2024 if you are an applicant for a d or use variance you should be aware that such a variance can only be granted after showing that special reasons for that Grant of the variance exists and that variance can be granted without substantial detriment to the zoning plan of the township of Livingston you should also be aware that in order to be granted such a variance you will require an affirmative votee of five members of the seven member Board of adjustment other variances require a majority of four members to grant that variance excuse me if you're an applicant for any variance and your variance denied by this board you have a right to appeal to Superior Court of the state of New Jersey within 45 days of notice of decision and that Court May overturn that the decision of this board if you're an objector to any type of variance has been granted you too May appeal to the superior court of the state of New Jersey within 45 days of the notice of decision if you file an appeal I ask that you please provide a copy of your complaint to the planning administer administrator Jackie Hollis pursuant to the requirements the open public meeting act also known as the Sunshine Law adequate notice of this meeting was provided to The Star Ledger and West Essex Tribune and a copy was also posted on the bll board and municipal building in addition in addition to having notice posted notice of this meeting was placed on the Township's website members of the public will have an opportunity to ask questions or to make statements regarding each application at the appropriate time when the time comes if you would like to address the board please come to the front and use a microphone so we can make sure your comments or questions are part of the record um one announcement is that this building has no water right now um the Department of Public Works is working on it um they really were hesitant to allow us to hold this meeting because of safety concerns as such they've given us till 8:00 if anything changes they will be notifying Jackie and we'll hopefully can extend this is unfortunately out of our control but it's the people in our town that are you know responsible for our safety and this is what they think is best so first of all don't drink any water and second of all we will try to move this along as fast as possible um and in a expedited manner I guess um one or two other announcements if you are here for uh 12 North ashb Avenue application 202 24-15 DV that has been adjourned to June 25th so that there will be no other F further notice if you're here for that please feel free to stay or go home um and do we have the applicant for the architect for nine Westminster Drive before I dive in there's some Jackie said you had some concerns about the calculations um it's something we try not to debate here because we don't have anyone to would you be comfortable coming back next month and getting that cleared up um we don't want to have issues with the you know the the numbers maybe you can meet with the appropriate people and get it all hashed out and then we you know we make you first what okay I mean we're not going to get to everybody anyway so with 42 minutes left so um okay thank you um so Mr chairman we we'll just call that matter and then adjourn it on the record yes right that matter is adjourned and there's no need for further notices is that correct correct so that is application number 202 24-6 DV June 20 2th 7 p.m. Tuesday 25th that's 9 Westminster Drive on top of that any of the applications we don't get to due to the buildings not having water you do not need to Ren notice right that's correct Jackie so please just be advised to that okay um Miss Khan can you call the number two on the list yes Miss Khan is here Mr Shaw sorry here miss Conor here miss marage here miss Yuan here Mr Beer here and Miss Hollis the planning administrator is here tonight as well as Mr jemus the board attorney please call the first application block block 900 lot 47 25 Bryant Drive application number 20241 DV Pablos Pablos bakotas applications applicant seeks approval for a semi in ground pool in violation of the following section 17096 a8f swimming pool set swimming pool setbacks right side 20 ft required 15.55 ft proposed 4.5 ft Vari requested okay tell us what you got oh Mr viottis U do you swear or affirm that any en statement you make to the board and any of your testimony today will be true accurate and complete consider yourself under oath would you please state your name and spell it please paavo San kotas p v v n ki o thank you thank you okay now please sorry about that all right um yeah I'm just looking to uh do a semi- INR pool in my rear property and I'm looking for a 4 and 1/2t uh variance on one of the side yards and the pool is going to be 15 by 30 it's a temporary structure it's not a permanent structure and uh I'm just looking for the 4 and 1/2t variants tonight and the reason I'm doing it is there's a lot of trees overhanging I don't want if I go too far uh towards the other side it may uh interfere with the root system of the trees and when you say you said partially in ground yeah it's a semi- in ground pool so it goes like 57 in tall but half of it could be uh underground so it's a temporary structure so about 2 and 1/2 ft underground about about 2 and 1/2 ft up I would say about that yeah something like that yeah depending I mean really don't have a slope in my backyard so I'm assuming you know it's probably be a little bit a couple inches difference on from front to back okay anybody in the board have any questions uh do we have any design plan done I I I sent everything it's not really much of a design to it it's almost like an above ground pool that you kind of sink down a few feet so it's this it's a aluminum based pool I gave the manufacturer uh specifications there but there's really not much to it it's like a one two day setup how is the discharge going to happen when you clean the pool when you clean the pool it's going to have a filtration unit so it's just going to filter the water then when you have to refill it it just with a garden hose it's the same thing as in above ground pool I have a question sure um will the port itself be fenced my property is already fenced is that what you just asked uh the pool itself will it also have I don't know if the pool has to be fenced I think it just got to be a fenced property my my property is completely fenced right now gotta and then in Winter you're not going to discharge the water going to just close it yeah you just close it like a regular pool yeah just winterize it that's it there's like an above ground pool but that you could sink in the uh ground 2 feet thank you um I just have a quick question so around the pool is it just a freestanding pool or or is anything going to be built around it or it's just I don't think by local ordinance I'm allowed to build anything around it so it's just going to be step the step back is really just where the pool ends right pretty much yeah okay yeah you're not allowed to build decks or anything I think around above ground pools with but you said it's not really above ground