welcome to tonight's meeting of the Zoning Board of adjustment which is being pursuant to the of the township of Union which is being pursuant to the open public meeting law c231 laws of New Jersey dated 1975 notice of this meeting was advertised in the local Source Andor the star Star Ledger the newspapers of record and notice has been posted on the bulletin board in the minicipal building adjacent to the municipal clerk's office roll call Mr Wy yes Miss Martins here Mr Benta is absent miss scottt here Mr Johnson here Mr mcneel here Mr Graves is absent Miss rickets here Mr Champion here there being a quorum president this meeting is now declared open at this time I'll entertain a motion for the approval of the February meeting minutes Mr chairman I move that the meeting minutes of February 21st 2024 be approved as written and dispense with their reading second all in favor I I opposed so moved Mr manguso at this time are there any Communications uh there are no Communications Mr chair just as one Personnel note Mr bent Thea did communicate that he was going to recuse himself tonight being that this was the only case that was on the agenda uh that's why he's not here tonight um I I noted for the record that it made sense for him not to come since he was going to recuse himself uh having worked at the property at at one point so uh he is not eligible tonight nor did he attend the meeting so noted Mr pansula proceeding with tonight's meeting we have one case this evening and it's calendar number 3428 Amanda Jennifer LLC located at 558 rollway Avenue block 7 3703 lot 15 in its addition to the second floor with three one-bedroom apartments Mr hail would you like to begin yes good evening Mr chairman and board members uh great to see you all this evening thank you for your continued service on the board yeah we're here before this SE uh the board this evening for uh Amanda Jennifer but it's Cozy Corner has been in Union for many many years and we'll talk about the rendering but as you can see uh what Pete is planning with the work of his professionals is a beautiful upgrade of this building uh there's going to be the downstairs is essentially going to remain the same which is in there except we're actually going to then put uh to address parking have parking on in underneath the building in a garage setting uh to accommodate the parking for the proposed three uh one-bedroom apartments and then the rest of the layout is just a reconfiguration and redesign and yes the second floor we're looking to put in the three one-bedroom apartments we will have uh our architect take us through the well first our engineer take us through this floor site PL and then our architect us through the architectural plans and then we'll have planning testimony and operational testimony so we have received the reports uh we have the coler's report we'll address all of those no issues we also did get the uh comments from the fire department one of the comments and we've run into this quite a bit with the EV charging that they don't want them in the building uh we'll work with with the fire department and if need be no problem with the knock blocks by the way but if they don't want them in there we can relocate them to outside of the outside parking area so I know that's a lot of concern with respect to EV charging so uh that's an overview of the application we're before this board uh the commercial use which isn't changing is a pre-existing non-conforming use in this Zone although it's a it's adjacent into many of the industrial areas and then the residential portion we residential is permitted although it's technically a two family Zone but we'll have planning testimony to address that so uh if there's no preliminary questions what I'd like to do is call upon our site engineer uh Joe Bachi from eka to take us through existing conditions and then what's uh proposed by way of improvements uh just for the record Mr chair and board members that Council I Mark day one the application as it was submitted I Mark day two the site plans as they were proposed from the eka associates which consist of five sheets plus the survey so six sheets in total of R the eka submission and A3 are the architectural plans comprised of four sheets so A1 through A3 are into the record thank you Mr Panola okay all right you'll be sworn there sorry to make the new daddy wait there I'm I'm real do you swear or affirm the testimony can provide this evening is the truth and the whole truth yes for the name State and spell your record with your business affiliation uh Joseph Bachi B AI eka Associates 328 Park AV Scotch Plains New Jersey right and Mr B I know you've been before this board but if you could please confirm your credentials where are and any licenses you hold sure uh 2012 graduate of Ruckers University BS in civil engineering uh licensed in civil engineering since 2016 accept Mr B seen him a few times I've been here a couple times yes and a new father this week so yes a little tired so bear with me if I congratulations thank you guys and then if there's any exhibits if there are plans were submitted already they're already part of uh A2 but just identify the page if you could please when you address that uh sure yes so uh I'm going to go through the site plans that were previously submitted um I'll start here with the cover sheet uh sheet one give you guys a lay of the land here uh so the site as Mr hail mentioned it's 558 raway AV uh cozy Corners Delhi uh that is tax slot 15 block 30 uh 3703 uh uh so zooming in the zoning map you see the site shown here um to the Northeast uh Northwest rather here um existing gas station um Northeast you have Residential Properties a lot you know 14 13 and so on uh to the South uh East is Willard Place you have additional Residential Properties located across the street there um and then to the Southwest uh you have this lot one here um this a big parking lot um in