good evening everyone i' like to call the meeting according for the township of frankwood planning Bo of month of July 2024 please stand leg agents AG to the FL notice that this meeting has been given as required by the open public meetings Act and the annual notice of meetings a copy was posted on the township website and notice of this meeting was sent to the Sentinel and a copy was posted at the Franklin town of Municipal Building roll call please Mr Mady here Mr Kelly here Mr kahoo Mr Constantine Mr Doyle Mr Ranson Mr sued here Mr Clark mayor Bruno yes H Mr triam here but chairman PES is not uh at tonight's meeting he's recovering from major surgery and he host moac next month with that being said I'd like to see uh alternate Mr Clark for Mr pesh first on the agenda this evening is the memorialization of resolutions for Pb 2307 Dorney is there a motion to approve resolution seconded by Jin Kelly Nam by John M thank you this is all in favor our uh roll call I can do a roll call Mr mean yes Mr K yes who Mr pork yes and Mr TR yes resolution the last for the EXT for the extension okay but origal origal but EX all right next on PB 23-17 Newfield Dollar General LLC good evening my name is Sarah wner of the firm of prime to s we represent the applicant Newfield Harding Highway DG LLC the application before the board this evening relates to property located at the intersection of Harding Highway and Main Street also known as block 7202 Lot 10 on your Township tax map the property consists of 13.1 Acres of currently vacant undeveloped land the applicant is before the board this evening seeking preliminary and final major site plan approval minor subdivision approval and ancillary bulk variants and design waiver relief the applicant is proposing to subdivide the property into a total of two Parcels the first which will be the remainder lot will equal about 10 acre 10.72 5 acres and the newly formula upon which a Dollar General retail store is proposed will measure approximately 1.94 four acres the Dollar General retail store that is proposed on that smaller newly created lot is approximately 10,640 Square ft can you hear me okay um and as I already stated no development whatsoever is proposed on the remainder lot so uh the vast majority of this property will remain undeveloped I have with me tonight three witnesses that you will be hearing from the first is Olivia konok of Stonefield engineering and design she is applicant civil site engineer the second person you'll be hearing from is Paul mutch also of Stonefield engineering and design design he is applicant's traffic engineer and third you'll be hearing from Elizabeth mcmanis of Kyle mcmanis Associates who is applicant's professional planner um Miss mcmanis should be here shortly unfortunately she got caught in traffic um but luckily I intend to call her last so we can proceed uh in her absence before I turn it over to the witnesses there's just a couple items that I would first like to go through starting with what type of store Dollar General is Dollar General is a small box retailer which according to its own mission statement makes shopping for everyday needs simpler and hassle-free by offering a carefully edited assortment of the most popular brands at low everyday prices in small convenient locations as I'm sure this board is already aware Dollar General is not your typical $ Dollar or 99 store rather it's a neighborhood retail store that carries top quality Brands made by America's most trusted manufacturers like Proctor and Gamble Nabisco kogs and the like um the second thing I'd like to discuss is that we have received review letters from your board professionals both Mr D armiento and Mr dney today we have received three joint review letters um after the second review letter was issued uh and that letter was dated April 1st 2024 our office along with a representative of applicant and applicants professional team um participated in a virtual meeting with the board's professional staff in order to go through all aspects of the site plan application that had been submitted um we found that meeting to be extremely helpful um in getting us to where we are today and what that is is a Revis site plan so in direct response to that April 1st review letter and the comments received at that meeting the applicant went back revised the site plan and submitted that plan which is the plan that is going to be presented to you this evening as a result of the revisions that were made to the site plan as compared to the applicant's initial submission applicant this evening is Seeking a total of two bulk variances and three design wavers at the time of the initial submission we had been seeking a total of four bulk variances and four design waivers so we were able to eliminate two of the bulk variances and one of the design waivers the board's engineer and planner then went on to issue a third and final joint review letter dated July 10th 2024 so just last week um that updated review letter takes into account the plans as revised there are still a few comments that remain outstanding and applicant is willing to comply with each and every one um those comments can be broken down into two categories the first is minor revisions to the plans which we are happy to make as a condition of any approval this board might Grant and the second is items that will be addressed tonight through the testimony of our professionals so uh without further Ado if I could please introduce our first witness Olivia konia of Stonefield engineering design I could have her sworn in at this time do you and I don't know if they want to go through yeah I was going to qualify thank you good evening Elia um could you please start by providing the board with a brief overview of your educational and professional background including any licenses you currently hold yes well my name is Olivia konuk SP k n n iuk I'm a project engineer at Stonefield engineering located at 15 Spring Street in Princeton New Jersey I graduated from Rowan University with my bachelor's in civil engineering and I'm a professionally licensed engineer in the state of New Jersey and my license is in good standing I've been practicing in the Land Development industry for 5 years and I have experience on more than 50 Land Development projects of similar scope to the one see this evening I have extensive experience with Dollar General having been involved in the design for over 10 locations now built and open in New Jersey I'm intimately familiar with the application before you this evening as I have personally prepared the plans and reports thank you very much we would ask that Miss kenonia be accepted as an expert in the field of civil engineering I I think we except thank you very much um Mr you just stated this in your credentials but you are familiar with the application and plans that were submitted yes thank you um could you please walk us through the plan that is being presented to the board for approval this evening yes absolutely and i' like do we want to put the board up yeah U well I'd like to begin by stating we worked extensively with the board professionals to submit a fully compliant site plan with no bu relief requested the majority of the board professionals comments have been addressed for the latest review letter and as stated we will comply with all remaining comments um with that being said yeah I would like to um introduce my first exhibit okay if we can mark this A1 and if you could begin um by telling us the date and title of that exhibit date is July 15 secured by office one of one you say not enough to what okay you kind you thank you okay so uh the north arrows to the top of the page the site is located in the center outlined in yellow this is a mostly triangular vacant undeveloped 13.1 acre lot located in the highway commercial Zone where retail stores are permitted use is on the northwest corner of Harding Highway and Main Road surrounding the site to the West there is a vacant lot across Route 40 there is a bus garage on the Southeast corner of the intersection there's a small convenience store and across Main Street there is a residence and further up is the main road elementary school it set mostly triangular as there's a carved out corner lot nearest the intersection owned by the NJ do there are a few utility pools along the front edge but being the site is primarily used for farming um there's not much else on it 1.9 acres are being subdivided as shown towards the intersection where project site is labeled um for the proposed Dollar General development into a unique but compliant lot shape to minimize the county frage just what your next exhibit it's on the Y and we will mark this as exhibit A2 this is the site rendering exhibit this is prepared on July 12th 202 or thank you Olivia this is just a COR onong this is simply a colorized version of the site plan that was in the most recent submission that is correct the application proposes as you heard a 10,640 ft General retail store with 35 physical parking spaces and one EV make ready space located at the northernmost space of the leftmost row of parking access to the site is provided via full movement driveway along Harding Hiway which is a which is rout 40 a DOT road with whom we have an active major access application pending we are showing curb and sidewalk which intends to extend and Connect into the future do or rather currently being constructed do curb and sidewalk as well as a pedestrian access to the store from the proposed public sidewalk thank you the site has a 60/40 split of Landscapes area and imperious coverage respectively of which the impervious is well under the township requirement a 6' High Monument sign is proposed near the driveway and a wall sign of the Dollar General lettering is proposed on the front entrance of the store along Main Road per requirement of the county we are proposing curb and approximately 8 ft of roadway widening along the Dollar General portion typical hours of the store are 8:00 a.m. to 10 p.m. this is Dollar General's prototypical building and layout so deliveries will run smoothly deliveries to the site are daily with a small box truck and one to two times weekly with a WB 67 tractor trailer the truck will enter the site and pull forward into the front drive aisle then reverse into the loading area and then pull straight out of the driveway this the truck is on site for approximately 45 minutes and deliveries come in rainers uh employees sort through the uh products and shove the products they break down the shipping cardboard back into the rainers which are switched out with the next deliveries Rainer the trash enclosure is oversized to allow for storage rainers if necessary as shown in the enclosure trash and recycling is picked up one to two times a week and there are two to three employees on shift at all times four employees Max and the Dollar General will employ about 10 people total this application is classified as a major development for local and njd P regulations the soils on site allow for infiltration and groundw is very low resulting in optimal soil conditions there are two basins proposed one in the west of the site and one in the north the Western Basin collects the parking area which is pre-treated by four Bays before it discharges into the Basin and the north Basin collects the roof runoff and runoff generated by the county widening which is also pre-treated via for Bay before discharging into the Basin both basins comply with local and njd regulations for water quality treatment quantity reductions and grandwater recharge there's a 5ot wide curb cut for maintenance for maintenance access south of the trash enclosure and just north of the proposed EV make ready space overall the Landscaping was designed to implement a mix of trees and flowering shrubs throughout the site shrubs are proposed at the building and the parking lot perimeter to bring all season interest headlight screening to the right of way is provided by evergreen shrubs along the parking lot perimeter and Street trees are proposed along both frontages to increase curb appeal screening is provided around the trash enclosure to further conceal it and plenty of shrubs are proposed around the perimeter of both visible sides of each Basin the the design largely consists of native species which were selected because they're easy to maintain so from any angle of these of the site roadway you will see some sort of planting there are three area lights on site they will be back shielded there are several lights on the building providing appropriate levels throughout the parking lot and the site the proposed light fixtures are 41,000 Kelvin which is a dollar general standard used on most other Dollar