e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e let's go town veton Z Board of adjustment special meeting of April 30th 2024 is now in session adequate notice of this meeting as required by the open public meetings Act of 1975 has been provided by the annual not is published in the home news and Tribune on December 18th 2023 as posted in the main lobby the municipal complex on December 18th 2023 please join me in the pledge of allegiance to the flag flag United States stand indivisible andice Madam Secretary roll call please Mr OA here Mr bno here Miss Shaw here Mr a here Mr chabra here Mr cido here Mr Patel here Mr Baron here Mr de here Vice chair ogorman here and chairman Kumba here thank you Madam Secretary uh minutes for consideration please April 23rd 2024 minutes for approval what board's uh pleasure encroachment motion to approve second motion made by Vice chairman o Gorman second by Mr Patel roll call please Mr Sero yes the motion Mr chabra yes the motion Mr Baron yes on the motion Mr Patel yes on the motion Mr D yes on the motion Vice chair Gorman yes on the motion and chairman Kumba yes on the motion thank you Madam Secretary first resolution for consideration Z24 2023 Lucky 7 property please for approval what's the board's pleasure motion to approve second Mo motion made by Mr Cher seconded by Mr Patel roll call please Mr Serita yes the motion Mr chabra yes to the motion Mr Baron yes on the motion Vice chair o' Gorman yes on a motion and chairman kba yes on the motion next case Z28 2023 shoi Construction LLC what's the board's pleasure Mo to approve second motion made by Mr Patel second by Mr Sero roll call please Mr cero yes in the motion Mr chabra yes the motion Mr Baron yes on the motion Mr Patel yes on the motion Vice chair o' Gorman yes on the motion and chairman Kumba yes on the motion next resolution for consideration Z2 2024 Abit G what's the board's pleasure motion to approve second motion made by Mr Patel second by Mr chabra roll call please Mr chabra yes the motion Mr Baron yes on the motion Mr Patel yes on the motion Mr D yes on the motion Vice chair o Gorman yes on the motion and chairman Kumba yes on the motion and the final resolution for consideration please Z3 2024 ta weed Center motion to approve second motion made by Mr Patel second by Mr Sero roll call please Mr chabra yes the motion Mr Baron yes on the motion Mr Patel yes on the motion Vice chair o' Gorman yes on the motion and chairman kba yes on the motion thank you Madame secretary thank you we have four announcements for this evening case z19 2021 Route 27 Edison chicken llc at 2006 Route 27 it has been requested to carry to June 25th 2024 if you are here for this case z19 2021 Route 27 chicken LLC this case will not be heard this evening it will be heard on June 25th 2024 if you have received a notice with regard to this case you will not receive another notice this will serve as your notice K z34 2023 Muhammad zuar at 106 James Street has requested to Carri the June 25th 2024 if you are here for this case uh if you have received a notice uh this will be your serve as your notice that this case will not be heard this evening it will be be heard on June 25th 2024 case z41 2023 mbook Village llc at 97 Horizon Drive they have requested to carry to May 14th 2024 if you are here for this case z41 2023 mil milbrook Village LLC it will not be heard this evening it will be heard on May 14th 2024 if you receive notice uh you will not receive another notice this will rece this will serve as your notice finally kz8 2023 bishos Kumar at 26 267 seavoy Avenue the case will be carrying to a later date and re notice is required good evening ladies and gentlemen this is a special meeting of the Edison Township Zoning Board of adjustment this board is composed of Edison Township residents appointed by the municipal Council who will volunteer their time and service to the board the municipal land use Law requires a member successfully complet a land use training course administered by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs this board holds in-house training conducted by our board professionals the board abides by the provisions of missal land use law in addition to our board's bylaws the zoning board is a quasi judicial land use board which differs from the township planning board under the municipal land use law board members are required to be impartial and not allowed to discuss any case prior to its consideration before the board at a hearing all applicants will have the opportunity to present their case before the board with the opportunity for board members and Bo and board professionals to question the applicant and their Witnesses at the conclusion of the applicant's presentation of their case the case will be open to the public residents within 200 feet of the subject property will be heard followed by residents from outside of 200 feet all residents will be sworn in they'll provide their name and address and they will be given six minutes to comment on the application being considered without the opportunity for rebuttal residents may ask questions of the applicant the applicants professionals and board professionals the board requests that these questions are asked prior to any comments being made on the application once commentary Begins the resident timer will begin the applicant will be allowed for the opportunity for cross-examination of their Witnesses under the law the chair is allowed to stop any comment that is repetitive or is an attempt to filibuster the board further the chair is allowed to stop any commentary that is irrelevant to the case or prohibited from the board's consideration once a public portion is closed all public comment is ended unless new testimony is present Ed by the applicant following the closure of the public portion the applicant will have the right of summation on their application following summation the case will go to the board for decision this procedure has been followed by the board and is similar to the procedures followed by Boards of adjustment Statewide the municipal land use Law requires a board to engage in a balancing act is not required to strictly apply Township ordinances zoning plan or master plan as a board of adjustment variances are granted when appropriately necessary following all legal considerations as has been been the case with prior boards this board will see where we are if we are still in session around 10:30 p.m. I ask that all applicants professionals and residents show respect to each other and be civil throughout all proceedings I ask that you withhold Applause booing or interrupting of anyone while they are speaking the chair will not tolerate any Outburst by applicants professionals or the public further since most cases are being recorded by a court reporter I ask that speakers do not speak over one another that being said Madam Secretary first case on the agenda please case number z32 2023 sanj ther at 38 johnthan Drive applicant is seeking bulk and use variances to construct a second story addition to the existing single family dwelling the following standards have not been met Max F permitted is 25% proposed is 29% maximum lot coverage required is 15% proposed is 17.1% maximum imperious coverage required is 30% proposed is 33% affected property is located in the ra Zone designated as block number 5467 blot number 18 on the Edison Township tax map all noticing paperwork is in order good evening good evening my name is John Sullivan I'm an attorney with the offices of vasta and Sullivan and I am representing Sanjay ther tonight who is the owner of the property located at 38 Jonathan drive that is an interior ior lot it is located in the ra Zone district and it's currently improved with the single family dwelling The Proposal before you tonight is to essentially on the first floor um add a deck a basement entryway and an extension of the driveway um in addition we want to add a uh a second level addition uh to the property purpose of which is to increase the overall um living area in the home the plans that we have submitted to you to tonight are the uh the plot plan prepared by Heritage Madison AR architecture uh which is dated July 20th 23 and along with that are our architectural floor plans and elevations we've also prepared a uh submitted a survey prepared by DMC Associates which is dated September 22nd of 2023 there are a few pre-existing variance conditions uh most notably is the lot area as well as a sidey guard setback um and there are several variances that we are requesting the board consider tonight and those are for building coverage impervious coverage and floor area ratio um all of which in our opinion are driven to a large extent by the undersized nature of the lot the witnesses We Have Tonight are the property owner which is sanj ther uh we have our architect Mr Nasser Al mukar and our professional planner Mr Michael P Solano and if I may I would begin with Mr ther M uh Mr svin you can use the uh applicants table maybe more comfortable for you sure okay they're going to swear you in I can swear him in do you solemnly swear affirm the testimony about to give that this board would be the truth the whole truth and nothing about the truth so help you God I do okay and your name please sanj taker okay all right Council May proceed thank you uh you are the owner of the property at 38th Jonathan Drive yes and you've owned that since uh 2005 yes and you live there yes have you lived there the entire time since 2005 yes and who do you live there with with my wife and two kids and how old are your children uh youngest one is 17 and the older one is 21 20 and the property's currently improved with a single family home yes and that's a one-story home with an attached garage yes and could you explain to the board um the the rooms that you have on this uh one floor of this home uh so it's a single story ranch house with a four bedroom and uh a living room a dining area and a TV room and uh or family room two full bathrooms and an unfinished basement and attached garage and uh is your basement a full basement or is it part of that across it is a part crawl and half I would say crawl and half basement and you proposed to construct an condition to expand the living area of the home by adding this second level yes and essentially um you wanted to move um not not all of but I think three out of the four bedrooms upstairs yes and then expand the overall living area on the first floor yes and can you explain to the board why you wish to do this so when we moved in the house we only had one kid it was only 3 years old and we had a second kid uh my parents from overseas come back and forth and stay with us for a long period of time so we manag uh for this many years but now the kids grown up uh one's in college and I think we need bigger living space as I don't see my kids moving out anytime soon and we have a whole lot of uh social uh Gathering family gatherings you know at least few times a year so we kind of we kind of thought we need more a living space plus a bedroom space and extra bathrooms and it's your desire to be be able to uh to stay at this property rather than relocate yeah the plan is to stay for many many years and as part of this you also um wish to add the deck the basement entry to the rear as well as replace the front steps yes and we're also proposing a um a driveway uh turnaround in the front of the home is that correct right can you explain to the board why you uh are proposing that so we have been living back and out of the driveway for many years but I've noticed that the Jonathan Jonathan Drive is one of the street that really gets busy in the morning hour as a lot of parents are flying through the street to go drop their kids off to jmi which is right down the street at the end of the Jonathan drive and also there's a JP Steven traffic in the morning uh now we have four drivers instead of two drivers and all of us back in out uh we kind of find it a little bit dangerous so if we were to be able to head out of the driveway in a circular motion uh I think it would be much safer and this type of arrangement is it uh prevalent in the neighborhood or would it be unusual yes few houses uh right on my street there's a brand new house uh 33 Jonathan Drive they just had the circular driveway uh I see a lot of houses nearby on new do are all with a circular driveway so I thought it was a good idea to do this as it would be much safer thank you that's all I have for Mr ther does the board have any questions for Mr ther see none thank you thank you uh next we would call our Architect no your AR here back thank you we swear or affirm to tell the whole truth nothing about the truth provide yes I do and please State your full name for the record sure first name is Naser last name is al- MTAR n a SS i r last name is a l m u k h t a r sir can you please give us the board a uh brief summary of your qualifications uh so I'm a licensed architect uh in the state of New Jersey I hold a current license in good standing I've been licensed since uh 2004 uh I'm also LIC in New York and Pennsylvania I have testified in front of numerous boards throughout the state of New Jersey and been accepted in all of them as an expert witness in the field of architecture okay and you'll keep your record going you we'll accept you you may thank you thank you uh now you're familiar with the site as well as the application that we've submitted to the board yes and you prepared the plans that we've submitted that's correct could you describe to the board the um the home as it currently exists uh sure so as mentioned before it's a it's a an existing one-story ranch style house uh it I would estimated to be around 60 years old uh when I visited the house initially about a couple years ago no work had was done to the house since it was built uh initially uh I don't think the existing conditions of the house do correspond with the