Transcript for Piscataway Zoning meeting on March 24 2022

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Mar 24 2022 · Zoning
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Meeting Sections
  • 00:00:20 — Meeting Opening and Roll Call
  • 00:01:23 — Agenda Adjustments and Postponements
  • 00:01:47 — Case Hearing 22-ZB-10V — Gladys Jessica 22-ZB-10V
  • 00:04:59 — Case Hearing 21-ZB-79V — Sean Fitzgerald 21-ZB-79V
  • 00:12:18 — Case Hearing 22-ZB-05/09V — Michael Murray (Williams Street Townhomes) 22-ZB-05/09V
  • 00:50:35 — Adoption of Resolutions from March 10th, 2022 Meeting
  • 00:51:53 — Meeting Adjournment
Meeting Opening and Roll Call AI  00:00:20 – 00:00:59
Chairman calls the board to order, confirms adequate notice of meeting, clerk calls roll of board members, and Pledge of Allegiance is recited.
Speaker 1Mr chairman,
Speaker 2It is only board of adjustment. Please come to order. Adequate notice of this meeting was provided in the following ways. Notice published in the courier news notice posted on the bulletin board of the municipal building notice made available to the township clerk notice sent to the Korean news and the Star-Ledger will the clerk please call the roll.
Speaker 1Mr. Weissman
Speaker 2Here.
Speaker 1Mr. Patel, Mr. O'Reggio. Mr. Blount, Mr. Hay DACA. Mr. Mitterando, Mr. Ali And chairman Chaill
Speaker 2Here. Will everyone please stand for the salute to the flag, Mr. Kinneally are there any changes to tonight's agenda?
Agenda Adjustments and Postponements AI  00:01:23 – 00:01:47
Two applications are postponed to April 28th: Craig and Denise Newton (237 forecasts) and Loreal Landscaping (278 Stilton Road) with no further notice required from applicants.
Speaker 5Yes. There are two changes to tonight's agenda. The application of Craig and Denise Newton, 2 37 forecasts are not going to be heard tonight.
Speaker 2Very true.
Speaker 5It is often until April 28th with no further notice by the applicant. The second change we have is Loreal landscaping, 2 78 Stilton road. That is also off until April 28th with no further notice by the applicant. Those are all the changes that I'm aware of.
Case Hearing 22-ZB-10V — Gladys Jessica 22-ZB-10V AI  00:01:47 – 00:04:57
Applicant sought approval to convert an existing sunroom into permanent living space at 221 River Crest Drive. Board member raised concern about front porch setback (7 feet vs. 8 feet on plan) and requested it remain flush with existing stoop and remain open. Applicant agreed to conditions. Application approved unanimously.
Speaker 2Thank you, sir. Let's move along to item number 5 22 days. DV there's 10 V. Gladys. Jesse
Speaker 5Is Ms. Jesse present.
Speaker 6I am
Speaker 5Ma'am. I need to swear you in. Could you raise your right hand? Do you swear that the testimony you're about to give shall be the truth?
Speaker 6Yes.
Speaker 5Can I have your name and address please?
Speaker 6Gladys Jessica, 2 21 river crest drive.
Speaker 5Thank you. Could you explain to the board what you'd like to do here?
Speaker 6We would like to make an addition where the current sunroom is at and make it permanent living And make it a permanent living space.
Speaker 2You have any questions or comments on this? Yes. I'm sorry.
Speaker 3Yeah, the only really comments we ha I have there is regarding the front porch. It appears that the front porch or the front stoop currently comes out about seven feet from the, from the house, not eight feet as is represented on the plan. So I don't have any issue of covering the existing stoop, creating sort of a front porch or covered entrance way through the house. I just feel that it should be limited to the existing stoop. So from what I scaled out, it's seven feet out from the, from the right of way line or from the setback line, I should say. And that's where the, the roof should, should add. So it should be flush with the assume that not protrude any further out than the existing stoop. And I don't have any really issues that, that it should remain open since it does extend out into the front yard setback. So as long as they're in agreement to keep it flush with the existing stoop size, keep it open. I don't see any real issues with this application.
Speaker 2Thanks Henry Mrs. Jessica, are you okay with that?
Speaker 6Yeah, we're fine with that.
Speaker 2Okay. Anyone else on the board have any questions for this application or this applicant hearing none. I'm going to open it to the public. Anyone in the public portion have any comments or questions with this application or this applicant
Speaker 1Nobody's raising their hand.
Speaker 2I'll close the public portion at this point. I'd make a motion to approve this application
Speaker 7On a second.
Speaker 2Please call the roll.
Speaker 1Mr. Weissman.
Speaker 7Yes.
