good evening ladies and gentlemen welcome to the zoning Board of adjustment meeting for February the 28th 2024 will everyone please stand for a salute to the flag I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for [Music] all notice of the meeting has been satisfied in accordance with chapter 231 pl1 1975 by advertising in the home News Tribune notifying The Sentinel publishing company and the Star Ledger and also posting on the bulletin board and filing with the burrow clerk roll call Mr Green here Mr kazinsky here Mr esito here Mr Emma here Mr Bell here Mrs Goin here M GSI here before we start tonight's meeting I want to inform the board that two changes were made by the mayor and Council concerning our Zoning Board of adjustment on Monday Night February 26 2024 Mr Anthony Bella was appointed to fill the unexpired term of John corrian who resigned in 2023 due to health issues this is a regular appointment and not an alternate spot appointment the second change that was made is the appointment of Christina gy to a two-year ter term as an alternate number one position Christine formerly lived in Middletown New Jersey and was on the zoning board there for six years she brings experience to land use issues on this board congratulations to both board members on their appointments and serving the burrow of serval in this position now to get on to our regular board meeting our first case is 23 -22 which is lambido LLC 3191 Warden Town Avenue evening Mr chairman members of the boards record my name isne oh see that tech support um bulk Varian is as well as the C variance for property that was identified by the address by Mr chairman um we're seeking approval to take a commercial parking area that exists on the property improve it with a new garage sled structure the property's already improved with a residence which is also proposed to remain the properties located in the municipal r10 residential Zone but also in the part of the Zone that's in the overlay zone for your li- BS the light industrial business science overlay Zone um so I have with me here for direct testimony proposed a civil engineer uh who prepared the plan as well as professional planner uh who's here to talk about what bird the applicant is under requesting this relief I also have other Representatives a representative from the owner the owner here in case uh there's other questions that my Witnesses can't answer receed so if it pleases the board I will startop would you like Witnesses sworn one at a time each witness or would you like to swear them both at the same time one at a time very good um so I'd like to start with my question sure just John can you explain what overlays zone is just before we get started sure um so in in several parts of the bureau there's a a z they're they're zones that essentially stack on top of each other so in this case we have the r10 residential Zone along the north side of bord toown Avenue and in this section of the corridor there's a zone that gives you a different option for use of the property the LI BS overlay zone so the best way to think of it is you have two choices of how to approach the of the development of the property you can either use it for a residential purpose or you could use it for one of the the business uses that's listed in the ordinance under the libs Zone um what the applicant's proposing this evening is to essentially blend those two individually the two uses that are proposed to be on the property would be permitted if it was only on on the property by itself but because they're there together that's not allowed you have to pick one One path or the other so that's why they're asking for varant relief tonight from the board thank you you're welcome thank you uh so for please the board I'll start with my civil engineer Mr Marinelli can you please identify yourself maybe come to the microphone do you have a portable mik start help you got I do consider yourself sworn and can you state your name and give your business address sure sure it's mik Michael Marinelli m a r i n l i of menal engineering located at 261 Cleveland Avenue Highland Park New Jersey and thank you Mr marinelly can you briefly describe for the board your your your educational experience and your work experience as a licensed engineer in the state sure I'm a graduate of Ruckers University College of Engineering class of 1999 I've been practicing land use for last 24 some odd years uh and I've provided professional testimony in front of dozens of if not hundreds at this point uh boards I believe I was in front of this board once but it may have been 15 some odd years ago I definitely know I've been in this building and in this room I just can't recall exactly when that was uh I am a licensed professional in the state of New Jersey and my credentials are currently valid I make a motion we accept his credentials thank you Mr chairman receed thank you Mr chairman Mr Marinelli the application plans and the uh the exhibits that you have with here you tonight they were prepared by meno or others under their Direction and control is that correct correct yes and so using the exhibits and we're going to have to pause now and again to Mark what you might be referring to so we have a good record here but using the exhibits like you describe for the board what exists there presently and then we'll talk about what's proposed sure the exhibit that I have on the easel entitled 3191 Bard and Town Avenue existing conditions exhibit dated 228 2024 is an arrow representation of the uh subject property uh with the property highlighted uh Central to uh the the exhibit would you like me Mark it as A1 so marking it as A1 in the upper right hand corner and can you could put today's date please too uh 228 and that'll be it thank you okay so the subject Pro property uh is a lot designated as lot three in Block 29 tax maps of burough sville property commonly known as 3191 Bown Avenue is on the uh Northwest side of Bown Avenue between the railroad crossing and St uh Sophie Street to the north uh you'll see a dash line that runs along uh left to right along the bottom of the exhibit that's actually the municipal boundary so this property uh resides right on the municipal boundary between the burough sville which is on the North portion of this exhibit and uh the town of bowbridge uh directly to the South uh the property is um excuse me the property overall is 0.87 acres is located entirely within the r10 residential Zone with the light industrial business service or libbs uh Zone overlay uh as you can see the site is developed in the in the existing condition it has on it an existing uh vacant single family home that's on the Southwest for the purposes of the my presentation we we'll go by plan North so on the southern south um Western corner is the existing uh dwelling uh in the northeast corner you'll see another gray area that's an existing garage uh that is also um on this site you can see there's a 21t driveway along on the immediate Southeast Corner uh that provides access to a large large parking area uh and and continued driveway that has both access to the single family home and the existing garage to briefly describe the surrounding areas there's a a residential subdivision immediately to the north uh two lots of which ab but this particular property there's a residence immediately to the east uh as well as to the West uh but there's a mixture as you can see as you extend further east and west uh more commercial uses along Bordentown Avenue I believe the planner is going to get into more detail as it relates to the neighboring uses uh the existing home is a four-bedroom home and the existing garage is uh 881 square fet and and seems to have been part of a previous build uh business that resided here because as you can see there's there's existing pavement and enough parking spaces for roughly 12 uh 12 cars in the rear I'll now switch to our second exhibit I'll label is exhibit A2 okay and also date it today yes please and can you describe [Music] it surely this exhibits entitled 3191 Bordentown Avenue site plan exhibit dated 228 2024 uh this is the same era representation you saw an exhibit a one but the site plan improvements have been superimposed so that the board can understand uh what's being proposed to modify the site as well as the lighting and Landscaping have been turned on so you can see uh the buffering that has been added uh what the applicant proposes to do and if you refer to the north side of the site immediately adjacent to the existing now the lighter shade is the existing shed uh superimposed there's no trees over it on this particular exhibit uh but immediately to the west of that is a a brown rectangle along the north side of the property that is a proposed 8-door garage okay that garage is 2,217 square fet uh and 15 ft High which complies with the height complies with the township ordinance what the applicant intends to do here is reoccupy the single family home uh with with uh residents but utilize this site as a as an a satellite uh to his existing building uh building and operation in uh the the city of New Brunswick uh the the applicant is involved with a company called Reliable Carbonic company uh what they do is they they distribute CO2 canisters uh to different restaurants or anybody really who ha needs it for beverage purposes including soda distribution beer distribution for bars uh or any any ancillary food beverage distribution so uh primarily though they're just moving canisters of CO2 inert gas uh from location to location as I said their their main facility is in New Brunswick uh and it's sometimes difficult to get from the middle of New Brunswick to the this side of uh middle sex County or Northern Mammoth County or you know in this region so what he's looking to do utilized this site to store inside this structure his delivery vehicles with the CO2 canisters in them so all of the filling and processing and all of that will happen offsite at his New Brunswick facility but in order to help stage deliveries of those containers they'll be stored at this particular property so you'll note on the site plan we we we call for only eight vehicles per day that's the eight employees that are going to come to this site drop their car take the delivery vehicle from the garage make their deliveries and then return in the evening to get their personal car and the eight is the maximum right it may not always be eight eight would be the maximum at any one time yeah I believe you only at the present date is going to four or five but would like to have the the capacity to do eight at this also in addition to the CO2 you mentioned there's some nitrogen also which we're all breathing right now but you can't forget your Nitro cold brw that Starbucks and everything's putting in coffees and everything now so they need gas canisters at even coffee shops to make those drinks um so that's another gas but again another inert gas that's correct so these are all inert gases that are used in the bever beverage industry again they'll be stored here on an overnight capacity and then delivered uh the the next day uh the hours of operation for this facility are normal business hours 9:30 to 4:30 again uh um this will be used more of