##VIDEO ID:lKnNiBqrqFo## e e e e e e e e e e e e e I'd like to call a meeting to order would everybody please rise pledge allegiance to the flag flages please be seated good evening every everyone welcome to the T of alge Zony Board of adjustment meeting August 15 2024 I have to read in the public open public meeting act and I have a copy I didn't have it prepared adequate notes of this meeting of the Oldbridge Township Zoning Board of adjustment has been provided in accordance with the open public meetings act at least 48 Hours part of the commencement of this meeting by prominently posting in the municipal complex an announcement giving the time the date the location and the agenda of this meeting also by mailing such announcement to the home news and Tribune finally by filing a copy with the municipal clerk it's also posted on the municip municipal website you do ever want to look Township of Albridge Zoning Board of adjustment you can find the agenda having said that uh may we have a roll call please certainly Miss Andrews here miss Chevalier here Mr ISO here Mr gagno absent Mr Stoner here miss testver absent Mr Victoria absent Mr Singh absent chairman Sullivan here so I note that we have h f five members seated tonight uh I don't think that's a problem because uh our issues are not use variances uh for just a little housekeeping uh this meeting is being televised live on catv uh they replay it uh at certain times during the following weeks it's also uh simultaneously being uh shown on YouTube live and you can also find it there at a later date should you need to review the meeting I would ask everyone in the courtroom if you have a cell phone and I'm sure we all do please silence it at this time so it's not picked up by the TV or it doesn't interfere with any testimony having said that uh we'll move on to the agenda board uh this is the minutes of July 18th 2024 meeting hopefully everyone has had a chance to look at them absent any comments suggestions for additions or deletions I'd ask someone to move them from memorialization Chevalier I'll move it is there a second second Stoner roll call please miss Andrews yes M Chevalier yes Mr ISO yes Mr Stoner yes chairman Sullivan yes item four tonight is resolutions 44- 2023 Z MCB Landscaping was a bifurcated D variance and the application was denied uh we have a resolution Jeff Cheney is of councel to the board tonight uh Mr Cheney thank you Mr chairman resolution denying application for D1 and bulk variance relief of MCB Landscaping LLC for 4244 highways 516 Old Bridge known as block 11257 Lot 4 application proposes the addition of a Commercial Landscaping use and a second principal structure a 2,400 ft pole barn on the property uh property is located in the R20 medium density residential Zone which does not permit the use of property for a landscaping business and does not permit a second principal structure on a lot necessitating D1 necessitating D1 variance relief uh and support of the application the applicant uh offered testimony of business owner mark C boo Kate Keller PP and John H Ray PE uh business owner test Mark boo testified the seek variance to install a 60x 40 pole barn for use by the landscaping business uh the matter was was open to the public Alan Gorski Esquire spoke on behalf of the Condominium Association locate the rear of the property um Robert vernachio testified that the applicant's proposed use uh is too intensive a use for the residential area and Jonathan coslick testified that the proposed conditions are not viable and that the near nearby Residential Properties are also long and narrow thus the property is not unique uh ultimately the board determined the applicant did not prove that its proposed use is an inherently beneficial use under the municipal land use law for the applicant had failed to establish that the site is particularly suited to the proposed use moreover the applicant failed to establish that the proposed use is not in fact uh does not in fact Advance the purposes of the municipal land use law and the applicant further failed to establish that the relief could be granted without substantial detriment to the public good and without substantially impairing the attent of the master plan and zoning ordinance thank you Mr chairman thank you Mr cheny uh board members you've heard the resolution someone move it for adoption please I'll move it is there a second second moved in second roll call please miss Andrews yes M Chevalier yes Mr ISO yes Mr Stoner yes chairman Sullivan yes uh at this time Mr chy I'd ask you to swear in our One Professional tonight Mr Dan hollahan Mr holl hollan do you Solly swear it's the truth of the testimony for which you're about to provide I do thank you sir all right we'll move on to Applications it's item number six uh as it's on the agenda the first one is 79 2023 z uh this matter has been adjourned to uh November 7th without further notice it's uh Barbara Robinson Ramirez the location is block 12283 lot 85 physical location 85 Bennett Road in Oldbridge that's uh uh for a deck the deck is outside the sidey yard where uh property line where 10 is required once again that matter has been adjourned November 7th it will be on the agenda without further not if you're hear on that matter tonight it's not going to be heard that brings us to our first one that we will hear tonight it's 40-20 23z it's uh Heidi gross this is in the medium