the commercial industrial Zone uh so we're right on the edge of the residential Zone um to give you a better idea of the existing conditions I'm going to jump to the last sheet uh one of one our survey uh that is dated August 11th 2023 um so zooming in you can see as I just stated the site is bound by uh you have ra AV Willard AV gas station here to the north northwest and then Residential Properties to the Northeast uh the site currently houses a one-story masonary brick building uh cozy Corners Deli as I mentioned with um you know portion of it is is storage to the north here I'll let the architect go into the details of the building itself but uh that it's kind of centrally located on the site on the lot um the lot is rectangular in shape about 100 ft uh Frontage on raway AV 99.95 technically an existing non-conformity by 05 ft uh so really minor there and then about uh 78 79 ft um Frontage on Willard here uh aside from the building the rest of the site generally asphalt paved uh on both sides a little bit of green area in the rear here uh you have parking right off a rway 10 spaces in this area that I can't highlight but right off a raway you have 10 spaces where my cursor is um storm water on site grading it's generally flat storm water is basically going away from the building and and towards the intersection of raway and and Willard flat but enough slope that it's it's getting pushed uh to the streets which is nice and and we're not changing any of that um there are a number of existing non-conformities I don't want to go through every single one of them um our planner will touch on them a little more if there's any you have questions on um feel free but it's you know a lot of the side yard front yard um which aren't really changing at all um I don't want to just go go and list all of them our planner will will have that pleasure um I will jump to sheet two of five our site plan um go through what we're proposing on site uh Mr ha gave a nice um uh summary but I'll I'll dive into a little bit of the details um so start with the building itself obviously adding a um three one-bedroom apartments up top we're going to to work with the parking we're going to convert the interior uh kind of storage area uh to parking we can have five um Vehicles parked there uh that'll be for the residents I think that technically uh 5.4 is the calculation based on rsis I think five really does a good job of you know three Apartments five spaces I think realistically is plenty um for those parking uh for the residents uh we will remove some from the exterior here so you have no parking area um in order for the residents to get into that garage also clear space for trash collection which we are proposing a trash enclosure on the North End of the site here um are requesting a variance um it's pretty close to the property line there again it's existing gas station it's it's not a residential use there so I think that's the best spot for it um because obviously we do want the trash enclosure there's not one on site so it it is a site Improvement there um and try to make use with limited space around the building um other improvements Ada parking space bringing the site up to compliance on that end uh also EV Park space uh on the on the uh Northwest side here um adjacent to the residential property I think there was a comment on um extending a fence uh in that area uh from the engineer um which we're happy to do uh EV working there one EV space inside uh the rest of the site improvements are really cleaning up the site new asphalt uh cleaning up the sidewalk and curb um the bulk of the remaining improvements are interior architectural um I will go to our grading plan next really minor grading changes um so we will you know Mill and pave Asphalt in the southern area and confirm uh and regrade such that it is ada8 compliant um and then some really minor grading just associated with that uh trash enclosure to the north besides that the site grading stay in the same drainage uh will remain the same uh no issues currently and I don't anticipate any issues uh in the future as as there's very minor grading changes um moving down to sheet four lighting and Landscaping um again uh pretty minor improvements bringing it up to up to code with uh a total of 12 building mounted lights uh so we're Illuminating this area um I'm sorry I did fail to mention there's a an additional proposed door in the northwest corner here that'll be access for the residents um and then really the only additional impervious coverage um there is an existing non-conformity where we're slightly uh intensifying that and it's just for Access for the residents at concrete walk here and the trash enclosure so very minor improvements there um and and really necessary for for this to work for the residents and trash collection um so but wall mounted lights to illuminate that area uh wallmounted lights in the parking area um along raway and and Willard and then a total of 10 arbores uh up against the existing gas station and a portion of the um residential um shared lot line to buffer there um I think that's essentially that's really you know the last sheets details which are just standard site details um I think that's really the overview but if you have questions or want me to go into detail again you've had an opportunity we already I mentioned about the the uh fire department comments with respect to the I think you touched on it in your testimony but section four of the coler's letter dated December 15th and section six regarding the sanitary SE uh no issues complying with any of those items no issues complying there any with the fire department we'll see if there's um there's anything we anything we can do to ease their concerns with an interior EV charging station if not we'll put one outside okay great okay thank you Mr bot no further preliminary questions at this time Mr chairman are there any board members