Speaker 1Mr. Patel.
Speaker 7Yes.
Speaker 1Mr. O'Reggio.
Speaker 2Yes, Yes, Yes.
Speaker 1Mr. Mitterando. Yes. And Chairman Chaill.
Speaker 2Yes.
Speaker 5Ms. Jessica, your application has been approved based on the conditions that Mr. Hinterstein described. We will memorialize this in a written document that our next meeting, you don't need to be there for that meeting, but we will send that a copy of that document to you. And you'll need that for your building permits.
Speaker 6Thank you. Have a good night.
Case Hearing 21-ZB-79V — Sean Fitzgerald 21-ZB-79V AI  00:04:59 – 00:12:18
Applicant sought a certificate of non-conforming use for a two-family dwelling at 216 Chestnut Place. Property was originally constructed as two-family in 1921 and has been operated as such for 38 years. Professional engineer confirmed original construction as two-family dwelling. Board granted certificate of non-conforming use based on pre-existing condition.
Speaker 2Good luck, man. That was great. Let's move along to item number seven, which is 21 dish ZB dash 79 V. Sean Fitzgerald.
Speaker 5Mr. Fitzgerald present.
Speaker 7Yes, I'm here.
Speaker 5Okay. Mr. Fitzgerald, 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 7Yes.
Speaker 5Thank you. Your name and address please.
Speaker 7Sean Fitzgerald. 25 Colburn road, east Brunswick.
Speaker 5Thank you. Could you explain to the board while you're here?
Speaker 7Yes. I went in for a certificate of occupancy to rent two 16, a Chestnut place. And I was denied because they explained to me that I had a one family property and they said, I need to go to the zoning board to get it approved as a two family. And that is why I'm here, even though I've been it for a number of years as such and my tax papers say it's to single family, to family property, and I'm need to go to the board. And that's why I'm here, sir.
Speaker 5How long have you owned the property?
Speaker 738 years.
Speaker 5And when you bought it, was it a two family
Speaker 7And definitely not. I bought it from the town at a tax sale in 1985.
Speaker 5And was it, was it set up as a to family when you bought
Speaker 7Yes, sir. The property has not been altered in any form whatsoever from the original designed property that I received. The only thing that's been done to it is paint new roof, things like that. It's not been altered in any manner whatsoever.
Speaker 5Can you describe the layout please?
Speaker 7Yes. There's a one house on the left side, one house on the right side. When you walk up six steps onto an open air front porch, you walk into a living room and then you continue through the living room into an eat-in kitchen. And then there's a full bath in the back off the eating kitchen there's stairs that go down to the basement to fill it's a concrete floor basement with the water heater and forced hot air gas, water heater, gas, forced hot air. It also has a, a separate waterline, separate gas, separate electric for each side. If you would go back through the kitchen, into the living room, you'd go up the stairs and off each elf, a very small hallway. There's a bedroom towards the rear with a closet. There's a bedroom towards the front, with the closet and it's the exact duplicate, but just flipped on the other side,
Speaker 5You have any idea what year this building was built?
Speaker 7Yes. There's been a search through the county and I thought you had the document should show that it was built in 1921.
Speaker 5Mr. Chairman, you want to, you may want to check in with or eager professionals on this.
Speaker 2Yes, yes. First I would check with Mr. Chadwick and his memorandum that he sent on
Speaker 8It clearly was constructed as a two family hours in my estimation. I think the properties a need for a little love and care that
Speaker 5Mr. Fitzgerald did, did you understand that comment?
Speaker 7Yes. I have his report dated the 6th of January 22 and it states states exactly as he stated, that was developed as a two family. And he also stated under number one, that the property is assessed as a two family dwelling, no off street. Parking is provided. This is a pre-existing condition condition on street. Parking is available, property maintenance should be discussed.
Speaker 5So I think what he's saying is there needs to be some property maintenance on this property.
Speaker 7I, I plan after if I'm, if I get approval tonight, as I tried to apply for a certificate of occupancy. And I talked to Judy yesterday in that department and have also been in touch with Mr. Joe Hoff, the building director concerning the property. And if I'm approved as a two family, they will allow me for my understanding to get a certificate of occupancy applied for. And she will come over or whoever comes over from the town and whatever they suggest request or need or whatever it will be done.
Speaker 2Good. How many do you need to chime in at all?
Speaker 3No, I'm in agreement with, with John on this one, it clearly appears to have been a two family home constructed that way. I, I don't have any issues with the certification of non-conformity.
Speaker 2Thank you, Henry. Anyway, other members of the board have any questions for this applicant hearing none. I'm going to open to the public, anyone in the public portion of any comments or questions for this application? Luckily,
Speaker 1No, one's raising their hand.
