e e e e e e e uh it's 7:03 good evening everyone um both adequate and electronic notice of this meeting specifying the time place and manner in which such notice was provided in accordance with the open public meetings Act njsa 10 4-6 specifically on January 9th 2024 proper notice was sent to The Courier News and the Star Ledger and file with the clerk at the township of bridgew and post in the municipal bulletin board Please be aware of the zoning Board of adjustment policy for public hearings no new applications will be heard after 9:30 p.m. and no new testimony will be Tak after 10 p.m. if you're able please rise for the salute flag I pledge Alle to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all even Roger we have a roll call please here here here I'm here all right thank you very much at this time I'd like to open up the meeting to any members of the public that would like to speak on any land use issue that is not on our agenda tonight right see none I'm going to close that portion of the meeting uh we have at least to my knowledge we have no minutes tonight right you Roger no minutes we have no resolutions Rich could you take us through what we have on our docket real quick yes so we have a few things that are being carried first one is the uh Bridgewater realy um LLC the Starbucks matter that's being carried to May 14th 2024 there'll be no further notice with respect to that um we're also uh not hearing this evening the uh belly Holdings LLC matter that is being carried to May 28th again at 7 p.m in this room without further notice from the applicant and CX Tower's application is not being heard this evening that is being being carried um to May 28th but there will be new notice from the applicant with respect to that and um the uh 1200 Route 22 land investors matter is being carried to June 11th also without further notice and the Chimney Rock application is being carried to June 11th as well also without further notice all right thank you very much and with that the Ravi family good evening 9 7 Ivy Lane good to have you come on up hopefully Suzanne got your laptop working yeah great if we could just check jurisdiction and notice yeah so uh notice was in proper form it was mailed on April 5th published on April 8th which is more than 10 days from today or prior to today so uh the board does have jurisdiction to hear the application hi there hi if I could make a suggestion do you have a copy of the Burr sarmad uh joint memo great A A lot of times it's easier if you just kind of go through that and go to the points for clarification maybe just take us through you know a high level what you're trying to do present your case and then while you're doing it try and answer as many questions as you can from that April 18th memo and before we do that I am going to swear both both of you in okay so if you would both stand please and board professionals as well I'm going to swear you in at the same time you stand Raise Your Right hands do you solemnly swear that the testimony you will give to uh to this board will be the truth the whole truth and nothing about the truth so help you God and for the record would you state your name for the record please thank you great thank you everyone all right the floor is yours thank you much appreciated um this is an exciting time for us so we've been at this for a couple of years my wife and I so wanted to take you through as you mentioned the points uh in the letter uh we will certainly address all of them tonight more closer thank you all right so first and foremost I just want to thank um the planning board and participants they've helped me uh quite a bit Lauren and I and you know like I said we've been at this for a few years now we've been excited we've been in the home since 2004 uh Lauren and I both grew up in Bridgewater she's fourth generation I'm am second um we actually met in high school in fact she was the last graduating class of Bridgewater West a falcon I was the first graduating class of Bridgewater Ron Regional he just gave away my um so one of the the biggest reasons why we're doing this is because we want to stay in town we're bringing my mother uh who's by herself now I lost my father two years ago he was actually a bridge order Township employee um for many many years she was also a bridge order Township employee as a special ed teacher and Lauren's dad was also a bridge order Township employee um so we're you know we're expanding the home to to accommodate our growing family uh which is really really important to us and we want to stay in Bradley Gardens that's where I grew up uh and we love the area the neighbors are fantastic and uh certainly love the character of the neighborhood uh we'll address the comments I have that in here I just want to make sure you know we outlin the background as we mentioned been in the home since 2004 two young kids 14 and 16 both in high school were accommodating the evolving needs of the family desire to stay uh we believe that a lot of the improvements made in the neighborhood really allowed us uh to figure out what we can do here in Bradley Gardens in this home in fact when we walked into this home in 2003 uh we loved it and we still love it and uh ultimately we want to stay there because we love the neighborhood as well uh we feel like a lot of Renovations have happened over the years and and we just waited and again over the last couple of years we've been talking about this and we feel like this will align to the overall integrity and character and contributes positively to the community the house is 97 Ivy Lane s family dwelling Zone R20 three bedroom one and a half bath and it's about a half acre lot the existing home as you can see here you see the garage to the left on the left- hand side we're going to be proposing which is one of the variances a new G before we go too far on on pictures we don't have those in advance right so um we're going to