Eileen please open up the meeting how Township zoning Board of adjustment Monday February 26 2024 7 p.m. regular meeting I hereby declare this meeting of the Howell Township zoning board to be open adequate notice having been given pursuant to the New Jersey open public meeting act in the following manner first on December 11th 2023 a copy of said notice was mailed to the Asbury Park Press and the Star Ledger second on December 11th 2023 a copy of said notice was hand delivered to the clerk of the township of Howell third on December 11th 2023 said notice was posted in the office of the zoning board and on the bulletin board in the how Township Municipal Building 4567 Route 9 how Township New Jersey in accordance with the fire prevention code and for your safety please please be advised that this facility is designed with two emergency exits at the front and rear of the meeting room furthermore smoking is not permitted in the mun in the municipal building please take note that this meeting is being videotaped for possible future broadcasts on Howell Township TV 77 this meeting is a Judicial proceeding any questions or comments must be limited to the issues of what the board May legally consider in reaching a decision and the theorum appropriate to judicial hearing must be maintained at all times thank you thank you Eileen can we have a roll call please Mr burillo here Mr caner here Mr Hughes here Mr merens here Mr Rosco here Mr Stanton is absent Mr Ryan here miss scotson is excused and chairman seya here you have a quorum thank you everyone please join me for the Pledge of Allegiance go ahead I pledge allegiance flag of the United States of America and to the rep for it stands one nation under God indivisible Andy can we have a u a swearing in of the professionals please yes Mr chairman you swear the testimony you give will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth will help you out I do I do please State your names for the record Charles conliff Christine b your professionals are are sworn Mr thank you item five on the agenda approval of minutes regular meeting February 12 2024 eligible voter is burillo caner use Mertens Orosco Ryan scotson and seya do we have a motion please motion to approve sir got a motion do we have a second second we got a motion in a second IA roll call please Mr bruo yes Mr caner yes Mr Hughes yes Mr Merin yes Mr Rosco yes Mr Ryan yes and chairman seya yes minutes approved okay thank you e any vouchers no vouchers tonight I do we have any correspondence I have one thing for correspondence case number ba 20-11 a a a r h w property LLC Rock Solid reality LLC will be carried to a future date with notice and extension has been granted to the board through May 31st 2024 you said May May 31st 31st 20124 yep okay all right so for anyone that's here for case number ba820 d101 a a r s HW property LLC this is a use variant bulk variant an amended fight final major site plan this application will be carried to a future date with notice and the expiration date is May 31st 2024 any other correspondents I no that's all for tonight all right thank you we have no resolutions no resolutions tonight got it applications before the board case number ba1 13-15 Alpha 2 GF United extension of time and amended conditional use variance and PF site plan with bulk variances description application of GF United as applicant and owner seeking oneyear extension of time on approvals granted on 1214 2020 and amended cond conditional use variants and preliminary and major site plan approval with bulk variances for relief of conditions Hotel Juliet and papa of the prior approval on premises known as block 141 lots 13.01 and 14 for 14 US Highway 9 expiration date February 29 2024 hearing for GF United realy my name is David Weinstein attorney for GF realy I'm sitting with my right to John Bano who's our civil engineer thank you Mr chairman okay Andy yes would you like me to swear in Please Mr Mr Weinstein we're gonna SW swear in Panka okay thank you do you swear the testimony you give will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth the help you got I do please state your name for the record spell your last John Ponka p l oos k o n Ka professional engineer manelin New Jersey Mr is sworn in Mr chairman Mr Panka can you just quickly just put your credentials on the record you're you're licensed in the state of New Jersey licensed in state of New Jersey um been in business for 50 plus years appeared before this board and many many boards in M Ocean County we accept your credentials sir thank you Mr chairman Mr Weinstein yes um first thing that we were seeking is a one-year extension of time of our variance um unfortun contractors did not move at the speed we'd like them to we've made substantial progress since the last time we appeared before you we believe this will be the final extension of what we see the M uh Mr chairman do you want me to go through my entire list what we're seeking would that be easier one thing at a time Charlie yeah just to clarify Mr chair so they were previously before the board that were granted a one-year time extension through December 14th to 2023 so this is second uh one-year time extension I think of a maximum of three it would be till uh December 14th 2024 just to give the board some context uh this application was for a conditional use variance there was an existing um auto service station on lot 1301 on Route 9 it's on the southbound closer towards the Freehold end of town um the applicant purchased the property next door which contained a single family residence uh they were proposing to demolish that residence uh expand the parking onto this uh neighboring property uh consolidate the use in the Lots um I believe they were also adding a like a bay addition to the north side of that existing structure there to facilitate a uh lift to do repairs on um like school buses and the like um and uh the site driveway right now so there's a significant amount of like impervious actually within the dot right away they were removing a lot of that and consolidating the driveways there was a lot of areas that were not supposed to be parked on uh that do had kind of restricted over the years so they were kind of taking out all that excess payment and just uh cleaning up the driveways um as part of that approval there was a Avis rental car use in the front of that building I think the original approval there was a agreement that when that lease was expired that that user would go away from the site and would just be the auto service station that's still the case correct yes Avis is no longer there um we made a deal with Avis to abandoned location there is now the only tenant is GF united realy we have no intention to adding any other any other places other than the auto repair place that's close and as and as part of that prior approval they were kind of ahead of the game they were proposing like two EV charging spaces that was before the state adopted laws that made it now basically a permitted use in like all zones um the prior approval and carried a condition at the time because of like the multip users and you know when the Avis was expiring for the EV to be only for the private use of the site they filed this amended application seeking to lift that condition um making it open to public I think when they came for their first time extension we put on the record that we really didn't have an issue but they still needed to technically come to the board to remove that condition um since that time uh I think when they came back for the first extension the original engineer kind of went by the way side they transitioned to miss Mr Panka there were some turnover getting all the drawings and everything like that they're in the process of trying to get their access permit from do um they've circulated for us um to us a revised driveway um uh alignment and orientation right now what was approved by the board was uh a little bit different this there was a oneway in driveway uh kind of where the driveway you have the old one there yeah let's see yeah so you can see there those gray areas that are hatched those were all impervious that was within the RightWay that was going to be removed uh on the the right driveway would be the oneway in into the site with the expanded parking onto the formerly residential property and then they had a oneway eress driveway on the south end of the property this is adjacent to a car wash use and I guess it's part of their do application do he said you know that driveway is too close to that neighboring property so they asked them to consolidate into one two-way full movement driveway um I have no issue with that other than I issued some comments to Mr Panka via email about you know maybe shifting it a little bit to make it more functional so there's not a jog sidewalk into the site curbing along the frontage um and the like Mr B bonka you're confident you guys can accommodate that and we agree yes okay uh the two other things that I wanted to note with their amended application request was um one um it's a tight site right now right if you look at the area as you can see they've got a significant amount of vehicles parked on lot uh 14 which is a southerly property so um to facilitate construction of the garage Bay and the site improvements on on the existing developed portion they were seeking approval temporarily during construction to park vehicles on the Northerly lot uh for a period of time while construction starts so that way they can do those improvements and then move everything back and finish the improvements on the uh lot uh 14 to the north I would have no issue with that other than we need to stipulate maybe some time of time restriction on that you know from start of construction six months uh just so this doesn't linger out there and that doesn't become a permanent use of a grassed you know property for for parking purposes uh and then the last thing would they asked if they could start construction prior to having their dot approval in hand um typically we wait till all Outside Agency approvals are in hand for them to start construction um you know if they were to proceed with same and the board would have no issue I would just let them know they're proceeding at their own risk if dot had a you know realignment or something like that with their their site driveway um and then other than that there's a couple of conditions in my letter from the prior approval that just need to be perfected they were conditioned of the prior approval it's like you know they agreed to title 39 on the property so they got to you know proceed with that with the township prior to cos's um recording the on andm manual for the Basin um which I think we agreed to it informing content they just got actually recorded by deed um and then I think so this site is in one of those weird areas on Route 9 where there's not public sanitary sewer so they were proposing to eliminate the existing septic on the auto service site and put a new one on the expanded to service you know the expanded use um I believe they got you have Board of Health approvals for the propos we have that approval yes true so it's just they have to get certificate of Abandonment for any Wells or septic uh for the old system but other than that I think that encapsulates what they're they're asking for we've already consented as the attorney for GF United to the six month limitation we've consented to all of Mr con's recommendations and so basically as the attorney what Mr con is stating if the board were to approve it we consent with everything that how is requesting of us there is no dispute thank you Mr wein the last comment I had I think they had previously provided a uh as the condition of the prior approval the board asked for the lots to be Consolidated with the use there was a deed that was filed that put both properties under one deed didn't merge the lots and create one single lot for tax purposes so uh I would ask that that just be followed through as the conditioning approval do you have an issue with that actually the problem right now we don't have an issue with it but we're waiting for the town to do something has to be triggered by the town okay I've been in conversation with M Rano about that and apparently so we've done as far as we can go it's not what count so no objection at all okay yeah so usually the tax assessor has to approve the lot designation in the address and then they can go ahead and record the deed subject to Township review and approval so once taxor approves it that should just be a formality at that point great therefore we can set thank you John anything uh I would only add that the um that the parking on the vacant lot during construction only be parking that no uh repairs be made on any of the vehicles um that that's just an area for for storing of those vehicles that uh we shouldn't see any mechanics out there performing anything everything should still be done within the uh confines of the building I think with the only exception that have involved moving the vehicle I mean you may have a car that has to be jump started just to bring it in or I have no issues with that but we absolutely we do not want to do repairs on that that property because BEC a environmental issue because of leakage correct so we're not we would definitely not do that all right thank you John and then just sorry clarify too so that's six months it's from the start of construction so once you get compliance from the board perspective you got to have a pre-construction meeting with the township engineering department it would be six months from from that date right we want to work with the town the town has a hard start date for which should Cate time period prom and a hard end dat without open that great thank you Christine nothing on my end okay fellow board members is that photo with or without a it's without Avis the reason why I could tell is if you look at the roof line the sign was removed and you'll see there's no red sign on it there used to be a big red sign that's at Avis you'll see it's not there I believe it's with that I mean I can't see the side it's been a year over a year it's been over a year since they've been there so I suspect sign SE 6 23 it's been over a year I apologize I don't know the exact date I know it's been a long time is that the normal number ofs that are there I know I know IA fluctuated but it's it's it's approximately uh about that we try to keep the cars out of the front of the property because that's uh right away but obvious that that's an old picture we got rid of the house so that's definitely not it uh this program only goes so far it's dependent on the uh third party company doing aerial so this is the latest or the earliest that we have for of the property great thank you the house is now gone there's nothing there it's just a vacant lot so what you're seeing right there is just dirt sorry we actually leveled it I've actually personally walked on it there's no Hazard of stuff on it I'm I my wife wasn't happy some a bit of a clut so I didn't trip over anything so I thought it was pretty good um so um but there's no there's no house there there's no pipes there it's just dirt it's the best way I could put it um J I think You' seen the same thing right so that's what it looks like right now so the water and the sewer has been capped yes okay the previous usage been CA and the gas has been capped and it's all been done in from code great okay any other questions here since Jennifer isn't here I'll just ask uh sidewalks are you going to be putting them in yes okay it is on the're on on the dot plans okay yeah they uh this plan that was circulated to us had sidewalks along the entirety of the property Frontage they didn't have it coming into the site we requested that they make that addition to the plan we can sounds good thank you Mr Ryan that's old see the a so that's 2021 and 2022 the overhead picture showed I believe two storage trailers am I correct with that is there a plan to move them get rid of them get rid of them completely get rid of them completely okay thank you Mr Rosco Mr use no sir okay so extension of time to December 2024 what December 14th 14th okay thank you Andy uh that's what they were asking for this is the second extension yes sir okay uh what's the pleasure of the board well Mr chair I'd like to make a motion to approve the extension of time okay with all the conditions