a satellite to his existing building so no real business office or anything are going to be present on this site it's really going to be for the storage of vehicles that are intended to deliver to their customers as far as other improvements you'll note that we've we've modified some of the P the pavement area in in in order to include an ADA accessible space which doesn't currently exist on site uh the the lighter gray area are the are of pavement that we're going to disturb uh again it's for minor grading around the site and providing for uh adequate uh access the the site doesn't anticipate any delivery of large Vehicles they would have their normal box truck Amazon uh you know and even the residents there would probably have those types of deliveries we have provided for a dumpster enclosure uh as is required by by the burrow uh with an adequate uh turning radius to get in and out of there that that area as you can see it is striped Gore uh for that turnaround of the trash uh receptacle truck but it could also be used in a in an emergency for you know a delivery of any kind of box truck that may be present on the site uh immediately south of the eight doors now the doors will all face uh excuse me Bown Avenue and then across from them we're we're providing uh 14 parking 14 parking spaces which will include the eight necessary for the on site employees as well as the the the four-bedroom residence that is there uh and that meets the ordinance requirement for both uses consecutively you know should they all be used or utilized at the same time um the applicant will of course repair the existing asphalt and restripe it as necessary per the the proposed site plan as I stated we'll also take this opportunity to uh improve the site with Ada parking uh the site has all existing Utility Services uh it's not intended to other other than uh provide electric which the existing garage already has so they'll be just extending the existing utilities as I said before there's no intention to have an office or anything of any sort within this garage so there's no need for a bathroom or uh any any kind of Plumbing either uh you also note we uh We've improved the light the lighting and Landscape on this project um paying special attention to the surrounding residences by providing a a a row of Evergreens along the uh residential boundaries uh We've also included additional shade trees uh to help some of the open green space with with some more deciduous deciduous type and the applicant is proposed to beautify the existing res residence with some ground plantings and and Shrubbery along uh that existing structure in all uh we're providing four shade trees and maintaining 15 existing shade trees on site uh providing 57 new evergreen trees 31 shrubs and over 150 ground plantings um on this property so the applicant is is beautifying the site significantly uh from a lighting standpoint we're proposing four pole mounted dark sky compliant LED fixtures that are 16 mounted at 16t high uh and two wall mounted LED fixtures that are mounted at 12 foot high uh one thing I will note uh there is a there is a waiver request being sought this evening for a light spillage for the light immediately adjacent to the driveway as at near where it connects to Bordentown Avenue uh this is to adequately light th this area you know in the winter months when it's dark at 5:00 and the business is still operating they'd like to have safe safe uh eress you'll note though that it's not really adjacent to um any existing residential structure even though the residence is nearby it is in the rear of the property and it's uh near 10 ft higher in elevation than than the driveway in this location uh the site as it exists today has retaining walls along the both the northern and Eastern property line uh where to buts the residential uh from a storm War management perspective uh we we are asking for a design waiver to not provide uh curbing because we want the water to flow as it does today uh what we are doing to meet St Mor management rules is replacing pavement area impervious coverage with building area impervious coverage so it'll be a cleaner runoff than what exists on the site today uh there is no increase in in Pavement in fact we're removing uh close to 10 ft of pavement behind this existing garage to one improve the buffer uh to the to the rear residence immediately to our North and to offset the the additional uh payment that was necessary for the uh the proposed dumpster location uh but there's a net reduction very small net reduction in overall impervious coverage so uh we don't require any storm water storm water management uh we are also under the quarter acre threshold and the acre full disturbance so the BMP manual uh and that St motar management rule is not triggered I know the planner is going to go through details of the proofs that we're requiring uh but I just for the like for the record to State uh some of the relief that we're requesting this evening uh there are existing non-conformances for lock coverage 46.3% where 40 max is permitted again this is not this is not changing uh it it Remains the Same uh in the proposed condition uh driveway width 21.1 ft where 30 foot is required for a two-way driveway again this is the driveway connection on the Southeast corner of the property that accesses boarding Town Avenue again it's very limited trips we're talking about eight Vehicles a day in eight Vehicles a day out 16 if you count them leaving in their van and leaving in their car later uh but only8 in the peak morning 8 in the peak evening um so it's relatively low trip generation and and it's been utilized as a commercial property in the past and worked effectively in that manner uh driveway setback 0 feet where 10 foot minimum is required that same driveway uh runs right along the property line so there's no existing uh setback to the existing driveway and that that will be maintained and finally the uh 5 foot residential buffer um again there's no more than 5T anywhere on site we have made sure that there's at least 5et now in the proposed condition uh but a residential buffer of 50 fet is uh required on the this particular site the bulk variances we're requiring are for the structure itself it's a uh we have 3,098 square ft we're 15 50t Max now the existing garage as I stated is 880 some odd Square ft so the existing garage actually already surpasses what would be permitted for an accessory structure in in the r10 zone uh so we're seeking relief this evening for the the additional square footage in order to get those that equipment that could be stored on the existing Asphalt in mean in the open immediately adjacent to the residence but now it'll be both secure and not visible interior to the building um should you should you grant this approval uh and finally there's a there there's a few design waivers one being for a loading birth for a commercial property again the the use does not require any tractor trailer type deliveries uh would simply be box and I already provideed testimony as to how that uh could adequately turn around in the trash enclosure area uh I already spoke to the light level at the property line to be more specific we are requesting relief for uh one point four maximum foot candles where 0. five is the maximum permitted at a property line and that's at the driveway area that's correct as I spoke it's it's immediately adjacent to the driveway to adequately light that entrance area and provide safe egress into the into the site and then a few other design waivers as it relates to curban sidewalk along bordon toown Avenue there's no existing sidewalk in the existing condition uh and the applican is not proposing to add any uh site curbing uh the burough requires Belgium Block curbing but whenever you take an existing site and try to retrofit in new curbing while maintaining structures you end up cutting off runoff into different areas and then you either have to figure out how to mitigate that you've redirected that runoff in another area or collect it in some Manner and there isn't any existing drainage structures immediately along the frontage of this property that would we would be able to accommodate that so we're seeking relief for providing curbing where the where the vehicles will immediately abut the the grass you'll note that we did add uh curb stops so that cars aren't running over the the the grass areas uh in this proposed parking lot uh but there is no full curb that would would cut off the existing drainage pattern uh that exists today and as I spoke to before the final is the uh driveway setback again this is an existing condition of zero uh where where along the Eastern property line where more is required thank you thank you that's all I have should the board have any questions I'd be happy to answer them hey would you like uh to answer ask questions of this witness or would you like us to to both this questions at the end or I I do have a I do have a few questions I'd like to ask um maybe it has to be addressed by someone else or maybe you that's okay ask go away and we'll figure it out is Vans correct is is your uh Transportation it's not trailers correctly and pickup trucks okay the house that's there uh who's living in that house now or is it unoccupied currently the house is vacant so the applicant bought this property not that long ago since the applicants bought the property they haven't had a chance to really renovate the existing house fix it up new carpet and stuff like that some of that's been done but not all of it so they don't have a new residential occupant in it yet so as tonight nobody's living there um but as you know and you heard on the testimony before this there was a resident there and the rear area was used the owner had a trucking company that was parking trucks back there and stuff like that so we would propose to continue the residential use and instead of just parking the trucks outside like they were before the proposals to somewhat neaten up the site and enclose some of that in the shed the the house in the future are is your your intention to uh rent it out to someone or is it going to be connected to the business where there's going to be an office within no no yeah it would be for residential use and it would almost certainly be rented did out I can't tell you that the owner of the property might have a mother-in-law that comes into town and says I need the place to live and he's got to kick his tenant out if he can do that but yes it would most likely be rented out okay but the house will have nothing to do with the business itself that's correct okay that is correct which is actually why we're here this evening because we have two uses two principal uses on the same lot had it been used as an office then we would fit under the criteria of the overlay Zone having an office with an but the reason we here of the zoning board seeking use varial is because we're requesting two principal uses and it creates a little confusion with the zoning ordinance because you heard him talk about the size of the the garage and exceeding the accessory use size but we are here asking for the variance if the board chose to Grant it for two principal uses in which case even though we want