General locations including the porsch Down Road application signs on site are internally illuminated and all lights will shut off 1 hour after closing in general the lighting design and operations are typical of a commercial application utilities on site are serviced via private well for water private septic system designed by Hower engineering which fits perfectly to the right of the building gas is proposed to connect into Route 40 and the electric connection will Connect into the closest utility pool along Main Road know real quick before we get we and bring architecturals up um just to confirm something you said but in different com so we need all bulk standard with the regard to lot area lot width lot depth anything of that nature correct correct we are requesting and our planner will get into this in more depth but we are requesting two variances correct yes could you identify those variances yes we are requesting a parking variance where 43 spaces are required we are proposing 36 35 physical and 1 EV and we are also requesting a variance for the placement of the proposed loading area being with in the dry bile right and our traffic engineer will speed so those both out and more out so you would like to bring up the architectural that it's time can can we actually go back real question um can they just go back through the number of employees the hours of Crash pickup I know you went went through that go go for again real quick so the hours of the store 8: a.m. to 10 p.m. there's two to three employees typically four employees for a Max shift and the Dollar General employee total about 10 10 total employees okay and what about the uh loading and offloading times and trash pickup um Olivia is it correct that the loading and unloading for purposes of the wb6 deliveries which as you testified occur approximately one to two times a week those will occur during off peak but open store hours correct that is correct and as you stated those take only about 45 minutes yes um as for trash and uh recycling those occur uh approximately one to two times a week as well correct yes and those will also we will try to schedule it to occur during all Fe hours yes now the smaller box trucks delivering products such as bread milk soda those occur daily correct that is correct but those vehicles are equipped to fit within the normal parking spaces on the property yes so it won't interfere with operations if they're there during any open hour that is correct thank you than okay um I'm going to put up the architectural drawing this was previously submitted we're going to be looking at page A6 and we will mark this um exhibit a sorry those be March this is the architectural drawing prepared by chatt and Associates dated June 21st 2024 the Dollar General is proposing a fully upgraded architectural design taking into account every side of the building as every side is visible from the roadway fo windows are shown on all building sides and the facade is split between a stone Neo wall and a Hardy plank sting similar to the porchtown site uh however I think it's a little visually a little more visually appealing with the inclusion of the awnings uh above the front windows um and just to clarify I know you just said this but the treatment that we're seeing on this side here is going to carry around to the other two sides that we can't see on this board yes that is correct that so to be clear all four sides contain the same tree yes yes thank you um now Olivia we're also requesting three design waivers um I believe two of them relate to the architectural could you run through those real briefly yes the waivers we are requesting is a waiver uh for the minimum of 10% of the internal area of the parking lot to be landscaped another waiver is that all site developments shall have sidewalks where none is proposed on the Main Road Frontage and the architectural waiver we requesting is for the building facade incorporating projections and recessions or recesses along 20% of the facade length if it's greater than 100 linear feet which we have 140 okay and again um Miss mcmah as our planner will speak to this more but it is the opinion um of our design team that we meet the intent of the last waver you just reference with regards to the recesses and the facade yes that is correct thank you um now you stated this in your opening um but you did have a chance to review the board engineer board professionals so I 10 2024 review letter for yes and you see no issue complying with the remaining comments contained therein no issue we will comply with all comments should like thank you very much thank you I don't have any further questions from Miss uh konok if the board has questions for her at this time or if you prefer to hold all questions until all Witnesses have spoke I had questions all right um with that our next witness is Paul MCH applicant's traffic engineer good evening Mr MCH good evening we can have you sworn in BR your right hand sure the TRU so I do right uh Mr M could you please provide the board with a brief overview of your educational and professional background including any licenses you currently hold yes again Paul much EMS and Mary Utch from Stonefield and engineering I'm a licensed professional engineer in the state of New Jersey I also graduated from ran University I've appeared before more than 100 land use boards in the state of New Jersey in both a civil and traffic um perspective and I've been accepted by by those boards um on applications simil one this evening okay and your license is current in good standing that is correct yes we would ask that the board accept Mr MCH as an expert in the field of traffic engineering yes thank you very much Mr much you're familiar with the traffic impact study that was submitted in connection with this application correct yes I am could you please run us through um what that study undertook and what the findings were yes and and I'll try to keep this as simple as possible because the traffic for a Dollar General is a relatively simple piece of the application because it is a low traffic generator in general but we took the liberty of preparing a traffic impact study to not only assess the impacts of the Dollar General but to take a look at the roadway Network itself as well to find out if we have any existing traffic conditions that would be outside the norm um for an application such as this um we utilized physical traffic counts we sat and counted the intersection in June of 2023 and we also used the standard um the industry standard methods of the trip generation manual the parking generation manual and Synchro to to model the site um in a existing no build and build condition which I'll go through just to describe the roadway Network I'm sure everybody's familiar generally but a little bit uh to describe that roadway Network Harding Highway is also known as Route 40 which is our main Frontage and located along the south of the plan that is that NJ do Frontage that's an urban principal arterial providing East West access mainly to 55 and Route 47 in the area that's where we expect the bulk of our traffic and that's why our driveway has been located on that roadway um main roads County Road 555 is a rural collector we look to leave it that way keep the commercial traffic off keep our driveway on the dot so it can be controlled by the existing dot intersection as well as the pro the project that they have in progress right now to install a couple an extra turn lane in there so that that intersection will only get better in the proposed Condition it's currently under construction um the Harding Highway Frontage is a 50 mph road the main road Frontage is a 35 mph Road just more evidence of why we should keep our main commercial driveway on that dot Frontage there's a two-phase signal at the intersection which is currently being upgraded by the do um and again that driveway location is just focused on the main road for this application to perform our analysis for this application um we took those counts that we performed in in June of last year um confirmed the peak hours that are associated with this roadway Network which are in the weekday morning 7 to 8: a.m. in the weekday evening 4:45 to 5:45 p.m. and the Saturday midday is 12:15 to 1:15 all the hours you'd expect for this roadway Network and and for this type of use we do a level of service comparison for the existing and the no build conditions the existing condition we plug in that physical counted data um and then we grow it by 1% to 2025 it's an NJ do standard see how the existing road is operating today and how that roadway Network without the Dollar General will be operating in 2025 which is also reasonable estimate of when the Dollar General would open what we found in both of those cases is that the roadway network is operating very efficiently at levels of Service A and B with an aggregate of level of service B we move beyond that that's a good data point to have and we move into the build condition where we add in the trip generation from the trip generation manual for the Dollar General itself again this is a low traffic generator um with 48 trips in the weekday morning 79 trips in the weekday evening and 79 trips in the Saturday midday all falling beh below that 100 trip threshold that we us usually look at is anything that would add any sort of significant traffic so we have that data point as well we use Variety Store um in the code which is land use code 814 and then we plug that back into our model and we see what were the changes in the level of service now that we're adding the traffic of the Dollar General to that intersection and how does our driveway operate what we found is very minute changes to the level of service we're talking about fractions of a SE of a second at the intersection and our driveway operates at level of service a b or c which is acceptable um and roughly the same is what the intersection would um would operate as as well so basically the conclusion there is that we do not feel that the Dollar General is going to degrade the existing positive traffic pattern we have that in conjunction with the dot pro project that's going on the traffic will will stay efficient in the level of service will remain good I also looked at the parking I just wanted to comment on that for the Dollar General and that parking variants that we are requesting we have 35 physical spaces proposed where 43 are required we look at three data points whenever we look at this first and foremost Dollar General and their operations for stores of this size throughout New Jersey throughout the country their prototype is 35 parking spaces um so we look to them to to kind of report back on how much parking do you need before we start adding unneeded pavement to a project the second is the parking generation manual associated with this land use that comes to 1.79 spaces per 1,000 which is roughly 36 spaces so we know we're in the ballpark with those two data points and then we do physical counts on the existing Dollar Generals we counted more than nine Dollar Generals in the area Egg Harbor we counted the Harding Highway store and many others of similar size and scope and we found that the maximum party parking utilization at any one time was 25 spaces and that was kind of the outlier most of the time it hovers between 10 and 15 spaces and that reports included as part of our traffic impact study so all three data points point to 35 spaces being um more or at or more than what we need for this for this Dollar General and it's also important to note that we do have the impervious coverage on site that that we have additional Green Space we could put parking we just don't want to install parking where it's not needed based on those those traffic assessments that we do so with that that's the that's the summary of my testimony if there are any questions or anything else you'd like me to cover I don't have any further questions uh for Mr much at this time if the board has any um any questions from anyone think where is that well I I have questions as relate to presentation but ni probably have one for the parking so um we say from sort of project of this size to have be say we need 43 STS great so this is only said less you are you satisfied we're biss with the explanation what can the justification work only 35 yeah I mean the the information that they provided um even the one in town maximum uh that's observed was 16 active spots being utilized um and then I think all of their I board right here so we're looking at the maximum demand uh the busiest one uh was in pens and with 23 uh sorry misspoke uh milville with 25 and their average demand overall with the ones that provided 8 and a half spaces Max mail 