e e e e e e e e e e e e e good evening this the opening of the counc Union planning board meeting dated Thursday April 25th 2024 m r you please recite the Sunshine Law pursuing to the open public meetings law state notice of this meeting stating the time in place was Satisfied by the filing of an annual notice with the local source and the Star Ledger newspaper of General circulation within the township of Union and posted on the bulletin board of the township of Union Municipal Building thank you Mr Mr Goan yeah here Mr East here Mr Lee here Mrs Espinosa here Mr Miller here M Perkins here mayor Figaro chman Bowser here FR here M KH here chairman Johnson here we have the do you swear the testimony that you give will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth I do I have a resolution for B Corporation UTP 202312 that resolution be approved so move second second Mr Callan Abate Mr East yes Mr Lee Yes M espanosa Mr Miller yes M Perkins yes minman Bowser yes Mr fr yes M Khan abstain chairman Johnson yes I have a motion for the minutes March 28 2024 be approved so move second second roll call please Mr Cohan yes Mr East yes Mr East yes Mr Lee yes Mr espanosa yes Mr Miller yes M Perkins obain not present M Bowser yes Mr fr yes Mr con yes chairman Johnson yes all right for new business I just have some housekeeping is the attorney for Chick-fil-A here good evening Mr hail I just want to let you know we're waiting for our uh the private engineer that we retained for the Chick-fil-A project to arrive he hasn't gotten here yet oh he is on his way okay good I just wanted to let you know in case yeah thank you you're welcome sir I you want to put that on the record yeah you're up there go ahead okay good so yeah uh the matter of application 20244 watch Young developers LLC we did send a letter into the board we're working on revisions to the plans and uh we did notify the the attorney representing the Larchmont civic association also that we were adjourning it so I just want to put that on the record in case anyone was here that they weren't waiting around we do the other matters so and it's being and we can address it we requested and it's being carried uh to next month's meeting uh without further notice award okay thank you thank you sir all right uh in the area needed Redevelopment pres you please identify yourself for the record please sir sure thing uh it's Nicholas Dickerson with coler's engineering and design you please raise your right hand for for piece warning please testimony nothing but the truth I do all right just plug this in with me just a moment uh not sure why that signal dropped let's see there we go and I get this expl apologize just a second as I try to figure this out I don't know why this USB is not okay yeah right and it doesn't even seem to be recognizing this thing hold on may I remove one of the other USB ports on this can I try it on one of the other USB ports should okay just uh one's for the mouse so okay still doesn't seem to recogniz if I pull up my laptop can I plug that in then let me do that real quick okay yes that's fine I apologize good evening Alan J Barkin Schwarz Barkin and Mitchell on behalf of uh Yuri Sim pleasure to meet you sir and we are ready to go here tonight for a minor subdivision and uh on Princeton Road and we're going to get right into it with our engine if I can ask you a question sir sure I believe we're we for the updated sorry we were looking for the updated site plan I don't think you have one uh I don't think we submitted one you didn't submit one we we we're working on the same one we submitted a year ago okay and we don't have an updated one I don't think so I I believe one was asked for last October no not not us up to you no okay no one no communicated with us about it all right is anyone here else um on the Princeton Road uh application your Witnesses all right um it's my understanding that we we're needed a site plan um we don't have it we'll go ahead with your with your testimony okay but we've submitted a site plan originally but there is no updated one we're going with exactly what we submitted originally well what I what we'll do what I'll do is I'll just double check with our engineering department and if we ask for one and we didn't get it uh what we may do is instead of just voting on it tonight I I'll ask for you to get another one and send it to us but Mo to listen to your testimony well if that's the case we would like to know what it is that they're looking for CU we're satisfied I I think my letter uh of October 23rd was quite clear under the technical comments 3.6 says the applicant shall provide a site plan showing the proposed layout of the culdesac if variances are created the applicant will have to make a return visit to the board after providing notice uh we're not proposing a call to sack there is no reason to propose a call to sack um the fire department I mean there was a letter from the fire department in September I believe of 23 6 months after our application was deemed complete and that letter does not ask for a call to sack it refers to the Dead End Street as a call did you respond to that right we yes we sent several letters to that effect let me clarify uh the comments that the fire department submitted basically said we want the engineering department to look at this which is a concern of ours meeing the fire department we did that's why we wrote the letter in October you're you were asking us to create a c toct that's a public RightWay and we're we I don't think we have an obligation to we don't own the street we own the properties on the side if the town wants to turn that street into a culac they've got a process for doing that we're we intend to leave the street Street as it is and build the two houses there and as it is it sounds like we have a lot of bells and whistles that have no no chair Mr chairman we do not um we have I think planning board does there's some questions that I just don't have we've never even had a chance to present our case we've been waiting a year to present our case we would like to do that tonight no I I would but I I can't guarantee that we're going to vote on your application tonight because I just want to make sure that we have everything supposed to well we want to be clear that we're no longer agreeing to extend the time okay all right fair enough and you understand sir I don't need your agreement right pardon me you understand I don't need your agreement to oh yes you do because the 45-day period for approval of a subdivision passed more than a year ago all right so if you fail to vote on it tonight we will go to court for an automatic approval okay you do that sir because I'm not going to have my my planning board vote on an application where I'm not confident that we have all the information well okay okay and you can do good out with our planning board attorney sir we welcome good evening recite your name please uh sure it's uh Giovani Gio VA n ni last name manilo m a n i l IO thank you sir saring the witness pleas yes do you swear the testimony that you give will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth I do thank you Mr vanilio can you uh share with us your professional qualifications uh sure so I have a Bachelor of Science and civil engineering from Syracuse University I'm currently licensed in the state of New Jersey and the state of New York about both in good standing um I've been licensed in the state for 15 years um and testified and fire numerous boards throughout the state uh including this board but it's been um a few years since I've been here would you like to make yes we wouldd like to have him accepted as professional engineer so the same issues as you guys something's happening course same thing click on the source it say source see that works anything as we tested it before is that you there we go no went back there we go sorry can you please describe what the current conditions are sure so the property is known as 380 Princeton Road Block 1101 lot two uh located in the ra uh residential one family Zone uh the lot is generally rectangular in size um and it's oversized with a lot area of 13,500 Ft or a lot area of 5,000 square feet is um required in that zone so that's more than twice the requir of that is correct um property has 100 feet of Frontage along prinston Road and then 135 ft along Fairfield way it is a corner lot um property is surrounded by residential um dwellings on all sides and then um the um golf club is to the west of the par property uh property currently consists of a single family two-story dwelling uh with an enclosed porch in the rear uh there is a driveway that comes off a Fairfield uh uh way uh that goes to the back of the house where there is an attached two car garage uh currently Fairfield way is a dead end Street um with two houses that front onto Fairfield way um and four driveways that come off of that that that end Street um and again the lot is currently fully conforming and oversized uh the proposal for uh this application is a minor subdivision that is fully conforming with the bulk requirements in the in the township ordinance um as shown on the screen is what was submitted as part of the site plan or subdivision application um the thick black line that you see that's running from left to right is the proposed subdivision line with a lot um to the East and a lot to the West um the corner lot which is lot will be proposed as lot 9.01 would be a approximately 71 71 ft wide and 100 ft deep and the Western lot Which is closest to the golf course will be conforming as well with a um dimension of approximately 64 ft by 100t Deep um lot 2.0 or uh 9.01 is 7100 sare ft and uh the other is um 6,400 ft again Lots will be fully conforming we did submit archit uals as part of um the application again they are just for conceptual purposes only um what we're coming in today for is for a subdivision of the Lots um and if we were to get approved um as part of the conditions or prior to building construction we would submit plot plans for each lot with um the proposed house that we're proposing to build along with all the requirements that go with u building house as far as a grading plan drainage plan um and everything to the effect that your town or board engineer will want to see um so I know there is questions or comments about a culdesac uh so so yeah we did see a comment saying that um to provide or not provide a CAC to show a culdesac on the plants again um this is on an existing Street we're not proposing any improvements to the street we're not extending the street the lot currently fronts on the street um so in our opinion um a CAC is not required um for this uh Dead End Street I know that the Fire official had made a comment about um just concerns about maneuverability and um accessing for fire apparatus I do want to knowe I mean this street the dead end is 135 ft long um we do have two frontages and I I put a quick um exhibit together interruptor for one second is it correct that there are other houses that already front on Fairway I'm sorry thank you uh is it correct that there are already other houses that front on that block of Fairway correct there two other um dwellings at front on fair fairway thank you or fa field I'm sorry um so I did put an aerial exhibit so just in the general vicinity of this property and I'll I guess note this as A1 and it's entitled uh 380 Princeton Road Union aerial exhibit um with a date of March 28 2024 uh so this is an aero exhibit of the general neighborhood um um the proposed or the subject property is highlighted in yellow and what you see highlighted in blue are other dead end streets in the neighborhood um so Fairfield as I mentioned is 135 ft long can I interrupt for one second can we get this exhibit identified a A1 right okay okay thank you um so again so Fairfield is 135 ft long has two houses that front on it and four driveways um you have py which I believe is this one right here it looks like a t um is 375 ft long dead end with n uh seven houses and nine driveways Lancaster which is directly uh I believe north of our