##VIDEO ID:jAeqpKsZvtU## time is 7M noce meting has being to the of 1975 chapter 231 and adequate notice this meeting has been and two of time as well as being posted in the main lobby of this building and on the municipal website we call please mayor Portman absent Greg Fitzgerald absent Thomas wel absent Christina bonis here D here L Demento absent barbar Boz absent Wilson BB here H Hernandez here frck Stone here and Brian Baran jump right into our first resolution which is 26 West Front Street block 8 lot 15 here for bug variant and site plan approval welcome good evening Mr chair members of the board Rick rodsky on behalf of the applicant 26 West Front Street LLC um the application before you this evening pertains to the 26 West restaurant located at that site U which has been there and operational for quite some time the application uh uh is pretty straightforward I think um just looking to convert uh portion of the existing building which is currently used for storage the more of like an lounge or event space uh vent type space no uh addition to the footprint no addition to the building uh um fully developed site uh there was the board may be a aware the applicant that originally applied to add a roof deck but the application was amended uh to that uh that component of the application so no new construction proposed no change to the facade or the exterior of the uh of the existing rest the operations will remain essentially unchanged um operation hours of operation the same number of employees the same um so so really other than the existing non-conformities uh uh that are that exist and are not being exacerbated the only um existing nonconformity that is being exacerbated um I guess is the parking requirement so there's no parking on site never was and never will be um and so but by virtue of converting this the storage space to EV space it does technically uh increase the parking requirement I think the Minimus but by a few spaces um but other than that there is no other variance relief associated with the application so what I'd like to do board has any questions uh we could have uh our architect Mr Michael man warn in he'll walk the board through real quick the plan that's been submitted um uh I then have the operator here if if need be um for any questions the board may have and then I also have our professional planner for some testimony on the were we able to um determine the amount of parking that's actually required I know Greg that there was an issue um in the tnm memo it indicates that it went from 104 to 105 with the roof deck being taken out right it doesn't make much sense so you think it would go down right so you know what the actual parking count is I just want to make sure before the testimony HS that so there was a so the actual reason that the number changed was because there was a discrepancy on the plan um if you if you go to U the site plan it shows the infill area for the basement was going to be 590 square feet um but then if you scroll down to the notes uh it actually says it's going to be 612 which is 22 uh square feet off uh but it just moved it over the the needle to requiring an extra space so so even with the roof deck on where yeah so the roof deck does not count towards the park it did not it not because it's outdoor space and it's not interior walls it's gr gross floor area is everything interior walls this is it was an outdoor roof deck so not not interior space interesting so having a roof deck with like a million people on it they wouldn't count parking right okay well that's something good for a developer to know in the future but uh but nevertheless so 105 is right then yes okay thank you I just wanted that Clarity for uh for the board sake and of course the the restaurant was previously approved appr for addition last back in 2017 I believe um for its current configuration and like I said staying the same other than the conversion of this space space so that we could have M SW in sure do you do you SAR testimony about the give will be the truth the whole truth about the truth be got I do and just state your name for the record Michael mans MNS I'm sorry Michael mans MNS okay thank you and you're a licensed architect state of New Jersey uh since 93 I also hold licenses in several other jurisdictions and certificate Mr chairman I'd ask it to be accepted given testimony that's fine we're happy to have you thank you Mr Man if you could just grab the mic closer to you please sure okay um Mike if you would if you could uh just walk the board real quick uh through the site as it exists today and uh and then what's proposed for to the application that would be great and let me just Mark in those plans as exhibit A1 and I'll also Mark in the tnm letter of July 10th 2024 is exhibit B1 as in board one so the existing structure uh located on the corner of um West Front Street and um Boat Club Way um as wastified previously uh had you has been on the site for a number of years um uh currently in the lower level um there is uh a partial crawl space um and then an existing basement that includes uh bathrooms uh for the restaurant uh a trash room some additional Cold Storage uh for the for the bar and then in the area of uh where this Improvement is intended uh there was a previously existing a full bathroom uh and then uh a uh a space that has been used for storage uh since um the applicant has been using it uh they came to me with a desire to uh turn this into some additional event space um uh that would be uh Limited in size um based on the population count of about 28 people plus a couple of people staff uh we did determine that additional accessible bathroom was needed so the existing bathroom would be converted to a handicap um facility uh with a second one proposed um and then uh the uh the space would be reconfigured uh to provide a a bar okay and um uh other as a as I had mentioned earlier right am I first of all let's let's confirm that that square footage so we can make sure that we don't have any that's that is correct the the 500 square foot is a net number that I need for the building code the 600 number is a gross number that the z um and uh I know you've had the opportunity to review uh pnm's letter the revised letter dated July 10 um which was revised after the amend to the application any any issues with anything set forth in that letter uh no these are um for the most part existing uh non-conformities uh the one