2 wide so so faced off of the historic data they're Gathering from their similar store sizes it I don't have them objections how much additional space was cover to see so we're let's see what is it 9 by8 yeah yeah just roughly de with a 200 sare ft first spot on doing map yeah so it's, 1400 Square ft that's well plus driving aisle space is real yeah actually in reality I think on this site you probably have to shift back your sub Vision Line a little bit because I theying probably have to seek a waiver uh to the proper line where the D owns so I don't if you Happ to add Chris about another question I'll get to in a second but one thing that was not mentioned I I think might uh Aid in the discussion of the parking in terms of utilization numbers I I know to some degree when Dollar Generals are opening additional stores in in a community which this would be I believe least the third in in Franklin some of the traffic they're getting is cannibal cannibalization from other stores that are already existing so there's a balancing act balancing of that as well as a possibility if for some reason this lot is full of this doll in general they can drive a few miles away and go to one of the other stores you've already got in town what as inti that not like they have to then go park at the elementary school and run across the street or something like that yeah and in our experience and we have extensive experience with Dollar General we have not found it to be an issue where you have people parking off site which is obviously the concern you don't want people parking on the roadway or and adjacent knots and we have not seen that and that's why we did those parking studies to kind of just give us a little bit of real world data rather than just using the you know the books um and Mr M just one question just to clarify for the board's sake uh in those numbers when you're calculating you're including the parking spaces being utilized by employees on the site correct yes all of that is inclusive employees the counts that we performed as well as the calculations that I referenced that the one question I did have was I I believe the other engineer said that should defer to you on this in terms of the loading space blocking parking spaces during uh the active loading yes this is similar it's a little bit more unique in this situation cuz we have moved more of the parking to the side just because of there to avoid the variance for the parking in the front edge but that that tractor trailer is on site for 45 minutes it's it's what we'll call blocking the least utilized spaces on site and typically that's where we would instruct the employees to park and we have striped those as employee parking spaces in the past but again at the operations of all the Dollar Generals we've worked on in New Jersey we have not seen the interaction of that 45-minute truck um coming on site and getting off site as being an issue with with existing customers again you hear that number 10 15 spaces there's more than that provided um in front and outside of that that loading area where that truck would be and again off off peak hours as well Paul just to confirm there's 10 spaces in the very front of the building front of the entrance a correct yes and that's where you'd expect most of your traffic just to piggy back off of Chris's question how many spaces are blocked for that where exited I went down me took CL it this A opion it's like a total of seven maybe if you round it up it's a total of nine of the spaces are are are blocked for that 45 minute period so you're talking about you know you're going to have 20 plus parking spaces available at all times even in that 45 minute delivery period so what you're stating is want to track the trailers making its delivery for 45 minutes approximately seven of your spaces will be blocked yes yes and typically that truck would park to the side and there would be enough room to maneuver but again we just don't see the traffic and the parking and in the in the images that we submitted as part of a report you just don't see people parking that far from the entrance especially in the off peak hours when the truck is delivery and Mr much to go back to miss kono's uh testimony it's correct that the loading also occurs during off peak hours when the number of parking spaces utilized would be even lower than that Max of what we're seeing yes that's correct and and this is a condition that exists on the vast majority of Dollar Generals porchtown road is actually an outlier just because of the uniqueness of that lot but any other Dollar General that you see that is a prototype which is what you see here those spaces are blocked for those 45 minutes and and we just have not had any reports or or incidents where it becomes an issue F why do you refer to for to road is Al well that's that that um that lot was a little bit different we had we had kind of a a slender rectangle with two access points the truck pulls through rather than do in that backing motion so there was just a different parking layout it's not their prototypical store um but it was designed to operate efficiently this one is designed per their standards in this application the truck's going to pull in for 40 and and if and if Sarah can run her finger Shel to the truck so if you can see the truck will whichever way it's coming from 40 it'll pull into the site head first into this dead end space here and revers into the loading space um correct me if I'm wrong but the Turning template for that movement was included in our submission um and it is H having both of us virge on multiple of these applications is prototypical in corac yes it's a prototypical operation for all Dollar General stores it's also under the review obviously the NJ do for those turning movements it's been designed efficiently per their standards as well and we have adequate uh driveway with Drive aisle with to um accommodate this maneuver yeah we do it's very common and I mean we've probably worked on 20 of these Dollar General applications well that's the same way they do it those are Char so so suppose I was a customer and I didn't want to park the TR the store and I wanted bu a park on the western side you still have both back if I'm wrong I know have seven to 10 slots sure yes you still have all but that's not my question I want to hear it you know what coming yeah I'm a customer I feel like walking I park on the west I come out of the store and your trailer's got me blocked in how often does they have I have not heard of it reported because again this is a 45 minute blip once maybe twice a week so it's very rare and what I would say is there's a couple of things we have employees in the store that can help even if that truck is parked in that driveway the likelihood of those parking spaces around you also being utilized it'll likely afford you the room to get out of there and if not then we'll instruct the truck Dy to let you out you know in that very rare case I think there's there's plenty of kind of fail safes that would allow that customer to leave the store so so Paul the piggy back off question I'm looking at the turning the circulation plan so I I know that there we have a comment in a letter about the the tire clipping the one uh curb or going over top of one curb which I said you're going to address um it also looks like there's a slight overhang into your first handicap stall and and even the ones from the basic the uh the cross walk to the right is that something you guys can evaluate yeah you do have turning movements that somebody who has a truck that's parking in the front of the store doesn't get clipped yeah yeah we will and that's a that's an important piece especially as we move this forward with Dollar General is that they don't utilize the parking spaces because it is done during store hours and off peak so it's a requirement even when we submit this to Dollar General that turning template cannot utilize any parking spaces no trucks getting clipped um which is which is also why we have the deeper spots along the frontage just a simplified on that side of the building affecting 3 FL Drive Vans up here miss H wi 8 fo6 that faring P see 20 for parking's base how wide is that middle Lan yeah B this this this believe that typically use 30 ft drive by yeah it's it's it's 30 ft at that main right at like the that southwest corner of the building and it necks down to 26 ft as you get beyond the parking spaces um and tip 30 is your typical we just run the template and try to save on pavement where we can why tell it uh Mr M just to ping you back up with something that I think already has been implied and Miss cania testified to this but have you had a chance to review the latest review letter of the Ford engineer and Ford planner I have yes and do you see any concerns or issues complying with all the comments contained therein no no we plan to comply with all comments thank you if there's no further questions for Mr MCH I can bring up um my last witness face D thank you thank you thank you Mr M my third and Final witness is Elizabeth mcmanis of Kyle mcmanis Associates the applicants professional planer good evening Miss B hi there this is Bing raise your Bings do you s per trth not Tru I do yeah Mr mcmas could you please Begin by providing the board with a brief overview of your educational professional background including any licenses you currently hold in their standing sure uh so first and foremost I'm a license plan here in New Jersey I hold my njpp I'm also a member of the American Institute of certified planners essentially the national planning uh license or certification program I have an undergraduate degree from Ruckers University Environmental Policy graduate degree also from Ruckers in city and Regional planning I've been working in New Jersey throughout my entire career so working in New Jersey land use for more than 20 years and uh I I do a lot of Municipal representation but I also do quite a bit uh private testimony like we have this evening evening I've not had the uh the pleasure of being down in this municipality but I've worked in many other places including but uh uh not limited to I I will say it's more than two dozen places but places like uh Stafford um Princeton Long Hill Township Ron Township es scataway Trenton uh and many other communities thank you I'd ask that Miss McManus be accepted as an expert in field professional planning their yes thank you very much okay M mcmanis you've had a chance to review the application that was submitted to the board and you've reviewed the Township's master plan and land use ordinance yes um you're familiar with the two bulk variances and three design waivers being salt this evening yes in your professional opinion could you please go through the justifications for this relief uh under the municipal land use law and provide your professional opinion whether they can in fact be justified I'd be happy to um if you would like any exhibits we have an aerial and the site plan yeah thank you very much uh so the first variant I'd like to address is the number of parking spaces I will say for both of our variances I'm pleased to say they're uh they are C variances only certainly not D variances uh so for our parking variant uh I think as as I'm sure the board knows we're required to provide 43 parking spaces however we have uh 36 proposed 35 Plus One a credit for the EV and I think that this part this variance can be justified as a C2 variance the flexibil C if you will and I say that because I see three purposes of the municipal land use law that are are supported by the relief the first is purpose a which is the promotion of general welfare the second is purpose J which is conservation of the environment and last purpose M the efficiency of land use more efficient use of land and I cited uh these three purposes for a couple of reasons um and so first as I I'm sure you've just heard from our traffic testimony I just want to highlight the the fact that while we are proposing less parking than what the township requires I think that we are actually Pro proposing more than adequate parking for the use that we are proposing so we have a traffic study for New Jersey demonstrating the need for just 19 parking spaces and from other sites of about 25 parking spaces and so that means that even with our parking relief we have a pretty substantial cushion and uh even with that cushion I'm pleased to say that the result is not only are we first and foremost providing adequate parking but we're able to do so by uh providing less impervious cover on the property and so also the flip side of that is of course more green space more opportunity for landscaping and so it's it's that additional Green