height density R5 Zone this is block 25 lot 615 physical location 615 Greenwood Avenue in Lawrence Harbor uh this multiple C Varian is for two sheds and a deck applicant proposes to legitimize a 12 x 12 and a 12 X6 shed as well as a 13x13 by4 deck would you be Miss gross before you uh sit I'm going to ask the board attorney to swear you win are you g to be the only one to testifies the other lady gonna just you okay and Miss gross I just for live at 615 Greenwood Avenue is residential thank you raise your right hand please do Solly swear as to the truth of the testimony for what you're about to provide thank you you can be seated um ma'am there's a button on the front end of that microphone if you push it after you sit down um it should turn green okay yes move it closer to you because it's it's a directional mic there you go it's perfect uh we know that you have an application to legitimize some sheds uh on the property uh and a deck um when private individuals or homeowners come in this is a this is a judicial process but it's a lot let's say a lot easier for a homeowner to uh move a variance than it is for a commercial entity where they might have professionals you're here representing yourself the board recognizes that the board members are made up of homeowners here in town as well volunteer homeowners so what we need you to do is put some certain things on the record you have to tell us why you're here first of all obviously we know but what happened how did that happen without you know getting some advice and uh we'll go to the professional Mr hollan he's going to tell us why it's a violation of the ordinance you may have some questions of us we may have some questions of you I have to open a public portion after that to see if anyone here is wants to speak on behalf or against uh the proposed variance after that uh is finalized I'm going to come back to you for final words and then I'm going to ask if you want to take a vote the reason we do that is because if you feel that you haven't made a good presentation and you think that the board may not be going to vote in your favor you could ask me for a continuance and we would probably the board would probably grant that and it would give you time to probably prepare a little bit better but short of that you will have the right to a vote and tonight you would need a plurality of the of the votes there's five members so you would need three positive uh votes just so you understand the proceedings okay so at your own pace and your own words and if do you have any uh anything other than a survey that we've we've already seen you you have no uh pictures or anything you're going to show us no ex no I I've sent them all in that's fine okay uh proceed at your own pace then okay um I inherited the home 1992 everything was there before I came you know I inherited and I have not ever had a problem I really don't see a problem I don't really don't know what to say but um I've had a lot of problem with the next door neighbor next door to me so he is the one who has complained about my sheds because there's a situation with him and I'm having a lot of situation with him um I'm really all U Mr Holland did he explain to you that what's going on that they probably too I'm assuming that they too close to the yes and you said 1992 you inherited this home yes and you're under oath and you said that these Pro these were just the way that they were when you inherited the yeah yeah I didn't didn't put no you haven't moved anything you haven't added anything you haven't deleted anything no didn't delete I mean well deleting would probably be okay they're starting to look old but you know you haven't moved anything or no okay let me ask Mr Holland to go on the record he'll tell us why it's a violation thank you chman yes so this application for 16 615 Greenwood um contemplates three separate um C variances um from the survey that you guys have uh seen the um 12x 16 shed on the top left of the survey um is a shed in question for those variances the rear yard requirement is 10 ft as is the sidey requirement um where the rear yard exists at 5.70 FT and the sidey yard exists at 5T um the third variance that the appan is requesting is for the sidey setback for the existing deck um which is uh required at 11 feet where it exists at 10t um kind of to maybe alliterate more on on what Heidi was saying as far as I've seen through a li these structures have existed at least 2014 because that's as far as my system goes possibly further um but yes so she's requesting three separate C variances the shed in the top right um although closer to the property lines is under 150 square feet so those setbacks are reduced to 3 feet um so that um shed is not in question for this application that one is a conforming shed so there's only two two two two variances it would be three actually so for the shed in the top left it's a rear yard setback and a side yard and a side yard and then for the deck just a side yard and just a sidey yard on the deck yes it's at 11 and I'm sorry it's 11 required and it's at 10 that's correct terman okay and if I have the numbers right on the other one the side yard is uh should be 10 and it's at five 5.7 that's correct and then uh the sidey yard uh five and what was that at the sidey is existing at 5T where 10 ft is required okay and the rear yard is existing at 5.70 FT where 10t is required just want to