this has not been a good month Cliff we lost two of the greatest this month Willie Ma and Jerry West I still have his number 24 jacket I was in Philly wearing a Willie ma Jersey and they good okay hey we're talking Willie ma the meeting will please come to order adequate notice of this meeting as required by the open public meeting act has been that on January 18 2024 a copy of the notice specifying the datetime and location was posted on the bulletin board outside of burough Hall given to the clerk administrator mailed fact or emailed to CER news and posted on the burrow website if any member believes that this meeting is being held in violation of the open public meeting act please State your views at this time these proceedings are of a Judicial nature proper judicial decorum must and will be maintained the only topics that will be discussed are those that are on the agenda next item roll call please chairman adir here Mr allet Miss carpinet Mr mclin Mr O'Neal here Mr Vimy here Mr Flores here Mr Alvarez here Mr Daniels here okay we have a quorum would someone please move that Morgan and Ed's absences be recorded as excused so move okay next item salute to the flag to the flag FL United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible Li Justice for All okay someone like to move approval of the minutes I'll move move second roll call please miss carpinet yes Mr O'Neal yes Mr bimy yes Mr Flores yes Mr Alvarez yes Mr Daniels yes Carri next item resolutions coms someone like to move the resolution I'll move it move someone like to Second it second moving to second any discussion roll call please miss carpinet yes Mr O'Neal yes Mr vsky yes Mr Flores yes Mr alz yes carried next item guess would be luse oh no I'm sorry if we talking about your resolutions and I had spoken with Michael ear earlier could you in could you give us a Cliff's Notes um synopsis of what happens after the resolution has been memorialized once the resolution is memorialized excuse me Mr chairman once the resolution is memorialized it's assumed to contain all the conditions that are applicable to the uh to the approval um as far as the board should be concerned there what what we refer to in in the profession as the law of the case so an applicant is subject to those conditions that if it can't comply then it can't get a build building permit um I know that lately and I'm and I'm troubled by it I've discussed it with our planner and engineer um we seem to have applicants who don't seem to pay attention to what the conditions need to be and the reality is is that that you know they're they're Bound by them if they don't like them they can come back and make an application to get them excised or modified but that that that doesn't mean their application can go forward while that's going on they have to they have to wait until that gets resolved and they can't get a building permit while conditions are not being resolved we we really don't have the authority to I mean from a standpoint of what our Authority is we've done our Authority we've discharged our Authority by the time that resolution is approved um Michael you know as the planner he's essentially the enforcement officer as well as the zoning officer you know he works with the zoning officer it's his job to enforce those conditions as prepared if there are any modifications of the conditions or special parts of the conditions that may have been in the record or in some letter or something like this you know he's generally directed like he's generally directed in the conditions like that you know there isn't a situation where an applicant could come in and say oh you know I didn't mean this this is this isn't what we want it doesn't work that way and if an appc and and as you know we always we we try to you know summarize all the conditions right you know sometimes the condition is simply compliance with the engineer and planner's Report well frankly and that's situation it's incumbent upon the applicant to read the report and if there's a problem then let us know but otherwise uh the the applicant is bound by those conditions they're Bound by the terms and conditions of the resolution and one of the thing too and I put this in my resolutions as did my predecessor the applicant is made is bound by all representations made in testimony so if it says I'm going to do Acts uh and even there even if there isn't a condition the applicant can be bound by that and the board can actually go to court and force that so I you know I I am concerned about this happening more and more often and I think that I I I've discussed it with M Mr Cole and I think that we we need to take a strong position on it I mean I know that with some some instances you know we're getting you know I'm I'm getting Communications about from applicants about do we really have to comply with this I'm getting it from some attorneys and and and you know most attorneys who do this kind of work know that a condition is a condition it's like it's like a term it's like a term of a contract and you're bound by it anyway that's my that's my Cliff's Notes no pun intended uh response Michael no I'm good I um we on the miscellaneous on the agenda is 340 Union and there is a slight modification I think it was in your package of the town homes that was approved the modifications required because of the sprinkler system it's a 13r system so it has to be a mechanical room uh there was the discussion between 13d and 13r and frankly a 13-hour system is a separate system not using domestic service it's the preferred system so uh the applicant essentially needs the board's blessing but that modification of the storage shed on the one end for the mechanical systems for the 13r system is acceptable to the board it's not you didn't see this in the plan but they can't fit the sprinkler system in the in the footprint so as a kick out it's no more than three or four feet Maybe 8 ft long all it's for is mechanical equipment for the sprinkler system that's the meter and the valving okay we'll get back to that later yeah okay I just want to let the board know that that's why it's on the agenda is that slight change in modification of the review yeah well it's modification it's in compliance and U that modification of the facade was the board approved the facade the facade is going to change and then form the board has to approve it again in some form I'm not saying a formal give notice and all that that's why it's on the agenda