property um is 415 ft long has nine houses on it with 10 driveways uh further to the West on the other side of the golf club there's a short um section of Plymouth that is 145 ft long which is a little longer than our our street but only has one house and two driveways on it and then as you go further out there's you know further streets such as Dogwood that's further west that has 26 houses on a dead end Street and to the east again as well you have um many streets that have a lot of houses that are on dead end that are more of concern in my opinion as far as number of houses accessing for fire um where ours is a COR lot has Frontage on both Princeton and Fairfield and we're adding one additional dwelling on that lot alternatively um speaking with the client we do have you know several options if if that the um culdesac is an issue with the board or with the board engineer our first option is um we could provide a fire hydrant at the corner of Fairfield and Princeton um that will allow a fire truck to hook up directly at the corner without having to go down the street uh with their truck truck and then they would fight the fire as normal walking down the street with their hoses that's option one option two is this property would meet the requirements for a subdivision and for two lots if we flip the subdivision instead of having the two um Lots facing Fairfield we can make them facing Princeton hence there's no need for AIS on Fairfield way and I brought that as well so I guess we'll call this A2 it's a um an exhibit called 380 Princeton Road Union alternate subdivision exhibit with a date of March 28th 2024 as you can see on this one the dark line is the proposed subdivision line and that runs north to south um again this would be a fully conforming subdivision uh with lot area and all the bulk requirements um obviously we would have to be a set different house than what was presented to the board previously um with the other subdivision proposal but again this is possible as well where we could have both houses from on Princeton and not rely on Fairfield for um fire access or um maneuverability that concludes my testimony y uh yes I have a question U Mr Barkin did you uh did did I misunderstand you did you say that you did not receive or note the October 2023 letter we did receive it yes all right I would wanted that to be change for the record I I thought I understood you to say you did not get that now I I misunderstood the point that the chairman was making I understand thank you that's good to know that was my that was my question that was one question yeah and I'll leave the rest to others um and my questions pertain to the chronology of of the plans and and the letters that come so I just want to just establish and validate in terms of so there were architectural plans dated July 12th originally submitted to the engineer and then there were other plans there was a second version of the architectural PL submitted dated on August 15th that's correct so there are two plans that were submitted Mr Lee I believe you're referring to architectural plans correct rather than the engineering plans okay do you have the architect here tonight well we do have the architect here tonight but um we note that we're here just for the subdivision and not for approval of any specific homes we offered the architecturals to give an idea of the types of houses that might be built but once we get the approvals the actual houses would be um would we would submit the plans for those with complete construction plans and Grading Etc okay so going back to my question I just want to understand the chronology of this there were architectual plans originally submitted on July 12th 2023 correct I believe that's the date yes and then there were let me just check with the staff okay is that yeah that's what we and then after that there were architectural plans that were revised dated August 15 20123 that were submitted again yes my let me explain that um it was noted that I believe that the plan that was the plans for the homes that were submitted for just to show what we might do we set in a location that would have created a variance need for a variance so new architectural were submitted to show that we could build houses without a variance okay and so the plant that were dated August 15 2023 basically were the latest versions and there are no other versions and that and that version dated August 15th does not reflect any kind of cult sack no it does not okay and based on the testimony provided by the engineer there's no intention of reflecting any plans that would have a cold to sack and I just want to confirm that that's correct okay all right thank you sir I would just like to address your uh how you spoke about the firefighter operations so at any structure fire the ladder truck would be placed in front of the said structure fire so so when you're saying that you're going to use a fire hydrant and hump holes up to the front that's incorrect I just wanted to make that's the reason why I believe the Fire official wanted a uh caac for maneuverability of a ladder truck in there I just wanted to put that on the record no noted thank you Mr chairman I just have a question for the attorney is your applicant present tonight yes he is do you intend to have him uh offer testimony um we weren't planning on it but if the board wants to hear from them we will right thank you all right and you may not know the answer to this question but I I I I would just present it to your attorney in the letter dated October 23rd 2023 paragraph 3.6 I think this this may clear things up a little B the it says here the applicant shall provide a site plan showing the proposed layout of the cuis ACT if variants are created the applicant will have to make a return visit to the board after providing notice do you see that yes I do you have that's what that's what I'm talking about no no I I understand that but let me let me give a timeline uh I believe it was in March of uh 2023 that our the engineer deemed our application complete okay and deemed it to be a uh a uh subdivision that required no variances and was put on this agenda and this calendar for that reason and it was and for some reason everyone went back to revisit it and that's 6 months later after delaying us repeatedly canceled three or four meetings by October then that letter came okay so again I think we we're a little better off now okay good thank you now is is there a site plan showing proposed layout of the cus act no there is Noone okay all right fair enough all right any other any uh questions from the uh from the public okay sir your next witness please okay thank you uh I'm going to call our architect just to give you an idea of what the houses might look like are you going to passy sir I am yes take your name for the record please my name is Andrew pad bzak I'm the architect on this project do you swear the testimony that you provide will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth I do [Music] can you please uh tell me your professional credentials uh I'm a licensed architect state of New Jersey I I received my license 1987 graduated from New Jersey School of Architecture NGIT 1985 and then two two three years later I received my license uh um um I've been in my own practice since 1998 I believe and I did numerous projects around New Jersey I actually testified before the board and it passed can we have him accept as professional work thank you can you please uh describe the houses that uh we offered as examples of the houses to be built on this site so what what we propose what are we proposing on those two properties here it's two CLE Colonial houses uh roughly 35 uh 3358 Square ft each um one is going to be on a corner and will be will be set off slightly as as required by the side are setback from Princeton Road to 12 ft because that's the set bag of the corner Frontage um and the other one will have 5ot set bags the size of the houses roughly are 54 ft by 40 ft um again Center Hall Colonial with the entrance in the front if we have the we have the floor plans right there we have entrance in the front on the left hand side we have a dining room on the right we have a living room going straight up we have a big open rear area with a U-shaped kitchen family room then beyond the family room we have a office uh home office SL guest bedroom and also we have a bathroom that would act as a again for guest bedroom or as a for the guests uh uh on the right hand side we have a two-car garage with a mudro entering to the center of the house in in addition to the two-car garage is there parking available on site there is a there is a two two two spaces in the garage but there is also two spaces right in front of the garage so we have a parking for four cars and it does that meet the requirements that does meet the requirements so there is no off street parking required in this we totally complying with with parking complying with with size of the house we uh as far as the building coverage as far as the lot coverage we way under actually because the property the the minimum required size is 5,000 square ft which is 50 by 100 ours is actually one of them is 64 by 100 the other one is 71 by 100 so they're bigger than minimum so we have a lot more space to give and we didn't go maximum to the with the houses we we didn't build them you know as big as possible uh also on the second floor we have a four bedroom three bath uh upstairs so we have one bedroom that has his own bathroom which is called now it's called Princess Suite then we have two other B two other bedrooms that would be sharing the bathroom of the hallway and then we have a master bedroom with with with the nursery area to two walk-in closet and a bathroom uh the basement will have its own bathroom downstairs and will be basically one big open aial as a playroom there will be finished bedroom but there is no direct out walk out from the basement it's a it's just go down through the through the main staircase the red RS nice and this exhibit uh can you tell what is this exhibit identified this is basically the rendering of the front of the streets showing those two houses and as you can see they're not identical houses each one is it's a custom house each one has a different shapes different colors different um different textures on it so we're not just taking one repeating one next to each other you know but we actually changing the front elevation so there's a different Peaks and they look totally different I have no further questions questions from the board yes um can you go back to some of your previous exhibits showing the floor plant you want first floor or second floor uh the very first exhibit that you've first floor sh yeah this one in here so what you've shared with us tonight is the best representation of what is planned to go on the property that's well will be built on this property correct okay um can you can you zoom down on the bottom right a little bit um a little bit just yeah zoom in a little bit more because I I just want and can you scroll to the right a little bit and just down a little bit I see that the date says July 12th um and July 12th is the date for for what you have presented July July 12 that's where they actually the drawings were completed and the first issue was was submited okay okay when when okay and then from my understanding from my previous question was that the plans dated July 12 and according to the engineer letter would introduce bulk C barrier there was there was a question about frer setback because I had a meeting with the township engineer and he wanted me to clarify the the way I basically lined the dimensions on it on this to be clearer to show that we do have a front setback and that's what the basically I changed the front dimensions and that's what the revision came that was done in August 15th but what you're showing us is dated July 12th well it was all the submissions that you have are actually submitted of the latest drawings with the with the revisions of of August 15th but I'm saying what you're presenting us