Space the LA or the lack of perious or excuse me impervious cover that I think is relevant to uh to conservation and to uh improving the environment specifically purpose Jay that I cited in terms of the more uh efficient use of land that purpose M that I cited I think that is relevant because quite honestly as demonstrated through testimony and through our traffic study it's very clear it it's clear to to me it's clear to our team that that parking is just simply not necessary and it's more efficient for that portion of the property to be devoted to something that better serves the public good better serves the township and that quite honestly is pervious cover Green Space and Landscaping as opposed to parking spaces that will go unused and so I think those are the three purposes of the ml that the board can grant uh can rely upon to grant that variance but in addition we of course have uh negative criteria and I think that uh this variance can certainly be granted with without substantial detriment to the public good frankly any detriment to the public good because the parking is simply unnecessary the benefit is through not providing the parking but in terms of consistency with the master plan or substantial detriment to the master plan I don't in my review of the master plan the zoning ordance I don't see substantial detriment now I will say that uh that there's no specific master plan language that I could find that would that would address address the lack of parking on this particular property and so instead what I Look to is the intent of the parking standard and that is quite honestly to ensure that the site functions properly and to ensure that potential customers or perhaps employees are not forced to try to find off-site parking here but again I go back to the information that we have specific for this use that clearly demonstrates that the parking is just excess and is going to lead to excess impervious cover and so because of that I think that the board can find that the benefit of having less parking on the property is far outweighing the detriment of having parking relief or parking variants associated with the site our next and last variants is the loading uh the loading relief and for that I I'm going to cite the same three purposes of the mlu all because I think this is also a C2 that flexible C variance so again for the record it's purpose a promotion of the general welfare purpose J conservation of the environment and purpose M the more efficient use of land and so for this variant I think somewhat similar to the parking variants there's uh I think there's public good there's certainly no use to Having excess impervious cover on the property and so being able to collocate the the drive excuse me the loading area within uh partially with one of the drive aisles uh I think works well it's certainly a more efficient use of that paved parking area and as we just heard moments ago in terms of detriment to uh potential customers very little given how uh what a short span our loading is with just one to two times a week for up to 45 minutes and so again for this uh for this loading I see promotion of the general welfare conservation of the environment and more efficient use of land just by simply Not Having excess impervious cover and instead being able to devote more of this site to landscaping and green space and aspects of development that are much more pleasing to the eye than a than a parking lot and loading area in terms of the negative criteria for this particular variance I don't think there's any substantial detriment to the public good or the Zone plan um here the impact of relief is primarily internal it's it's a a site operation issue and I know based on what we've heard this evening and the way that these stores function this is this is to the extent that it's an issue it's something that's manageable through communication with the driver potentially communication with customers if that's NE not if that is necessary and so simply this creates an opportunity I would say for the municipality to have uh a better looking site uh more green space on a property and in terms of your master plan I don't see language specifically in there about loading spaces uh and the need for them uh but the intent of the regulation more generally is to ensure that you're able to eliminate potential conflicts between loading areas parking areas and drive ISS and here we have such a we have such a limited delivery window per week you know one to two times a week for less than an hour that I think that the conflicts have been uh the conflicts are quite minimized and so we're still able to meet the intent of this type of regulation in the Township Code and so again for all for the lack of impervious cover uh the lack of uh impact particularly off-site impacts for this particular variance I think that the benefits of of the collocated loading and and drive ises are certainly to the benefit of the township and outweigh any detriments that could be created so those are two variances we also have uh three waivers that I want to address of course waivers have a different standard or different criteria that must be met and so instead of positive and negative criteria it's just simply is the standard impractical on this property or perhaps would an undo hardship uh ensue from its enforcement I will say uh I'm going to talk to you not so much about a hardship but really what's practical and I think what makes sense for the community and what makes sense for this site so the first variance is the sidewalk V waiver and uh what we don't have are sidewalks on Main Road today normally uh when sidewalks are required the thinking is often about trying to connect them to an existing Network and along Main Road that's not something that we're able to connect to but we do have NJ doot proposing uh improvements at the intersection that we're located proximate to um and so here what we are prop proposing is a sidewalk along Harding Highway that will connect to these improvements and so we're able to thank you uh to provide pedestrian connections and provide improved walkability on this property but we're going to uh encourage folks to use Harding Highway instead of Maine and I think that's honestly I think that's a good idea because it's helpful for promoting safety uh we don't necessarily want people to be inclined to cross m road to get to a sidewalk um instead I would much rather see them go go to Harding Highway and utilize what will be uh the existing sidewalks in that area the next uh waiver that I'd like to address is the landscape waiver um here instead of having the Landscaping uh throughout the parking lot what we've really done is to put additional plantings along the perimeter of the parking lot and you can start to get a sense from our collared rendering in probably A1 if I had to guess A1 um and so you can see the the plantings uh located around the parking lot and around the site and so this is not simply a uh uh a net loss of landscaping that the township is is going to experience as a result it's really about relocating those plantings and I think that's appropriate here not only because we are providing substantial plantings on the property but but also because we don't have a uh a particularly large parking lot you know again we're looking at uh about 35 parking spaces this is not a lot of 100 parking spaces or perhaps more nor is it very long expanses or um rows of parking we really have uh pretty limited rows of parking on this site and so we have less of a need to have to break up this uh what could be on other properties a large mass of parking area or impervious cover and so I really think that the the board can grant the Landscaping waiver knowing that not withstanding the fact that we are seeking relief for this item the site is going to be really well planted and landscaped and truly will be uh a pleasing property and I think an asset to this area and then our uh our last waiver is in regard to the Building architecture and so uh for this last uh this last item we have uh a relief that requires building building facades greater than 100 linear feet not having uh for a facade not greater than 100 linear feet not having projections or recesses along at least 20% of the facade length and at the end of the day uh I think what's intended by that regulation is quite honestly to have a nice looking building to have a building that is not that does not have uh blank walls that is not uh excessively plain but instead one that is inviting and Visually pleasing and as we see on A3 A3 thank you um I think that's exactly what we've done and so what we have are a variety of building materials and a variety of Building colors that really break up the facade of the building most specifically I just wanted to uh highlight the water table that's the brick down at the bottom of the building and not only does that provide some uh some architectural detail on the building uh it creates a more interesting facade but it ALS Al does is the uh the water table that brick is going to extend beyond the Hardy Plank and that's going to create some relief a little bit of movement in the building and the distinction I'm trying to draw is just simply between that where you have the the water table extending beyond the facade and comparing that to a building that just simply has a flat facade with no relief uh no movement if you will across the front of the or sides of the building in addition to that uh that horizontal detail that we've added to the building we also have the vertical details where we've essentially broken the building up into B uh Bays that will help to visually break up the appearance of the building and then lastly I think as is obvious from A3 our building is only a single story and so in terms of the potential for a blank wall or something that's overly plain it is somewhat limited but not withstanding we've uh We've added that vertical uh detail as well as the horizontal detail and of course we also have the awnings along the building and the additional uh Building colors that is the uh the Hardy plank for the facade and so given the the various details that we are proposing on the building I do think that we're meeting the intent of this architectural requirement by providing a frankly a NIC looking building that will be uh not out of character with the area I think will be a nice addition to the site and so with that those are our two variances and our three waivers that I've gone through the sidewalk the landscape the building uh design waiver and then of course the parking and the loading and I'm happy to answer any questions I have no further questions thank you very much Miss mcmanis um if the board has any questions for Miss mcmanis or either of our other uses at this time uh we'd be happy to answer those but if not our presentation is concluded I have SE questions sure so um St he mentioned about landscaping and one of the justifications for one the variances were up waivers cuz um now they no plantings in the oran lot therefore there could be more plantings around the sub with that said um a couple questions one you're talking about Native TRS what what sordum trees are you considered of the specific type of tree everything is shown on the Landscaping schedule and then give us a moment to what you watch jasf trees they got October Glory red maple Armstrong Freeman Maple Shade Master honey lcus sour guns W uh for the Evergreens a Jer jit thanana pleas for what it's worth we are willing to work with the board's professionals if you prefer to see different Native species we're we're happy to do that back all this all for I just wanted to make sure we're a couple of things that weren't on E this sure uh then with then the main road going towards the nor um is there any way to right now you're showing five trees right so is there any way to get another one up at the top and then a couple more more down where where the fcing line comes down from here from there to there yeah yeah we can certainly do that and then also along the cup order M able to put them here is there any requirement with it being close and stool may sound we done we're good we can I'm getting it out that be okay so that's okay so then can we say that car sh five 6 7 8 8 at least we at least eight wall main road so you're saying three so me like three 1 2 3 1 two five and then at the top corner is eight yeah up here yep get the fight than like that cour put back some grow here yes fly in the intersection so they can have that driveway I mean we're willing to do what we can as long as well mean per so we could yeah that doesn't make sense then don't F on that's the only we could agree as a condition approval to