like how far above the ground it's going to be like two feet sunken in and then two feet two feet above okay okay yeah okay so what is the depth of this pool it stands 57 in high I believe and then half of it pretty much you're allowed to sink below so it's like 27 in you could sink under the ground it's just a way of doing it a little bit cheaper as opposed to get an inground pool a lot of inground pools run like $80,000 this will be significantly less it's it's a it's kind of a new new thing but several you know it's been around for quite some time Mr vtis just so we're clear on the record um there are three photographs photographs color photographs that were submitted with your application that's correct and you you were responsible for those and they accurately show what they depict in the the images they are accurate oh yeah of course yes right and you submitted two surveys one is a survey both made by Scott M bleer um and both dated March 7th I think 2020 sorry 24 one is showing the first survey is showing the just the existing conditions yes are those conditions accurate and complete yes right the second survey uh depicts um a rectangle 15 by3 pool not with notations on it of a rear wood deck and a 15.5 foot setback on the right side yard that's accurate as well yes correct yes sir and based upon your understanding and familiarity with the with the neighborhood if the board were to Grant this application it wouldn't have any detrimental effect on any other properties no not at all or or the or the applicable ordinances right no thank you thank you do you have a kind of a green fence around uh in your yard or proposed to a fence around my yard well not a fence really but a green you know natural trees or something around your yard that will give you privacy and also the neighbors oh yeah yeah yeah my neighbor has several tall uh bushes so it won't be a privacy won't be an issue I served everybody with the paperwork but nobody has you know come to the meeting tonight any other questions on the board there's anyone in the public have any questions for this witness no does anybody on the board want to make a statement does anybody in the public want to make a statement and does anybody in the board want to make a motion motion to approve what kind of I'll second to approve is cona yes Miss Yan yes Miss Khan votes yes Mr Shaw yes Miss marage yes and Mr Beer yes okay Mo passes okay thank you folks I appreciate your time good night thank you um okay yeah um please call the next application block 161 lot 312 Twin Oak Road application number 202 24-16 DV Andrew Edwards applicant seeks approval for a side and rear yard addition in violation of the following sections 17099 C2 front yard setback 40 ft required 30.9 ft proposed 9.1 ft variance requested 17087 l2d front yard setback 20 ft ired 5.4 ft proposed 14.6 ft variance requested 17099 C3 sidey yard setback 10 ft required 6.4 ft proposed 3.6 ft variance requested 17099 C3 aggregate side yard 30% required 23.6 proposed 6.4% variance requested 17087 cc4 habitable floor ratio 30% allowed 40% proposed 10 10% variance requested okay let's see you guys swear this SW you both identify yourself spell your names pleas uh I'm Andrew Edwards a n d r e w Edwards e d w a r DS uh I'm the homeowner for 12 Road thank you oh s and I'm suan de U suan it's the name on the drawings s o u l e y m a n e and d d e m b e I'm a registered architect in the state of New Jersey and my license is current Mr Edwards and Mr dembley do do you both swear or affirm that any and all statements and testimony you give to the board this evening will be true accurate and [Music] complete I do consider yourselves under oath Mr dembley would you please recite your credentials to the board yes um I'm currently a registered architect in state of New Jersey um I graduated from New Jersey Institute of Technology with the M's degree in architecture and received my license about um four or five years ago I think 2019 um and your license is your license is in good standing yes it's in good standing have you testified before any planning boards or zoning boards in the state of the Jersey yes I have a couple of boards and you've been qualified as an expert in architecture yes I'll respectfully submit that Mr chairman to the board thank you does anyone on the board have any questions or objections regarding this witness there being no objection the witness is accepted as an expert in architecture okay all right thank you please all right so um this property is an existing corner lot um the average lot size is about 50 foot wide U by 125 foot deep so um this the existing building is a two-story building it does have um some existing non- compliant um setbacks so the front yard the existing front yard is 30.9 Ft um 40 ft is required um the existing right side yard I hav it noted as right side yard on the plants um is 5.4 ft sorry 6.4 feet and 10 ft is required and the existing left side yard is 5.4 ft and um 20 ft is required because it's the corner lot and it's facing a street um the existing rear yard is more than compliant is 55.97 ft and that's more than compliant um so for this project basically what we're proposing to do uh if you look at the um still on the same pay t001 if you look at the propose side plan we are planning to add U fill in the corner and then and then extend uh the building a little bit back to the rear yard about 8 ft so and for the garage in front of the garage we're making a small extension in front of the garage as well so um and when we do this Edition we're also extending um above the existing uh living room the existing family room that's at the back that's only one story so with the addition we trying to match all the existing setbacks so which is creating about five variances that we are here to seek currently so I already mentioned the front yard we have 30.9 that we're matching and then 40 ft is required and then with the addition same thing with the um the right side yard 6.4 ft is existing and we're seeking right uh the required is 10 ft so that's another variance that we're seeking um and the right side yard I already mentioned that as well 5.4 or 20 ft is required um with it so with the addition at the corner extending a lower bit so we're reducing uh the the rear yard a little bit but we're still compliant with the rear yard so um I'll get to the other Varian that we're seeking about habit or floor area ratio um later so so looking at the existing floor plans of the build this building obviously you can see that it's a little bit of an undersiz single family house um on the first floor you enter from Twin road and it has like a a Del living room and the dining at the front and the kitchen is a little bit in the middle it's a little bit awkward and at the back it has a half bathroom and a great room so and the basement has the utilities and all the stuff utilities and laundry and then the second floor has three bedrooms really small bedrooms and then about it barely has like a master bedroom currently so and a full bathroom so um with this addition basically we're able to I'm going to start with the garage first so we're