that would like to question a testimony Mr Bachi has provided um I do have couple of questions actually the trash pickup it's a very small area um assume there's going to be a dumpster in that clure correct and is it anticipated that the owner somebody would have to roll that dumpster out to the curve to be picked up or um that that is possible I didn't check yeah I don't anticipate a a truck being able to to maneuver in and pick it up so yeah they'll they'll have to likely roll it out um or any consideration of putting at the Press curve there so it can serve as a driveway or is that area yeah uh so my client in the in the past has uh he was trying to get a little more depress curb along raway and the engineering department denied him um I think he's generally in favor of depressed curbs but along rway there but he's had some trouble with uh engineering and he is private pickup by the way so they and they they pick up now okay um and what about it I say fine it's definitely an improvement to the the current you know they don't even have a trash enclosure so and what what about emergency access um to the back of that building any any concern with getting an emergency vehicle back there for whatever reason um I mean back in this area you got the dumpster closing that side and you got the the The Parking Spot closing that side so effectively that corner is locked out if there is a vehicle here um it would be you wouldn't be able to get a vehicle in there but it's a relatively small area I mean you can get obviously a emergency vehicle here uh in this corner you're not very far from from here you know if it's a fire I'm sure they can run a fire hose if it's you know EMS related you have an EMS worker can get through here um but I mean the width between the the building line and the property line of fence is the same all the way back through that Corridor right this WID um to the to the back of the the building I don't see a North arrow on there yeah oh sorry yeah yeah on the North that North elevation there so here here you have 10 ft from property line building not that not that elevation the the north elevation the back side of the building yeah that so from uh yeah what do we have there um that appears to be 9 ft as well I'm sorry 10 um but if you got if you have a vehicle there and your Clos there because the trash is there how does an emergency vehicle or emergency response get back and take care of anything that may be back there yeah I mean there's not always going to be an EV vehicle there first off I think a lot of time you're going to have access for a vehicle um and I you know I I think an emergency vehicle can get close enough right now um it's not a huge site it's you have a vehicle in terms of fire you can reach any portion of the site um from these from the you know right off a raway at Willard um and we can discuss with the fire and Emer they didn't have any comments but we can make sure we accommodate any any concerns they have if we need to stripe that area of no parking and highlighted no parking so if an ambulance was to come there they could park there and get right into the side and and my last question is for the excess parking s Saturday morning people are still upstairs sleeping the restaurant is opening M where where do those other eight Vehicles Park what do you anticipate um yeah so so the residents are they have their dedicated spaces inside uh the garage in here um so whether they're sleeping or not there no one's parking in their spaces um but yeah I know there is a deficiency um speaking with the client a lot of his business so right now he's he has no parking issues I know we're taking some away from outside um we are adding the the EV and the handicap um a lot of his business is pickup um delivery services pickup uh there hasn't been issues um right now um we anticipate you know just based on how the business is operating right now he's not going to have an issue with um you know not not enough parking on site um and in fact one of the things should bring up often times we'll come with a mixed use project and say okay you got the residents in the evening and the business during the day on this one when we uh worked on the application we figured let's have dedicated parking inside for the residences so it won't interfere with the business uh so the business will operate and always have those spaces available and the residents have the the in interior parking dedicated to them so there won't be any conflict okay yeah and just to reiterate we have 10 spaces um existing on here um that's being reduced to six but then we're adding two here so he's losing two spaces but just from conversations you know he he feels he that really won't be an issue um I I know it's technically a we are requesting a variance um but just from an operation standpoint don't anticipate uh lack of parking being an issue okay are there any other board members that would like to question Mr botch's testimony hearing are there any members of the public that would like to question the testimony that Mr Bachi has provided hearing none thank you Mr baji thank you Mr B Y and congratulations thank you U now I'd like to call upon uh palantes or architect can I ask you to swear or affirm that the testimony provide this evening is the truth and the whole truth yes and for the record State and spell your name with your business affiliation sure my name is Paulo Dantes first name is p a l last name is Dantes d n t s and I'm um uh owner of dant coret architecture okay and again I know you've testified before this board on numerous occasions but if you could please give the board sure basic overview of your credentials sure uh graduated from New Jersey Institute of Technology 2002 U Bachelor's of architecture been licensed on in New Jersey since 2007 um I provided many testimonies uh not only in Union but Bergen S6 Hudson Middle we accept Mr dant CR thank you m thank