that have been put on the record yes sir everything that Charlie reviewed uh included with that approval okay we have a motion to approve appr do we have a second I'll second that Mr chairman I believe it sounds like they have a plan thought out of how they want to proceed with this so I apologize and just to clarify it's the extension of time and the amended use and site plan approval with you know the access permit changes and all that stuff that we talked about today so it's clear for the record yes moving the driveways and complying with the do changes with all the Amendments yes press change to clarify that uh you know not jog around in there okay so we got a motion that the EV spaces are for private use only right we're modifying that so that it's open to the public right correct correct oh the E yes thank you yeah it's I'm sorry to interrupt amended conditional use variance preliminary and final site plan with bulk Varian that's actually the complete application yes okay Mr Ryan you second this emotion and because you say you're there's a plan in place I I continue to Second this and sounds like they they have a plan in place and I think they'll carry it out oh thank you sir to its conclusion all right eile can we have a roll call please Mr burillo yes Mr caner yes Mr Hughes yes Mr Mertens yes Mr Rosco yes Mr Ryan yes and chairman say yes applications approved thank you thank you very much thank you Mr Weinstein thank you mrka ladies okay next up on the agenda case number ba 23-10 royalty 19 LLC use variance and preliminary major site plan with bulk variances description application of royalty 19 LLC as applicant and owner seeking use variants and preliminary and final major site plan approval to use the existing building containing 12,232 squ ft storage space and 837 s ft of office space with Associated improvements in the A3 Zone on premises known as block 37 Lot 24.02 19 Miller Road expiration date April 4th 2024 Mr P Mr chairman members of the board good evening all nice to see everybody in person yes chairman members of the bo boards professionals and public my my name is Kenneth Pape I'm an attorney with hyber Pape and this evening I have the opportunity and the privilege of representing royalty 19 LLC the principles of royalty 19 are here they are the owners of the property that we're presenting to you for your consideration before we go into the substantive presentation I'd ask if you could confirm receive of our notices and we could establish that the board has jurisdiction for us to proceed I can confirm Mr P the board is jurisdiction thank you Mr chair uh the number of opening statements I try to be very efficient um we have a total of five witnesses that's we don't think that that's a long list is are you being picked up by the microphone yeah I'm having a hard time Eileen is it's working I just want to make sure okay you're very soft Ken bigger voice yeah okay it's okay you move it closer to you that'll be better Ken thank you thank you you all right that's that's perfect all right oh good we have five witnesses this evening the lisis zugner is the principal engineer he designed the site that we'll present to you and he will be the first witness the second witness is Solomon Freedman Mr fredman is one of the two partners in royalty 19 and I've asked that he describe his business to you it is a fascinating successful business that these gentlemen started nine years ago and it has grown to be a very very very successful business uh steal a little bit of Thunder they import from Asia from China India Italy and other European countries high-end Crystal silverware anything that you could put on the top of a table is the way they describe their business they import that they um then they distribute it their primary customers are Amazon they sell to Amazon Wayfair uh those types of businesses they have a limited amount of business where they have single sales and you'll hear that that they have been in this business together for nine years successfully Mr fredman is the second witness the third witness following Mr fredman is Mr Steven rasi Mr rasi has spent the last year working very hard to make Mrs Jennifer beam satisfied with the architecture that's his goal it's his goal in life and I he's again done that well he's done the work we'll we'll find out if Jennifer is is going to compliment him the this the next witness is Scott Kennel Scott is our traffic expert he'll go through the traffic and the on-site circulation and finally the last witness is Mark Rema a professional planner who I've had the privilege of working with for over 40 years and he'll present the planning testimony that supports the relief that we request I wanted to share with the board before we got into the sub substantive presentation the history of this property and the history of the property was not hard to discern because this board heard this application and on a number of occasions and the resolutions that were written are very informative the last resolution that we were able to secure from your offices was a resolution that was adopted in 2004 and an individual came forward to ask permission to use the building on this property for watermelon sales and you remember it watermelon sales and also other Dry Goods food goods and he had a as his presentation Witnesses he had a gentleman who had come before this board in 1970 and had asked for permission to use the building as an egg distribution center and the Egg Distribution Center according to the testimony that is in memorialized in the resolution involved 20 to 30 tractor trailers a week coming and going from the property when the water and that's part of that resolution when the water melon gentleman came forward he indicated that he was anticipating he had a seasonal business during the offseason he anticipated that he'd have a couple of trucks a week but typically 12 tractor trailers a week and you're going to hear this evening that these gentlemen have a very established business that has eight tractor trailer movements a month eight a month roughly two a week and that the in addition to that they have once a day they have UPS comes once they have the postal people come once and FedEx once and every once in a while a phone call to ask DHL if they would come so you'll hear that what was 30 tractor trailer movements went down to 12 tractor trailer movements and we're asking for two tractor trailer movements and three or four vans a day the last persons who came before this board made a lot of commitments to clean up the property to remove concrete a lot of that never happened the property is in very similar condition as it was when you saw it the last time you're going to hear a lot of commitments from these people that before they even take occupancy they're prepared to make very sub stantial improvements one of the improvements is the removal of a 15,000 plus or minus square feet concrete slab that according to the testimony of Mr I think it was Pachi I get the name correct the gentleman who testified as the original owner indicated it was a building that he owned that burned down and the slab was left we're going to take we're proposing to get rid of that slab serves no purpose thought it was worth sharing although I can tell from faces and from some board members that I just told you things you already knew but it's worth sharing that this building has a history we're going to ask you for permission to use it for the distribution of the um I'll call it tabletop goods and with that as the opening I'm ready to ask Mr Lewis zugner to stand and be sworn and we'll begin our direct presentation with your permission Mr chair Mr P shall we just swear in all of the witnesses and this way we can have a flow here it's very Andy you'll capture everybody yes please thank you sir do you swear the testimony you give will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth shall help you out I do I do please state your name spell your last starting with Mr Z the West zner z e g n r Scott Kennel k n n l with mcdna and Ray Associates Steven rasi R a oti principal at perz and RI Associates architects principal Mark a Rema R MSA a professional planner and licensed landscape architect the Witnesses are sworn thank you sir thank you then Mr zner please share with all your professional and educational background good evening again leis zner I'm a licensed professional engineer in the state of New Jersey I'm the founding principal of the firm Mid-Atlantic engineering I am licensed in New Jersey and a number of other states I have been practicing for over 20 years graduate of Virginia Tech and I've been like uh before numerous zoning boards planning boards including this board we we accept your credentials Mr zugna shair thank you yes Mr zna would you share with the board the exhibits that you'll rely upon we have hard boards to just but I know that as we go through them you'll be able to put them on the screen yes so if you could the first one we pick me up if I'm loud enough wait speak loud it's good I can hear can we hear them I can hear okay good the first one is uh titled 19 Miller Road aerial exibit uh this is the show the overall area and Identify the property the mark pie they go can have they been pre-submitted orail everything has been submitted electronically there's nothing new tonight this um it's over so we received three this afternoon uh have a rendering is that one of the new ones from this afternoon yes all three are from this afternoon oh okay so then we'll mark those okay since they're not premark the last exhibit looks like uh so we have three files that were emailed this afternoon I have one titled uh 24x 36 rendering have one titled a survey and the last one was a 22 22624 rendering uh which looks like this right so that that'll be the third one I I bring up okay so the first one probably also labeled rendering but it's on the sheet itself 19 Miller Road aial exhibit so that was not included I only have three files the three that I just noted so right here that you have up that's it yep okay so and so that would be a28 very good thank you the next one you have it as a file digital file that says survey but this is the um boundary topographic survey the existing conditions of the property a29 and then the third one uh is uh the rendering today's date it's a colored rendering it's a composite of different plan sheets in the plan set a30 thank you thank you I'm going to ask if you could in a narrative introduce the property to the board the board's professionals and the public using the aerial exhibit you can introduce it its location its size and its Zone shows a little better on your television screen but we've identified in the middle of this board the dark outline the perimeter of our property and then given an aerial image to show you a little bit of the surroundings so to the left of this property running diagonally up and down is Miller Road you can see a little bit to the left of that obvious Lanes Pond Road intersection somewhat north of Us North is up on this board and then another diagonal line across to the right the back rear of our property this is a railroad right away railroad tracks you can see out further some mobile homes just above us this is a nursery Farm just to the north of us and then adjacent us across the street is all wooded you can see a few buildings home just below us to south of us then there's the ATR Crossings that's sort of bit of where we are and our property Zone and size so it's a 3 Acre property uh we are in the A3 zone so the agricultural rural estate we are three acres you see obviously if we move on to the existing conditions but there are buildings and earlier I believe you had up some actual live not live but angled photos of the site see what was there charie the closest riparian we have to this going to what Lake Louise yeah uh there's no Wetlands or raran mapped uh in the vicinity of the of the property so uh like I said it's you got Miller Road on the left hand side or the west and then the East you got the Conrail railroad line you got a existing form property which I think at the time of the prior approval Ken alluded to was a form property and then you have property to the South which certainly I think might have a residential component but also may have a commercial component to it too to some extent so yeah but there's no map Wetlands or anything or reparan in close proximity to the property that I would be worried about being regulated for this uh development thank you okay we could next exhibit just briefly describe the existing conditions I think the aerial photograph that uh the perspective aerial photograph is also very valuable but if you could describe what's there so again we've seen this in some images on your television screen but as we go in a little closer obviously there are existing buildings on the property for commercial buildings and Mr P talked a little bit about the history of those towards Miller Road you can see in this plan pretty obvious what must have been the foundation of an old building at some point right now it's a large concrete slab on the on the property and then as you come out to Miller Road there's uh a driveway with two entrances out to Miller Road rest of the property that's either side you can there are some trees and then open along towards the back the railroad but there are some around the property but no big Den stand of woods on this property itself I think it's time to go to the site plan and and do an executive presentation of the site plan and then together we're going to go through a lot of the detail yeah and maybe right before I jump off of this just to note a couple of key elements um you know this concrete slab I mentioned you know as we look towards the site plan and improvements obviously that's something that was a key element to remove will and then I'll show you also in this two driveway some of this Northern end of the driveway is in what ends up being the 50 Foot um Farm buffer to the north so that was also a key element as we went to design to look to eliminate and REM and the septic system and yeah so this site and it's current state has a septic system that's not on the property it's actually off the northern property I'm sorry one sentence before removal of the form buffer no no no so um the northern driveway that comes out to Miller Road is in the oh okay the driveway driveway inorder to preserve fire bu um so part of this process will be constructing a new septic system also a new well for this site and we're going to eliminate existing SE not even on the where where is it where is it you can see uh it's in an open area north of our building just across the property L you can't probably can't see it but that's I identify it it's open so and just to give the board some extra background on this so when this was before the board in the mid 2000s uh the site driveway that Mr zner is talking about once you get past the concrete slab it actually jogged onto the neighboring Farm property and there was I believe they were an objector to the application and went through the court process and I think they were required to relocate or remove that driveway from the neighboring property owner so uh it's not surprising that the septic system is there too it just may not have been known at the time of of the prior prior approval so point out our clients own the property our clients own the property but there no occupancy of the property they us if you to go there you'll see they're doing a wonderful job of maintaining it very nice condition but they do not use it for any purpose at all they own the property next to it they own the property next to this no no they own the property that we're presenting to you setic system is not being used right septic system came came that's the way it came so if we could if you could take us through an an executive overview of what our clients proposing to do on the property and then I want to spend time going through the details uh so here you can see it in color what we're the changes we're making and uh sort of in general obviously we want to improve the building uh there's reconfiguration to the driveway and access to the property uh we're providing vehicle parking spaces in front of the building for cars Passenger cars and then we're also uh reconstructing two uh trailer or truck loading spaces that load to the building you can see that to the south of the