e e mail to the asbg park prostitute times in Star Ledger this meeting is being tape recorded and in the event the applicant used the services of court reporter to transcribe the tapes the board requires a copy of the transcrip we break up about 8m for deliberation testimony heard thus far in the conference room on the first floor public is invited to attend however discussion between board members and the public is not permitted at that time no new case will be heard heard after 9:00 p.m. Red Bank Zoning Board of adjustment has maintain a policy cut off hour at 9:30 p.m. for its hearings any applicant not heard this evening will be carried over to the next scheduled meeting uh Pledge of Allegiance pledge allegiance to the flag United States of America to The Republic which it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all okay administrative matters we have some uh meeting minutes to approve yes I need a motion to approve all in favor I okay we have a resolution of approval for 40 eastberg in place Mr chairman this was an approval to uh construction of a detached garage at the site and construction of an enclosed front porch and extension of an existing driveway and the conditions of note were compliance with um Shauna's review memorandum confirmation that there's no further expansion or intensification of any structure on the site absent further approval from the board uh the garage is not to be utilized for uh commercial purposes and the garage is not to be rented or leased or utilized by anyone other than the occupants of the single family home um and our standard no no light spill over on only residential style lighting shall be utilized for the exterior of the garage and um I think you had asked that the applicants representatives and successor owners Rectify any problems directly associated with the improvements and then remember we have a odd little provision in our ordinance so in the event the app in the future to repave the exist driveway in place then in that event they shall submit permit the same to the zoning office and the applicant shall comply with any directive our friend sets forth because I think that's a work in progress right possibly and um no water sewer water service sewer service or Plumbing Service to the garage that was a gist of of the conditions if that's acceptable we we can adopt that I make a motion to approve make a motion roll call yes an Tor yes Rond Mass yes Eileen Hogan yes Beno yes Sharon was abent Vincent light yes Anna Cruz yes and [Music] Eugene okay next we have the administrative of approval for 121 Mon stre and Mr chairman if I could just very briefly uh uh there was an extensive discussion and you'll recall that 121 M Street application was previously approved by the board and the applicants have uh requested an ad a few administrative changes based upon uh letters that they have written and have been uh reviewed and essentially the changes reflect uh changing uh the three uh garbage areas for three parking spaces and increasing the size of the undersized unit you recall they had Grant they had been granted variance relief for uh uh units several units which were smaller than permitted and they've now uh increased the size of those units without without increasing the size of building so as to eliminate um that variance correct Mr McKenna yes and then I think a setback variance was eliminated and um there's been a request that we administratively change uh or authorize to change and as we discussed there's always an issue as should you do it administratively should you do it on notice and some of the things we look at are they material changes are they is it going to dramatically change the way the building looks are you creating any new variances are you exacerbating any previously granted variances and then we had here the added uh complication of a prior litigation and the applicant uh notwithstanding the litigation and the uh decision the applicants feel comfortable proceeding um so there was a a discussion uh about requesting administrative approval and I believe and I'll defer that to you that there was discussion that that the board would administratively review that subject to following caveats number one uh there's been no decision as to the canopy uh yet because the board wants to see the actual elevation of what that canopy looks like so all rights are reserved in that regard and um I think we're also uh comp information that uh the administrative change would be subject to tnm reviewing uh the revised PL so as to make sure that the revised plans are consistent with uh the letters and information presented to the board and compliance with all prior conditions of approval um and confirmation that uh any change would not change the affordable housing obligations and contributions uh so if that's uh acceptable to the board we can administratively approve that if that's the board's desire we need to take a v yeah I would authorize a vote a motion you need a motion I would have a motion yes okay to administratively uh change uh the 121 plans as we just discussed and uh subject to those conditions make a motion from what he just said in a second all right do you we want to do all in favor pleas or sure you can do all in favor so all in favor I and just for the record any objections or extensions okay thank you great thank you thank you very much okay next we have 41 Reckless place okay Mr chairman as the applicant uh Team comes forward we're just going to do couple of preliminary procedural things uh so first up is there anyone here who had any questions or comments or concerns regarding the sufficiency of the notice they received all right I don't see any uh Shauna the board secretary and I reviewed the notice and found everything to be in order so it' be my humble opinion that we have jurisdiction to proceed tonight and uh what we're also going to do is just for the record the applicant is La Piccolo Properties LLC and from the closure it looks like the principles are Dominic La Piccolo and lucindo uh Le Piccolo so hearing those names does that ring any uh questions or comments or concerns about conflicts or potential conflicts I don't see any and what we'll do is we will swear in our board professionals so Shauna Ebanks is a licensed planner and she is the Burrow's director of Community Development and Jacqueline durman is the board engineer uh so good evening to uh both of you if you could just Raise Your Right hands do you swear that the information and testimony you're about to provide to the extent you provide any will be the truth to the best of your knowledge to help you God I do okay let let the record reflect that both Witnesses have been sworn and for the record we will Mark into the record what we as a board have before us so A1 is the development permit application and Associated denial letter dated May 13 2024 A2 is the intent to proceed dated June 4th 2024 and A3 is the uh plans prepared by Edward O'Neal uh junior registered architect dated May 8th 2024 consisting of two sheets and A4 is the review memorandum from the afores said Shauna Ebanks and that's dated July 16 20124 so uh good evening Mr McKenna good evening Mr chairman and members of the board um if you don't mind I'm GNA um engage in a little bit of nostalgia before of this application I grew up in the building next door and as a child um my father had his wall as excuse me his dental office there as well as our home and I looked at this structure that were looking to replace this evening for about 30 years while I was growing up my father and I always said you know it's too bad they couldn't make that garage bigger but only fit one vehicle and here we are tonight ironic and this gentleman uh has cited that that is what he thinks would be best for his property um really just a faity Al looks like a two-part should m a little bit closer sorry um testify as to what the functionality of the existing which is and that is the reason for um the request for the variance in this particular case um um but I'd like to uh describe all this all right good evening if you could just uh welcome Mr O'Neil if you could just state your name and business address for the record Edward W J5 street right and do you if you could raise your right hand do you swear that the information and testimony you're about to provide will be the truth the best your knowledge to help you God and for the record you're testifying in your capacity as a licensed architect with all licenses and certifications up to date yes I'm also some of my testimon planning related and planner thank you and uh you've been uh accepted as a witness before this board before correct many times many times um would you like describe to the board specifically what your plan these are just color into the mic because those mic do you want those marked or no if they're just Illustrated the same they're the same ones got it so we're okay we don't need it okay so the existing building here in this brown color sits in the back the building is was never designed for automobiles it's probably only about 18 ft deep so the walls it's really not even parking space and it's about 18 ft wide and again with walls and things like that there's no way to get more than vehicle and it would be a small vehicle that so the proposal is to replace it with a three car garage to fit three spaces um this area here which is in the red is a Surface parking space now so at the end of the day you have as many parking spaces as exist except the two that are in the garage would actually be legit and the proposal is that employees will park in the room so the variances being sought are the proposed garage is 74 square feet or a 500 sare foot maximum is allowed it's a three um the setbacks are the side setback is proposed to be 3.1 ft for E required and the rear is 5.1 ft for the building meets so the zoning release relief we're seeking Vari is that again the present garage cannot fit two cars therefore what we are adding is a legitimate parking space to the project which actually benefits the town from the standpoint of street parking spaces on um and all three spaces will be contained that Gage that's correct that's correct um also the one space here is a little difficult to navigate because of the distance between the old garage and the parking space and so we're actually by doing this and closing the space it makes that space a little more useable the spaces within the building are Will T toing so that will accommodate you know opening and closing to move there the setback of 3 .1 ft the existing building is 1.8 ft so we're actually increasing the setback from 1.8 to 3.1 3.1 actually is a regulation in the building code for fire reason so once you hit over three fee the building doesn't have to have all sorts of special things done to it rent to spread fire from this for the neighboring property so we're actually bettering that which betters the health safety