to give you that figure and have you know that really technically wouldn't be an accessory at that point it would be the second principle use but still we want the board to have all the figures and the numbers no matter how you look at it we want you to be able to analyze it in both sections of your zoning ordinance and my last question is uh you you said that the the uh business would be operating Monday to Friday so is that am I to assume that there'll be no uh business uh on the weekend Saturday and Sunday that's correct that's correct I have no further questions anyone from the board have questions I apologize if you already went over this uh from the back of the proposed garage to the back property line how many feet is that the rear setback is to the accessory structure is 17.7 feet 17.7 feet to the back of the prop line and then you said that and then you said that there's a uh retaining wall that runs along the back there is yes how high is that retaining wall again it it it varies from zero a majority of is approximately 4 feet tall and then it has a 6ot solid fence above it so there's generally a an existing 10-ft screen along the rear of the property so just to clarify the subject property that we're talking about tonight is a little bit in a is a little bit lower than those surrounding properties yeah good deal lower Mr chairman if I let me just clarify those numbers I I think the 177 is the sidey yard setback from the existing garage yeah 228 228 we're 20 25 foot is the setback to uh the primary structure uh but we are proposing and I excuse me for misstating uh 22.8 foot rear yard setback 22.8 thank you I have a question the CO2 pister they're going to be in the vans in the garage that's correct do they need any kind of temperature control that that's a good qu I don't I I do not know the answer stored at ambient temperatures um the CO2 because like even on the weekends you're saying it's going to be in the garage so do they need any kind of temperature control they don't or ventilation so they don't need ventilation there this building could be constructed as a general garage as you would imagine uh the applicant likes in a facility like this to put in CO2 monitors they're not required um but the applicant will have CO2 monitors in there so the nitrogen gas the CO2 gas not all the tanks are full certainly all the tanks are not full very often many of them can be empty but um I hope that answers your question Mr chman in addition I think this application is going to have to get appropriate permits from the Bur Construction office which means review by the construction officials and the fire officials so if there's any specific requirements concerning the storage of that material certainly that would be required by the burrow my only concern is and if I remember correctly CO2 lays low and so it'll it'll seek the lowest point so it I was worried about the uh the neighbor in the back but I don't know about the ne you know the uh to the side is that also a residential to the immediate East yes East yes uh that that retain there that retaining wall is a little bit more signicant theast oh to the east that's the owner of dance studio I think so yes this this is the owner of the dance studio that's further to the west but uh along that property line there there's a little bit more of a significant it's more like a five six foot retaining wall along that property line so the residential houses are higher than the they are I have one question um 2200 square fet is your actual garage you're you're allowing room for growth which is smart um is there any plans or will there be any plans if you don't grow to sublease some of that space out to another company no there's no plans right now the plan would be to have one commercial entity to the rear of the property obviously a residential use person in the front but no right now it would be one entity that would be in the back multiple so inside the garage there's no wall separation right it wouldn't be the uh you know those HVAC guys that are always trying to sign a lease so they could store some of their pipe on your property and stuff I have other clients that uh we've had to stop them for doing that back to the CO2 tanks do they have relief valves in case it's I believe they all have burst valves on the the the tops of the tank all have safety valves yes any other questions I have one sure um can you repeat about the dumpster that's going to be on the property in the driveway surely so uh it's actually highlighted in white so so it's a little bit easier for everybody to see from far away uh but it's it's behind the existing residents uh that is new pavement or new impervious coverage that I was speaking of earlier that we're replacing with the removal of asphalt to the immediate North you'll see there's a large area of striping immediately in front of it so no cars can park in front of that uh and what we've done is run a truck movement plan we have softwares that allow you to maneuver vehicles and a and a uh trash vehicle would be able to enter the site turn in pick up the the container back out and exit the site in a safe manner back to the canisters or go ahead we have a few locations where these types of overlay zones exist I mean the there's this stretch of Bown Avenue is is a mixture and um I think traditionally this property has had um multiple uses on it perhaps um if you just look at look at kind of the aerial of this neighborhood you'll see this pattern of kind of a house up front and some larger garages in the back or larger parking areas that wouldn't be typical of a residential area um we have another overlay Zone along Ong um Washington Road um that has a kind of mix as well of some smaller commercial establishments and and and Residences uh it's a few pockets of town um and you know it's not uncommon for older development patterns um where things have been this way a long time and there's a recognition that you want to allow that to continue in some ways Mr chairman also as was indicated this used to be a a trucking facility the owner lived in the house in the front he stor larger tractor Trail vehicles in the back so this is less intense than what used to be there years ago was like back there he had a the 800 foot garage was pre-existing so he had stored they were stored outside in the back which is why it was paved almost to the fence line behind the Residential Properties so he's actually removing a lot of that pavement and storing them the trucks now in a garage I think there was a question here yeah so um the tanks yeah the the The Fill Factory is in New Brunswick can you just describe how the tanks get to to this site and how the empty tanks get back so the tanks are contain the trucks that we talked about are designed to carry the tanks the trucks have racks that are designed to carry the tanks so whether they're empty tanks or full tanks they'd be moving on and off this site in those trucks they'd either be filled at one of the applicants other facilities or maybe even in he'll go to a third party facility or something for Phil um these are low pressure tanks like I don't know if there's any scuba divers in the audience a scuba Tank's about 3,000 PSI so 3,000 PSI for your average scuba tank these are like 700 PSI at most um just getting the you know the carbonation into the beer and stuff like that you don't need quite as much pressure so there's no tractor trailer that is ushering these tags back inre correct these trucks right the trucks the smaller trucks that would have these on their racks would be coming with them or leaving with them there'd be no um larger vehicle that says okay here's a bunch for little trucks to take that's a good question yeah how full is the tank the tanks vary in height some of them are pretty small some of them go up a little bit taller I can get you a range in a second but they're um you know they they VAR I the tallest might be five six feet five six feet down to maybe two and a half three feet to a small small um what do you call those K Kegerator type uh a small Kegerator yeah Jay a question for you uh basically this is a modification of the property of what it was before am I correct Mr chairman yes it was previously a single family house he's continuing that use he's now adding the garage in the back but it was a mixed use before where you had residential along with the trucking business but in addition he's cleaning up the site as part of the application during the technical review process we talked about additional landscaping and redefining the parking and he's complied with all that as part of the plan revision so he's really dressing up the site as part of his application any other questions Mr chairman I just have I had a a detailed report I think you touched on the majority of the the waivers there were some plan revisions that we were looking for any objection to none yeah we've reviewed both both the planner and engineer's letter I believe I provided most of the testimony requirements throughout those letters but there are a few minor plan Chang that we of course would do as a condition of approval thank you couple things Mr chairman well go ahead D any signs I don't know if I didn't hear anything that's a good question that's a good question so a sign was shown on the application this is a small freestanding sign out near the street I think if you go left and right my planner can talk to you about the dance studio has a similar sign the use I think it's a florist or Garden Center has a similar sign there was a comment in the reports that your ordinance these ordinances especially the residential but even the overlay Zone I don't think has signed standards um but we would be happy to remove the proposed freestanding sign and not have one we'll eliminate that from the plan I think it was listed as a variance because the zoning ordinance didn't really deal with it uh one of the beauties of this use is the trucks that come there will be driven by people that go there every day it will not be like a long-distance shipping company that hired a new driver out in California a week ago and he's coming to the same site that the company's delivered to but he's never been there so these will be very familiar drivers they don't need that signage to avoid missing the driveway so we would remove that from the plan I think I think that would be a good idea because you might have salespeople or something if there's a business there I want to see what I can do phone book or drop off yeah the phone yeah yeah and they're going to drive back there and start we'd be happy to there might be a small sign that we would place it would be fully compliant as a building sign but be back on the garage just to note the name of the company we think that's even just appropriate so it's clear that this is you know this business's structure um but no we would get rid of the freestanding sign all right so you're on the record that the sign will be eliminated I'm on the record okay any other question how big is this garage going going to be the the proposed garage is 2,217 square ft by Dimension it's 25 by 87 and 3/4 so that's the 881 that's existing that's correct so total is 3,098 very good yes well that's what you put