is dated July 12th correct no I'm presenting you as of August 15th that was the latest submission that you received I'm quite confused because on the bottom right it says the date July 12th 2023 on the bottom right on this exhibit but you should have a copy we submitted the copies to the town with August 15 date with the revision so your drawings have the have the the revision date on it this is just for clarity this is different than when we actually submitted well the only correct and the only thing is different is basically one string of theion next to the next to the walkway on the on a site plan where Township engineer want me to clarify and show a different way to show from setback okay I I think I've asked enough questions on my end thank you you're welcome for the question board okay wait L and gentlemen oh did you come up could you come up please a questions not comments that's that's it you have a question sir oh no question okay well we'll do comments when they're done I call you Baker sir are you Mr Baker yes you are okay U Mr chair um I have a question relative to the testimony that was just previously given um there was another over overlaid suggestion when we were discussing the possibility of a culdesac or not and a hydrant or not I think that something was said that well we could switch them and have them face another way so that leaves me with what are we really talking about and I understand sir that what you're asking tonight is just for simple subdivision correct but we are now receiving testimony that's in not only outdated but is in Conflict to what was just testified to in my thoughts now I'm getting little confused maybe you can clarify well the houses themselves are not really part of our application we because we've offered them to give you an idea of what could be built on the site what once the lots are subdivided will submit plans for the actual houses to be built we're showing that these Lots can sustain these houses when our architect explained that the houses didn't really change when the front setback issue was raised it was just I'll let him explain what was changed it wasn't it wasn't actually front setback issue changed it was just the engineer didn't like me to put a line with dimensioning one way she says oh why don't you just put that 25 ft in that 5 foot dimension on this side of the thing and that's what I I basically said sure no problem that's what's has to be done that's what we do that's what we only did but as as far as the location of the house on the property nothing changed and because we do and I'm sorry because and even on this side but we do have a 25e setback there is no variances that we are seeking every we complying 100% with the with the Union uh Union Township variance zoning requirements so there is not even one single variance that we are seeking because there is none ask for the house fits exactly on the property where it's supposed to fit and it there is no issues and with regard to offering to rotate the plan uh if the board indicates to us that that's something that they would view more favorably then we would submit a revised site plan to reflect that and come back with that and we would have to resubmit different if if we go the other direction would wait on the architecturals right Point what I what I really really if you ask him a question and he'll get tus is what what happens and not just saying generally the witness will say things that the lawyer doesn't want him to say and and it gets to be a bad record yeah so please wait till your attorney no problem I thank you very much yeah so I if the board would look at that more favorably then we'd be inclined to come back and show you detail on that I I think that's a pretty good bet but we're willing to give give you a fair shake to present your case to next okay um my next witness would be if you're done I'm sorry so one of these these pictures we've seen the houses are like this but the actual layout that you're going to have to put it is like this are they going to be back to back like where the driveway is going to fit we saw another picture before with the lot yeah the rendering we're looking at it like this but in the in the picture in a previous picture where it showed the the way the it's going to be laid out on the lot was can can I explain it the house that you actually was on the picture before on the drawing before is the house that is on the left hand side of that rendering the one that has the basically two garages on the left hand side so that was one house we have another floor plan with just exactly same floor with the house that's with the garages on the right hand side because there's two different houses with the with with garages back next to each other so it's one one has them on the right hand side one has them has on left hand side is it fair to say that the two houses are mirror images of each other they're almost the rear Yes except for one of them has a box window one of them doesn't I think that's the only thing otherwise interior layout is very similar except on the exterior we made them totally different any other questions from the board and we ask again I know Mr be you want to make a comment we'll do that when when they're finished okay any any questions from the public all right M sir your next witness Please Mr Sim sir please recite your name for the record Yuri Sim uh please get War do you swear the testimony that you give will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes is this the only yes okay Mr simp you're the owner of this property yes I am okay and did you buy this property with the intention of uh subdividing it and building two homes yes I did and how did you determine that that was something you could do well we did our due diligence before purchasing the property made U meetings with the township met with engineering just to get a clearance checked all the zoning just typical standard procedure before purchasing a property and was it your conclusion that uh this property could be subdivided and create two conforming Lots yes okay and uh are you anxious to go forward with this very okay and had we been approved a year ago you would have gone forward with it then most likely would have been close to being sold okay uh I have no further questions of Mr Sim but I understand some of the board members do thank you Mr Sim questions from the board yes I do so Mr C do you reside in the property I do not you rent it it's currently rented CRI and if you if the subdivision is approved and you build the two homes is your intention to rent those two homes no the intention is to sell those two homes I develop real estate I'm I build homes I've done several projects in Union where I buy a small home whether it's a cap or Ranch and we build a Center hle Colonial very similar to what was pictured and sell it for a profit thank you question from the board questions from the public okay your next witness that's it for our Witnesses and uh again um we are done unless you would like us to come back with plans uh showing it fronting on Princeton and I'm I'm glad that we can meet halfway on that sir uh agreeing to disagree is my specialty there I am concerned about what we you just mentioned earlier and three paragraph 3.6 I think needs to be addressed um so I instead of voting on it now because I can't guarantee you it's going to get approved tonight my suggestion to you sir is that we table it to next month and if you agree to that fine uh but we're trying to give you a fair Shake here and uh I I I I am not in the in the position where I it's okay for an applicant just to not do what our engineering department and I'm not saying that you didn't do it deadly may you know maybe there was a a misunderstanding there there I'm I'm going to take this headon there wasn't a misunder understanding no we understood that we had a complete application and that there were no variances required uh the time for us to be heard was within 45 days of that the fire department's comment which led to the engineers request came 6 months later and the time for the fire Department to have made this comment had long ex expired and we dis we why should a developer who is not creating a street or extending a street be required to create a culdesac that's that's not part of normal development process and uh you in effect you would be doing a condemnation of a portion of my client's property as well as the property across the street because of course the culde saac would have to come off both sides not just our side well I hope you understand my point of view sir as a chairman of the planning board I really don't want to create a president where we accept information and vote on application that uh we asked for information we never got and it's not that against you I'm just talking General I just I I don't like doing that I think it leaves the record open for some problems down the road so my suggestion to you sir is that we table this next month and that I'm sorry and that uh you and our engineering department talk to each other to figure out what happened because I'm not sure I know what happened either tell you the truth we we're clear about what happened actually so I'm ask and if if you don't want to agree to that I I respect that it's just that I think it's if we're going to meet each other halfway I think it's probably the best thing to do well well we will come back and we're going to offer plans that front on um PR which um show which wouldn't raise that issue in fact there'd be while there's one house that now well I guess hasard Garage on Fairfield there'll be no houses that have that in the future all right so you'll agree to that we can table this to next month sir I have a quick question Maya um the whole proc want to go to your turn may I yes you may the whole process of uh the culdesac as late as it may have came in in our approval process or at least being heard by the uh planning board was quite a shock because uh we were on the agenda I believe several times leading up to that and what ended up happening is I received the phone call uh from the engineer Phil uh in regards to the culde ACT that we just received this letter from the fire chief and uh it'll take me meaning Mr patter um at least 30 days to come up with this site plan and uh uh what it's going to look like and determine if a culdesac is needed or not and that was another delay tactic so we understood I'm sorry sir the delay tactic uh I found it to be yes I that's that's we're trying to work with each other here sir we appreciate that there I tell you with 100% certain there's no delay Mr Mr chairman I agreed to this the very first time we're before the board so it's not the board that we've been concerned about this is our first time speaking with you we don't think you're delaying us but we think that some of the processes that get you here were interposed for delay I don't mean to have offended anyone on the planning board it wasn't directed towards you I can tell one of the things we take pride in is working with the applicants to make sure everything get done properly I can tell you with 100% certainty sir we don't we don't engage in delay tactics not on we don't this is our first time here on this application so the board certainly hasn't us okay fair enough let's let's just table this now I know Mr Baker you wanted to we're going to table this until uh the next meeting do you want to wait until the next meeting or you like to be heard today what's your pleasure sir I'm sorry tonight all come on up please sir and just say this is the comment section there's no Q&A and you won't be calling any Witnesses if you can go in front of the microphone sir identify yourself in your address uh good evening uh Chris Baker um I reside at 640 Fairfield way uh which is one of the homes that was referred to um earlier on and it would be directly opposite um what was just shown as the rendering assuming those properties were built facing you talk right into the M oh I'm sorry did you want to repeat any of that there you go we're good okay um I would like to show