Community um the um the 5.1 feet in the back from right now it's about 10 reducing that to 5.1 and part of that reason is because of the depth of the garage needed to fit the car so the front of the garage sits in same location but the back then intrudes a little bit more however there is a six foot fence in the back to Shield that now that would remain and Mr O'Neal it's a fact isn't it that uh at 3 PR Reckless the structure that the garage is less than than three 3 feet I think it's it's two feet off the property and then the next one going down towards Wood Street that one is about two feet so all of the garages reo's place are within probably two to three feet of the of the line where we're actually going to be five it's kind of an interesting thing because in the building code if it's a house it can be closer to the property line but if it's it's not a house in this case it's not it's an office building it has to be further away so since those garages were all built before they rting into professional lies at their time they were find but all the buildings have a attached we basically designed the building in the attempt to kind of conform to the old house so the way we did it was breaking down the mass into small actually three roofs that go side to side these cover that up um to go front to back as you can see here and then we added Windows High which let light in but don't interfere with the bars and the use of any wall space for storage and things like that the colors the colors here are rendered not my best render de effort because the colors of the existing house are quite unique but they are blish color and this would follow them so so the space above the where the parking is going to be is going to be used for storage or I mean obviously it's 16 feet high open space okay there would be collar ties which are hold the hold the rafter together you Bang Your Head On In The Attic they would be going across and then that would hold them T and then that it's really just one space here and you can see this is a full-size car shown and if you multiply it by three The Columns are here and here so the doors can open and close and then facing one side there'll be windows but not the other and the reason there are no windows on the other side of that fire the the um I think the 41 Reckless itself is one of the best looking commercial buildings in the whole region and would you match the colors on the garage that's the idea yeah really terrific colors what's the size of the current garage structure it's approximately 18 ft Square 360 this would be 24 by 32 which is a typical three far so 360 ft now and that just happens to fit within the three spaces that are there the old building in one space it just kind of fides right in and okay is there going to be electric going up to there certainly for lighting just for lighting but no other utilities doors we are we are going to request a water bib which is just a hose exterior hose water but other than that there'll be no interior utilities other than the no Plumbing no Saints no Reus backs up of course to another very deep yard is that correct or a lot behind you and what is what is right behind the garage right yes but is that towards the front yes yeah okay yes actually all of right there the houses are fairly close to the street I grew up next to 34 which is in the pretty close proximity to the street right right so they have those very very deep backyard between their house and this garage any concerns from our engineer on anything no they're not increasing um impious from ston waterer perspective rating is the same I don't see I don't see any concerns in terms of gring the sh water any other questions from the board any question any questions from the public on this application okay CL that part this one pick here wants to ask question I think we tried to expedite this a little bit cover some like I said anybody has any questions on the board any comments um I think the uh somewhere what we read uh there was a provision that this would be used for the tenants the building not for anything not outside parking yeah it's it's all um just one question Planet said there's potential for stacking the cars okay that was just a m right tyo okay no point okay any other comments from any of the board members application any comments from the public on this application those the public motion anybody like to make a motion to approve or deny this application I'll approve it I'll second Mr Kennedy you sure and uh two quick things U one real quick uh is it interesting point you recall we earlier tonight we did a resolution for another garage that was over the 500 square foot that required a use variance because of the where our ordinances is read and shna has to correct me like 12 times on this but cha so if it's a residential lot and it's O the garage is over 500 square F feet you would need one would need a use variance that's correct because you can't have two uh principal structures structures on a a residential so that in this situation because it's a business lot uh they need the bulk v c variance relief for the size of the garage but it's not a use variance yes that's correct so it's just interesting and then Mr chairman the if the board's inclined I think some of the condition would be compliance with all promises commitments and representations the team made compliance with Sha's review memorandum the garage is not utilized for Living Spaces they get all necessary uh permits we usually have a perpetually uh U maintaining any Landscaping no adverse light spill over and uh obviously it's only going to be one garage you're going to get demolition permits demolish the one and then it's only when at the end of the day only be uh one uh obviously it's utilized for not utilized for living purposes and uh as an you had suggested it's not used or leased or rented to third parties it's for the tenants at the site uh and let's see some of the things tonight I made a note here to you know give a thumbs up to Mr McKenna for having the Vision 40 years ago about bigger sorry you had to wa so long right exactly it'll be used for the employees uh we're going to have the uh the six foot fence will remain and uh the top uh quote unquote open space is going to with other than the Collier tier Crossings it's just open space uh same material uh or it's going to be uh the color will match the garage and and the and the building uh no utilities except for the electrical no interior utility except for electrical with the exception of the hosewater bib and uh no we're going to clarify that it's not stack there's no stacking parking in there so if those conditions are acceptable just no adverse effects on storm water good to the neighboring properties awesome thank you so if those are acceptable uh to the uh board members and the motion and the seconder we can take a vote on that yeah and Anor yes Raymond Mass yes eile Hogan yeso yes Sharon Lee Yes Vincent L yes Anna Cruz yes Texas thank you thank you thanks very much okay next up we have 268 Broad Street okay as the applicant team comes forward is there anyone here who had any questions or comments or concerns regarding the sufficiency of the notice and I don't see any and let the record reflect that the board secretary and shaa and I reviewed various aspects of the notice and found everything uh to be uh acceptable so it would be my opinion that we have jurisdiction to proceed uh we will for the second time tonight swear and Shauna Ebanks she's our director of community development and a professional planner and we're going to swear in Jacqueline durman our board engineer ladies if you could just please raise your right hands do you swear that the information you provide to the extent you provide any will be the truth the best your knowledge to help you guide yes all right let the record reflect uh both Witnesses have been sworn and what we'll do is we'll mark into the record what we as a board have before us so A1 is the development permit application and the associated denial letter that's dated May 9th 202 2024 A2 is the survey uh prepared by Michael Lynch and that's dated March 21st 2022 A3 is the sign renderings prepared by yes graphic consisting of two pages dated May 6 2024 and A4 is the review memorandum from the afores said Shana Ebanks dated July 16 2024 and I think that's the gist of it so good evening and welcome Mr shorts can you just pull the mic really go very close yes we gonna have squ name sure if you could just state your name please Robert and just spell your last name r and your address business address sure um 268 br do you swear that the information and testimony you're about to provide will be the truth the best of your knowledge to help you guide absolutely and just for the record uh are you the applicant or you uh is the owner I'm the applicant and the owner okay and the owner is Weston or W property okay and you're the president yes okay thank you and the other Frank you know just uh speak up and we don't have the best mic system so you're name is Frank Caruso Frank Caruso R USS okay and your business address stre okay uh do you swear that the information and testimony you're about to provide will be the truth the best your knowledge to help you got I do okay and your affiliation uh vice president of the company yeah got it thank you ladies and gentlemen uh this is an application for veterans F from the sign briefly part company purchased the premises there within the last year it's do construction which should be completed within the next 30 days be building there there was an existing sign there and what he's proposing to put in a sign that will blend with the building which he is putting together as him a few questions uh he requires four variances under your C Vari C variances I think you should know know flexible variances and test will be whether the benefit of the property outweighs the detriment to Z regulations like ask Mr pman to testify Mr pman uh tell us what your position yeah president of uh W property and did you purchase this property yes I did how long ago I think it's actually about over two years now and finishing construction on hopefully the next 30 days and previously the building was uh occupied by a wall your intention when you actually I think there was two tenants there it was a tenant upstairs three tenants there attorney down down on the lower two levels and there's two tenants upstairs so totaling three and you intend to occupy premises or portion yes what portion the upper level and what you to for the bottom that's correct uh for his testimony I'd like to have Mr I have a quick question one tenant on the first floor hopefully I'm hoping for one okay so you'll probably need spaces for two names on the sign there's a lower level there as well so it's a lower level space which space which is sprinkled and occupied and then there's the middle level which is considered the ground