I do believe you know they gave the PDS of the drawing right so I think the board received the PDF of this the drawing showing this to me it's not much and it's for safety so I don't have any issues with it but I told the appli are they here they represented tonight okay no I uh I told the applicant that it would be on the agenda to discuss is to make sure the board is aware of this slight change on the facade and the reasons for it which is a 13r sprinkler system mechanical systems sometimes I like to give these uh ask our professionals will pick out a subject of what's a d variance what's a c variance it's a civics lesson we edification of our newer members uh re-education of our older members for any applicants and the 12 people who watch us on YouTube so we um we like to we we have open government but sometimes this process is foreign to a lot of people so the more we can get out there maybe the less confusion we'll have in the future okay next item on the agenda application Easter Seals good evening Mr chairman morning good evening members of the board my name is Bruce Rosenberg I'm an attorney with Winnie vanta Israeli andon on behalf of Easter Seals okay Mr chairman may I sit when I present I thank you very much all the necessary proofs and Publications have been sent to miss laruso previously I have three Witnesses this evening I have the administrator uh director of programs uh Dr Christina Jones I have our architect uh Kurt Ludwig and Via Zoom I hope uh is our land use planner she unfortunately got a flat tire on the 287 in wanu but I believe through the magic of Technology hopefully she will be able to join us via Zoom so with that Mr chairman if I may I'd like to call Dr Jones oh I'm sorry Mr chairman forgive me uh again I know you've all read the application uh but if I may just briefly uh Easter Seals has operated a group home at for Hy Street here in Somerville for more than 20 years uh what we're seeking this evening is approval to add two additional bedrooms and bathrooms to the home to give us a total of five and also add a handicap accessibility ramp to the house itself and that in a nutshell is the application we do require a d variant because we will be exceeding floor area ratio ma'am would you be so so kind as to stand and raise your right hand you saw we swear the testimony you're about to give in this matter will be the truth so help you God yes please state your name and spell your last name for the record sure Christina Jones J NES thank you very much counselor your witness thank you so much Miss Jones by whom are you employed um I'm employed by Easter Seals New Jersey and for how long have you been employed by Easter Seals I've been employed by Easter Seals uh for four years okay and in what capacity um started out as a a vice president my current role is um Chief program officer and what exactly does that entail sure I'm responsible for all the programs and services that we operate across the state of New Jersey okay and just tell the board a little bit about the program administered by Easter Seals what what exactly is a group home so folks know what that is sure uh what we do in the group home we have individuals that have some sort of mental health um issue where they require some sort of help meeting goals so individuals come to us um our clinicians work with them and we develop individual Rehabilitation plans and based on those plans we have residential counselors who are in the homes 24 hours a day and they support the individuals in the homes with their individualized plans so those plans could include goals such as um daily living it could be life skills vocational or um anything educational so whatever their goal state that they want to do with with their lives and just for the record from you how long has a group home been operated here in Somerville sure this particular home that um we're talking about today we've had since May of 1998 and that's when we start operating that program thank you and how many residents are currently in the home there are five residents okay and just would you tell the board what the lure is required uh for operating a group home in the state of New Jersey sure group homes they're licensed by um in the state of New Jersey they're licensed by the Department of Mental Health and and substance abuse services and it's not you get a license one time and you have a license forever every two years we come out and we have to be relicensed and that site was just relicensed um last month okay and there any other inspections yes we have fire inspections we also have Medicaid audit and inspections as well very good you said it's the department of of U mental health and substance abuse but just for the record there are no substance abuse people in this home and there never will be no okay so our homes are strictly for individuals that have a mental health diagnosis thank you very much as you know uh we're before the zoning board to construct the second floor addition and to create the two additional bedrooms um just tell the board why you you're seeking the approval to add the additional bedrooms sure um so we have maybe 40 homes across the state of New Jersey 220 beds all those beds are 100% occupied we have a weight list over 100 individuals with about 20 people in um this County that are on a weit list looking for a residential placement um so we we reached out to um the division of mental health and um Subs Services um to get approval to add additional beds we received that approval um from the division and we believe by adding these two beds while it's only two those are two more individuals that will be able to help keep ble of the hospital very good um do any of the residents have their own cars no no cars are are permitted by the residents okay Mr lug with the architect will talk about the fact we have four parking spaces two in the garage and two outside but again just for the record um the car the spaces are used by the counselors is that right sure um so normally there's two cars um that occupy the the four spaces we have one vehicle that we keep on site for the residents so we take them shopping or wherever they may need to go in the community and then um we have one residential counselor um at different shifts but only one at a time where the second um SPAC is used for that residential counselor to park their vehicle while they're all Shi so again just just for the record there three shifts of three counselors about eight