    For, for some background. Licensed architect. Since 2016 I've appeared before neighboring communities, boards, Hillsborough, Bridgewater Ton Somerville licenses in good standing active in New Jersey and New York. And my company's based outta Somerville, New Jersey. Okay,  
Speaker 0     00:52:58    You can proceed sir.  
Speaker 12    00:52:59    Thank you. So just a little history on the project, there was a file house when the owner was rebuilding, he elected to make some improvements. I helped the owner make the improvements. As part of that we designed the portico, the plans that went into the com township. The portico was within the setback. The contractor made the portico a little bit bigger, which was in infringing on the front setback. So the variance we're seeking is the required front setback is 25 feet, whereas the proposed portico or the already built portico is 23.9 feet. I spoke with the owner regarding making the, the changes to the front part of the site in order to meet on the new 66 foot right away. And I think he's ready, willing, and able to make those changes. But what we'd like to ask the board is to be very specific in the resolution so that, you know, we can come up with the right language to tell a contractor to do this work. So if it's okay, I'd like to present a Google Street view so we can look at the site elements that the board believes is in the right of way and and select which ones need to be removed. Would that be okay?  
Speaker 0     00:54:27    Okay. With me. Jonathan's my expert. Jonathan, you okay with this?  
Speaker 6     00:54:30    Yes, thank you. Okay. Please  
Speaker 0     00:54:32    Proceed court.  
Speaker 12    00:54:33    Okay, thank you.  
Speaker 14    00:54:49    Okay, gimme share, share screen. Okay,  
Speaker 12    00:54:56    I am sharing a Google Street view. I will rotate it a little bit, but if you want I can take a screenshot and we can submit this as exhibit A one. A one? Yes. Okay. So looking at the front yard, I'm try not to move as much as possible. We have a small retaining wall, we have a light, another masonry element. And I'm just gonna scroll a bit to the left. We have another light monument here and a Belgian block curb. So if, if the engineer could just explain which elements specifically we need need to be removed.  
Speaker 6     00:55:37    Certainly. So there is a, looks like a CMU block construction with the stone veneer with the stone cap that the light fixtures affix the top, that entire mason restructure. Not the Belgium block curbing, but that entire structure that appears to be anywhere in the ballpark of 12 to 16 inches in height. That must be removed if it's in the township right of way.  
Speaker 12    00:56:06    Understood. I'm just gonna scroll to the left here. And we have a little bit of that wall here as well.  
Speaker 6     00:56:15    The same, the same comment for the other side, especially that, especially that light fixture, it looks like it's less than two feet from the, the  
Speaker 0     00:56:22    Curb.  
Speaker 12    00:56:27    I am just gonna switch, let me just take a screenshot of this. I can submit it to the board afterwards, submit it. So this is the property survey which was submitted as part of the original variance application with exception of these two lines, which I just drew earlier in this meeting. This line represents 33 feet from the right of way. So this is the line that I understand is the new right of way and everything in front of this would have to be removed as a contingency of approval?  
Speaker 0     00:57:09    That is correct.  
Speaker 12    00:57:12    Okay. I, I think it, it's all workable. I'm a little concerned that the retaining wall actually is acting as a retaining wall for this higher slope here. And when we remove it, there will be some grading concerns on both sides. But we, we'd have to, you know, tackle it with, you know, with a civil engineer and see how we can grade this properly without the wall.  
Speaker 0     00:57:39    And Mr. Fernandez, would you like to submit that last drawing that you showed us with those two red lines so that I can attach that to the resolution?  
Speaker 12    00:57:47    Yes, we can submit this as exhibit A two.  
Speaker 0     00:57:51    Yes. And, and and that should give you some clarification for any contractor that's gonna do the work.  
Speaker 12    00:57:57    Yes.  
Speaker 0     00:57:59    Okay. And Jonathan, we have no issues with the portico? No. It can stay where it is. Yes. Got it. Any other members have any questions or comments about this application? No. Was that a yes or what do make mistakes? No. Okay. Open it to the public at this point. Anyone in the public have any questions or comments about this? This application?  
Speaker 1     00:58:28    No. One chairman.  
Speaker 0     00:58:29    Okay. Cory, could you on screen un share?  
Speaker 12    00:58:33    Yes. Just thank you. Gimme a moment. I'm working with  
Speaker 0     00:58:36    Take, take your time. We're gonna vote. I'd make a motion to approve this application with the changes that Jonathan suggested. I'll second it. Can I get a roll call?  
Speaker 1     00:58:46    Mr. Weisman? Yes. Mr. Tillery? Yes. Mr. Regio? Yes. Mr. Mitterando? Yes. Mr. Ley? Yes. And Chairman Cahill?  
Speaker 0     00:58:55    Yes. Your application for the portico variance has been granted the structures in the right of way, it must be removed and you can submit those items so I can attach that to the resolution. Thank you. Alright.  
Speaker 12    00:59:11    Okay, sounds good. My apologies. I'm just trying to figure out how to unshare this  
Speaker 0     00:59:25    In the meantime. We're gonna move on to item number 8 24 dash ZB dash 71 V Paul and Nanette Maney. Mr. Kaplan, are you present?  
Speaker 12    00:59:37    Can you hear me?  
Speaker 0     00:59:38    Yes sir. Yes sir.  
Speaker 12    00:59:40    Good evening. Richard Kaplan Ruben Kaplan Associates on behalf of Paul and Minette Maney property is 1427 West fourth Street. It's an R 75 zone. The purpose of the application is to apply for a certificate of pre-existing non-conforming use. It's a two-family house, it's a single family zone. We'd like to continue the two-family use. We have, I have two witnesses. One is Nanette Maney. She's the property owner. Her family's lived there since 1964 and she'll testify briefly about that. We have one expert, Paul Ricci. He's written a report, which is in the application. The report is dated October 21, 24. It's maybe 30 pages. There's exhibits which include photographs, aerial photograph, property deeds, tax assessment, records, building files, WW we're gonna try to be brief. The application we think is complete. The report is fairly complete and we believe that we've satisfied the criteria. So my first witness is Nanette Maney. You want them sworn in separately as they testify?  
Speaker 0     01:01:08    Yes, because Maney, are you present?  
Speaker 12    01:01:14    She's definitely present. I'm not sure if she knows how to unmute. Yes. Okay, there she is.  
Speaker 0     01:01:18    Okay. I need to swear you in. Could you raise your right hand? Do you swear the testimony you're about to give should be the truth?  
Speaker 15    01:01:24    Yes.  
Speaker 0     01:01:25    Okay. Your name and address please.  
Speaker 15    01:01:27    Nanette Maney. 1427 West fourth Street, Piscataway, New Jersey.  
Speaker 0     01:01:33    Thank you.  
Speaker 12    01:01:36    Ms. Maney, when did your family purchase the house?  
Speaker 15    01:01:41    My father and mother bought it in 1964 as a two-family house.  
Speaker 12    01:01:45    And at the time you were living in the house?  
Speaker 15    01:01:48    Yes, I was six years old when we moved here.  
Speaker 12    01:01:50    And have you or other family members lived there continuously since 1964.  
Speaker 15    01:01:57    My parents have, I lived here till I got married, then I moved away and then I came back to take care of my elderly parents for about 20 years and I'm still here.  
Speaker 12    01:02:06    But even when you were away, you'd come to visit, so you know that it continued to be a two family home, right?  
Speaker 15    01:02:13    Absolutely.  
Speaker 12    01:02:14    And do you know approximately when the house was built?  
Speaker 15    01:02:19    I think the records showed 1924.  
Speaker 12    01:02:22    And did you op do an Oprah request of the town to get whatever assessment records existed?  
Speaker 15    01:02:29    Yes, we did.  
Speaker 12    01:02:30    And that shows back to 1956 that it was a two family?  
Speaker 15    01:02:34    Yes.  
Speaker 12    01:02:35    And that's included in as one of the exhibits in Mr. Ricci's report?  
Speaker 15    01:02:39    Yes.  
Speaker 12    01:02:41    And you, you, you saw one of the reports having to do with mailboxes. Can you explain what the history was of that and what you've done recently? So  
Speaker 15    01:02:53    The recommendation at the end of the report was that there was only one mailbox for the two family, but we just always had just the one and we would just separate the mail every day and hand it to the tenant. But since we did get the report and we accepted the recommendation, we went out the next day, purchased one and attached one to the house. So we now have apartment one and apartment two with the tenant's names on the other one.  