you Mr chairman all right Mr Dantes I see you already have up on the screen part of the uh submission to the board so if you could take us through uh what's proposed by way of improvements and I think you also I I believe this this this a new uh a100 will be a new so that would be A4 I believe the the two renderings okay um so the the project scope that we're looking to do is a second story addition um it's a prop approximately 3,000 square ft um it's going to Encompass the existing building footprint um the existing uh first story um the existing building is a one-story masonry building also around 3,000 square ft um major interior alterations will be to the existing first floor will be approximately 1,198 and that's a use change um where we changing uh a storage area to um a residential uh enclosed garage um on sheet A2 we're proposing uh uh the first floor will consist of an existing retail space to remain that's this entire area um it's approximately 1,850 Square ft uh the existing or the new proposed garage it's actually an existing um garage which now is being facilitated as a storage area we have an interior alteration to accommodate five uh car garage um it's going to be approximately 1,000 square ft and then we're looking to provide also a res a residential vestibule within that residential vestibule we're looking to um Locate the entryway at the side towards the rear um of the of the building we're also proposing residential um enclosed St um providing mailboxes access from the exterior um not only for the mail but also large enough to accommodate bulk mail such as Amazon's UPS and FedEx I believe all these Bays towards the back will be closed and we're still leaving the existing three uh garage Bays open and we're going to use them as garage doors on sheet um a300 we're proposing a second story addition again 3,000 square ft well the circulation is going to be approximately 300 I think 300 Square ft of it um within that it has the stair and the hallway we propos in three Apartments uh apartment number one located here uh it's going to be approximately 800 and 82 Square ft apartment number two 873 Square ft and apartment 3 uh 1,62 squ ft all will consist of a one bedroom uh with one bedroom and walk-in closet one bathroom open PL concept kitchen eating area living area and we'll have also a mechanical and laundry room uh within all these apartments within that we're looking to indicate a roof hatch which will accommodate accessibility to the the units upstairs and also some of the units from the existing retail space she 400 is our building elevations um and I could go to also to the rendering the total height that we're proposing currently is 29 F feet and 3 in given the accommodation for the structure um to the top of the parit our existing first floor will consist uh of the brick and the windows will sh remain in their original location uh within with the exception of maybe of a new door that will be provided to access the second floor um residential area where it's going to be in the on the side towards the rear emphasizing in the retail entrance we tried to provide canopies not only to emphasize not only the entrance but also to provide shelter from the from the weather uh we also provided a horizontal band uh of synthetic material to create a separation between the retail and the residential spaces um additionally on the second floor uh our materials are going to be hardboard composite sighting which is being depicted as the wood and the rendering um hardwood um Hardy Board planks are being depicted uh in white that will be our paneling will have brick um along this decorative uh vertical elements the elements that we tried to provide was to create uh cohesive design with the existing that exist at this moment uh also emphasizing the materials um and the creating projections with recess plans and the facade um the scale and the proportion uh we feel we took into consideration not only in our projections and recesses of side but Our intention was mostly to eliminate a monolithic and a continuous structure um we are proposing both Street sides of the elevations to be constructed with the same architectural design consistency along the use and the materials that concludes and I think you also have uh the rendering I don't you want that a separate exhibit or well A4 there's actually three additional color renderings okay so can make that a four five and six so A4 was that first colored rendering that you had up then yeah which I think was a cover sheet with a colored rendering rather than colorized portion yeah there we go Natasha to the rescue it should be something or Sou I put on the desktop desktop yeah might be a large it was open earlier it was open yeah we the the old days with the diesel in the boards F eror [Music] yeah take a sometimes you got to close everything it's just the one mhm is that this one mhm yeah it's corrupted try is they're different images than what we had up at as A4 two different in the oh opened up in paint all right okay just got to move it around a little bit okay okay okay so this is just a rendering of um of the materials along with of the existing uh building and trying to keep the Integrity of the the existing building and then introducing the new materials to incorporate with existing building so we do we try not to take away all of it um from um the looks of the neighborhood so okay all right I have no further questions at this time Mr Dantes are there any board members that would like to question Mr Dantes just one I to keep going back to the parking but when I saw the arrangement um of the cars in the garage um are they going to be assigned to the individual units and the reason that I'm asking is that you have two vehicles that's up against the back wall if they get blocked in how do they get out so the way I'm proposing is that uh apartment let's say apartment number one will have this Bay apartment