floor and then there's the upper level which we where um occup occupying so you might need spaces for three names uh absolutely okay thank you yes Mr by the way we've been years us to run Ser not sure if you remember 101 yeah Mr so are you employed by Mr and you're familiar yes correct y um now could you tell us about the uh what sign you like to put on that sign yes so the intent um not sure if you if everyone's familiar with what was there previously but the design of that sign that was existing very similar to the building in the architecture it's a very unique building considering it's a little bit different than most of the other uh buildings on uh Broad Street so it's a little more of a commercial style looking building so previously they had a cedar type siding that was vertical and horizontal on there so that matched significantly close to what they had on it I'm sorry what was it it was a cedar yeah it was like an old Cedar um siding that was on the exterior of the building it was kind of like in a diagonal shape of I'm not sure what 8y mod so that that was on the exterior of the building previously and it was also on the lawn side as well so it matched very cohesively between the two from a perspective of what you know visually what you would see from the road so you would see building that matched architecturally with the sign out match architecturally so r intent is to obviously upgrade the existing sign because it doesn't match what we're currently building in that area so our intent is to have a little bit of a more aesthetically pleasing sign that matches similar qualities that we're humanizing on the exterior of the building so we're using a composite wood that's called new tech new tech is basically kind of like you would see like a Tru boarding so it's it's a very durable boarding that that can be used um also on facade but it can also be used on decking as well so we're g to we're planning on using that as the back portion of the sign and then utilizing aluminum paneling to create the uh individual panels for them for the not only our space but for any potential tenant space um so for variance purposes just just so you know your the sign will main exact spot sign is which is over 24t the the curve comp so our our setback for our current sign is a little bit further than you see typically on some of the other locations throughout uh Broad Street most of those are closer to 12 or 14 I don't know exactly what the ordinance calls for but um ours is a little bit further back so we're a little bit closer to the building and not quite as close to the street so we do understand that we we we're looking to have a larger sign but we're also considering the fact that it's being further away from the streets so we don't have any obstruction to view or any type of conflicts with people having eress in and out of the uh Drive Lanes basically and you SE correct yes so and there is no corre corre based on the distance that we are we're approximately about 24 feet from the tur line so we're we're set back far enough where it it's still visually you can still see it from the road meaning when you pass by but you're not going to have an issue when you're actually physically driving out of a lane to exit or enter into the building area for us or the neighbors all right going down there are four variances that we're talking about first has to do with square footage Ying sign X here that's 32 s yes so the current sign is approximately 4 and a half feet by about four feet on each face of it so it's approximately 16 square feet um on either side of the Triangular shape existing um front long sign our new sign that we're we're uh looking to potentially have would be a little bit larger in height but it's about the same width so it's it's approximately four feet um actual dimensions 4 fo three and then the height is approximately 8 foot6 with the uh top portion and that the reason that we're going that high is to be able to accommodate multiple areas for not only us but also the t space for second variance has to do with the face yeah so I know that I believe the code or the ordinance calls that it's only supposed to be maximum of I believe two two and a half feet the actual face or the dimension of it I don't know you guys are able to see any of this but basically this section um we can adjust this you know assuming that that's um a point that needs to be addressed but essentially we have two foot six here and we have a three foot section for here for the changeable tenant space the reason that this one's a little bit larger on the bottom is so that it could be divided potentially into that first floor and basement so we are going to have potentially two tenants along with our own um basically our Master sign at the top for our own company that we have Jack you know what the requirement is in for signs on that area what the so there's two types um there is the um one where you it's typically on that street where you see the two posts and a clearance um and then one where it's Clos served it's on the ground um and those like just have to be uh I have to look that up for one second but it's it's typically what you see on on Broad Street in like Maple in the professional office Zone is there a restriction on the height of a sign that you know um I'll pull up the organ so the height for a um for a G3 um which is closer to what the applicant is proposing the maximum height is six feet I'm sorry no that's not closer sorry the height for what um without any clearance something on the ground um would be 2 and 1 half fet that's the maximum height for the ones where it's two post um the the maximum height there is 6 fet with a clearance of two and a half feet before the beginning of the sign is that what you mean by clearance yeah so this from the grade to the top um to the bottom of the sign just as a question just try to understand the math of the dimensions you said it's four3 in by 86 in which is 36 and a little bit um I saw 72 square foot in the sides okay just trying to Recon than and then just to kind of expand on what sh was explaining arin's sort of a blend of almost the two scenarios because the building is not like a standards you know typically on Broad Street you see a lot of buildings that look like houses on L and those have the Standalone post with the two foot clear in and four foot space for the sign itself in our case ours almost Blends into almost what you would see at like the Santana Bank which is more of a commercial building that has a lower sign that sits on the ground but it's only approximately two and a half three feet looks like it's more than that but I'm not sure off of the ground itself and that's like a fxed sign that sits around basic um so we're attempting to kind of blend the two together a little bit in order to allow us to be able to get enough space to be able to comate for the multiple that are eventually going to be occupying the space and then as well like I said we're trying to aesthetically connect to what the building existing and Chang your building is probably one of the biggest buildings up and down the street I'm so 77 100 square feet for the size of the building between each level so it's uh you're also asking you want to put in uh internally internal liing ex so we were looking um to explain a difference sure so typically what you would see on Broad Street is you have the two close sides like we had mentioned before with the four foot area and the twoot F on the bottom hanging sign um those signs are typically uh illuminated with Landscaping lighting so you have a bulb that sits in the ground shines up at the light up at the sign and then eliminates that area um we're proposing to have a back lit um sign so it's it's basically LEDs that shine light backwards and onto the sign itself and the reason that we're we've um went with this option was because typically that type of Illumination has less reflection because it's Lighting on the back it's not bouncing off so when you have a light that's in the ground and it shines up on some sort of fixed panel whether it's a h or something else the reflectivity of that light can bounce in multiple directions so we're trying to concentrate the light since it is a larger sign just by Illuminating the back lit portion of it and it it would shine up against the uh the material which is that composite on the back side so what's the typical hours of operation for the um your tenants or the tenants that you're expecting to it's it's professional office so your typical hours at 8 to 5 so could be 8:30 to 5 or or 7:30 to3 so you plan to have those lights on pretty much the entire night or from I thought about that um IDE I would I I would assume it's like the ones that are on are currently there I would think theys right most people is that is there is there a restriction on that if there's a restriction yeah usually the the code is that if it's adjacent um across from orjon to residential property then it has to be shut off at so hour we got make on a timer that's necessary see any detri to any other variables or anything no like I said before ours a set back significant further back than other locations if you drive past Broad Street you'll be able to notice um where our sign location is versus the other ones in my own opinion obviously just my opinion um other signs I feel like are more detrimental to visibility purposes because of where they're and when you pull up and you actually sit in your car you're looking for oncoming traffic you have a sign that's right there and physical blocks you ours it's not in that position it's actually set back further so you would you wouldn't even be to the point where you would getting to the road yet yeah do you know if there's any other signs on Broad Street that are illuminated like that I don't know that answer I think I that area I think a littleit I don't know I don't want to say internally internally yes okay and then I don't know about well as far goes right you know they're kind of diagonal from where we are on Street those two buildings I mean it'sa same issue but with external no you don't want did you say Santander is internal sander I think sander is internal R red yeah I think the the white the white into it like it's yeah the box of it and with the letters in it this is more of honestly I would call this more of a Halo lit um type of lighting instead of um like the internal lights that we really um see coming for us that require a variance where it's the channel letters and the lighting is inside of it um this one is more it's we've approved applications like that that type of letterring like a Halo and because I guess the cutout of um the metal pieces um that I guess the the intent is for the light to shine through those um metal pieces so the lettering is not lit it's the surrounding yeah but instead of I guess where we usually see the block letter and then it's surrounding it now the