building jogs back create circulation for that to work uh there is a new proposed outdoor trash enclosure that would be an a masonry brick based trash enclosure and that's the building there is a small proposed addition at the back of the building it's a slightly darker color at the back of building obviously architect will talk more about the building itself I think a key component of this while that wasn't a improved site with buildings before there was no storm water management on the existing site so we are constructing storm water management that's primarily in sort of the little space um between parkings you can see there's a turnar around circulation area vehicle parking in between that we're creating a bio retention p there's also a small tank to help us uh collect and drain water from where the loading Bay would be that's actually a little bit lower than surrounding areas the building and then a big element uh in terms of trying to adjust and improve is a significant amount of landscaping being proposed our property has to the north and to the West what we qualify as farmland buffer and then buffers on the other two sides would be residential buffers so those areas have no Landscaping essentially at the moment there are some existing trees part of this proposal is to landscape I think that's a good executive summary and I'm going to with your help go through a lot of the details I'm going to start with grading appears to me that there's little to do in the way of grading um you're taking out concrete you're re redesigning circulation is there any major grading cutting or filling of the site no it's a relatively flat site and essentially will match uh what's there there is some grading because there's work there are a few comments in the review letter a few small areas that we can improve upon and we'll do that and storm water management I made the statement there is no storm water management system in place at all so there's nothing that cleans the water collects the water stores the water and I noticed in Mr Cliff's most recent report of January 2024 that he had some comments about the storm waterer design I'm gonna ask if you could design describe what's there and then have you conferred with Mr conliff about his comments uh Mr cus we have spoken he's been very helpful I won't speak for him um we have as I said this bio retention Basin we will collect water including water from the RO of the building um we will have some uh detention there so we'll control the rate of runoff through that we will infiltrate water there and in the small tank so we'll achieve that so the three pillars we're going to improve water quality we're going to obtain some recharge we're going to reduce rates of run off through less than existing condition on top of that this goes to another element of the site development key component of what helps us with the storm water is we reduce the imperious coverage from its existing condition I think it's measurable down 8% or so from close to 10% close to 10% Mr cunliff is here and he most certainly will speak for himself but are you comfortable that you can and will satisfy the open technical requirements in Mr C's Report with regard to St very confident there are a few design items that we need to address the overall goal I think we will certainly achieve like to go to lighting as the third ele element of the site plan and I going to begin by saying I note that there's a comment in the staff report that we're slightly over we're at 0.8 foot candles where 0.5 is the the ordinance Max can you fix that yes so we're not we need no relief on the intensity you do not want ask for Rel you'll fix it okay and there's also a request that all of the lighting on site be 3,000 Kelvin could you confirm that's the way it's designed will all be 3,000 Kelvin LED lights and that I'm sure the board knows this but that's the lower temperature not the harsh Point calmer cooler temperature and every one of those light fixtures is dimmable correct all of the LED fixtures can be programmable so you can completely control intensity and number of of little cells in it that are on or off our client will testify that his business is 5 days a week 10:00 to 5:00 10 a.m. to 5:00 there's no overnight activity dimming this site to whatever the police or you find is most comfortable we could go all the way down to 25% or even turn off lights there's no act no night activity there's no second shift it's 10:00 a.m. to 5: those will that will be placed on the record as a commitment Monday to Friday 10 Monday to Friday Friday short our our clients close early on Friday and they'll sneak in there on Sunday to sit at their desks and do their paperwork but that's the only thing that'll happen on the weekend Monday to Friday maximum 10 to five Fridays most likely 1:00 is the wiing out and I would also add this is the site lighting the back half of the property behind the building is obviously not L each door to a building gets a light Mr ad can talk about that to have a light at a door uh but it's not a sight light so the lighting is just this front and Steve found a way to put the lights so that they're in an overhang so that they're not bulbs that are showing so he'll do that when he's up Landscaping but maybe just quickly just to make sure it's on those you know clear all of the outdoor LED lights are like The Shoe Box style downward directed with Shield so there's no spill over okay good so Landscaping I'm going to begin by telling you that we've had two inspections of the property with Sharie speo wish her well disappointed she's not here to tell you about those inspections during one of them she noted that there was a very nice large oak tree and she was concerned that our driveway was too close to it so you're going to hear that we moved we couldn't move the tree we moved the driveway she also had some very substantial comments on Landscaping including a requirement of indigenous species and a most interesting comment about the grass lawn behind us your engineer has asked us to make certain that we don't encroach into it with cars or trucks and we won't we have a way of making certain that doesn't happen Lewis will describe it but Sher pointed out that there is indigenous wildlife and Flora in in the field including milkweed which is to sh will tell you how important milked is so so we've been asked to preserve that entire field in its natural condition and I trust that your plan shows that we're preserving that we are preserving uh the field that'll be the milk weed was much she had been so Keen to preserve because of thearch and we learn something every time we meet in order to make certain that there's no vehicles that go onto that area we used the Landscaping element to make certain that can't happen would you share what you've done with Landscaping to make sure that we can't get out there can see in this plan that you know again sort of along this Northerly property line and then on the other side we landscape right alongside the buildings and we'll preserve space obviously so that someone can go back behind the building or do some maintenance uh but no vehicle would have space to drive past the building and if a if the board felt that a fence was helped we could also put in a fence the design was to use Landscaping to make sure that we couldn't get back there if you could just describe the types of landscape materials that are along the buffer I know that we don't have a burm but if you could describe the intensity of the plantings so uh there are buffer plantings it's a mixture of evergreen trees uh flowering trees uh shade trees larer shade trees there's also obviously perennials and grasses there are U both flowering and Evergreen shrs emphasis on Native in terms of numbers it's 116 this is for the total site evergreen trees 32 shade trees 19 ornamental or flowering trees like a red bu and then 166 shrubs plus all the these are uh those numbers include obviously the key elements of the popper there are few Foundation plantings along the front of the building and then the Basin itself that work because it's a bio retention Bas that also get we also met with a shade tree commission we met with the environmental commission we had multiple meetings with fire chief but a shade tree commission pointed out that they wanted to see a woodland management plan your office responded to them in writing sharing with them a description a narrative description of the tree removal and the tree replacement if you could confirm well I'll confirm that we've delivered that letter on October 13th to the shade tree commission and it's part of your record but do you have those numbers the numbers of trees the trees coming out I believe is 48 trees and trees going in uh trees going in I'll give it so I think it's about 150 137 trees going in for 48 coming out sound correct so that was shry commission's request was addressed there was also a request to get rid of his white pines and to use certain harder versions of Evergreens and if you could confirm all of the requests that were made by Sherie who would made to your plan yes we uh and we'll continue to work with our if we could move from the landscape element U Mr Pate real quick question on the disposal area is that just our providers around or do you have kind of a wall or fence the trash enclosure we'll have plantings around it but it's a masonry enclosure okay it's going to be masonry and planting okay obviously is not masonry itself the gate is wood that open but the three sides are masonry and they would be done in a similar brick faade element okay that's great thanks okay parking you'll hear from our clients there are two principles two full-time employees and three part-time employees and a very very busy day there'll be seven people in this building and you'll also hear that the public is not invited to this building for any purpose at all what is the parking Arrangement that you have designed so from the rest of the loading areas we kept the vehicle parking separate it's in the front of the building there's a total of eight spaces there the requ by doing the floor area calculations is sixes so we see that up those spaces one of course is an 88 space and one would be a EV space there's a request that it be EV level two level two yeah that's just the level of the charger anything less than that really isn't worth charging a car on so uh level two I think you can charge a full car up in like 45 minutes or something like that and and the law does allow prescription for them to be installed over a six-year time period but to make it easier on the town we ask that they be installed up front prior to issuance of a CL is that an issue no not an issue at all there will be exactly what was asked by Mr conli uh at one of the parking stalls and on-site circulation I'm going to ask that Mr kennel describe it but I think it's important to point out that we had a horseshoe driveway one of the driveways was too close to our neighbor very strong comments from Miss beam to get that out of there you're able to do that and now have one Central driveway designed to handle all of the vehicles that we anticipate to the site correct and we believe the circulation works well the bring the volume of traffic will have the trucks in and out the FedEx trucks no problem Mr chair in the course of handling this F over the last year and a half I got to say goodbye to Chief Lewis as he retired and I had got to begin working with Chief Pro now as he took over there were reviews by Chief Lewis and we addressed his concerns we also went back in October to chief prau his perspective is a little different and you'll see in November he issued a letter that said his issues have been resolved he wanted us to make certain that we had fire striping fire lane striping on the site and the dimensions of the driveways were all acceptable to him as he indicated in this letter so from parking and circulation I think trash if you if you just locate the trash enclosure and confirm that it's designed to so that trash removal vehicle can access it easily yeah gas a trash truck can remove it easily it's here near the storm water pump so it's not in the rear the ordinance states that the trash enclosure is to be in the rear we took a lot of steps to make certain that there was nothing in the rear so it's in the front it's landscaped and a waiver is requested for that finally the fact that there's no Monument sign we just point out that there's no signage that's required as part of the site plan no sign and Mr chair the only sign in you'll hear from the architect will be numerals on the building to identify its address our clients have no need at all for business identification they are not destination the public is not invited to I have nothing further of of Mr zner other than to ask that he if he has reviewed the staff reports and is he comfortable that he can and will address the open technical requests yes the remaining can address all Charlie yes Mr chair um just to add some points of clarity so going back to the whole septic on the neighboring property I just want to point out that the property to the north of Farm property and the property of the South there Lots 24 2401 2402 so conceivably at one point in time they were probably one lot and it's you know part of the subdivision you know maybe there was an accurate mapping on where the septic was and that's why it's on a neighbor property um regarding some of the relief we had um the uh site of the refu enclosure in the front yard being accessory structure in the front yard um as you can see on the rendering they're proposing landscaping around that I think obviously it would be ideal for that to be located in the rear and you know maybe uh screened by the building from the public RightWay but you heard Mr zner talk about you know wanting to maintain the farm buffer to the North and then the residential buffer to the South so you know uh by adhering to that it it gets difficult to provide a driveway to the back of the site without removing part of the building so I don't necessarily take exception to that there's also all that plant yeah there's significant amount of planting that's going on too so I mean with the protected the milk milk yeah yeah so no I just wanted to not that I didn't take exception to it um lock coverage you heard Mr zner talk about they're reducing the impervious coverage by about 10% this is in the AR3 which all our a zones has lower percentages of what's permitted this is 12 and a half maximum they're at like 26.2 so they do need a technical variance although they are reducing it as Mr zner indicated uh by about 10% um the storm water I I I'm pretty confident that Mr zugner can work out any items that I had in my letter A lot of it was just uh you know crossing the te's dotting the eyes the reduction in the impervious coverage by 10% helps satisfy a lot of the quantity control and you know potential imp backs to neighboring Property Owners um sorry I'm just scrolling through my letter and picking out a couple different things that I wanted to make note of we talked about the EV charging um the site driveway does have a sight triangle requirement it's hard to tell from uh the rendering but there is existing vegetation along the site Frontage some of that under story is maybe not necessarily the best looking stuff so anything within the site triangle if that can kind of be trimmed and paired down just so there's no issues with sight lines uh I would ask that that be made a condition of the approval um and then I had some comments in about there about like availability of public sewer and and water and things like that um the property is not within a map sewer service area the closest sewer is like behind the site on the other side of the Conrail right way to like the existing mobile home park back there so yeah it would be a very difficult uh thing to uh get sewer to the property um the septic system Mr zner it's individual that's a standard Mammoth County Board Board of Health approval right it's not anything above 2,000 gallons a day or anything right G we've actually already done some soil testing Christopher lberto from the Health Department's confirmed the suitable sales and then uh uh talk with the engineering department they're not aware of public water to the site so uh any well obviously would be septic to Board of Health um approval and then uh the last thing I would just say is