number two will have the the next Bay and then apartment three will have the next Bay uh the tandems will be designated per apartment okay but as long as they're in the same house so you can scream at them to come move your car pull your car up we also have enough space that if they need to back out they won't back up to the street they'll just you know uh do what they need to do and then the other car will go back as well okay are there any other board members with questions yes Mr chairman does the business currently um get large deliveries where they would need a actually Pete will be up next yeah to answer that thank you um and that is you're actually building on top of the existing restaurant I didn't see any type of exhaust to take take so we we we still have to go through those motions but once once we figure out the actual location there will definitely be a shaft and then we'll have our makeup air and all the exhaust up there okay and then within that we're going to screen it as well is it so you're not looking to take any any shafts up through the apartment to the roof above the roof line it it will go through the apartments but it will have her own dedicated shaft areas that uh is rated and you know all properly exhausted out okay any other board members with questions for Mr dtis hearing none are there any members of the public that would like like to question the testimony yes sir would you come forward state your name and address veto kusza 28 53 uh Willard please in terms of the parking what um what will allow the people to make sure that they Park in their designated area if they're uh lazy that day and just want to park along the street and not go into their garage how does how does that work I I don't know if I could control how the the tenants will work but the dedicated spaces will be given to each apartment for example this this Bay here it will be dedicated to one apartment along this one too and then as well as the other so those dedicated spaces will be given to them another thing and we wouldn't have a problem with this condition number one that the resolutions say that the leases indicate and require that they park in the garage in those spaces and not on the street and that they're also limited and we've done this too that the one that has the one space has one vehicle the other two have two vehicles although we found just to what we found is with a one-bedroom apartment it's rare that you'll have somebody that has uh large number of cars but we have no problem if that if that's if that's a condition that it be in the leases and require that they Park in those spaces any other members of the public that would like to come forward hearing none at this time Mr yes i' now like to call upon Pete suya thanks p and he loves testifying so don't be nervous can I ask the witness to swear or affirm that the testimony you provide this evening is the truth and the whole truth I do just for the record State and spell your name with your business affiliation Peter Celia p t r c l i a owner of Cozy Corner Delian Caterers and of a manag gen of her LLC thank you okay all right Mr CH first I guess little background on your uh Cozy Corner and your history in the township we' Union okay so I was born and raised in Union here um went to Battle Hill which is right near uh where Cozy Corner is and uh was UN high school and I I I was in a food business with my father prior we had lunch trucks and then seeing this building uh business going to be up for sale so I wanted to get out of that business and uh decided to take it over and we did I did with another partner but he's gone and um took it over and made it into what it is today uh catering uh restaurant uh you restaurant and catering business so this is my life my blood besides my kids my two girls but this is my heart and soul so I want to make it look nice I mean I took it over in 88 and uh been through a lot of years a lot of some rough years but and I just wanted to make the neighborhood look ice and you know uh we need that up there to facilitate the building so pretty much that's it I mean okay that's what I want to do and I know you've been involved in in uh Union Township both providing uh catering I know we do at the nights Colum and well my H you know take care of my schools you know and it's just my heart and soul is it it's my town and tell us a little bit about uh the nature of your business uh I know a lot of it I know our office orders from you is is deliveries uh you have a you do the deliveries a lot of people pick up yeah we we mostly do PI I mean we used to have some in a lot of in some inhouse service before covid but after covid it's not like it used to be so um we we always had deliveries ever since we started thank God it brought us through Co um so with that said we do a lot of deliveries uh during the day and uh pickups and through the area and Catering through all counties of un that's one of our big strong parts of of the business so and that's offsite catering not catering in the building all offsite and generally what are your hours of operation we are 6:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. uh Monday to Friday and 6:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on on Saturday Sundays we do pre-order catering over a certain amount of money we will come in but the establishment is an open yeah okay and then approximate number of employees and I know you indicated some your employees walked uh yeah yeah you know they're all said you have pretty much at Max five five yeah five to seven employees okay and many of them I think you indicated some take over some take the train I'm sorry the bus and or walk yeah okay and tell us a little bit about um just want you to confirm we talked about with parking your basic business model isn't changing in the apartments no problem in requiring that they park inside and and not utilize absolutely the garages