Modern Life uh style uh Mr sanj's uh ders kids have grown they have different requirements the bedrooms are small living room small so uh they would like to have a bigger space uh to respond to their needs currently and could you describe what's proposed um maybe perhaps begin with the floor plans and then move on to the elevations and give the board an idea as to the um absolutely the treatment on the uh elevations uh sure so the the second p which is D1 uh this depicts the existing condition of the basement as mentioned uh we have approximately a half a basement and then uh the portion that's in the middle of the drawing that's a crawl space and then we have the garage to the right so for the basement the scope of work would be to dig down the existing crawl space and have a larger basement I would explain the B the proposed plan in a little bit uh so we they would can have a larger basement for their Gatherings for their family gatherings it would be an open uh floor plan basement uh obviously with these uh changes we have to cut out the walls dig it down in order to provide the enough headr clearance for that crawl space and do new footings uh the existing first floor do2 that's on the third page uh most of the uh first floor would be demolished in order to provide a uh an open open floor plan uh the portion to the right is the two a two-car garage that would remain the same uh and then all the way to the left we have the four bedrooms they're all small bedrooms 11 fo8 uh the larger one is about 11 ft by 15 which is really a small uh bedroom in today's uh standards and then we have in the middle is the living space all of them are narrow spaces not enough to put furniture and also for their usage so we're demolishing most of the first floor uh obviously if this would be approved this evening uh I should mention also that the the the jib board is open currently when I went there and visited the house the framing is really strange they framed it in a strange way uh definitely it does not respond to today's codes and standards uh the ceiling is all 2x sixes which is much less than the uh required uh in today's codes uh so the house definitely needs of uh major Rehabilitation there um and based on the needs that Mr taker mentioned you know I think it's a good opportunity to expand and uh build uh the new house uh so on the third page the architectural ao1 this depicts the basement as you can see uh the basement is an open floor plan there would be half a bathroom there the mechanical room would be isolated so they would have a nice uh open space for their uh functions if need be ao2 uh depicts the first floor uh you would go into an entry way that is double height uh and there's a staircase leading up to the second floor there there's a guest closet and then there's one uh bedroom there for his in-laws and for his parents uh and then towards the rear facing the backyard there would be a nice open floor concept for a great room that's open to the kitchen and then overlooking the backyard uh he has a good siiz backyard that he would like to uh take advantage of the views there and we're also proposing to have a deck there uh with a sliding door that goes from the great room out to the deck there we're also proposing to have an entrance to the basement from the backyard the garage is going to remain the same uh and then there is an entry W from the garage to to a mudroom and that leads to the uh Pantry SL laundry room and that opens to the kitchen so it would be easily accessible very functional in terms of you know bringing groceries or what have you from the garage uh to the mudroom to the kitchen um A3 depicts on the top left corner as the the proposed second floor you go up to the the stairs there's a a small open space we call it the wreck area that oversees the entrance double height entryway uh on the right side there's the uh master bedroom with a walk-in closet and a bathroom and then to the left side there's uh two bedrooms each one would have its own uh bathroom and closets uh I think it's worth mentioning that we do have four bedrooms currently they're small as I mentioned and we're not increasing the number of bedrooms we're just making it bigger and more comfortable for modern-day living uh the first page has the front elevation uh currently it's all uh one siding one color and the exterior siding is very old it definitely needs work the roof needs work uh so with this proposed uh addition and Rehabilitation we would have some Stone facing we would have some stucco and siding uh and we would have the entrance almost in the middle and on both sides of the entryway would be the uh couple uh cable roofs to give it that Dynamic currently it's just one horizontal uh line for the roof line so we are providing some Dynamic some aesthetic uh and and a lot of improvement over what's there currently and with regard to the finish on the front facade it would be the stone at the lower portion correct Stone and then sighting uh and then with stuckle combination um now we had identified um some new variances that were being uh created as part of this is that correct yes and I wanted to talk to you a little bit about those so in terms of the building coverage um can you exp uh just explain to the board what the increase is over what is permitted in the zoning District it's uh only 3% over uh I don't have it in square footages currently handy but it's uh permitted is 30% and we're proposing 33% we're also I'm sorry uh we're not increasing actually the footprint we're going up on top of the uh existing uh first floor uh the only addition is that small entrance in the back to the B and by my calculations that would um that would be a 300 that would uh be 315 square feet by which we exceed the ordinance requirement I would say and with regard to the impervious coverage um our calculations show that we would be exceed the ordinance what's permitted by ordinance by 450 Square F feet yes sir and then with regard to the floor area ratio I believe we would exceed what's permitted by ordinance by 600 square ft is that correct yes 04 so 4% basically thank you that's all I have for Mr Almar does the board have any questions for Mr Al mkar Mr chair Mr chaber a question for the architect um I do see some stationary stairs going up to the attic um yes do we have intentions of finishing the attic uh I'm not sure but he wanted easy access initially we Pro we had a pull down ladder but he said it's difficult for him to use that but uh the attic is 7 ft so it's not by code it's not habitable space if that's the question okay because we have stationary stairs so I would expect an attic an attic plan um right now the way the roof plan shows it looks like there's a a rooftop the way the plans are showing uh yeah we didn't show it because like I mentioned it's it's not a habitable space regardless if there's stationary stairs we would that we see the attic plan um any Furnishing Outlets um anything that's going to go up there yeah I'm not sure but maybe Mr taka can uh explain further what he intends to do in the Attic my my understanding is that it's going to be storage only so okay it would be easier for him to go up the ladder the stairs rather than a pull down ladder okay for storage purposes okay okay all right thank you thank you any other questions Mr chair Vice chairman yes um looking at the basement is there going to be any bedrooms or in the basement no bedrooms no any kitchens no just a half a bathroom when they are down in the basement thanks sure I have a question so with regard to the basement you had meent you testified there's going to be a basement entrance correct is the basement entrance existing or just going something be created it's going to be created so previously the board has has not looked favorable to on basement entrances because I mean whereas I understand the convenience of it that it could be accessible from the yard um it could very easily be construed as kind of developed into uh a living space and that's not something that you know is being proposed U yeah I don't know yeah we're we're certainly not um proposing that as living space perhaps I can bring Mr ther back up Mr Zer with regard to the basement um what what do you propose to use that for we we have Gathering bring the the the microphone closer okay we have usually Gatherings and birthday parties and you know anniversary and Diwali and Christmas parties in a basement so we generally get a whole group of 15 to uh 20 to 30 people together together uh they all usually come in in our culture we remove the shoes and everything outside the house and there there's a lot of mess in front of the house and kids bring their own high school and college friends you know to hang out with at at the house so we thought an an entry outside the house would give them the privacy and give them that Liberty to go in and out without coming through the house all the time well we I don't plan to make any bedrooms or any uh we don't plan to make any living space in the basement and would you agree to a condition that the basement not be used for bedrooms or kitchens or other living area yeah no we're okay with that and then what is your plan with regard to the attic attic is something where we can store a lot of things and I thought climbing up the ladder all the time with you know bags and suitcase or if there was uh any service equipment there I would prefer a solid L uh solid stair but if I'm not allow then I'm okay okay I would leave that up to the to the board and would you agree to a condition that the uh the attic would not be used as living space it would just be for storage what's what's your answer I would agree to not use it for okay I'm sorry thank you so Mr chair so it will not be conditional space right it's not a condition space no air conditioning no heating nothing there's no air condition there just the storage basically yeah okay any other questions for Mr TH or uh Mr uh amagar okay see none thank you both thank you uh next would be Michael pesano he's our planner sir would you raise your right hand do you solemnly swear or affirm to tell the whole truth nothing but the truth so help you God I do please State your full name for the record sure it's Michael J pesano that's spelled p SS o l n o licensed professional planner in state of New Jersey licensed still in good standing I not quite a frequent flyer here yet but I've made a few appearances before this board and previously uh accepted as an expert planning Witness yes we'll accept you um if you just bring the microphone a little closer to you yes thank you so much my license remains in good standing that's good to hear thank you so much we'll accept you thank you Mr pesano you're familiar with the site the area and this proposal before the board yes by virtue of my personal investigation of all of those and um I I see that you have a planning exhibit is that correct I do perhaps we can get that marked as A1 and if you can describe what that is to the board and then get into a uh description of the site and the area okay why don't we first distribute the the bundle so everybody has them while I'm making my description and then I can take it from there and you could hand those to our secretary she'll distribute them I'm going to mark this packet as A1 it consists of four sheets I just want to confirm you the entire packet marked as A1 the entire packet you'd like marked as A1 consisting of four sheets correct yes please okay um very briefly this is a a planning exhibit uh intended to share with the board and all all interested parties what I considered in my planning analysis for uh the application now before the board sheet one is simply an excerpt from uh the Township tax map showing um the subject property in a yellow shade generally in the center and uh lying within the ra residential Zone north is to the top of the sheet going on to page two of four of A1 is uh an aerial image downloaded uh from an online Source showing of approximate uh property lines and again the subject property shown in the center with a a solid yellow border I also uh canvas the surrounding area U when I did my site inspection and and noticed that all the surrounding homes are uh single family detached homes there's also a high voltage electric transmission line to the immediate rear of the subject property moving on to ground photos taken by myself uh in the on sheet three and four image one is in the upper left I apologize for the dark of coloration there but this is the existing uh single family home with two-car garage uh it speaks for itself uh image two is the home immediately to the north uh in other words from in image one it would be the home to the left um in image three in the lower left corner is the home to the South so it would be the home to the right of the image in image one directly across the street uh the style development is captured in image four and then finally on sheet four four in image five uh the existing spacing to the neighbor to the north uh will be maintained we're looking here easterly from the sidewalk of Jonathan drive on the other side of the existing home we see a similar uh spacing Arrangement um and that is looking easterly from across Jonathan drive and then just a couple of photos of newer homes in the neighborhood image 7 uh a recently upgraded two-story dwelling at 25 Jonathan drive and a nearby recently rebuilt and expanded two-story dwelling at 31 Jonathan drive while this image uh cuts off the circular nature of the driveway there is indeed uh a circular driveway there uh the image in image 8 if you look on the aial on sheet two that is the home with the Red Roof uh in the lower uh off the last one before Jonathan Drive goes off the page there you can see the circular driveway configuration quite plainly there so that information um provided a the footing for my uh planning analysis we need three elements of relief uh one is of a use nature a