in your report just double checking did you mention the hours of operation the hours of operation I did oh yeah I think uh I believe it's I just want to confirm yes 9:30 to 4:30 are their normal business Monday to Friday Monday through Friday weekend hours here that's correct any other questions couple things Mr chairman thanks um few few comments from the report just want to make sure we we touch on so the um lighting spillage you talked about at the property line there's a a Gra travel area on the neighboring property is there um commonly to your knowledge any kind of cross access that happens there it's just the driveway kind of spills over yeah the applicant believes that the adjacent residents had a you know non-written deal with the with the previous owner to store Vehicles there on you know a day of a party or something like that to keep them off of Bown a Avenue obviously or off of his front lawn so that area there was used for that for that purpose so as part of this application there's no intention to change any of that access there's no intention to formalize any of that access it'll just be a neighborly arrangement to the extent that it happens that's correct okay um similarly so another comment from the report there's a walkway that extends from the uh Northwest so the back left corner of the structure to the neighboring property um is there anticipated cross access back and forth between those properties uh yes in fact the applicant uh owns the single family home immediately to the West uh so this is an access way to get back and forth we would not by the way we would not formalize access rights we would not formalize access rights but if the owner of the business or the owner of that whole lot leases the house to somebody and the lease says you as the tenant get this house area the rest of the back of lot is left to the landowner the landlord and if the landlord happens to live next door well then that's why we don't need an easement or anything because the person walking from the house next door actually owns the whole lot but there's no plan to formalize that and put any type of permanent right linking those two we think it's more appropriate to leave them as they currently exist thank you so it gets a little confusing with cross access and why and it's not but it is that's are all informal Arrangements I just wanted to identify can them yeah yes um so um you talked about the operation of the business um Can is is there any intention to service any of the delivery vehicles on this property so not not in the normal sense of vehicle service um if you need an oil change if you need a starter if you need your brake job done certainly that service is not going to be done the trucks are brought for third part service like that but if there's a specialized rack in the back of the truck that stores the tanks and the rack got dented or the rack has to be pulled off and a different rack put on that holds bigger tanks that type of specialized Truck Equipment the the company and the employees are specially trained for that type of stuff you couldn't really bring that to a garage and say can you amend my you know tank rack so that type of stuff will be done but no General automotive type of stuff would be so no no no fueling no oil changes is no General Automotive that we have to worry about those types of fluids okay thank you um and then oh oh sorry no no no last last one um so we have we're talking about two uses that are um not necessarily going to interact with each other what what's the anticipation of how the um the trash container the the dumpster is going to be used well that will the residential garbage be separate and apart from that will they co-mingle in in that dumpster area um you know if the board has a specific requirement has as to how they want it to function we can probably implement that but if there's ample room in the dumpster based on the company's usage of it the uh the owner of the property may offer that to the residential tenant if not they might require the residential tenant to do it as other residential tenants do but again if the board had a specific requirement we would we would certainly consider anything like that I I don't know that there's a particular recommendation I just wanted to make sure that it was considered yep and sorry Tom I did have one more um with the uh again with the kind of the interaction between the the two uses is there any consideration of uh fencing or creating some additional landscaping around what would function as the residential yard area let's say versus the um the business parking and operations area just do kind of yes we could we could uh consider I believe just just for the record there are seven spaces immediately south of the garage you're talking about the grass area between those seven spaces in the existing home to to boost the landscape or something in that area in order to buffer that use from the uses from one another I I think not even necessarily the kind of buffer we would talk about um where we're talking about the perimeter of the property just something to kind of give a a delineation to the space you know this is my space as the resident versus this is your space as the business the applicant would agree to that as a condition I think that would benefit the whole property that's yeah my opinion as well thanks isn't the dumpster going to be there then it is but the the dumpster is further east uh there's an ample uh space West and north of that dumpster location that could provide a a a good backyard the existing garage is that for the residents no no no not in the back right corner or the North Corner no that that's that's always been part of the trucking business there and that would be continued as part of the business not part of the residence will there be any office space within the garage none as proposed no there's none proposed just Bays for the vehicles nowadays even a desk with a phone you know everybody just gets called on their cell phon so you know it's generally phone just wouldn't ring if it was sitting there any other questions you have anyone else you I would like to briefly present my planner uh she will talk to the board about what burden the applicants under for this type of relief and whether or not she feels the applicants met that burden so I'll present uh which one miss alen uh boost you okay that that's fine you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the TRU help you got yes I do yourself uh good evening my name is Barbara Allen I'm a licensed professional planner in the state of New Jersey and an aicp I've worked with with Beacon planning since 2008 and I've worked my uh way up to a principal I've testified uh in throughout New Jersey before it also has to be hundreds of boards at this time I've been licensed since 201 uh5 make a motion to accept your credentials proceed so so miss alen I have a few quick questions for you have you reviewed the application uh that was submitted yes I have and you reviewed the exhibits and heard the testimony that was presented tonight yes I have okay and you've have you also reviewed the municipal master plan and Municipal zoning ordinance yes I have okay so so based on that foundation and based on that information I'd like you to just describe for the board what burden the applicants under regarding the relief that's requested tonight and whether in your opinion uh this application would meet that burden I would love to uh this evening we're requesting a D1 use variants in order to permit two uses to two principal uses at the subject property uh this is often referred to as the Michi test and I will be testifying under particular suitability uh that the site is particularly suited for the use uh before I delve into all the medich criteria I do like to go through the community's master plan and I noted that goals and objectives include encourage the maintenance of existing business community and provide for desirable new commercial development and continue to encourage and promote economic reuse of existing structures uh the two thou the master plan also actually specifically addresses this overlay and says secondly along Bordentown Amboy Turnpike a light industrial Business Service overlay Zone was created in 2009 to reflect changes in this portion of the burrow to blend reasonable light industrial uses with business service uses while still maintaining an existing residential character in the area so the burough recognized that there was a change going on along this Corridor that it was moving from residential to more commercial and light Industrial in nature uh the 2023 reexamination report uh just reaffirm these goals uh it didn't go on uh I also look to the municipal land use law uh for purposes of zoning and I would aine that it uh further M uh to encourage coordination of the various public and private procedures and activity shaping Land Development with a view of lessening the cost of such development into more efficient use of land uh so this dual use of the site already exists and uh it makes sense to reutilize these existing resources such as the expanded parking area the existing residential home uh with respect to the D variant as I said uh opine that this fulfills under particular suitability uh first off the parcel is actually uh very much oversized for the district um it contains 38,800 uh 80 Square fet where actually uh 10,000 square fet is required by both the r10 district and the B1 um underlying uh the B1 zoning districts standards apply to this overlay I should clarify uh so uh the subject property is actually more than a sufficient size to accommodate both uses um additionally we're proposing to continue an operation that has historically happened at the site uh meaning there's always been a residential in the front and there's commercial use in the rear as was testified to the prior operation of the site was actually more intense as it was a trucking operation and vehicles were stored on the open Pavement in the backyard and this instance uh an 8 bay storage building is proposed so that we can bring those Vehicles inside and clean up the property um I also note that the the actual the commercial operations are very complimentary to the residential hours so we're looking at a 9 to-5 operation has has a max of eight people coming and going uh that means that evenings mornings uh weekends there's nobody visiting that property it's just left to the the resident in that home um we must also address the U Med medich reconciliation wherein why this use wasn't anticipated in the district so the master plan actually does acknowledge that there is a transition happening along this roadway it just didn't anticipate that uh maybe it it coexisted on one side at that time uh with respect to the negative criteria uh I do not see any um The Zone anticipates both uses and both uses can be accommodated on site there's sufficient parking um circulation on the property and as I mentioned it was over it is oversized uh with respect to the bulk variances I'd like to discuss each one at a time uh the first one is the buffering to the rear and the side property line which would be the Western Property Line uh with respect to the rear I do note that