mark that do we have a hard copy of this or does did you email this send it I could send it over for sure yeah okay if you would and then I'm going to mark this as let's mark this sheet I guess as A1 and it looks like a consisting of three photographs the the front elevation the rear elevation of the home and then a family picture is that fair to say that's fair okay thank you what type of year were these taken and were they recent and who took them literally yesterday and today perfect the family family picture was about a year ago got it thank you so I'm showing the front and rear because we're going to have an addition uh to the left of the garage and on the rear where you see the deck and where you see the the patio there so the proposed house addition um to the existing single family dwelling we have a great room a new basement addition a new two-story addition to the rear with a first floor bedroom and a second floor bedroom we have a new new master bedroom on the second floor as well and a new garage uh which would be a two-car garage and then outside of the house we're proposing using uh a covered patio porch which would be uh pavers and then ultimately a candle Laver deck this is uh submitted in the plans this is the proposed addition new garage on the Le hand side the master bedroom you see to the right above which is now the living room and kitchen and then in the back as we go through this this is the left elevation see the cover porch for left as well as the garage going into the back and then the second floor Edition going into the back as well this is the other uh elevation you see the can of lever deck and that would be the great room to the right and in the back and this is the rear elevation view with the greate room on the left and then the covered porch area with the garage on the right this you don't have either this is just showing some of the homes in the area that have had additions over the last several years some of them are very much the same as ours a split level single family dwelling many of them have second car garages uh the one to the bottom left was an addition one to the middle uh right was also a recent addition all right so just for the record we're going to you know this page we're going to Mark as A2 if you refer to it if you go back to it this will be A2 just so the record can okay follow along and just so the board is clear your testimony is that your addition in your proposed project is very similar to other houses in your neighborhood very much where do these houses lie in relation to yours how far away they are the yellow ones across the street yes uh the most of them are I would say less than a quarter mile uh right around the corner one of them is on Ivy the rest of them are on Timothy and we are at the intersection of IV and and in terms of total square footage what are you asking the board for what do you what's your total propose and how does it relate to these houses so to Total propose would be similar to the one in the top left which would be you know a little over 3,000 square F feet um I'm unsure of the other homes uh but with the with the additions that they put on and the garage I'd imagine it would be very similar and they could even be uh the one in the top left I believe is thank you so just getting to the comments uh overview of proposed improvements I mentioned the the design of the house I think is consistent uh with with the character about the other homes in the area doesn't really change that the the building height which was a question zoning tables 35 ft required we are 27.6 so we're under that uh pre-existing non-conform is the backyard shed that was an existing shed when we moved in uh we did replace it uh so in essence it's still in the same spot um and then the other bulk variances and D4 variances required the minimum setback on the left hand side of the property would be for the second car garage and then the total setback would be including that second car garage but and uh staying within that 44 ft that you see Down Below in the table and then floor area ratio 16.8% is what we have calculated today I know there's a question on that which I'll get to so in essence the question was and let me start with the variance is not inconsistent with the intent and purpose of the master plan and Land Development ordinance I was asked to make sure there was testimony on that it carries out the general purpose of zoning and the question on the F calculation was due to the fact that there's the basement would be partially finished which we will note and we do have a current basement that's also storage and mechanical so uh the calculation that was in the letter was accurate and we would stay within that uh you don't have a basement now do you we do we have a crawl space so the the the question was the entire basement is 1,000 square ft under our dining room and our split level home is a crawl SPAC and then there's another section that's a basement are you going to be more basement when you do the renovation sorry are you going to be doing more basement when you do the renovation we will have we will have further extended out the basement yes under the be additional okay yes if I could just to clarify so you just the finished portion of the basement is included in your F in percentage here of 16% it should say partially finished it's it is is included but it's part that portion that is finished is included in the 16 or the 34 347 ft correct this a 221 yes the 221 is the that's the number the correct okay so other comments the mislabeled AR architectural plans will be revised and resubmitted we don't intend to do anything with the trees in the back they will not be removed as part of this project exterior lighting will be minimal uh we're not proposing any lighting off to the left side of the new garage where we need the setback the side yard setback storm order drainage the greater land the drainage