Speaker 2Okay. Public.
Speaker 7I'd like to say something. If I could. There's a lady here. I believe her name is her name is Janice Brown. I saw her as one of the participants and she is the lady that owns the exact same house that is right next to my property at two 14 Chestnut place. And I think she can, she's lived in the neighborhood with her son, like forever. Her husband was born in house across the street and she owns the exact same new family property right next door. And there's a house. There's also a two family house across the street also. And I think if she's here, maybe the board might be interested in hearing what she has to say.
Speaker 2Mr. Fitzgerald, Mr. Fitzgerald.
Speaker 7Yes.
Speaker 2I think you've met the burden of proof to be honest with you. And, and while we would love to have her testimony, it's a, I don't think it's necessary at this point. Kind of enclosed the puppet portion. I'd like to make a motion to approve this application based on the testimony given this evening.
Speaker 7I would a second
Speaker 2Clerk, please call roll.
Speaker 1Mr. Weissman. Mr. Patel. Let's do O'Reggio Mr. Hay DACA. Mr. Mitterando. Yes.
Speaker 2Yes.
Speaker 5Mr. Fitzgerald, the board has granted you a certificate of non-conforming use. We will memorialize this in a written document at our next meeting. You don't need to be present for that. We will send that document to you, but you'll need that document to get your seal.
Case Hearing 22-ZB-05/09V — Michael Murray (Williams Street Townhomes) 22-ZB-05/09V AI  00:12:18 – 00:50:29
Applicant sought preliminary and final site plan approval and a sign variance for two 3-story, 6-unit townhome buildings (12 units total) at 616 Williams Street, with 2 affordable housing units. Requested 12 sq ft identification sign variance (ordinance allows 2 sq ft in residential zones). Engineer Michael Lanza Fama testified on site layout, stormwater management, parking, and utilities. Architect Brian Taylor presented updated architectural renderings with expanded stone veneer finishes. Public comment from adjacent resident (Mark Reman) regarding perimeter fencing and stormwater drainage. Board professionals noted need to comply with state EV charging requirements and confirm affordable housing unit treatment (sale vs. rental) per prior use variance resolution. Application approved with conditions requiring coordination with township professionals on staff report items.
Speaker 2Thank you. Have a great evening, sir. You too good. First name by the way. But second item number 9 22 dash ZB dash zero five slash zero nine feet. Michael Murray,
Speaker 9Good evening. Members of the board and professionals. My name is Tim arch. I'm an attorney licensed in the state of New Jersey and I'm representing Michael Murray. This is property located at 6 1 6 Williams street. It's in the <inaudible> zone. We received a use variance in June 10th, 2021 in a bifurcated use variance application that allows for our proposed use that we're proposing tonight. Tonight, we're seeking a preliminary and final site plan approval and one variance to construct a construct. Two three-story six unit townhomes took me a second to make sure all those numbers were correct, but it's a total of 12 units. And two of those units will be affordable housing units. The one variance that we are requesting is a sign variance for assigned located in the, in the front yard. That is, I believe, 12 square feet in area, and we'll discuss the need for that sign. In our testimony tonight, we do have two witnesses for our application. Tonight. One would be Mr. Michael Landes of <inaudible>. He'll be testifying as our engineer and planner. And the other is Brian Taylor. He's our architect. Before we get to the testimony, some minor housekeeping, I do believe that we've provided copies of the notice. And I would ask the board attorney if we are properly, have proper jurisdiction before this board.
Speaker 5Yes, the notice was adequate and you have jurisdiction. The board has jurisdiction to hear this matter.
Speaker 9Thank you. We also have several reports. We had Ms. Corcoran's completeness letter staff report. We have a staff report from DPW indicating no comments that is dated February 16th. We have a report from the fire. Marshall dated looks like January 31st stating that it's been approved. We have Mr. Chadwick's report dated March 3rd. We have Mr. Hinterstein report, which is dated earlier today. And we a DNR report that's dated March 23rd, 2022. I don't believe there are any other reports. I would just ask confirmation that those are all the reports that the board is aware to.
Speaker 5Those are all the reports that I have.
Speaker 9Excellent. So without any further ado, I will ask our first witness, Mr. Michael Lanza, a fam to come forward and be sworn in
Speaker 5Mr. Lends a family present.
Speaker 10Yes, I am.
Speaker 5Could you raise your right hand?
Speaker 10I have
Speaker 5You swear the testimony you're about to give should be the truth.