hours each is that kind of the way it works yes um Monday through Friday there are probably eight hour shifts where we have three different residential counselors coming in on the weekends they probably work longer shifts 12 hour shifts um so we have two uh residential counselors switching out on on the weekends thank you so much um other than providing a home for the residents are there any other events or activities that occur at this house or will occur at this house no so the way our residents work there they their home just like our house um so if we're going to have any sort of events that um would be more than the individuals that live in the home we take them out in the community we take them to one of our facilities or different sites that we have across the state um at Easter SS New Jersey thank you and finally Dr in your opinion do you think adding the additional bedroom and bathroom could have any possible negative impact to the surrounding neighborhood or community of some sure in my opinion no um I reached out to my compliance team I had them do a check we haven't had any um issues um at the home that would require us to report something to the state um so in my opinion no thank you so much Mr chairman and members of the board I have nothing further of Dr Jones anyone have any question of a testimony just given by Dr Jones sure so it it depends on the individual some individuals they go to a like a Partial Program where they receive U mental health treatment it's a full day program some of them may go to half day programs so that could be either with one of our um mental health um outpatient sites some of them have jobs um so they go to their job so they all have a plan so no one is home all day just sitting in the in the house unless they're off of work or they're done with their program you're welcome uh do you have any veterans with PTSD in the program in this particular house we do not have any veterans um in this home but across our programs yes we do uh also um visitors do the residents get visitors so the residents can have visitors um at the house again this is their their home and not like a hospital or some sort of facility so they can have visitors there's no overnight visitors anyone from the audience have any question or the testimony just given by Dr Jones yes please come up all right I just have one question before go ahead I I wanted to know what do you know the age group of the individuals at um I don't know the specific five people I would have to actually look them up but our programs are 21 plus 21 plus evening I live at 120 Lincoln Avenue here in Somerville res living in a house I grew up in and four around the corner from me I don't have a problem with add more people I just wanted to know think my question answer the adds okay I just was curious if it's two or three bedrooms is it going to be two the bedom you know that so there's single single rooms so just two additional residents of the house right right I do see them walking around at 78 I still work fulltime for the county you know and I'm in and out of the home so I see them walking and a wonderful thing so I was just curious how many more people be in that's it everybody knows Mr oal yeah went through the school system we all know each other yes we did thank you thank you very much anyone else from the audience have any questions of the testimony by uh Dr Jones okay thank you Dr Jones my next witness is Kurt lugwig our architect good evening Mr lwi good evening please raise your right hand you saw we swear the testimony you're about to give me this am will be the truth so help you got I do uh please state your name and spell your last name St for the record Kurt lwig l w thank you Mr lwig Mr Rosenberg your witness uh Mr lwig uh would you review your qualifications as a licensed architect in the state of New Jersey please sure um I'm licensed in New Jersey since 1991 as a licensed architect uh my office has been at that location at 77 North at since 1991 at the location of 77 North Main Street ntown New Jersey I'm a member of the American Institute of Architects National Council of architectural registration boards I testified at numerous Municipal meetings throughout the the state name three thank you thank you so Mr lwi did you prepare the set of PL name three Mr lewick I'm sorry three three municipalities were you've given testim name three yeah uh Bridgewater um White House station southbound Brook good thank you thank you Mr chairman uh Mr Ludwick did you prepare the set of architectural plans that were submitted with the application uh with a a date uh of 719 2023 revised through 320 2024 yes I did um Mr chairman is your pro uh procedure to mark them as exhibits or they've already been accepted since they've been submitted if they've already been filed then we don't have to do if but if you have new ex exhibits for tonight they must be Mark add some additional information on those drawings okay so I can I can mark them sure that's fine is it okay if I set up over there that's fine so long as it's on the record M secretary you can mark this I think we we'll begin with A1 here Beau thank you so would you like to Mark add it should be applicants A1 please put the date on it tonight's date on it does that work yep thank you I appreciate I appreciate the clarity please speak right into the microphone sure so on this board which I marked A1 with today's date the board includes a site key plan on the lower leftand corner uh the existing home is a split level design on the corner of Hy and post streets we're proposing a second floor Edition indicated in blue which will be located over part of the existing structure we're also proposing a ramp at the exterior at the left side of the home indicated in Gray people will come down the ramp and then connect to new walkway which will connect to the existing concrete patio in the rear yard and I can come back to this page but I'd like to go to the next page which I'll mark 82 and please put tonight's date on it please okay you're welcome so this board includes our two floor plans we have our uh lower ground floor plan and our upper floor plan um the existing ground floor includes a two-car garage family room up to the mid level we have our kitchen dining room living room bathroom and foyer again to the left we have our proposed outside ramp with a walkway to the existing patio the line indicated in blue is the location of the proposed second floor Edition the