he is limiting pavement that is behind that existing garage and he's installing a lot of uh he's installing uh Landscaping along that rear area and also there is the top topographic change where the residential structures are located higher uh than the uh exist than the subject property uh with respect to the 5 foot wide buffer area uh to the West um this is a limited space along the garage where the garage is situated and actually that neighboring property although also residential although residential actually has a garage in that similar area that is also has a very small setback to the property line so we're not necessarily intruding into their visual it's more of a same on either side type of situation um with respect to the insufficient loading spaces uh one loading space is required where none is proposed um the trucks are going to be situated within the storage building um so there's no need to have a large loading area for them to unload or or uh gain materials um and the employees will just park in the regular parking stalls uh signage we're not proposing a sign anymore uh a maximum accessory building area um 398 ft proposed uh where 881 Square F feet exists and 150 squ F feet is permitted that's some intense wind so uh this standard is regard with respect to the r10 district uh the business overlay or the light industrial overlay District doesn't actually have this standard um so it is kind of unique and that you're kind of balancing the two standards um in this instance uh we are requesting that this is a commercial use um the building itself is uh will comply with the accessory Building height it will not exceed 15 feet um and because of the slope and top topographic changes and the uh proposed Landscaping uh we believe there's sufficient buffering for any residential use that's nearby uh with respect to the waivers uh the first one is the driveway width um again this driveway with is existing and is proposed to remain uh it has proved sufficient for prior uses of the site including the more intense uh Trucking operation uh the site lighting uh was also discussed and this was uh again at the entrance to the site to provide safe Ingress and egress uh curbing uh along bord and toown Avenue and uh sidewalks these are not conditions that exist on neighboring properties so we're proposing proposing to keep the consistent of there's no sidewalks there's no carbing um design waiver as for uh curbing on site as was noted by the engineer we're seeking to keep the storm weather drainage pattern as it is today and that uh wheel stops will be provided where appropriate so that cars don't come on to like lawn areas or or intrude um a design waiver for sidewalks throughout the site uh they're not necessarily needed in this instance it is just truck parking and uh employee parking uh there's no one there's no one coming from offsite uh there's no retail operations there's no need for them to have a safe crosswalk through a parking lot um another waiver is required for the driveway setback uh zero feet proposed and is existing again this is existing condition that's proposed to remain uh and the site has operated in this fashion with again a more intense use associated with the trucking operation uh finally yep last one uh the design waiver for a minimum of 10% of all parking areas to be landscaped in the interior where 0% is proposed um so extensive Landscaping is proposed around the perimeter uh due to the limited size of the parking area it it makes more sense and is more efficient to actually allow that Landscaping to be around the perimeter uh with respect to substantial detriment with these bulk variances I do not see any the majority of them are existing conditions uh that will be either improved uh with the application or presented the Minimus um impact uh it will not generate the proposed reutilization of the site will not generate any additional noise traffic or trash above that anticipated within the district and that's already been accommodated by the site it's for those reasons that I believe the applicant has met uh the burdens and the uh standards of the variances requested um are there any questions that I can answer I have a question about the light that's going to be installed 16 ft high is is that a security light or will that be on all the time that would be better question for my engineer okay sorry um the I believe the question is regarding the lighting and whether it be on all the time um it it is not intended to have evening hours here but the the applicant of course would like to have some lighting on during the during the evening hours for security purposes because sometimes if you have a light that high it could um be offensive to the neighbors understood I think I I provided my my test testimony uh the light that we're speaking of is in the in the lower right corner of the property immediately adjacent to Bordentown Avenue the nearest resident residence is much further north and much higher in elevation uh their their finished floor is roughly 10 ft above the grade at this location so the the where the light is mounted is almost going to be at ey level and casting down um not that it'll be completely invisible but I don't think it's a a particular nuisance to the adjacent property and we think it it's appropriate for this area and enhances safety but if you wanted us to not have it on all the time then I mean that's that's we think it's appropriate and enh is safe could Landscaping L achieve the same purpose well it couldn't generate the same amount of L so I mean Rel you know it's all relative but not the same l no there's also a commercial use across the street big commercial use across the street Municipal boundary line across the street so we think uh as long as it's not a nuisance to surrounding residential uses which we don't believe it will be it's all dark it's a houseside Shields and dark sky compliant we think avoiding very dark areas is a benefit to the whole Community going forward based on our experience but you have any other uh Witnesses we don't have any other Witnesses Mr chairman I appreciate apprciate the board's time we're certainly here to all answer any additional questions we have whatever information we would hope you would need we'd be able to provide I think we've given you a complete overview but if you have more questions I won't really burden the board with a summary except to say as you've heard testimony it's an existing use with commercial Trucking use in the back residential use up front we think the proposed use sort of deintensified the commercial use to the back makes it a little neater cleaner um we're part of the community the land owner that the applicant the property owner also has his residence in the community so we look forward the opportunity to stay in the community and ask the board to uh vote yes please I just have one question go ahead so we're talking about Trucking operation in the back so but we really mean specifically this type of truck with this type of cylinders absolutely so if if he wins Trucking operation I was talking about the the other was a trucking company the other user right so when he wins the lottery and moves away it'll just be Lamborghinis Okay it'll just be Lamborghinis then so other other Trucking outfits can't move in without approvals from us yeah yeah I mean that this is the proposed trucks that we have proposed now yes the company that's the company that would operate there that's all true any other question seeing no other questions I want to open this application to the public is there anyone from the public who wishes to speak in reference this application 3191 bant toown Avenue not seeing anyone from the public wishing to speak I will close the public portion I I also just want to point one last item the lighting levels that we're talking about in that area it's not even two foot candles so add a property line in a residential Zone It's Not Unusual to see 05 foot candles at the residential property line but again we're talking about the portion of our property line that's literally our driveway exit and we're not even talking two foot candles but again if the board wanted something different there uh yes okay yeah yeah I think the light is fine as as you please hearing all the testimony and knowing from the public what's the decision of the board and reference this application Mr chairman I move that the application be approved second motion's been made and seconded to approve this application roll call Vote Yes Mr yes Mr ESO yes Mr Emma yes yes Mr yes Mr thank you Mr chairman thank you members thank you uh councel this this application will be memorialized at our next month's meeting and we'll proceed from there thank you thank you for your time tonight [Music] okay yeah we do have aat We're Not Gonna Get Lucky though two faces will be likeing training for the mosque going for that move to make sure that we don't get it over here okay our next application is case 2323 which is 1788 Route 35 North Mr chairman good evening even uh nice to see you nice to see members of the board uh David himman I am the attorney for the applicant sayani realy holding company and uh just to give a brief opening statement Mr chairman and then we could proceed uh with our Witnesses um as you know from the application uh the applicant seeks preliminary and final major site plan and use variance approval for the record the property is identified is block 536 Lots 84 to 88 and as you know from your from the application materials the property is located at 1788 route35 of course you're in cbal uh the total area of the property that we're talking about is 12,793 square feet or about approximately 2.94 Acres um the applicant is here this evening uh in connection with um to construct a proposed new canopy over the subject uh property uh the applicant did uh previously construct um certain improvements on the property including a new island with three pumps and after consultation with your zoning officer Mr mky he correctly advised the applicant that he had a proceed uh to this board for a variance because uh it triggered um the uh conditional use variant which is which is in your uh B3 Highway business Zone uh and as you know uh for Mr Barry's memorandum gasoline stations are per are permitted use with conditions and since we technically can't satisfy all those conditions it triggers a use variance or D3 is required um as you know from just historical discussions on this on this particular type of variance um the applicant has the burden to demonstrate not only that it can't that it clearly cannot s satisfy all the conditions uh but it doesn't necessarily mean that the applicant need show that the site is particularly suitable for the use primarily because the use is is already permitted under your particular Zone it's just we can't satisfy the conditions therefore a D3 conditional use variance is needed um the applicant engineer and planner is going to review the application and we'll also discuss uh the justifications uh for the variant we have several uh pre-existing variances as well uh which the applicant will and his engineer will discuss and um those will be delineated in some detail Mr chairman we have two witnesses this evening