uh an image if I may um I think we may be able to pull that up and I do understand this is coming back to to be heard at another meeting but I'd just like to provide a little bit of context to some of the things I heard this evening um just for the benefit of the board and for my my neighbors is it possible to get that all on one screen if not I'll just have to ask you to scroll at the right moment yeah no no that's okay um what you were looking at okay so what you're looking at is um a Google Maps image actually a Google Earth image uh that was taken in 2013 of the end of Fairfield way no same thing sorry that's that's good you're good um the houses were built the two houses you see there on the end of Fairfield way the one on the left is actually the house that I live in with my wife and the house on the right is the house that Mr shj um currently owns um and this is how the development was uh designed back in 1941 uh when I guess this area of partner manner was was initially developed um so uh obviously Google Earth wasn't around then but um you have to trust me that that's basically what it looked like probably without so many leaves on the trees um if we could just uh well I guess the point I want to make is that uh as it was originally designed with this um infrastructure there were two houses uh and uh between those two houses was seven bedrooms um Mr chim's house has four bedrooms the house that I live in at the time had three bedrooms it now has been um modified and has uh five bedrooms um if we could Just Wind the clock forward to today so I don't know where my uh assistant went sorry you could just tab down okay thank you very much um so you now see what this would look like with four properties at the end of Fairfield way um uh first thing you'll notice is next next to the the property that uh that I own there is another property that was developed back back in 2016 2017 I think um that is a five-bedroom home uh and then the two properties that are being proposed uh assuming the subdivision is is approved will both be five-bedroom properties so we're going from a a situation in a in an environment with infrastructure that was originally designed for two houses uh and a total of seven bedrooms and we would be going to four houses with a total of 20 bedrooms what comes with bedrooms are cars and we are experiencing in real time what a lot of cars in this environment feels like because Mr Sim has uh rented his carent property to eight college students which is eight cars on a good day uh often more than that when they bring their friends and family around and it's not like they don't have a driveway that would accommodate eight cars they absolutely do it has a very long driveway at the back of the house but you'll rarely find more than one car on that driveway they're all on the street um so the the neighbors particularly myself and and my immediate neighbors have very legitimate concerns regarding access uh to the end of Fairfield way uh on on recent occasion we've had to call the fire brigade out due to uh potential fire um so we've seen what that looks like uh with with fire trucks and uh um paramedic vehicles in the area and I appreciate one of the comments that was made that if the houses were repositioned so that they were facing Princeton that wouldn't that would eradicate the problem and respectfully I would disagree with that because these houses have I understand they have two garages and they have one place in front of each garage but I think you all know that that those garages are not going to be full of cars and and the other cars are unlikely to be uh permanently on those driveways they're going to be spread all around the property and that means that there will continue to be cars parked at the the dead end a Fairfield way uh which is what we're experiencing today and it could potentially get worse um than what we're dealing with today so we do have legitimate concerns about health and safety um we have young children we have elderly living in this area um and as I said we've had a recent experience where we've had to call emergency services to our property uh and we saw you know how difficult it was to to bring those vehicles in uh and maneuver them um so I just wanted to provide that context um happy to take any questions from the board or thank you Mr Baker questions from the board sir do you have any questions for the uh president or or you have any input you like or you want to wait till next the answer is we understand the problem you have to do it sir we understand the problem that's developed with regard to the current tenants and as Mr as Mr Sim has indicated his goal is to sell these homes to families and now not to rent them and he he was very clear that renting it was a placeholder till he could get this done he had to carry the property that's and he is not happy with the way it's worked out either uh with the tenants and would love to get on with tearing the house down that will get rid of them and uh and and start building these two houses for families fa Mr Baker I invite yes you can also uh I invite you if you want to come to the next meeting I will be here yeah sure thank you very much um yeah I'm I look I I think the tenants and the situation that that's created is completely separate matter uh I'm not really raising the fact that we have college students in there because of other issues that have uh have resulted I'm really merely raising it because I think it's a good example of what having two five-bedroom houses in this very tight area of of uh Fairfield way is going to create in terms of of traffic and congestion and I'm just used that as an example because it's not really a a theory we're actually seeing it on a day-to-day basis um with the current situation all right thank you very much for your input Mr B we really do appreciate that thank you what I'll do is I'll take a motion to any other comments from the public okay come on up and again sir we're going to be hearing we're going to be hearing this again next month if you want to wait till next month it's your I'm just backing up some traffic situations that Chris was mentioning on your name and address Robert FY at 690 Fairfield way I'm at the Northern end of Fairfield way nice meet you on the right off of Wayne also the Vice President part the man civic association anyhow uh addressing our street in general traffic uh right at this moment there's a home up near me and I'm not going to mention names but a home across the street from me it's a one family home three bedrooms two baths okay street is very narrow at that part of of Fairfield when you come off a Wayne you can almost touch yard to yard straight across okay okay so we're going to discuss kind of the general traffic situation on this street right now there's a one like I said one family home across the street from me they have four sometimes five cars in their driveway and four cars in front of their house okay one home so just 4 22 1 two 3 4 in front of one house or in front of my driveway front not my drive front of my house the house next door no fire engine could ever get down there no way no how no way it's never addressed the issue the whole street is a narrow street it's not an easy street from either end to either end negotiate when there's people with cars there and I can imagine how many more cars are going to end up at that house eventually there two homes this whole area is going to be useless for any kind of emergency vehicle you can't get there now if they come down weighing a fire engine even an ambulance if ambulance comes down and everybody's parked on this section you can't get to the other part of Fairfield way it's impossible it's impossible so which seems like a big area to some people if you live there you'll realize that automobiles in our area have to be minimal they have to be parked in the driveways almost exclusively in the driveways because you're creating a problem there's not enough area to get a lot of cars in that Fairfield way area it's just too tight everyone has three or four cars where you putting all these cars nobody puts them all the way inside their driveway they don't do that because they get work in the morning get in a car in front of their house people have driveways they open the garage door what do you see the whole garage is filled with stuff you don't see cars half the time you see stuff I don't care if it's a new house or an old house I a house around the corner it's pretty new house they open the garage you can't there's no cars in the garage there stuff is there so again traffic how much cars can be parked anywhere is in this Fairfield way area is ridiculous it's so tight now it's crazy that's it thank you uh you'd like to respond sir or wait till I would like to respond he's their their description of people parking on the street is what these folks are doing and they're garages that are full with stuff and they don't use that's what the people who are complaining are doing right that we're providing two garages and two parking spaces for one family uh and that's exactly what your ordinance requires and that's what we're doing and and I I would also like to note that um the plan reduces the curb area on uh Fairfield way because there are now two driveways so there won't be that many car as many cars parked on Fairfield way as as a result of that on this block thank you sir any other uh qu any question or commentary by the public okay all right thank you Mr Baker all right all right all right um the what any is there any other comments from the uh public up I I have to come up here sir one at a time good evening sir how are you sir good even you identify yourself in your residence yes my name is Ken Schuster I live at uh 357 Plymouth Road which is across the golf course I'm a bit away from uh this particular house okay but my I know from myself and many other neighbors uh if if you people are familiar with put and Manor we don't have sidewalks and it's a very sort of a guard kind of a neighborhood and there are a lot of people that that walk myself included all different ages you have kids going to and from school people walking dogs and as Bob had mentioned the streets are a little more narrow because obviously uh put a Manor was built at a time when there were less cars and uh my concern is when you're walking if we originally there was one house on this property now we are going to think about putting two there will be more density as Chris had mentioned just things for you people to consider as you consider this on the overall um people walk there day night the streets are narrow you've got more cars in general today it is more dangerous I can tell you from the 58 years I've lived in my house we have a lot more traffic it's it's in enal more dangerous walking around just because you have more vehicles and uh you know if if we have we have more cars on streets there's not as much places to hide if somebody's coming especially at night so there is a density issue that would be um or I think should be considered with regard to the overall of the contemplation of this property well thank you very much sir uh you know uh and we tried this last month sir uh it sounds that there's a fair amount of concern from the public from your neighbors and perhaps and I just throw this out there a little community outreach on your part may be helpful I don't know yeah absolutely that's come on come on up that that's just just something I'm I'm suggesting to put their their their concerns at EAS because they have legitimate concerns absolutely um when the application was deemed complete back in March or April of last year uh it was pulled off the agenda because of the concerns of the neighbors okay um Township administrator uh Don had reached out for me to come in to meet with him and we sat down with Phil Don um Anthony manguso came in to have a word about this so um we're familiar with the situation we were familiar with all the concerns and um was actually my idea to for Don to reach out to the neighbors for us to sit down and have a conversation just cuz