for storage and things like that yeah absolutely yeah definitely want to keep it the same you know the business are structure will be the same same and uh we just want to keep the area pretty much the way it is now and I know obviously it's now a beautiful building in the investment that you're looking to make uh you saw the comments from the fire department and know we talked to uh your professionals no problem if they do require that that EV charging space be placed outside you would be okay with that yes and also the nox box so that they would be able to gain access correct yes and I know your plan also there was a question regarding emergency vehicles that that are in front of the residential would be marked as no parking so if there was an emergency service whether it be an ambulance or like would be uh able to accommodate site access yep yes great okay I I have no further questions of Mr C at this time are there any board members that would like to question the applicant yes Mr chairman does the business currently uh get large oh I'm sorry I forgot large deliveries no so everything is we go to Restaurant Depot for most of our products and we do have thumans come in with you know his truck for our cold cuts but most of our product come from Restaurant Depot so we use our vehicle to go there which is right around the corner and pick it up thank you my I wanted to make and say that I forgot it thank you any other board members with questions hearing none are there any members of the public that would like to question the applicant hearing none Mr H yes I'd like to call thanks Pete uh call our professional planner Mr Nicholas gravana great job can I ask the witness to swear or affirm that the testimony he can provide this evening is the truth and the whole truth I do if you can State and spell your name with your business affiliation for the record yes my first name is Nicholas with an H last name grav o g r a v is and Victor i a n o I am a partner and planner with graviano and Gillis Architects and planners with a business address of 101 Crawford's Corner Road in homeown New Jersey okay and Mr graviano I know you've been before this board on numerous occasions but briefly give the board your credentials yes I have a bachelor's degree from rucky University a master's degree in city of rual planning from Parker University we'll accept Mr graian he's been here a few times thank all right Mr gravan you're obviously well familiar with the site the uh review letters that were issued if you could please provide the board planning justification for any relief sort in connection with this application yes certainly I I'll keep it brief because the gentleman before me did a great job of describing uh the site and the surrounding area uh the applicant is before you this evening requesting preliminary and final site plan approval as well as a D1 use variants to permit a mixed use building uh this specific piece of property is known as 558 raway Avenue on the Township tax maps is block 3703 lot 15 um as you heard in previous testimony uh there currently is an existing uh Deli on the site as well as uh garage spaces which are are being utilized for commercial purposes as well uh Mr DST uh outlined the plan to convert those garage spaces to accommodate the residential parking uh as well as adding three one-bedroom apartments to the uh new second floor uh of this dwelling uh the of the building uh the applicant is requesting the D1 use variants as this is in the RB District the RB District permits one and two family dwellings uh the the present use is a pre-existing non-conforming use um and the new use which would be a mixed residential and commercial building uh requires a D1 use variance uh the applicant is also requesting uh numerous C variances um those are indicated on pages two and three of the coler's letter uh numbered 1.2 to 1.15 uh the applicant is requesting relief for minimum front yard setback minimum rear yard setback minimum lot depth uh minimum rear yard setback to the accessory structure that relates to the new trash enclosure which is proposed uh for the quantity of parking uh for parking in the front yard uh for the impervious coverage the applicant is slightly increasing the existing impervious coverage to accommodate the site improvements uh parking setback to the street uh parking setback to the property line uh the planting uh waiver uh the applicant is providing plantings in the corner of the site however it can't meet the letter of the law the ordinance and then lastly the applicant uh is requesting a parking space Dimension variance um all of those C variances are triggered by the existing conditions of the site uh none of them are being augmented by this application except for the couple percentage of uh impervious coverage that's being added to accommodate the electrical vehicle charging stations and the refu enclosure and the uh parking Supply which you heard in previous testimony uh the applicant certainly has enough space to meet the needs uh of the deli and the residential units will each have uh spaces allocated to them with two of the one-bedroom units having two spaces uh per dwelling unit uh with the c variances they certainly could be granted under the C1 criteria whereas strict application of the township zoning ordinance would create create undue hardship upon the developer uh relief can also be granted under the C2 criteria with the C2 criteria hardship need not be demonstrated what must be demonstrated is that it relates to a specific piece of property here here you have a non-conforming commercial use in a residential Zone uh Additionally the applicant must Advance purposes of zoning IM animous of the municipal land use law this proposal certainly advances purpose a promotion of the general health safety morals and Welfare purpose G sufficient space and appropriate location for variety of residential and Commercial uses