Speaker 12    01:03:21    And that's Mr. Chadwick's report, right? Yes. So just in summary, your family purchased in 1964. You or other family members have lived there since then? It's always been a two family house. And as far as you know, it was built as a two family house in around 1924?  
Speaker 15    01:03:38    Yes.  
Speaker 12    01:03:39    Okay. Th that's really the, the limit of what I wanted Ms. Manfred to say.  
Speaker 0     01:03:46    Okay. Thank you for putting it on the record. Any other members of board of any questions or comments about this? Hearing? None. I'm gonna open it to the public. I think there's one more witness. Oh, there's nothing.  
Speaker 12    01:03:59    There's one more witness, Mr. Mr. Ricci,  
Speaker 0     01:04:01    Please, please put 'em on. Mr.  
Speaker 12    01:04:04    Richie and Mr. Ricci is gonna be testifying as a professional planner, so we will give us credentials if you'd like.  
Speaker 0     01:04:13    Mr. Ritchie, do you swear that the testimony you're about to give should be the truth?  
Speaker 16    01:04:17    I do.  
Speaker 0     01:04:18    Thank you. Your name and address, please?  
Speaker 16    01:04:20    Paul Ricky, R-I-C-C-I 1 7 7 Monmouth Avenue. Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey. Thank  
Speaker 12    01:04:27    You. And could you briefly provide your credentials for board's approval?  
Speaker 16    01:04:32    Sure. I'm a licensed professional planner in the state of New Jersey. I've been licensed since the year 2000. I'm also a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners or, or, or National certification. I have a master's degree in city and regional Planning from Rutgers University, which I received 1997.  
Speaker 0     01:04:50    Your your credentials are, are fantastic, sir, we we can proceed.  
Speaker 12    01:04:54    Mr. Richie, could you give us a brief summary of your report? Just, just it, it's in the application, so we don't really want you to go through though.  
Speaker 16    01:05:02    Sure. I I can be very concise. I was reached out by you and the maney to, to undertake an evaluation to, to study the property and provide a planning opinion whether this property was indeed a illegally non-conforming two family home. You've already provided much of that information. I conducted a site visit during my site visit. I talk about this in the report I observed two electric meters, two hot water heaters, two oil heaters, two new natural gas heaters for a conversion. Two separate front doors as you come to the building past the front open door with very old wood and decorative, with a separate entranceway up to the second floor right af after that front entrance door, we went into two separate doors. In the back of the home, there's a stairwell that runs to the second floor upper unit all the way down to the basement and out to the rear yard. I, I witnessed generally old woodwork. I've lived in two homes like this in my time. One in New Brunswick as a graduate student, one in Westfield a few years later.  
Speaker 16    01:06:11    So the type of home was familiar to me as a, as a, as a traditional two family home design. I looked at the township records, I looked at the township records that showed, and I confirmed this with the tax assessor that the home was identified as a two family home and the township's tax records, it's been taxed that way for as long as digital records exist. I, I did review, and it's in the, it's in part of my report, the 1956 tax evaluation card that showed this property as a, as a two family home when it was evaluated. And again, the, the home in, in my planning finding showed classic features of a two-family home. So it was, it was my opinion in the, in the report that this application qualified to be a, for a certificate of non-conformity on the wall.  
Speaker 12    01:07:05    And in your professional opinion, the house was built as a two-family house in 19 Yes. 4 19 25.  
Speaker 16    01:07:10    Thank you. Yes, indeed.  
Speaker 12    01:07:14    We, we think this, the report speaks for itself. So rather than, you know, going through the exhibits and the details, you know, we can answer any questions. But like I said, we think the report speaks for itself and the criteria have been met based on the testimony and the report that was submitted.  
Speaker 0     01:07:34    I believe that as well, sir. And I'm gonna open it to the public now. Any questions or comments from the public about this application?  
Speaker 1     01:07:44    No. One chairman.  
Speaker 0     01:07:45    Okay. Close the public portion. I make a motion to approve this application. Can I get a second? I'll second it. Thank you. Call roll.  
Speaker 1     01:07:53    Mr. Weisman? Yes. Mr. Tillery? Yes. Mr. Regio? Yes. Mr. Blo?  
Speaker 16    01:07:59    Yes.  
Speaker 1     01:08:01    Mr. Mitterando? Yes. Mr. Yes. And Chairman Cahill?  
Speaker 0     01:08:05    Yes. Thank you. Memorialize this in our next  
Speaker 12    01:08:09    Meeting. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. Goodnight.  
Speaker 0     01:08:11    Goodnight gentlemen. Let's move on to item number 9 20 24 dash ZB dash 66 slash 67 B solar landscape LLC.  
Speaker 18    01:08:26    Good evening. Donna Jennings from Law firm of w Goldman and Spitzer on behalf of Solar Landscape LLC.  
Speaker 0     01:08:33    Good evening.  
Speaker 18    01:08:34    Would you guys let me just to begin?  
Speaker 0     01:08:36    Yes, sure, please.  
Speaker 18    01:08:38    Okay, thank you. So as the board is aware, the applicant is here this evening seeking minor site plan approval with a conditional use variance and bulk variances to install rooftop community solar panels on the existing warehouse and office building with associated ground mount equipment on property located at one 40 Ethel Road West and identified as block 9 1 0 1 lot 5 51 0.01 on the township's tax maps. The property's approximately 6.2 acres as located in the LI zone. The existing warehouse and office building will remain just for the board's benefit. Solar landscape is a premier commercial rooftop solar developer in the country. As a leader in commercial real estate clean energy development, the applicant has invested heavily into its building capabilities to support the next phase of its growth. This past year the applicant secured 847 million in project investment and financing, enabling it to continue its growth and create more than 200 commercial rooftop solar project to power over 50,000 households.  
Speaker 18    01:09:45    The state first launched the Community Solar program as a pilot program in 2018 and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has since established a permanent community solar program. Individuals and businesses are now able to greatly benefit from solar energy systems without needing to install solar panels on their own property. Instead, solar energy is generated offsite for use by members of the program. Members receive several benefits including paying a reduced energy bill by utilizing clean and renewable energy resources. Significantly. These community solar projects are required to serve a majority of low and moderate income households in the present application. Rooftop solar panels are permitted as a conditional use in the LI zone. The applicant requires a conditional use variance from standards in ordinance section 21 dash 1 0 14 0.3 A with respect to installing the ground mounted equipment in the front yard and installing accessory structures in the front yard, which is the pole.  
Speaker 18    01:10:48    The applicant also requires relief with respect to installing accessory equipment in the front yard and not providing fiber optic conduits along the property frontage as well as sidewalks along Ethel Road. The record will show the applicant satisfies both the positive and the negative criteria. The positive criteria is satisfied as a matter of law because of municipal land use law specifically recognizes solar energy facilities as inherently beneficial or a use which is universally considered a value to the community because it fundamentally serves the public good and promotes the general welfare. The record will further show that the applicant satisfies the negative criteria because the impact on the surrounding properties and the effect on the intent and purpose of the zone plan and zoning orders are de minimis. As acknowledged by Mr. Chadwick's January 33 view letter, the proposed landscaping will provide adequate screening for the equipment in the front yard.  
Speaker 18    01:11:43    Generally, the proposed rooftop panels and equipment will not have any impact on the surrounding land uses. In support of the application, the applicant will rely on two expert witnesses, Ryan osi, the engineer, and Andrew Janu, our professional planner. We do also have members of solar landscape on the line. If there's a particular question that neither of the experts are able to answer, we'll have them sworn in to answer those questions. And this is a matter of record keeping. I did wanna acknowledge that the applicant's receipt of the following three reports, the engineering planning development dated February 13th, 2025. The board planner report dated 20 January 30th, 2025 and Fire Prevention Bureau dated November 14th, 2024. So with that, if Ryan is out there, we'd like to get him sworn in and he can begin.  
Speaker 0     01:12:36    Ryan, are you out there?  
Speaker 18    01:12:38    Yes.  
Speaker 0     01:12:39    Could you, could you raise your right hand? Do you swear the testimony you're about to give should be the truth?  
Speaker 19    01:12:44    Yes.  
Speaker 0     01:12:45    Your name matters, please.  
Speaker 19    01:12:48    Ryan Holo, H-O-L-L-O-S-I. And the address is 18 19 85, highway 34 in wall, New Jersey.  
Speaker 18    01:12:57    And if you could, Ryan, just give the board the benefit of your background and qualifications please.  