D4 variance for uh excess floor area ratio uh the the square footage involved is roughly 600 square ft as uh earlier testimony indicated we also need a building coverage and impervious coverage uh relief the lot itself um is a developed undersized lot uh only 3/4 of the total lot area that's now required in the ra Zone the requirement is 20,000 this lot has 15,000 square ft uh you heard what The Proposal is so I'm not going to uh reiterate that unless you want me to uh I did uh take a look at the history of this neighborhood I looked at the master plan uh and its Evolution to see if uh things are are still the evolution okay am I going too fast no no no someone call okay um the the master plan uh for this area is quite definitely to continue the single family detach pattern we're embracing that with a a continuation of a single family detached dwelling um the although the lot area changed um the requirement that is to a bigger area uh the the homes on this side of Jonathan on the same side of Jonathan drive as the subject property all were left without um any more than their original uh square footage so this lot uh suffers from that condition but as as I evaluated from house to house to house on both sides of the street um you couldn't tell that they had different lot areas it it's quite obvious that the homes were consistent with each other and I represent to you um that after this proposal I don't see there would be a significant change in the appearance of the the dwelling as uh embellished with the second floor from from its H neighboring properties neighboring homes I noted excuse me that in the 2011 master plan reexamination report there's a recommendation in there to uh reduce zoning impediments to Property Maintenance and upgrades um as I Circle the area and a wider area around Jonathan Drive um I noticed many uh homes undergoing upgrades in in the immediate neighborhood and the neighborhood farther out from the immediate neighborhood uh due to the age of the dwellings uh in this area the township it makes sense that there would be uh an ongoing trend of of upgrade so this upgrade is designed to fit in with the character uh without being over the top in terms of of size relationships relative to other homes uh for the D4 variants the standard of review uh was developed in the Randolf Town Center case which uh took the lead from uh Coventry versus Westwood which calls for uh zoning boards to consider if the site can accommodate the detriments associated with the excess F so we have a permitted use here that doesn't need to be proven but can the site accommodate any of the problems that might be associated with 600 additional square feet so uh as to the positive criteria to address that question question um I find that the site will retain the ample yard areas it has had since 1967 no expansion of the foot pin is proposed the site has more than adequate parking six parking spaces uh more technically if the circular driveway uh is constructed uh the project will stay within the height limit uh adequate utilities and waste management are available to support the proposed expansion there's no measurable impact as to any change in the intensity of use the same family of four will live there just better housed The increased impervious area will be addressed by appro I'm sorry strike strike that the uh site I find can indeed accommodate any problems from the additional 600 uh or so square feet of floor area other special reasons in support of of this D variance I believe the general welfare which is purpose a of the municipal land use law promotion of the general welfare that is that would be Advanced very definitely by adequately housing an existing family in renovated safe sanitary and code compliant adequate living facilities purpose B is is uh I'm sorry purpose C is Advanced uh to provide for adequate light air and open space um purpose I is also Advanced to promote a desirable visual environment this upgrade will very definitely be a positive uh have a positive impact rather than a negative one uh in the immediate neighborhood and purpose em is Advance the efficient use of land that is uh that's promoted here by virtue of retaining a long-standing resident family in their existing property as to the negative criteria I see no detriment of a substantial nature not even one of a minor nature U the impact is largely visual but the impact as I mentioned will be positive and stimulate neighborhood reinvestment by other property owners as specifically encouraged by the master plan reexamination report of 2011 comparable and compatible that is excuse me comparable and compatible with 31 uh Jonathan Drive which uh exhibits a newer dwelling of similar bulk and scale this that is a two-story home which replaced a one-story Ranch in 2021 um well that lot uh may have a larger lot area U the visual impact I find would be virtually identical to what is proposed at 38 Jonathan as to the impact on the The Zone plan um we have an undersized site and uh the Zone plan now encourages larger sites when you can get them but there's no opportunity to expand this site Beyond its uh 15,000 square foot limits so it is what it is um there would I want to point out though that there would be no variance relief for the fa if this lot had the required 20,000 Square ft of area um the lot is or the the development proposal is retaining holding the existing setbacks on all sides and is conforming as to height so it's not affecting the development pattern on the ground in my opinion uh which has been longstanding there and it was at one time compliant there's no substantial impact on the purpose and intent of the F regulation due to the visual Harmony and neighborhood upgrade that will result so I find that the pro project clearly satisfies the the D4 U criteria in full as to the other relief the bulk relief we have slightly increased building and impervious coverage I find that they meet both the C1 and the C2 tests only one is needed to pass uh the C1 hardship applies to um this home and because it's a hardship due to the physical features of the lot preventing conformance rather than the scope of the project the home is being expanded vertically so no so new the new floor area does not increase the the building coverage however the new circular driveway is a reasonable and permitted Improvement for managing vehicles on site and a very good idea based on what U the applicant indicated with his experience with traffic uh on Jonathan Drive in the morning um the 25% lot less lot area and the coverage of the existing dwelling lawfully on the lot make it a hardship to include uh this uh would make it a hardship to not be able to include this common driveway treatment sorry there as to the C2 test um this is necessary relief for an overall beneficial project on a specific piece of property the purposes of zoning that I cited from the municipal land use law in my D analysis D4 analysis excuse me carry forth into uh the weighing analysis under C2 um and the public benefits of course carry forth into the equation the benefit side of the equation so to me the absence of any detriment um but instead positive Improvement to the neighborhood supports my finding that the benefits of the application as a whole substantially outweigh any detriments thus the C2 balancing test is satisfied as well so in conclusion the application represents a very positive upgrade consistent with the master plan goal of encouraging preservation of and upgrades within existing residential neighborhoods the application meets all criteria for granting relief the applicant has demonstrated a willingness to work with the board's request and I submit to you respectfully your approval is indeed warranted thank you does the board have any excuse me does the board have any questions for Mr pesano okay seeing none thank you very much thank you uh that concludes our uh witness and evidence uh presentation okay thank you Council all right so we will now go out to the public anyone within 200 feet of subject site wanting to be heard if you're within 200 Fe of the subject site you have received the notice being via certified mail seeing none anyone else outside of 200 Fe wan to be heard seeing none motion to close public session second motion made by Vice chairman o' Gorman seconded by Mr Patel all in favor signify by saying I I oose nay the eyes have the public portion is now closed uh council do you have any summation before we go to the board just very briefly um we feel that the application proposes an appropriate use of this site um I'm not going to repeat Mr um solano's testimony uh but there's certainly an aesthetic upgrade here we're taking an older housing stock and bringing it up to current standards um I think the there was testimony about the kind of the trend in the neighborhood uh there's a lot of other recently built two family homes there um so I think overall um you know it's going to certainly be an aesthetic upgrade and it's not going to be out of character with the neighborhood um I do believe the hardship uh does stem from the undersized nature of the lot and I agree with Mr pesano in terms of that the benefits clearly outweigh any detriments here uh with regard to the circular driveway Mr ther did uh testify as to the reasons for that and I think that makes sense um creates safety not having to back out onto a busy road and uh we noticed that there are a few other homes in the area that have the circular Drive which seems to be more of a trend these days so with all of that said and not to belabor to point any further uh we would ask that you consider granting the application with the conditions that we noted thank you very much and we'll now go to the board Mr chairman Mr dve I make a motion to approve the application the applicant has met all the negative and positive criteria the site is particularly suited for the use intended uh the use is not detriment to the public good or Public Safety as uh as appropriate um this motion will incorporate all of the testimony of the applicant attorney planners engineers and member of the board as well as it incorporate the following condition as testified to um the basement has has a separate entrance in case in future if applicant decide to add the bathroom or kitchen or use as an apartment we'll have to come back to this board for a new approval um the the end the um attic has as a permanent stair uh the space is not going to be habitable space and it will not be a condition space motion made by by Mr dve second second by Mr Bron roll call please Mr chabra yes to the motion Mr Sero yes to the motion Mr Baron yes on the motion Mr Patel yes on the motion Mr D yes on the motion V chair Gorman yes on a motion and chairman Kumba yes on the motion 70 this case is approved congratulations thank you very much good luck you don't have for I Madam Secretary next case on the agenda please case number z11 2024 by Patel 28 Timber Road applicant is seeking bulk variances to construct a deck in the rear yard of the existing single family dwelling the following standards have not been met maximum deck lot coverage required is 3% proposed is 5.7% rear yard setback required is 60 ft proposed is 38 ft affected property is located in the ra Zone designated as block number 643 Lot number 89 on the Addison Township tax map all not noticing paperwork is in order good evening good evening good evening sir would you raise your right hand do youly swear orir to tell the whole truth nothing the truth you got I do state your full name for the record Nun by Patel okay and I see you have uh a professional with you so I'm going to ask him to raise his right hand do you solemnly swear or affirm to tell the whole truth nothing but the truth you got yes I do and please State your phone name for the record yes Paul J Fletcher and Mr Fletcher you're here almost as often as I am but if you could please just give us a brief summary of your qualifications certainly I'm uh licensed professional engineer and professional planner in the state of New Jersey principal of Fletcher engineering and have been for 32 years I've uh been accepted in numerous Board of adjustment and planning boards throughout New Jersey I've been in Addison uh too many towns times to count unfortunately and your license are current in good standing yes they are okay and do you want to be qualified as an engineer and a planner yes okay all right you will be qualified thank you thank you uh hi my name is nipun by Patel and Mr Fletcher is going to explain my case yes Mr Patel is uh in the process of having a new home constructed uh at the 28 Timber Road it's located in the ra Zone uh it's known as uh Lot 89 in Block 643 uh it's a uh 23,000 square foot lot um it uh has one uh non-conformity with regards to lot size and that is lot depth uh 138 ft versus 15 that's required in the ra Zone um he is requesting um two variances uh he has a proposed deck uh that is uh 36 ft High uh and he has another deck that is uh 18 in high uh the Edison ordinance uh requires any decks over two feet to comply with the uh required uh setbacks for the principal building uh this deck is behind the house and uh extends to within uh 38 ft of the rear yard uh so that is one variance that uh that is being requested the other variance is uh the ordinance allows uh a certain percentage of lot cover by deck uh in the ra Zone uh we're allowed U 3% uh the applicant is proposing uh 5.7% I would point out that U total impervious by uh lot coverage by all impervious now the decks are not imper not impervious because they have slats between them allow drainage uh but had this been a uh a patio instead of a deck uh he would be well within the total impervious and there would be no issue here uh but he prefers to have a deck as opposed to a patio uh he has a pool existing in ground pool in the rear yard uh he would like to have this uh deck so that his family can enjoy the outside uh rear yard