you heard Mr zner and Mr P talk about the lighting and how you could dim it past Beyond hours you know I'll defer to the board on what the your discretion is on whether you want it dimm to 25% whether you want it completely off maybe we hear from the neighbors and you can come to maybe more of a definitive uh feeling on on how how you guys want to go with that so um that's all I have I'll let Jen maybe talk about I know they they don't have curb and sidewalk on the Frontage and all that kind of or not Jen Christine talk about you forgot my name yeah ouch uh so uh first kind of just to reiterate uh what is saying about the um trash enclosure while it is in the front yard I do think that this is um a better location for it than you know uh trying to provide access to the rear of the site encroaching um on that Fields we're preserving for Sherie with the milked and um all of the additional Landscaping they've done so they are providing um additional landscaping around the enclosure to kind of buffer it but I think this is really uh given the constraints of the site the best spot for it um they are not providing uh sidewalks so that is a waiver that would be needed or you could require them um to provide sidewalks that is up to you know the discretion of the board um the applicant has no issue with sidewalks if it is your play me as Jen always says you know there's no sidewalks around but someone needs to be the first person to put them in and I think that is really all for the engineer that we would have Charlie didn't already yeah and Mr chair to last I apologize last thing that I'll say is um anyone driving up and down Miller Road uh I think you even if you go on Google Street View you can see that it's not necessarily in the best condition um you know you've heard some testimony regarding how many site trips they're generating from tractor trailers and compared to Prior approved warehousing uses for the site um you know if there's anything that the applicant would be willing to do you know resurfacing the roadway even if it's a long the frontage as part of like the curbing in the sidewalk you know this is a use variance application would certainly be a positive uh towards the towards the application well Charlie um do we want to try to get an easement for future Road expansion is is that is that is that prudent so and I believe uh and I'll look at their survey again but I believe that they already have what the're required right away with recommended in the master plan across the frontage but if they didn't would that be something the applicant would be willing to comply with compliance we thought that we did but if we haven't compliance with the master plan by dedic it wouldn't even be an easement Mr chair it would be fee simple dedication to the town thank you yeah I mean you can see what Mr uh agar is sharing from Google Street View that uh the road obviously at some point was in better shape um it's in that shape regardless of whether or not the applicant uh gets their site plan approval but you know they are at some tractor trailers to the site where it's been largely dormant for the probably the last 14 15 years so uh if there was any inclination on the applican behalf to do any kind of roadway improvements across the frontage uh I think it would obviously uh be a positive check mark in uh you know a use variance application but uh I'll leave that to the discretion of the board and you know the the applicant it's type of issue Mr chair there'll come a moment this evening where I ask for a f minute recess to chat with my my clients and during that time I'll I'll confer with them on that point okay great thank you we missed the point though Char missed the the driveway a the driveway restrictions there was a recommendation that we have a restriction coming out of our driveway we missed it yeah yeah so you know I think and Mr kenno can get up there and talk about the trips coming from the site I think there was a a bias towards left turns out of the site you know turning movements that's going down to I think liid Farmingdale Road which is a County Road you know if the board is concerned or we have some concerned Neighbors about you know trips and trucks and things like that I think it's we have required turning restrictions at the site driveway at the past you know certainly probably would be more preferable if they go towards the County Route but uh you know maybe we hear if there's any concern neighbors and and you know certainly uh eight tractor trailers a month is a lot less than I think going back to what the 70s there was what' you say Mr P something yeah 30 a week so well that was during the Vietnam war so you know feeding the troops right yeah true true okay yeah right the the restriction on the driveways that requires trucks to make a left as they exit and no truck being allowed to make a right it is in the staff report we did have the opportunity review it with our clients making a left is the most efficient way to get to 195 we do not have a problem with that restriction okay never any business purposes there's never any need for the the smaller delivery trucks to make a right this I we would ask that the small Vehicles be permitted to make the right-and turn but the the large trucks the larger trucks we can come up with a definition we'll put up the signage uh and we'll also do a title 39 if you requests wanted to go to the Amazon's turn wherever they okay great hey John do we have any any violations on this site so as it stands uh as of today uh there is a requirement for uh the property owners to register actually re-register this property is being vacant uh so um that has come due January 1st uh it still has not been done and then any property maintenance issues that may go along with that I believe in I'm not sure if it's the same uh septic system that we were talking about but there is a a large void uh to the north I believe of the building you could probably fit a small Fiat uh there was some temporary uh uh fencing that was put around that hole uh we would just ask that uh someone just go out there to ensure that uh there is some kind of protection I believe it's fallen down since then uh and any other property maintenance issues that are related so once they register code enforcement goes out and does a preliminary uh inspection for any kind of violations and I'll just give view uh a sampling of the these pictures were taken in April of 23 so they may not be the current conditions but these are the types of things that uh we look for graffiti uh there are some that also show uh and I'm guessing because of the N uh the vacant nature of the property um you get kids adults just trashing the place these are the kind of things that we we look to avoid they may have been taken care of since then um I have not been on this property in quite some time 100% 100% including thank you John we uh we're good thank you fellow board members any questions for the engineer I'd like to talk about a little bit sidewalks I think it's yes right sorry sorry about the sidewalks I looks like there's none down that road so we clear that up yeah I think I agree with you I think we I mean it's fairly Rural right yeah so do we want to keep it in a Royal State yes I think so and I think we'd be better off using the money somewhere where we need them yes that's just my it would I think it would inter putting sidewalks in would interfere with the flow of the driveways the way they want to put them in okay I agree okay I just wanted to get clarity on that thank you we're good yes sir Mr Ryan you good I'm good okay Mr BR and uh Miss beam's report at section uh what she got section four part C with buffers um the number one she I know she's pretty much a stickler with the uh buffers and there was something storm water retention detention basins are not permitted within the buff area whereas proposed drainage swall and a portion of the existing building are located within the required buffer uh Farmland buffer to the North and the covered loading dock proposed to the enclosed within the existing footprint is located within the required residential Buffet to the South the existing building encroachments which are fairly small we are leaving on the site and ask for relief from that but if you could go through the other revisions that were made to the plan to eliminate right so there to both edges or both sides of the existing building the South Side touches the residental buffer barely like inches and then the north side same thing you can see soort of there's a line that's in that the existing so those are items of really right and I think uh they provided testimony it is in our letter you know we understand we would prefer not to have anything in the buffer but it's an existing building that's there um and I think they provided testimony about kind of beeping up the Landscaping in those buffers um and working with Sher to um make kind of you know the best landscape buffers they can so while um it is an encroachment and they do need a variance for it it's they're not proposing anything new within the buffer there it's already existing there great so and just to add Clarity to that too right so the Swale uh that's basically storm water basin is holds a certain volume and then at some point it overflows right so you don't want that just to overflow onto the neighboring property there's a swirl that maintains the existing drainage p patter and gets it to the to the RightWay so it's not going on in the neighboring property and that Swale is within where the existing site driveway is so it's not like there's not disturbance there already they're taking out the driveway and regrading the Swale to make sure that water flows to the right away not onto the neighboring property so I don't have an issue from it with it from an engineering perspective it makes sense okay um in her Section with the parking and circulation she mentioned the uh the loading ramp in the front yard the there is a loading ramp that exists and we're proposing to reconstruct that loading ramp when identify its location on the screen here but um to the south side of the property existing building with Mo it back that is the existing uh loading ramp we are rebuilding that and repaving it but it's staying at at the same location it goes to much of the other conversation we've had about other items tonight you're not you don't permit loading areas in the front of the building but we're trying to do everything in the front of the building here and not drive around the building buffer the back that's that's that's a variance that's part of the what pictured on the screen to right and while it is existing they do need the variant for it because of the um proposing use and as I'm looking at the photo and I'm recalling the testimony from the 2004 where the gentleman said my large building in the front burned down I think that when that building existed this was on the side of the building when that building burned burn down and wasn't replaced kind of became the front of the building Mr P you know the uh the railway is get becoming I believe active again so would your client be willing to file for a title 39 just you know Mr chairman I was invited to a a meeting at the township where the railroads were explained to me and I was asked to bring it to all of my clients attention they will tell you I told them that there's a road behind you and there's an opportunity to perhaps There's an opportunity to have a sighting because it is an active Freight Line right behind yes okay okay any other any other questions for the engineer with the uh proposed addition to the building that's on there there would be four emergency exits that'll be going from the exterior six Al together and Mr R is prepared to go through all those okay and and they're going to empty out into grass or onto a concrete platform as they exit the building each exit door would have a concrete platform right outside of the the door uh but then no there wouldn't be sidewalks from the emergency exits they would go out into the ground if was the two in the back kind of look like stairs going down and wasn't sure what that was U because of the floor and the grade to that point right it comes out on a concrete PL platform and yes would have stairs to get it to grade and then just into the field and then just into the field okay thank you okay all right so we're good with the engineer all right Mr Pape yes thank you I'm GNA ask that Mr Solomon fredman joined me Mr fredman is one of the two partners Mr Bachman his partner is also here Mr fredman lost the toss so he gets to up here excellent I've shared with him that over the last year and a half as he describes his business he does it so beautifully and we enjoy listening to him and I've told him this is a very friendly place and he should relax but he has told me this is his first time speaking in public so I may I may help with some of the questions to I'm going to ask if you just take a moment and tell you were sworn but who are you and and are you one of the principles hi everyone thanks for having me um we started the business my name is Solomon fman and my partner is abam bachner um we work together already for nine years um we started I can't got married here in Lake in Lakewood and to a Lakewood girl so I moved to Lakewood I went to BMG school I studied together with Abraham and that's how I got to know him and we still study every day after work we go and we study um then you know at time the families grew so we had to you know stop making some money so we we went we started thinking what to do and we started we started going to Amazon was around and we started to um look things for to sell so we went to the local stores and we picked up small items and we went to a little higher end stores and we bought more expensive items and we used to bring it to our garage and to his garage and we sold it online and as we were going we buying more and more we started selling more so we needed more space so we started using his basement so we the trucks used to come there at this house and we used to pull down all the boxes to the basement up and you know till we decided that we got to find somewhere to go so um about 7 years ago I we saw a sign for rent there was a sign so I knocked on the door there was a lovely guy he passed away this year um Mr Schuster the ex I don't know if you know him but Eddie Schuster so he was he had a place for rent so we went into and I signed contract and not contract a leas and we moved in there and we started we started there selling our items then we from the then we used to we decided that we got to get into the market buying our own stuff so we pretty much some research we found some connections and we started importing um we started importing from China from um Italy and from India we started bringing in our stuff we started with a smaller quantities and now slowly we were growing we started bringing more stuff then the space got a little too small so Mr Eddie Schuster he had a different location down the block so we asked him if he could fix it up for us to let us move in so he cleaned out the place for us and we moved in there and that's where our stuff that's our bigger Warehouse we have here most of our inventories there we still have in the first location one location was where we on is 1084 Brook Road and the other location is 821 Brook Road in Lake Quin New Jersey I'm going to interrupted so those that's where your business is currently operating yeah it came a moment you bought this building that we're talk showing to the board correct you bought this building the building the 90 Miller Road we bought right you own it and you bought it for for for use for our business yeah let me let me ask you some very important questions about your business okay um uh you heard me try to describe your business I like when you describe that what are the products that you're importing from Asia and from Europe and and and selling so we sell tabletop items everything that goes onto the table so it's pretty much um dishes um glass wear um mugs um with cake domes Trifles butter dishes masul all type of items that um place mats everything that pretty much sets a table so it's like H pretty much whatever napkin holders we look pretty much the set the table and that's where we go from we have all type of glasses and all type of crystals and vases and in that line and you told me