sometimes a little bit of like but that gesture was not welcome oh no no and actually we tried another time several months since we were delayed again said let's sit down I'd be happy to show the renderings I'd be happy to hear some of the input from the neighbors what their concerns are that's why we have all the parking available on these properties that's the only reason why we did the drawings of of it actually conf I feel like it created confusion today unnecessarily but that's why we wanted to show the two garages why we wanted to show the two parking spots um we're aware that the neighbors were concerned about parking and understood that so we're trying to accommodate everyone as much as we can we're trying to help you out sir we we we like I said we try to help we try to work with all the applicants to make it sure it happens here you have a month maybe taking them out to lunch or something might help I don't know um but I do think that um the current situation and helping your neighbors out might it might it might go a long way we we we spoke with them after the meeting last month yeah and we I don't think it was very dve but we would be happy to sit down if there's constructive ideas if they have comments about the specific houses about the way they would be oriented those sorts of things but so far their their position has been no as opposed to please I would give it the old's try sir I I will reach out directly possibly um I'm a fun guy to hang out with so I'm not sure if everyone's down for for bottomless brunch but we'll do something I'm Sor then I I think we have another comment we're going to have to cut it cuz have another application we have to do but M up Sir we'll bring we we'll hear you sir there I just wanted to you oh your name and address please my name is John Smith I live at 371 Princeton Road Union nice meeting you Mr and everybody in Union keep in put the man I keep their property beautiful the lawn's really nice but the gentleman that owns the property right now it's a mess he cuts it I don't want he cut last it's a poor example for what you're going to do when you build this home okay so I just wanted to get that right in we'd like to see him take care of the property that's there right now all right Mr Smith all right thank you thank you all right um there any other com commentaries from the public I see one in the back lavender I said we have another app me I don't want to we we have until 10:00 I don't want to crowd anybody out here hi it's Harry Jordan and I live at uh 375 Princeton Road right across from the property hello m m Jordan hi I just want to respond to what you said about meeting with the neighbors or reaching out to the neighbors because everybody in the neighborhood has a really hard time wanting to sit down with you when the property like Jack said is a total disc race and we have 20 sometimes 22 cars on that street we don't sleep at night because of the parties so it's really hard to take you seriously and I've talked to you about it and that's all I have to say so it's really hard for us to well I tell you what I I respect that um I'm not convinced that a little that that the little chat over lunches it will hurt the application or hurt or help it but it may you know that's that's between you I'm just making suggestion I don't have to make but this is why we are reluctant to do that okay fair enough all right thank you very much all right um I'll any more commentary okay um I'll I'll accept a motion to table b1101 L2 application 20233 I'll take a motion to table that to the next planning board meeting excuse me one second yes sir can we move forward please uh okay um I'm going to have uh an e replacement on May 16th and I will not be available on your next meeting but I will be available for the June meeting okay Mr R can we do that for the for the June meeting you can do for the June meeting yeah the meeting in May is May 23rd but you're going to be gone that whole time May 16th is okay soone understand so it be June which is June 20 give me a minute 27 June 27 well good luck with you me surgery sir I know that's not right I'd like to make uh here have a motion to uh table application 2023 03 b1101 L2 um Mr chair I'd like I'll make the motion to table this until June 20 what did you just say 27 277 um in deference to the availability of of all stakeholders I also would like to add in that that we I as a planning board uh we request that the commentary and the remarks of our CIP engineer be reconsidered and considered as you reapply and bring forward your testimony that's my motion thank you m Perkins second please second roll call Mr Callan yes Mr Gees yes Mr Lee yes esposa yes M yes bser yes yes P yes chairman Johnson yes good luck with your surger sir all right application 20 23 to 17 chickfila you're very welcome sir have a good day now all right all right Mr H Mr Dickerson are you ready I hope so how long is this going to take we first just get him out of here okay thank you sir all right oh all right no all right if if I may as a form of order if I could just re we we'll do is we'll recall the area in need of Redevelopment application he that before we hearp my computer but I know it's not always okay perfect all right are you ready sir I am you are okay all right can you please keep a low down please everyone so we can hear their testimony thank you all right sir all right Mr chairman members of the board thank you uh apologies for the technical difficulties earlier uh one one second if they let's quiet it down they here we won't be to hear what you have you please all right I think that's good enough all right let's give a shot again all righty so take two so once again for the by the way yeah I was sworn in earlier but all right once again for the record my name is Nick Dickerson I'm a planner with Colliers engineering and design I'm here to present uh a report prepared by my office uh concerning the site known as um lot 1.01 of block 4101 you want to hold off it's noisy out there again okay sir there you go this is the axon Noble site uh formerly International paint and our office was charged with looking into whether or not this meets uh the criteria for being an area in need of Redevelopment according to the state's local Redevelopment Housing law so I'll just briefly go through uh the findings of our study so it's located at 2270 Morris Avenue it consists of approximately 11.71 Acres uh it's a gated lot with access points at Morris Avenue Hoover place savit place and from the cue saac all the way at the end of uh at gford court um and the front part of the property is uh the southern half near the gford court is largely wooded while the northern half uh there are some buildings remaining there has been a lot of demolition taking place uh from some of the former buildings there are there's also a building on the site uh that's responsible for the remediation concerning the contamination we looked at uh flooding as you can see from the flood maps a lot of the property is in the ah flood zone um meaning that it is an area of shallow flooding uh it is an active contaminated site recognized by d uh considering the history of um its industrial use uh there is now a plant on the site that's responsible for working on mitigating that contamination the existing zoning is CI commercial industrial which allows for a series of different commercial industrial uses and based on the findings of our report uh we have to find that it meets at least one of the criteria um under the local Redevelopment Housing law uh based on our findings we looked and found and believe that it would meet three of those criteria and I'll get into those um shortly uh these are just some pictures of the site there is one uh building from the former use still on site the office uh the pole barn you see there is the uh remediation facility that's uh now on the property and in our opinion it would meet Criterion B which is abandoned uh commercial industrial buildings um they have to have been abandoned for at least 2 years and we this facility closed in around uh 2014 uh and as I mentioned there had been subsequent uh demolition to other parts of the site and um let's see and then Criterion D obsolete layout and design uh here we point to the former use uh for the manufacturing of paint which has led to contamination on the site uh which is a hazard to the surrounding community and so thus uh we would believe that it would meet Criterion D finally uh Criterion H the smart growth Criterion uh here we note that because the site is in uh State planning area one um which encourages Redevelopment and growth towards the center of town uh which we also had measured at one point of that this is about 20 minutes from downtown by walking um so it is close to the downtown where redeveloping it or this would help to advance Redevelopment in an area where development has already taken place this is not taking a green field and putting a new building on it um it is would be revitalizing a site that has you know been used for decades um it's encumbered by flood zones it's in disrepair and for the number of reasons outlined in our report and in this presentation we would recommend that uh it be considered a area in need of reg development according to criteria b d and H and I'll turn over to any questions the board might have questions from the board questions from the public all right I'll take a motion to approve area need of Redevelopment application B101 l11 second second roll call Mr Cohan yes Mr East yes Mr Lee Yes M Espinosa yes Mr Miller yes M Perkins yes committee man Bowser yes Mr fr yes M Khan yes chairman Johnson yes thanks again everyone again apologies for the technical difficulties earlier yeah just just for is everyone here on Chick-Fil-A application chickf everyone here from the Chick-fil-A app because that's all we have left chickf I just want if you're he something else I just want to be here okay Steve I guess we gota wait want to get Victor he's in the conference room oh I'll call him out Victor yeah all okay ready you please Square Memphis my microphone isn't on there you go you swear the testimony that you'll give today will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth I do okay Mr okay great yes thank you very much uh Stephen hail representing the African Chick-fil-A great to see you all this evening and uh uh yeah we're here for an exciting Redevelopment of the Chick-fil-A property I it's hard to believe I was here in I guess 2010 uh when we did the original Chick-fil-A uh and uh here we are this time later who knew back then that uh take off and and uh have the demand that it's got but it's it's it's great and what we're doing here uh our modifications to the site that we think will benefit not only patrons and uh the use of site but also just in general area essentially what's being proposed here is and everybody drives by there the what was there the Pet Shack and and 7-Eleven are now closed the buildings vacant so what we're proposing to do is to demolish that building chick-fil has control of the entire site clean up that area uh uh reconfigure the parking access through the site uh address landscaping and the like and then uh also provide a second drive-thru Lane the modern I say the newer Chick-fil-A will have two sometimes three dry F Lanes just makes better access and and uh better sight circulation uh that's going to be added in the general area where the existing near the near the turnaround near the U-turn with the and it also includes a canopy and we'll describe that provide shelter for not only the the clientele but but the uh the people that work at the site um we've worked with the township we'd like to thank uh our conflict engineer Vic vagra for working with our team in reviewing the plans and we're excited to make our presentation and look forward to again cleaning up that area getting rid of those vacant buildings and utilizing the entire site so that's an overview we have received winter veger revieww we'll address those and we'll certainly work with him to address any any items including