uh he's also proposing a solid 6-ft fence surrounding the rear yard uh that will buffer from adjoining properties uh this deck would not be visible from the street uh and essentially not visible uh because of the solid fence around the perimeter uh I don't think uh that this would be a detriment to the Zone plan or the master plan I don't see it as being any uh any detriment uh uh to the to the neighborhood uh I would uh request that the board allow this variance to be granted okay Mr Fletch I'm going to kick things off with questions so you had testified that the first deck is 36 feet high did you mean 36 inches I meant 36 in I was going to say we get an extension ladder to get to it yeah no no okay all right so I just want to make sure the record is is clear on that um and then we will leave go out to the the board if the board has any questions for Mr Fletcher Mr chair M Cher Mr Fletcher um which are they both new Decks that are being proposed I be pardon according to the site plan are there both new Decks that are being proposed yes okay do we have like an architectural plan of each individual one or of the Decks that are being proposed um I don't believe so no okay and how many square feet are these two Decks that are what you're requesting to variance for um about 1,200 square feet 1,200 each 2,200 total 1,200 total okay um is there any reason why it's so high as far as the square footage goes um it's the it's quite a large lot U and it's a an area that the Patel family would like to enjoy the outside on the deck that's the purpose of it okay thank you Mr chairman Vice chairman yes so the proposed deck of 36 inches high is attached to the uh dwelling unit and then the pro proposed deck 18 in is attached to the 36 in deck yes so there's two step and then the the setback is 60 ft and you have 38 ft so that's got to get reduced can you reduce that down that set back on the 18inch high deck cuz that the 18-inch High deck is not a is not in violation of any setbacks the way I look at it is the 18-inch deck be any deck that's less than 2 feet does not have to comply with setback requirements it's when the deck exceeds 2 feet uh that it must tell me if I'm wrong Jim uh that it must then uh comply with the principal building setbacks Mr Fletcher you read my mind because I was just going to turn to Mr aot uh we're in kind of a quandry here um you're correct on a 36 inch deck that has to follow the principal structure setbacks however the 18inch deck I'm interpreting the code that it follows the accessory structure setbacks which would deem the uh the deck to be 20 feet from the rear yard setback currently it's at 10 ft but it's at least it's not at 60 ft I'm not considering it part of the principal structure it's a little we got to go a little bit around here but I'm not trying that's it doesn't qualify for a principal structure setback the the 18inch deck understood yes so we would take it from the edge of the deck to the rear yard and for accessory structures in the ra Zone 20 ft is required as the minimum so by my calcul by the by the rule by my calculations he's at 10 ft from the reil yard setback if we cons if we cons if the board considers it an accessory structure um I'm looking at my zone chart U I'm seeing an accessory building set back side and rear of 10 ft am am I in correct there we're talking ra Zone yes correct I stand corrected 10 ft correct thank you okay appreciate that so in that case uh the 18-inch deck is fully conforming fully com fully compliant with the exception of area of the 36 in deck yeah correct good thank you thank you for clearing we'll never doubt you Mr Fletcher thank you got me on that one worth checking no absolutely I agree I agree uh any other questions uh for Mr Fletcher Mr chair Mr D um so Mr flager the corner from where the 36 in deck is where you have four steps and a single step from that corner to the property is 38 foot correct correct okay right thanks any other questions Mr Fletcher okay seeing none you have anything else to add no okay all right so we will now go out to the public anyone within 200 feet of the subject site wanting to be heard if you were within 200 feet of subject site you received a notice via certified mail hi my name is Ali our attorney will swear you and Sir raise your right hand do you solemly swear or affirm to tell the whole truth nothing but the truth yes I do and state your full name Andress address haaj La 3952 Park Avenue Edison New Jersey please spell that KH a w a j a Ali Ai and you're within 200 fet of the subject site uh I'm just a little over 200 feet from okay then so then then you cannot come you can you can testify but we call for people within 200 feet of subject site so no no no it's no problem it's no problem um okay just second think so anyone within 200 Fe of subject site wanting to be heard ma'am please approach please raise your right hand do you solemnly swear or affirm to tell the whole truth nothing but the truth to help you go yes I do and please State your full name providing your address yes I my name is Lisa bardi and I live at 23 Timber Road and you can bring the microphone down so you're a little more comfortable sure I'm short that's okay um I came here because you know they can do what they want with the deck okay um I'm not really objecting um I guess it's just that I watch them bulldoze I've been an Edison resident since I grew up in Edison I've been here for 59 years I lived on Timber Road for 59 years and um what I just don't like is that there's just doesn't seem to be any aesthetic to this house it looks like a hotel in the middle of our neighborhood um I know it's a little late in the game for me to be saying this but when I got this letter I I just felt like it was my time to just say my peace and um I don't wish any ill if they want to build their deck they can build their deck it's just that um there was no consideration uh the house seems to be closer to the street um I knew the person who lived there previously he owned a garden center and he had the property beautiful and I watch them B bulldoze it so I just I'm not very happy about some of the things that are going on in Edison Township um I've been a longtime resident and these houses are huge and one of the Charming things about nor that is I'm sorry to interrupt you Rachel C pause our timer so the way that this works is it's not and and this is an account meeting so we can't uh go on on issues that are not related to the site and actually we cannot go on to issues that are not related to this project as it relates which is just the deck it's not the home itself it's just Li itself to the deck understand thank you and good luck thank you thank you okay is there anyone else within 200 feet of subject property wanting to be heard question okay is there anyone outside 200 feet of subject property want to be heard can I go back and ask a question Mr you've already been sworn your 39 Park 3952 P Avenue okay and you bring the microphone up now there we go okay you may proceed uh I'm just aware of the fact where they're building the house and stuff like that but I just want to point out what I think uh was missed out that because I know this house for a very long time and that lower deck was a pre-existing deck the this is not the only thing which is new is the new deck which is now attached to the pre-existing deck the lower 18in deck is a pre-existing deck I just that's all I wanted to say okay thank you very much is there anyone else within 200 I'm sorry outside 200 fet of subject property wan to be heard last call seeing none can I get a motion to close the public portion motion to close public por portion second motion made by Vice chairman o Gorman seconded by Mr Mr Patel all in favor signify by saying I I oppose nay the eyes have it public portion is now closed and I'll go to the board Mr chairman Mr D I make a motion to approve this application applicant will comply with engineers's report and and and any building codes uh it's a DI Minimus request it is not detriment to the neighborhood not out of character with the neighbors second motion made by Mr dve seconded by Mr Patel roll call please Mr Chaba yes to the motion Mr Sero yes on the motion Mr Baron yes on the motion Mr Patel yes on the motion Mr D yes on the motion Vice chair of Gorman yes on the motion and chairman Kumba yes on the motion uh you have anous approval 70 congratulations thank you sir thank you thank you mem secretary next case on the agenda please case number Z8 2023 narali Patel at 2116 oak3 Road applicant is proposing preliminary and final site plan and seeking bulk in use variances to demolish the existing single family dwelling and construct a two-story office with parking lot standards have not been met in accordance with master plan combined side yard setback required is 30 ft proposed is 25 rear yard setback required is 60 ft proposed is 25 ft maximum floor area required is 25% proposed is .6% affected property is located in the OS Zone designated as block number 425 Lot number 7.27 on the Edison Township Tax M all noticing paperwork is in order Mr sh you may approach I don't know if you're waiting for for your entrance music or what but let's roll thank you Mr [Music] chairman Mr chairman members of the board my name is Bernard Shire The Firm of conver conver and Shire representing the applicant owner nurali Patel uh regarding property located at 2116 Oak Tree Road Block 425 lot 7.27 in the office service Zone uh presently the property contains a vacant rundown single family residents uh the proposal is to erect a new uh two story professional office building uh which is a permitted use in the zone uh there are uh uh variances required uh floor area ratio uh and some bulk variances uh the uh project uh contemplates uh a uh great impove Improvement of the property in question uh in a zone that is becoming increasingly more office as opposed to residential although residential is still permitted uh I have this evening uh Mr Paul Fletcher professional engineer and professional planner uh and our architect nahal ja uh who designed the building and uh unless there are any preliminary questions uh I'm going to call Mr Fletcher soon as he walks back in does the board have any preliminary questions for Mr sh seeing none you may proceed sure not a problem you could do that and you just bring a um bring a microphone over with you something I said yeah yeah I generally don't I don't have that effect on people except it's a holiday I think if it's a holiday but uh right I'll I'll call Paul Fletcher me S tell the whole truth yes I do your name Paul J Fletcher Mr Fletcher you previously accepted uh this evening there's been no change in the past 10 minutes to your qualifications licenses there has not been it's good to hear then we'll accept you thank you thank you and and just for for the record you want to be accepted as a engineer and planner yes pleas testifying in both capacities Mr thank you very much we'll accept you for both Mr Fletcher you were retained by the owner applicant uh to prepare the uh engineering site plan for this application yeah that's correct and uh could you please just briefly uh explain to the board what the current conditions on the property are certainly uh first of all the property known as 2116 Oak Tree Road Lot 7.27 in Block 425 uh it's located in the OS Zone uh it has uh 12,856 Square ft it is uh 60 ft wide 190 ft on deep uh it's currently improved with a uh single family vacant uh I'll say dilapidated structure it was a single family home uh there's a fairly large uh asphalt parking area in front and at the the rear of the home uh the applicant proposes to demolish all existing site improvements right uh and Mr Fletcher could you please tell the board what is proposed for the property certainly the applicant proposes to construct a uh 30 foot 35 ft wide 58 ft long uh twostory office building will be located towards the rear of the property uh in the front area of the property uh a parking Park working lot would be constructed uh with a total of uh uh 13 spaces plus one uh EV credit uh providing a total of 14 uh it's fully conforming to the uh uh parking requirements uh for the OS zone for uh professional office use right and uh will this uh have any impact on drainage or any of the other uh uh types of uh effects that a new building would have on the on the property in question well that has been addressed uh the existing topography allows the uh most of the water to drain to the rear uh we're slightly changing the drainage pattern much less will go to the rear uh the majority of the runoff and certainly all the impervious and roof roof runoff will be directed uh to an on-site storm system we will be providing some underground detention in the form of pipe storage uh and that will be uh uh released through an outlet structure to an existing uh Inlet uh in Oak Tree Road so we'll be balancing the pre- and post-development runoff rates uh so as not to create any uh adverse effects off stream offsite all right so there will be no adverse effect from uh runoff or drainage uh based upon what uh you've put in place on the plan correct that is correct right uh now uh with regard to the uh parking lot uh how many spaces will there be uh total of 13 uh with one EV credit so um net spaces of 14 and is that adequate for a professional office building in the zone uh as con as it as it's intended to be yes the uh parking requirement is one space per 300 Square ft uh total required is 14 spaces we're providing 14 spaces all right and has uh some Landscaping been provided for as well yes uh extensive Landscaping uh the whole perimeter of the parking area will be uh heavily landscaped with trees and shrubs uh there'll be uh an 8ft fence at the rear yard uh and U wides spreading Evergreens planted uh uh quite a extensive Landscaping um and and that is all shown on the site plan correct yes it's all shown on the Landscaping all right