light's going to be more concentrated inside I guess because of the the stencil that's there light a light with stencil over the top there been other signs like this approved no this is our F the first one like this I believe Halo yes the Halo yes but um just the way how it's inverted where it's it's the opposite of what we us to at when you say that it's um about three feet higher than all the other signs on that street it's like eight and a half this is supposed to be eight and a half right correct I think and the requirement most of sign I think was that done on purpose so you'd be noticed more sign designer so they want they want to show their creativity I respect obviously bring the mic to you so obviously we're we're in the Construction general contracting business so L to let be as creative as as they can um and Nick spearheaded Frank Spar headed this project with uh uh yes yes Graphics um so yes they were trying to be creative I would submit it's a very plain signs combin with yeah no yeah they they match the building totally yes I agree with that on the building all that other stuff yeah it's a beautiful building so I actually have a concern with the height it's typically well it's it doesn't match any of of the signs in the area um do you really need a sign that large so I I think we could take a foot off that be fine to be honest with you seven and a half fet is I think more than enough well considering that the average person is six fo or shorter you know just the the idea that the sign is higher than people is what bothers me and typically those type of signs are seen at like hospitals so like you know larger these large Office Buildings um these institutionalizes buildings like those are what those signs to me um when I Google it um that's usually with seene in front of it instead of these small scale Office Buildings and I think on that street um even though it's not historic but one of the things um about having those houses adapt to reused to professional office is to kind of maintain the look that it's um you're still driving through like a residential neighborhood even though it's meant for business I think that's the look that that's meant for that section of Broad Street especially the professional office and I actually um I guess we're full respect you know we respect to that you know we do a lot of stor work in five burs Manhattan U Manhattan Brooklyn Queens predominantly so we respect the stor we go in front of flark um I understand that and um however it's is obviously it's six feet which the height of other signs I would say if we can conform to the height and give give up the height to get it to six feet I would say this would be a beautiful sign that would and we gave I don't know how many mailers we went out but nobody objected to that um these the the certified letters and um we do believe that this is a beautiful sign for the neighborhood for the vibe of the neighborhood and um but if we do bring it down six feet I don't see why um we wouldn't wouldn't work for everybody I think yeah bringing it down to the height of the ones that are on the post um would be better I'm fine with 6et six feet I don't want it to be a it's just really intense point the point of it is not to like look at that gorgeous sign I don't want to take away from our beautiful building so I think that um full disclosure it's the first time I'm looking at it today so I think it's uh six feet is perfect How would this no I think this Mark it at 6 feet 6 feet they mark it at six feet I think they all be with that right that's if the board finds it acceptable absolutely thank you I appreciate everybody fouret three so it's about the same as any I mean I think the signs are all turn on your mic sorry I think the signs are all developed so that if you're driving this is your range right so you're going down the road and you see something and for see SE the driver something on the side of the road in the in the front yard would be about six feet 8 feet would be like this looking up that I think six feet is perfect so I think that's why six feet is kind of the norm yeah for whether they're back lit or however they're lit um the width is like uh really all this is determined by how much stuff you need to put on and if you went out with 20 tenants then you're going to have you know small tight font to get a amount have this building is probably five but I mean Max I have now is five if was two and two downstairs two and two so would be five Max but uh he's gonna have to you know make it work with six until the BP wants his own office then he already has his own office right next to my sister I need a floor okay any any other questions from the board I'm having trouble visualizing the type of lighting that that's going to illuminate the sign do you have it would be inside do you have like an an example that you could show us or images or I'm a cent believe almost I didn't print this it's not something that the white is supposed to attract to it's a very um uh indirect white here's a color thank you let's white with landscape stick out much more than this yeah it looks nice it's probably safer easier to Mo around okay any other questions from the board would block one any questions from the public don't see any there any comments from the board microphone any comments from the public post public portion anybody like to make a motion to approve or deny after Mr Kennedy States all his sure facts if took the liberty of writing down some potential conditions of approval if the board sees fit uh obviously compliance with all the promises commitments and representations the team made tonight uh compliance with Shaun's review memorandum and uh obviously the uh the sign is just limited to the tenants in the building correct it's not others and there's no blinking or flashing or things like that correct corre and uh shaa uh I think we said a Time and are we going to I know in other similar applications we said that the light needs to be turned off from at blank o'clock to blank are we I think it all depends on uh whether or not it's um facing a residential property or residential so we don't need something here I think we should put in the ordinance um whatever it is to code or whatever it is in ordinance yeah some of those builds have they have something at this point time this example I saw was in red I don't know if that's a sign you want to see it looks like Ramsay's Kitchen the red lights behind the illuminated loose sight panels oh it gives off like a red yeah it gave a r an orangey glow I mean it's it's question is do we want it to only be white and do we need someone to test how many lumens is that the the foot candle yeah how many foot counts it actually is because we don't know that without seeing what type of light bulb is lighting white light yeah but but led white lights come in I mean I have a mirror that you touch it and you hold it longer and it goes and it and it comes out at you after a while you know so I mean I think that's up for our engineer to kind of throw out uh are there limits so I I would recommend that you submit in your revised drawings um for the six feet just to show the lighting candle the footprint and if you have the intentions of using color because it's it's um not allowed to be spilled use the foot candles yeah the foot candle and it has to be as bright as um within the property lines so Sean to say it again uh submit the lighting and foot candle details yeah um and it can exceed pass the property line okay so no adverse lights bu it definitely will not that's let's don't forget this light is going to be shine um onto our property line like which will never go past the driveway and then it'll go we have multiple feet onto property so it definitely won't and then we had uh in terms of uh no uh compromising any sight triangle easements and I mean technically is this a one or two-sided or three-sided prided prided so it's you have front and rear which would be facing north and south South and then you have the um Eastern View which is going to give you the street address thank you and I think uh obviously we sometimes say no new no neon and it's not it's a stationary sign there's no interchangeable copy like computer-wise it's just gonna be put that no and uh and then the other uh some of the things we talked about tonight were uh well it's going to be in the exact same spot as the uh existing sign and I guess uh I had a question uh so just for clarification purposes when it says 72 square feet that's for two of the sides it's 36 sare feet it's gonna be less right 26 52 sareet total square feet total okay and then um uh no lights spill over and uh uh we're going to reduce the sight to six feet and uh shaa that eliminates one sign variance correct no oh it doesn't they still need Oh I thought we they needed one for six Fe okay because of the type of sign so because airs is going from ground up okay then it it's supposed to be two and a half feet got it so it is still but because it's and there it's not the one with the whole the two poles and clearance that we're doing the height for the the G3 okay and is that what this is G3 this is a or G4 it's a mixture of both okay got it and the last uh uh conditions were LED white light um the foot candles are going to be reviewed by Shauna and the board engineer and they're going to submit with the revised plans the uh light in foot candle details and it has to be um or can exceed uh the allowable Dimensions at the property line I guess that's the way we say it right all right so if those are acceptable to uh the board members clarification on that I'm sorry did we say LED white light only but we were I think the light whatever I think whatever doesn't from my understanding doesn't cause a spill spillage yes we'll guarantee there's no spillage the foot candles um got it but if it's gold I don't know we want to put gold does that make a difference does it make a difference Sharon if because all the signs in the I mean we haven't seen this before I mean I'm assuming that you're there's GNA be a plexiglass logo that's allows to shine through which means that glass is going to allow some refractive is that the word when the light comes through it yeah yes so depending on how big the blocks are right going to be depending on how much light actually projects through the r RS is going to be different from the smaller ones correct so if you get too bright you're going to have a blur yeah we definitely don't want we need to be tasteful so then the color of it is got to be I mean again I don't know is your RR going to be gold and then you know your name or your name is going to be gold everybody else is g to be silver I don't no it's going to look tasteful it's not it's not look like a shopping center let's put it that way I mean again we don't the building is so different and it's always been different and it's always required different specs so we need