to meet the needs of New Jersey citizens and as you saw with uh Mr D's impeccably designed building it certainly promotes a desirable visual environment through creative development techniques and good Civic design and Arrangement and it certainly uh will be a drastic aesthetic Improvement to the corner from which you see today uh moving on and and the big variant that the applicant is requesting this evening is the D1 use variance um as as you guys know with respect to the D variant um DV variances can be granted in particular cases and for special reasons that's the positive criteria of the D variants this app applicant does not need to demonstrate that there are other viable locations within the township of Union to locate this use just as this site has characteristics that make it appropriate for the Mixed use building Additionally the applicant has to demonstrate that there there's no substantial impairment to the Zone plan or zoning ordinance or uh substantial detriment to the public good uh in terms of the particular suitability of the site for this proposed use um it is a pre-exist in non-conforming use it's not like the applicant is introducing this mixed use building to a uh current uh one family or two family structure uh this is a non-conforming use the actual applicant is actually reducing the commercial use on the site and introducing a residential use which is permitted in the zone uh at at a 2unit clip although the applicant is pro uh providing three units it's not a substantial uh deviation from the two units that the uh zoning uh the zoning ordinance requires additionally with the particular suitability and the master plan touches on this on page 83 uh that uh multif family uses should be located approximate to Transit and in this case the applicant's property uh is located on on both sides of the Route 94 uh bus route which takes you to other uh Transit locations within the region that line connects uh Lynden and Bloomfield so it's certainly a site that enjoys uh proximity to MH Transit uh as with the c variances uh this proposal in respect to the D variance also advances purpose of zoning uh Ag and I and certainly does not create a substantial impairment to the Zone plan or zoning ordinance thank you very much Mr graviano no questions at this time Mr chairman are there any board members that would like to question Mr graviano hearing none are there any members of the public that would like to question Mr gravano testimony hearing none are there any members of the public that would like to comment on the application hearing none yes I'll be very brief my I think uh the team uh led by obviously Pete from cozy Corners did a great job in designing this property having the residential parking in in the building segregated from the commercial parking actually reducing the impact commercial introducing some uh nice apartments at this location uh we have uh great aesthetic Improvement not only to the site but to the building welld designed we're willing to work with the again the fire department with respect to their concerns on EV charging and I think the testimony uh by Mr graviano justifi the relief being sought and we look forward to the board granting this application and having this building be transformed as shown on Mr D's uh rendering so thank you again for your time this evening at this time I believe we can conference this um Mr Johnson would you like to begin yes Mr chairman uh as long as the stipulations the changes that we uh they said the applicant will agree to I with the uh the parking Etc I will be voting yes I don't think there's any detriment to the neighborhood and it's definitely an improvement to the corner we've done a really nice job Miss rickets yes I will be voting yes to this and wonderful job with your presentations Miss Marts thank you Mr chairman this was a very clean application um well-designed building and I wish you much much success continuing forward with the building I will be voting yes Mr Wy yes Mr chairman I I think this is a good application aesthetically I see an improvement uh from what it is the site is is appropriate and there's no negative impact I think the positive outweigh the negative and I'm going vote Yes Miss Scott um yes good evening I canc with my colleagues I think the professionals did an excellent job on the applicant so I'm also I think the committed to moving the station was good um long as that happens that's very good the actual renderings look amazing gives the corner a nice look um it's very aesthetically pleasing I think as a benefit to the community I see no negative impact so I will vote Yes and Mr mcneel thank you Mr chairman I I would agree with my colleagues um that the professionals did a great job in uh defending this this application uh I see no negative impact I only see uh aesthetic Improvement uh to that corner and I do intend to vote Yes as for myself based on the testimony provided um the variants requested will enhance the property and not have any negative impact and will allow the site to be better utilized and improved so I too will vote Yes uh the witnesses did an excellent job and the uh artist rendition it's a beautiful building at this time may have a motion and a second to Grant the application Mr chairman I move the board Grant the variant applicable to this application and the council will be directed to prepare a resolution consistent with the board's decision second roll call Mr Wy yes M Martins yes M Scott yes Mr Johnson yes Mr mcneel yes M rickets yes and Mr Champion yes thank you very much appreciate your time this evening I look forward again to this transformation and I guess Rob is going to tell us when March 13th we'll put it on the agenda pass the resolution March 13th great can I have a motion in a second to adjourn Mr chairman there being no further business com before the board I move that we adjourn second all in favor I opposed so moved