that your major purchasers are people like Amazon Fulfillment Wayfair fulfillment Walmart fulfillment so you bring this over here and then you're selling to them and they're Distributing right so it works is that we get a container at a time we order a item it comes in a container from let's say from China and the whole container is filled with items let's say it's a um glass glass a glass Kake doome let's say right so the whole container is filled it's not on pallets it comes in the whole container is filled then we have our workers they take out the so that's we have two full-time workers and two parttime workers the parttime workers are to unload the containers the two that are there with together with us you know we all work together I'm pulling he's pulling we unload the container and we put it onto pallets once it's on a pallet we shrink wrap the pallets then it goes into the warehouse it sits there and then once we decide that we got to send out to Amazon or to Walmart let's say we're sending out 500 cake domes so it just you just have to label it you and you call a truck and it takes it to their for filment Center and they distribute it to to the customers then let's say sometimes you run out of items so on a a small basis we do like we'll send out a item of one item like this one if if we run out in the Fulfillment centers we'll ship it out ourselves but that's not big numbers it's it's just like a little shipping out and these items are already prepacked everything that comes from China's a red or from India from Italy for already come the in the case p back it's already in another box that's already ready to ship so there's no you just pull it out of the box you put on the label and the UPS truck and the or the FedEx or the mailman comes these trucks are there once a day they come end of the day the mailman the these things they come once a day and they distribute it they give it out to the customers Mr Freeman I made statements when I make statements I'm I'm explaining things but I can't testify only you can testify I told the board that you have eight tractor trailers a month roughly two a week those are the tractor trailers that are coming in with product and going out is eight the right number yes pretty much eight it's could be it it sometimes there two out and the next week there two in but sometimes there three out and then two in sometimes there four in and it's just it's not the it's not in and out it's pretty much that's the number about at a it's about two trucks usually we get a truck in and a truck out a week and I also said that you have small Vehicles UPS USPS and FedEx and that those individual trucks come to your property not all day long but they come in once right the end of the day they come and all the items that we got to ship to the customers goes out to the customers you and your partner two people two full-time workers or up to four people and two or three people who are part-time to help unload when the trucks come in correct that's the whole business that's the business yeah the board's listening carefully these are the things that if they chose to approve would be in the resolution saying this is what they're approving you're comfortable with all that yeah okay Ken if I could just interrupt as usually someone else does but uh not here but uh the eight the eight tractor trailer per month is that some right it'll be in the resolution as you noted is that a limit your uh I would Mr fredman's willing to accept I was going to say so that he doesn't get in trouble during a seasonal if the number could be 12 12 a month is something that's easily it it gives the growth that's necessary and keeps us out of trouble when there's an extra truck that comes if uh this business is successful do you to anticipate um hiring more full-time part-time employees like are there any plans for expansion or would you just kind of keep it at the same level it is today um pretty much with it's this is the business it's not like it's it comes and it go it's pretty much that's what it is I'll make it do you you've already reached the success level that you were looking for so no plans for future expansion yeah so the two sites in Lakewood on Brook Road there's no intent to close those and move those operations entirely here or I want to move them over those are being closed they coming coming all here so what you have said two and two is maximum that you'll have okay very and then I just want to clarify so so I understand it too so tractor trailers that come to the site uh that's all the goods in the storage containers from wherever you're importing it you then break them down into individual shipments on pallet shrink wrap them they then get put back in a tractor trailer and then go to the Fulfillment center yes do you have any additional like box trucks that are doing any traffic from the site it's part of the usually that's part of the the trucks that come during the week that's usually we have the two trucks that usually come up part of those sometimes the box truck sometimes the tractor trailers okay depends how much you ship out so the box trucks are counted in the 12 per month yes okay okay I just want to make sure and then you don't have any additional like fleet vehicles that you do any individual deliveries it's all just by USPS UPS or FedEx once at the end of the day and a followup to that you you indicate no that's correct followup is you have no overnight storage of trucks on the property previously the 12 trucks were allowed to be stored on the property so you have no overnight truck storage no if a Amazon fulfillment Center is out of something will they like drive an Amazon truck to you to pick it up or I have to schedule an appointment they should come okay you have your own trucks no no trucks and the hours of business are five days a week right five days a week from 10 to 5 10 to 5 yeah so trucks are not coming at night no no it's we make appointments when we business hours we make the appointments okay it's all work work days okay and with regards to the uh tractor trailers uh they can be unloaded same day correct so they will not be there overnight either so once they're done unloading it doesn't they don't they sit there it's a it's called live loads they you they come you unload it and they go okay and that those days that those trucks come by appointment and also your part-time employees know to come right so you have everybody there to unload right correct Andy so if we put 12 trucks per month into the resolution and the property is subsequently sold that 12 trucks per month stays with the property does it runs with the land thank you what if I may I was going to do this at the end but I think it segue is perfectly there when this board acts and the resolution is drafted it's supposed to be recorded at the county clerk so it stays with the property in perpetuity all too often it doesn't happen I assure you that the resolution will be recorded it'll be attached to a declaration of restriction and will be recorded at the county clerk and will follow the property Ken I would think that would be true of any applicate any applicant you represent not just this one but yes thank you I have nothing further of of questions from the board uh yes I do um your current space how how big you said there's two yeah how big how how big of a space are we talking combined um there is a there's a nice amount of space um there's one square footage wise right um I would say it's a very long building and it's not so wide I would say say is probably that building is is probably like 6,000 square foot I would say and then the other one is a smaller one there's about um I would it's it's maybe not even thousand square it's smaller it's a smaller about 7,000 sareet around and how and how big are we going here just right about 14,000 sareet so you're about doubling right okay so currently you have how many trucks a month we have eight trucks a month okay but okay and you're doubling your space right because now it's very tight it's not there's no space we we sometimes have to push off the shipment because there's no space in there it's a small it's also it's not it's not let see I I'm making it right you want to have space you should be able to now when I get it I have to get a item from the back we got to move everything from the front you can't get to it you know it's like all stuck inside you have space you could take this and then everything is organized when you have when it's organized it works so but you do anticipate you do anticipate growth yeah 100% but I'm saying we that's part of we always going to grur so I know Mr P you you said about these maybe going to 12 trucks a month I'm not quite sure of the enforcement and I don't know how that how do we keep keep track of that right and if you do anticipate some growth will there be additional employees and not more than what we have there no because we we take now we don't need those extra employees to unload the containers we don't need them there we don't have they just come when you have to unload the container so if you get a if you grow you just hire more employees and you're good so you're going to have more employees right right we're going to have the fill time five instead of instead of having um the two and plus the three the three um part time you got two full time three part time is the so the part times the the part time only come when the container comes so that could be they don't come they're not there every there but if but if your business grows in this twice size of what you have now now you're going to need more employees right that will hire those you'll have the the extra part time will become fil time and that'll be enough and then maybe you will have more part-time you will hire additional part-time no cuz those PE when when a container comes we just need more manow to unload it's not more work we just need more manpower to unload it so the the people who have part time become fulltime and they'll just help it a container comes at a times it takes the same amount people to unload a container on that day so are you saying you'll have more container deliveries then he's if you grow you just need more people to ship out I more but you would have but you'd also have more deliveries you're saying right if so there's the potential to have more than 12 uh tractor trailers a month going from 8 to 12 you're giving me the space and I think just I know that you're not trying to misle the board in any way it's not so clim you've got five employees now these men have been with you for a number of years yeah some of them come part-time and some come full-time right you anticipate that if your business does grow that you'll have those five all be full-time yeah and you don't even need those five thank I don't know if you're know business works but it's not like it's very you get a container it's not a lot of work now to get it out it's the the pallets are there you just have to just label it on and then you call the truck and they take it out it's not like you need more manpower in the in the warehouse now it doesn't it you know half a day we're not wrapping and sending out pallets right we it's you if your business exploded you wouldn't have fitted in this building what you're offering to this board as restrictions would prevent you from growing in that explosion and you'd have to find another location are you aware of that yes it doesn't fit so Mr chair if I could just clarify too right so the applicant's proposing eight parking spaces uh one of those is an ADA space right so there's seven non Ada spaces so with the applicant greo condition that not more than seven employees maximum if it ever expanded seven full-time employees absolutely right and then the Fire official on these sites typically requires fire lane striping and signage along all access house you know obviously there's a large expanded payment area for turning and all that kind of things with the app applicant agreeing to title 39 enforcement on the property that would allow the town to you know if they're parking in fire Lanes are there you know someone that's not handicapped is parking in the handicap sparking space you know they could then issue tickets does the applicant have an issue with that Ken no not at all in fact it's something we like to see we like to petition the governing body for title 39 inforcement so that we know that the police can come on our property and enforce all of the signs all of the striping so a title 39 designation on site is is acceptable yeah and and then just to give the board Clarity too right so you know sometimes we see some of these sites that have like a 12ft travel lane and then an 8ot shoulder to like the curb along the property Frontage so then are people parking you know on the property Frontage here you don't have that excessive shoulder so like it's they got to park on site generally right so you've got the seven non ada8 spaces and then you've got the fire lane and title 39 so if it does become an issue with more employees parking where they're not supposed to Park we have Provisions in the resolution for code enforcement to get involved if if they're operating beyond what they and then you'll just have to find another place to go these gentlemen and in terms of the seven employees that includes the because we're using the term employee but that would include the two principles yes what so it's really like five employees two principles that's correct yeah and then just also Clarity for the board too right so there's only two loading Bays on that existing loading dock that's there so that also limits how many tractor trailers can come into the site at a given time you know and how many can be unloaded and and loaded at a given time so that also helps regulate how much it's not like it's one loading dock along the ho where it's 12 bays and you got 12 trucks you know you've got two at the end there that kind of restricts operation as well what would be the mechanism of of enforcement of this arbitrary number of 12 um trucks coming in what how do we if I may you oh I'm sorry like anything else we'd have to be able to observe it so I mean if is that is that possible is it possible sure if I if I had somebody sitting out there sitting on it and watching you're not going to be able to have somebody sitting on it correct so uh but to that point uh if this business gets so busy there's going to be a a backlog of of trucks or traffic or sure enough you know my my phone rings off the hook for the slightest infraction or uh uh that happens on any site so if there's if there's uh a complaint that comes in obviously we're going to go out there and sit for as long as you know or you know people are pretty detailed now so we we get videos as well so if there's a count then it'll be addressed then am I sitting out there the entire time we have other responsibilities no but if it becomes an issue where we get the complaints yes we we can go out there and sit and just to give some addition to that right so you know had everything been located at the back of the site as far as parking and loading you know with the railroad right at the back it'd be a little bit harder from the public right away to maybe see what's going on on the property kind of with everything being at the front of the site they've got a pretty large driveway opening it should be somewhat readily visible from the public right away if they're not operating kind of with how they say they were going to operate um you know and then also with code enforcement right if John someone complains about something you guys have the right to enter our site and see what's going on too correct it's a commercial site so we uh our ordinance provides uh access uh to do the inspection not only ourselves but the fire Bureau and as Charlie indicated uh this site because all the business happens up in the front and not in the back uh anybody riding up and down that that roadway can easily see any back flow of of trucks being parked or waiting to come in uh you know and just driving by on a daily basis you see two one day you see another two the next day I mean it's easy to do the math uh you know if you see a truck there every once in a blue moon then you know you're within uh probably within that number that that they're specifying tonight uh these things are extremely in anything any stipulation that you put in uh you know as far as number