work with your professionals to provide additional Landscaping along main road where it's feasible and won't it won't um conflict with any sight triangles or anything of that nature um even if it's lower Shrubbery or something just add Greenery and as the traffic engineer we have the dot plans for the intersection so we'll check their site triangles and make sure that the trees we add are outside it uh let's see this is more of a general question and for um I guess question okay um thec set the samec that own the other Dollar Generals so um each Dollar General is a a different single-purpose entity um this umbrella developer it's Capital Growth owns Newfield Harding Highway DG who was before you tonight and they also did the one on Harding Highway and porchtown Road um this developer did not do the other Dollar General that's on I believe it's dely Drive um and that was a repurpose of a a former building they did not do that one we we did do the porchtown road um which was approved in 201 19 I think yeah right before Co I remember CU I was here eight months pregnant so this is for C and me and the lighting that's going to be used is this the same item that being used at I would have to look at the look at the plans but I know I know that those lights have from my understanding were addressed I know that the township contact we be buil in not and they went out and addressed them I this howed last year some I would light to coach down P that that would beem light want to make sure something other one I don't think that's a Dollar General that's yeah I'm thinking of the one that is off of the actually it's not the one at porchtown the one at porchtown was separate separate one that don't thinking of there was another one there was light issues with over um I think near the Newfield fank that's that wasn't this developer so we can't speak to that this will is it the same site same type of lighting that could have the same issues um this would be the same type of lighting as the Ptown Road facility I can't speak to if it's the same as what a different developer did on delc Drive what I can offer and if my recollection serves me correctly um at the time of the previous application that was approved for this developer we had offered as a condition of approval to give you a list of contacts for both the developer as well as the DG team directly um so if you have any type of Maintenance issue you're not going to the store manager who then has to run it up a chain instead you could come directly to the people getting this approved to hopefully get it resolved faster not aware of any issues with the lighting that that site they're separ addition up the site but the lighting is not in terms of lighting I did have a a question when our our report we had recommended using shields on the lines so I know at least the one on delce just real th here every time I drive by there the lights are really bright um right now the lighting details provided just says the shields are available upon request but I want to make sure that the sh we will add Shields we're happy to put that as a condition of approval and I do believe I do believe there's shields on the porchtown road site but um we're happy to do that it's not a problem yeah I just been matter of updating that detail sure if there's any other questions we're happy to have address them nobody has questions I like you I I have I have some comments you want through question do you have any questions on on your P think to have addressed all the white questions from the SC that te so M are more technical so the first one want I want testim divided for um is the the maintenance access for the Bas so I understand um there's two five five foot threshing that are that are provided one I will point out is for where you're putting rip wrap so I don't think that can actually be used as an access point um and then the other one if you're actually need to get a vehicle back there 5 foot's not wide enough um so you is are you guys able to yeah we can somewhere else where you're able to actually fit maintenance Vehicles back there yeah we can explore other options we could also uh increase the width to let's say 10 ft right uh next one the uh this is more of a the pipe Crossing that goes across the driveway um please look at the material you're utilizing it's unclear if you guys have been uncover theyed off the manufacturers uh recommendation I know you originally count for to HTP but to make sure you have enough uh room additionally and this goes back to Landscaping the Landscaping is shown over top of some of the utilities um it looks like to me that something be need to be relocated because the Bol that goes in with plant might interact with the the drainage improvements um just as ey yeah generally the Landscaping needs about 2 ft of Separation so we'll look to the proba relocate um the the uh thank my other comment was going to be about the lay escaping but she go address that that's do I should be the additional lot that we get mind nothing is proposed so um Newfield Harding Highway DG LLC is under contract for the subdivided portion um so if they get all of their approvals including this board and all outside agencies once those approvals are in final unappealable form they would then close on this parcel and the current owner would retain the balance of the property so what plans they have for that I I don't know so anybody want to do anything on that for ma or partial i' have to come before this board at loon I just Chris they provided any testimony regarding that portion of the applications yeah for the subdivision uh yes Olivia has touched on it there's no bulk variance or needed with regard to the subdivision that's proposed all aspects correct me if I'm wrong but that was the testimony that all aspects of the both regulations are complied with that is correct we our comments there is a letter will be addressed yes the only question I have with for Ed since the neighbor to the west is a CH B buffers act buffers could kick in right on that property but not on the Dollar General on okay that's the th this is what you one I believe that's I just want to mark it on your just make sure we're all on the same page I believe it was two down here two down and then one up top and as long as this one on the bottom those are more yeah which yeah which they'll relocate the want across that's fine so space so essentially your street basically Street trees along the there's any other questions CHR better you gos yeah I have no further question comment is between the 33 the plans they submitted in our review letters from the testimony tonight and the comments you all had that Jim actually brought up the one point I had about the addition Rel so they they've addressed all flight comments and questions any on the requests from RE wakers no I I take no no ISS those I'd like to make a lotion to for second give all in favors we now Lo public comments any com comments on this application and only this application rule please come forward please state your name and your address thank you my name is Cindy MKS 330 o Gavin am malate I have a question because of um that my concern is there's only one driveway on Route 40 is that correct I was having trouble hearing with the uh sound and it's not actual proposing one access drive one access thank you um I guess my question is for uh one of our um board members Mr sued you were here when I believe they did the porch to and I know that you're the assistant fire chief cor um the concern is is that the center turn lane and that being in a very uh busy intersection you're you know and this intersection is just as busy correct as that is I know you know probably because we shared a lot of times that these accident scenes do you have concern with it only being one because the last time you um if I'm not mistaken you were very instrumental in getting two driveways so that they would have um you know some safety there a buffer zone and I and I was just you know curious as to do you think that it's just as dangerous an intersection with the center turn lane and then of course you know we have the buses coming in for Main Road school as well as the traffic coming into RLS so my concern is is I know there supposed to be a center lane now with the new um Highway plant at least it looks that way but without it that would back up at people doing 50 m an hour or more going to the shore the same thing that you experienced at porchtown and uh the nice thing is is with holding them to those two driveways it did make some good improvements to that area I I think but we have had accidents where people have tried to make the driveway in there I know I saw you one and so I I just wanted to bring that up while you're looking at these plants because um you know maybe that's something you might want to entertain with with this project thank you sp Point Barbara Halper and Harding Highway come if you're swearing me and I S the TR um question one where is the well I didn't see it well was in the front of the property on the hard Highway side there okay what is the situation with the remediation of the gas station if we're going to put a well right over there my understanding they're I'll let the turs off right yeah I mean we're required in order to develop anything here to comply with all standards to clean up the site so the site will be clean before anything is is put on it okay cuz I didn't see like an environmental site assessment uh the jurisdiction would be by the the D DP and we submitted one didn't know they submitted a face one my understanding is there was a sub isn't separate where the old gas station is too yes so I don't think that's part of this out yeah that that was the portion up at this corner they they did they did submit a b Bo yeah I just wonder about the wisdom of Sting the well there but there really isn't any other place because you have to be far enough from the basins and they still have to go to the Heth department for Hol yeah right phase one didn't recommend go go to face to it's well that's good and I assume there was a um lsrp involved in that gas station clean up and you've reviewed those documents it's not part of this application okay well it may have some relevance but let's move on um I believe Jim said they were going to put some landscape behind the Basin in the back there uh We've agreed to put a digital Street Tre back here good and then possibly along that little leg there there as well provided it doesn't conflict with any sight triangles yeah that's one of the comments I would have made thank you jeim um the other thing that I had a question about is what Cindy was talking about I live on 40 and it is difficult to make a left on 40 and then you've got people coming around you know now where it's going to be a turn lane coming off the main road you got people trying to come out and make a left and you got trucks from more oress and just regular corn' be a whole lot safer if you had an exit where people could go to the white to make their lefts you know not everyone's going to be coming where they're going to be able to make a right out of this establishment and like Cindy is concerned I'm concerned as well that this is just many accidents waiting to happen because it's too fast a road and it's too busy and it would be safer the only access was on Main Road would actually be probably safer than the one on 40 but I think there needs to be two as someone else Cindy pointed out and other people have the same concerns so I will say one uh one thing Cindy the Dollar General on for you quch toown um I have noticed that a lot of cars do cut through the parking lot which now I think I'd like to have one driveway because now I see to be more of a hazard people coming out and somebody getting and I I really worry about that that's I really can speak for this intersection here I do know the Grove goes out there a lot but not as much as we go out 404 and I still go out to 40 for that so um well there are a lot of accidents at that intersection as well so it may be a problem for the store at times when there's an accident but I don't think I had any other questions about this and uh I just think the site is really small for everything that's going on it and I had a question about the um the farm buffer my understanding is that the farm buffer like in a neighborhood when you're building a subdivision next to a farm that buffer is on the subdivision property not the farm property so wouldn't it apply here as well if it's cute Farm next door where is the couple hundred feet or whatever it is a farm buer I think given that the farm is though the property is a remainder of this lot I don't know that a buffer is required from it's old