doing the addition extend a little bit the garage cuz the garage is only about 18 ft deep now the existing garage so with that addition we're basically able to do like a low step inside um inside the garage to walk out from the garage and get access to the house and still maintain from the step to the front of the garage about 20 ft which is pretty standard for a typical uh car so and then the corner and rear addition basically will allow us to do like a low office space and a and a full bathroom uh we couldn't do a mod room it's a similar to a mod room the low walkway is about like tiny mud room that we're doing so and this would also allow us to like um do like an open concept and demolish all these walls inside to do living room dining and then push the kitchen to the back of the house so and also the second floor we were able to do like an adequate um master um adequate master bedroom and um three regular uh bedrooms and two full bathrooms so as you can see um by doing this addition obviously we're able to uh increase the curve um make the curve op of the house much better um get a much more decent size for the house and also so um so uh and the design right the design also kind of improves a lot as well so um for additionally so the other variants that we're seeking out go back is the habit floor area ratio so um currently this this property has about uh the maximum allowed is 0.3 so about 30% hit FL R ratio and the existence is about 25% so we are increasing it about uh to 40% so we're going about 10% over uh the maximum allowed um but we're doing it in a way that you know we're matching all the existing setbacks um of the house so we're not making them worse and also um in addition um the maximum actual FL area that's allowed is 3,220 square ft and we're staying way below that because we only provide have like about 2,488 Square ft so we're not exceeding the maximum floor area but we are exceeding the percentage um the ratio itself um I personally believe that with this addition like we're able to get a much more decent size for the house and also um the size of this house is not like out of ordinary it's similar to other homes in the area and if you look at the other Corner homes also in the area they have similar U setback because this slide is a bit narrow compared um to what is the zoning requirements it's only 50t wide and we're not making any of the existing setbacks any worse than they currently are so um I also think that you know it does have a positive impact for the design of the building as well if you can see in the elevations we're able to improve it a lot as well so I think uh in my honest opinion is that this project does right it improves the building itself it does not create a lot of detriment um for the neighborhood I think it's a plus so um I recommend the board approve the project if possible and I'm I'll be happy to take any questions thank you yeah um any questions from the board with this applicant I have a question sure uh so is it corrector to say that the sidey setback of 6.4 ft and 5.4 ft are both existing condition non-conform um I'm not saying that they existing conditions I'm saying that we are matching the existing setbacks that's the existing that's correct yeah and we don't have yeah okay and because yeah go ahead I'm sorry I just want to elaborate a little bit and because we don't have additional land that we can purchase and make it wider so we really can't change this headback at all understood the front yard 30.9 is also the existing condition correct okay thank you nice thank you anybody else have any questions Mr do you have any rendering on a BRI briercliff road side because most impact that I see is going to on that side rather than on a Twin Oak Road on the a rendering of that side uh Bri Bri Cliff Road because most of the houses on that roads are not matching what you are proposing to do correct and I can explain kind of why um that also happens because um the homes that you see in the middle there they that's their main front yard so they're meeting that and for us our property our main front yard is Twin Oak Road so we do have about 30 30.9 ft our main front yard but the issue that we have is because the light is only 50 ft and the existing already is doing 5.4 ft um setback it is very difficult U to change it unless de demolish the garage but I to answer your question I do not have a rendering of um the homes in that side I think I think you do on a202 yeah let me see do what was that is that what you're looking for oh okay I'm sorry yeah I can make a can I make a comment or we still doing questions anybody in the in the audience have in the public have any questions for this one this applicant yeah I just had a clarifying question did you want to see um the Brier Cliff Road Street the homes on that street is that what your your question was that is correct yes yes there's um I see the side view elevation there yeah I submitted some pictures I don't know if it captures any of the homes in the back uh there's some there's some pictures F uh photos that I submitted with the application I don't know if there's Mr chairman if I could all right um but on Brier crylo there are I would say a few homes that match that what we're trying to do I I would say at least at least six or seven Mr Edwards if you wouldn't mind um in the submission that that was made there's one black and white photograph in the site plan but then there are two sheets which according to may have have photo four photographs of the house and and the land surrounding it yeah those and did you take those photographs yeah I took those the photos that's up right now those those are the photos I took that's correct is it five photos I stand correctly um do those photos accurately reflect and depict the images that exist now at the property that's correct yes and you also have a survey with that's that's entitled survey with proposed site plan that accurately depicts what you're intending to do it's this that's correct it's the survey that's prepared by uh Schmid yes and those accurately reflect what you're looking to do correct that's correct all right and if you don't mind M Mr chairman um u a question for the architect is is it your if I heard your testimony accurately I want to make sure we're on the same page that that you say that in the event this application is approved that any proposals would be Advanced by a deviation from the zoning ordinance and that the benefit from that deviation it substantially outweighs any detriment is that accurate statement yeah that's that's my statement so and with regard to the floor area ratio if I heard your testimony correctly and I just want to be clear yes um that that the property and the proposed development have adequate capacity to accommodate the proposed uh floor area ratio without any detriment yes because the app the floor the floor area is not not being yeah we're not exceeding the actual maximum FL I just wanted I wanted to make sure that was clear thank you very very much you okay thank you thank you um and actually I'll just ask one question yes um if this was a regularized lot then you would