of employees I'm not walking into any business and Counting heads most of the time it's something that's triggered either by complaint or the inspections done by the fire Bureau on a on a yearly basis uh when they go in they go in unannounced most of the times um so uh you know that mechanism is there so we can enforce it without putting any kind of limits you're giving a freefor all so at least there's a number there that if need be we can quantitatively say all right you've gone over the amount now it's a violation so a number is always better than no number at all uh whether we get to sit there and count every truck probably not but if it needs to at least we have something that we can go by okay and um no um thoughts of like having a showroom where people come and buy products no no okay um no customers no visitors no retail no show right and that would be part of the condition of the uh one other question before you said at times you do need to be your own fulfillment center at times it's no it's that's we every day we ship out a certain amount of products that's our the UPS in the mail but that's why because there's always something that we're add of those items we shipped so you're not shipping directly to customers you're shipping to Amazon that's the main and we have a little bit to through UPS is what you say the FedEx the ups and the mail is to customs okay so that that would be consider a fulfillment he he's it's part fulfillment on fulfilling using the small logistic system of UPS and FedEx yeah and can it clarify fire R so that's one of maybe UPS USPS and FedEx coming at the end of the day it's one pickup and departure from the site it's not multiple pickups and departures throughout the day all right and I think it's important so there Comes A Time product is shipped out to Amazon or Wayfair and they they're out he's notified that there's a shortfall he has the opportunity so that the customer is not lost to send something to usually on top of it to make sure that they have it in stock but that's that's the business okay thank you questions just for a clarification again we went over this a while back Sunday you said just for like administrative work right right okay thank you no Mr Ryan good Rosco okay Mr P your choice the next witness is about 10 minutes it it can be before or after the break Mr chair it's time for a break sir wonderful Eileen can we take 10 minutes please the board will now take a 10-minute break and reconvene at 9 pm thank you iile would please bring us back okay the meeting will now reconvene thank you Mr P yes Mr chair can we get Mr rasi's credentials on the record Mr rasi please share with the board your professional and educational background uh yes I'm a registered architect in the state of New Jersey I graduated with a bachelor of architecture degree from NGIT in 1992 uh became Li New Jersey in 1996 I'm a principal at Perez and rasi Associates an Architecture Firm in rur New Jersey um presented in front of uh dozens of municipalities throughout New Jersey and I've uh presented in front of uh this board we accept your credentials Mr rasi thank you Mr rasi what exhibits will you rely upon and I think we'll we'll mark them in just for safe safekeeping okay so I have uh I have two exhibits both of these exhibits were previously submitted with no revisions from from the submission okay let's see I'm looking een for the architectural exhibit yeah the two drawings are dated 101023 so October 10th 2023 and it's sheet cs1 and CS2 looks to me like those are the A14 plans the A14 plans you to Mark these they they pre okay pre-labeled if you could identify perhaps stand alongside of it tell us what we're looking at if you could describe if actually in a narrative you could describe what the building looks like today and then what you plan on doing to the building okay so I have here sheet CS2 in front of me which are the building elevations a colorized version uh the existing building is a one-story Warehouse of approximately uh 7,814 ft uh it's a neglected masonry structure constructed of painted block walls the front of the existing building has a Tred rough stucco Finn in yellow and red while the sides and rear consists of painted and bare blocks in various different colors at the top of the block walls is a gable roof constructed of roof dresses the total Building height is approximately 24 ft tall uh to The Ridge at the rear of the structure is a large exterior Lo Dock and has an area of about 4,259 ft this raised concrete area is covered by a shallow pitch metal roof trusses supported by Steel columns the interior of the building consists of open spaces for storage with approximately 136 high ceiling as well as a series of small office and utility spaces that have constructed over the years um so as the architect the client requests that I redesigned the building to make more usable as well as more attractive from the street um while I was redesigning the exterior of the building I thought of ways to visually reduced the mass of the long building structure that is visible from Miller Road I work closely with the board planner Jennifer Bean while designing the building elevation some of these improvements include removing the rough stuckle finish at the front facade and adding a thin brick water table that extends U vertically in some to break up the horizontal line of the building the wall areas above the water table would be clad with a new smooth stucco or E finish uh I accentuated the front entry by adding a new glass store Front protected with a new standing seam metal roof canopy decorative panels I also added a new cross gable roof that would make it visually clear that that's the front entry uh the entire gable roof would have a new long life standing sea metal roof old asphalt roof Shing uh to break up the roof plane in addition to the gable roof at the entry I also added a couple decorative Dormers as well as a central Koopa the low lines as well as the Dormers and Koopa would give the building more of a rural feel instead of the look of a typical Warehouse in the rear of the building I enclosed the raised loading dock area uh utilizing the existing steel roof structure and columns also we are proposing a future addition at the rear of the building of approximately 20 ft by 52 in uh and that's 1,3 s ft the roof on this structure would extend uh the existing low pitch roof to keep the same the walls of the rear and sides of the building would coordinate with those of the front of the building uh with two colors of Stucco and standing seam metal roofs at the new doorways when I design the color schemes I used comfort colors uh such as a subtle green bra and Tall this will help the building fit into the landscape and make it appear as if it belongs uh there will be no building mounted signage however there will be 24 in high non- internally illuminated Building address nums at the northernmost portion of the front facade Mr rasi said non nonilluminated yes n okay so just the individual metal numbers uh the interior of the building would be renovated and would no longer include Refrigeration there would be no building mounted lights at the rear of the building except for some recess down lights at the roofs at the exit doors uh these lights will shine down directly to the ground and they'd be located over the doors these small roofs that we added that way they wouldn't um wouldn't go anywhere except for death if there there was a question raised about there being six doors to the building if you could just describe the purpose of all those doors the firefighting elements of those doors yes so there are several doors throughout the building I think there's six total exterior doors on the the one set of doors the front entrance um we have another door over by the loading areas if somebody had to come out go to the exterior of the building to help load from the exterior they could go out that door um I have two doors in the back for egress purposes If This Is All Storage um there'll be racking shelving here um there's certain distances that you have to be for exit doors so that's why there's one in each corner there's one over here so there's no dead end here there's one over in this corner uh this area is raised pretty high off the ground there can't be any doors in that area so uh in order to keep our exit distances we put the doors here where there used to be an overhead door that we're removing and putting there so each of those doors has a very specific purpose uh yes and and they're pretty much all for eess purposes you Mr P we're looking at seven doors um two seven two double doors four well six six doors two of the doors are double doors so six openings and the one in the back there's one two three four five six so there's two in the back I'm looking at the elevation I'm sorry do and then there's the two two Overhead Doors uh like Overhead Doors yeah okay all right got it you said the colors quickly I taupe green gray yes top green gray so the building Blends right we wanted it to blend into the landscaping and have a rural field to I think that's it yes that all I have okay Mr rasi oh do you think that you earned Miss beam's approval um she told me she uh liked it so she's not here to speak for that so I can't really speak for it Mr adasi on top of the Koopa I don't see a way a wind Vin oh uh I can I can add a weather ve you know I will say um we take no issue with the architecture and I certainly think it's a significant improvement from what's there currently yes it is all right thank you questions for the architect in the back uh yes because uh many stair how many we're looking at uh seven risers so seven seven in or less risers not on both oh no on the one on the left and the one on the right is is less uh yes they would be ra corre uh yeah they both have 42 in guard rails meeting the industrial system Mr adasi there's going to be security cameras and stuff to pres you know to protect the facility uh yes there would be are clients indicating yes there'll be a sec security camera system okay I'd like to piggy back on what uh Mr barill was talking about the stairs at the base of the stairs shouldn't there be a conrete pad for maintenance purposes if you're having a mower you don't want them crashing into the steps yes there would be there would be at the at the stairs there would be a concrete pad at the top then there would be the stairs and there would be a concrete pad at the bottom okay but on your plane you don't actually show it it would be on the engineer plan well that's why I don't show it because that becomes that becomes the engineering yeah I know there's a little in there yeah I just want to make sure it's there because I don't want to see the stairs getting banged by a mower CU I that concrete SL the I believe the engineer answered that there was no pad it was just going straight into grass earlier no he said did you say p no I didn't I didn't hear you said there's a pad and then there's grass I think you have to have yeah so I think per building code they're required to actually have a 4x4 pad okay so it's going to be on the okay no matter as long as you're putting that on that's fine we will have I think it was that there was wasn't going to be sidewalks but there would be a pan at the bottom that is a Mr chair I just want to ask a clarifying question so there was uh I think Mr rasi alluded to like the main entrance is being a storefront right so that's just visually where you enter the lobby to the office space it's not a there's no retail sales at the site it's just want to clarify that and then I just want to know too right so the existing covered loading dock at the back that's being enclosed you know it's pretty large as it is and they're just just enclosing it so it could be utilized for storage of goods or the prior owner could have utilized it for storage of goods and things like that so it's you know while it's going from 7,000 to 14,000 square F feet you know it's an area that could have been used by a prior owner for storage so you know it's not a one for one but you know it's not like we're getting a full 7,000 foot addition for warehousing purposes understood thank you Charlie for pointing that out yeah is that a boat in that picture a couple slides back came with the property go back a couple slides there's a boat there you go a d it's gone it was a Dumping Ground a John yes it was that was one of the violations that was issued against the property uh uh I believe it it may still be on the property correct or has it been taken care of it's gone okay did the boat still there I'll come grab it unless it's an inch of water you're not getting far I do have another question go ahead off the um off these egresses going down the stairs is there a walkway if if to inside the building no outside the building so somebody there's there's an emergency inside the building they use the egress they get down to the bottom stairs they're just walking onto grass to right so so this is just grass currently in the back of the building um so there's no walkway around the building to the front of the building a walkway but those we don't anticipate those doors being used on well you said they regress burn some regress if there's a fire you'd be going down right and then those people who have left the fire have to go onto the grass and walking grass all the way around to get to the front of the building okay any questions no John we're good we're good okay Christine good Charlie okay all right Mr Pay let's hear from Mr Scott Kennel thank you very much Mr Scott Kennel is our traffic expert I think he's testified here once or twice before we'll place his credentials on the record we go right to his element of the presentation Mr kend sh good evening good evening I'm with the McDon andr Associates 1431 Lakewood Road manisan uh I have uh approximately 40 Years of traffic and transportation planning experience I've testified before this board as well as the how planning board on a number of occasions on over 2,000 applications throughout the state and I've been qualified by New Jersey Superior Court as a traffic expert all right we'll accept your credentials thank you I think that um if you could comment on a couple of things we comment on the controls of coming out of the property if you could comment the on-site circulation and if you could comment on the can't get the word Mr Kel excuse me so I think what we really want to hear is not only just that but Miller Road itself yes yes what's the load on it the ups and the FedEx you know every day with the mailman coming um you know you have regular traffic right and then we're talking about 12 large box trucks SL traed trailers a month a month coming and going right so let's hear it all right well again uh we submitted a traffic report dated May 3rd 2023 and as part of that we did data collection at 547 in Miller Road back in um October of 2022 based on those traffic counts during the peak hours the two-way traffic flow on Miller Road along the site Frontage is approximately 230 vehicles and during the E afternoon peak hour it's approximately 360 Vehicles so it's a moderate volume but not as significant as other roadways in the township uh understanding the the uses of the property and the uh of the building and the statement of operations we're projecting the the peak hour trips to be approximately five vehicles during the morning and afternoon it's a minimal impact when you consider the uh the size of this building and we analyzed the site driveway and you know we've analyzed uh study locations and we raing from a to F this driveway will operate a level service B well within the acceptable range for um levels of service I think the important thing that happens with the site improvements is we eliminate the Northerly driveway so we're only creating one point of access to and from the property that's always a good thing to consolidate that so you have one uh location or one intersection it's been designed to accommodate the large wheelbase Vehicles as well as the passenger vehicles that will serve the site those uh turning templates uh plans have been prepared by uh L zugner office and it's been designed the the pavement area has been designed designed to accommodate the large wheelbase Vehicles accessing the loading docks the vehicles that have to get to the refuse vehicles and in my opinion that this is an improved site layout to have a more