clarification from our profession from you to give to our professionals that we know what we're expecting to see when when you light turn on the buttons and we want you not have to unturn the button I but we want to do it right the first time so I think that would be confirmation that the board engineer and Shauna review and improve the lighting and and foot candle details and brightness but again it's GNA be something completely new because we've not we haven't seen seen this type and then you have to compare it to the neighborhood it's in because we don't know Pioneer oh yeah so if those are if if that's if the pleasure of the board is to accept those uh conditions we can uh move forward if that's what the board wants anybody like to make a motion to approve or deny yes you made a I would appr proove be fine pending the uh decision made by Sha and and our engineer so we could u i mean I'd like to have an idea what they were that you approve so when I go by and see listen when you guys resubmit I can we can talk about it at at um Workshop but otherwise um I I mean the building is exceptional and you're trying to make the sign match with that um so uh and it's really a pre-existing situation we kind of grandfathered in but we just don't want it to take over the world no ma'am we will not how much you're building it all right sorry I gotta what I was doing I'm sor okay all right Andor yes yes Hogan yes Mano yes Sharon Lee Yes Vin L yes and an Cruz yes thank you then all we have to do now is just we'll get it to the six foot we make we'll verify everything else and then I and I'll prepare resolution that the board will adopt at the next meeting I'll send it to Mr Schwarz so you guys can make sure that we're all on the same page thank you everyone location gon say that she said she would yeah thank okay next up we havebury Avenue okay Mr chairman as the applicants team comes forward uh for the final time tonight we're going to swear in Jan Ebanks who is a licensed planner and our director of Community Development Jacqueline durman who is our board engineer uh Shauna and Jacqueline do you swear that the information and testimony you're about to provide to the extent you provide any will be the truth the best your knowledge to help you God yes thank you let the record reflect both Witnesses have been sworn and just for the record on this application of 250 MPG Holdings LLC regarding 250 shrewbury Avenue is there anyone here who had any questions or comments or concerns regarding this sufficiency of the notice they received all right I don't see any and let the record reflect that the board secretary and sea and I reviewed the notice and found everything to be in order so it would be my opinion that we have jurisdiction to uh proceed tonight and uh Mr McKenna momentarily after you uh enter your appearance if you could just for the record either you or have your client identify who the principles are of MPG Holdings just so we can do an internal conflict check and what we will do uh is Mark into the record what we as a board have before us so we're going to start off by saying uh let's see A1 is the uh letter of denial prepared by Shauna Ebanks dated October 31st 2023 A2 is the intent to proceed A3 is the disclosure of ownership A4 is the Land Development escrow agreement undated and A5 is the use variance plan prepared by Dynamic engineering dated January 22nd 2024 consisting of Three Sheets A6 is the preliminary floor plan prepared by uh Studio 43d architecture and design dated October 26 2023 last revised April 30th 2024 consisting of one sheet A7 is a survey prepared by Harris surveying Inc dated June 6 2005 A8 is a traffic impact and parking assessment prepared by uh Dynamic traffic February 28th 2024 A9 is a letter of deliverables prepared by Edward J McKenna dated March 5th 2024 and I guess we'll mark as a 10 is the tnm associates review memorandum dated May 29th 2024 Sean I think that was everything yeah uh so uh good evening uh Mr McKenna good evening Mr chairman members of the board please forgive me I'm a little worse tonight um Mr Ken in response to your inquiry concerning the ownership of the LLC it is uh Leonard Gorski the gentleman sitting next to me he's going to be the first Witness is the sole owner of the LC okay thank you ladies and gentlemen of the board hearing that name does that bring any questions comments concerns regarding conflicts potential conflicts we're good thank you thank you very much um we're here tonight on what might seem like a simple application we believe it is but historically um like to give you a little bit of background Mr cor you purchased this property at 250 shrewbury Avenue approximately 18 years course and um at the time he had one uh small office tenant and three Apartments um the office tenant uh uh left at a certain juncture and the property the office in the front of the first floor has been vacant for over five years it's closer to six as I understand um is a very small space uh it's how many square feet it's roughly around 370 square feet and um it had a Tenon who was an attorney who there one or two days a week at most and had one desk and who was a assistant that had another death and that was total occupancy of that very um since then he had offered rent for this extended period had absolutely no takers whatsoever the reason we're before you this evening is that in the nb1 zone normally there should be a first floor commercial attendant occupying the first floor he has three apartments two on the second floor one on the first floor behind where the office space was um however that space is just unrendered all this time he had offer signs in the window everything there's absolutely no Co I don't help any any connection with that so we're here tonight how many other buildings in immediate proximity have first four residences no commercial use so the request to allow him that into another doesn't serve any purpose being vacant for extended period of time he's concerned about the safety of the building quite frankly with it being vacon and um he's had the three apartments that are at the location occupied 100% since he bought building so he doesn't anticipate any problem renting space that just that we need to get a variance from this schol do so on that note I'd like to ask Mr Ori if you please okay if you could just state your name and address pleasei 18 pound drivey and just spell your last name for the record d o r SK Ki KI uh good evening and welcome to the Red Banks zoning board do you swear that the information and testimony you're about to provide will be the truth it's the best ackn knowledge to help you go thank you Mr you heard the representations I just made to the board those representations were made based on information you have provided to me correct yes and um that I accurately reflect to the board the condition of the property ability to R yes and it is your hope that allow you to renovate that space to create an apartment and rent it so have a fully correct and as I indicated in the comments the board you have three three existing Apartments there uh including one decline the uh vacon offer space that have been fully rented since you own the building yes so um just the proposal that you have concept that you have for converting that space into I'm going to take the existing commercial space and create a new kitchen new bathroom have new fixtures and appliances with all new finishes if you could just pull the mic closer to you yes pleas yes please okay I'm gonna take the current existing office space and renovate into a new kitchen new bathroom new fixtures and appliances and all new Fair um I'm also going to replace the front storefront door and window with residential type windows and residential door and we want to thank C because they gave us an idea about that correct yes yes just so you know we we got that comment in your letter and um we have actually agreed to have that if the board sees Grant the approval we will incorporate that as a condition that we replace the existing Windows the front with residential type Windows got it thank you and um in connection there with you anticipate any difficulty of renting space now I um the present tenants I have continually ask me if I have any additional spaces for the PRS sorry I just have a question about the windows can it not be just these small basic windows but something more yeah they're not going to be small the existing store Front is relatively big what I'll do is block it up to about 3 foot okay and 3x4 window be good all right you actually design I actually have didn't revise the plans I have a do I have a copy I have 10 copies no do I have an electronic okay but you know do you want to mark that in sure yeah can so uh shaa what are we up to I think I ended I think a11 so a11 is I'm not sure if I G have copies mark this as and record is and it's dated October 26 2023 last revised July 16 2024 consisting of one ched by Studio 43d thank you so the size of the apartment is BAS to be the same size as office yes um so that's what 370 square feet what are the sizes of your other apartments if I may ask the apartment above is actually a little smaller it's probably around 325 the apartment in the second floor rear is about 400 square F feet and the biggest apartment I have is the one first [Music] plan the has any questions parking your current tenants Park on Street yes so this would be also yes have some testimony coming to there for many years thanks I just want to go back to the window I'm sorry um so I see the top window has that that design at the top is it possible to kind of bring that down to have that same look to the yeah absolutely I'm sorry SE to say that again got it okay the window design say it again which one the which one has that the window should look more closely the design of the window um should look more closely to to the ones of the top to the top top is what we like on a11 got it next B my build right yeah yeah the red brick um I don't know yeah they're kind of sloppy from the front you they are yeah they're pretty sloppy oh they weren't the other day I live on this block I think this a good idea just to clarify again this says a 471 square foot office space you said it was 37 yeah when that was calculated with the re space Oh okay and and just for the record when I need to do the resolution the existing first floor apartment has how many bedrooms one bedroom one bedroom and how many bath one all right and the second floor rear how many bedrooms one bom and how many bathrooms one bathroom Okay and the second floor front all right cor one in the rear has two bedroom two bedrooms one bathroom now the one in the front has one bedroom one bathro and then the one that you're proposing today uh to convert is going to have how many bedrooms one bedroom and how many bathrooms thank you any other questions questions from the board we understand that there's parking park there