um one is the applicant directly and we have our engineer so if the board doesn't have any questions at this time we could proceed see thank you okay uh go wand Mr chairman our first witness is the representative of the applicant Mr Co wander Singh and why don't we that's okay we're gonna have you sworn in Raise Your Right handu matters yes thank you Mr s good evening um so just want to ask you some information and questions about the application some of which relate to the operations which the board's professionals ask has us to cover so um his name again oh I'm sorry it's K wander sing it's k l w i n d r sing s i n g h course okay um so you understand the applicant of course is cyani reality holding company LLC and you're you're the managing member of that entity is that correct yes okay terrific okay so can you describe sort of the nature of the business operations at this site you do you have the microphone for him oh I'm sorry I apologize okay yep there you go speaking to that it's on it's a gas station and you and you also repair vehicles at the site correct yes okay very good um so what what what relief are you seeking tonight and why why are we here specifically if you could address that uh just need the canopy uh because we always have a hot time in the storm or rain and all that so that's why we just request for this thing so the canopy would be constructed over the new island is that correct yes okay great just put the mic make sure okay um now there were some questions raised in some of the staff in some of the professional reports so can you describe the type of vehicles that access the site uh the fuel deliveries and how they how they would come onto the site generally uh it's all kind of vehicle like when you go to station so cars trucks pickup trucks uh dump truck oh that kind of Look trctor Trailers perhaps yes and then of course passenger vehicles for the gas yes okay great okay um is the applicant proposing any uh changes to the vehicle repair business as a result of what we're seeking tonight is there any changes being proposed to that part of the business no okay all right very good okay now hours of operation can you for the gasoline portion of your operation can you just put on the record what your hours of operation are uh 6 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. okay and that would be Monday through Saturday Monday through Saturday okay and Sunday is what 700 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. okay and the hours of operation for the garage repair Monday through Friday would be what is 8 to 6:00 p.m. okay and and then Saturdays May by 8 to 3 p.m. and Sunday You're closed correct okay very good gr Clos but the gas station's open of course right I'm talking about the repair okay the number of employees so the Gasol gasoline station portion of the business has how many employees uh the gas station have two employee two okay and are there shifts for those employees yes there's one uh who opens in the morning 6:00 a.m. and uh he goes home 3:00 3 p.m. and the second one start 3: p.m. to 9:00 P p.m okay terrific okay um now in terms of deliveries uh what type of deliveries are made at the prop or delivered to the property in obviously including refu and what type of vehicles are used for those deliveries and how often what's the Frequency approximately uh the gas delivery comes twice a week so it comes like in uh now that night time is always day delivery and the pot for the garage they comes like once or twice a day and those are mostly what in Vans those are Vans okay and the fuel is the fuel tanker what you see on the road okay fair enough and The Refuge would be that's private correct yeah that's private private huler correct in typical anyone the company they they come and deliver it yeah there that's private trucks yeah okay great um did you want to add anything else you think we've covered no that's all that's all I needed though Mr chairman I don't have any further direct questions for Mr sing but you or the board members or your professionals might I tried to cover as much as I could in those Mr baries and Mr Cornell memo but I may have missed some things the canopy is going to be 14 feet high is that high enough for these tractor trailers that are coming in yes how high are they the tractor trailers are uh 138 um 13 ft and 8 in 9 in that's what they so I just need extra other 3 in that's it yeah so that's all I need about fooding V seems doesn't seem like you have enough of the buffer uh the trucks no that's what the height is 13 13 ft and 9 in for the tractor trailers but that canopy is 14 so the tractor trailer is right underneath it yes that's what I need with the the height to be tracted to be underneath that 14 ft you still have that t structure that's by the pumps T structure means yeah there's a uh like on Google Maps I don't know which one oh oh oh no that was the old one so I don't have that is that about 14t is that uh if I could just interject so I just looked uh my engineer just refreshed my recollection on the architectural plans that we filed so I think the clearance is 15 feet oh it's the 15 for the canopy so I think your Point's well taken so I think yeah because they told me yesterday that it was 14 yeah I mean maybe they're talking about the whole thing but I know the truck needs the Place do we go underneath is a 14 ft so probably the whole thing the clearance is 15 clearance okay which makes sense sorry about that thank you all right I have a question um in in reference the fixing of cars there how many employees do you do you have for that purpose uh it's a two guy two two yes and when you repair a car the car comes in in the morning and it gets repaired and then they pick it up at night or how does that work the car fix the same day they picked up right away if it's they don't fix it then the wait till the next day the cost stays in the garage and the next morning they come and pick up and G any car that's not repaired that day uh is it stored on the property yes what's your limit of cars that you store there uh the parking spot I think I do have about 12 but I don't think we going to have that many cars probably four or five cars a day that's all cuz we got three Bay so so if there's a three cars in the garage so there should be like two more three there in the line to be fix it so there six or seven cars they can do it in a day and when we're talking repairs of these cars we're talking small things like a a new battery and and uh it's not major it's not major uh oil change brakes shs like minor stuff nothing it's not a transmission job or anything not transm no engines just like these kind of stuff tune up these kind like normal stuff okay any other questions any other questions from the board okay yeah Mr chairman just to follow so there's I think there's two mechanics that are associated with the repair part so there's two employees yeah that's it that just do the mechanical part of it just through the mechanical part okay yeah great Mr s great you you can be excused for the moment but but don't leave uh I had that happen once Mr chairman uh if there so many years you have to remind clients uh Mr chairman um my next witness is our engineer and planner Mark Leber and uh we will have to have Mr Liber sworn in and qualified please give him a chance to set up and we do have some handouts also Mr chairman so that old structure that's the old one yes but the new one will be there'll be a clearance of 15 feet yeah thank you Mr MC that thank oh speak loud truth nothing but the truth help you go yes I do uh Mr if you could just provide your Prof professional qualifications your educational background and confirm that your license is in good standing so that you can qualify you as an expert in engineering and planning thank you hi good evening it's Mark with a c my last name is Liber lb R I've actually been to this board before but uh Mr Liber weren't you here a couple of months ago with Dr spinazola testifying correct okay we accept your credentials thank you uh Mr lever I know you B some exhibits with you this evening so I think uh Mr Fisher I think we'd have to have those marked is A1 and those are a series of photographs that were taken recently today today okay great uh so Mr lever what I would ask you to do is obviously start with those exhibits and then if you could do you have any other exhibits you want to hand out there were two right yeah there was the colored rendering of the site plan correct so we'll mark that Mr fiser 82 okay uh Mr lever if you would go over the the proposed application uh and what the applicant is specifically seeking relief for both in terms of the site plan aspect and then we can get into the variance relief and of course address the professional review memorandums as well so I will turn it over to you thank you uh you've heard already the address is 1788 route35 it's block 536 it's a conglomeration of lots 84 to 88 um essentially with the project is for is to install canopy over the gas Island and we're also going to propose a trash enclosure on the right side of the building as well as some restriping of the parking lot uh installation of some plants uh there was worked on on this property recently uh all the concrete surfacing is brand new all the asphalt is brand new as well as the pumps and the uh little kiosk there for the uh operator uh we took these photos on A1 this morning I just want to go through them so top photo on the first page is the building that's there presently on the bottom you'll notice in the distance there's a liquor store uh that's Highway 35 on the left uh in the center of the photo you'll see the new pumps with the kiosk on the next page you'll notice in the foreground there's some new asphalt um and you see the side of the building there's also a little um car vacuum on the left and there's a pylon sign that's to be uh remain on changed then on the bottom photo you'll notice the right side of the building and in the for ground on the right is uh a dumpster there's actually two of them there that's going to be relocated into the new trash enclosure which will be in the back of this picture near the white fence and moving on to the last page again this is the left side of the building I just took this picture to show you that all this concrete is brand new uh and on the bottom you'll see one of the pumps it's pay at the pump it's a more modern type pump that was there pre then was previously there um and in essence uh all this was done to modernize the gas station and I think that the canopy is really the missing piece uh not only does it provide modernization it would be useful on a night like tonight and uh the lighting is also an additional safety feature that keeps this area well then now there's a couple of items with the conditional use that I want to point out first of all and this comes from section 2685 B3 the minimum lot size for this use is 20,000 Square ft and the lot size today is 12,973 square ft so we fall short of what's required for this use at this location on minimum lot width the minimum required is 100 feet and we have 82 ft so once again we're deficient on that requirement um there's another item about no more than three gasoline stations located