efficient on-site operation and then we've segregated the parking so the parking is removed from the loading activity which provides a parking spaces so in my opinion this site has been improved to be a more efficient site circulation and the fact that we're consolidating to one access point is a better situation for Miller Road as far as only one point of conflict versus two and the fire Bureau they my my understanding is they've signed off on us Chief pno did in November okay and there's turnaround for the fire trucks third we have a significant pavement area which can accommodate the okay larger fire trucks and I'm in agreement with the proposal to limit the tractor trailer to and from the south because you have the you know you have these awkward intersections to the north you know the skewed intersection and there're there're smaller type intersections um so the larger trucks no right turn out of the property that's correct and we're going to put signage there as such correct right okay so we I know we said there's no signage we're going to need we're going to add sign we'll work with Charlie on that all right okay Charlie um I think that's really all I have I don't really have much from a Trevor perspective I think they did some conservative analysis in their projected build condition typically there's a background growth rate you use to project what the future condition is going to be it's like 1% I think M Scott you guys used like 10% growth rate or something like that correct yeah so I mean really from a traffic perspective you know the really only thing that I have is like the condition of Milow Road obviously as it is like pretty bad um can you provide some testimony regarding like peak hour trips that you're generating from the site in the context of like what the existing traffic volumes are for the peak hour on Miller Road well as I as I mentioned that the PM PE hour we have approximately 360 Vehicles we're adding five vehicles so it's a very small percentage of the overall traffic yeah so I mean it's it's up to the board right like you know if this was a big fulfillment center you know that was adding you know significant amount of truck traffic day resurfacing the road would be like certainly warranted um you know your board has a discretion to require you know pro rated share contribution so you know um five trips compared to 360 is going to be a certain percentage you know the app we could the township could figure out with the cost to resurface Lanes Pond you know Miller Road from Lanes Pond to the County Route make them do some kind of monetary contribution that would help the town resurface the roadway in the future and reduce the financial burden can is the applicant opening something like that uh Mr chair during the break I had the opportunity to talk with our client that's one way of approaching it another way is to I suggested to Charlie that maybe we take a look at Milling the ie width in front of our property what I would ask is an opportunity to meet with Charlie assuming that the board is considering as favorably prior to memorialization we go meet with Charlie and figure it out so that we can come back and place it over the way we'd work with the uh the township and the uh and the crews and the plans yeah for for re resurfacing yeah I think we could come to some mutual U agreement agement with the township we need to know where Miller Road is in the plan right because we have a an overall plan correct John correct so you know absolutely um yeah there's multiple Avenues we could require them to you know resurface the full width across the frontage the half width they can make a pro rated contribution so if the town is going to resurface you know within the next five years it could be a percentage based off of their anticipated construction cost there's there's a couple Avenues I'm very comfortable that working with Charlie and Justin Yos we can figure it out thank you Mr P your client would agree to it as well my client would agree to it can't break the bank but my client will agree okay so board members for the traffic engineer yeah Mr kenel um you don't anticipate I know because the amount of volume is going to be minuscule you don't see a issue at any time that two tractor trailers canot be on on this property at the same time without getting into idling on Miller Road oh no no I mean we have two loading docks and based on their volume I wouldn't expect that to be an issue and we have area excess pavement area to stage on site if there should be a situation and that would also include any Vehicles backing up onto Miller Road everything would be able to be done on the site to go out straight that's correct okay that's correct and that including the UPS going into that loading dock cuz I don't think we with the engineer we went over the loading spot that's just for tractor trailers or is that going to be for I it could be for box trucks or UPS if it's available I mean um again based on my from my understanding it's very unlikely you'd have both Bays occupied by tractor trailers so that there is that opportunity to have the empty they used by the quick pickup by the UPS or FedEx Vehicles okay thank you Mr Ryan good Mr R Mr can would there ever be a reason for two trucks to be on Miller Road I'm they you you could not have two trucks on Miller Road simultaneously back to one coming one going you'd have to some kind of planning that' be almost like a one a million situation I mean it's it's with the volume of trucks that they're processing here it's it's very unlikely you'd have two tractor trailers passing one another on Miller Road fair enough Mr R tractor trailer like what like the big tractor trailer well was say 18 wheelers like the big tracker trailers and so those so there's enough room where they come in in they're going to be backing into the loading dock right that's correct so on on the property itself they have plenty of room to do all that maneuver that's correct and that's why we have that one appendage of pavement area right in that area to accommodate we extended the pavement so that there would be enough room for a truck to pull up into that and be able to back into the loading docks got that's the only reason we have that added pavement so that it can be done comfortably on site okay and and Charlie it's all that pavement is all contained outside of the buffer right correct okay all right are we good with the end any more questions for the engineer okay Mr kennel thank you all right thank you our Final witness is Mr Mark Rema professional planner he could come forward and share with you his cral yeah okay good evening Mr chairman board members 2024 marks my 44th year in the field of planning so in the state of New Jersey I'm licensed as a professional planner and a landscape architect with regard to my educational attainment I have a Bachelor of Science and environmental planning and Design a master of city and Regional planning and a master of Business Administration with a concentration in finance all from ruter the State University we accept your credentials sir okay Mr Ramsey you've heard the fact Witnesses you've heard the the property owner and potential occupant of the building I'm going to ask if you could take the board through the necessary proofs to earn Le the use variance really and if you could identify the facts that were placed on the record that support those conclusions yes I I will um so before I I launch into the proofs I always like to provide what's called I call a planning framework and the planning framework is the basis on which the um proofs are based um some of the items I'm going to mention are pretty obvious but I think for the record um I have to State them so the property itself is um developed with what I call a light industrial building it's a it's a former warehouse for for watermelon uh distribution the building itself is set quite far back on the property um so that makes the uh fact that we've got parking in the front yard we've got loading docks Mr Rema um not to interrupt you but I think we understand um what's on the site and kind of how it's propos how it's currently developed what's being proposed if you could maybe just hit on the the planning proofs so the reason why I was saying that is because those are new unique features because we've got a combination of different types of variances we've got the bul variance uh I mean the use variance was the D1 variance but there are also some uh C1 variances Bas basically hardship variances because we can't change the location of the building and we can't change those facts about the building so so that's why I'm giving that framework to um uh provide the basis as I as I get into my testimony and so you've got this building and I visited the building I I visited the surrounding area um been inside the building the building when I was there was dilapidated and you saw evidence of the graffiti and so on and so forth so uh and the owners have stabilize that building since and so the surrounding uses um and I'm not going to belab it but to the north is the the tree farm to the east is the the railroad um uh and farther woods and then the the trailer uh mobile home partk to the South is a mixed use we've got um a uh dumpster service business and when I was there it looked like there was also a residence on the property and then to the west across the street is a a large wooded lot so essentially this is sort of an isolated piece of property U I think I heard the chairman talk about it somewhat rural area which which I agree and so we've got uh these different types of uses that surround the property and of course it's in a residential Zone uh the the AR uh uh E-3 residential Zone and we've also heard that there's a very low intensity of traffic generation we've heard uh that the hours are not even the typical Warehouse type of of of usage um so and from my planning perspective it's a low intensity non-residential use on this property and we would be reusing and redeveloping a piece of property that has been neglected for many years so um there there are a number of variances associated with this I I'll go through them quickly I'm not going to go through uh each section of the ordinance and so on and so forth so I talked about the uh D1 variance the use variants uh which basically permits Agriculture and single family homes and here we have a light industrial use um which is that uh uh retail sales U over the internet and then um uh uh sending out the product storing the product and sending it uh uh uh to uh the and customer we also have the minimum sidey yard setback where 30 ft is required 26.4 ft exists so that's an existing condition um we have a maximum uh lot coverage um uh that's uh permitted to be 12.5% uh and we're reducing it down uh almost 10% uh from almost 35 to a little over 25% uh we also have non-conforming structure not uh uh not altered unless it's not violating set setbacks that's another uh uh provision in your ordinance uh that's prohibited and we're proposing that uh and that's because of the existing condition of the building we have an accessory structure in the front yard that's the trash enclosure and that trash enclosure is going to be well over 100 feet set back from the road and it is in the front yard uh it will uh barely be noticeable um because it's set so far back plus it's being enclosed with an attractive masonry uh enclosure plus it's going to be landscaped um also uh we heard uh the talk of the uh storm water management uh in in the buffer that's prohibited but we heard that that's necessary to convey the water uh uh from the front to the back and not have it go on to the adjoining property and also the ordinance requires a Four Season buffer um and we're not doing that and the reason why we're not doing that is because to the South it's a deciduous wooded area it's it's mature Oak and then to the north um uh we we need to get access around the building to service the um septic system that's going to be uh built in behind um so uh and then there is going to be a lot of additional other Landscaping provided um the loading in the front yard that's prohibited I talked about the fact that that's an existing condition and that's being um uh maintained um so those are essentially the uh uh VAR bulk variances that are associated with this dd1 variance so going to talk about uh positive criteria first we have to talk about how this uh proposal will promote the purposes of zoning that's Municipal lus law and there I will um um uh cite the uh subsection and then I'll paraphrase what they describe so that's njsa 40 col 55-20 space um we're U actually getting rid of a lot of that pavement that's out front the um uh existing um uh uh part of the concrete foundation that uh was where the building that burned down that's being cut back um we're complying with uh with Jennifer talked about having the uh uh uh buffer being uh enhanced on the North side we're maintaining the open area in the back the uh the meadow effect the milked for the monarch butterfly so th those are all important aspects and then we're maintaining the buffer that's to to the South the next one is G provides sufficient space and appropriate locations for a variety of uses in this case it's an industrial use and we're basically reusing that light industrial building we're going to renovate and redevelop it and it's going to become uh a much more attractive um building but it is going to serve a purpose it's going to serve that distribution of those imported goods um H to encourage the uh and promote the free flow of traffic and you heard Mr Mr kennel talk about um how this is such a a low um generator of traffic uh will have um a minimal impact at all during the peak hours um I to promote a desirable visual en environment um clearly what with Mr rali talked about the architecture improving that it's it's it's going to be a very attractive building U reminiscent of more of that rural style landscaping is going to be added and the property is going to be uh basically cleaned up and a lot of impervious removed um J and that's prevent urban sprawl and the degradation of the environment we're reusing a property we're not going and developing a green field we're developing something that's been developed many years ago for a light industrial use and we now we're reusing it and we're enhancing it m and that's uh promote the more efficient use of land as well uh uh uh and it really piggybacks on the prior purpose uh that I talked about and that's the renovation of of of a building uh and all the energy that went into building that constructing that building is going to be saved uh by by renovating rather than tearing it down so then I all always come back to a and that's to promote the public health safety morals and general welfare given all the prior uh purposes of zoning that are being promoted I believe it also promotes the public health uh safety morals and general welfare site suitability that's the other part of uh the positive criteria so we must demonstrate that this site's particularly suited for this proposed use for this proposed um Warehouse type of use well we're going to be reusing and renovating and a um a prior U uh Warehouse uh this site can easily accommodate the low amount of of truck traffic the low amount of employees uh rather easily and also so um uh it it fits into the surrounding area because this is somewhat of a more remote uh area not surrounded by uh a lot of uh many residences at all so the negative criteria so we must look at the impact of granting this variance on the surrounding land uses so to the north I I don't really see any negative impact to the to the tree farm as a matter of fact we're reming a an issue where uh an old septic system was built on that property and and you know however that was that's going to be fixed uh to the east to the railroad I I see no negative impact to to the railroad to the South the south is where the uh dumpster service is uh and uh that's located uh uh right on the property line next to ours and then the residence on that property is a little bit farther south so I don't see any significant impact by reusing the property uh for the proposed use and then to the West I see no impact to the to the wooded area across Miller Road so the last part of the negative criteria is that we have to um look at does this substant this proposal substantially impair the intent and purpose of the