Speaker 10Yes, I do. My name is Michael Lonzo pharma. That's L a N Z a F a M a. I'm a licensed professional engineer land, surveyor and planner licensed in the state of New Jersey. I'm a principal with the firm of Casey and Keller Inc. 2 58 main street, Melbourne, New Jersey.
Speaker 5And Mr. Chairman, if I could interrupt here, I believe Mr. Lens of the feminine has appeared as an engineer and planner before this board on prior occasions. Yes. His credentials are acceptable. Thank you, sir.
Speaker 10Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Speaker 9Thank you, Mr. Orlando fam, before we get into your testimony, I know that you've had a chance to review all the staff reports and we'll be happy to get into any, any detail that's necessary on an item by item basis, but just as a general comment, would you agree that we can comply with, or work with the township professionals on all of the conditions of the report that were presented to us?
Speaker 10Yes, absolutely. We have copies of Mr. Chadwick's report, Mr. Hinterstein and the DNR report. We've reviewed them thoroughly as a, as a team. And I see no reason why we couldn't comply or work with the boards professionals to ensure that all of the items in the reports are addressed and or complied with.
Speaker 9Thank you. And Mr. <inaudible>, as you are familiar with the site, as you are a engineer and a planner, if you can please give us the benefit of your expertise as you, as it relates to this site.
Speaker 10Certainly I'd like to share my screen if I might. And what I'm going to begin with is an aerial image prepared by our office. It's a, an aerial photo taken through the near map software that we have available. This is an aerial image from July of 2020. This exhibit was utilized during our use variance application that we had gotten approved that Mr. R Chad referred to earlier. But for this application, we should mark it as a one Mr. Chairman,
Speaker 10A one with the aerial photo, July, 2020. So what Awan depicts is the subject property, which is six 16 William street located on, excuse me, on the, excuse me, recovering from a little bit of a cold and it's fronts on William street. It's approximately 475 feet west of mountain avenue. The property is located in the R 10 a zone. It's a 33,616 square foot parcel, which equates to 0.7, seven acres in size. It has frontage of 275 and a half feet along William street and has a depth of 122 feet. The boundary line with the barrel of Middlesex runs right down the center or William street. And the property is surrounded by the multifamily housing development known as maple Grove to the north in Middlesex barrel is more industrial uses. And the I N D district, the second exhibit I'd like to utilize is a rendered exhibit. It is the landscape plan that was submitted as part of the application, but it allows us to lay out for you the proposal and what we are planning to do with regard to the development of the property and the details regarding the variance we had received.
Speaker 10This would be a two rendered landscape plan sheet, number seven in the plans set. And what does depicts is the development of 12 townhouses, a clustered into six unit buildings. The buildings would each have a one-car garage driveways would be available in front of each of the units. So there would be access to a one-car garage, as well as the ability to park a vehicle directly in front of the garage doors. And this would be typical in each of the units. The units would, excuse me, the development would also provide visitor parking parallel to the front of the units. There would be three parallel parking spaces located along the William street frontage. We will have a single entry driveway to the site they use variances were granted. In addition to the use variance at density and building coverage. Variances were also granted the, the, the metrics of the site, the front yard requirement is 35 feet.
Speaker 10The buildings will be set back 55 feet of the side yard minimum side yard requirement is 10 feet. The buildings would be set back 10 and a half feet. The rear yard setback would be compliant at 25 feet, which is what's required under the ordinance. The building coverage would be 9,600 square feet for 28.6%. And the density would be 15.5 units per acre. This is all consistent with the variance that we had received. The building Heights would be 35 feet. And as I stated earlier, the parking would be provided one garage base, one driveway space, as well as parallel parking spaces, which would give us 24 parking spaces for the units themselves, as well as the six visitor spots bring us to a total of 30 provided where 24 are required under the residential site improvement standards. You can see from the exhibit w there would be led lighting provided there for fixtures that are proposed along the street. That would aluminate the driveway area. Excuse me.
Speaker 10There are also 12 light fixtures that would be mounted along the building facades. These units, the units on the building would be at eight foot mounting height. The units along the street are set up at 15 feet. I know in Mr. Hinterstein report, he wants us to utilize a more decorative fixture. We, the type of fixture we're proposing is kind of a typical fixture. You would see in a, in a parking area, he'd like to see us use something more decorative. We're going to be happy to do that and reduce the height to 14 feet. The lighting levels provided there's a half a foot candle minimum, and 1.3 foot candle average, which gives us a nice soft illumination over the site. Each of the units would have an outdoor patio set at grade and the rear of the property and utilities for the property would be provided from William street.