subdivision the answer is yes it's been done before uh the example is KN nick name War Warren noic the year 2003 2004 subdivided his own property to create three New Lots he had to supply 200t buffer in his own property even though the uh neighboring Farm was his own but we just went to the state planners the iners over this because the uh the owner actually tried to preserve his property and he wanted to resend the buffers that were placed on his property by this finding board uh Mr barelli our prior solicitor spoke he said uh you canot not send those buffers the board has to go to Superior Court or another court and uh were you in on that cont it was very early this year this happened um Mr NK wanted to pay the Farmland preservation values for his buffer areas and he was not and indeed this property is subject to the buff restrictions not the neighboring far even though it's the same current number so my question for you two Engineers is are we needing those buffers as I asked earlier I believe it's it's it's ambiguous some State it's 100 I'm going to ask Olivia the planner for her input on this if she's familiar with the right to farm ordinance because there's 50 foot buffers 100t buffers and 200t buffers depending on situation a quick question pretty sure right now would you be able to remove the the other part from the we had I'm sorry what was that would they remove the other parel if then the piece I I can't say what the owner is going to do with the remainder of the property I'm we can have our planners I'm pretty sure the required buffer is under the uh Right to Farm section of the Township Code if you're online looking it up right now I don't where the exact number but it's a 100 foot buffer between any non Farm or non activity from from the farm so would be 100 that they are not meeting us that would be so that's the building line I am to assume and I'll ask any of the engineers I believe the parking wouldn't be allowed to approach in the in the buffer either most that I don't know in this particular case it appears the parking is within 20 ft of but did you go dude well we're looking up something real fast it was our understanding and we're looking to clarify now that the buffer was intended to protect the commercial development and was as We join St yet yes the few if you want to come on the code you wouldn't think to about 30 I'm looking I just uh pulled up the say it's 150 wi I might need another minute uh to find that I'm currently concerned that my quick Google search took me to a different Franklin Township so I'm sorry I just need another minute I don't want to S yeah I I put I thought i' put that in there but it uh break down eode first eode yeah uh let's see let you make sure this is the right Town yeah oh it did bring me to the right town okay that's good I just didn't see section 151 popping up right I see right to farm and 253 yeah maybe it's 253 is the Land Development code and I think it's chapter 151 within or section 151 within 253 but it's looks like 101 it's under right the third like bullet point down uh agriculture buffers uh uh and or Adent in or adjacent to a r a p r r or PA a Zone would say that which we are not we are the HC zone so that wouldn't apply to us uh let's see I'm sorry I hate doing this on the fly but all right it's good I I don't believe yeah that IT addresses the uh those buffers speak to when you're next to a residential Zone yeah or residential you assume guys our solicitor at this point I'm sorry I'm actually looking it up and I didn't bring my uh copy of the code with me which I normally we can show you we have it up on the I will say up right now thank you the uh the intent of agricultural buffers is typically to protect the adjacent use from the impacts of the farm and vice versa yeah but typically it's in it's intended to ensure smells and sound and agricultural activities are not impacting often time you know in reference to that ordinance oftentimes the residential neighbors that might be moving in next door I think a lot of our communities have seen uh folks love the bucolic nature of these agricultural communities until they learn what it's you know can be challenging living next to a farm swing the r of farm ordinance uh 253 d101 raes Farm it does address the r a p r r p pzone but does it address the zone that we're in here which is by with Mar and that's with specific reference to agricultural blers Ines I make a St Chas quite certainly entirey partials in the I cour dou has to have less than two and a half years ago this town passed a new ordinance allowing the right to farm an act and agriculture by being an accepted use within all zoms prior to that ordinance farming was not an accepted use within the highway commercial Zone today agriculture isn't approved use within the highway commercial Zone and when this 25311 was written I don't believe it addressed our new orness we now have an overlay where agricultur is and approve use within all zones but the idea is to protect the farmer as well as to protect the new applicant okay okay if you go by the letter of the law as written today where it states not within the highway commercial Zone I caution you in that now the highway commercial zone is approved for agriculture and the right to farm or we understand that but the f I mean we would argue legally that you may have updated by way of overlay zoning but the rest of the ordinance wasn't updated this this still reads that the buffers only apply when it's impacting these residential zones yeah the both C and D for agricultural buffers C addresses minor subdivisions as state specifically all applications for safe plan of subdivision approval located in or immediately abing in RR and PA key Zone jent to lands that are assessed currently or within any of the three calendar years proceeding application is qualified Farmland tell include and then it goes into the size of the buffer and same thing the agricultural buffers that are adjacent to an R PR RR or PA pone I'm just going to say so I I don't think it applies to the buffer doesn't apply to the highway crew L7 but certainly moving forward you may want to consider it what is the buffer 50 it's a 500 or 200 depending on the circumstances so if it's what's what's the circumstance that tur eat minor subdivisions like Blen sh buffers St of 50 ft in width in a side yard 100 ft in a rear yard major subdivision shall show but a vegetated buffer strip of 200 ft in width on all Lots which are along any boundary with land has been assessed or currently or in three previous calendar years proceeding application is qualified Farm less and then there's a few exceptions I mean at the end of the day whatever the triggering characteristics are for what the width of the buffer is going to be are argument clearly remains that we are not in the zone specified within the ordinance so whether it's 50 100 or 200 it it doesn't apply to us show we accept that as Bible or under caution I think I I mean the fact that you kind of already answered that G I answered with the with the actual so right now our ordinance was not included but I don't know if there's over layer on zoning um I don't know if I call it an overlay Zone it's just an ordinance that says agriculture is permitted Township wide as it g it you in all Zounds in all zones when this 25311 was written it was not so today there is an overl we but as again I'm with Mr dney I don't I don't believe that Constitution over Highway commercial needs a bu yeah right I mean so I think I mean the ordinance has been updated but I feel that any any um change in in in what was required that that would certainly I think control uh I mean would be um from the sounds of it all the ordinance was was saying that agriculture is permitted in all zones that are you now set that would be like to argue that any Zone where agriculture was already permitted and say you had a 50ft front yard setback is a now 50ft front yard setback in every single zone because agriculture is now permitted in all of them well I think you have you have agriculture um this is agriculture this is a commercial I think you know it would be real I in this in this circumstance it would be realistic to have some kind of buffer in this circumstance that we that would apply to this um I I don't disagree but I think the fact of the matter is um while the intent would be to have a buffer the letter of the law did not apply the buffer to this Zone I uh I think you can take it under advisement you know as far as uh you know people might not like what I have to say but I would like State agriculture development committee to weigh in prior to a decision by this board and I don't know if the applicant would be a first postponing until next month until this can be ironed out unless you say tonight that you'll give us a 50 FP buffer buffer from the Western property line to the parking blot I I don't believe that's being roll that through medicine home yeah I mean the fur size property doesn't allow for us to do that so uh give me one second well considering that they grow corn there you're talking about the subdivision based they extend have to just the subdivision line to do that right extend the subdivision which can be done and they're going to grow corn and possibly GMO corn they're going to be spraying herbicides and pesticides they're going to fall in people's car that are going to affect people who go there um I think we do need to protect the general public from the kind of activity it's not I know I'm just saying I agree with you thank you with good C good got it Chris what's the setep back he from it from like a the no yeah sure oh like you don't know Ralph come on Chris sers 184 malake Boulevard uh first I just like to congrat you congratulate Jake for June um well earned uh Victory um again my only concern again was also the fact that you know we have 13 acres to play with I don't know why we're trying to squeeze everything on this small footprint um that requires these variances um also uh secondly I used to be a teacher um and I didn't teach at this school but I I know for from firsthand experience a lot of times teachers for lunch breaks like to walk to nearby stores they don't necessarily drive away but if there's a nearby store and the fact that they don't have a sidewalk along main road I think it makes it less safe because if teachers do want to run down to the store to get something I think it's it's it's safer for them to have a sidewalk most of the way so they can actually access the store so that was the only other thing I wanted to say thank thank you I would I would nice to he is anybody else in the public before I me I mean I don't really we all just far far this applicant quite based on the you know the ordinance design um plant and with theed board the the ordinance hasn't chain so I still a you know we know like this you know but I I want to hear the rest of this before I make it the rest of yeah my name is Albert DIY I 1299 Main Road um so you have a 13 acre property that you're using a couple acres of and the remaining parcel that we are not sure what's going to become of that and it seems to me that we're trying to jam a lot of stuff into a small space um there must be a reason that the applicant doesn't want to use some additional space um if they use the additional space that would solve the loading issue the parking issue but my main concern is um I see trucks trying to enter that store and causing problems whether it would be an accident or traffic jam or and I'm looking at the 30 foot width of the driveway entrance and it's not a really big width for a tractor trailer to pull in the parking lot especially if it's in use even low use part of the day is going to be prowed with cars it's um it looks like a a hard sell for a truck driver unless Dollar General has really really good truck drivers to make those turns pull in back up and load I'm also concerned about the lighting and light pollution in general uh I've been at the property on and off for the last 70 years and there's a lot of light pollution there now and um I would hope that the installation of any lights would be confining the light to the property and not to the neighboring properties and perhaps even you know um lights on timers that might go off at a certain point of the day or night couple thoughts thank you anybody else wish to speak on the public hi my name is Carly magard 202 Eli Avenue um I just I didn't know if this was already pre previously discussed will the deliveries compete with the um school hours they'll be during our off peak hours which are usually like mid late morning um so our off peak hours are when people are going in the morning or after work uh so children would be in