this is this is not just a no procing problem this is a no outside toia this when you walk by that front door you're either going to be watching television with them or sitting on their bed with them or sitting in their bathroom with them it's even when this was a business This was um a very tight space and I think at that point in time they didn't allow the full window because and this was a long time ago maybe before or your time even um full window uh because of its intrusion on the street um and I mean it's not OP for tenants but tenants want to come into Red Bank for whatever reason now so they're willing to pay for other things surprises me why you have not been able to rent it as a as a rented space unless you don't have the um proper toiletries of plumbing and whatnot um I find it's not just it's small no smaller than the rest of your units but I find it's just like the reason it was deemed to be for commercial is because it probably should be retained some privacy for tenants living on the street what you have is the equivalent to living in your car on the street Edge it's just very close and I I don't I'm not very comfortable with this whole situation I can handle the window situation because I can make the windows a smaller window so you get light but you can't visually see through like the BR the wall up high do foot high something that's about just speaking to the mic so we pick I'm not trying to um I the marketability of the bed of the window I mean from inside it'll be fine but it is I mean that has like a six foot sidewalk in front of it so you're never further away from that front window then six feet and it's heavily foot traed um I do agree with my colleague that any Improvement of an empty space we we like but I don't know that that's the best Improvement I think the original plan was to have businesses or a small business of some sort I don't know telephone cards whatever it could be it's just I mean I understand the difficulty on wrenching it well I I I purchased the building renovate the whole bill from the top to the bottom new Services new electrical new pluming complete i r at the office the office had new Plumbing new bathroom new rock and new par it's a cleaning space I've hired a broker um that leases properties for my other U properties and I've had no with six years it's a it's a difficult property no doubt it's just I just I mean you're between social club and a Social Hub of the community on the other side that's growing and it's it's to me it's just not optimal and you don't offer anything you don't offer them a place to put their vehicle if they have a vehicle we're having a problem with that we expect people to have some type of transportation and need some type of space and it just doesn't to me it's not conducive to the right apartment but somebody will take it at some point I'm surprised you have not rented it whatever Condition it's in even for a business I'm surprised well he couldn't have offered it yeah I I I know like I said it's it's like having your hand in a vice you want it but you have you can't let go of this you know the problem is you're got to hear planning testim how many other residences there are on the first floor yeah within two R yeah quite a few so here to this and are submit that that for all those spaces to exist why would this individual have to pay punishment well I think we had these these all used to be homes these used to all be homes with front porches and yards and slowly they CT in you close in the front then you take away the porch and then you make that livable space so what used to be a house they I mean if you look at the tops of them you'll see they were identical the three houses in the row there um the front porch is gone it became a room then it came pushed out to the street a little bit more with a room over top of it and now what you have as a tenament um this is what you bought you invested in it thank you for doing that in into the community I just don't know if it's the best use of it to keep it that way I mean I don't want it empty you know um but and I don't want you you struggling either because you're putting your time and effort into it to make it the right place I just don't I I just don't see it as a proper space we may end up voting because there's no other option but uh it's a a difficult spot and it's not conducive to me it's not good for the neighborhood to me I'd like to ask um your perception of the retail Market on Shrewsberry Avenue compared to the rest of Red Bank uh would you agree that's probably the weakest retail environment in in Red bankbury Avenue yes yeah yes the what has happened to the office Market in Red Bank and in America and New Jersey in the last four years they've had a historic collapse in the office Market in New York and if you look at all those commercial houses on Broad Street now much bases AV houses how many unused offices there are on Reckless everywhere there vacan space and um it is too bad I liked having a lawyer's office there but they weren't there much as you said and they're gone they moved to Broad Street went to a better space but the the market unfortunately for commercial space there is quite weak and residential is quite powerful so I I agree with Sharon philosophically but as a practical matter other questions for um I just have a question on the square footage because in this report here it says 358 what what is the square footage of this that you would have the apartment1 371 would be my rentable what is um that's to the outside walls oh okay it's ready yeah these are very small apartments all of them very small yeah the one upstairs small okay and actually taking on that I mean um shaa just so I know is there any variance and if there is I just want to make sure I have it uh is there any variance required for the size of the unit Jackie uh five 600 yeah 600 minimum of sorry it should be a minimum of 600 and the proposed is no 377 that right 371 371 yeah all I just want to make sure that if if if the application is approved we give you that variant okay I no perfect thank you there no other questions sorry the unit on the units on the second floor are the units that fire the 600 square F feet there's no provision for units on the first floor because it's not allowed it wasn't but it was a preexisting when he bought the building 19 years ago uh there was already an undersized department on and undiz departments on the thank you so that it all fits within the I might I'd like to call from Dynamic engine good evening how are you you get to state your name for the record good to see you again if you could just uh uh State your business address please all right do you swear that the information you're about to provide will be the truth the best of your knowledge to help you God and just for the record you're testifying tonight in Your Capacity as a licensed a professional engineer thank you yes I have in several of the municipality surounding area so I'll New Jersey and how long you been Dam uh about 10 years now and I've been in this field for the duration my career about 17 years and um at the request of the owner you formed examination U of two things number one the opportunity for on street parking in the immed period and then secondly the the Minimus of any impact of eliminating the office and having one yes that's correct so we um we prepared a traffic impact and parking assessment was submitted to the board and reviewed by the board's professional um it's a it's a from a traffic perspective this is really as as basic uh as as they come um really we're trading out a daytime use uh from a traffic and parking perspective or an overnight use your the office and going to the residential so from a trick perspective uh with an office you would have someone com to work in the morning in this case you have someone leaving to go to work in the morning so it's really just reverses from a traffic perspective um and that's why on report it's really Zero from a parking perspective whereas an office uh would would be parking during the day um uh the residential uses typically who's parking at night so although there's a really no net change in the parking demand the time at which that parking is uh is needed changes uh so we prepared a report that we submitted to the board um within the report we really we took a look at this immediately surrounding roads just looking at how much parking is available not necessarily being used or otherwise um it's about 90 90 parking stalls that are just available strike you know excluding the driveways excluding the hydrants excluding the locations adjac of corners uh and that's on River Street Bank Street and Leon Avenue uh in addition um I actually live locally so I was able to come out here and the evening hours I'm also just familiar with this area haven't liveed locally there's abundance of parking in the real world just available um so not really concern what strip but what's actually available for someone to drive up at Park considering you know to vehicle set are Park up there um so one evening around 9:00 p.m I just took a l out there and counted uh and within the immediate block um extending out there's about a little about 40 SS just on the immediate block but the streets has immediately surrounded and you expand out to further blocks it gets much larger upwards of 100 about 150 parking spaces just being available that weren't being utilized around 9 um but in short there's plenty of parking out there have no concerns about that's piing up parking so and you heard Mr gski testify right and and I didn't I didn't learn that until after I did this I'm not surprised by by what any questions any questions from the board for this witness any questions from the public for this witness okay live testimony as to what was done and then uh is other observations okay thanks very much all right good evening uh Justin if you could just State your uh name and your business address Justin o a u i l and the address is 125 Half Mile Road s 200 and if you could just uh raise your right hand do you swear that the information and testimony you're about to provide will be the truth the best you knowledge to help you guide yes sir and just for the record you're testifying tonight in Your Capacity as a licensed professional planner with all your licenses and certifications current and up to date correct thank you retained by this particular case to do um examination of the area of the the surrounding property the utilization of those properties and also to address the necessary in this particular case um and provide the board with your findings sure um so what I'll do is I'll refer to the tnm letter dated uh May 29th of this year uh page two has a really nice job of uh you know outlining the variants that are required um you starting with number one of course we're here for a a use variance this is a Zone um that um doesn't permit U residential on the the first