pattern slopes from the northeast corner of the lot to the southeast uh 112 to the Street 103 so about 9 ft of a slope Inlet storm drain is in front of the lot if you're standing standing in on the street it's right to the left of our driveway all down spouts and gutters are collected and discharged to the curb the plans will uh note that this is a minor not a major development per Bridgewater Township storm water management and we're making note of chapter 126 280 runoff standards no new utilities are proposed that will require disturbance of IV Lane that's an important one just so you can clarify to the board you have a newly paved Street yes you cannot tear up that street and Bill maybe you want to speak to that because I know there's other cases pending why that is and why it's important for the board to know it how dare you could you um explain to the board why we have a situation in Ivy Lane that that street cannot be opened under any circumstances without penalty oh sure so the township has um a street excavation ordinance on the books right now now that uh anybody that wants to open up our road or disturb curving or sidewalk adjacent to the roadway would need to file a Road opening permit application for review and approval by the town included in that ordinance is what's called a moratorium so anytime the township resurfaces a roadway reconstructs a roadway that roadway except for emergencies cannot be disturbed for a period of 7 years so you know obviously emergencies come up whether it's utilities um somebody needs to to get in if if there's a break with a water man or something the road has to be open but we try to avoid disturbing the road at all costs if an application comes along like this and the road does need to be disturbed we would ask that a proper payment repair be performed there are some um pretty strict requirements in the ordinance as far as restoring the pavement curb to curb so a lot of times the utilities may be in the center of the road and you may just need to to disturb half the road the ordinance requires a full repair of the roadway for the width beyond the width of of of the disturbance so it's just in an order to minimize unnecessary disturbance or cuts into the roadway and ensure that it's properly repaired does that make sense I just wanted you to hear it from the man because because I me this is a big deal and the whole Township is under this moratorium whenever you're getting paved and I just wanted to make sure that there was no oops situation that you come back to the town and hey I want to open up the road it's a production so we're good all right thank you I believe I've addressed the comments that's it that's your your case all right open it up to questions from the board board members question if I recall correctly there's a line of mature trees on the right side of your home correct um I assume you're not going to be impinging on them or encroaching on them they're not going to be doing anything our trees they're neighbor on Timothy's trees they're right on the line but on their side nothing's going to happen to those trees going to happen to those trees okay thank you I have a question you know there comment regarding your existing shed which doesn't comply with this are you planning to move it make it I I I could it's there because it was existing uh we or we have a lack of storage in the home which is why we're also expanding so um I'd be happy to do that else I don't recall actually don't I was driving not only by your house but through the neighborhood as well and I saw that some of the improvements that you pointed out on Timothy and as you stated you're on the corner of Timothy and Ivy and overall driving in the neighborhood I could see that there are individual homeowners who have improved substantially the size of their home uh some of the additions were on the back so they're less visible some were um more architecturally consistent with what you propose and I think as the neighborhood continues to develop that your design is in is moving the neighborhood in the same direction that it's currently going and will overall add value when you look at what you proposed is there anything that you would have done or can do differently or are you satisfied with what you are presenting to the board now this is uh our so-called wish list for sure uh this is what we plan to do there's a cost to everything but if anything we would we would consider scaling back um you know the the goal is as my mother's 84 years old uh none of us are getting younger we're trying to make sure that we could bring in the home she I grew up on Maple Street which is only a few bucks away she's still there and in the home that they bought when they came here um so we we don't really think that there's a whole lot that we could do differently if anything we have considered you know whether it's go above the living room uh dining room area for a master bedroom or going above the garage or maybe scaling back you know going in the back as well but this was sort of the the design that we we stuck with is there anything in particular sorry space that they're in and um you know we'd love to have family over so that the the home is everything that we would want in a home and it's right where we would want to be on the garage addition that you're proposing is there any sort of driving Factor as to why the width of that addition would be 3 13 fo6 um kind of more more for storage right now um we're a little over 11 fet uh when we and we haven't pulled a car into that garage I would say since probably the first year that we own the house uh it's it's more we have storage literally Pantry our garage is used as a as a kitchen pantry um and other things of course but we wanted a little extra space for storage and to even go behind if we could pull a car in there all right for professionals questions comments please thank you Mr chairman um I just had