supplemental approvals may we may need so what I'd like to do first is call upon Matthew DT who is from Bowman engineering uh who is our site engineer that'll take us through the existing conditions and then what's proposed by way of site improvements what's his name uh DT Matthew DT Matthew right you where the testimony we give will be the truth to hold truth and nothing but the truth I do okay now Mr if you could please for first uh give to the board your your credentials every expertise licenses you hold and whether you've been accepted as a professional engineer before their boards records the state and yours sure um I have a bachelor of engineering from NGIT uh licensed professional engineer for over 10 years um testified over 30 40 boards throughout the state um very similar applications other Chick-fil-A other commercial applications um that are very familiar with this proposed project I would offer Mr D as a professional engineer great thank so Matt why don't you take us through your pl's existing conditions and address the F improvements that I outlined in my open sure so what we're looking at here is the existing um existing site survey um and as we know this is the existing Chick-fil-A on Route 22 um that is on the center median between the East and Westbound Lanes um it's at 22 19 US Highway 22 uh block 3206 lot 1.01 uh the site is located in the commercial Corridor Zone the CC Zone Total Property size is 1.97 Acres um it is an approved use under existing conditions um there are two buildings on the site um the Chick-fil-A building to the East and then the other uh commercial building that was a 7-Eleven um and a western unit I believe in the middle of the site um on the eastern and Westbound Lanes there are individual Ingress and egress driveways um so it does not contain any um combined driveways in existing conditions um and there is a drainage Colbert that runs north to south that goes through the property obviously that'll remain and as part of our our uh proposed drainage plan and then what I'll do is I'll go to the site plan set that was submitted for our proposed plan here this is sheet uh 2.0 so what we're plan the main goal here is to is really just to improve the efficiency of the driveth through operation the parking um the ability for customers to canot and take quarters to come out and deliver make deliveries as the cars wrap around and leave the drive-thru um so the proposal is to remove the center building that was the 7-Eleven and only have the Chick-fil-A building remain um the rest of the site will be reconfigured for additional parking um a brand new Ingress and egress driveway on the western side that is along the Eastern Lane and the design that you see is a result of working with the dot staff um getting their comments we get a lot of back and forth with them several meetings to arrive at a solution that everyone was everyone was happy with um so what we do have similar to existing conditions a oneway in SE and then the separate one way out on the eastbound lane and then similar on the westbound um it is a single oneway in and then a one way out on the western side um the other improvements we are making we're going to have a sidewalk through the parking lot that goes from the bus stop that exists today on the West Side um and that'll have pedestrian access all the way up to the Chick-fil-A building um and also as a result of the um Engineers comments we are going to add more crosswalks at the additional at the other um two areas where the parking cuts through that sidewalk so we are open to that we're going to add that um the other improvements we are adding a canopy for the order order operations which is about 1,430 ft and then the pickup um delivery canopy will be 359 ft and the main reason for these these canopies Chick-fil-A is doing this on a national basis um it's better for the employees there's air conditioning there's fans there's lighting um protection from any rain while the employees are taking orders and on the other side while they are bringing orders out to the cars um and then we're also extending the drive-thru from um east to west to capture a lot more car volume um as everyone I'm sure is aware in current conditions there's two lanes um that start at the entrance of the drive-thru that combine into one lane for pickup we are now going to have two full Lanes coming all the way around um which I think will vastly improve efficiency and queuing and um you know just the overall operation of the parking lot how it's separated from the drivethru um in this situation um no no changes to signage I mean obviously we'll take down the 7-Eleven sign but the Chick-fil-A sign will stay up um there will be some new sight lighting that'll match all the existing lighting Styles uh the canopies will have lighting underneath them and that was submitted with the photometric plan that we provided to the board um Landscaping obviously we have a very robust Landscaping plan new shrubs new trees everything is heavily maintained irrigated um so that shouldn't be an issue um and then as far as the harbor Consultants letter we really have no issues with the comments provided and we will we've already been working with with um the engineer on addressing a lot of the comments um so we'll continue continue to do that okay and then just briefly and I know our professional planner will address it there's a few variances associated with the the app station um this front and side yard setback correct canopy right so the the building setbacks are obviously existing conditions that are not changing um the only other two setback variances are for the canopies that'll be on the eastern and west side of the building that's just a nature of how this lot is configured with the round you know the round nature of the of the property line to the east um can you show us that's that's actually touch screen too there what's that yes you can see here this dash line lose it so this dash line is set back 50t set back right and you can see obviously the building's right on it so that was all previously uh Varian is granted for the building and then this 45.2 that keeps cutting out here you go is the existing setback situation and then this 14.8 is for the the Cy and I assume you've worked both with the do and work with Mr vagra that those canopies will no way imp impact any sight lines whether it be traveling on or on the call the sa correct the other side this is the uh 19.9 setback Dimension from the delivery canopy I think that's technically a rear yard set back right okay and then I know we're requesting and we'll have just brief the operational teson we were here 2011 we did receive uh a variance uh for lack of a loading song we'll cover that in operational but it existed and it and it works now and it's done off of hours so and then I know we're relocating also um the trash enclosure correct to help facilitate the site and I know with Mr vegra that trash pickup by the way is private pickup it's been functioning just moving I know VI had some uh comments just firing we have adequate site circulation I think s too yep yeah so existing conditions the enclosure is on the southern side of the building parking lot um now that we're extending the drive-thru and we're adding this um kind of an emergency bailout driveway here so any cars that are in queue that want to leave there is an opportunity here before they get around the back of the building um as a result of that we have flipped the dumpster enclosure to the north side um to still provide the same service obviously seeing pickup schedule um which I operations from chickfight can cover this but as far as I know it is off hours um and should not conflict with the cars leading the drive-thru um I know the question was raised other other other spaces for this enclosure um I mean we we want to keep it as close to the building as as as possible and to obviously not have any any conflicts with cars leading and the pickups the trash pickups so um in talking with the operators we felt that this is still a safe spot for it and will not conflict with any normal traffic of vehicles leaving great I have no further preliminary question question of Mr DWI at this time thank yes Mr chairman could you walk us through how this drive through configuration is going to work where are the orders going to be given and where the food going to be pick up I'm curious about how outer Lane is going to have to rece an operational May touch on that too if you want okay yeah it's up to you yeah I better to have them explain the operation question certainly better than it works works now so I just have one quick question um the the dash path um that separates the two lanes does that represent a a physical barrier or is that just a designation within the road to show the separation it's just a striped a to show no separation there's no structure there great great thank you should the way you know if a ladder truck would be able to make a U-turn by the uh proposed uh dumpster we do have a plan in the set that does show some circulation here and is that the only place you can put the D I mean physically no I mean obviously there's other places but it's a balance of practicality and um convenience convenience right we don't want the workers traveling too far into the parking lot to to deposit trash at the same time um you know we want to make sure that it's in a place where it's not going to have a continuous or daily impact on the circulation and well obviously if there's any further comments from fire department we didn't receive any on this one but we certainly work with them and address anything thank you sir as a whole it's pretty much going to operate as it does you know as far as the just the amount of the two lanes the parking I I think there's nine spots or seven spots in front of the ch playay right now and we're going down to five um before we go to operation I have a question um I I know you had spoken about striped areas this is a restaurant in which one could sit down not that we like to because we like to drive in and go but this is also a walk in correct um would you in your opinion haven't uh reviewed this so significantly would you say that there's safe passage for pedestrians from their parking spaces into and out of the restaurant yes and like I said we are going to add a we are going to add a crosswalk that is not shown here now that's what it is yep so that will be added yeah it was consultant's comments they had that crosswalk yep yes you didn't mention it so I want to be sure for the right yes it'll go right from this Center sidewalk right to this um that striped area between we don't want them to have to run in between fenders correct well and also at the present time with the building there right and and I think the addition to that Center walk uh really benefits for vehicular circulation and pedestrian circulation question just a quick followup on the location of the dumpsters initially when I view this uh the plan um I found it intriguing that there was an angle but now listening to more of a testimony about the uh the ability for a truck to turn was the intentionality of having the dumpster area slightly slanted to enable uh the ability for a truck to basically turn into it and retrieve garbage or whatever correct yeah just because that island is right there you wanted to have as much um pavement area directly opposite it to give as much area for maneuvering got it okay thank you thank you may the up that's y that'll be it's not going to change it's not going to change question I'm looking at location of the ref Refuge storage shed will not have ample space for garbage areae please address that is I mean we we feel that it does based on this turning exercise um I mean it's got maybe 70 80 ft of uh of room yeah I think that might have been before saw the turn yeah we wanted evidence yes we wanted evidence and enough showing evidence of how the uh Refuge vehicle will back into that area and then you will probably more or less open to get Gates push out the trash collect it so uh there was a comment in there