only be asking for probably very little on the habital floor area ratio is that correct yeah that's correct yeah okay um did I ask any questions in the for the public if I did I asked twice um statements um yes so thank you very much I think that the proposed renovation addition is really lovely I think it's one it's beautiful um your hardship really is dealing with an undersized lot and dealing with three existing non-conforming um setbacks and you're really just asking for habital ratio and sidey yard correct yes um I actually and you're really just bumping out a little bit and then adding the second floor correct um yes um bumping out a little bit in the back for the bathroom you said so it's not it's not a lot down on the on the on the bottom the lower level the square footage that you're adding to the lower level is not significant so you're really just adding a little bit on the bottom that's correct and then I'm adding a second second level correct correct this the second level was setting it back a little bit so um um yeah okay and so it really is a modest addition yes and as the chair pointed out um you're really dealing with an undersized lot so I just want to make that clear okay thank you right thank you anybody else want to make a statement I want to make a statement um it's a uh very um small detail that I would really appreciate is um you put the prop proposed elevation and the existing elevation up down it's a lot easier for us to understand to you know picture what's going to happen you know for the project thank you thank you appreciate it is there anybody in the public that would like to make a statement okay would anybody like to make a motion I'll make a motion to approve which one M Conor Miss Yuan yes Miss yes Miss con votes yes Mr sha yes um Miss marage yes and Mr Beer yes motion passes thank you very much appreciate thank I appreciate it okay let's get another one in time ticken block 591 lot 16 13 Walnut Street application number 202 24-17 DV 245 pic LLC applicant seeks approval to construct a new single family dwelling and reorienting the front of the house on Old Road in violation of the following sections 17097 C2 front yard setback 60 ft required 17.4 ft proposed 42.6 variance requested set 17099 C4 rear yard setback 50 ft required 7.88 proposed 42.1 two variance requested like to swear them in I don't believe he is Stacy yes I stand correct good evening I'm Stacy santol attorney for uh the applicant um want to get the 245 P LLC um I'll try to be brief in light of the time constraints um it's actually a rather simple application we're dealing with the lot on the corner of Walnut Street and um Old Road um the house currently faces Walnut Street it's an older home um and in order to utilize the lot uh properly uh the proposal is to uh reface the front of the home to face Old Road the end result is that what used to be the sideline setbacks is now going to be the front and year rear sideline setbacks thus causing um the need for these two variances um I should point out that this is an addition the existing structure is not going to be demolished um and that I will be listening testimony from the architect that will show that this is I think not only the the best use of the property but probably the best use for the neighborhood uh both aesthetically and and as a practical matter safety matter um and with that I am going to ask that the architect Petro Rosado um be sworn in and then I'll I'll get you his qualifications and he'll explain the application a little bit more thank you very much Mr santola please accept my apologies you're not the first the last most of my letters say Miz okay I'm looking forward to this non pronoun thing you never know it might work out in the end would you please state your name and pleas Petro Rosado p i e t r o r o s a t o Mr Rosado do you swear or affirm that any and all statements that you present to the board this evening and testimony will be true accurate and complete I do I'll turn it over to council to take you through your credentials uh Mr Rosado if you would give us a brief U history of your education your experience confirm that your license is still in play and and confirm that you've testified before other boards sure uh I graduated from uh with a bachelor of architecture from NGIT I've been licensed since 2016 I have uh my business is located in licens in New Jersey Connecticut and New York um and and um that's it and I have I have testified in uh in front of U various boards in the state of New Jersey and your license is is currently that's correct yes active it's active yes Mr chairman I would submit that we uh that the board consider accepting this witness as an expert and architect does anyone in the board have any questions or objections regarding this witness there be no objections the witness is accepted as an expert in architecture uh m m Mr Rado if you could give us an overview of The Proposal please yes okay so we're looking to expand an existing one story uh single family dwelling uh in the R2 Zone where the existing dwelling is approximately 1,335 ft and we're proposing a one-story addition towards the Eastern side of the property and the addition is approximately 1,262 square feet the property is a corner lot uh with a current front entrance along Walnut Street uh and uh where the existing driveway is accessed uh from Old Road uh we're proposing to relocate the front entrance uh to Old Road while keeping the existing driveway curb cut and modifying the driveway to uh access to the the new uh two-car garage um since the front entrance is proposed along Old Road uh a front yard and rear yard Set uh variance relief is sought uh where the required front yard set back is 60 ft uh 17. 40 ft is existing creating a non-conforming condition and 3.09 is proposed the required year yard setback is 50 ft uh and 7.88 is existing creating a non-conforming condition uh and 1526 is proposed on the proposed addition the lot is also non-conforming uh where the minimum lot area is 25,000 Square F feet and 14453 square feet is existing uh and also the minimum standard standard lot size required is 125 ft by 200 and we have uh 61 uh 12T by 20258 ft so it's substantially uh uh smaller um all other bulk requirements in the R2 zone are compliant as noted on the uh zoning chart that's uh on sheet t00 which was submitted uh the design proposes to modify the layout of the existing structure and utilize the space as the sleeping areas as you can see from the plan behind me um the uh utilizes the space in the sleeping areas of the home uh where a main bedroom suite is proposed with two walk-in closets uh which is right in the front of the house facing W Walnut um there are also two existing bedrooms which will be slightly modified to accommodate larger closets uh the existing bathroom will also be modified to accommodate a linen closet at Double veny and also uh we're proposing a new laundry room uh within that level of the of the existing uh house uh we're also proposing in the rear of the existing house a new fourth bedroom um the addition is also uh the addition is also a one-story structure along the