Speaker 19    01:13:01    Yeah, I'm, I'm a project manager with Short Point Engineering. I'm my, graduated with my civil engineering degree from the College of New Jersey. I've been a licensed professional engineer in New Jersey since 2024. I've testified in New Jersey but never in front of the sport.  
Speaker 0     01:13:19    Thank you, sir. You can proceed ma'am.  
Speaker 18    01:13:21    Thank you. If you could, Ryan, just describe the project and if you're gonna rely on an exhibit you want to, can we pull it up so everyone can see it?  
Speaker 19    01:13:30    Yes, I will share right now. This will be exhibit A one. Let me know when you see it.  
Speaker 18    01:13:43    We can see it. Now  
Speaker 19    01:13:46    This exhibit is the proposed aerial. I mean this is the existing aerial with the proposed roof mounted solar panels in blue and the proposed ground mounted equipment with the proposed landscape in the front yard. Right.  
Speaker 18    01:14:03    So if you could describe the applicant's proposal.  
Speaker 19    01:14:06    The applicant is seeking approval to construct roof-mounted solar panels and associated ground mounted equipment on the existing building. The ground mount equipment includes new utility poles, the transformer switchboard, and other associated equipment in the front of the property.  
Speaker 18    01:14:21    Can you just with your pointer, show us where that ground mounted equipment is and the pole? Yes. And I don't know if you can zoom in on that so people can actually see it. There we go.  
Speaker 19    01:14:29    Two poles are right located here, the transformer and then associated equipment.  
Speaker 18    01:14:37    Okay. And what are those green dots?  
Speaker 19    01:14:39    And these green dots are the screening for the equipment. It's seven evergreen trees that are roughly about six to eight feet tall. And as you stated previously, the board planner letter has already approved that this is enough screening for the equipment.  
Speaker 18    01:14:56    Okay. And can you just address the power that's generated from this facility? How much is gonna be coming off of it?  
Speaker 19    01:15:01    Yeah, the it, there's approximately about 2,327 modules that will be producing more than 1.6 million kilowatt hours, which is enough to power 200 homes annually. And as this power generated by this project will be sold to residents in Piscataway and surrounding tens at a 21% discount and at least 51% of that power will be sold to low moderate income residents.  
Speaker 18    01:15:32    And if you could just address for the benefit of the board, their maintenance schedule and any corrective measures if any of the panels get damaged?  
Speaker 19    01:15:39    Yes. The maintenance schedule is usually a two man inspection team that would visit the site twice per year and perform inspections and routine maintenance. And the life expectancy on these modules is about 15 to 25 years. And once the modules reach their life expectancy, they will be decommissioned in accordance with all apple laws and regulations and replace with new modules.  
Speaker 18    01:16:00    And if the World War II grant and approval, do you know what the construction schedule would be when they would anticipate that this project would be online?  
Speaker 19    01:16:09    Upon start of construction, it usually takes about three months to complete and it's will not be phased.  
Speaker 18    01:16:15    Okay. And if you could just, I believe that there are some bulk variances and also there related to the conditional use variances. Can you just for the record, tell us what the deviations are?  
Speaker 19    01:16:26    Yes, the, the applicant is requesting a DD three condition experience, although a roof solar system is permitted as conditional use in the zone. They're not permitted when the associated equipment is installed in the front yard.  
Speaker 18    01:16:40    But what is that actual deviation? What's the requirement and what's the setback?  
Speaker 19    01:16:46    So the exist, the requirement is, if I call this or previously planned submitted, right now the proposed is 18.2 and the like, the requirement is 75 feet.  
Speaker 18    01:17:05    Okay. And is that the most ideal place to install the ground mounted equipment?  
Speaker 19    01:17:09    Yes. Since the existing electrical infrastructure is already in the front of the property, it just makes the most viable sense on this property to be between the building and the front.  
Speaker 18    01:17:20    And when you work with the utility company, they basically direct you where their poles are gonna be  
Speaker 19    01:17:24    Yes.  
Speaker 18    01:17:25    Located, yes. Okay. And what about any other outside agency approvals? Do we have the applicant have those approvals?  
Speaker 19    01:17:33    We have the Middlesex County Planning Board approval and then the Fire Prevention Bureau approval.  
Speaker 18    01:17:40    Okay. And then there were, you had an opportunity to review the letters issued by the board's consultants?  
Speaker 19    01:17:45    Yes. We will be re the applicant is also requesting two waivers. The first one is from the fiber optic installation ordinance. The ordinance indicates that the board may require non residential properties to install two four inch PVC conduit along the property frontage, I assume for potential fiber optic installation in the future. The improvements are almost exclusively located on the rooftop with minimum improvements on the ground. The proposed application has no impact on existing telecom telecommunications infrastructure and we'd respectfully, respectfully request a waiver from installing the conduit. And the second waiver would be for not installing the sidewalk at along the property frontage. Based on the conversations with the board engineer, we understand the township recently constructed Ethel Road West and would like sidewalks installed along the roadway as part of their pedestrian accessibility plan. The property is located within a commercial corridor that we would not expect to see much, if any tra pedestrian foot traffic. It appears that only two properties along at the road west between Sutton's Lane and Stelton Road have sidewalks and none on the applicant's side of the street. As such that applicant is requesting a waiver for this as well.  
Speaker 18    01:19:02    And the applicant's use itself doesn't generate any pedestrian traffic, is that correct?  
Speaker 19    01:19:07    No, the walkability on site is not being affected by the proposal.  
Speaker 18    01:19:11    Okay, thank you. That's all the direct questions I have for this witness.  
Speaker 0     01:19:16    Any other, any other members of the board of any questions or comments? Jonathan, can you reiterate the township's policy when it comes to sidewalks? Please. Again,  
Speaker 6     01:19:30    Installing these sidewalks is something we'd, we'd really need to see here to, to move this project along. It's to equity issue, it's a mobility issue. I understand your position of it being a, a commercial district that doesn't preclude folks from passing through it to other portions of the town. So we, we really need to see the pedestrian accessibility across the site.  
Speaker 18    01:20:02    Yeah, I mean, I guess our only response is, you know, we're just, we have a leaf on lease on the rooftop, not the, the property itself, the property owner controls the site, so I'm not, this would be something we'd have to work out with them, I guess.  
Speaker 4     01:20:16    Well, sidewalk closing the right of what? So the, you're not, so the township property that you would be installing the sidewalk on, is there a sidewalk across the street?  
Speaker 18    01:20:38    Ryan, can you pull a Google earth up by any chance?  
Speaker 19    01:20:41    I believe there's not sidewalk across the street, but I will pull it up right now.  
Speaker 18    01:20:45    Yeah. Can everybody take a look?  
Speaker 0     01:20:50    And Jonathan also, could you give testimony as to the benefit to the township for the conduit while they're looking that up? Certainly. Thank you.  
Speaker 6     01:21:00    So it's, it, it is a, it is an ordinance. It simply because the town is getting itself future ready for fiber optic services that are gonna benefit not only the residents, but also businesses in town. It's something that is going to need to be undertaken piece by piece. And this is an opportunity for the, the town as a whole to be brought up to speed with this forward thinking amenity and utility.  
Speaker 18    01:21:35    I mean, again, this doesn't really use the fiber optic, it wouldn't benefit the solar panels in any way.  
Speaker 4     01:21:44    It's part of infrastructure for this commercial neighborhood. It's, you know, the fact that you might not use it directly or minimally is not the real issue you heard. What the planner said is it's to put new infrastructure in place to take advantage of what technology is dictating. I I think that, you know, you got minimal, minimal improvement along the front of this property and the, the request for waivers in my judgment, don't have a lot of weight.  
Speaker 0     01:22:31    Thank you, John. Ryan, were you able to pull up that Google?  
Speaker 19    01:22:37    Yes, can, should be able to share.  
Speaker 0     01:22:40    Thanks. Appreciate you.  
Speaker 19    01:22:52    You see it,  
Speaker 4     01:22:54    The bottom, bottom portion of that screen seems to show sidewalk along the,  
Speaker 0     01:23:09    Well the applicant, I mean the, the res the property across the street is not in front of us tonight asking for  
Speaker 4     01:23:15    No,  
Speaker 0     01:23:16    You  
Speaker 4     01:23:16    Know, just saying in terms of the Yeah,  
Speaker 0     01:23:18    No, I can appreciate  
Speaker 4     01:23:19    It doesn't, you know, the road industrial areas probably 30, 40 years old and you know, the township's policies have adjusted and the sidewalk, the issue of sidewalks has gotta be 20 years policy for the community at least.  