that's exacerbated is the change in use from Storage to uh an A2 use means that there's additional people Park um and just to confirm no additional no addition to the footprint of the building that's correct not adding any additional square footage Bas that to utilizing existing space um questions do you anticipate any increased trash from the changes you're making uh based on the use as event space um probably not there is a little bit of extra room in the trash room currently um but I I'm the operations manager probably speak to that specific but I'm not anticipating and it is private tread right I have a question on that point is the existing trash room fully utilized uh I was present today and there are maybe a dozen 14 trash recepticles on the outside alleen so I'm curious about that again the operations manager can speak specifically but my understanding is that uh for pickup they have to be brought outside the the trash fer does not go into the buildings black they were empty today yeah I I can't speak to their how they work today some the board have any questions first demands anyone from the public have any questions for the architect okay okay what's the Ingress to this room you're not going to put in operations first yeah come it from the you in do you swe any testimony you're about to give will be the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth self you got yes and just state your name for the record bring it cl bring the mic really close to how do you spell the first name m a l a and Lua just spell that thank you and you're the operations manager thank you okay so Michaela uh you heard me give a little summary about operations corrected what I said anything additional that I that we need to know I mean do you anticipate any increase in no generation no not any significant increase um the space is going to be primarily used for private events um so if there's not a private event in there there won't be any Trash generated um overall I don't foresee it increasing trash significantly based on what the restaurant already uses okay and then with regard to the trash it's private trash correct and the cans are inside and then brought out on the trash yes so all of the trash cans on um the side street are not just ours since the development behind us um the private trash companies will no longer pick up dumpsters actually since they hit our building they stopped picking up dumpsters completely um so all restaurants within that vicinity including cata lals pliables all of their garbage kins also have to come out to boat club Court to get picked up the garbage garbage TRS will no longer go down I think it's ice Lane there um so at any given time there is trash cans on that street but they're not necessarily ours um where public doesn't really um label them specifically and there is issues with the other establishments bringing them back down bringing them up trash cans get stolen traded construction steals a trash can so it's not the ones out there are not solely ours but your your operation is generally you keep them in the trash room yours do you know how many I believe have eight and I believe the pick up is three times weekly um and then um in terms of hours of operation as I indicated not anticipated to change or be different from the restaurant and especially at the outset where it's anticipated that this will be an event space it's going to be something that's sporadic B I just have a question so in the application or at least in the review is referred to as a Speak Easy so that's not accurate it's not going to be a Speak Easy it's not it's going to be special event space so the Speak Easy is kind of the idea of the space but it's not necessarily going to be open to the public on a continuous basis um the idea is to use it more exclusively for private events ticketed events that the restaurant hosts not really a um it's we're calling it the Speak Easy because it is presented as a Speak Easy but not in like the way where you know just kind of anybody's coming in on a s-day a week basis so it's not going to be we show up we know the password and we get inside the way they do it like in the city or anything like that nights for like ticketed events but it's not a random night now okay I just the only reason I'm clarifying this because it's going to go into the resolution as being a special event space and I just don't because that's what you're testifying to and I if that's not going to be your intent I don't want someone and the board approves the application want fromen they decied they're operating as AAL it's open sing night and that's not what they testified before the board so I just want you to be careful um if if you're going in as saying a special events space and that's what it's going to say in the resolution yeah so I mean um is there any contemplation that when there aren't special events that it would be used as a lounge type area I daily you know as a restaurant we want business to Warrant that every single seat in the restaurant is filled every single night so I I don't want to speak to in the future right now our thought is to just primarily use it for private events um but I but I think s to clarify for the board's edification you're not looking to limit this in your presentation tonight your anticipation is well that might be your immediate goal you're looking to use it as a normal space ideally yes it's that but right I just want wanted to make clar because the last thing we wanted someone coming back a year from now and saying hey they've changed totally what they testified to yeah I'm just a little concerned about that um about the event space because I run into that um where there would be challenges um as Mark said not on the regular space but on it using as a gathering um space as like um for private events that may come into an issue on a ch um being challenged by um just outside the public um so like how often do you plan to I guess advertise it as a private space like how often will you use you anticipate it being used and and just how would you consider the parking for the private space um because there is no parking that you're presenting there's no parking um it's hard to say how many days a week it will be booked um there is event we do a good amount of events in the restaurant itself um like sen daily is a business we hope that we have enough volume to book it seven days a week I think realistically it would most