now uh several variances are required uh could you please just explain what those variances are certainly uh there's two existing non-conformities firstly uh lot area in the OS Zone 20,000 Square ft is required 12,856 is existing uh minimum lot width 100 ft is required in the zone 60 ft is existing there are a number of variances that U we are uh proposing uh firstly side uh individual and combined uh minimum side yard setback is 15 combined is 30 we're proposing 12 A2 combin 25 uh secondly uh rear yard setback uh required is 60 ft we're proposing 25 ft uh we're proposing uh a uh pylon sign at the uh front of the freestanding sign in the front uh that would be 9 ft from the RightWay line where uh 15 ft is required uh we are requesting a floor area ratio of uh 31.6% wor 25% is is permitted in the zone and lastly we're uh requesting that uh no loading space be provided although we are dedicating uh two stack spots for staff and deliveries uh but no uh loading space per se uh like a 12x 48 for tractor trailers which would not uh be needed uh to make deliveries to the site but that that is an ordinance requirement which we seek relief from right uh have you reviewed uh Mr Bell's comments in his uh review of the site plan I have and could you please tell me if the applicant can comply uh with uh his recommendations uh yes he can did you want me to address them individually uh if uh if you would yeah I'll go through the plan review comments from Mr mcnell uh um firstly in paragraph 8 ask for Outside Agency approvals such as MX County and Freehold soil uh if those are all pending or approved and we will provide copies to the board um be the ability of a Edis an emergency vehicle to maneuver the site should be shown uh there clearly is not room for a fire truck to turn around in this site uh I would expect uh that if the was a fire they would probably fight it from the street uh however they could drive straight in uh to get closer to the building and however they would have to back out uh uh to exit the site um C Mr Bell requests that the uh two side stack parking uh to be dedicated for employees and delivery of vehicles a note has been added to the plans uh DS about refu were to be stored and and disposed of we're showing a 4x8 enclosure which will be fully fenced with uh self- loocking Gates self closing Gates uh on the left side of the structure uh we expect uh we don't expect that a large amount of recycling and and garbage to be generated by the uh the offices uh the uh intent would be to take the uh garbage and recycling containers wheel them to the curb for municipal pickup uh Mr Bell ask about the tree replacement plan providing tree calculations which are on the current plan I'll make sure they're uh all conforming uh uh Mr bellan G asked for a row of all season parking lot screening shrubs between supposed proposed trees on site Frontage that has been Mr chairman Mr Excuse me uh we have a new report dated April 24th so I don't think you'll I'm sorry I'm W for the febru 8th February 8th I apologize you have it I don't have that yeah that was sent to you today good that was sent to you today thanks if you go to like item F I think that's where we left off okay uh itmf requests irrigation system to be provided uh the applicant agrees to that a note has been added to the plan uh G talks about specific architectural regulations um I will leave that for the architect to address U any rooftop equipment certainly will be screened uh I know it has been added and uh I I ask for documentation to demonstrate compliance with the pipeline buffering ordinance I have have viewed the uh pipeline mapping for Edison and uh can verify that we're not within 75 ft of a high pressure pipeline I would ask a a waiver from the board if uh if it sees fit uh that we don't require getting letters from the uh pipeline companies themselves they are sick of us sending them letters uh and it's very difficult to get a response uh however I will be having you put a uh a letter to Mr Bell uh verifying that there is no U uh pipeline within 75 ft Mr chairman Mr B now I have no problem to the waiver just as long as he signs and seals it we'll do with the letter so that you're you got the responsibility of it in case there is a problem understood okay and agreed uh J uh applicant agrees that any prior approvals uh would be abandoned if this proposal is approved Mr Brown yes sir I just wanted to see if you're okay with all of Mr Fletcher's responses yeah I the only I had a little issue with I couldn't find the the dumpster location I if it's on the left side of the building that's fine I was having a hard time reading that plan and seeing that so hopefully he agreed to it so it has to be part of the approval so okay Mr Fletcher just to clarify you had said that there wasn't there the um it' be rolling cans out to the street that's correct uh it's to immediately to the left of the building it's a 4x8 concrete pad enclosure okay all right Mr me now you good I'm fine thank you very much he still needs to do the planning um testimony yep okay y I agree um okay so we'll now go to uh the Delaware R report mrar good evening Mr chairman good evening uh I don't know if Mr Fletcher was going to agree in just as a blanket or wanted to go through item by item um we would agree essentially uh with a blanket statement that we'll comply with the request in your report Mr chairman I don't know if there was anything specific you know he spoke to the relief that they're seeking regarding the loading zone uh and most of the other comments are just minor in technical nature and I believe Mr Fletcher is familiar with you know this board and the procedures that we typically request so I would be comfortable with that okay thank you mrar right uh Mr Fletcher uh as a professional planner actually Mr sh since you don't I'm I'm GNA hold you up there um I'm going to go to the board if we have any engineering questions oh sure then and then we'll go he'll put his planning hat on okay so does the board have any questions from Mr Fletcher with regard to his engineering testimony Mr chair Mr what is the intended use of this office is a medical use or what was what's the intended use uh the main level uh it is a uh Physical Therapy uh office and uh the second floor would be um opens for rental just general office okay do they require bulk delivery to come to the building on and off many times I'm sorry what kind does it require any kind of bulk deliveries no no all right thank you Mr thank you Mr Mr Brun uh Mr Fletcher uh the question I have has to do with parking yes uh I see from Mr Bell's report that uh based on the square footage of your building proposed uh 14 spaces would be required uh it seems that there are 13 spaces included including one handicap and uh accessible uh accessible space and two uh evcs spaces but on you plan the side plan I see 11 so where's the other two yeah there's h two to the right of the building they're stacked oh behind the building no beside it of the building okay sorry about that he also has EV parking and you get a you get a space credit for each one it's sort of piggyback parking over there so one car forward they have to navigate that okay I understand thank you and that's why it's a u it's reserved for staff and and deliveries speaking of was another question I had as a physical therapy office you have uh two offices exam room staff room therapy area reception how many employees do you envision uh working in that space I'm not uh qualified to answer that question question I have the uh applicant owner present if you would like uh her to testify I just asked that question as in terms of how it impacts everything that we're talking about yeah it's it's going it's going to be by appointment only and uh frankly she has been practicing next door for quite a while and there are no problems with the parking or overcrowding but uh I I had do have her here if you'd like that on the record no I'm satisfied with your answer uh all right uh Mr Fletcher wait we weren't done yet there Mr uh so Mr Fletcher with regard on page three of your application um you had parking spaces required or 14 parking spaces provided is listed is 15 but you previous previously said there were 14 provided yes I believe is that on the application yeah it's on page three of the application I don't have that in front of me we could have counted uh uh two credits for the two EVS uh whereas the uh state allows up to 10% so I think we knocked it down toor okay all right so then you'll submit if if so approve you'll submit a amended application just to reflect the 14 yes thank you very much do we have does the board have any other questions from Mr Fletcher with regard to engineering Mr chairman Vice chairman yeah on on drawing A-1 you have a finished basement what's going to be in there what's the basement going to be used for storage only thank you any other questions okay all right thank you uh I would like to withhold Mr Fletcher's planning testimony till after the architect uh puts on the record the the building that he's proposing certainly without objection call U Mr ja our architect can I take this one yes sure just make sure you put it back when you're done you raise your right hand saw SAR orm to tell the whole truth nothing but the truth you I certainly do and please State your full name for the record sure my first name is Nal n e h a l last name is zav j h a v e r i Mr very if you could just give us a summary of your qualifications please certainly uh my name is Nal I am principal at NJ architecture 250 West Main Street morst toown New Jersey that's uh by Cherry Hill um I've been practicing uh architecture uh for last 15 years I have licenses in New Jersey Pennsylvania Maryland Virginia South Carolina I have been uh uh at Edison board a couple of times and few months back also I was here um and your license are current in good standing yes sir okay we'll accept you you may proceed thank you thank you Mr ja you were uh retained by the applicant and owner uh to prepare the architectural plans for this new professional office building correct that is correct could you please uh for the board describe the building you're proposing thank you here we have uh 35x 58 ft uh twostory um with basement uh office building professional office building um it's a 35 ft um basically facing the parking lot this what you see here is the rear side this is the front side where we have parking uh you have the entrance in the front of the building only there you have a vestibule basically takes you upstairs or you go down uh go straight uh into the the first floor area the office area and the first floor therapy office area uh as soon as you enter you have uh the waiting area and you have the reception uh you know you check in and you go towards the therapy area you have a wide open Physical Therapy area with just about one exam room two offices and a small staff room uh that's pretty much it uh it's pretty wide open space uh from there you can go to the basement so basement is pretty much solely for the storage area just in case if they need it uh from the physical therapy area um because we don't have a whole lot of space and it's a small footprint second floor again from the lobby area you go straight up to the second floor there's one staircase taking to the second floor right now again it's just going to be a vanilla box um since we don't have any tenant or uh you know if they intend to use it later A2 is building elevations um to the left of it is the front elevation uh basically it's very simple building um in a way it is in a sense it's a box um but what we try to do is just to try to have some just position of materials at the front so it has a good curve appeal it is uh a transitional building the way I would say it between contemporary and modern uh you do have a brick facade uh which has some angle to it gives some character to the building uh you have two materials mainly throughout the building the front facade you have the brick thank you you have the brick and the cement siding uh right to it and then you have whole lot of Glass on top of it uh which basically brings in light to the stairwell and perhaps uh to the tenant area on the second floor uh at the entrance it's a covered entrance with a metal roof um primarily we see U just Earth colors uh tours for the building uh all around when you turn to the right and to the left um again the way we try to do is at least just have some break in the building with m materials just two materials uh and two different colors so you do see some somewhat of an interest uh all around not just completely box or flat surfaces to the rear we didn't want to put too many windows also of course uh so on the second floor what we have is we propos just minimal Windows the first floor it goes with function of the space on the lower level to bring in some more light also but of course at the same time give some privacy um I want to go back to actually basement plan if you don't mind the basement has two means of figures that's why you see these two STC cases one is the exterior staircase on the other side and the one staircase that's in the front so that's one reason that I wanted to explain to you that we do have two stairc cases there is a reason behind that uh no other intention uh it would be required by building code and for me to have an internal staircase uh it would be too much to come out and take away a lot of space from the floor area that's right here the second St is in the back just for means ofes I believe uh I guess that concludes oh by the way the building height um is the other thing we do have about 12T from floor to floor uh that's floor to floor first floor to second floor and second floor to the roof uh about 4T parapet that we are considering so all in all from first floor to the top of parapet would be about 28 24 feet uh 28 ft my mistake uh it would screen any rooftop units that we