Eastern side um of the property so essentially starts from uh where my mouse H here um all the way to the back where the uh the Eastern um f the most end of the uh of the structure is and the garage is um the uh the property uh uh the the new Pro the new uh um addition is actually set uh lower than the existing about 6 feet lower uh due to the Topography of the of the land uh which slopes down towards the uh the Eastern side of the property and uh so we have steps uh that are created uh very similarly to a split level type of steps um the addition proposes a new cover porch uh in the facing old road which is right here and uh uh which also can is connected to an extended uh driveway modified driveway uh we have a foyer as soon as you enter we have a foyer that connects the family room uh to the left uh and a dining room uh kitchen area to the right and if you go further to the right uh we have a mudro uh a bathroom and an additional guest room uh obviously along with the U two car garage uh the addition is connected to uh the existing house as I mentioned with a split level style staircase that goes to the uh new addition as well as two more steps that go down to the existing basement the the proposed design uh in my opinion does not pose any detriment to the uh to the neighbor to the neighborhood uh it actually enhances the neighborhood we believe um and fits within the context uh we you know as you can see from the from the rendering also why don't you hold that up yeah so you want me to hold it up for you okay so I can see uh actually I can probably pull it up here Stacy can you mark that as exhibit A1 um we're looking at the front of the home correct that the old the new front of the house that's correct this is your view from it's part of the plan set yes oh that's true yeah which is I think I can it's colorized so we're just going to Mark exhibit A1 as a colorized version colorized version right just described which I can I pulled it up on the uh if I can ask questions sure point of emphasis the curb cut is the existing curb cut that's correct the driveway now located um on Old Road immediately opposite the existing curb cut as opposed to the driveway having been in the existing structure so now we're reducing the driveway significantly yes correct yes it's also my understanding that since we're on Old Road here uh That Sidewalk that's there now is not not necessary and will probably be grass that's correct uh as would the walkway because there's not a sidewalk correct that's correct yes one other question um from Walnut uh given the height of the addition you won't be able to see the addition from Walnut no the the the roof the top of the roof of the new uh the new addition it's a slightly higher um than the existing house however from WN that you won't be able to really see it um you have a uh a second photo I believe that shows the neighboring properties uh existing currently can you pull that up for us uh we we it's it's not oh it's in the exhib okay sry are you mean the areal view that we have yeah okay I'll hold it up for so this is the existing structure this is Walnut Street correct this is Old Road this is the existing structure the addition would come this way correct these are the other homes that currently exist on all right um based on your observation the arrow photograph does it look like the vi structure would be somewhat consistent with the uh existing setbacks that we have here with the other properties from a professional standpoint it's not we need to get to I think how from can hear I can hear you but it's hard to hear me from a professional standpoint I don't believe it's going to affect any of the neighboring properties and the the the addition is actually set back from that uh demarcation line that we've showing the dash line so uh you know it's not really impacting the the front uh of the frontage the new Frontage of the property your addition is actually 30t correct on the set back the existing structure is really 7 foot is that back correct that's correct so the addition is actually going to be set even further back that's correct they looking the existing structure is 17.4 feet from Old Road so the new Frontage of the house and the the new uh addition is set back even further and it's 3.09 ft um one other question um Mr Sant can you mark that as A2 and and Mr Rosado you took that you arranged for that photograph for that depiction that area the area view yes right and that accurately reflects what's shown on the images there cor yes thank you very much um the only other um question the board may have is visually from Walnut um potentially um we're you're contemplating leaving the front door as a false door uh if aesthetically from Walnut that improves the visual yes yes we we could if we if it's required uh our client really doesn't want to uh but if it's required by the board then we be more than welcome to to do so to to to leave the door or to have a door that it sort of looks like a front entrance to the house and again in your opinion after having visited the the area you're satisfied that that this doesn't present any detriment to the to the neighborhood no uh and that this overall project enhances not only the value obviously of the property but potentially the neighbors and the neighborhood in general absolutely yes and given the lot configuration uh this would be the best use of the property in the most logical use of the property that's correct yes I have nothing further has some question does anybody have any questions for this witness y I have a question so the wallet Street side has some Evergreens right some they're not in good condition currently it's heavily shrubbed with shrubs that have not been maintained very well so do we intend to uh replace them or create another green border I believe we're going to re landscape the entire property we're going to put shrubs on on the on the front like you see there uh there's not a tree depicted there but um again that sidewalk is not going to be there so there may be a tree or two uh planted and then in the front the Shrubbery will be redone to make it consistent with what you're seeing on the side um right now it's it's somewhat overgrown Mr chairman do we need to uh Mark the fact that the rendering shows us sidewalk but it's not going to be there the reason I bring that up there's no sidewalks on Old Road right now and I don't think um it's necessary and I think aesthetically um in the long run it's better the driveway goes right to the front door um so we don't need a walkway it'll also improve our impervious coverage so um I think there's a good chance that that that'll be modified and we'll we'll eliminate the sidewalk I assume unless unless the town requires it for some reason but there's nowhere to go so I don't think right there's no there still sidewalk to Nowhere yeah so I I think we're probably okay I mean we'll leave it up to engineering um okay any other questions I have a quick question um first of all the new construction is going to be a beautiful enhancement to that neighborhood I'm familiar with the area my question is when you've changed the