Speaker 10There is an existing sanitary sewer that comes out of chariot court. There's an existing manhole. Laterals would be extended from there along the back property line, which would allow for each unit to connect water would be extended from mountain avenue up to the site and fed into each unit electrical service, gas, telephone conduit, everything would be underground, and they would all provide for service to the buildings there. The sign we're proposing is a 12 square foot sign that would identify the site. It's located about two feet off of the right of way under your ordinances. I believe it's 21 dash 1201. We are allowed to have signs in residential areas. It's two square feet. What we're proposing is 12, and we couldn't find anything that specifically matched the type of application here other than the township does allow signage for like subdivision developments, things of that sort of up to 32 square feet, which excuse me, would be removed once all the units are sold or rented. And this particular application, we would like something more permanent that would help identify the property for visitors and anybody coming to the site.
Speaker 10Obviously the biggest consideration here is stormwater management. We will meet the new BMP regulations, best management practices, and we're achieving that by using porous pavement and allowing for storm water storage under the parking area. So runoff from the site, we would take advantage of swelled areas, grassed areas along the side of the property, as well as along the front, the way we had established the parking along the front was so that runoff water could sheet flow off and continue to the west. One of the comments and Mr. Histor scenes memo is that we perhaps provide curbing here. We do provide curbing, but it's flush curve, but we can, we can work that out. I'm sure we could still utilize the poorest pavement and still have it work. By the way, we will also increase the width of these spaces from seven feet to eight feet, as requested as part of the modifications we're going to make to comply with some of the comments is that The street would be extended to the end of the property. We would improve the Southern half of the roadway to be compliant with township standards. The curb and sidewalk would be extended across the full frontage.
Speaker 10The stormwater management would reduce peak runoff rates to meet the BNP standards Of a 50% reduction for the two year storm, 25% reduction for the ten-year storm and a 20% reduction for the 100 year storm. It would also provide for groundwater recharge, Soil erosion and sediment control measures will also be employed. And we will secure all the necessary permits to execute this, the construction on the site in conformance with the township and the county standards. One of the questions that came up in one of the memos, this, I assume we would mark as a three.
Speaker 2Yes, sir.
Speaker 10This is a truck turning exhibit prepared by my office to show how a garbage truck Might enter and exit the site. But we had envisioned is that the refuse would be brought out. There'll be normally stored in the garage units. I'm sorry. We're just going to have to take a break for a minute.
Speaker 2Take your time.
Speaker 10Refuse would be brought out to the curb line. The truck could pull in back in and they could then easily we'll walk the refuge to the back of the truck. He can then exit the site. So there's several different ways he can get in and out of the site. So it should be no problem for the refuse truck to maneuver within the site. As far as the landscaping itself, There are, We are proposing Cherry trees to kind of frame the front parking area. There'll be honey locus, shade, trees, and Yoshino, excuse me. Gingkos at the corner of the property. Evergreens seven to eight foot high would be planted on the back to help screen out the adjoining lot. There were a couple of comments in Mr. Hinterstein memo Regarding additional landscaping along the perimeter and screening the parking in the front. We're going to be working with him on that, and we'll be submitting an amended plan to him for his review and approval. We have no issue with that. There was a mislabeling Of the trees along the front. Those would be holidays, not gingkos as indicated in the List of plantings. So the only variance we seek is that for the sign. And let me just go to the summation set.
Speaker 10This is what we're talking about. Something very tasteful William street, townhomes. You're not talking about an extremely large sign. We felt that the site should have some identification And Site identification is important for life safety issues for firefighting police ambulance to come to a property. So we think it serves a purpose. We don't think that 12 square feet is excessive. We think that under the C2 criteria, that this could be granted without a substantial detriment to the public good, or the intent and purpose of the zone plan, We will be providing some decorative landscaping at the base as suggested by Mr. Hinterstein. That's about as far as I can go, I'll be happy to answer any questions.
Speaker 0Thank you.
Speaker 10You're welcome.
Speaker 2Any questions, many members of the board. I was wondering if there was going to be any electric car spaces.
Speaker 10The, I don't believe there's going to be any in the, in the public parking area, but I believe the units themselves could be equipped in the future with they could be made electric ready. I know a number of projects where we've done that, But that is a possibility, but I'd have to defer and ask my client,
Speaker 2But, but you do. And you do understand that you would have to comply with new Jersey's new statute on requiring certain developments to install electric charging stations
Speaker 10To 15% spread out over a period of time. So the, the units could be made ready as, as needed, you know, so they would be all electric ready technically. And it's just a matter of putting in the charging unit.
Speaker 9If I may just add, certainly it's a, it's a state statute. This board obviously doesn't have any jurisdiction to, to grant anything as to that. So we certainly, we have to comply with that New Jersey state ordinance as to Evie spaces. So we certainly agree to comply with that.