floor um I think it's important to know and I understand the concerns of Miss Lee um that that residential might not be the most appropriate use here uh but planning perspective uh what I always really for any project whether whether it's this or you pretty much anything else I walk the area I get a feel of relationship between the site and the surrounding area and um I am familiar with this area but I'm not familiar with this particular block and when I walked the area I was was sort of surprised to see um many residential units on their first floor by my count uh within a two block radius uh to the North and the South there approximately um eight to 10 units on their first floor of uh of shrewbury Avenue um so from a planning perspective when we look at uh the proofs for a d variant the first is uh particular suitability and um that's that's a showing of what what makes this site particularly suited for the proposed use um and context is always very crit and the context shows me that even though the zone does not permit um residential on the first floor uh there's actually plenty of residential on the first floor I don't know how old uh those units are but most of these buildings are are quite old um so in terms of the other the other point to suitability um there there was a U version used previously um on this property on the first floor but as the applicant has stated uh this has been this has been dead space for more than five years um from a planing perspective uh dead space does nothing for the community um by allowing tenants residential tenants uh to to occupy the space I think it's important for the vibrancy of the street um tenants will help to support the commercial and some the street I think it's also very important uh to have more eyes on the street um having more people uh residing on unbury Avenue just helps with visibility um helps helps people to know that there's somebody around and having a vacant space uh a d space at night um you know from plan standpoint really doesn't do doesn't do any good for the community um part and partial to that is as you heard from the applicant um you know the upgrades to the windows and the general appearance be the first floor of the building um I think all of that shows that uh residential on the first floor while it may not be permitted in this Zone um is is suited for this property is suited for this property not just the property itself but in its uh space uh connection to the surrounding area uh in terms of the positive criteria the special reasons um it's my professional opinion that there are multiple purposes of zoning the mpal anus law uh that that will be Advanced should the board uh vote uh vote favorably of this application I think I think General uh welfare which is criteria a I think again by activating the first floor with a use that's consistent with the surrounding area I think that goes a long way to promoting the the vibrancy on the street and guys on the street um the appropriate population density which is uh which e of the uh the mul again this is residential in a building that has other residential units um I think it's I think it's certainly U appropriate in the context of the site with other residential units uh criteria G uh there's more than sufficient space to occupy uh or for residential um rather than occupy on the first floor as you heard from our traffic engineer uh there's plenty of parking in the area and I just know for the record there is no parking provided for the existing units um and there doesn't seem to be any issue given the availability of parking in the area uh and uh connected to that is criteria H uh the free flow of parking um again you know more than I'm sorry uh a free flow traffic and parking is connected to that there aren't going to be any traffic impacts um by providing residential on the first FL and uh the desire environment uh which is uh which is I purpose i v um the Improvement to the side of the building with the new windows I think goes a long way providing a nice uh visual appearance not just for the property owner but for the the vibrancy and viability of uh of uh of this road um in terms of the negative criteria whether or not there's going to be substantial DET public good certainly I don't see much in the way of any detriments and and the law prescribes that any detriments must be substantial uh because to reasonable people can disagree whether something's detriment that's why there's a higher standard here uh by simply occupying the residential space consistent with what currently exists in the building and the character of the surrounding area um and and having no parking issue as testified by the traffic engineer I don't see any detriments um lastly in terms of whether or not is's going to uh be an impairment of his Zone plan the zoning ordinance the master plan um you know even though the U the uh Zone the NB Zone uh doesn't permit residential on the first floor which it permits residential above the first floor um I don't see a negative impairment uh to the Zone plane given the context of the area certainly uh my testimony would be different if there was no residential in the area that would be a totally different fact pattern but there is plenty of residential in the area on the first floor and there's residential in this building as well um so all in all uh in terms of uh benefits versus detriments I think there are are certainly uh plenty of uh of benefits that flow uh from the grant of this variant and if the board does see any detriments it's my personal opinion that they're not um U substantial thank you questions questions from I just do have a question where are like are these what the residences you said that are on the first floor are they right around that area and the Windows like on the floor like what Sharon was saying because that that is a concern having having this um on the first floor right right there as people are walking right there are I can't tell you exactly how many I I mean they they all have Windows in the first floor most of them have have um have AC UNS on the side um so they are occupied um most of those buildings are are very old and and most of those buildings don't have I think I don't I can't say all of them but most of them um have facades that are older have windows that are older um certainly you know could go for you know some upgrades and and some updates this uh which which is different in this application is that the applicant is proposing uh window improvements you know new windows to make this a more vibrant property not just from the Aesthetics but also um having somebody on the first floor having some um some activity on the street level um I I didn't see any activity on those other properties I mean I I uh I was there at at 5:00 p.m. don't know if people were in there or not um but I think uh you know this property given its location on shury Avenue um I think it's a highly visible property and I you think it's important to have that activated okay any additional questions for the Swit okay any questions from the public for the sness see me that part any comments just uh for the record Mr McKenna are you rested you've completed uh yes i' just like to speak indicate that I I I can understand anybody being concerned but on the other hand they have a property here that is V for a long period of time I don't know about everybody else but uh I think that this would be a much better utilization of that building and that space there are three other residences there already he had zero vacancy those they they function fine they're undersized units but they they're fully occupied are they find parking every every time that they're there so uh and even one knew what space was commercial space so parking should not be an issue so um I respectfully that decision not hardly complex in that having V space and and burdening you don't mind saying this the owner with having to continue to carry that space when it doesn't seem to be anything natur for over six years he's quite a hit and he's willing to invest money into fixing up the space in order to get it on um just fard take all that in consideration and your deliberations can I just ask a few questions that we asked sure some information I did I'm sorry I didn't know who would answer these questions so feel free to answer um just from our letter dated May 29th and someone um page three we knowe that there's a section of sidewalk along the property which appears to have been repaired with asphalt you recommend that this section be replaced with concrete would you agree to do that I would do it if there was a section that had I uh took a photo of my sidewalk and didn't replace sewer line many years ago but there's no asphalt so let's just Mark that picture that a12 and what is that a picture of it's a picture of the sidewalk fronting their property all right and Mr Gorski was that taken by you yes roughly when it was taken on Sunday okay so it's an accurate depiction of what exists thank you thank you um with respect to trash and recycling pickup where would that be stored that's stored in the rear of the FR is there space for that containers no there yes this property in the back that's fairly big it's a huge piece of and they put it in the back adjacent to the build and tenants take the garbage out garbage can tenant they take the garbage can out put it to the street and public works okay um any landscaping or lighting proposed with this no um Kevin there is a section 491 and 49081 that requires a 15t wide buffer area obviously this is an existing condition not changing that okay just wanted to note perfect we'll note that it's in the No thank um we also uh noticed during a site visit that the rear yard needed some maintenance and cleaning that was just cleaned this week and I periodically do clean it um tenant station should clean it but when they don't clean it I clean it at charge okay you say you clean you have a property a property M are there any other alterations proposed within the other apartments aside from this one no any mechanical equipment that you're going to be installing hvac's in support of this no I'm going to utilize the existing HVAC system that's in the space right now which is what um it's a electric U wall unit that's it thank you okay any comments by the board on this application okay I do have one I do have comment I I do have an issue with the size and on the first floor just I mean I know you know like Sharon was saying we're probably G to end up it is a hardship but um I don't know I it's just I feel like also I know you're doing the parking and stuff people are there in the day like you do a parking in the day people don't go to work like they used to they you know while you know living here you see the parking you know um it is it is a hard thing that it hasn't been rented um but I I just it is it's a hard thing I'm concerning for me it is I I have a comment um I too