drawing down on the bottom is our second floor we have three existing bedrooms two existing bathrooms and again in blue we have two proposed bedrooms and one new bathroom there and I'd like to go to my final board which I'll mark A3 with today's date so this board includes views of the exterior of the home with the proposed addition the addition will be located as I mentioned over the existing house located over the existing living room and foyer the materials of the addition will match the existing home so that it will all match and flow again to the left we have our outside ramp and then we have our rear view the left side view and our right side view and that includes or concludes my presentation can you uh Mr Cole had some comments in his review letter I think you've just reviewed the colors of the of the house and the addition he also asked uh providing testimony the material used for the ramp and handrail can you just go over that sure I did add a note to the uh key plan that the ramp will be constructed of composite decking and vinyl railing and uh can you tell the board whether there's a testimony regarding the basement attic is finished or habitable or non-habitable space sure I believe it's for storage if I'm not mistaken correct the um the elevation page I added uh dimensions is indicating the height of the existing attic which is only about 2 and 1/2 ft the proposed attic will be about the same so therefore it's not habitable and I did add a basement plan which I'll mark A4 A3 oh A4 yes you're right just did A3 right this so this A4 yes sir okay I'm just trying to get make sure that we're all squared away sure thank you so we added the basement plan which is located on below part of the existing house uh the basement ceiling is only about 7t high therefore it's not habitable it is used for the storage of furniture some furniture and utilities so the basement is not habitable nor is the attic thank you you're welcome Mr Cole also asked about whether if there are any new utilities proposed if they are they will all be underground is that correct that's correct okay and uh can you just also for the record uh he asked about the location of the AC compressors sure existing and proposed so on A2 um I indicate one new air conditioning unit here in the rear yard and currently where the proposed ramp is there's an existing air conditioning unit that will be relocated to that same location so they'll both be in the rear yard uh finally some general comments the location of the roof leader discharge is not clear ideally the roof leader should be piped to the street discharged do you have any issue with that uh no currently I show them discharging on the ground to match what's there but um if the town is open to them being piped to the street we would do that he also noted that we are increasing impervious uh coverage from 34.9 to 9.44 still compliant but he does ask it's due to the extension of the ramp uh can you provide testimony that stormw runoff from the site is not adversely impacting the adjoining Properties or streets and that the post increase in improve uh Improvement coverage is not anticipated to adversely impact surrounding properties I I would state that that say that that's a true statement um it is because of the Deck ramp and sidewalk I'd like to also mention that the the second floor is completely located over the existing house so there will be no additional roof coverage thank you um he also noted that the increase uh of five bedrooms may increase sewer flow and a connection fee from srva and that a condition of approval uh if applicable would be the applicant providing documentation srva connection fee is paid or that a connection fee is not required will we agree to that yes okay um he also noted that given the age of the dwelling the existing sanitary sewer lateral should be televised vised uh in the presence of his office to ascertain its condition and that if a documentation is provided sanitary sewer lateral was replaced then television is not required to your knowledge was there ever any replacement of any uh not to my knowledge but I'm sure we'd be again are you agreeable that we would have that thank you very much welcome and then you've added a note uh the drawing that the sidewalk damag during construction will be replaced yes and again finally um he noted about a street tree the subject property is deficient by one street tree are you prepared to add a street tree to the property yes okay Mr chairman I have nothing further uh of Mr lwood anyone from the board have any questions on the testimony given by Mr lwi I'm sorry um well obviously we we put it um where the wires are not I would I would recommend we put put it in the front yard here maybe in front of the ramp we'll coordinate that with Mr Cole if not we'll pay the fee okay right sure okay sure right um You to the testimony earlier was that the the residents um are have mental disabilities but we have a ramp are any of the residents physically differently able the by code a ramp is not required our client requested the ramp um I don't know the needs of the chairman it's it it's because we want to since we're here this evening and we're you know adding the additional bedrooms the folks from Easter Seals thought that you know for the future if if we want to be able to have the maximum ability of folks in the home we should add a ramp okay and that's the purpose okay good anyone El anyone from the audience have any question questions of Mr lwi thank you thank you Mr chairman our final Witnesses are licensed land use planner Donna Holquist uh hopefully she and Miss laruso can put us together if not what are your plans my plans would be to adjourn Mr chairman I I I would like the ability to have our planner we do need five affirmative votes for the application right I just hope she's not zooming and driving at the same time no no she she she took an Uber to her home from the highway so she's at home Mr chairman not a fun road to drive on when you get a flat tire man one that is oh I know but let's face it that's a speed that's a Speedway I know that one in 80 the stories I can tell about yeah 287 and a 450 Honda didn't know that the bike could go that fast yeah but nobody gives you any argument when you're in a fire truck for very good okay okay what we doing great work to just get this far really for it's connecting now Mr chairman all right there she is good evening Donna apologize to everybody no apology d