from one of my Engineers also about the fence the gate and but it's only temporarily you know I don't see a problem with that um I just want to go into load a couple of questions um if we can do like a loading area even though May block uh I don't know what they do now normally you can cone it off or where do you for see a a vehicle parking to for loading and unloading of food of food material yeah we'll have a yeah I can have we have our operator here that can explain the how that works um okay but I mean the intent is to pretty much to maintain the way it is today in the new conditions but you but you should sit up there will work the screen with it I think the the main Crux of uh what we've been working on for about a year now is if you want to go sheet to the show the existing [Music] layout who's winning what's what's as someone who uh lives in the area oh fire now sure sure thank you Mr chairman maybe some we got a home run I won't be too long I want to show why you know it it has taken a long time to get through this drive well what I did L of my arm so and that's why cut down I believe yeah I continue yes Mr D I just uh want for the board for the board members to know okay for clarification for the board for for the board members um what we've been working on and you've been working on with NJ doot over the last 12 months at least um just briefly show how the driveway is functioning now that what we call crossweave on both East and westbound directions that means across me weav with someone's pulling it conflicts with someone pulling out can you just show them the the board members and the public the existing circulation movements with the cross weaves sure yeah and one one thing to point out is right now traveling East when you enter the site you're basically forced to circulate the entire parking lot um to get into the dri the drive-thru which obviously conflicts with movements of um of folks coming in from the West that are then also getting into that weave to come around as well as um you know an exit movement so right now like on the on the eastbound side you have people trying to exit at the same time folks are slowing down right to make this left to come in you're you're right so we call that crossweave so someone trying to enter the facility to pick up a sandwich conflicts with someone trying to pull out so initially when we got involved we looked at the amount of accidents out there fender benders and such and there it was high the rate was high uh so we worked you know I went out there numerous times in my own vehicle just circulating driving around buying a sandwich you know I didn't want a loiter so so but we with NJ doot and we had multiple Zoom meetings with njdot for this new layout there's no more cross weaves and the entrances and the exits are far from the queuing area area for the sand for the drive up and I think this is far superior CU before to pull in there or currently today you have to cut across existing people m in the queue for for the drive up window and that really so uh I have to give them you know some credit here for to Chick-fil-A for eliminating the 711 the sandwich shop and it really cleared things up and the last iteration if you want to go to your new layout that that driveway in there does not conflict so when you pull in to get in line you're not conflicting with someone pulling out which happens was very unusual in both directions now but going into the future pulling in will not conflict with pulling out and they've pulled their driveways further west on Route 22 so not to conflict with pedestrian movements in front of the store so again uh this layout is far superior that's what we've been working on for over a year with the OT and with the applicant and um also the only other thing is in our letter that we we produce a plan of pedestrian movement so they they did agree on the record they're going to come up with a plan with signage and with crosswalks so anytime The Pedestrian right now we're going to go down the middle of the aisle the white area which is going to be concrete that will be the walkway area and then we'll have painted stop bars where the roadways or the driveways Across The Pedestrian area so uh that's what been going on for the last 12 months tweaking of this layout because they can't tweak it without d's permission would you say that's an accurate description of what you've been working on agree okay thanks fa anything uh any other questions from the board questions from the public next witness Mr yes I'd like to briefly call upon Sandy kosa our traffic engineer thanks Matt go please recite your name and raise your right hand for it's Sandy COA do you swear the testimony that you'll give today will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth uh yes and Miss Coy if you could please give the board the benefit of your work experience licenses you hold area of expertise all right I've been working for uh McMahon Bowman for since August of 200000 I have a civil uh engineering degree a Bachelor of Science and a master of science in transportation from Penn State University and I've been practicing as an engineer since uh 200 uh8 at least and I have multiple licenses including New Jersey PA Maryland and Ohio and I have been uh in multiple boards as determined as an expert in traffic engineering for PA and New Jersey for Chick-fil-A projects great I would offer Miss K as a a professional traffic engineer great thank you Miss Co obviously we've gone through this plan we've worked with Barbor Consultants at Dot and I know Matt gave a general overview ex insting conditions and what's proposed by way of improvements but if you could briefly address uh the status of the dot approvals and how site circulation and parking and the like pedestrian access is being improved with this plan okay I'm going to go back to the existing plan because this is something that we have worked on with Victor and uh NJ do we've had multiple meetings like this one oh okay so we've had multiple meetings to try to address what's going on there today in terms of that circulation and as Victor has pointed out we do have a crossweave situation in which our exiting traffic as it's coming out on the eastbound Side conflicts with traffic that's attempting to come in on that same side and as they come in on this side on the E eastbound right now um there is the potential for that to queue back out onto the road and there are signs that have been since installed that directs anyone who's coming in here to actually come around and this is where you have the conflict today with the pedestrians where anyone who wants to use the drive-thru who comes in from that eastbound side they Circ circulate around the parking lot and then back in and across again to get into the drive-thru the same situation happens on the westbound side terms of your exiting traffic and your entering traffic so right as you're coming out of the existing drive-thru there's the exit and that traffic conflicts with anyone who's trying to get in as they're heading westbound into the site as well so that has been the main focus of what we've been working on from a traffic standpoint and from a layout standpoint to address with the new layout so what we have done is the new layout has the Ingress driveway coming first on the westbound side and then the erass driveway to make the left back out onto 22 heading west is the furthest driveway from the drive-thru and from the store itself and what we've done on the eastbound side is we've removed the driveway that goes into the drive-thru now and we've come up with a channelized driveway situation in which you have your left turn entering vehicles coming in first and then the the exiting movement for the egress coming out on the other side of that so that we've removed that conflict that occurs under current conditions as pointed out by Matt we've also installed a center uh pedestrian sidewalk here for anyone who wants a walk up from any of these spaces and as noted we are going to be adding the crosswalk here the same as what we've had the crosswalk here with the striping and we'll also be adding some crosswalk striping across here as well this plan also has our drive through at a different location so we now have doubled the amount of storage space there so under current conditions we had about 414 ft of storage in the Drive-Thru with the combined D dual Lanes merging into a single Lane and under the future conditions with those two lanes we have approximately 1,000 ft of storage just within the drive-thru this will keep all of our drive-through traffic in that drive-thru so it should not be conflicting with anyone in the parking lot or any other movements out there so we have made some potential improvements to the overall operations okay and just briefly I know you're working with Harbor Consultants with Mr pgra and the rest of your team uh to obtain final dot approval for this also yes we will be submitting new plans with the revised layout this is something that we uh recently worked with uh Victor on in terms of redesigning this driveway here so we're in the process of updating our permit plans to resubmit to NJ doot with that layout as well as updated storm water uh plans as well that that they're requiring us to submit for the site great thank you I have no further questions at this time Miss COA question for the public Mr yes great I'd now like to call upon Gideon Lee for operational testimony yeah absolutely Gideon leey today the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes thank you okay Mr Lee you and I have done many of these but if you briefly uh indicate your position and relationship with uh Chick-fil-A yes I'm the development manager on behalf of Chick-fil-A okay great and I know we first of all if you could touch on uh the how these improvements both the the addition the reconfiguration of parking uh the canopies how they how they benefit the site we've heard it from uh from their professionals but just touch on it briefly and how Chick-fil-A is now looking to add multiple Lanes when they can at locations and also the canopies yeah and I'll try to keep it as brief as possible uh coming up on time 10: p.m. so to be respectful of y'all U and sorry for the the y'all uh but you know Chick-fil-A has a national Redevelopment program a roll out uh coming out of covid our sales channels have shifted dramatically and you you all have seen this from a dinin service model to now you know a third party mobile pickup drive-thru uh a lot of things are moving to Mobile these days so you know back in you know 2000 let's say 2015 or even earlier than that real estate look that deals with a single Lane drive-thru with a focus on dinin uh so a lot of these existing restaurants today um as you see here I guess this is the proposed but existing restaurants we're coming to retrofit with our you know latest uh what we call a p14 standard prototype it's what we would build a new Store with uh we would lead with a dual Lane drive-thru um with an updated prototype prototypical building um and you know as part of our Redevelopment program we are you know adding the Dual Lane and then we are adding additional um kitchen capacity and uh what's called a parallel drive-through cockpit in the building uh this will also increase capacity to you know bag quicker and and out the door uh so that you're delivering to both lanes uh on the drive through this is on on the screen here it's what's called a dual Flex Lane uh so you have the option to you know run it as a bypass lane for that outer lane and then you can also deliver to that second lane so so what I mean by that is sorry it's not loading correctly but uh you know at at certain times when you have a car sitting um at the window uh let's say they have a $70 order or they have a lot of Milkshakes um in current conditions you can't move right it's a single Lane at the pickup window uh but what that second lane does simply you can bypass that uh first car uh you will have team members delivering Upstream uh by way of these team member striping zone is what we call