like Sharon and eileene have a disc comfort with the size of the apartment um it seems like it's really small however um if you can find a tenant that's willing to accept a very small size then I guess that offsets it I mean it's not like if this was a brand new unit you know I definitely would not would never approve a one-bedroom apartment at 400 square feet it's just way too small um however also because there's four units in this building the building falls under rent control I think that's actually a bonus for a potential tenant so I'm I'm sort of torn as well I might add that there's another apartment actually two other apartments that are about the same size and they've been fully occupied with this time so so I understand your concern about the size U and and and share it on the other hand they have existing uh units of of approximately the same size that are occupied all the time um can I ask how long those tenants have been there since I purchased the villing oh so many many years many many years so they're perfectly happy living there in that space and under R control I I can imagine why yeah they don't have they don't want to move them yeah and I just want to the reason I'm here is because I continually phone calls and my tenants call me because I have other properties in Red Bank and they constantly call me and ask me if I have apartments in I and they asked me about that space I said I can't rent that space if it's a commercial space I can't do it legally so I'm not going to rent it to you but that's the reason I'm here is because I Contin get calls for residential I have a broker I've hired the commercial space I don't get one call and it's not just here it's other it's other c i I own a commercial building wall and I have two beautiful F building I got two office spaces I can't rent and there's small spaces where it's a 800 square foot space and I can't rent I would like to thank you for doing the correct thing of um not renting it out and commend you for doing that um because we don't see that usually we'll have to issue a violation before um you know it being the right steps being done so I thank you for doing that um but to the board's concern about the unit side there sizes um there is a trend that's going on right now for micro units um micro Apartments which they typically run around 350 um square feet um and it's a more affordable options developers are doing now because the cost of um housing is so um expensive uh it's it's a new planning Trend um that planners um developers Architects are actually recommending for working class communities um student communities because it's it's a cheaper option for them um so that's kind of the the I guess the tenant that you're looking for someone that is just out of school or um you know um older folks F who are looking to downsize um so that's that's you're going to see that Trend a lot um Coming forward I don't know if we're going to be adjusting our ordinance to meet that Trend but um that is something that it it has been proposed I've seen um that proposal come for my office um as a concept and it's again it's a trend that's going on in New Jersey um that is starting to pick up R I just like to I just like to add that there's two things happening here first of all is the enormous collapse press in American hist depression of the office Market in America it's just profoundly different and most people aren't aware then I can't even explain that to my wife she doesn't understand business part two majority west side and the east side of red back are profoundly different the majority of the units on the west side rented already it's that rented and there are 100 200 single room people the West Side living sharing houses renting a single room that can go size as a$ th a month room in a shared house uh and there's tremendous need for housing on the west side and um I have feelings about the size I wouldn't want to live on the ground floor front on shury Avenue either but many people do and they also don't have any choice and they want to be in Red Bank so it's important to understand how different housing uses and the rental ownership mix and the size mix is from the East to the west side it's very very different all the west side I live on that block of River Street and um and I have all the data in my computer on it thanks okay thank you for all of your comments are always important um I think we should move on and either uh make a motion to approve or deny this application and uh myself same thing I I think there is a need for this type of Housing and I'd rather see a building with somebody in it in empty I don't think that does anybody any good so I would make a motion to approve this application per Mr Kennedy's list of thanks okay uh in the event the application's going to be approved some of the conditions I would suggest subject to your review would be compliance with all the promises and commitments and representations the team made that's my way of saying if I miss it right now if they said that during the hearing it really counts compliance with the tnm uh so Associates review memorandum compliance with all affordable housing rules regulations contributions getting all necessary permits um and we're going to come back momentarily to uh those front facade uh comments about the windows we'll come back to that we usually have a 24mon time frame within which after the resolution you I need to get permits obtaining all necessary outside approvals and I guess Shauna because it's they need the County planning board at least uh a approval or letter of no interest that's is if they do site okay that would if if it applies if if you need count if applicable and um now I guess the routine maintenance as referenced uh I guess that's been taken care of the testimony indicated that's been taken care of uh Jackie I think your office asked for an updated survey correct and compliance with Ada regulations and I think uh Jackie office also said fire office needs to review and approve it for emergency access and then some of the other things that talked about tonight um were um all right for the updating those changing those residential windows and doors for the a11 uh document uh preliminary floor plan and that was last revive July 16 2024 with a further condition shaa that you want the windows that were on the top of that uh Second Second Story a11 uh document uh to be the same as the lower level no the lower level the opposite I'm sorry so the lower level to match the top lower level to match the upper level the upper level you know that's what I had I'm sorry I read it backwards okay and then um we're going to have Kevin I thought there were going to be smaller Windows yeah smaller but same design look but the ones that we see on the rendering now are how big on the architecture how much smaller are you going to make them oh oh the ones that are original the windows are about about 7 fo 20 by 30 original storefront removing yeah those windows are going to be about 3 by4 three four three foot seal this one right here is so these this is only fouret yeah that's four these are the old these are the older the concern about looking into people's living rooms I think is valid so you know there should be smaller windows but if that concerns somebody wouldn't they get Shades or curtains some people like big windows I love big Windows hon but it's literally sitting right on top of the sidewalk so what what what works better then like maybe half the size of the windows show Windows there are and then do that or I could do titing through I can do several ways to to make privacy what do you think I just I don't think I don't think we're making it any better for the tenant giving them a bigger window when you when you're this far from the street just you're on the sidewalk you're just not making it better mean why I just do a two foot window like this 2 by six so you don't there no way they can look I think need a big window you have to the fire Marsh yeah talk Fire Marshall another window on this plan there's a window in the bedroom right in the place that was supposed to be the massage school yes that's what those those windows that are right here um the ones that are put in right at the corner um to me a bigger window with tinting to ensure that no one can see in to respect attendance is a good in between because it's nice to have Windows I love Windows they get it's gives you the privacy but you'll never be able to see anybody inside and I think that's the way you should do it and keep the window big you get plenty of light and most you know the ten put a shade there anyway but at least we'll get aesthetically look nice now I had initially had uh two 3x4 windows with Shauna to review and approve the details but we're changing that to a bigger window with tinting no it's either the size he proposes or just slightly smaller but I think cutting it in half it just looks really bad especially on the storefront I mean if you look right that building right there um storefront I mean it's not complete right now but it's it's horrible they remove yeah they removed the storefront windows and put in these tiny windows and it just it makes so are we saying two 3x4 windows 3 by4 that's what you were proposing yeah okay tinted and tined got it you tinted yes got it thank you Vince and oh survey we did oh okay just got okay I probably you got it thank you and then we have uh obviously compliance with building and construction code uh prevailing building and construction code requirements and uh and then uh Jackie I just uh you'll take a look at that uh sidewalk repaired with asphalt replaced with uh concrete that's if necessary if it's done already then it's or it doesn't need to be done doesn't need to be done and then um uh Jackie you want to just confirmation that there's no other alteration to other residential units approved and um uh comply with any prevailing occupancy regulations that that the burrow and the state have so that was the list of of my uh potential conditions um I defer to my friends on the board and and again Mr chairman this is a use variance application and just a for the some of our newer board members remember with the use variance application only seven people vote and there's a uh it's not just a simple majority with youth variance you need five affirmative yes votes uh just Rules of Engagement so to speak I'll second pH motion an Tor yes R yes I Hogan yes Bena yes Sharon Lee no V yes and Anna Cruz yes okay favor in favor I don't I want to say those are called micro Apartments I think we're all on first I'll second New York I mean for like5 feet and actually you know when you watch some of the shows the hous are bigger these days I mean it's up to him toase it I don't I don't think I recognize that I pulled it up on have to deal with this I mean the reality is when I pulled it upirn I recognize it I mean I drive by it every day well if you look