Speaker 0     01:23:45    I've been down that road a bunch of times and I've seen people taking their lunch breaks and walking some bicyclists as well. So I Yeah, it does, it does have foot traffic and it's getting more since the apartment complex on Stelton and Ethel, they're taking in more residence. Right. So people need a place to walk, especially on that side of the town. So  
Speaker 18    01:24:04    Does the town have a, an ordinance that permits a payment in lieu of construction? Like they're, they're solar installers are not really sidewalk, you know, they're not developers. Do you have a payment in lieu?  
Speaker 0     01:24:24    Do we have a payment in lieu? No.  
Speaker 18    01:24:33    Okay. Well they're on listening and I'll wait for them to respond to me. But maybe if we don't have any more questions for Ryan, we would just move into the planning testimony and we'll please call back on these two issues.  
Speaker 0     01:24:43    Let's move, let's move on. Yeah. Okay.  
Speaker 18    01:24:47    Okay. At this time I'd like to call up our professional planner. Andrew Jano saw him.  
Speaker 0     01:24:56    Mr. Jano,  
Speaker 18    01:24:58    We can't hear you. Andrew,  
Speaker 20    01:25:00    Can you  
Speaker 18    01:25:01    Hear me now I can. Yep.  
Speaker 0     01:25:03    Yes. Mr. Jano, could you raise, raise your right hand. Do you swear that the testimony you're about to give should be the truth?  
Speaker 20    01:25:10    I do.  
Speaker 0     01:25:11    Your name and address, please.  
Speaker 20    01:25:12    Certainly. It's Andrew Janu, my principal with Beacon Planning three 15 Highway 34 Cults Neck, New Jersey.  
Speaker 0     01:25:20    Thank you. Could you spell your last name please?  
Speaker 20    01:25:22    Certainly J-A-N-I-W.  
Speaker 0     01:25:26    Thank you.  
Speaker 18    01:25:31    If you could, Andrew, the board, the benefit of your background and qualifications.  
Speaker 20    01:25:35    Certainly. I have a bachelor's and master's degree in civil engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. I am a licensed professional planner in the state of New Jersey, as well as a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners. My license are in good standing. I've been a principal of beacon planning now for 26 years, currently serving as the planner for the borough of Carter, the borough of Freehold, the township of Livingston and redevelopment advisor to South Amboy and Bayone. I've testified throughout the state of New Jersey and in 2022 I, I think you're more than qualified. Thank you.  
Speaker 18    01:26:07    Thank you. If you could, Andrew, just for the record, you've had an opportunity to visit the site in the area around the site.  
Speaker 20    01:26:13    Yes, I've reviewed, I went to the site, I've reviewed your ordinance, your master plan, the professional reports, as well as the application presented to the board this evening in preparation.  
Speaker 18    01:26:24    Okay. And if you could just review the proofs that the applicant has to demonstrate that it meets both the positive and negative criteria in order for the board to grant an approval here.  
Speaker 20    01:26:34    Certainly. So as the board knows, this property is in the LI one light industrial district, solar energy systems and particularly roof mounted solar energy systems are permitted as conditional uses. We are seeking bulk relief for front yard setback. These are existing, they're not changed by this application. 41.4 feet exists, 50 feet is required. That is unchanged by this application. Building coverage is 39.4%, whereas 35 is permitted against. We are not adding any building coverage to this. The condition that we do not satisfy with respect to the conditional use is the front yard setback for the accessory equipment. We are proposing 18.2 feet where 75 feet is required. And I think Ryan indicated on the plan where that equipment is located. It, it consists of two poles, a transformer, and then the building mounted inverter equipment and that will be screened by the landscaping as was demonstrated and reviewed.  
Speaker 20    01:27:37    In preparation for this, we have to reconcile the application with your master plan as well as with the purposes of zoning. With respect to the master plan, I think it's very clear with respect to clean energy uses, you encouraged it. You started encouraging use of green energy back in 2005 and the most recent reexamination report had a, a goal that stated the use of solar energy systems throughout the township has continued to increase in residential and industrial areas of the township and should continue to be encouraged. In addition, the township should investigate the use of renewal, renew energy sources, including wind power systems and appropriate LA areas. The continued use of renewable energy sources in the township and throughout the region will serve to reduce dependence upon non-renewable sources. Andrew,  
Speaker 18    01:28:23    Just a little slower. A little slower.  
Speaker 20    01:28:25    I'm sorry. Such as natural gas and oil. So we are on point with the purposes of your master plan, it's very clear it encourages these types of uses. What we're proposing tonight is a community solar system where the energy will be sold back to residents within your community. And at least 51% of that power will go to residents that qualify as affordable with respect to income. And as the board knows, variances can't be granted just for the benefit of an applicant. There has to be a public purpose in this case under the municipal land use law, which defines what those public purposes are, I believe we advance two of those purposes. The first is to encourage municipal action to guide the appropriate use or development of lands in the state in a manner which will promote the public health, safety, morals and general welfare. Renewable energy sources, including photovoltaic sources, are recognized by the state of New Jersey as inherently beneficial uses.  
Speaker 20    01:29:23    Meaning it's something that as of its nature on face benefits, the general welfare of a community and presumptively satisfies the property, the positive criteria in variance relief. And I do believe that is appropriate with respect to this application condition. N within the MLUL is also very much on point and that is simply to promote the utilization of renewable energy resources, which this project does. So when we're looking at the dere relief that we're seeking, we have an inherently beneficial use. It's recognized by the state as something that advances the general welfare of the public. It's something that's encouraged within your master plan. However, we do need to look at the negative criteria and an inherently beneficial test. There's something known as the seeker rec reconciliation, which talks about the identification of the public benefit of the application that is clearly providing clean energy, identifying any nuisances created by the application.  
Speaker 20    01:30:23    This is a low rise roof-mounted system. The only condition we don't satisfy is the situation of the equipment in the front yard. We're screening that it's, it's something that's somewhat mandated by PSEG in terms of where the polls go. So it's an efficient location. We are violating the setback, but we've mitigated that impact through landscaping. So we certainly believe that not we have identified very little nuisance, but would visually be intrusive, will be screened appropriately. But again, the equipment in the front yard is very minor and as you drive down Ethel, you'll see a lot of electrical equipment in the front of buildings, transformers, meter panels and the like, are situated on many of the industrial buildings in the immediate neighborhood. It's not something that's out of character. So when we balance the, the negative criteria here, meaning that the, the impact of the deviation along with how it's been mitigated, I don't think it'll be anything that creates any type of nuisance and on balance.  
Speaker 20    01:31:29    It's, it's a good use variance. It's a, it's a good energy source, it's clean, it has a minor deviation that's been mitigated. And with respect to the bulk relief that we're seeking when we're, whenever we're seeking a use variance, we could look to price fee hemmed, which says, you know, the use is somewhat of a deviation from what's generally permitted, but you can subsume the bulk standards. Here we have two bulk issues that are not being touched by this application. They were approved when this building was first situated on this property. And then the one VA variance that we are seeking again, is putting the equipment within the first 75 feet of the front yard. We've mitigated that. So when we look at it on balance, I think it's, it's a better zoning alternative. It's a good application. It'll be something that has substantial public benefit and I think this community can approve this.  
Speaker 18    01:32:20    Thank you Andrew.  
Speaker 20    01:32:21    Thank you.  
Speaker 18    01:32:26    That's essentially the testimony from the applicant. We have been communicating through text messagings and they have indicated to me that they will accept doing a sidewalk and the conduit if that's what they need to do to get this approved. They do wanna just let the board know that in the right of way there are poles and other things, so the sidewalk's not gonna be a straight line. It's gonna have to meander around some of the things that are in the, in the right of way. So hopefully that's okay. Other one then otherwise they're not gonna get into moving poles and everything else. Guy wires that are out there.  
Speaker 0     01:33:00    Understood.  
Speaker 18    01:33:02    Okay.  
Speaker 0     01:33:03    Jonathan, does that sound about right?  
Speaker 6     01:33:06    I think there should be an attempt made to work with the utility company since there is going to be some coordination needed anyway for the installation of the new poles. It'd be preferred to have that sidewalk be a straight run. And again, since you're already working with the utility company for the installation of the poles, we'd like to see some attempt be made to, to work with them on that.  
Speaker 0     01:33:28    That's, well,  
Speaker 18    01:33:29    We'll certainly ask, but I don't want it to be a condition that to be straight because I don't know with utility company, they're not that easy.  