Speaker 2Okay. Any other members of the board have any questions
Speaker 11I'm looking at this? You had a picture of a garbage truck backing into it. I'm one of the firefighters in town. Wondering if we could get a fire apparatus to make the full turn, to get to either of the court.
Speaker 10I don't believe you could. The fire apparatus that we didn't think that you would want to come up into this area to engage one of these units. We figured you would, you would probably just want to pull up and, and gain access directly from the street.
Speaker 9And I will. And again, for the record, I will add Mr. Lanza fam. We, we did get approval from the, from Mr. Gore, the, the fire Marshall on this, on this proposal.
Speaker 11Okay. I saw that Mr. <inaudible> was part of the process. I didn't know what happened. All right. Thank you.
Speaker 2Thank you, Mr. Weissman, anyone else on the board have any questions hearing none, Mr. Archer, you could put on your next.
Speaker 8I have a gym and I have a couple, I don't know if they're to the engineer or not the affordable housing requirement, or these are going to be rental for sale.
Speaker 10Tim, did Michael make a decision on that yet?
Speaker 9I'm going to have to defer to Mr. Michael Murray, who is on,
Speaker 3I believe, I believe these have to be for sale. The use variance application required at these B townhomes. I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 10You can rent and townhomes Henry.
Speaker 3Well, the, the owner of the individual one, I think could write it, but I think the original application was apartments and I'm not mistaken. They amended it to be townhomes. Now we are whether or not a homeowner purchases it, but I don't know if they could be strictly for, for rent versus for sale the, for to that, to Mr. Kinneally.
Speaker 8Because the reason, the reason I raised the raise, the question is that if it's a rental, the two units would conform to the tangible ordinance. If it's for sale, which they certainly seem to be set up that way, then there's 0.4 unit, which means under the township board that you have to pay for that 0.4 unit. So I think you need to, my recommendation, the board is treated as an ownership that they would provide to affordable units. I believe that's the plan two bed, two bedroom, potentially three bedroom. And so that they form do the, what is the mix requirement under the affordable housing, but they'd also have to pay for value of an affordable unit, which comes right out of also the affordable housing rights.
Speaker 3The, the one issue John was as part of the use vantage application, they were limited to two bedrooms as well.
Speaker 9Correct. And we're not proposing just to, and we'll get into this with the, with the architectural, we're not proposing any three bedroom units. They are two bedroom units.
Speaker 3I think they would have to come back to the board in order to install or add an extra bedroom to any.
Speaker 8I missed that when I reviewed the resolution then,
Speaker 5And I do agree with Mr. Hinterstein that at the use variance hearing, these were contemplated as for sale townhomes. So I believe it's 2.4, not two.
Speaker 9Okay. Why would I have to, I would have to look back at the, I don't have the resolution of the previous use variance. So I would certainly look back if there is any restrictions as to rentals versus versus sales, obviously we would abide by whatever the, the approval the prior approval had and certainly whatever this is ultimately becomes, whether it is rentals or sales, obviously that's going to be to the satisfaction of the township and we will comply with the affordable housing calculation as it would apply to, to what it is.
Speaker 5Thank you.
Speaker 2The arch, please put on your next expert.
Speaker 9Oh, I would ask, are we going to, do you want to open to the public for Mr. Lenz and Emma individually, or
Speaker 2I apologize. I will just for his testimony, absolutely. Anyone in the public portion of any questions for this expert and his testimony.
Speaker 1There's a mark. Raymond Ryman puts his hand up.
Speaker 5Can you hear us?
Speaker 12Yes.
Speaker 5Could you raise your right hand? Do you swear the testimony you're about to give should be the truth?
Speaker 12Yes.
Speaker 5Your name and address please.
Speaker 12Mark reman. 1 23 chariot court, Piscataway New Jersey.
Speaker 5Thank you. Go ahead with your question.
Speaker 12So I was on the, I was on this meeting, I guess it was back in June and I am a board member of the maple, a woods association, which is actually what surrounds this property on three of the sides, not maple Grove, maple Grove is actually next to us. And so we had rec or requested that there would be a fencing around the entire property. Now in the one picture, I did see a fence next to your sign. And I just wanted to confirm that that's fence was going around three out of the four sides covering the property of maple woods.
Speaker 10We will have a fence. I do recall that from the, from the use variance hearing, it's not depicted on the landscaping plan, but the intention is yes to have a fence on three sides.
Speaker 12Okay. And would that fence be up prior to the construction of the, as the first thing is constructed or would that be like towards the end? And the reason that we are asking is because the parking situation in maple woods is, can be limited at times and the parking of construction workers and them going into throw out garbage into our dumpsters. We are asking that that be one of the first things to stop that from occurring.