orientation of the front door and now you have a long property with the front on Old Road is um is that side yard uh in compliance right now up against the the neighbor that they're next to yes yes and so there's no issue with you being on top of the neighbor with the new construction the only two um variances would be the rear and the front because now they we've changed the uh the direction essentially okay and along uh Walnut they're all front doors and then suddenly on the corner you're going to see the side of the house how are you planning on visually yes but also as as uh the attorney mentioned that the you know we're going to put some shrubs on there's already shrubs there that are a little bit overgrown so the Landscaping will sort of you can't really see from Walnut as as of now you can't really see the front entrance regardless so um so I I don't think it's really going to be um much of a change aesthetically and we're going to keep uh you know a privacy screen with greens and um yep I should point out you look at these other homes on Old Road they're currently I could say for sure but if you were to look at how tight they are on the Lots this is going to have a much much bigger set than any of the existing structures on the property in Ence almost still area of the yard on the side thank you I got one or two quick questions um the new the the addition is just crawl space underneath there's no basement right correct I read the plans correct um and there's no intent to use the attic for any living space I don't believe so we have 10t uh 10 foot feelings uh I don't believe if we've gotten to that point yet but for the atct but no as of now no you okay stipulating that in the resolution I'm okay with we have 10- foot ceiling so I don't think that that's practical anyway I don't you know okay but we stipulate that's so that'll be a condition yes yes thank you Mr Santo um condition and as you said I think you both testified almost um the the addition is less withd than the the existing house so do not encroach any further and it's only the the original house that actually has the major problems with the variance that's correct and for the front yard variance I'm seeing 42.6 feet as your variance requested because you had yes I just want to get that on the record so Mr say that again front the front yard is 30 it's 30 the addition is going to be 30 no yeah yeah but the the variance itself is it's 60t re 60 required you have 17.4 we're 17.4 on existing on the addition so it's 42.6 on the existing right that's what we have to Mr chairman oh you're asking me to do math wait can I make a comment you should know better that's not fair can I make a comment however this house is really it's in an R2 Zone correct and it's clearly not 25,000 ft it's it's less than 15,000 sare ft yeah right which is really which is really more in line with an R3 correct so if you were going if you apply the front yard setback and rear yard setback requirements from an R3 you're not really asking for 17.4 you're asking for 27.4 and the rear yard would be 17.8 so it's not quite as egregious as what's here I I should have hired you you're right I'm just trying to help you out no I appreciate that um so and I arguably by the way at 1300 Square ft existing it's almost it's smaller than even most our warehouses I mean it's yeah I mean it's it's really that's really a hardship it's a very small lot um so I wanted to point that out and then I I'm not going to harp on the trees but I do agree with my colleagues about the side and I know that it's hidden it's a tough lot I it's a it's a very tough lot um but I think if the shrubs that you do plant really should be Evergreens maybe Green Giant or VES just to give it the house a shield on that side when people drive by um I just think it would be it would look nice you know you don't want to put a fence that but if you can put just a couple of green Giants there I think that would be lovely okay okay thank you Mr santel I just want to make sure we're clear we're if the board were to approve this application it will be consistent with the uh setback requirements as depicted in the letter of denial as well as in the application yes it would we clear the other thing is that it's understood that there would have to be a change of address the applicant will arrange for that yes okay and with regard to the Evergreens you can make that a condition I'm a big tree and and okay plant guy I'm all I'm all for trees and we don't we're losing too many of them and not replacing them if you want I interject my opinion while we're here I I'll make that a condition that you worked that out with the with with the appropriate Department all right thank you that's that's all I have Mr okay any other questions any questions from the public does anybody want to make a statement yes I'd like to make a statement so I have been inside this property about over 20 years ago I knew people who lived there 20 years ago and uh it felt an inadequate use of the lot because the lot is a hardship it's U it's an unreasonably I can say narrow lot so definitely does not reflect the Zone very well and and I think the changing the address and changing the facade to Old Road is a very prudent modification to this property it makes so much more sense even going past driving past to see the property before this meeting was a challenge because Walnut is such a busy area that particular corner is so busy with traffic so having a front entrance there when you have the opportunity to Leverage The having being the corner lot I think it's it's a very prudent modification so I really like this uh this proposal I really like it thank you I want to make a a comment actually uh yes this is a very um beautiful rendering of um how to use the O lot um the sidewalk there though I like to see it stay because um you have sidewalk on the other side of uh Old Road um uh effective side uh walking system is consistent of um sidewalks so I I just my my personal statement I don't uh but I don't know like we're have it in the rendering already but you were talking about taking it away well I think we're amenable to doing whatever the engineer wants I if if he wants the sidewalk we're going to give him a sidewalk and if he doesn't want a sidewalk then we won't have a sidewalk I'm I'm okay either way but again right there are no none of the other homes have a sidewalk so it would just end at the end of our property there's nowhere to go and now there's sidewalk on the other side of the street so there there is yeah okay okay thank you okay um anybody in the public have any statements anybody like to make a motion I'll second it okay and before we vote that's going to include no access to the attic and no living in the Attic no living in the Attic yeah yes you can store storage yes sorry about that and um so the only thing we have to do is uh was pointed out to me is we kind of have to define the trees a little bit because otherwise it's vague somewhere between one and 100 so we would would have to consult with the engineer because obviously we can't get too close to the corner right we don't want a blind spot or