Speaker 6     01:33:36    Understood.  
Speaker 0     01:33:38    Yeah. They can be difficult and they don't show up a lot of times as well. Exactly. So any other members of the board have any questions or comments about this application? Hearing none, I'm gonna open it to the public. Anyone, excuse me. Anyone in the public portion have any questions or comments about this application?  
Speaker 1     01:33:58    No. One chairman.  
Speaker 0     01:33:59    Okay. Close the public portion and I would make a motion to approve this application with the sidewalk and the Barbara optic conduit. Can I get a second? Yes. I'll second it. Please call the roll.  
Speaker 1     01:34:11    Mr. Weisman? Yes. Mr. Tillery.  
Speaker 0     01:34:19    Excuse? Yes.  
Speaker 1     01:34:23    Mr. Regio? Yes. Mr. Blo?  
Speaker 0     01:34:26    Yes.  
Speaker 1     01:34:27    Mr. Mitterando? Yes. Mr. Ley? Yes. And Chairman Cahill? Yes.  
Speaker 0     01:34:33    Thank  
Speaker 18    01:34:33    You so much. Have a great night everybody. Have a  
Speaker 0     01:34:35    Good night. Thank you very  
Speaker 18    01:34:36    Much.  
Speaker 0     01:34:36    Take care. Thank you. Have a great night. I'm gonna jump off right now. I'm about to lose my voice. I would ask that Mr. Weisman step in. I have it. You have 11 Steve and you? Yep. Number 11, resolutions. And you're good to go ladies and gentlemen. Have a great night. See you emotionally. Feel  
Speaker 1     01:34:52    Better, Sean. Feel better.  
Speaker 0     01:34:53    Feel better guys. Number 1125 Dish  
Speaker 21    01:34:57    ZB dash oh four V. That's the 200 Centennial property. LLC.  
Speaker 22    01:35:05    Yes. Good evening Mr. Chairman. Members of the board, Lawrence Sacks on behalf of the applicant. 200 Centennial Property LLC property located block 6 7 0 3 lot 6.07 at 200 Centennial Avenue. The property is located in the LI five zone. We're in front of you this evening to seek use variance relief to permit a autism therapy center in this office building at 200 Centennial Avenue. And we also require a bulk variance for a parking deficiency. Two, we presently have 299 parking spaces. 360 are required. And Mr. Chairman, I have two witnesses this evening. I have Amanda Dero, who is the Chief People Officer for Bierman Autism Centers. And then I also have my professional engineer and planner, Mr. Mark Lieber from East Point Engineering. We do acknowledge receiving two reports report dated February 24th, 2025 from your division of Engineering and Planning and Development. And we're certainly prepared to go through that at the appropriate time. And we also have a report from your planner, Mr. Chadwick, which we will also address. So Mr. Chairman, if I can have Amanda Dero, who I know is on the screen, if she can unmute herself and show herself and we'll get her sworn in.  
Speaker 0     01:36:38    Ms. Dero, are you present?  
Speaker 23    01:36:40    Yes.  
Speaker 0     01:36:41    I swear you in. Could you raise your right hand? Do you swear that testimony you're about to give truth?  
Speaker 23    01:36:48    I do.  
Speaker 0     01:36:50    Your name and address please?  
Speaker 23    01:36:52    My name's Amanda DiPiro. It's D-I-P-I-E-T-R-O. And my corporate address is 30 77 East 98th Street in Carmel, Indiana. 4 6 2 8 Oh my, my physical location, my work location is 12 Miles Road in Peabody, Massachusetts.  
Speaker 0     01:37:12    Thank you.  
Speaker 22    01:37:13    Thank you Mr. Kaeley. All right. Mr. Petro, what is your position with the Beerman Autism Centers?  
Speaker 23    01:37:21    I'm the Chief People Officer and also function as the Chief administrative officer as well.  
Speaker 22    01:37:26    Okay. And if you can give the board some indication as to the nature of the business of Biman Autism Centers, what, what you do and what you provide and we'll get into some more detail as well.  
Speaker 23    01:37:39    Yep, sure. So we are a healthcare organization. We treat children ages two to nine who have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. We provide a BA speech and occupational therapy as well as diagnostic services for those seeking a diagnosis for, for a SD. Each of our clients receive services that are paid through commercial health insurance or secondary state funded, you know, programs such as Medicaid. Each client is required to have a prescription for treatment and that determines the number of therapy hours they have to have authorization, you know, for for a b, a speech and occupational therapy services.  
Speaker 22    01:38:34    All right. And what does a b, A stand for?  
Speaker 23    01:38:36    Applied Behavior Analysis.  
Speaker 22    01:38:37    Okay. And you are not a school, you are strictly a healthcare provider, is that correct?  
Speaker 23    01:38:43    Correct. We are not educational in any way, shape or form. And I'm sure you know, as you all know, health insurance does not pay for, for education. These are medically necessary services that are prescribed Okay. With, you know, with a, yeah, with a prescription treatment  
Speaker 22    01:38:59    Plan. Alright. And how many facilities do you have nationwide?  
Speaker 23    01:39:02    We have 22.  
Speaker 22    01:39:05    Okay. And you have several in New Jersey already? Am I, am I correct? You have one in West Orange, Berkeley Heights, Princeton, Ramsey, and obviously, hopefully this facility in Piscataway. Correct. All right. Now we're looking to, you're going to be occupying approximately 8,900 square feet on the second floor of 200 Centennial Avenue. How many employees do you anticipate having initially at this location?  
Speaker 23    01:39:32    Probably eight to 10.  
Speaker 22    01:39:34    Okay. And what would be the maximum capacity of number of employees? I know you had mentioned to me in our discussions perhaps around 25?  
Speaker 23    01:39:41    Correct.  
Speaker 22    01:39:42    Okay. And in terms of the treatment, if you can describe to the board, is it one-to-one treatment? In other words, does each professional therapist, OT, each, each individual therapist deals with one particular child? Is that correct?  
Speaker 23    01:39:59    Correct. A hundred percent of the time we're on a one-to-one ratio. So the children are scheduled for treatment sessions with the clinician who's assigned, you know, to their case for each of their respective sessions.  
Speaker 22    01:40:15    And how long do those sessions generally? Last  
Speaker 23    01:40:18    Could be 30 minutes, you know, up to three hours. It depends on each child's prescription and treatment plan is individualized. So you know, they could have 30 hours a week of a BA therapy, but only two hours a week of occupational, you know, therapy. So the sessions are, you know, like I said, 30 minutes to, could be three hours.  
Speaker 22    01:40:43    Alright. So if we have a maximum of 25 therapists and employees on site, you would really just have a maximum of 25 patients then if it's a one-to-one ratio in terms of treatment? Correct. Yes. Okay. Alright. So I know there was, and the hours of operation are from when, when, when were when?  
Speaker 23    01:41:00    Eight to eight 15 to 4 45 Monday through Friday.  
Speaker 22    01:41:04    Right. You're not open on weekends, right?  
Speaker 23    01:41:06    Correct.  
Speaker 22    01:41:07    Okay. And in terms of deliveries, are the deliveries just the normal, normal office medical office types of deliveries? That's by either UPS, FedEx or United States Postal Service?  
Speaker 23    01:41:21    Correct.  
Speaker 22    01:41:22    No tractor trailer deliveries?  
Speaker 23    01:41:24    No. Okay.  
Speaker 22    01:41:26    All right. Yeah. All right. Now let's talk a little bit about how the children come into the facility. So give me a normal scenario. Parent has a scheduled appointment. Correct? Their child is, is going to come in, they'll park in the parking lot. Yep. They'll then walk the child into the building. Yep. Just like they were seeing any other tenant in that building. Yep. They'll walk into the interior of your therapy center, they will be delivered to a therapist. Is that correct?  
Speaker 23    01:41:56    Yep. So they would be an administrative person assigned to the front desk, just like you were to check in at the dentist. And then they're assigned, therapist meets with the parent, talks about what is gonna happen in the session, pass off of the child occurs, and, you know, then they head into their, their therapy.  
Speaker 22    01:42:18    All right. And during the time period of their scheduled appointment, they're solely with that particular therapist  
Speaker 23    01:42:24    Correct. Until they move on to the next appointment and, you know, see their next assigned therapist. Yeah.  
Speaker 22    01:42:29    Okay. Gotcha. Alright. And the parents generally will, the parents are not encouraged or, or is there even room for the parents to wait in the facility for the therapy session?  