make sure Mr Cheney has that as well okay let me see if the board members have any questions of you I'm gonna start on my left Mr Rizzo um uh not really if if every if this was here and uh we're just going to try and finalize it I'm good Mr Stoner okay you didn't add the deck on right it was there still everything was there okay great M Andrews anything right and you appear you say uh Mr hollan that your records like you could see that that has been there since 2014 at least correct yes and and probably before that um we we've seen a couple of properties in this area born of similar complaints that have been front of this this board as well so yes and I'm familiar with them as well yep um you have anything else you want to add because I'm G to ask the attorney if he has any questions of you no no not really Mr Cheney uh got a fall under a C1 or C2 and I don't know that it's a hardship or I guess it would be a hardship and not a it's nothing unique about the uh property I don't think well I you know obviously looking at it looks to be a very Square property but I do want to you know provide you the opportunity to at least you know comment on that uh so is there anything specific about the property uh for example anything about the uh shape of it that might necessitate you needing these variances um for example sometimes you have a very oddly shaped property and we see that a square property it's it's up you can see your prop there that one's clearer for me yeah no it's there are right there would moving them create a financial hardship to you it would right now I don't have a job I just lost my job after 33 years I'm sorry to hear that thank you uh and would moving them actually interrupt the usage of the yard it would it would make it a lot smaller in are they what are they just sitting on uh 2x4s or uh 4 by I I have not physically been out to the site so I'm I'm not entirely sure um Heidi do they sit Maybe on like concrete pads or they just flat on the ground or on gravel one is one is on a concrete okay pad and the other let me think no no the other one just kind of sits on the ground okay sits on the ground yeah so the the Shedd in question is the one that sits on the concrete concrete pet okay and from a topographer S essentially is there like the grade of the property is it flat grade in the rear is there any yeah it's mostly it's mostly flat yeah yeah grass all all grass other than what they sit on right the one one has a pad yeah this one all right and if obviously if the variants were granted that uh how how would you use these sheds how are you currently using these sheds how do what how are you currently using these sheds I have well I have all my stuff in there that I can't fit in my little house that in my lawn mower and my trimming stuff and holiday stuff and stuff like that so storage sorry storage only right oh yeah yeah yeah yeah storage only they're not used for recreational purposes not renting them out not for commercial purposes or anything like that uh is that that's the way you found them when you were heard at this home yes so anything in there it's got more of my stuff your personal belongings you don't run any kind of business out of it no no no okay and you use the use the deck for enjoyment I'm assuming yeah yeah I sit out there that's the only place I could really sit out okay um let me go to a public portion and we'll see we'll see if anybody has anything to say about this all right this is matter 40-20 23z the location 615 Greenwood Avenue War anyone one want to be heard on this matter please raise your hand or stand last chance I'll close the public portion uh Mr Cheney it would seem that uh the woman inherited something that I guess was done either how long ago was that home owned by your family or whoever you inherited it from 1961 okay so it would probably be pre would probably be pre- zoning issues yeah if I can determine it was pre-1973 it would be a pre-existing non-conforming okay and you said that was owned by my mom and dad my family okay okay and it was from 1961 yeah 1961 they purchased it and um did you ever live there as a child yeah yeah yeah yeah did your father put those sheds in my dad and my uncle okay and when you were child also the that when I was little they've been there a long time yeah I'm 62 now so it's been there okay you didn't have to give your age that's it don't bother me it don't bother me all right uh well uh I don't have anybody that's standing opposed to your application for variants uh I don't hear any of the board members complaining I uh it was was nicely inherited the home unfortunately a lot of these and a lot of the what Mr Holan was alluding to a lot of the properties down in Lawrence Harbor there because of their Smalls siiz lots a lot of these violations occurred but in your condition in your situation I should say uh this happened prior to zoning ordinance so I think it would be un personally I would think it'd be unfair to to make you uh make you move those at this point after all those years which you didn't even put in but yeah uh at this point you're just using for your own storage yeah U Mr Cheney would we all under a hardship here or just the would have to be I guess be a hardship and a cost for you to move those yeah certainly but I I think uh to an extent that also kind of both could apply in a way here uh certainly under the C2 under the classic benefits versus