Speaker 10I'm sure that we'll be able to control the, the trades as they come onto the site. We will have to have a pre-construction meeting with the engineering department in the building department prior to starting work. We'll make sure that all of the contractors that are present at that meeting are aware of the limitations on the site, and we'll make sure that nobody parks on cherry court.
Speaker 12Thank you. And the last question that I had was the, you had mentioned and talked about the drainage of that property and it is very, very saturated piece of land. I'm it rains that is a lake over there. And so I was questioning whether the current level of the ground is going to be increased, or if it stays at that level, because it actually is lower than the property to the, on your picture to the right arrow chap on 23, cherry is. So I was just wondering if that stays where it is, where it's that dip down or will that then flow into our property?
Speaker 10No, the way, the way we have it developed is we have catch basins in the back. All of the roof water would be collected along the back and run into a series of catch basins, which would then run towards the front of the site. That stormwater then ties into a manhole on the opposite side of William street, that there's a 30 inch pipe that then discharges to the west and into an open ditch. So all of that runoff will be controlled in that. So a lot of the sheet flow that used to occur in that area that might flow towards any of the adjoining properties would now be collected and directed into the storm pipe system.
Speaker 12Okay. Yeah, because if it rains heavy, for example, Ida, you literally could throw a kayak in that premiere.
Speaker 10Understood.
Speaker 2Thank you, Mr.
Speaker 5Chairman.
Speaker 2Okay. Public portions closed. Mr. Archer, please put on your next witness.
Speaker 9Thank you. My next witness will be Mr. Brian Taylor, if I can have asked that he be sworn in,
Speaker 5But you Taylor, are you present?
Speaker 13Yes, I am. Right here.
Speaker 5You raise your right hand. You swear the testimony you're about to give shall be the truth.
Speaker 13Yes, I do
Speaker 5Your name and address please.
Speaker 13Brian Taylor. My office address is 95 Watchung avenue, north Plainfield, New Jersey.
Speaker 9Mr. Taylor. You are a licensed architect in the state of New Jersey.
Speaker 13Yes I am.
Speaker 9And you've testified in front of this board in the past, is that correct?
Speaker 13Yes, I have.
Speaker 9And your credentials have not degraded or decreased since that last time testifying, is that correct?
Speaker 13That's correct.
Speaker 2I think we can proceed. Thank you.
Speaker 9Thank you, Mr. Taylor. You've you've obviously had an opportunity to, to see the site, see all the memos staff reports. You're familiar with our proposal. If you can please take the board through your architectural expertise.
Speaker 13Sure. Let me just share my screen. Can everybody see my screen?
Speaker 2Yes, sir.
Speaker 13Okay. So as it was stated, this is this project consists of two buildings, each containing six townhome units there. Each building is three stories. And what you're looking at currently is the first floor plan, which consists of a garage. It consists of a recreation room, a full bathroom, mechanical closet. Each of the units is essentially identical summer mirror. Upon the second floor, we have a kitchen with an island. We have a dining room area, the living room area and a powder room. And then up on the third floor, we have two bedrooms. We have a small sitting area. We have another full bathroom and laundry area from the last hearing that we had, we did show some of the architecturals and one of the comments were that they wanted the building to be a little bit more appealing in terms of materials. So the building was mostly just vinyl, vinyl siding.
Speaker 13It was two different colors of siding with a very small brick or I'm sorry, a stone base at the bottom. So what we did is we took those comments and understood that the building wanted to look better on all sides. And so we, we expanded the stone veneer to come up. Number one to the, basically the top of the window and door heads on the, on the first floor level. And that continues around the whole perimeter of the building. And then additionally, we brought the stone veneer up sort of, you know, up to these bays of each of the townhome units underneath the Gable roof. So, you know, we're just introducing a little bit more masonry think, you know, makes the building look a little bit more appealing. So that was one of the comments that we, we wanted to address. And that's essentially the, you know, the, the, the, the only change from what we presented last time. So it's a pretty simple building. I mean, I can answer any questions that anybody has about the, about the layouts or where the exterior,
Speaker 3The Taylor, this is Henry just quickly B the elevations that you've provided the architectural set. They they've, they don't, I think the pig, the type of stone, I would imagine that's going to be used on the building, looked like, you know, just sort of a generic block, but I know from the previous elevations, it was, you're going to choose and work with us on some of those stone materials. I imagined he'd be there, ledge stone or some kind of veneer stone. That's a little bit more decorative than just like the block simulation that's shown here. Correct?