Speaker 23    01:42:41    They don't wait. They are entitled based on our policies to come in and observe a therapy session anytime they want. So they can stay for a portion of a session. They can pop in at any time during the day if they wanted to come and observe. But typically they leave their child for the timeframe that they're there, you know, for their prescribed treatment and then come back and pick them up.  
Speaker 22    01:43:10    Okay. All right. And when it's time to pick them up, they come back to the therapy center? Yep. The child is provided to them. They walk out, yes. And they walk to the child through there? Yes. To the parking lot. Okay. All right. And in, in terms of food, is there, is there any, I know you have a kitchen perhaps in the site, but that's, that's for the staff, is that correct?  
Speaker 23    01:43:30    We have a staff kitchen and we have a refrigerator where if they have a lunchbox that needs to be put in into or refrigerator, we have storage, you know, to be able to do that. But we don't have any type of cooking equipment or, you know, they, there's a, you know, Keurig machine and a microwave.  
Speaker 22    01:43:51    Oh, okay. All right. Yeah. All right, Mr. Chairman, I don't have any further questions. I just wanted the board to be aware of what type of facility this is. It is not a school, it is a medical provider and I, 'cause there was a concern in the report raised by the engineer about a drop off in pickup operations. But again, parents are gonna be bringing their children to the site just like they were going to see any other tenant in that building. And then they're gonna be retrieving them when the session is over. So certainly if the board has any questions, Mr. Petro is available for questioning.  
Speaker 21    01:44:27    Thank you. Are there any questions on from any of the board members?  
Speaker 4     01:44:33    I have  
Speaker 21    01:44:34    John gonna go to you next. Go ahead.  
Speaker 4     01:44:37    The question that Mr. Sachs just brought up, I raised in my report, have you discussed with your landlord the ability to have reserved parking spaces next to the building, pickup and the result,  
Speaker 22    01:45:01    Mr. Chadwick, I I could probably answer that for you. If it's necessary. We could designate a few spaces in that building because if you recall, I know you're familiar with the building, there's a covered portion I'm sure the landlord would have no problem with, with designating some of those spots for this particular tenant  
Speaker 4     01:45:19    Because the clients, the autistic child can sometimes be difficult in terms of moving from a car to some other space. And I think it would be convenient for both the parents, the child and the operators to that, those spaces. So you'll do your best to get as many as possible.  
Speaker 22    01:45:41    Yes, we will. Mr. Chadwick, it's a point well taken and we'll try to get them as close to the, to the door and main door into the building onto the covered parking area. But I, but I wanted to just indicate that it's not a school where everyone's coming in at the same time. You know, these are scheduled appointments, so No,  
Speaker 4     01:45:57    It's understood. That's why I don't think you need Right. You know, 25 spaces. Correct. You know, a couple spaces is gonna do fine.  
Speaker 22    01:46:04    That's fine. There's  
Speaker 4     01:46:05    Many as you can get.  
Speaker 22    01:46:06    Will do.  
Speaker 4     01:46:08    Thank you.  
Speaker 21    01:46:10    Any other, any other? I have  
Speaker 4     01:46:11    No other question.  
Speaker 21    01:46:12    Thank you John. Jonathan, did you have any issues with this  
Speaker 6     01:46:18    Testimony? Satisfied all my questions.  
Speaker 21    01:46:22    There are no, so no. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. No other questions from the board that I'd like to open this up. Are there any other witnesses?  
Speaker 22    01:46:29    Oh, I have one more witness, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Okay. I have Mr. Mark Lieber, who is a professional engineer and planner. And I know he's here 'cause I saw  
Speaker 21    01:46:39    Him. Yes. Mr. Lieber,  
Speaker 0     01:46:40    Are you present?  
Speaker 21    01:46:41    I'm here.  
Speaker 0     01:46:43    Could you raise your right hand? Do you swear that the testimony you're about to give should be the truth?  
Speaker 21    01:46:48    Yes, I do. Your name and address please. It's Mark with a c. My last name is Leber, L-E-B-E-R, and I'm at East Point Engineering. Our office is 11 South Main Street in Marlboro.  
Speaker 22    01:47:04    All right. Mr. Lieber, if you could give the board the benefit of your professional qualifications and background.  
Speaker 21    01:47:10    Hi, good evening. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from Drexel University and completed the MBA program at Rutgers graduate school. I was licensed in 2003 as an engineer in 2005 as a planner. And in 2006 I completed the Certified Municipal Engineering Certificate program. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Lieber. That's very good.  
Speaker 22    01:47:34    Thank you Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Alright, so Mr. Lieber, primarily we're here tonight because we need a use variance and we need a bulk variance for parking. Let's talk about the parking first and then we'll, we'll, we'll wrap up with the use variance. So as part of your task, did you have occasion to take any parking counts at this particular site?  
Speaker 21    01:47:58    Yes, we did. We, we were out at the property, in fact, yesterday for a couple hours just to see what the flow is and how much activity is there. And we found that at the peak hour, which was 11:00 AM there were 32 cars in the parking lot and 267 available parking spaces.  
Speaker 22    01:48:20    All right. So roughly 10% of the parking lot, a little bit more than 10% of the lot is occupied during a peak hour?  
Speaker 21    01:48:26    It is, that's correct.  
Speaker 22    01:48:28    Okay. And well, Mr. Lieber, is that common what we're seeing today? Unfortunately with, with commercial office space in central New Jersey, we're not seeing occupancy rates that you normally would've seen in the past.  
Speaker 21    01:48:42    Yeah, I, you know, the total area of the building, including all the corridors and common areas around 62,000 square feet. And there's partial vacancy in the building, but even with the Board of tenants, which is posted in the first floor, it just doesn't seem like there's a lot of activity.  
Speaker 22    01:49:01    Okay. And this site was approved with 299 parking spaces when it was constructed, is that correct?  
Speaker 21    01:49:07    Yeah, and I've been able to verify that count with the survey that was done in September of 2020.  
Speaker 22    01:49:14    Okay. So in your professional opinion, I guess even under a C two analysis, flexible C two can this variance for parking, which I think is quite, quite dramatic in terms of the fact that there, there's really an overabundance of parking. Can that be granted without any substantial detriment to the public good?  
Speaker 21    01:49:36    Yes, a hundred percent. I mean, if there's one property that I've witnessed, this one certainly does not have a parking issue.  
Speaker 22    01:49:43    All right. And in terms of any impact on the surrounding neighborhood, are there any other site improvements proposed with this particular project?  
Speaker 21    01:49:52    No, there are not.  
Speaker 22    01:49:53    Okay. We'll get into the report 'cause I know there are some site site cleanup issues that the staff wants us to address. All right. And in terms of the use variance, now I know Mr. Chadwick in his report mentions, and I agree with him that this is an inherently beneficial use, so we don't need to satisfy the positive criteria. If you can briefly talk about the negative criteria associated with the use variance.  
Speaker 21    01:50:20    Yes. You know, this is a term you've heard already tonight about inherently beneficial. And this type of use is afforded some protections under the MLUL because it is classified as such. And inherently beneficial uses are those that serve the public good and promote the general welfare. Most common example, that would be a hospital schools, childcare centers, group homes, many utilities. In fact, you just heard solar panels is inherently beneficial. So in the land use law, it's presumed that you would satisfy the positive criteria in the granting of a use variance if you had this protection. But what you still have to address is the site suitability and the negative criteria. Now, site suitability, this particular property is five acres. Again, you heard there's 299 parking spaces.  
Speaker 21    01:51:18    Honestly, this is a perfect property for this use. All the access and all the activity to this building is in the back. It's set back far enough from Centennial Avenue that it doesn't require any new traffic patterns. It doesn't increase any substantial traffic and trips to this property. We already discussed that parking is not a concern. The only thing that needs to be done here is an interior alteration of the 8,900 square feet space to accommodate this use. I, I mean, to me, you know, looking at this property would really be hard to conclude that this site is not suitable for the use because it's almost set up exactly for what the applicant needs.  
Speaker 21    01:52:06    And I wanna talk about potential negatives and detriments. Again, it's hard to find because when we hear applications and we talk about negatives and detriments, the two most common things in New Jersey are traffic and stormwater. There's no changes to the site proposed. And we already discussed that this is not a significant traffic generator. And other negatives that you typically hear about is, you know, things that are associated with land disturbance, you know, construction activities, you know, work within wetlands and environmentally sensitive areas, tree removal, all those types of things don't even apply to the application. It's literally an existing building that we're reusing a vacant space that's right now not utilized and we're not creating a nuisance in any way. We're not interfering with the neighborhood. There's very similar large buildings on this road, which are all mixed uses. So I don't think that there's an incompatibility with the neighborhood. So I really don't find any negatives associated with this.  