burdens I think this uh given what has been provided for tesor could fall into that as well and probably fits better considering what was provided regarding the shape of the property right pre-existing non-conformity prior to zoning certainly can be considered as uh as advancing you know purpos of land M land use law um and terms of this is a residential property correct ma'am and residential property and using it uh you're trying to live there and enjoy the backyard right yeah any other comments from the board no Miss Andrews any comments I'm gonna ask you if you'd like me to take a vote if what you would like me to take a vote on this matter yes please okay uh board obviously you know there's three three C's right three C's correct three uh side yard side rear yard right and side yard deck side yard deck sidey yard for the shed rear yard for the shed yep okay good with that Mr cheny yes okay someone interested in moving this for approval Chev I'll move it for approval is second it's been moved in second roll call please miss Andrews yes Miss Chevalier yes Mr ISO yes Mr Stoner yes chairman Sullivan yes uh I wish you the best on on your home there and uh thank you very much obviously we can't do anything about your neighbor problems but I hope you can get along peacefully thank you very much thank you for appearing before the board by next month you'll have a resolution for the approval all right y you're good y you feel free to leave or stay if you'd like to watch the rest of the meeting you're welcome have a good night all right next applications 20-h 2024 z uh Jason focarino the it's medium high density residential R six this is at block 18809 lot 39 physical location 63 P piure Road Oldbridge design waiver and for a second driveway prop applicant proposes to legitimize a 16 by 38 7'2 38t 7 in second driveway Mr folino you're going to be the only one to testify okay and you have any exhibits for us okay we have everything you're going to say you can take a seat in the board attorney I'll swear you in please um make sure that push the button on that microphone so it's green it looks right up here ah there again it's directional so if this stay close to it sir can you raise your right hand please sure do you Solly swear as to the truth of the testimony for which you're about to provide I do thank you sir Mr folino you heard me speak to the first applicant and it applies to everyone tonight that's you're represented by yourselves I don't see any professionals here that at least I recognize so everyone's going to do this on their own once again the Board needs to hear certain things on put on the record as to why uh you're here before us again we'll go to Mr hollahan he's going to explain the ordinance board may have question and I'll of course have to do a public portion once again you'll get the final choice on whether you want me to take a vote tonight problem you can proceed at your own pace sir remember remind you that you're under Ro yep B basically I had a a garage built I had all the permits everything was good um approved everything I followed everything right made sure everything was good and then I had a driveway put in the width of the garage door to the street I didn't realize I needed a permit for the for the driveway I assumed when I got the permit for the building because I said hey I was going to build the garage you would do a driveway also and now here we are that would be not the driveway that's attached to the house but the driveway no yes drive to the to the building I had built right it's a standard driveway that you have yes normally and then further to the south or west I guess a little bit yes you have that other garage and yes Calk that's who you're referring to yes yes anything else you want to tell us right now I don't know how many people visit I I I've seen your house on on Google and i' I took a ride by and I see what we're speaking about here so uh Mr Holan thank you chairman um yes so the applicant here tonight is Seeking a design waiver um I think essentially it would be called so um our ordinance permits one driveway for every 200 ft uh 200 linear feet of Frontage along a road um the applicant currently had an existing black talk driveway on the as noted on the survey um and along Pio Road he has 87.5 ft um of Frontage along that road um therefore requiring a design waiver for a second access point um to the lot um I believe the the applicant is correct that the pole barn was um constructed with proper permits um I do recall reviewing the application I did not recall any kind of driveway access on that application um but essentially when that pole Barner um was installed there was also a driveway to access that pole barn that was installed as well um I believe the the curb was cut along the township RightWay um so the Atkin is here tonight seeking that design waiver for the um installation of the second uh driveway do you know if when the permit allowed for uh a driveway and a curb cut or just the building it would only apply to the building but I guess was were the plans do you know correct from what I recall from the plans it was only for the pole bar in the structure itself and not the not any driveways yep okay that was my fault when I when I originally did it I said it but I guess I didn't realize I needed to permit separate it's okay we we know what it's for uh and again I say it's set to the roadway would