school but it would not be during like drop off or pickup or out or anything like that right and I know um someone mentioned another uh store being like an outlier I mean this being across the street from an elementary school will you know pose unique situations as well more activity parents I know picking my kid up there's a store don't have time to go home so there I feel like big school like that um you know could cause more than than you would to clarify the comment with regard to the other site being an outlier with with respect to the site's actual configuration it's a narrow rectangular lot um which is why the two access points uh it didn't have to do with the community surrounding it yeah yeah it dealt with that specific situation right so as a you know for the traffic going in and out of the parking lot this could pose a unique situation can't so Sarah I proposed a question to you or whether you wanted to increase your B size whether you wanted to come ACT people want to sh see so unlock sorry was but we Anthony fio 1294 Main Road I'm considering that um the access from the dollar Jer onto Route 40 there we got the bus garage Dela region bus garage a lot of buses and there's a lot of traffic cuz I live right off of 40 and the traffic is horrendous and this traffic coming out of Dollar General onto Route 40 is not going to be very nice it's going to be congestion you got the bus garage you got the buses got traction trailers you know tankers and excess traffic and the speed limit is 50 but you have to be sitting on side of the road to do 50 because the people pasture you know it's a traffic is going to be horrendous there and this traffic coming out of Dollar General on Route 40 is really not acceptable it should really be coming out on Main Road the exess you know the main exit onto Route 40 I'm going to protest it as long as I can cuz I don't like to see the traffic coming out on re 40 we got enough problems right here now in re 40 okay Mr thank you is there any other comments from the public before we close it about po I me darthy faio 1294 Main Road my concern also was with the traffic I'd like to know where the Dollar General driveway is and what's exactly across the from it currently cuz I can't you came 2 down off over goody again Street region bu the for us directly okay now we do not know as the general public this new construction where the merge how far that's going to come in how close is that to your drive to your propos those new driveways are you speaking as to the do improvements yes Mr mkin say we do have the plans that I believe the works already be done yes the it's currently under construction I do have the plans I'll put it up over here if you want we can mark this as A4 Paul could you read the title underne yes it's an NJ do roadway Improvement exhibit prepared by our office and Ste so this y able to is ex me yeah that com thing here and TR think we up this trem lanes and we get like upart the road and here to the TR they clarify that was submitted with matter cuz the cars coming out of here and the cars come quietly either way and when they come out of out main grade main grade school they just yeah cooling out here I just want to make sure there's sufficient room because we have a lot of buses that turn there and now they're going to have to be merging to oncoming traffic I mean the traffic is going to be coming up behind them and then they're going to have to merge in plus you're going to have to watch the driveways CS are going turning this way it's a lot of lot of congestion right there I just want to know I just want to clear how like how so I want to ask ask this question for uh fall the traffic engineer yeah certainly has Dollar General considered a curb cut for the entrance on Main Road versus route 401 addition to B yes and in the overall reasoning for not in we didn't want to increase traffic on Main Road consider that a rural road we can we didn't want to push traffic towards the school we wanted to keep the traffic at a controlled intersection the dot is currently improving we've designed our driveway in direct conjunction in direct correspondence with the do to make sure our separation and all of our sight lines comply with that dedicated ter L they're putting in and we felt that that was the safest and most efficient way have you apply to the do go Jersey career yes and we are we are close to having our permit we've addressed all geometrical and spacing comments to dat do found no adverse additions they did not and if I just may from a legal perspective piggybacking off of what's already being discussed but overtly saying it this driveway is under the jurisdiction of do we're on a state highway um no different than maid road is under the jurisdiction of the county um so regardless of where we choose to put the drive the the comments with regards to if it's adequate aren't for this board um further obviously this board is going to take things into consideration this is a permitted use so what off-site impacts that this operation may have governing law states cannot be taken into consideration um so ask you know we can go through how this might impact intersection how it might impact the school in terms of traffic but the fact of the matter is governing law says that's not an appropriate consideration for this board we've done our diligence we're applying to the appropriate authorities for the curb cut um and as Paula stated we're close to having that permit so I would just ask that the board consider that and considering the comments that are being brought forth by the public we're still in Oak public ction at this time do there anyone else that want to speak saying none is there a motion to close pre for un is there wa this way all those in favor I so I know there's a couple questions you're waiting for answers for me on U mainly with regard to this agricultural buffer and what we want to do with the application this evening um the fact of the matter is you know we don't want to push forward if the board is that adamant that they don't feel comfortable moving forward with our interpretation that the the buffer doesn't apply to us that said I'd be remiss not to make the argument one more time that it does not apply to us we have an entire team of professionals Engineers planners the like that have gone through these plans in painstaking detail in preparing them in order to get them before not just this board but before the county before the do we have come through all of the ordinances we've come through all the state regulations and we are very familiar with them not only has our team done this but your own professionals your engineer and your planner have now issued three separate review letters and not once was this agricultural buffer brought up and I think the reason for that is very clear it does not apply under the municipal land use law as I'm sure this board is aware there's what is called the time of application rule at the time our application is submitted and deemed complete what ever ordinances are in effect at the time the application is complete are the ordinances that the application is to be considered under so I I seriously I do understand your position that agricultural use was added to each of the zones by way of an ordinance Amendment the fact of the matter is your ordinance was not amended to apply this agricultural buffer to the highway commercial Zone as it stands today as it standed at the time our application was deemed complete it applies the agricultural uses in residential and purely agricultural zones so we would urge the board to consider that again we if you really want us to push this to go before your agricultural committee to get their interpretation I'm not going to fight you on it I I don't want to see this go sideways when we've worked so hard to get to where we are now as I've stated and not to be labor the point we have worked with your professionals every step of the way so far um you know we didn't submit an application and just appear before you this application has been pending for months and we're really trying to work with you to get an application that's going to work for the Township you also have to consider this is now the second application that this specific developer has done within Franklin and I think it goes to show that we are willing to work with you we're team players we want to contribute to the community so I'm not trying to be stubborn I'm just trying to protect my client's interest so again I I would really urge you to reconsider whether or not you find that that agricultural buffer applies because from a legal standpoint we very much do not think that it does um so I don't know if you want to deliberate and then I can make a decision or if you just want to push me and we'll say we'll have to push it I just want to ask one question first of all fact for your legal opinion all the agriculture buffers again we have a solicitor sure and and I solicitor I respect her opinion she's been very helpful throughout protecting our own clients interest so I get it thank you Sarah that's good ble f with respect to today and if pointy your making I ask Kate Kate your interpretation I mean I understand Al for is to I'm going to make do an amendment you better amend all your done it's right the fact that our ordinance hasn't been amended uh what is your interpretation is it is it what sorry Sarah is it what Sarah as Sarah represents or you have a different interpretation so I Sarah did I so this is difficult because on here the the actual ordinance is not amended to left that changed however um you know the professionals have gone through the ordinances and worked with the professionals um in conjunction to getting their application ready for this evening uh without I guess the I guess um the benefit of having that ordinance changed reselected um or I guess brought up to them if I could though I just want to confirm it's not that an ordinance change wasn't brought to our attention it's that an ordinance change was never made with respect to the buffers the only change that was made is that agricultural is now permitted in all zones so the agriculture right I mean that was a change that should have been fited our ordinances that was not refecting our ordan Ando I think that Sal like you have to kind of go this what sto it I think the the board has uh the ability to ask their uh professionals to determine I don't so I think that the board has the ability to ask the professionals to determine whether or not they feel satisfied with the application um if as as uh indicated with the r of farm act however um if I just not to cut you off but I just want to again these are two separate issues your ordinance was amended to change the uses your ordinance was not amended to change the buffer changing a use does not automatically change your bulk regulation so even though agricultural again I'm not trying to be repetitive but even though you added agricultural throughout the municipality that does not automatically change all the buffers in every single zone it it that's just not how it works one other thing if I can add here there's also two separate jurisdictions that are involved in Farmland preservation certainly um zoning which is what this board has the authority over the buffer clearly states your current ordinance that applies into those three particular zones now if they don't provide a buffer between this the remaining farm and the Dollar General I don't know what that does to any Farmland Assessment or any other sadc or County EG or Township a preservation requirements you're certainly a much greater expert on that than than I am but in terms of what this board has the authority and jurisdiction over in terms of zoning the zoning says that those buffers apply to specifically to those three agricultural and residential districts so Mr dney just to clarify you're in agreement that is not apply to the HC Zone as the ordinance is written in terms of under the right to F act they buffer requirements seem to apply only to those three specific districts and not to the commercial District I I'll agree with that statement that you stated but I'm going to ask a question on the sideline currently this C is reviewing its master plan and Chris's are wi up for the master plan to and I'm going to ask a simple question should this buffer question be addressed in the master plan uh I was going to suggest after this application that perhaps it's something we do discuss if that is because should this board this evening approve this application as apping to work I hate to see someone else come throw Force who uses as a precedence ask stff so my question right for to can in this same exact application right what