with a mile uh and we did very careful measurements for that and we actually do comply there's stations at 812 Route 35 that's a BP and then 1949 rout 35 also BP so we are okay with the no more than three stations in a mile the next item is uh service station shall not be located within 500 ft of an Institutional public use or house of worship we comply with that and there's a requirement to screen the outdoors including where their storage areas and we do have a solid white fence so I feel we can apply with that as well um the next item is all areas not covered by buildings and pavement shall be landscaped and maintained um the site has very limited area for any landscaping and there was a little history on this because they had a prior approval for many years ago that required a landscape strip in the back and on the sides unfortunately those plantings were never completed so as part of this plan I am showing the plantings along that landscape strip which is really only 2 and 1 half ft wide but this entire property is uh pretty much impervious today um next location of gasoline pumps they're not to be 25 near than 25 feet to a RightWay line and at least 50 feet from a residential Zone uh these pumps which were installed in the same location as the prior pumps are about 16 ft from the property line and 48 ft from the residential zone so again that's another nonconformity um there is an item here about the sale of used cars and the storage of unlicensed vehicles uh that does not take place on the property and then um there's ancillary convenience items on site um which I believe are limited to in the in the shop in the front what other items do you sell convenience typical that you would find with a service station um and then moving on to the bulk requirements of the Zone which is the B3 Zone we're requesting a uh relief in the canopy placement um we dimensioned that to be about 4.9 ft to the street right of way which does not meet the front yard setback uh for a building in the zone the front yard setback would be 50 ft I wasn't really sure how to classify the canopy if it was a principal building setback or if it was considered an accessory but either way I think we do need relief because even if it was an accessory it's not allowed in the front yard so I want to point that out and then lastly all impervious The Zone requires no more than 85% law coverage and we're at 93.4% coverage uh as I stated it's mostly in existing condition um you know the property uh is an older service station and well I don't know for sure but it could possibly predate that requirement but nonetheless we do need relief now with regard to parking the calculation is for a service station you provide four spaces for each Bay plus two per service vehicle so there's three bays in the building times 4 is 12 spaces and the operator has one flatbed truck and one r V service vehicle which would necessitate another four spots so 12 + 4 is 16 spaces and we're able to provide 11 spaces on the site one of the 11 spaces is an EV ready space so if there was a one Space Credit you could say we have 12 where we need 16 so again we need relief on parking um one of the things I found interesting is that these photos which were taken today don't show any cars on the prop property um just want to make sure I didn't miss anything presume that because it was paved uh quite a few weeks ago I just presumed it was you know there no nobody's empty you'd be bankr is it is it usually that empty no actually were for like four five mon okay the the customer we have gone so once the sum so there's been a gap in service then but it was repayed many weeks ago yeah um one thing I do want to add which didn't make it onto the plans was there was a question if there were any signs proposed on the canopy and the truth is we would we would like to have one sign on the canopy um which faces Highway 35 it's um 36 square feet it's it's actually the prices of the fuel is what it shows um in other words yeah the prices of the of the fuel would be on the C itself correct um the dimensions of the sign I just got this today we didn't have a chance to because we asked the applicant that they wanted to have signage this was the time to obviously present it to you and we haven't had a chance obviously submitted to professionals as well but basically just we just illuminate the uh the diesel digital readout digital read out the various fuel products name of the no no name right right I can tell you that the width of it is 12T and the height is 3 feet I could show you a photo I can't submit my phone but it's it's basically just standard right it's a readout of pricing does that mean you're G to get rid of this post this old sign it's kind of an eyesore I like to keep it the tra you can see one coming from the uh from going to the South yeah yeah I mean yeah maybe paint it if you could but huh yeah weab it but yeah makes sense yeah makes sense sure so would it be facing the southbound side this would be facing 35 yes now what do they technically call that I guess the side of the canopy may be called an apron it would be on the apron which is three feet high so the sign's made to be three feet as well so Mr chairman I guess the proposing board to act favorably upon the appy we could submit uh revised updated plan showing the signage that Mr lever is indicating because obviously but we're representing that it would be conforming to the ordinance correct right no larger than 36 square feet right is that on the long uh section or the show section it's on the shorter section um uh if you're looking at my plan it' be on the right on the shorter section on the right side so it is facing the southbound the Northbound side um so they can see okay I'm just putting on the right that I'm pointing to the right side of the canopy which um is facing the bottom of the plan sheet and and this sign is is the prices correct the like like a b BP station has the the prices and that's a digital okay that's a digital uh thing and that'll fluctuate according to the prices gotta okay hope go down and and the canopy has it won't be adding any more structure to the canopy It just fits within the existing canopy okay now there was one other item there was a question about an above ground oil tank on the east of the building that's a waste oil tank that's associated with the garage and the tank would remain um one more thing there was a question if there was a cross AIS arrangement between the uh station and the neighboring liquor store uh I don't believe there is and it might even predate this owner right you have anything to add no I mean I think there's there may have been informal Arrangement but there been nothing record it's pretty much existed for years so now if you look at A2 what I had done is anything on the property that's currently covered in concrete I made beige anything that's covered in Asphalt I made gray the existing building I just outlined with the red and then the canopy I colored the whole thing red so it's you know centered directly over the pump Island and the kiosk and then we had provided a lighting plan as the last page of our drawing set um and I do want to note that when you have lighting standards for things like parking lots and pedestrian walkways and Commercial uses usually the lighting levels are much much lower than what's proposed under a gas station canopy and you might have noticed that just through driving that canopies are very well lit um so if we do exceed what's allowed in the ordinance it's relief that we would need because when we do lighting under canopies for fuel stations we try to adhere to the international Illuminating Society I think it's called uh what their recommendations are for proper lighting levels and they govern all kinds of uses they've required and recommend the lighting levels within School classrooms within public places you know things of that nature and unfortunately under gas station canopies it's going to be more than a half a foot candle there is lighting out there today I don't know how bright that lighting is but what I could say is that the gas station closes at 9 believe and when a station's closed the canopy goes dark so it wouldn't be on after hours at six I mean in the winter in the winter it'll still be dark out those don't illuminate much light do they aren't they LED they're LED I mean the lighting levels are 10 foot candles I mean this room might be 30 foot candles right now are the lights within the canopy they're recessed and pointing down correct so they're not going to be lighting up the backyard of the neighbors No in fact the ground lighting level readings As you move toward hustling place you know they quickly drop down to zero foot candles on the ground like down I'm like your lawyer want on at night well especially if your prices are good so see well you do but when the station's closed the canopy being lit up at night would deceive people to think it's open you just light up the prices you have to light up everything the prices will be lit up the prices could be lit but the under lighting on the canopy will be dark yeah canopy Lighting on the perimeter absolutely you're right yeah I thought you would shut everything I me I would I price no I think the pricing probably stays on but I think I think Mr lever's point is the lighting around the perimeter of the canopy would be would be off okay thank you jul I I also well I know Barry also identified several existing nonconformity correct um there's also a memo from yeah right you want to turn to Cornell so I'm looking at the memo dated February 28th from Mr Cornell and you know the front page goes through some of the history and what's proposed uh it even speaks about the application from 2010 and then reiterates that we did have a prior technical review meeting which resulted in numerous changes to the plans and as a result he updated this new report many of the items in this report are a statement of the type of relief that we need whether it's uh design standard relief um including parking I actually you were asking earlier how does a site get a delivery of fuel they delivered this morning when we're taking our pictures and just the timing what they do is they pull in and they Park the uh tanker in between the pumps that are nearest to the street and the street and then they run the hoses into the fill ports which are located in concrete so that I imagine is the same as it was done prior to them rebuilding that you said Street you mean you don't mean on 35 you mean yeah between 35 and the pump nearest 35 they park right on that concrete there say they park on the concrete not in the live Lane you're saying where they where are they parking he'd be parking uh to block the fueling positions that are facing 35 yeah not in 35 no he's on the property um there was a item about a d to consolidation that seems to be no issue we'll just have to get a new tax Block in Lot number um just seeing which other ones just to we our rep I think majority of the waivers were were discussed and majority are also pre-existing yeah I I think that the only if you go to item C4 just talks about the handicap spot it appears that where it's located it's in an area where you don't meet the 24 foot