probably be a handful of days a week um but I like I don't know for sure until we start know booking events in the space against traction it would be hard to kind of like how you use your second floor as private space it's just transitioning downstairs okay and how would people access this space from outside is there direct entrance into this space or you coming from the restaurant oh so there is currently a door on the outside um and then we do have um plans to put a door on the inside as well so access place anyone from the board have any questions for Michaela so just another point so we're classifying this as a restaurant slash event space yes okay just just so it's on the record yeah I think for the purposes as far as the board's concerning this forget I'm going to put in the resolution that they're anticipating using it mostly for private event space but the board should just be considering this just being a normal part of the restaurant and it will be available for the public to seven days a week yeah exactly that makes sense so it's not like a separate business that's what we're saying this is all 26 West all the name everything We're not gonna call it a different restaurant okay all right name but same same everything right okay does anyone from the board have any questions does anyone from the public have any questions for the applicate have one question all right Greg uh so for the um exterior uh basement entrance um if you're using that as a primary entrance there's no sidewalk that goes down Bo Club court so I just have some concerns about access you know safe access from you know the road that's why we um originally we didn't have a entrance on the inside we edit it to include that and there is a sidewalk across the street on Bo Club court so we would direct guests down that side and then bring them across that okay um but there's no there's no ramp at the corner of at that end of Bo Club corner right there's no Ada ramp I there is like the I don't I don't know specific that better so I I do have an exhibit for tonight I guess would be A2 okay and what is A2 Mr M A2 is an elevation along boat club way as well as a modification to the uh basement level plan that's what is A2 so A2 is a revision to theer plan that will allow for you took I did so the door ERS all the way down the end right the existing door is uh there is single Riser off of the limited amount of sidewalk that does along that the building um where a recess exists that is currently at grade with the street um so in the uh exhibit A3 which are the photographs stting which is up at West Front Street there's a sidewalk on the um east side of the uh um way uh it does have uh street lights um and there is a handrail uh because there is a some raid uh you know moving down uh the the alley there when you get to the bottom of the um building to the east uh you'll notice that the uh the recess in our building is at grade with the street so the um after looking at the letter uh from the burrow engineer we then went see how we could get an ADA Compliant ramp uh from the street is with the street lights on that sidewalk it doesn't look like there's enough room to get a wheelchair down I uh yeah currently I know that people go up and down the alley itself certainly Beyond uh the building to the east of ours um P the gun holes property there's no sidewalk at all on either and uh people do currently Park uh near the um boat club and then alley through the street um I believe that was at one point point I know the CL way was a one way I think there's been some discussion about going back to that I know that's not anything work can handle but that would be probably something that I think you know the council should probably be visit if somebody's going to walk down court with that wheelchair they better hold on tight Well we'd certainly like you to submit um if there's an approval some drawings on how to solve for that getting into the building and submit that tour engineer of course we revise those prior to any res I noticed today that that rear corner of the building where one of the windows used to be apparently had a little confrontation with a truck uh and there was some severe damage to the building uh since I've been involved with the building CL mic closer please since I've been involved with the the building I'm aware of two incidents ilding being hit one minor um and then one that required a mediation half think that was coming out find the buildings to the east uh sort of took that that turn a little wide and CLI the corner um so my question is as part of this project will you be uh refacing and finishing the that portion of the building to match thejason portions yes thank you I'm sorry so the so the exterior is going to be changed to to match is that I just heard matches the adjacent surfaces exterior will be uh repaired I believe it's a a match remainder of building okay thank you do any you other question actually about the handicap situation okay anyone else have any questions for the arit okay let's keep going swearing testimony you're about to give will be the truth the whole truth but the truth so help you guys yes I just state your name for the record n a z z r oone c n business address is 125 Half Mile Road s 2001 and you're a licensed planner in the state of New Jersey correct yes thank you welcome and you've testified here what a few times as well as about 450 other planning and zoning boards years as an expert in New Jersey current and valid they teach Planning and Zoning courses for the recer center for government services okay thank you welcome if you would um could you just describe to the board what you were asked to review what you did review and what you're find things were from plan perspective of course so Eventing chair and members of the board I was asked to review the application submission documents professional review letters that were prepared uh review the bar's master plan and Don microphone Clos please view the bar's master plan and zoning ordinance and come to a conclusion relative to if the variance Rel the required in conjunction with the application statutory required Point as Mr bradsky indicated earlier there are no exterior improvements really associated with that building we are just simply trying to repurpose some existing underutilized space and existing building what that does is well it doesn't create or change any anything with regard to the bulk of