what we're hanging our hat on is that because at the time of this application it ordinances or the way you're describing them that we all agree they were with this same application came toor now that it's changed run it's not it's not changed yet you got a document change and then it then the difference is we could come to you with this exact same application with this layout but be in one of those residential zones and this wouldn't fly because we would need that 150 200 foot buff or whatever it is but right now it it doesn't but if you were to approve this application and then change your ordinance so it applies to all zones the just the HD Zone whatever the township wants to do and then the owner of the remainder parcel decides to create a deal with another developer and another piece of subdiv off at that point they would have to comply with the buffer um there there is no precedent CU you you clearly shown that you've made change in the applied that that was be my next comment not us up for this next week no make sh trying and but if I can also even if you don't make the change under the municipal Landing saw the whole point of having a board even if we had a fully compliant application tonight we would still need to come for you come before you forite plan approval even if there's no variances even if there's no waivers because it's the role of this board to review every application individually based on its specific facts so I would argue that even if you didn't change your ordinance you're not setting a precedent because we have facts that can support not needing the buffer for this application that another application in the same Zone might not be able to make fa know okay uh does your team wish to close now uh I'll provide a brief clueing uh it's hot in here I don't want to take up too much more of your time uh I just want to thank the board for their time this evening again just as a a quick sum up we're seeking preliminary and final major site plan approval and the minor site plan or minor subdivision approval um again no development is proposed on the remainder lot at this time the Dollar General will be have the uh access drive along Harding Highway we almost have the DOT permit um all rounds of comments have gone back to the dot so we're waiting on that final permit um we do have applications in with all the other outside agencies for whom we need approval we did recently get a review letter from the county all of the comments um which we will provide you a copy uh are minor we can comply with them they're all very routine um with respect to the relief that we're seeking tonight you've heard extensive testimony from all three of our professionals I think it's very clear and I'm not going to you know belabor the point but I think it's clear that all the relief can be supported as was already stated we meet all the bulk requirements for the site the building meets the lot or I'm sorry the property meets the lot size the lot width all front yard rear yard side yard setbacks Building height um all of the signage complies with your code we're not seeking any sign relief um the two variances for the parking space the first being for the parking space we provide ample justifications um I'm not sure if you caught it but as Mr M testified your uh the site on porchtown and Harding Highway uh the maximum that's been seen there is 16 cars um so 35 cars here is more than adequate the loading space you've heard extensive testimony as to why uh it can be justified and it won't conflict with the parking operations and as for the three design waivers um the Landscaping we're making up for Elsewhere on the site including around the perimeter based on Mr Kelly's comments the sidewalks we do have sidewalks along the Dollar General Frontage on Harding Highway we do not have the sidewalks on Main Road and I know there were some public comments stating that it would be nice because the school is on Main Road the fact of the matter is we don't want to put sidewalks on Main Road when there's no sidewalks on the other side cuz then you're encouraging children to run across main road to get to a sidewalk that dead ends um as was stated in testimony we'd prefer they walk down to the intersection and use the crosswalks that are being installed as part of the NJ do improvements um finally the architectural design waiver as you heard we feel we meet the intent of the ordinance by providing a building that um provides uh different materials and some break up of the facade so it's not a plain flat wall um so with all that in mind we would ask that this board respectfully Grant this application tonight with all the conditions we discussed on the record including adding Landscaping shielding the lighting um and working with your professionals to address all of their comments in their July 10th 2024 review letter so uh that is it thank you again for your time com it's in the Abit that there is anything developed funds maor that property of Road they would have to come back here and uh like sidewalks my question is side and they they clip sidewalks in they would yes I would presumably unless you granted a waiver if that if those sidewalks had to be put in in the adjacent pie in property that you would then come back and put sidewalks into the to or somewhere that we would come back at a later I mean I'm not I don't I've never seen a a condition where that would be something that can be imposed um Paul have you ever I mean I'm sure if there's the space on the property you could talk to think about it right so years off to that one park is the north border they built sidewalked all way to that northern border the only piece that wouldn't be sidewalked would be your profitable we understand that um I think the legal implication with that is is you know if our client ever sells the property how are you going to bind um a future owner to a condition of this approval um if that's truly a concern if that's something that's going to hold us up can we agree to put sidewalks on Main Road I I know it's not it's counter is a lot but yeah we would have to again it's a county Frontage so we'd have to see if they even allow it um we could agree as a condition of approval to work with your professionals on potentially but again it's going to depend on what the county will allow we B sidewalks did go in must but you don't want to have that sell especially huh sure don't can you comment you know provision of future sidewalks built in the appens neighboring sidewalks so again I I have a concern with that condition because you're you're binding a future owner um I agree with that comment so I think if I think uh you know if the app we do can through a deed restriction a deed restriction could uh you could I I still don't think you could though because that then increases your impervious coverage so would it trigger relief based on what your coverage requirements are at that time I I feel like it would trigger site plan to come back and and put those sidewalks in um so what I would propose as the condition of approval is again we're willing to work with your professionals to look into the feasibility of it um if it's feasible we can do it for the Dollar General Frontage as as long as we're the understanding we're not going to do it for the entire property line um but again it would hinge on whether or not it's something feasible with the county since it is their Frontage I I don't know if the county wants sidewalks there so we don't want to agree to do it and then the county tell us no and we have to come back here somebody would have got this would have got approval from the county because they ran sidewalk so with if your northern border County obviously is okay with I would imagine if the county is going to give someone approval for that they're going to start somewhere and we're the one with an application in now so if they're contemplating giving someone approval for sidewalks in the future why not give us approval for them now so if they you didn't have us Court well no we that's what we're saying we'll agree as a condition of approval we will speak to the county to see if they'd be amenable to us putting sidewalk there if they say no we don't want sidewalks on meain road then I think that answers the question of whether someone north of us is going to put sidewalks in in the future forli contact amend their application to improve the county not yeah County to amend application to improve side along the Dollar General fron if that's what the the majority of the board wants like provided the full board wants that to be a condition we're happy to comments from the board anybody side I don't like side you don't like that's just my opinion kids very look guys I I I just that's it up to the board yeah that's fine I mean just my I I respectfully you know we have the dot plan up the dot obviously only has jurisdiction over their portion but they're only showing if you can see on Z here they're only showing sidewalk on their portion going to here so nothing is nothing thing I I can't see the county seeing an application for for this Future Property seeing that the do got end seeing that we have no sidewalk and then telling this person me fo sidewalk in um there's no false walk proposed to the mjor RO side everything's coming I'm goon M Road Round this place that that would be something that that was County jur County jurisdiction but I think that that should be something that should be discussed that touch on the yeah that's fine touch on the sidewalk issue I wouldn't recommend putting a sidewalk on this side if any side you're going to put sidewalk on you put it on the main road side which is also in the pil but it's also part of this application GL and time yeah we have we have no problem doing that as long as the county gives us the okay we can put the no parking signs good can any last comments from the board members now where that being said is a motion from the board to uh on this PB 23-17 hold on one one second you want that on just main road or also on the do Force I don't see why it would would Hur me side okay because they'll past the front of the dollar stor they'll pull up down the next propy so that's fine we can hang so is there a motion the two and is all I comp they should to be V please Mr guest Mr yes Mr sued yes Mr parar yes mayor Bruno yes Mr TR yes thank you very much for your time this evening we very much appreciate it have a nice night thank there okay consis uh moving on with our meeting tonight Chris do you have any reports or Communications uh I was not previously prepared to make a report but I I think that's okay but this yeah let's let's do our secretary thanks now okay all right uh so how about a report on the master plan okay well we have a draft completed that actually sent to chrisy yesterday but uh the might be conversation we just had perhaps we whether it's at the next planning board meeting or or some comme wants to discussing a you guys want to discuss the potential for uh Ang know where specifically they apply that getting in the master plan would be the time to address that rather than adopting a master plan next month and then have to go back and do it again no see how everyone heard it here to see that like you know I suggest that we put on the docket for the August me honey to present to theable with of the master plan every Chris I I have a general questions just the the premise of this is to make sure that the ordinance is in line and all all over the place is that something that any other contradictory state which and the ordinance should be addressed well I've got to take a look at everything in the ordinance about the right to far back to see if I can figure out what the intent was at the time that that was adopted versus what the langage the code yeah I think we already mentioned that in the master plan that was adopted but I I don't think read in its entirety the order to all free Ang so I got to look at that and see it could be there's a reason that the other parts of the code weren't updated I don't look that's so there something worth discussing I don't necessarily want to say I'm going to go make a change to the master but it is something worth discussing that's so you believe it's warranted that we yeah I think we can still do that and then based on the results of that discussion you did the master play gets adopted question you changes come back in September anything else is there a motion to approve approve the minut of June favor and there's probably some extensions for those if here police youself in all in favor uh question for solicitor krina do we need any Clos sessions you are Clos tonight is there motion to adjourn tonight's feeting all in favor have question