would have uh in the future um yeah that's all right uh that's the architect's testimony if there are any question questions from the board does the board have any questions for Mr ja I have a question so um having reviewed Mr Big Nell's report um comment G the OS Zone has specific architectural regulations which require any new construction maintain a residential appearance I don't see what you're proposing having residential appearance it clearly looks like an office building I hadn't seen that report I'm sorry about that um I can say that I mean I don't want to be wise guy here but it's little modern little contemporary uh stuff here uh if I were to do Residential Building um it would more or less will have slope roof uh you can have fake roof in the front um with some sort of a Terrace in the back or flat roof in the back where you're going to have to use it for mechanical units and all that so at the end of the day what one of the characters that we wanted to follow also again you know I could have gone with the entire brick and all but we are trying to bring in the brick and the siding which is a cement siding or stule the building all together just the way that's two doors down we have a corner building which is completely stuck and just Bland um so we try to do give some character to it also uh again with flat canopy in instead of a flat canopy you do have somewhat of a Porch Looking canopy uh right around here in the corner that protects uh from the elements so some of these things that's what I can see as far as the residential character to okay I don't agree with you but okay any uh board have any other questions from Mr ja okay seeing none thank you thank you very much recall Mr Mr Fletcher at this [Music] time Mr Fletcher you remain under oath understood thank you uh Mr Fletcher you've also been retained to uh give the planning testimony on behalf of the applicant in this matter is that correct that's correct from a planning standpoint would you please discuss the justification for the granting of the various variances that have been proposed yes uh I believe both the C2 and C1 criteria apply to this application uh with regard to see1 hardship uh the lot is undersized uh by uh 7,200 ft versus the 20,000 that's required uh and it's also hindered in in the fact that the lot width is only 60 feet as opposed to the 100 that's required in this Zone and I think that leads to some extent the uh the reason we need many of the other variants is uh uh side setbacks uh although frankly kind of di Minimus we're looking for 12 and a half versus 15 and 25 versus 30 it's a function of the narrowness of the lot which is only 60 ft um uh I think the other variances the other bulk variances can be granted under the C2 criteria where the benefits significantly outweigh the detriment uh I think one of the uh Main benefits here is we're taking an underutilized uh frankly uh isore of a property and putting it to efficient uh use with a uh aesthetically pleasing new building uh providing um adequate uh parking for the proposed use um and I see no uh any I see very little if any uh detriment to the to the public good or the master plan or the own plan um uh with regard to the flu area ratio uh I am assuming that the lot size which is pre-existing and we can't do anything about uh would lend itself to the justification for that correct yes partly um and and clearly had if we had a conforming lot we wouldn't be asking for a FL ratio and variance the uh FL is is a d variance as we know uh but it's not a true use variance uh think a D1 or a D2 um and and what the Board needs to understand or or or determine is can this property adequately carry this extra square footage and I would point to the fact that we have adequate parking we're complying with the parking requirements uh we're providing uh significant Landscaping uh and I uh well under lot coverage by building uh so I believe that the U uh the lot can carry this uh uh and allow this variance for f uh I see no detriment uh as I mentioned to the public good or the Zone plan or the master plan I think U it uh promotes a number of the the uh uh purposes of Municipal land use law U notably uh uh promotes the general welfare providing uh uh new commercial space for uh uh employment in citizens of uh Edison uh we're providing uh an aesthetically pleasing facade and an improved appearance which will uh be a a benefit to the neighbor hood and and clearly I see no no detriment uh from the requested variances and the proposed use is consistent uh with the office service Zone yes it is as it exists thank you Mr Fletcher nothing further does the board have any questions for Mr Fletcher with regard to the planning testimony Mr so Mr Charlotte right now your application um suggests that the second floor you don't have a tenant and the uh basement finish basement is going to be for storage um so you're both areas at this point are storage I'm sorry what is basement and second floor at this point you're planning or you uh your applicant is suggesting it's going to be for storage well the basement is definitely storage second floor we would like to have a tenant uh you know it's not being proposed as just a storage area okay and you know you would have to come before the board or at least before zoning when you have ideas on the second floor tency or whatever well not I don't I don't believe so if we would if it's a tenant that's permitted under the Zone okay if there of course if we wanted a use that was not permitted we would have to come back before this board okay all right thank you Mr sha does the board have any questions from Mr Fletcher with regard to his planning test seeing none thank you Mr Fletcher thank you that is the applicant's case Mr sh is it possible I have two questions for the applicant is it possible to call the applicant certainly thank you uh call nalii Patel right you would you raise your right handly swear or affirm to tell the whole truth nothing but the truth you go yes I do and state your full record your full name pleas yes State your full name alel and Miss Patel I have just have two questions for you um your proposed hours of operation for the first floor um 927 okay and then um patients uh arriving would they be arriving by a personal vehicle or a van a bus or a van or any personal vehicle personal vehicle okay okay all right thank you so much does the board have any questions for the applicant no Mr D uh I I I'm sure I'm hearing a testimony for the recept how many people are going to be in the in the occupant would be in the building at any given time no go ahead Mr D right so how many occupants you are expecting at any given time in the building how many you have receptionist probably how many therapists how many patients at any given time uh so far so one receptionist one physical therapist and one assistant so employees are is one therapist one assistant therapist Y and then how many patients you can treat them two to three patients in an hour 2 to three any other uh uh visitors you are expecting No so at any given time you'll have no more than six no so one reception is one therapist one ass therapist two or three paent so any you I no more than seven people would be in the building yes right and then if all seven come with the with their own personal vehicle there were seven Vehicles there with the with the employees and the patient yes okay and the balance of the parking space that you have would be for the future tenon for the second floor uh yes okay all right all right Mr chairman thank you Mr DAV any other questions okay thank you very much Mr tell we appreciate it thank you Mr sh uh that is the applican case okay great thank you very much all right so we will now go to the public anyone within 200 feet of subject site wanting to be heard should now approach members of the public will be allowed for six minutes for commentary um commentary aside from commentary you may ask question of the applicant and the applicant's professionals your question should be asked at the beginning of your uh presentation uh once commentary begins your timer will begin so even if if you're asking ask a question and you make a comment and say I don't agree with that your time will then begin um so any additional questions would then be on the clock that being said anyone within 200 feet of subject site sir [Music] thank you raise your right hand do you solemly swear or affirm to tell the whole truth nothing but the truth to help you go yes I do and please State your full name provide your address Walter stoal w l t r St o c h l 2118 Oak Tree Road uh Mr Mr chairman I haven't been to a zoning meeting in a while I'm not sure of the procedures um as an objector I'd like to give the board the applicant and your experts information it contains photos of the neighborhood property views from my property renderings of the property related to my property and information on the master plan without objection so you can give uh Mr sh a copy and then uh hand the secretary a copy uh and she'll distribute to the board and I have copies of my comments do I give them to you or just um just say it you can just say it this will be um exhibited as 01 I just need to know how many pages we have Mr social do you have any uh Pages or within your your packet pages of what pages of P Pages pages of I think it's 11 I don't know I I I left my copy on over there you can get your you can get your copy so you so we're all on the same page there two Sid two sided 11 is 11 pages it's just socially would you prepared this document yes and it's a the front page I think is number one and it goes to 11 there are 11 you correct yeah yeah um let me see I can ask a couple questions first and then so you can ask questions first um then once you begin commentary your time I'll begin the uh there was testimony about the garbage of want to know is the project in the garbage District of the town they said it would be Township recycling and garbage pickup what what is the question there was testimony that the garbage would be picked up by the Township recycling and garbage and it's it in the garbage district and what is the question is the who's who's going to pick it up is it going to be the uh Township or private contractor we believe it would be the township if the township doesn't we would obviously get a private Carter okay and the the second is on in Mr Bell's report or the engineers report it talked about the fence around the property um it will uh I want to know if it's going to be 8 feet around the Residential Properties on the resident to the west and there's a resident to the north whatever is required under the ordinance we will comply with okay um okay I object to this application and the board Mr chairman hold on we're going to hold hold on me Mr B um I think Mr S I believe your property is in the same zone so that wouldn't require an 8ot fence but if it is going to be an office to an a to a residential property you may want to consider placing an 8ft fence if that would help with his Pro privacy Mr sh would your would your client agree to uh an 8 foot fence yes yes okay all right thank you all right Mr soal do you have any more questions before I let you roll to your commentary that's it all right you have the floor I object to this application and the board should deny it the project is D detrimental to the master plan and zoning ordinance exceeds the Flor ratio area by 35% it has a backyard setback violation of 35 ft and two side yard VI violations of 2.5 ft it needs a signed variance a loading zone waiver these variances increase the existing non-conformity the lot can't be made wider or bigger but the building can be made smaller to and relocated to fit the envelope the building is not a residential looking building and 80 ft of parking in front doesn't look like a residential site if violates the purpose of the OS Zone which says the purpose of these districts is to provide a reasonable use of land for non-residential purposes at the same time maintaining a residential presence also the development character of of these districts in most instes was residential in appearance most buildings were originally constructed as single family homes in this context any new or alter construction shall be designed to maintain a residential appearance the uh project violates the objectives of the 2003 master plan and 2011 reexamination report uh objective two encourage well-designed noge for all land P land use patterns that are consistent with established neighborhoods and land use patterns while preserving the community Suburban landscape objective four encourage consistency of scale and spatial patterns between new development consistent to the scale of established land uses while preserving the character and development nature of the existing neighborhoods and and promote densities at which considered vacant land and six discourage deviation from established land use patterns that would permit incompatible or conflicting land uses from being developed adjacent to one another this is not consistent with the neighborhood land use patterns it's not consistent with the scale of the neighborhood and does not preserve the character of the Pres existing neighborhood this will create a de deviation from the front yard setbacks along the street from the street this in from the street this neighborhood will now look like a smile missing a tooth the 80 foot deep parking lot in front deviates from anything in in the neighborhood and is not encouraged by the township the clar Barton Redevelopment plan calls the elimination of front yard parking and says location of parking facilities all on-site parking shall be located in the rear of each property the parking is so tight they have to shoehorn at two stacked parking spaces on the right in the right yard setback next to the front door causing conflict with cars backing in and out and people walking in and out in the front of the