Zone plan and zoning ordinance well obviously this is not a residential use uh and it's uh a former uh industrial uh light industrial use that's being uh uh reused on the property but in in your master plan and particularly your reexamination report from 2019 um there are quite a few goals that uh point to how this proposal will advance those goals um so uh the first one is is to maintain the consistency with the purpos of the municipal annus law I'm not going to repeat those that I just went over on the positive criteria but it does promote quite a few of those uh another is to uh continue to um uh to continue to be a stable and diverse community Through the provision of balanced land use pattern and so we're reusing a former light industrial property uh we're not going and developing more green fields for that so I I feel that the proposed use on this particular piece of property would help stabilize because this property has fallen into into Decline and you saw the photographs of how it was uh vandalized and so on and so forth so this will certainly uh help towards stabilizing uh the community uh in this particular part of the community other is to uh maintain and enhance a local economy that encourages the provision of more more costeffective public services and so on so in this case we're taking a nonproductive property and bringing it back to being productive um uh ratables are not a consideration for for land use but certainly um it helps uh uh the uh aspect of the of Public Services that are provided to the community because it it does improve the rable base Mr Rema I would agree that um this property meets the negative criteria and does not substantially impair the intent and purpose of the master plan or the Zone plan okay so thank then um I I won't go any further uh because I think your your uh reexamination report does a a wonderful job of explaining why it's important to uh stabilize and improve your your uh uh community and I believe that this this particular use will will do that so in conclusion I would say that the use variance the D1 variance and those bulk variances uh can be granted um uh uh because it promotes the purposes of Municipal land use law it occurs on a site that's particularly suited it aces no significant detriment to the public good and doesn't substantially impair the intent and purpose of the Zone plan and zoning ordinance thank you and I would agree um that the site is particularly suited to the use they're reusing an existing building um and we heard testimony that uh the traffic provided on site will be low intensity um the traffic so chrity from eggs to watermelons to a nondescript location in the A3 Zone the criteria is being met yes so I mean if the site you know if they were proposing you know to build a new building on a empty site where it didn't previously exist I think um you know they may may not meet the criteria but that's not the application before us tonight um there's an existing Warehouse building there that they're proposing to repurpose um modernize uh quite a bit uh the testimony provided was that this youth use um while not agricultural in nature like the other Warehouse use uses were will um have less of a traffic impact than those uses did and I think that's an important part of the particular suitability of this site that while it is a warehouse use in the AR Zone um they're only proposing a maximum of 12 trucks a month so and Christine so what I've learned over the years here in how you know the the eggs they sat they rotted the Watermelons they sat they rotted and that's what kind of chased everybody away well hopefully we won't have tabletop things rotting absolutely fellow board members um yeah Mr Mr B pointed out something it it it probably should be mentioned in Miss Bean's report and kudos to you for doing your homework and I didn't but uh she said a waiver is needed for no publicly usable site Furnishings um just to note it's like bike racks and park benches and things like that um we do need a waiver for that due to the size of the building waiver is needed but in this case it really would not make any sense I believe to um you know have a public space um where there's no public coming to the site yeah absolutely just just pointing it out because it's in the report so if they want to put a bench out on the side and they want to sit on the bench Outdoors they they need a waiver for that no it's uh they need a waiver because they're not proposing a bench okay yes other words they don't need the waiver if they put a bench in got it all right now I'm all right and just to add to that we had it in our letter also it's you know you heard there's no visitors to the site it's just the applicant employees and then you know furthering that you know the board not requiring sidewalk potentially along the frontage to contribution no sidewalk from the RightWay into the site so there's not really going to be any public visiting the site so there should not be a need for that okay great all right do we want to open this up to public or do we have any more questions I make a motion that we open to the public okay okay all in favor I I Ian the board is now open to the public if you're going to come up state your name and your address thank you Russ clouse 320 Lanes Mill Road Mr your class just if I could swear you and you swear the testimony you give it'll be truth the whole truth nothing but the truth to help you gu yes Mr first I like to start off with uh thanking the gentleman over here for being very thorough and asking a lot of questions tonight about this about the site um there's a lot of things here that he's got seven waivers um I think what we learned from the testimony today was he was inconsistent and evasive with all his testimony of what this property is going to be used for we started off with three to five workers then it went to seven eight trucks to 12 he's been very inconsistent Mr CL Mr Claus you know do you have any questions for any of the professionals that testified this evening on this application no I'm just stating you know the things that all right so you're just commentary well no I'm not commentary I'm just voicing my opinion of what I've observed tonight with the with the advocate I'm going to get to the things that I have the problems with I just what I'm not allowed to ask say that Andy questions for the professionals right that well the I think the Chairman's only making the point Mr class we at the point in the meeting where where there are questions for their professionals as opposed to get whether you're for or against the site and why I pay taxes I just want to voice my opinion and you'll be given that opportunity I'm directly next to this property I'm going to be impacted more than anybody yeah no I went through a lot of stuff with the watermelon company so I know exactly what happens here he's ask asking for a lot of waivers um I think at the end of the day this is an agriculture area residential it's not suitable for warehousing the prior um owners of their properties was obviously watermelon and eggs that's all agriculture so I think I got three buyers for my property now they want to use the same use if we turn this into the warehouse and this is approved well then you'd have to approve either me or my buyers because it's the same zoning I'm right next door so I don't think we should open up this road uh to warehousing it's all residential there's three homes that are already approved across the street that is residential kids are going to be walking up and down that street there's no curbs the roads are cross crumbling apart if you want to pull that video up that you had on the roads they're crumbling apart so I'm strongly suggesting the board to deny this applicant today I don't think it has no business warehousing in this Zone residential and agriculture thank you is there anybody else in the public that would like to come up and speak not seeing not hear heing any motion sir we got a motion to close we got a second okay all in favor I than okay so go ahead uh one thing I believe if we do approve this we do need to have a uh stipulation on nighttime liage because I don't think that shouldn't that be in the resolution yes so we should maybe because I you know I don't want to see that if we do approve it I don't want to see this place lit up at night and that will deter nighttime activity which I think can always happen if we don't if we're alling lighting it's going to encourage possibility going against what we want to do here so do we have 25% or there no no need for L Charlie solely up to the board's discretion on that right we've had instances where we require dimming we had instances where it shuts off completely I mean for a site where they're saying their operations are not overnight and stop at 5:00 p.m. I don't think it's unreasonable to say by 700 p.m. all shuts down they they all shut down other than you know around the building for security purposes correct okay and the building will have security security camera system we have no issue with the going the the site going dark the only lights that would be on the security lights are the lights that are on the building at the doors they're all in canopies and they're all pointed straight down Christine I really have um no issue with that I think that's appropriate okay go yes John um just getting back to those egresses on the on the backside where they have to go downstairs if there's if there's a fire or some other emergency where they need to go down those stairs and there lack of there being uh walk walkways to bring those people to safety are they do they need to have walkways in that situation not that I'm aware of uh I believe the building cult just asked for a landing pad at the bottom once they get to that point there's nothing that stipulates that there needs to be I mean think about a school same kind of a thing if they're exiting towards the back and there's a there's an open area in the back you're running on grass at that point the fact that it's a pretty level surface um I don't see an issue or need really to to start putting walkways in the back okay thank you okay everybody's good and if we're to approve this we're going with the fact that it's live load only no stationary trailers right correct and um one more thing uh Christina or Andy could probably answer this because it was brought up by the um public comment if this was approved and he wants to sell his property whether we approve it or not they still would have to come back as a separate application and just because the use were're that's correct every you know um this is still the A3 Zone uh every application is heard on its own Merit um I think we spoke you know about the particular suitability of this site um so which might be different than a house that has a residential home on it Mr buron are you speaking of other sites you're saying whether it's precedent yeah I like he's saying the dumpsters on the property that's to right next to it right I guess that property has is is a business of dumpsters is that what I'm understanding I'm sorry Mr say John next to this property is there a dumpster business I'm I don't know to be quite honest okay but okay I think Christine answered what I was trying to get at so I think all right Mr P can we have a summation please very brief Mr chair I think that you've heard that the property has been an industrial property going back to the 1970s the resolution that was U published by this board identified that we're going from 30 tractor trailers uh a week to down to 12 tractor trailers a week down to 12 tractor trailers a month that's the record that was made by the prior Property Owners I think the most important things to bring to your attention are or the improvements that the applicant is making to the property and the building the areas of that are currently in violation of the ordinance that are being cured and I think the fact that you have a unique business with some very strong commitments to controlling the volume of trucks that come and go I think the that combination of all those improvements and those restrictions makes this as Mr as Mr Mark REM has stated uniquely suited for the the site we respectfully ask that the board consider granting the relief subject to all the conditions that were placed on the record this evening thank you Mr P thank you okay so it comes down to the board you know ex Andy um I'm not sure what we would talk in executive about I'm just saying once it's attorney client privilege I mean you can't deliberate close session yeah it's it's either yay or nay you do nothing that's what you have you do something you get something Mr seya uh just for clarification uh I would also stipulate as a condition of approval that this is a one tenant uh operation that at no time there be uh anyone else in this space other than the applicant uh performing the one function that he's testified to tonight should we go as high as 12 trucks I think it's reasonable I mean there's 330 Vehicles you know a day um 12 a month is not you know in my opinion good but that's it's up to you you know um there's the FedEx the UPS the garbage truck the mailman you know they're all going up Miller Road we're going to get a contribution should this be approved in one way shape or form to help with Miller Road because Miller Road needs help right it needs this uh resurfacing I don't know where Miller Road fits on the Township's resurfacing plan but you know this applicant has provided that they would work with the town to help at least a portion of that prated of course that's what I heard go ahead if you'd like uh Mr chairman I'd like to to make a motion that we approve the use variance and preliminary major site plan with bulk variances with all of the conditions stated um numerous as they are as well as all of the waivers that were expressed as being needed by the professionals okay we got a motion to approve do we have a second I'll second Mr Hughes we got a second Mr chairman uh in making that I'm very sensitive to the neighbors concerns about having uh warehousing in trucking on the street but in my mind we're sitting with a dilapidated graffiti building that's going to still be dilapidated and graffitied it's going to be improved it's a very clean usage um you know yeah it's it's a business but it's not like as expressed in all of the testimony it's not like we're putting this on a Green Field it's you know it's already a dilapidated and potentially very unsafe building that's there got it thank you Mr caner Mr Hughes we got a motion Mr Hughes seconded alen roll call please Mr burillo yes Mr caner yes Mr Hughes yes Mr Mertens just one quick uh quick statement um it is an AR3 and I think that's the intent of the zoning and I'm kind of would have been leaning towards not approving this however because of the use and because of what Mr caner just pointed out I believe each application's going to have to come to this board not that I want to set a president that we approve this this is going to be an issue because I'm only approving it because of the use is going to be very minuscule and I do not believe it's going to be an impact on the neighborhood as much as if it was residentials going in and they're going to be affecting the environmental impact where it would be more disruptive with Escavating and everything this building is pretty well already set the foundation so I will vote Yes on this Mr Rosco yes Mr Ryan yes and chairman SE for the record I believe that the P positive and the negative criteria have been met and for all other purposes the site Improvement is second to none if we did nothing so for that reason and the low intensity I vote Yes application is approved thank you Mr chair all board members thank you you all and good night good night Eileen do we have any more business no business for tonight okay when's the next meeting is March 11th March 11th yes oh that's you're surprised on that no that's uh it's the day after daylight savings change yes I will tell you right now I'm I'm not able to be there I have a business function to Oh I thought you were going to tell me you go into the uh Devil's Rangers game or something didn't they just do that at the stadium yes I'll send you an email as well but all right so March 11th everyone may I have a motion to adjourn motion to we got a motion we got a second all in favor all all right iile we're adjourned meeting ised first