yeah that's probably what you would use it for for bringing vehicles uh that is what you use it for right not that that it's just storage I have a couple classic cars I store in there and that's it all right so the only problem is here you cut you you made a roadway cut too far yes yes uh board members on my left Mr Rizo good Mr Stoner I just have a quick question for you um when do you realize you needed a permit I honestly I I didn't know until somebody showed up in my house and knocked on my door and said hey you don't have a repent for that and I said oh I didn't realize I needed one oh okay I was just curious so I I as soon as I found that out I I went down to the township and I filled out for everything I needed but here we are Vice chair Chevalier yeah is there any other way to access this full Barn uh if I drive over my grass yeah no I think she been entrance entrance ways right entrance way oh uh a side door or something well oh if and there's a side door in the backyard yes behind the OB behind pull anything in you would pull it in but it's a regular you know door door door yeah it's a normal uh yeah that's yeah 36 inch yeah yeah they do that so people don't go and I'm sure had you known I'm assuming you would have you would have done that at the time absolutely that's why I went I filled out all the for the building I made sure everything was good that way if I knew I needed a permit for the driveway and the curb cut I absolutely would have filled that out also it would make sense yes Mr Cheney uh I mean obviously uh with what with the design waiver it's certainly different from uh cian um kind of just going through uh obviously sir you said that you store you said that you store vehicles that in it um and and uh from an access standpoint obviously you said you would have to uh for example if you were in your existing driveway to you would have to drive over your lawn to get into the to get into the uh the new garage um just trying to think if there's any still store anything else besides Vehicles lawnmower okay all stuff related to your home or Hobbies nothing commercial honestly I Tred just keep everything away from the Cars understood understood understood uh nothing further from me okay thanks that says it all keep it keep everything away from the Cars right all right uh you have any final comments sir no let me see if there's any public uh on this matter this is a 202 uh 20-2 24 Z this is 63 piil Road anyone one want to be heard on this matter please raise your hand or stand no one has I'll close the public portion any final comments sir other than you what you've told us all right would it seem it would seem that you were trying in spirit I would think to uh follow the letter of the law at least the ordinances and I think you did probably the right thing and you went and got a permit and build and probably thought maybe that was all included yes so at your own expense you put in you put in pavement and a driveway cut so both of those Vehicles could gather at the same time that pretty much it yep okay I don't see any I personally don't see any Fault in in that and I think it's it's uh certainly the board's power to issue a design waiver should they vote in your favor you need three of the five votes you understand that would you like me to take a vote Yes okay someone want to move this matter for approval this is for design way uh design waiver for the driveway Mr ISO Mr Rizo yes Andrew Mr Andrew seconds roll call please miss Andrews yes Miss Chevalier yes Mr ISO yes Mr Stoner yes chairman Sol yes thank you for appearing before the board the approval will be does he need any uh permits um he would just once he gets once you get the resolution just come back to my office give me a copy of that that way I can change the denial of the application to the approval um the only other permit that you do require would be for that curb opening which would be a RightWay permit through the engineering department um so just make sure you get that even though the work's already been done um just so that we have that on record that the work was done okay thank you we'd appreciate if you comply with that and thank you for appearing before the board thank you and so just so you know that resolutions will be uh memorialized at the next meeting so that's when you'll be actually be provided a sign copy of that okay all right thank you that'll be beginning of September okay all right all right our third and final uh application for the evening's 25-22 24z stino Baron this is is a medium high density R six Zone block 216 Lot 8 19 Boulevard East uh keep port address driveway walkway this is also going to be designed waiver applicant proposes 8 and a half by 25 driveway expansion to an existing 11 by 25 driveway Mr Baron sir please be seated thank you world attorney will swear you win okay why don't you sit thanks good evening sir can you please raise your right hand you somly swear as to the truth that for what you're about to provide I do thank you sir thank you you're batting cleanup you're the last one so uh you know you know the ropes I don't have to tell you tell us tell us what you want what we need to hear uh I currently have a one car driveway it's uh to cracked up black top I'd like to expand it get rid of like a patch of grass on the side to make it a twocc car and to expand the walkway down to the curb to the your house is typical of those