building the parking lot Blends into the sidewalk then the building with no barriers for vehicles to prevent parking on the sidewalk we driving into the building Township Code 37662 says separation from walkways and streets all off street parking and off Street loading and service areas shall be separated from walkways sidewalk streets alleys by curbing or other protective devices when the neighborhood was all residential all the houses had parking in the back the ones that were now commercialized have parking in the back 2116 has parking in the back the 25 foot setback brings the building closer to the backyard of the single family home with a yard with a large patio and deck and the house behind with a pool that can be seen from this building the rear yard variants the F if the rear yard variants F were granted it will result in a cascading effect of the the owners of 2118 2120 2114 2111 2107 and 2103 asking for the same resulting in a non-residential looking Corridor with oversized building full of visible parking lots destroying the O Zone the osone requires a residential look the building does not look residential with large Windows which on the plan are called storefront windows they appear to be 8 feet tall and there's an 8 by8 feet Second Story window that looks out on the neighboring yards cement siding and some pent panel panels it looks like a box and I know of no resident in Edison that looks like that on page two you will see my house and yard on the west side of the project my backyard is 84 feet from the house to the rear rear line on page three the view is from my backyard which is like a garden the previous owner of 216 planted a row of Arbor in the 1980s to block the view of the park landscape equipment the trees are now 18 ft tall this is where the 30ft tall building will be with 8ft Windows 12T behind an an 8ft fence and sidewalk stairs and retaining wall and a trash enclosure the existing buffer will be removed that will be my new view the trash enclosure is against this side of the building making that part of the building sidey yard 9 ft uh it will be says it be heavily screened but it's not it's going to be just a gate um while the trash container on my side is not heavily screened the dumpster next door on 2114 will get a fence and vegetation buffer from this project the landscape plant on four and five uh on page for my page four and five there is an oak tree straddling my the property line in this location it's not shown on the plans I put a stockade fence around the tree the tree is shown uh the fence is shown straight on the plan but the tree is not shown how can you miss a big tree and that's 65 ft from the rear of my property line it's not clear what will happen to it since it's near where the proposed fence and retaining wall will be there and on the site plan in the front there's a 17inch tree that shows is shown but is dead there's also two spruce trees in the front that are not sh and appear to be bigger than 5 in the plan does not reflect the current conditions there's a new fence along the rear lot and along lot 8.13 the bushes in front of 2114 are gone Mr social you sorry your time is up thank you thank you can I give a conclusion no no I'm sorry is there anyone else within 200 feet of subject site wanting to be heard anyone outside 200 feet W to be heard sir uh sir would you raise your right hand do you solemnly swear or affirm to tell the whole truth nothing but the truth so help you got I do please State your full name and your address sure Ron laugher 6 Nancy Circle Edison New Jersey 08817 l o e FF l e r proceed um first I'd like to say that I agree with everything that the previous subor as stated um I have some cross- examination questions uh for the architect Mr off you just bring the microphone a little closer to you I'm sorry bring the microphone a little closer to you okay thank you so much hi um in your opinion regarding the proposed architectural elevations that you've provided would you characterize your exterior design as commercial or res resdential in nature and character that's why I said earlier that it's transitional in between right so the materials what we try to employ is again it's not just a Taco uh and things more in nature of commercial so it is more of a transitional yes because of the flat roof probably you might think it's commercial looking so you would uh CL classify aluminum and glass storefront windows as transition between residential and Commercial we that for residential contemporary residential buildings now yes um are you aware of the Edison regulation regarding the OS Zone district and the requirement of having a residential presence or residential character presence right but we wanted to go one step further with that certainly that you know we can try and work out in such a way that modern houses do have those kind of appearances so residence doesn't necessarily mean it has to have flat roof or just complete residential character in my opinion okay um when you were testifying earlier and the the zoning board chair asked you about the appearance uh I quote I didn't see that is what you said no his report when he mentioned the report that I didn't see that I didn't see that report okay all right um and looking at your basement plan um there's an exterior entrance separ seate from the interior basement access yes sir can this space can the basement space be subdivided and used as future tenant space since it's a finished basement not at all we can put it in the requirements hypothetically speaking a finish space can be used and used as a future tenant space can't it yeah no you're right but so what when we mean by finished spaces so these days uh the requirements by the building codes are such that you need to have lot of insulation in and around of the entire envelope so the basement's going to have insulation whether it's on the outside or inside in our case we're going to put it inside because outside surface is more exposed so when you put all that you need to cover that insulation with either with uh jip board or whether you with uh the foil face when you're doing all those things certainly it's easy for you to just put a sheetrock on it so that's why we say you know insulate we don't have to finish it if that's something that would make everybody happy but um certainly it's a storage space that's for sure okay um in your opinion can the building be moved forward to keep it in context with the adjacent building setbacks it's not my architecturally speaking you're the architect well architecturally speaking building could be moved anywhere right so I don't know I mean how to answer that whether you can move it forward certainly you can move forward backward um and and if the building were moved forward um it can be designed such that the parking would be located in the rear yard correct again sir it's the civil engineer who can answer that not me well I'm going to have questions for him also sure um that's all I have for now um the engineer please thank you how you doing sir good um same question a little bit different though uh regarding the sighting of the building on the property toward the rear is it possible to move the building forward with parking in the rear to be consistent with the existing setbacks with the building to the left and the building to the right given that the architect can redesign the building to accommodate this we we looked at that and uh we concluded that there wasn't enough space uh on either side of the building to uh have uh the ability to drive uh in both directions to get to parking at the rear uh and clearly just pulling the building forward uh without offsetting parking in the rear we would lose a lot of parking that's why the decision was made to put the building where it is okaye presently this is lot 727 correct 7.27 correct presently the uh applicant is renting at 7.28 right next door um which is a 52 foot wide lck I'm sorry 54.72 wide lck where you have a 71.4 wide lot and there is access to get parking in the backyard of that lot is there not I'm not familiar with the lay out of the other lot of size of the building all right I'll save that for the applicant thank you um the architect indicated that the B basement is finished and has its own separate entrance did you include the square footage of this potential Tenon space in your F calculation which would then increase to 047 and your parking calculation would increase to 21 the uh basement was not included in the F uh nor in the parking CS because it's not intended to be uh tenant space it's storage only okay um did you look at the architectural plan yes um did it indicate that it's being used for storage I don't recall can you take a look did I or will I can you would you sure Mr left side Mr Fletcher I'm going need you to be on a microphone Mr Fletcher I'm going to need you to be on a microphone thank you I'm sorry to make it yeah the architectural plan it's labeled as a finished basement okay um and if the architect eliminated the outside access from the rear would that preclude the square footage to be calculated as part of the F could you repeat that question so at present there's two access points to the basement there's an exterior access point in the rear and an interior one from the first floor reception area if he if the if the outside access was eliminated would that help in reducing calculating the basement in the F the basement is not calculated in the F you're not calculating it okay um regarding the Edison EV ordinance um you're providing two EV spots um it states that uh electrical vehicle charging equipment shall be permitted in a front yard area subject to meeting all other setbacks setback requirements how are you planning to comply with that you're asking for side yard setbacks rear yard setbacks how do you plan on complying with the EV setbacks the EV parking when you're not complying with the setbacks well the the setback variances are for the building uh I don't believe we need any uh relief for the location of the parking all right it's Edison ordinance uh 14-7 C uh so few more questions I promise um do you believe the two-story building if the if the two-story building were moved to the front of the property it would have a lesser impact on the use and privacy of the residential neighbor that's to the West you would either have a building that's parked there 24 hours a day or cars that leave after hours I'm sorry say that again so if if you would move the two-story building to the front of the property would the neighbor to the west be impacted less and have greater use and privacy of his own I'm not familiar exactly with where his the neighbor to the west property is directly the next loot say 727 yeah I'm not I'm not seeing the actual location of the building we didn't survey that um it's on page one on the top left corner well that's the radius map it doesn't show the building itself I have a question do if he doesn't have an answer to the question how if he can't answer the question he can't answer the question we're not going to force it out of it all right I'll move on uh it appears there's double stacking cars on the east corner of the building does Edison zoning ordinances permit double stacking cars in a parking space in in some uh some areas of the ordinance that allows stacking uh this is a choice uh for the planning board to make or the board of adjustment to make and this is a specific instance of uh it's not public parking it's reserved for staff and deliveries okay all right that's all I have uh for you thank you um and I have a couple questions for the applicant Mr sherff oh Mr R you may proceed thank you I actually forgot the question I was going to ask her that the engineer couldn't answer I apologize um have you tried to obtain any adjoining property uh to 727 to lot 2727 7 I didn't get that can you have you tried to purchase acquire uh any property uh to help reduce the floor area ratio no no um do you know if any properties available uh in the area no no um is your home address 1781 Woodland Avenue yes um do you or any of your family members own any ajoining property to this lot or do you have any interest or financial interest in an LLC which is registered to your home address that owns a joining property uh yes yes uh okay thank you okay thank you Mr laugher anyone else outside feet wanting to be heard sir Bruce Diamond 74 Cal Avenue West ra your right hand I thought you want to know who I was know who you are do you solemnly swear affirm to tell the whole truth nothing but the truths to help you got I do and now you state your name and your and I'm still Bruce Diamond 74 calber Avenue West Edison I'm a member of the open space committee I was on the master plan committee for the past year um I always find it interesting whether when I'm here or I'm watching on tele I got to ask my question first I apologize I don't hear very well how many therapists are going to be working at the uh place ma' if you just be in the ma'am if you could answer the microphone actually since we're talking about microphones Mr Diamond you should just bring up the podium there you go thank you he was coughing all over it geez yeah one physical therapist that's why I'm talking on this one just just one therapist one therapist and then you you have an assistant that works with you yes please okay and uh is the parking requirement I guess this goes to Jim is the parking requirement for a medical facility the same as goo general office uh no ST out microphone please is this not sorry the microphone no it is not is this not a medical facility there not there's only there's not she's correct what's the difference between a physical therapy there's only three medical uh professions that are considered um medical dental and chiropractor those are your only three medical professionals is is is the physical therapist are you not a doctor physical therapist well I know plenty of physical therapists