the building as far as the setbacks it does create a parking demand associated with it so it does create um a variant situation even though we have no parking now and we have a demand for 97 spaces the increase um parking demand of about eight or nine spaces we do need to see variance statutorily I think the board can grant under both or C2 section of the municipal landage law that governs bulk variances I think the C1 are appropriate here because one of the conditions for granting a C1 hardship variance is lawful pre-existing structures on a piece of property and here you have it almost completely impervious and completely developed site it would be um very onerous at best to asking applicant to demolish the structure to try to meet the parking demand so I think the C1 is appropriate here in the absence of C1 though the board can still the relief if you feel as a board that one or more purposes of the landage law would be Advanced Municipal landage law by the application so I think that there are certainly two of the purposes in the municipal land law Advanced by this application criteria g talks about sufficient space in a variety of location in a variety of locations for a variety of uses and then criteria M of the landage thoughts about an efficient use of the land and I would say if you had an opportunity to look at the master plan um this is a permitted use in own but the master plan here in the burrow um talks at length about promoting retention of existing businesses to facilitate a favorable business climate to continue to be a destination for shopping the Arts personal services dining and its entertainment and to maintain an improve commercial Vitality of the downtown those goals were in the 2019 master plan in the 2023 master plan we again talked about establishing a strong cohesive downtown area that preserves the distinct character of individual business districts so I think that's certainly allowing the applicant to utilize this space um in their existing building I love the concept of a Speak Easy from a planning point of view I I have no concern uh the use is permitted right the restaurant Bar Lounge is permitted here so I would love to see the applicant be able to use it on a continuous basis but also use it for um private events I think you know to help the board understand how it might be used is if you were going to book a dinner at 26 West on the Navy syn and you had maybe 10 to 15 people going you might want instead of having a table or making a reservation you might want to have the opportunity to have private room so that's one of the ways in which the space can be utilized so I think it's a great addition to the downtown fabric of the burrow and I think certainly one and you know the parking variance is one can be granted with no substantial detriment to the Zone planner the public good if the board would favor questions anyone from the public have any questions for the planner okay thank you you're welcome uh Mr chair that's that's all I have with regard to um case obviously has any the application boils down to the property owner looking to remain competitive stay in the space this particular location you know doesn't have the benefits River Walk so that's that's an additional challenge that that that this particular establishment and so um just trying to do what it what it needs to be done within the confines of its space to uh you know remain at and be able to accommodate the requests existing and anyone from the public have any comments regarding the application come onic sir than you share your mic please I I'm just going to S you in swearing testimony you're about to give will be the truth the whole truth but the truth s you God yes sir and just state your name for the record can it spell the last name [Music] please and your address please sir 165 Spring Street okay go ahead I think that 26 West is Mak big Improvement on that area because it's a lot of wasted space that once it's cleaned properly put together done well I think it's great opportunity for residents for visitors to enjoy 26 West more so it's a great opportunity for the town red bank for 26 West and I walk by there every day and I think it would be very nice have that nice and clean great opportunity as far as clean goes I'd love to see those trash cans moved in a little more quickly if they were still there tonight sure they're probably picked up in the morning it would be nice to see that I realize it's not all you but at least the section you have control over it would be nice if that was cleaned up a little more quickly on up days thank you yeah anyone else soon the public with any comments I just have a question is there any additional signing signing that will be um provided for this new space answer no question SE do we have any public safety comments on this one no there was then if you're finished I open it up to the board if anyone would like to make a motion please do so I'll move to Grant the variant we have a motion we have a second second bonis yes Dano yes D yes yes Hernandez yes and frerick stone yes thank you Mr thank you we have a couple other things we have the minutes from July 10th and July 24th does anyone have any comments additions or issues with the minutes I'll make a motion July 10 [Music] second all in favor any oppos or abstain I'm also making July 24th if there are no additions or changes we have a second second all in favor any Iain yes correct our last administrative item was we have the resolution from 72 Bridge Avenue that's that Condo building across from the train station um my only comment is in the past we have U added to resolutions a comment a requirement about finishes and amenities for the affordable units to match those of the market rate units if no one has an objection I've asked Mark to add that to the resolution so we don't have a problem as we have had in the past so if no one has a problem with that I'll move the resolution as amended as amended second Christina bonis yes yes D yes wion B yes it's Hernandez yes before we adjourn thank you again to the public for coming we very much appreciate come people coming by and saying hello motion to adjourn I'll move I'll second that all in favor I I our next meeting is September 11th correct yes have a fun time see you all then and there's been a request for a picture of the board so if we could all stand up when we stand up and move to the center we're going to have a picture