it so two foot in the inside so team members can walk uh longitudinally along the two feet and then also in the middle uh to your question uh Miss Perkins it's a 3- foot wide team member space uh Mr Lee as well um we share the same last name so uh but so that provides our team members with safety of delivering to the OU outer Lane as well as traversing uh Upstream to you know take orders on iPads at the What's called the face Toof face canopy forther Upstream uh so that that's really our model and this has served um operators very efficiently and increased capacity uh where we really need uh drive-through capacity especially here in Union um so um I'll take any further question well and well so just explain and I know Matt touched on it briefly the benefit of canopies and what it provides to both your the patrons and to your and to your working staff yeah absolutely so it really started as an an oan initiative to provide water rest and shelter um so what the canopies what they do for our team members they provide heaters in the winter and then they provide fans as well in the summer um and and Matt had mentioned we also have lights uh to provide safety as well so today you know I don't believe we have a face to- face canopy here um you know in the January we're not going to have team members out there taking orders um and that increases a lot of efficiency when you have team members with iPads to take orders uh generally speaking cars are more inclined to you know follow traffic um if there's a team member directing you to hey pull forward um and so on and so forth so that canopy really you know allows team members to be out there you know throughout the entire year and then also on the meal pickup side at the uh you know what it will now be a tormax door which opens up um where we deliver the meals um there's also going to be single canopy that does the same functionality okay and then there was a question before if you could confirm there's going to be no changes in basically Personnel or team members hours of operation but could you please confirm the hours of operation yeah absolutely it at 6:30 a.m. um open and then uh the restaurant closes at 10: p.m. uh but D in um and Adam the operator here uh effective June 1st uh will be closed down at 9:00 p.m. so the drive-thru remain open till 10: um and Sundays are we closed everywhere so okay and then uh with respect to there were questions uh regarding trash trash we showed the the circulation pattern uh that is private pickup off hours that that's correct so private pickup off hours and then to Mr uh Victor's Point um on the loading unloading that's also in the we hours of the morning uh before the store opens uh especially in existing conditions we can't have a loading truck out there um you know at at peak times so that remains unchanged off hours and I believe going back when I was before this a decade or so ago that that stun in the front uh right they pull up right the the loading and unloading is done in front of the correct correct by way of the uh drive-thru uh or I'm sorry the the drive a wids and again off hours correct Y and it's function proper ly for all these years correct yep okay good and then uh uh I and just confirming again no General changes in operation just more efficient correct no change to you know increasing team members or what have you not necessarily tied to this project U so no operational changes here okay great and on behalf of ownership committed to uh work with Harbor consultants and any comments including if there's any further from from the fire department to address any concerns absolutely and like Mr Victor has mentioned we we've been working with uh various stakeholders uh Union um to make sure our site plan is you know meeting everyone's best interest and we we continue to do that or will continue great thank you no further questions Mr Lee at this time thank you Mr Question from yeah Mr Lee I so I'm not familiar with your operation at all so you have employees that walk through the line it's not like a traditional drive over where you Dr a window or a speaker and put your order in and then go to another window to pick up the food you have employees that work the line to take the orders and then they they hand they run the food to the cars correct so traditionally at peak times uh when you have a very busy lunch rush uh you will have team members out there with with iPads taking orders and that again is to promote efficiency to get cars to quickly go through pull in front of car x uh so that's what team members they is you know uh traffic control as well as you know team you know they wear a lot of hats at the end of the day and then but you know we do still have the menu boards um so let's say there's a storm um obviously the canopies will protect the team members but um in very inclement weather you will still have the menu boards to to order from got it all right thank you thank you question the canopy is that going to be be like a permanent structure or is that going to be kind of like a tent type yeah it it it it will be a sleep permanent structure about a a 10-in profile so it's a very Sleek design uh with uh steel black post uh so it'll be very permanent and uh we have a a roll out just for canopies alone uh but a lot of times we couple it in with a you know re a massive Redevelopment like this thank you thank you yes uh our Final witness Nicholas graviano our professional planner good evening thanks Mr Lee do you swear the testimony that you'll give today will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth I do yes Nicholas gravano and Mr graviano I know you've testified many times before this board but briefly give your ential as a professional planner yes hold a bachelor's degree from rucku University master's degree in City Regional planning from rucku University law degree from Temple University School law uh my New Jersey PP license is just renewed so I got till 2026 we'll have you back again yep all right I would offer Mr graviano as a professional planner it's order okay Mr graviano obviously you've been well familiar with this project work with the team and review the comments of Mr Mr reager I know we're uh permitted use uh but there are couple of uh variances associated with the the application if you could please provide the planning justification for that certainly Mr har the uh applicant is before the board this evening requesting preliminary and final site plan approval with Associated C variances for a specific piece of property known as block 3206 slot 1.01 as the board heard in previous testimony this site presently contains the existing Chick-fil-A restaurant as well as the 7-Eleven and the uh sandwich shop uh the applicant went through great efforts to acquire uh the 7-Eleven building uh to demolish it to improve the site circulation as well as the quanity of off street parking on the site uh the applicant is requesting some relatively minor variances in the scheme of things uh the first being uh deficient lot depth uh that's an existing condition not augmented by this application uh relief for that variant certainly could be granted under the C1 criteria due to the extraordinary situation affecting a spe specific piece of property uh no substantial detriment to the Zone plan or zoning ordinance uh would be evident uh with the granting of that variance um as you heard in the engineering testimony there are front yard setback and rear yard setback variances for the proposed canopies uh as you heard in Mr Lee's testimony there are sufficient reasons for the development of those canopies mainly for employee uh safety uh to guide the uh customers and and the free flow of traffic through the site uh those variances can be granted under both the C1 and C2 criteria C1 in that the existing building placement does not allow for a conforming location uh for those uh amenities to be provided for uh certainly no substantial impairment of the Zone planner zoning ordinance with the granting of those setback variances uh they can also be granted under the C2 criteria where as hardship need not be demonstrated what must be demonstrated that relates spec to a specific piece of property and that purposes of the municipal land use law will be Advanced and in this case uh this proposal advances four core uh purposes of zoning specifically purpose a promotion of the public health safety morals and Welfare uh that's done through the redesign of the site uh creating a safer uh situation for the queuing of vehicles and pedestrians to Traverse the site add additionally it advances purpose G to provide sufficient space and appropriate location for a variety of commercial uses to meet the needs of New Jersey citizens uh moving on criteria H uh design of Transportation routes which will promote the free flow of traffic that's evident with the double uh drive-through Lanes at Double capacity as you heard in the traffic testimony and then lastly this promotes a desirable visual environment and good Civic design and Arrangement obviously this site uh will function a lot better due to the arrangement proposed by the applicant uh there's no substantial detriment to the Zone planner zoning ordinance with the granting of those variances and frankly uh the applicant's proposal uh advances objectives of the master plan related to the Route 22 commercial quter through the Improvement of the site great uh thank you very much Mr gravano uh no further questions at this time questions from the board uh yes I have a couple questions um maybe I should have asked this a little little sooner but can you give us a feel for the construction time frame from demo to completion let me bring back thank you Mr graan thank you so we will further develop uh the construction timeline once we have a general contractor on board but generally speaking with this scope of work we're essentially looking at a scrape and rebuild but keeping the the building footprint is existing uh so if I were to you know get give a higher estimate uh with without scaring the operator here too much um it would probably be closer to a a two-month duration I'm sorry can you repeat that closer to it a 2month duration but that's not necessarily a two-month shutdown it's a two-month construction duration but the this restaurant will remain open after a certain period of time and that was my next question will you be operational during your construction phase correct we'll since the scope of this project is fairly large relatively uh throughout our our program um you know we're going to phase it in a way that we're going to keep certain sales channels open um and and get Adam open as quick as possible but there will be construction still going on uh but definitely bifurcated from pedestrians and meeting Health codes so with adequate safety precautions yes sir thank you thank you we have no further Witnesses at this time obviously any of the witnesses that have testified are here to answer any further questions from the board uh and yeah just briefly I yeah I think this is when you look at what's there now and you look at what's proposed it's a win-win uh much better circulation of tra traffic they talked about the ins and the outs and having gone by there all the time uh great benefit there the additional and new Landscaping the the double drive-thru uh and the benefits and working with the dot and Victor and harbor consultants and our team I think and the variances are minimal it's permitted use and frankly the setbacks for the canopies are certainly Justified so for all of those reasons uh we request the board Grant this application and look forward to uh a quote unquote new Chick-fil-A thank you very much Mr thank you for your Witnesses too I thought they were all very professional thank I'll entertain a motion to approve application 2020 3-17 B 3206 l101 second Mr Goan yes Mr East yes Mr Lee yes s Bosa yes Mr Miller yes Mr Perkins yes M Bowser yes Mr yes yes JY Johnson yes thank you very much and great to see you all again Ro thank you have a great night [Music] good thanks so much everyone take care good luck