who are doctors they're not MDS but they are doctors they might be physiatrist okay um I find it interesting again after watching these meetings for 30 years and and and being here sometimes that an applicant buys whether a it's a piece of residential property or commercial property and they buy an undersized lot and woe is me I don't have enough room to fit a 4pb bag of poop in a three PB bag and that's kind of what you're doing here no offense to anybody um once again we have an application before the board where the applicant buys a property in a specific Zone and wants to build something too big and not conforming to the Zone this is a troubling application the building is too big for the lot and the second floor has unknown future tenant so this floor is not needed for the therapy session therapy center it's for an unknown tenant with unknown parking requirements Mr bnell says it's General parking what's the difference between General parking and medical parking well I guess Jim answered that how how do you determine it does the applicant run a skip that part the current location of Health Plus is a smaller building with an apartment and it has a similar number of parking spaces the project is a much bigger build this project is a much bigger building and will have an unknown tenant on the second floor the circulation on this site for parab buses Vans ambulances is tight I'm not even sure how how how many pedex or or or DSL or uh Amazon trucks you're going to fit in there across the street Dr panaka the bus pulls in drops off and exits the driveway on Maryland Avenue it's 80 ft from the first parking space to the door that is way too far to walk if you're an El LLY person that's 80 ft not at Dr panicker but at this project there also need of a loading zone for deliveries a place for FedEx or Amazon to park even the mail truck would have to park to deliver the mail and we don't know what deliveries the unknown second floor tenant will need or if the so-called storage basement will be storing items from off site the stack parking on the side is just another example of this site being overdeveloped they could have pushed the building back another 9 ft and added spaces which would have left 16t rear yard 16 or 25 it does not matter to them as long as their oversized building is there they don't care about the neighbors another example is the sign variance it can't be placed where it's legal because it would be in the parking lot not push closer to the road the traffic report said there will be no problem because of gaps in the traffic from the light 700 ft away I have been by the site when St Thomas or Bishop R used to be lets out in the afternoon there are a few gaps also North Edison has a lot of traffic going in and out the building does not have a residential look as the ordinance says I I don't know where the picture is but it's kind of like when you see those converted containers where they put Windows in them and that's that's what they're calling accessory buildings in some of these states at this point um there there may be a property and building that is big enough for for this use but it is not this lot there are also existing medical buildings in the area area residents rely on the master planning zoning ordinance to protect their neighborhood in the community the project clearly violates the master plan and zoning ordinance I I often find it again interesting I I said I was on the master plan committee we wasted all the time talking about how silly Route 27 looks from uh matou in the Highland Park with all that ugly parking in front of all the retail shops you're doing the same thing to Oak Tree Road wh what's the point here you got rules I'm sorry they bought an undersized piece of lot undersized lot buy what fits what you want or build an extra extra smaller or a smaller building thank you thank you very much anyone else outside 200 feet want to be heard sir sir raise your right hand you swear tellu nothing but the truth to help you guys I do and please State your full name for the record providing your address uh Nick Fagen 42 Edgewood Road Addison you may proceed thank you Mr chairman um I would uh start my questions on my line of questioning about the certificate of completeness for this project is that complete and done Mr attorney what's the what what are you asking was the application certified complete through the TRC yes Mr Big Nell he's the one who does it we have a book but you also get a copy skip so that's not a fair answer do you have the book Cassandra I'm sure it is because it wouldn't go forward unless I complete this letter okay I I if I could see a copy that would be great I'll continue moving on in the in the uh interest of time while the secretary retrieves that report the reason I'm asked about the certificate of completeness is because in the information that I have in what Delaware ritton report uh reviewed is that there are there are some reports that weren't listed and that they're missing so uh was there a fire department of fire report submitted on that has nothing to do with completeness okay his he can ask for anything he likes in his report but it's not a completeness item so that's not that's why it's not CER that's how it's not part of the certification gotcha okay okay if they don't submit it we ask to fire we usually ask the police to respond it's up to them to respond we don't chase them around they either do they don't the letter candra Yeah March 5th 2024 okay okay it does exist thank you um so to the applicant then through the chair um the Delaware riton report uh say states pursuant to Edison 1655 emergency and access Lanes 205 sections 205 through 30 138 and 36 Fire Lane Drive aisles and parking layouts should be reviewed for comment by the chief of the fire department and the chief of police of their designes I believe that the applicant said that they would apply that they would comply with those things but that was not in the Delaware riton report my question is that that report is missing and I believe what what report is missing because just because the engineer asked for it doesn't mean that they have to do it do you see what I'm saying I don't we send the plan I believe to we used to send up to fire I don't I don't know if we're required to do that but um I don't think they did they comment is there a police report do you know or it's just a condition of approval yeah he he's from will is from he wrote the report so it's it would be a condition of approval so if they granted understand that but I I believe that the board what I'm trying to express to the board is that the board should be asking for these reports and so since you're expressing to the board you're now starting commentary so your timer is going to begin um is there a reason that the fire department didn't provide a recommendation all right that's a not um Mr architect you had mentioned the sloped roofs were characterized as residential uh residential appearance uh what would you characterize as residential in this plan I can I need you to be on a microphone sir Mike excuse me did I just start the six minutes yeah yes what would you not if it's a modern house um are there any residential buildings in this neighborhood that share the characteristics of the building you designed I'm sorry I haven't seen all the the entire neighborhood but I'm sure that a lot of them are traditional looking houses so your testimony is that this building does not match the residential nature of the the rest of the neighborhood it's not necessary that it matches all of them uh some characters as far as the materials are concerned again we try to bring it in here okay I I I don't see it bud I don't see how this is a residential building I'm Sor it's very subjective yes go ahead yes I I think you gentlemen I'm going to ask that you talk one at a time because we have a court reporter that's trying to take a record of this hearing and I will not take accept people speaking over each other so it's going to be one at a time or you both will neither you will speak you may proceed sorry about that um the uh terms of the planner Mr Fletcher uh Mr Fletcher one of the plan one of the points of the ml is uh Point C to provide adequate light air and open space um this building is two stories tall and 28 ft tall I believe that was testified to how long will the Shadows cast to The Neighbors uh throughout the year I don't know uh but I would point out that we're complying with Building height requirements in the zone uh we have a dominous sidey setback uh so I think we are providing white Air and open space um the plan doesn't show a fire hydrant within 200 ft of the property um is that is that correct is there is there a fire hydrant will there be a fire hydrant provided by the applicant there's no intention for the applicant to provide any fire hydrants and I'm not sure whether the nearest one is and why was it not included on the plan maybe may excuse me Mr chairman Mr maybe the question should be to the architect will the building be sprinklered because that would be sprinkler yeah that would be a better question okay I need you sorry sir uh no it's it doesn't require to be sprinkler uh so thank you uh copies of letters acknowledging the availability of service for electric gas and all other utilities should be submitted were they submitted that's no answer from the uh the applicant I think the board should consider that that there is no there are no letters acknowledging this um going on um materials uh should materials be stockpiled on the site uh the materials those listed they should be listed on the plans for review and approved I do not believe that they're there is there a reason that they're not on the plant what type of stockpiling are you talking about I'm if you're going to construct a building you might you might have stockpiling of of dirt and other materials uh if you're going to do that you need to plan provide them so that the board can consider that where I'm going with this Mr chairman is this board this plan is woefully incomplete in addition to not being in character of the res the residential nature of the neighborhood in the OS Zone and the the corresponding properties um I would ask that you deny this application uh or postpone it until all of those ansers of all of the things in the Delaware Reon report are answered there are numerous questions there are dozens of questions in the Delaware riton report that I didn't even get to that aren't being answered by the applicant were not answered by the applicant and so I'm not sure how you can approve an application that is missing so much information let alone is so detrimental to the zone and neighborhood and the character of Edison thank you Mr chairman if I could Mr bar I would just like to speak to that there was a number of items that that were that were brought up whether it's the fire hydrant the stockpiling those were items that were identified as he correctly stated in our letter but those are conditions of any board action they're we would consider routine there was there was nothing of significant substance and that would include the the approvals list in the at the end of the correspondence thank you very much Mr bar is there anyone outside 200 ft wanting to be heard seeing none can I get a motion to close the public portion motion to close public session second motion made by Vice chairman o' second by Mr Patel all in favor signify by saying I I oppose nay the eyes have it the public portion is now closed Mr sh you have any uh wrap up just essentially that this is a permitted use in in the zone uh as far as some of the comments we meet the building height restrictions we meet the parking requirements and we will comply with the recommendations of the township uh engineering consultant and planning consultant the uh the uh idea that things are missing these are generally considered to be I conditions of approval uh as far as stockpiling soil during construction those are all part those are all part of building permit applications uh and certainly before we even can get a building permit we have to comply with whatever is contained in the resolution of approval uh so uh and the applicant by the way has no control over whether the fire department or the police department considers an application significantly enough to file a report uh you know you have a permitted use in an office Zone with other offices uh this is this is not a gas station in a residential Zone and uh I believe that the testimony is sufficient to approve since we are willing to comply with all of the requirements of of the board professionals okay thank you very much so we'll now go to the board Mr chairman Vice chairman i' like to make a motion to uh reject this application the standards have not been met in accordance with the master plan and specifically the um application with the parking in front of the building is not consistent with the neighborhood the signage the violation for the setback and the OS Zone has specific architectural regulations which require any new construction to maintain a residential appearance the testimony from the architect U is that it does not meet this uh requirement for the residential appearance thank you motion made by Vice chairman Gman is there a second second second by Mr chabra roll call please Mr chabra yes to the motion so yes to the deny okay uh Mr Sero yes on the motion Mr Baron yes on the motion Mr Patel yes on the motion Mr d i no on the motion V chair o' Gorman yes on the motion and chairman kba yes on the motion to deny this application is Deni Deni Madam Secretary has any other additional business come before the board this evening that'll be all this evening okay can I get a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn second motion made by Vice chairman o Gman second by Mr Patel all in favor signify by saying I oose nay the eyes have it board stands ad journ e e e e e e e e