a couple of just a couple of questions clarifications you said three-bedroom house now three bedroom one and a half bath and with the proposal you're going up to a four bedroom house two and a half bath is that what we would have five bedrooms it would be five yes okay I only saw four was is there one is first floor there's one on the first floor yes correct does that exist now or that's part of one of the our family room in essence would be turned into a bedroom okay I missed the first one okay so on the architectural plans that maybe I'm mistaken but the garage Edition on the left hand side is that a pass through garage is there a garage door proposed on the on the rear there is yeah is that to allow for lawn equipment be for lawn equipment storage yeah it's from from the back to come from the back side right now I go around the house to get get stuff out of the garage or where I use the shed for storage and your yard right now is fenced in correct the rear yard only only the left side so the front left hand side of the property and the back the right side of the property where Tre or the trees are the trees are is not fenced so the fencing will remain correct cut the left hand side a little bit yeah okay um one of the questions that we raised in our memo was about drainage and storm water runoff impacts and you had testified I think that you didn't believe there would be any impacts do you know can you describe for the board how when the water hits the ground where it flows on your property when it hits your roof where does it flow do you you have roof you have gutters and roof down spouts go go into the ground and out the curge excuse me where do they discharge out out to the at the curb yeah at the curb for the entirety of the existing home yeah in fact when we purchased the home um I believe get if it was it was a hurricane that came through prior to 2004 I forget which one they did uh have water in the basement have issues with drainage and we regraded the entire Land from the top left or top right of the property uh where I was mentioning at 103 or 112 all the way down how did you guys fa Ina we did we did fine yeah no water we have a some pump it didn't turn on and in in the proposed um you're you're proposing to expand the footprint of the home would the roof leaders for like the garage Edition go to grade in this proposal or would you tie those we would we would we would tie those in as well you would tie them into the existing that would be the system yes um I guess the last question I have is just similar to to board member kulak's question um when you were designing this proposal working with your architect were you aware that I know it's your wish list but were you aware that you were exceeding what was allowed by the ordinance in terms of setbacks as well as the size of the dwell I was I wasn't aware of the shed um and when we finished I wasn't aware that we were going over the F calculation point8 at this point um so again if there was a scale back that would be an option but this is this is where we wanted to make the proposal to go and and in this proposal you're also too close to the one side line correct and aggregate too close with the combin right did you did you take a look at alternative designs to see if there was a way that you could you could change your design to make the set back or was that we did um the we thought about not putting on the garage I feel as though it would be against character with the other homes in the neighborhood we would be the only ones with the home that would be over 2,000 square feet or 2 200 square fet that doesn't have a second car garage I think it be very difficult to preserve the value of the home aesthetically it just didn't so we and just extending it slightly um allowed us a little more storage as well did we did look into another design to maybe shorten it up a little bit or have one car one garage door potentially and and en large garage is your belief that this proposal fits in with the character of the neighborhood as EV by we we do yeah in fact we've spoken to some of the Neighbors about it as they were in the architect I used is the same architect that the the neighbor across the street from us used as well that's what kind of sparked our curiosity with others in the neighborhood as well thank you thank you um um so my questions are largely going to be related to the F calculation and that's simply to make sure that the request for the variance for the D4 variance um is is correct I just want to make sure that the calculations are including everything um and I appreciate the the breakdown the calculation worksheet um there are back to put up the worksheet for us yeah that' be great thank you and that was included as part of the calculation I just want to know there there are some errors on it and I'm not calling into question any their calculations but in the top portion the percentage allowed should be 16 because the F allowed in the in the residential zone is .16 um not 25 so I just want to clarify that um I just want to make sure the mostly the basement because I did call that out in the memo the basement calculation um which only includes areas that have 7 foot high ceiling um so if it's less than 7 feet then it wouldn't count if it's more than 7et it would count towards it um it it said it includes it at 221 Square ft and if you look at the original the existing basement space it's it's a bit larger than that um and I just want to clarify that that's because you're only count counting the portion of that that's currently finished correct so the whole the whole basement that's shown on sheet two of the architectural plans is it shows it's almost 600 squ ft so only 200t to that is finished about 200 because there's a mechanical room okay in the basement and there's also storage and then there's crawl space okay that is under four feet okay within that 600 square foot area okay yeah