Speaker 22    01:53:13    Okay, thank you Mr. Leber. I think that that covers that testimony. Mr. Chairman, if you don't mind, I would like to just briefly go through the report, the two reports, and then certainly Mr. Lieber's available for any questioning. All right. So we have the report.  
Speaker 4     01:53:28    I, I could help you out my report. You would be read  
Speaker 22    01:53:31    Your report. Mr. Chadwick, I have no, no issue with your report. So, and I really don't have any issue with the engineering report. I just want to get some clarification and, and maybe make a few requests. So as to the February 24th report from your division of engineering and planning and development, certainly, certainly if we have to comply with any affordable housing obligation, we we will do that. But I, I'm not sure if it's even applicable in this matter. Number two, we'll certainly have everything reviewed by your township fire commissioner. I think we've addressed number three through the testimony of Mr. Petro. Number four. I think we addressed with Mr. Chadwick, we'll work with the landlord to try to get his, get a few spaces close to the building, which will be dedicated for patients to be dropped off. Number five, I think, again, was also addressed by the testimony of Mr. Petro. And I think that runs consistent with number four. Number six, I mean, obviously we we're not gonna be getting any, any deliveries of any significance other than maybe some paper or an Amazon delivery to this office. So I don't think we should really be required to provide any specific loading zone. I'll defer to your engineer on that.  
Speaker 22    01:54:55    Number seven, yes, of course, we'll, we'll clean up the site in terms of any dead dying or missing trees. Mr. Lieber, can you comment on number eight? I know there was a request or a suggestion about some parking islands being added to the plan.  
Speaker 21    01:55:15    The addition of the parking islands would just further reduce parking. I I, you know, I don't know if that's what the board's intent is here. Again, there's no site improvements proposed as part of this project. It's just an interior alteration to accommodate a new tenant. So, you know, I I, I don't know really if the client is open to installing these islands. I think I'd need to get feedback from the board.  
Speaker 22    01:55:44    Yeah, I mean obviously at this point, Mr. Chairman, I think we'd like to request a waiver of that. You know, certainly if we were doing some site improvements, I think we'd be, it'd probably be more appropriate, but I'll defer to your engineer on that. Number nine, yes, if there's a shipping container, it will be removed. Number 10. Yeah, I think there is, I've been to the site, we'll clean up any debris that's under the covered parking area. Number 11, I did speak to the client and if the dumpster enclosure has not been completed, we will make sure that it's completed with appropriate fencing. I think that's probably maybe what your engineer is referring to Mr. Lieber. How about number 12? I know the ev there's a request about ev charging stations, if you can comment on that.  
Speaker 21    01:56:35    Yeah, I spoke with the owner. And would it be acceptable if we provided one dual charger, which would address two spaces and that really would cover the requirement for what is presumed this tenant's occupancy?  
Speaker 0     01:56:55    No.  
Speaker 6     01:56:56    If it's covering, if it's covering the, the number of spaces required for the amount of occupancy, one dual, in my opinion, should be sufficient. I know, John, if you feel, if you feel similarly,  
Speaker 4     01:57:09    I've had the same circumstance. The dual facility is fine.  
Speaker 22    01:57:15    Okay. Thank you. All right. Number 13. All right. That's, that's probably the big issue. We, we understand the parking lot is not in great shape. The only thing I would request with respect to the respect to the parking lot repairs would be that we prov we'd be provided a little bit more time than 12 months to do so. And we're certainly willing to enter into a developer's agreement. We would like to come up with some type of phasing schedule. Certainly, you know, we, we've got a problem with occupancy in this building. Certainly this tenant is going to help us from a financial standpoint, but we would need some time to, to go ahead and make those repairs. So if we could stretch that out past 12 months, you know, certainly that would be beneficial to the landlord. And I think for the future of the, the future viability of this building.  
Speaker 0     01:58:11    Mr. Misra, would you be comfortable with 18 months?  
Speaker 6     01:58:17    Yeah, 18 months should be fine. And we'll do a phased approach, understanding that if there's any immediate needs, yep, they get addressed first. But for the entire surface of the law, 18 months should be fine.  
Speaker 22    01:58:30    All right. And I think we're, Mr. Libra, I think we're amenable to doing the, the first 50 feet of the driveway entrance immediately. Is that correct? After you spoke to the landlord?  
Speaker 21    01:58:42    Yeah. Yeah. I mean that part right now needs attention, so I think making those turns in the right turn in, we would do that right away.  
Speaker 22    01:58:51    Okay. Let's see. Number 14, there's no signage proposed on this facility. Any signage will be in the interior of the building. Number 15 deals with the PVC fiber optic and from having listened, having listened to the seven, six prior applications, I guess we're gonna have to do that. Is that correct, Mr. Chairman?  
Speaker 21    01:59:17    Don? That is correct me.  
Speaker 22    01:59:18    Okay. Okay. Alright, we'll, we'll provide the easement. You know, I, we'll figure out how we're gonna deal with that. I'm not sure how that gets installed, but we'll come up with a plan as well. And again, we'd like all that to be part of the developer's agreement as well during that 18 month period, if that's possible. And then 16 and 17 deal with Ms. Belieber. Can you comment on 16 and 17? I think that has to deal with sidewalks, is that correct?  
Speaker 21    01:59:50    Yeah, there's a, I guess on our prior design, there's a multi-use path that's supposed to go down this portion of centennial. You know, I do have questions, for example, does the PVC conduit go under that path or does it have to go somewhere else? And then the other thing is, is this something that we could also do in stages so that that could be done after the occupancy under some other agreement?  
Speaker 6     02:00:20    I can speak with the director  
Speaker 21    02:00:22    Also. Go ahead, Jonathan.  
Speaker 6     02:00:24    Oh, sorry. I, I can speak with the director of engineering about the location of the conduit relative to the multi-use path. But these are, and I don't wanna speak for Jim here, but these are, these are items I believe we can include in the developer's agreement as well. That's  
Speaker 21    02:00:38    What I was just gonna say, Jonathan. Yeah. All right. That, that would be really helpful. I mean, it's, you know, something we could do a separate plan for and then we could show you all the stages.  
Speaker 22    02:00:49    All right, Mr. Chairman, I think I've covered the reports and I don't have anything further of Mr. Lieber, so certainly is available for any questioning.  
Speaker 21    02:00:57    Okay, I have a question. Mr. Chadwick do it. They were requesting help with the parking ice islands was Yes. Was that a recommendation that we had or was a requirement? You speaking, Jonathan brought it up. Oh, Jonathan. Okay. I'm sorry. Yeah,  
Speaker 6     02:01:15    That, that, that's alright. So the parking islands, listen, if we're, if we're addressing the, if we're addressing the missing trees, the dead trees, we're re we're resurfacing the parking lot, the planting islands were to increase the, increase the green space within the parking lot. If we're, if we're getting after the replacements of treason the lot, I'm, I'm willing to be flexible on that and certainly something we can work with, work with you on to see if that, if that makes sense to include or to let go.  
Speaker 22    02:01:47    Yeah, I mean I think we'd like to waiver on that. I mean certainly we will. We're gonna clean up that lot, Jonathan, there's no question. But you know, certainly now, if I come back at a later point with another tenant, I need a, a parking variance, I'm gonna lose a substantial number of spots. I'd hate to do that. But yeah, so we'd be asking for a waiver of that, but, but we'll work with you on terms of whatever landscaping needs to be supplemented or replaced there.  
Speaker 6     02:02:12    Okay. I, I'm open, I'm open to a waiver and just, you know, we'll see how the, how the board votes on it.  
Speaker 22    02:02:18    Okay, that's fine.  
Speaker 21    02:02:20    Mr. Chadwick, I have a question for you. The point you made about the access parking lots assigned for these, for this business, should they be marked that these parking spots are dedicated for Yes. This,  
Speaker 4     02:02:39    Yeah, I mean the, the, the nature of this, it's not like public school. Everybody shows up at eight o'clock. They're, they're kind of coming in and go and they're, they're open from what I think she said, eight 30 to 4 45 or something like that. Something like that. And I think, you know, the three or four spaces would deal with the turnover and all the autistic kids are not the same. But, you know, you, you have some that are going to be very nervous getting out of the car and it just doesn't make sense trying to drag 'em across the big parking lot and get 'em in the building.  