anything like that so we would consult with the engineer about where he wants a row of of Evergreens within the Apple limits to to adequately Shield the property from Walnut is that adequate Miss I defer to the boss okay okay Miss um Conor yes Miss Yan yes Miss KH votes yes Mr sha yes Miss Mirage yes and Mr Beer yes congratulations thank you thank you I have a date with our our the honor Harlen cin this evening for those of you that know his alumni I had a Miss dinner with him tonight for this but now thanks to the water shortage I'm gonna I'm gonna meet Jackie are we able to close pull another one or we're done it's 10 after I don't want to get in trouble she gave you 10 minutes we'll see what we can do our hands are tied I'm I'm sorry trust me I prefer to keep everybody moving along this is you're 11 vir right okay go for it um five block 3601 lot 22 11 Ridgewood Drive application number 20 24-3 DV Jason sharow applicant seeks approval for a two-story Edition front porch and replace existing deck in violation of the following sections 17087 BB3 habitable floor area 345 ft allowed 4,186 squ ft proposed 1141 ft variance requested 17087 cc3 habitable floor ratio 21% allowed 28.8% proposed 7.8% variance requested would you please kindly identify yourselves and spell your names please Jason sharow j s o n s a r e n o w thank you Mr Sharon and Douglas Miller from ahm Architects 281 Main Street Milburn New Jersey that's Douglas Miller correct thank you Mr Miller will you you're not are you going to well I'll swear you both in do you both swear or affirm that whatever statement you make to the board this evening or testimony you give will be true accurate and complete I do please consider yourselves under oath um Mr Miller would you be kindly provide your credentials to the board yes I've been licensed in the state of New Jersey since 2000 I've made numerous uh presentations through boards throughout the state it's been a while since I've been to Livingston but I have made presentations here my license is in good standing and I'm licensed in the state of New Jersey uh is that enough Mr chairman I respectfully suggested a board to consider Mr Miller as a qualifi architect to render architectural testimony thank you does anyone on the board have any questions objections regarding this witness there being no objection the witness accepted as an expert in architecture I just have a brief statement that I wanted to uh uh share with the board uh just some background of the property before I turn it over to Doug uh the home has been in my family since 1957 when it was built by the L sagner Builders over the years there's been some changes modifications and additions with the last being in 1986 I mentioned that in particular as it relates to why we were asking for Relief our needs for space of modernization in 2024 are very different than those needs back in 1986 with my wife and I both working from home postco two children ages 8 and N enrolled in the Livingston School District the home needs mod modernization and modifications I've lived in this area my entire life graduating high school here buying my first home second now third volunteering for the town's first a Squad and working for the police department for the last 32 years uh and being fully immersed in this town my wife and I my wife not native to Livingston both love our community and cannot invenger ourselves living elsewhere having that said we hope that the board will understand our need for Relief and approve the same thank you I'll dispense with the rest of it thank you thank you all right thank you Jason for the background uh Jason and Ariel came to me with the goal of modernizing the houses as Jason just stated uh the H the house is in the R3 Zone it's 14,500 ft or 100 by 145 smaller than required for the R3 Zone which is 15,000 so just slightly smaller than required as Jason mentioned the house is built in 1957 as most things that are approaching 70 years old need some modernization and update what was stateof the art in 1957 is you know far in the past for what a modern family needs especially since post pandemic everybody's moved to doing so many more activities in their home and the homes have to be reorganized to function for our modern needs um we were requesting uh three variances a c variance for aggregate sidey yard uh we have a hardship of an existing non-conforming sidey combined percentage where 30% is required and we have just less than that at 29.1549 five % and then two D variances one for habitable floor area and one for habitable floor ratio I feel these are both the same I know we just went over them as far as the code sections but basically where for the habitable floor area 3,520 Square ft is permitted we're asking for 4,186 squ ft and that's a deviation of 66 66 ft uh the hital floor ratio is required is 21% we're asking for 20 8.8% for a deviation of 7.8% uh let me walk you through the plans up on the the screen here shows the site plan uh the existing and the proposed um the house is a typical split level uh and what we're proposing to do is to square off this right rear corner um to make the floor plan a little bit better to to function and then there's a glass Conservatory or one of those glass sun rooms you've seen in so many houses that that are all faded and and leaking we're going to take that off um we're also going to modify the deck the deck is kind of awkward and strange so we're going to rebuild the deck and make it slightly smaller so all the changes we're making to the footprint is actually resulting in a decrease in the overall building coverage a small decrease but a decrease nonetheless so even though our floor area is going up our coverage is going down uh if we move to the next page uh the smaller drawing is the existing and this is the propos and the house really consists of a a two-car garage on the existing a a family room space a guest room SL study uh dining room family room and kitchen the kitchen because uh of the size of it it's very awkward very difficult to use and this the plant is very compartmentalized not what people are looking for so what we're proposing to do is square up this corner here it's about 10 feet by 8.5t so a very very modest scale addition but what that allows us to do is really open up the floor plan and create something that functions well it has the kitchen open to the dining open to the family room and although we've only added a 85 Square ft it's making a dramatic change in how that space Feels by removing the walls or taking three smaller rooms and making it feel like one bigger space so by not adding a lot of square footage we're giving the impression of more usable space and really opening up so even though we are asking for floor area we're being Frugal with how we're doing it uh let's see so the end result is we're going to use the old guest room as like a mud room SL study space we're going to put a living room down on the lower level and the reason why we have this space it's more like a playroom for the kids because in a split level the issue is that you only have a basement on less than half of the overall house footprint