um and then the addition portion is approximately um 391 391 I think I calc maybe it might be more with the walls and everything so let's say it's you know 390 400 that was that included in the calculation as well was what we didn't note is we're partially finishing you're partially finishing that portion as well we're also going to have storage and we're going to move our mechanical room slightly just to make sure that we can make room for storage as well okay so is any portion of that being calculated I just want to make sure if you came back to the board I want to make sure that you're you know or you came back to the township I want to make sure that if you did move stuff around that you wouldn't have to come back to this board for a new D4 so it's best to do it now be conservative include as much and make the request for while we're asking for the D variant right now that's why I'd say you know if you have a a good estimate put it into the calculation so we can you know be correct okay um I don't think right now anything's included so um we just want to I just wanted to add that um in the top portion of that on the existing floor areas the 1201 and the 592 that includes the existing garage area right now does it does okay um existing garage is 280 280 okay and then that gets C taken out of the calculation at the bottom including the 793 okay um okay so if there's no if there's you know no proposed changes my question in the memo really raised was the basement considered um and was it included in the calculation if it wasn't uh was or wasn't um it sounds like you know a good portion of it is unfinished at this time I think if that were to come up in the future they'd have to know potentially seek additional variance relief um but for now the request is the 0 168 based on those calculations and so that's that's what it is um I think Bill handled a lot of the other variants um request and the storm water and I don't I don't think I have anything else at this time I have a question on the bulk variances being that the applicant doesn't have an attorney um nor a planner I'm just wondering your opinion are the and Rich you can weigh in here is also um you know is this a C1 or C2 are we going to utilize flexible C or is this a hardship I think we should defer to Mr Aller on how this is yeah I think I I think that um there's probably arguments both ways you know for both to satisfy both criteria I think that we have um I'm just looking at the size of a lot here so you know we do have a a a lot which satisfies lot area and lot width so we're not an undersized lot um you know I may take that back and say we're probably going to rely on the C2 criteria for this lot in that it satisfies some uh some of the purposes of zoning you know purpose I with respect to um increase uh visual Acuity to the home and purpose a where there's some additional um space appropriately designed and located for the property which is always a benefit for the General Welfare um the benefits of the neighborhood to incre increase the property values of the neighborhood what why don't we kick this back to the applicant and maybe those two questions and we're not giving you legal advice here but just to help the board out um using you know the bulk variance the flexible C2 is really what you're seeking here um could you tell the board whether the benefits of granting this variance and we're talking about your C variances that you need on your setbacks uh with the benefits granting this Varian substantially outweigh the detriment here with I think the benefits would that in the second car garage that I mentioned earlier little extra storage is really on the left hand side and VAR obviously the total challenge could you also speak to will there be in your opinion a substantial detriment or public or detriment to the public good and you've already spoken to the character of the neighborhood but would granting this flexible C2 variant in your opinion create a detriment to the public could no I do not and and why do you feel that way I feel like as I mentioned you know because of the the way the neighborhood do you think this would add value to your home absolutely would that add value to you know on on a correlated basis to your neighborhood and yes okay so I just wanted to jump back I don't know where the board sits on the shed um you know absent any any proofs of the shed having been placed there via variant relief before before you own the home let me just kind of ask you a couple questions about the what's the size of your shed about you know it is a um 10 by 12 and is that roughly the same size as the shed that's you know as I'm looking at your survey there's a shed to the right of your property exactly the same size same size and it looks to be roughly the same set back off the sidey yards right it's actually less less yeah and and is that the side where you said there was a heavy tree cover that is the same so is it pretty well buffered from that neighbor there's no tree that shows there's no tree in front of that shed at all between my shed and that other shed okay between that property line all right so if if you were to place it where it's permitted which I think is roughly 20 feet right yeah so if you if you came in 20 ft from the side yard and 20 ft from the rear yard is going to place it somewhere in the middle of the middle of your backyard would you think that's a convenient location for that not MH and and uh it would probably place it at about 2 or three feet lower elevation on your property as well um is the location of your existing shed consistent with um where other neighbors in your in your neighborhood have their shed located it is right and if you were standing so I see that there is I guess that's an existing fence at the front right corner of your house to that property line facing the house from standing on the street looking at the house there's there's just a fence