Speaker 22    02:03:25    I, I don't disagree with  
Speaker 4     02:03:26    For any, for anybody. So I would say yes, this I long answer for a easy question. Yes, they should be signed  
Speaker 22    02:03:34    And we'll do that.  
Speaker 21    02:03:35    Okay, thank you. Are there any, I have that's end of my questions. Anyone else on the board have any questions? Hearing none, I'd like to open this up to the public. Anyone in the public have any questions  
Speaker 0     02:03:49    Or comments  
Speaker 21    02:03:51    Or comments? Thank you. Yes,  
Speaker 1     02:03:52    We have a Michael Hazel,  
Speaker 21    02:03:56    Michael  
Speaker 24    02:03:57    Marre.  
Speaker 0     02:03:59    Mr. Hazel, I need to swear you in. Could you raise your right hand? Yes. Do you swear the testimony you're about to give should be the truth?  
Speaker 24    02:04:05    Yes.  
Speaker 0     02:04:06    Okay. Your name and address please.  
Speaker 24    02:04:08    Michael Hazel, H-A-Z-E-L and I live at three 15 another Wood Avenue.  
Speaker 0     02:04:15    Thank you. Go ahead with your question.  
Speaker 24    02:04:18    My wife here, my wife, she's also here at, directly behind the property. So we had a question about open spaces, like is there a plan to do anything outdoors where there could be more noise like playgrounds or anything of that nature?  
Speaker 22    02:04:38    Not at the present time. And if, if there ever were a playground to be introduced, it would be away from any residential areas, Mr. Hazel. But no, there's no plan.  
Speaker 0     02:04:48    They had to come in and if they wanted a playground in the future, they would have to come back before the sport.  
Speaker 22    02:04:53    That's correct.  
Speaker 24    02:04:56    I about the charging stations. Where  
Speaker 0     02:04:59    Do you, okay, I cannot hear you and I don't know who's speaking.  
Speaker 24    02:05:03    Oh no, the question about the charging stations, would they be close to the, to the entrance or would they be further back towards like where, where we are towards the back of the, the parking lot?  
Speaker 22    02:05:15    Well, I think that's gonna be dependent upon where the electric conduit can be, can you know, can match up to that. I I, I I couldn't answer that question, Mr. Hazel.  
Speaker 0     02:05:25    They're,  
Speaker 21    02:05:26    They're usually nearest to the building 'cause it's the shortest run to get to the service panel.  
Speaker 22    02:05:31    Better have better off having an engineer answer it than a lawyer. Thank you.  
Speaker 24    02:05:36    But there's only two, I've seen way too many arguments break out.  
Speaker 0     02:05:41    Mr. Hazel, we can't hear you.  
Speaker 24    02:05:43    Yeah, no, my, my wife is here too and she's letting me know that she's seen a lot of arguments break out over charging stations. So she was just wondering if that, if, if two were sufficient, if a lot of people found out that the charging stations were available, is that strictly for the use for this organization or is it open to the public?  
Speaker 22    02:06:08    Well, I guess there, there are, there are different types of charging stations that can be provided. One of them would be open to the public, the other ones would be for a fee. I, we haven't even determined that one yet, but I don't think two charging stations is going to pose an issue for anybody.  
Speaker 0     02:06:26    So, and all, all we can request is that the applicant provided a charging station for it square footage. So the one dual charging station covers the requirement for that applicant.  
Speaker 24    02:06:42    This is Marta Suarez, I'm the other owner of his property. Michael Hazel is my husband. We can't  
Speaker 0     02:06:48    Hear her. I understand. I I I cannot hear who is speaking.  
Speaker 24    02:06:52    I just introduced myself, but I'll do it again. My name is Marta Suarez. I'm the other owner of record of this property.  
Speaker 0     02:07:02    Okay, ma'am, I need to swear you in. Could you raise your right hand? Of course. Do you swear the testimony you're about to give shall be the truth?  
Speaker 24    02:07:08    Yes, I do.  
Speaker 0     02:07:10    Okay, continue. Go ahead  
Speaker 24    02:07:12    Ma'am. Alright, so now I lost my train of thought. We were talking about the placement of charging stations of the charging stations. Right. So I understand that two is all that's required and that's fine, but I don't like how wishy-washy this is sounding about the placement because I honestly, I have seen fights break out. I've seen people honking their horn all day long because two Teslas are taking up the charging stations all day. So I really would like to know where you're gonna place them. That's number one. And then I have a question for Mr. Pietro, if you don't mind.  
Speaker 22    02:07:59    Okay. Well in, in terms of the placement of the charging stations, we haven't determined that yet. I'll ask you a question. Would you like them to be placed adjacent to where your property is or would you like them placed adjacent to the building as  
Speaker 24    02:08:13    Close to the building as possible? Fine. It would fine  
Speaker 22    02:08:15    With me. That's fine. That's what we'll accommodate then. And Ms. De Petro, if you can come back on, certainly she's available for any questioning.  
Speaker 1     02:08:25    Righty.  
Speaker 24    02:08:26    I think the website of your organization and I think it's terrific. I think, you know, having them in neighborhood is no problem at all. My only concern is these events that you hold on weekends, these sensory friendly events that are on your website, they are on Saturdays. All the ones that that I was able to pull up. And I understand that you are all over the country. It's not just here in New Jersey, but the pictures that you have, some of them show what appear to be traveling, petting zoos and all kinds of stuff that I could see how they would be really appealing to the kids. But these are open to the entire community. So I wanna know how you're gonna handle traffic and noise and clean up for all of that.  
Speaker 22    02:09:21    Actually, Ms. Ha, Ms. Hazel, I could probably answer that question. There's no outdoor activities proposed under this particular lease. So their lease is to lease 8,900 square feet within this building. If they're going to have an outdoor activity, they may have it elsewhere in town, but if your concern is will it be in the parking lot? I can assure you that it will not  
Speaker 24    02:09:45    Satisfied. Thank you very much.  
Speaker 22    02:09:46    Thank you. Thank  
Speaker 24    02:09:47    You,  
Speaker 21    02:09:48    Thank you. Any other questions? Anyone else?  
Speaker 1     02:09:54    No one chairman. Any  
Speaker 21    02:09:55    Questions or consent? Thank you. I close the public portion of this. I'd like to ask one more time any questions from the board? Comments. And I would like to make a motion to approve this with the modifications made. And can I get a second?  
Speaker 24    02:10:17    I'll second it.  
Speaker 21    02:10:19    Thank you. Will the secretary take the call? A role?  
Speaker 1     02:10:22    Mr. Tillery?  
Speaker 24    02:10:23    Yes.  
Speaker 1     02:10:24    Mr. Reggio?  
Speaker 21    02:10:28    Yes.  
Speaker 1     02:10:29    Mr. Blo?  
Speaker 24    02:10:30    Yes.  
Speaker 1     02:10:31    Mr. Mitterando? Yes. Mr. Ellie?  
Speaker 0     02:10:34    Yes.  
Speaker 1     02:10:35    And Mr. Weisman? Yes.  
Speaker 0     02:10:38    Mr. Sachs. We'll memorialize this in our next meeting.  
Speaker 22    02:10:41    Thank you Mr. Kinneally. Good seeing you Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for your courtesies and I'm very impressed that you got through seven applications in in two hours, so kudos.  
Speaker 1     02:10:51    Thanks Larry.  
Speaker 22    02:10:52    Thank you. Alright.  
Speaker 21    02:10:54    Good evening. Have a good night.  
Speaker 22    02:10:55    You too. Thank you,  
Speaker 1     02:10:57    Bonnie. Thank you.  
Speaker 21    02:10:59    Moving on to item number 12, adoption of resolutions from the regular meeting of February 13th, 2025.  
Speaker 0     02:11:06    We have the resolution of Deep Kumar Patel, which you voted to approve. Mr. Weisman?  
Speaker 21    02:11:11    Yes. Yes.  
Speaker 0     02:11:12    Mr. Artillery? Yes. Yes. Mr. O'Reggio? Yes. Mr. Hondo? Yes. Mr. Ali? Yes. Those are all the resolutions for this evening.  
Speaker 21    02:11:24    Adoption number 13, adoption of the minutes from the regular meeting of February 13th, 2025. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. It passes. Thank you. Item 14, adjournment. Gonna get a motion for adjournment. I'll make it. Do I get a second? Thank you, Mr. Mitterando. All those in favor approved. Thank you. Have a good night everyone.  
Speaker 1     02:11:49    Have a good night. Good.