and by having only a small basement you need some space for utilities for storage so in a house of equivalent size you would have two or two and a half times the size of the basement to really fill up with programmatic needs so all those spaces where the kids play or a gym or or extra study space or or a guest room or whatever else that goes in the basement we don't have the opportunity to do that here because we don't have a basement so you know they instead of knocking this house down and rebuilding like it like so many other houses you see in town they wanted to preserve it you know it's been in their family for a long time so how do they take the best parts of this house and really bring it up to date so that's what we're doing here on the second floor uh the existing consist of a primary bedroom suite A one kind of normal siiz bedroom and one rather small bedroom and there's a hall bath what we're proposing to do is modify the normal siiz bedroom and the primary Suite I reconfigure it but it's basically the same size uh we're taking the old small bedroom and a portion of the old primary bathroom and creating a very small work from home study space in this area and then that uh in the back here we're adding a uh laundry and a hall bath and then we're going to go up over the kitchen uh dining portion of the house and doing an Adda level to create two onsuite bedrooms for their children and uh we have some vaed space here so although the the numbers say we're have a 666 foot deviation a lot of that is vaed space and the way that your Ordinance Works is that the floor area is measured to the perimeter of the exterior walls whether there's floor area there or not so although the floor area number says 666 ft of deviation is actually only 340 square fet of new floor space within the home so it's a much smaller deviation excuse me I'm sorry Mr Miller over here I'm sorry I don't mean to interrupt you but it's running a little late and I think we have to vacate the building all right I'll wrap it up but I just want to in the interest of time before you wrap up I just want to because you'll have to come back um and when you do um we've all had a chance to look at the plans we've gone by your house we've looked at it um you're in an R3 and actually your lot is a little even under size it's 14,500 Square ft and you're planning on building a house that's over 4,000 square fet um that's a large house for that block um my recommendation is that you go back and look at your plans again and come back with something a little bit more um tailored for the existing lot and I don't know how my colleagues feel about this but this is after looking at this and hearing what you're saying and looking at the plans I do think it's a bit oversized we we have looked at that quite um in depth we're staying within the confines of the existing uh Foundation um so we're not encroaching on our neighbors to the right or left we're not coming closer to the street we're not going further back towards the backyard so essentially I mean the square footage is as dougen mentioned 30 something um square feet of it is just because of the voled space so I I get we've looked at that you know of course we I guess we we'll have a conversation further um about that matter um maybe people want to hear from somebody anyone else want to chime in just I do concur with McAn that I think it's uh the bulk is rather large so if we can reconsider and see if we can optimize the space a bit and reduce the size slightly we can definitely discuss in length at the next meeting if possible well I I would just like to note that you know if you I just put up our rendering or before and after it's a street view of the existing house and the proposed although the style is different we're only raising the house by seven in um and on the left side we're lowering it by uh a foot and a half so the overall bulk of the house is not much different than the existing from the outside I think the square footage numbers really I mean the planner is going to testify a lot about you know the arguments for the for the variances but if we just look at the massing what we're trying to use is different materials different textures different roof roof lines and massing if this was just a box without all the articulation and the change in roof lines and breaking down the scale by having Mr chairman if I could interrupt for a second I don't believe we have that color rendering is that accurate no you have it this is um it's from the uh drawings here on the submission I don't remember it being as part of my package that color that color photo is in there I believe so yeah I we have a copy for you we can Mark no fine that's as long we have it that I wanted to make sure it was marked okay the other thing is Mr chairman I I know I'm just a lawyer but I'm a former mayor when they tell you that you got to get out of a building unless unless we've gotten clearances I'm concerned so we should wrap we should wrap it up Jackie from what you're hearing we from what I'm if I could Mr chairman it looks like we're going to have more testimony to try and address certain issues it's going to go well past we're already past the time I'm concerned legally that if something were to happen it'd be unfortunate all right so so as we close up I mean you did hear some feedback um I can just say we do understand the vaulting and everything else but goes to the mass right and I'll just throw in that you know we do have a you're going over on the floor area and you're going over the floor area ratio which kind of puts a little bit of a red flag that it might not fit so well on the property so that being said hopefully we can work we'll work all this out and um let's June 25th right Jackie as a late person I apologize for no no no please hard time understanding that if we're building within the same four walls essentially how I don't understand how it works I don't understand how we're going so building something that's so far what is being considered as as so Mr chair yes please Mr Sharon and I understand that that's why lawyers are involved in things like this because the law is the law and the Board needs to be needs to understand and apply the law with variations when it's warranted and I think the suggestions that you're getting is I understand your concern and and how it might not be make sense to you but the law has a certain sense to it all right and this would be without any further notices but further than others and just to follow up on that we do have these two different criteria and sometimes one comes up sometimes the other one when they saw to both come up it's was designed to try to control what goes on without you understand what I'm saying we're Bound by what by the Numbers a lot yeah of course and this and understanding where you're coming from we do understand too so we try we'll we'll talk more okay thank you so much um thank you once again apologize that we cannot finish this tonight to uh your professionals um but we don't want to get in trouble so we will see you next time thank you so much thank you for your understanding uh meeting is adjourned