on the right on the right side that just goes straight out straight across is it a solid fence or what kind of fence no it's open open there's permits that we received for the fencing yeah I was just wondering if that was blocking the view of the shed or not um slightly you know there's some some trees there I have a birch tree yeah all right but it's consistent with what you find in your neighborhood it is okay I mean if the board were inclined to grant that variance you know we have to see two reasons for that I'm going to open to members of the public that would like to ask any questions on the testimony from Mr or Mrs Ravi everybody's good all right I'm going to close that portion uh I'm also going to open it up to members of the public that would like to speak for or against just in general make any comments on this case all right see none I'm going to close that as well um I did want to reach out on a stipulation and now I've forgotten it in the I I had a couple notes on maybe it'll refresh your memory a bit with respect to if you were to finish the uh any additional portion of your basement it would have to come back to the board right for an additional variance relief um I think as you showed on your slide project uh projecting there's no lighting to the left side yes right of the garage won't be there um all down spouts and all gutters would be tied into the existing system right no new utilities so does no need to cut the road open so it's not an issue for you right I had uh if you have any other comments for the board if you want to wrap up if you don't that's fine too I think we're okay I really appreciate your time all right I'm going to open up to the deliberations and we'll look for a course action after that all right thank you throw it down to our newest member Chris what are your thoughtss would you be inclined to vote for this project do you like this project thank you oh yeah sure I think the applicant makes a case here for uh the variances that are sought I think it will be a benefit to the community uh and also you know personal circumstances that you know are needer for the home um I am inclined to support this application um you know if anything maybe I would just like to see the garage now just a tad bit you know since we are over but you know overall I am supportive of this application yeah I too would support the application I think you you're making a positive contribution to the neighborhood you're enhancing your property value and um as Mr Fu said by correlation the other properties in your neighborhood it's consistent with a lot of the improvements I saw when I drove around the neighborhood and I can I believe that it'll continue to uh grow as people improve their properties and I think that given the kind of living space you describe and your needs your request is quite modest so I would definitely support the project uh first of all I want I'm happy to that you want to stay in Bridgewater I've been here going on 31 years and I'm staying um I agree with uh John over here I drove the neighborhood before and I'm familiar with the neighborhood my sister used to live on Ivy Lane several years ago and I like that you took pictures of the other houses because it does show that it could conforms basically what what you're trying to do to yours so it's really going to fit in and uh I'm for the application and good luck uh I'm in the same boat I I think you guys have done a great job you did it without an attorney you did it without a an architect a planner there are noble Endeavors this is a tough tough thing to come in front of a bunch of strangers and have them ask you a lot of questions I think we're going to see a lot of cases like this I think with the the cost of new construction or even existing constructions um um one of the nice things about increasing Real Estate Value in your town um it's wonderful but it's also a hinderance so people want to move in upscale uh it makes it next to Impossible especially if you got a mortgage or something from a few years ago you know sub 4% with you know interest rates above 7% now so um I think you've taken a lot into account I think you've been um very kind to your your neighbors I think you have put a lot of forethought into it and uh vote in favor and I think the C2 flexible C I think the the balance test I think you've met the proofs and certainly on the D4 f is a the Minimus increase and this is a minut thank you Mrs M Mr Sweeney um thank you I I don't have much to I don't have anything to add actually uh I think it's a good application I like the neighborhood I think you're going to help improve the neighborhood hood and good luck I'll vote in favor do you have anything to add no conditions I mentioned before and those that are in the combined memo all right uh based on the board's deliberations it sounds like we have a a positive deliberation and I'd look for a motion please move move to approve Mr widley got second second yes yes yes yes yes yes yes all right Ry family good luck to you congratulations good job tonight all right thank you all right let get our calendar here would you email me the slide projection the uh A1 and A2 would you record those yeah here let me just give you this just it's just going to be helpful to me to uh prepare the resolution frankly all right thank you so Roger I have May 14th as our next meeting is that correct all right May 14th we're going to hear Starbucks and just to reiterate what Mr all said at the beginning of the meeting that's going to be in this room 700 p.m. and that there will not be further notice correct correct all right and with that move to close the meeting all right there's Mr widley to adjourn do I have a second second Mr kulac thank you everyone great night that might be last time we're out of here before 8:00 I know the rest of the year un unless they unless they postp again well yeah that may be that seems to be the problem yeah