homes on on on a Boulevard and I'm sorry Sor interrupt I just want to make sure I've noticed a lot of houses in that area did that turned the one car into a two-c car got rid of that patch of grass and I just noticed it and I liked it as a matter of fact I looked on um Google Earth and I think straight ahead of you they did it I think I'm to the right of your house they did it and most of the houses in that hous in the neighborhood that doesn't have in the neighborhood that does not have a uh that no longer has just a single C yes all right uh we pretty much know that area and we know what happened let me find out legally what's going on here Mr hollahan thank you chairman um yes so the applicant is here tonight seeking one single design waiver um for the expansion of an existing driveway uh that's proposed 0 feet from the property line uh where 5T is required um as it pertains to the existing sidewalk to kind of bring that down to the property line um that is not made part of this application there are no variantes required for that so just a single design waiver for the driveway setback can you and of course you know what whatever you're going to put on the record is what you're going to be able to do you couldn't go beyond what you're going to tell us you understand that I understand okay let me see if any of the board members have any questions okay sir Mr Rizzo no all Mr Stoner no Vice chair no M Andrew yeah as I said that's typical of all those builds down there where they put a carport entrance way to the home uh on the front left on yeah front front left as you come up that that short driveway yes and I see the most of them have all uh and done a nice job I might add they' they've made the property very nice they've made them look nice uh this is only for design waiver Mr Cheney um I would think that uh the board certainly has jurisdiction too yeah certainly and uh obviously you know it's fair Fairly cut and dry here obviously it's been done the neighborhood um obviously lets you you great lets you park multiple cars makes it easier uh makes easier pulling out gives you just more efficient enjoyment of your home as well yeah and a better walkway for people to access your home that walkway it's because you got to walk on the grass to get to the yeah go all the way down to the sidewalk okay so replaces an replaces the crack driveway as well right that's big thing helps with the Aesthetics right yes it makes a bit an improvement on your property and certainly the value as well yes sir all right uh you want me to take a vote right yes sir okay good I'm sorry go ahead oh I well uh yeah there is one person here otherwise was going to say there's nobody we do have to open up a public portion if there anyone uh wants to be heard on this matter this is 19 Boulevard East and Keyport for driveway walkway expansion anyone interested please stand or raise your hand no one has I'll close the public portion you have no final comments right no sir any final comments from the board of questions someone want to move this for approval is there a second is there moved in second may we have a roll call please yes Miss Andrews yes M chalier yes Mr ISO yes Mr Stoner yes chairman Sullivan yeah it's great when people do Home Improvement and they they make their properties look better and and once again it it increases the value for you increases the value for the township as well everybody's a winner on that sir my vote is yes and you get a resolution by the next meeting make sure you apply for all permits so I'm sorry when you say resolution resolution means it's actually a piece of paper that gives the approval that you have to turn into Mr hollahan and then he can clear the record to say that you're not in violation so I can't start work until I get that uh consult with so once your resolution is voted on memorialized at the next meeting Moren you will supply him with a copy of it once you get a copy of that resolution submit it back with the building department where you originally dropped off the permit that way I have a chance to review it and then based on the board's recommendation to approve it then I can issue an approval so you're probably fig is when's the next meeting is it's two weeks away okay so about two weeks so okay thank you all right I think September what are we September September 5th 5th so we have a meeting on September 5th it would be it would happen that night okay all right I come to that meeting you don't need to come if you'd like to come on down we're always looking for more guests we got plenty of seats okay thank you very much thank you for appearing have a nice nighted sometimes yeah uh general public comments ma'am would you like to be heard before the board okay okay all right well you come you come back on September 5th we'll save you seat all right seeing no one else in the public I'll close the general public comments for this evening board Mr uh trainy anything from legal end did you'd like to tell us uh nothing legal and just look forward to you know working with you guys some more yes Mr hollan anything I got nothing chairman okay any board members no I'm Morin next meeting is September 5th okay uh I wish everybody healthy happy it's the last holiday of the Season it would be Labor Day please be careful safe we'll be back on that Thursday someone move for jerman please move it all in favor any opposed we stand a journ e e e