Speaker 13Yeah. It's just a generic hatch to indicate. And that's why I kind of colorize this, but yeah, w w w we'll certainly work with you and we'd also be happy to provide a revised rendering with whatever we choose to, to go with in terms of materials.
Speaker 3Thank you.
Speaker 2Thank you, Henry. Any other members of the board have any questions I'm gonna open it to the public? I guess anyone in the public portion of any questions for this expert and the testimony just gave sparkly? I don't see anyone. Shannon. We'll close the public portion. If you want to summation him. Sorry.
Speaker 5I think perhaps you should check with your professionals to see if they think there are any open issues.
Speaker 2Fair enough, Mr. Chadwick or Henry, do you have any issues before we take this to? Well,
Speaker 8The only comment I have is if you prove this, he has to identify the two affordable units. And I think we concluded that they were for sale. So the resolution will also require a monetary payment for the partial unit.
Speaker 9If I may just, if I can respond to Mr. Chadwick momentarily, certainly if the previous, if the prior resolution in the use variance, if it, if it anticipated and indicated that it was restricted to sales and not rentals, we would, we would obviously abide by that. I just don't know that to be the case. So I would ask that that we're obviously held to whatever the previous resolution indicated in terms of that, and that we certainly will meet our affordable housing, our for, for our affordable housing requirements as a, whether it's a sales or whether it's rentals per the prior resolution,
Speaker 5Certainly the prior resolution is, is governing. So we will be able to work that out.
Speaker 9Thank you,
Speaker 8And will also have to submit their housing plan to the townships affordable housing consultant. So that gets recorded. There is in the townships plan is a requirement for different bedroom mixes, but there's an exception, small projects with disqualifies as, so they can be both two beds and we don't have to get into three bedroom issues.
Speaker 9We will certainly agree to comply with, with all those requirements.
Speaker 2Great. Thank you, Mr. Chadwick, Henry,
Speaker 5I, I think you need to, just to be careful to open it to the public for comments since we opened it for questions.
Speaker 2Okay. I'll open this public portion to, to the public at this point, for any comments about this application?
Speaker 1No one Chairman.
Speaker 2Okay. Public portions closed. Henry. Did you want to have any closing thoughts?
Speaker 3No. I think they're willing to work with us regarding the, the architecturals and also with the staff report. So I, I don't see any issues that they brought up that we can't comply with or that they won't work with the stuff. So I don't have any really anything. Negative.
Speaker 2Fantastic. Thank you, Henry. Appreciate it, Mr. Arch we're as a body will pick this to vote if you've done.
Speaker 9Certainly. I know when to shut up my mouth.
Speaker 2Okay, good. I wish more applicants will like you I'll make a motion to approve this application with the testimony that was speeding
Speaker 8Out a second
Speaker 2Clerk, please call the role
Speaker 1Mr. Weissman.
Speaker 8Yes.
Speaker 1Mr. Patel.
Speaker 8Yes.
Speaker 1Mr. O'Reggio. Mr. Blam.
Speaker 8Yes.
Speaker 1Mr. Hay. DACA.
Speaker 8Yeah.
Speaker 1Mr. Mitterando. Yes. And Chairman K help. Yes.
Speaker 5Mr. <inaudible>. Thank you so much, everybody have a wonderful evening.
Adoption of Resolutions from March 10th, 2022 Meeting AI  00:50:35 – 00:51:53
Board voted to adopt three prior resolutions: Kendra Bryan Mora (approved), Mary on Duty (approved), and Moon Builders LLC (approved). All passed unanimously.
Speaker 2Good evening, sir. We can move on down to item. Number 10. Adoption of resolutions from the regular meeting of March 10th, 2022.
Speaker 5First resolution is Kendra Bryan Mora, which you voted to approve Mr. Patel. Yes, Yes, yes, yes, yes. Probably. Yes. Cato. Yes. Next resolution is Mary on duty, which you voted to approve Mr. Weitzman. Yes. Yes. Mr. O'Reggio yes, yes, yes. Rondo yes. Yes.
Speaker 2Yes.
Speaker 5The final resolution is moon builders, LLC, which voted to approve Mr. Watson. Yes. Mr. Patel. Yes. Mr. O'Reggio. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Yes. Those are all the resolutions I have received.
Meeting Adjournment AI  00:51:53 – 00:52:18
Chairman moved to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed unanimously (all in favor). Meeting adjourned.
Speaker 2Let's go to item. Number 11. Adoption have mentioned the regular meeting of March 10th, 2022. All in favor. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. Now I remember 12 is the German. I make a motion to adjourn all in favor, say aye. Aye. They're not being anybody oppose it. Have a great evening. Once again. Thank you for your volunteering and everyone be safe. We'll see you in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 5Yeah.