aisle with so I don't know if you can reconfigure that to to maybe provide a more accessible handicap spot I looked at that um I could move it down but I'd lose a parking spot as well uh I was trying to take advantage of the fact that I could have my van accessible aisle adjacent to the trash area which was kind of like a dead Corner uh but unfortunately the depth of the spot leaves me only 21 feet to the building corner where we should really have 24 um the previous application had it on the opposite side of the building in that section of of parking where you've got four located I don't know if that's if I if I do that um I'll still lose one spot because where the van accessible aisle is would not become a spot I think the original plan acknowledge that and rather than having uh Public Access where you had the 21 foot you had employee parking so if I don't know if you want to designate oh I see yeah designate those as employee parking that way it's less of a concern with the 21 aisle uh yeah I think I could do that actually okay okay got it we would just put those thank you right so I'll still get 11 in the end and then that was it I mean with regard to the various waivers and the relief that we need uh you know a lot of this is related to the existing condition but I think that given the work that was already done and the amount invested into this property making it nicer I think the canopy is also an enhancement I think it serves few positives you know to the both Aesthetics and the safety and the operation of the site um all modern gas stations have these canopies um It's Not Unusual and uh this being an older station I think it would look much nicer and would be beneficial to the owner to have this so I don't think there's any substantial detriment here to with the addition of the canopy I do have a question that you kind of uh talked about before uh reading uh Jay Cornell's report uh on section four the uh it was discovered that the improvements required by the board in 2010 what we're saying now with this application is we're incorporating the incident of 2010 into the present time so everything will be taken care of at one time is that correct it is yes okay Mr chairman we met at the TRC meeting Mr Cornell did point that out um and yeah so and Mr Cornell had recommended that Mr lever reflect all of those improvements that were not fully implemented from the 2010 that he revised the site plan and to show those improvements so should the board act favorably those improvements are reflected on the plan and would be incorporated in any resolution and requirements and burden on the applicant I agree so when we vote it's going to be the entire package from 2010 to now that's correct okay and right absolutely Mr chairman just one uh bit of housekeeping on the um canopy sign so the testimony from the applicant is that the canopy sign would be 36 square ft I I took a look at what the burrow code permits for gas stations and it allows for 25% of the area of the canopy facade um by my calculation on the plan the side of the canopy is 24t wide by 3et tall which is 72 square feet 25% of that would be 18 square feet so um the applicant will be seeking a variance with a 36t sign I don't have any objection to that I just wanted to make it clear for the record so that there's no confusion if the board chooses to grant that variance that the applicants needs and the applicant would agree to speak that one Mr Libra did you have did you want to add anything I think we've covered all the issues and addressed all the memorandums as well no unless there's questions chairman I don't know if you have any questions members may have questions anybody have any more questions for Mr Liber over is this a use variance or Varian additional use3 additional use and technically since we don't meet all the conditions uh and Mr lever went through uh conditions and actually was uh reiterating Mr Mr Barry's memorandum he went through all those conditions we technically don't comply because many of many of our our suspicion is that that ordinance was adopted after the station of the bill uh but at the end of the day under under D3 use variants uh because the the the way the ordinance is written it's deemed a permitted use but there are certain conditions and gasoline stations have specific requirements under your ordinance so technically if you don't meet one of those half a dozen conditions you're triggering a D3 bearings so and Mr Barry did a great job going through those in his memorandum so but I think to Mr lever's reiterating his testimony he's basically saying that there's really no detriment here and uh and you really need not show py suitability specifically because it's a pried use you have to do the M Chester anything right because it's Bas it's it's it's conditionally permitted uh and quite frankly I think this canopy is something that will enhance the the property itself and the applicants put a lot of money into this facility and will continue to upgrade and also implement the 2010 improvements as the chairman indicator and also paint the song so uh that's basically on that issue yes John any comments I don't think the standard is as high for a D3 as it is for a D1 it's not and in this case the conditions that the applicant's not meeting are essentially all related to the size and shape of the property and where the improvements on the property exist today I mean we can all acknowledge that there's a gas station there and has been for for some time um so there's nothing the applicant can do with this piece of property to come into compliance um so really the the wait for the board is to say are these are these improvements to the property is there any detriment being um rendered by what they're proposing um my opinion that's you know relatively benign application and and the conditional use standards aren't being worsened everything that's not complying with now is going to not comply in the future because the property's not getting any bigger thank you any other questions for Mr Liber so what would we decide on the sides of the sign believe they're asking for variance for 36 square feet whereas 18 sare feet areed by the ordinance correct based upon Mr Barry's research of the ordinance I think we technically trigger a variance with the signage oh I see what you're saying 36 sorry uh Mr chairman I I don't have any more questions for Mr ler but I do have a couple of questions that I want to address uh that pertain to the owner okay um one one of them is I wanted to talk about the Ed cars you're not going to sell any cars on your property am I correct no no okay and the only thing that you're going to sell is stuff related to like batteries Etc you're not selling food or anything like that like some of the gas stations now have you know a regular kiosk that sells a lot of stuff you're not going to have that uh just like soda snacks those are stuff that's all nothing like any sandwich or cooked food nothing no sandwiches nothing like that so it's basically when people come in if they want a soda to take with them or whatever and and and that's it just yeah just it's not going to be a delicate testing type of situation okay any other questions J I guess it's your point it's not not what you would see like that A W yes I think that's yeah that's where I was heading y any other questions okay thank you Mr chairman so thank you everyone um are you gonna open up to the public or yes yeah okay anyone from the public wish to speak on this application the Route 35 gas station anyone from the public wish to address the board hearing no one from the public here I make a motion to close the public portion second public portion is closed sum up yes Mr chairman thank you and the board and your Professionals for hearing us and as you know um I think we've testified on the justification for the for the D3 conditional use variants you've heard from the applicant as to the operational issues um we went through Mr Cornell's memorandum we went through Mr Barry's memorandum and I would concur with Mr Barry that this is a pre-existing gas station and the deviations from the ordinance are fairly benign uh the relief we're asking for we think is you know will significantly enhance uh the operation and the business and continue hopefully uh will allow the operator to be successful which is what we all wish and uh I think at this point I think we've met our burden of proof and we would ask that the board favorably uh vote on the application and we thank you for your time thank you the board has heard the application what's the pleasure of the board concerning this application I move the application to be approved second I have a motion in a second second to approve this application roll call Vote mren Yes Mr kazinski yes Mr ESO yes Mr Emma yes yes yes we will we will moralize it at our next meeting thank you Mr chairman nice to see you again nice to see the board members and we look forward to the resolution and for implementing the improvements and we wish you a very good evening thank you thank you good night [Music] no did you you gave everybody a copy of this resolution correct for tonight was on every chair okay all right the next issue we have is the resolutions and we do have two of them as everyone read the resolution or had a copy of the resolution uh concerning the application of the continuation of the extension of uh Main Street has everyone had the opportunity to read that resolution yes what's the pleasure of the board and reference this resolution I move that the resolution be approved as written Mr B Roll Call yes yes yes yes M yes the second one that we have is from uh last last month's meeting it's the moralization resolution of the Zoning Board of the buau of Servo making the appointments for the 2024 calendar year has everyone had an opportunity to look over that resolution yes sir pleasure of the board concerning that resolution move to approve as written please I have a motion any the second second roll call Mr yes Mr yes Mr yes yes yes okay both resolutions have been approved the last one I have is everyone has everyone had the opportunity to look over the minutes from January 24th 2024 if so it's your pleasure in reference the minutes from last month's meeting make a motion to approve minutes second I have a motion and a second to approve the minutes of January 24th 2024 meeting roll call Mr yes Mr yes Mr yes Mr Emma yes Mr yes is there anything else to come before the board tonight just one question Mr chairman usually we would state that the application is complete is that something we need to do or is that for what you're talking about the ones that were just heard just in general all application tonight usually I we would ask that question and we just get it on the record that complete talking about for purposes of completeness yes okay yes they are complete yes and uh we can do that at the beginning you could just ask him if they're complete before we get going and just okay I don't know if that's a legal requirement or not but we that's what we used to do not a legal requirement but um do it anything else to come before the board if not make a motion for joury so moved meetings adjourned I think we went okay today oh yeah