##VIDEO ID:50NUgYdDkXs## [Music] of the United States of America to the rep it stands Nation liy andice for thank you Valerie please bring state for a public notice planning board meeting of Thursday October 3rd 2024 is p to order please take notice that adequate notice that this meeting was provided in accordance with njsa 10 col 4-8 and njsa 10 col 4-10 as follows I notice that the meeting was prominently posted on the bulletin board Municipal Building located at 225 Main Street little F New Jersey on January 4th 2024 a copy of notice was sent via email to the north Jersey Harald news on same date additionally a copy of the notice is filed in the office of the township cler thank you pleas this meeting is being take therefore we ask to speak loud and into the microphone thank you please call the r Mr Barry here Mr here Mr L Dano here M Calo here Mr cver here Mr Poes mayor Dani here Council Miss Goa here Dr here Mr W Mr Dolan here Mr R here Mr br here Mr Co here mron here Mr Kil here uh again thank you uh before we start I just we have some birthdays to celebrate we have the mayor last Friday happy birthday you didn't want me to do that and John ARA that's today well happy birthday happy birth just all right may I have a motion I'm sorry uh councilman sco do you have any comments from the council chairman no one came before the governing body at our last council meeting thank you very much may I have a motion for approval of the minutes for September 5 2024 so moved I have a second please pull the board Mr car yes Mr talo yes Mr CER yes mayor Damiana yes Council Miss yes yes mran Mr yes chairman votes yes minutes are approved we have two uh application resolutions memorialized tonight first one is Big Shine energy 1400 R 46 West Little Fall um may I have a motion motion second please pull the board yes Mr C yes Mr bber yes Dr Ry yesan Yesa yes Mr KCK chair post yes resolution is approved may have a motion to approve the resolution for coric LLC 198 nerk Poppin turnpik I have a second second please pull [Music] board yes Mr C yes Mr cber yes dry yes Mr Dolan yes Mr RMA yes Patrick fav yes resolution is approved um our first application tonight is a long awaited presentation from an effort that has taken over a year and we are very proud to have our planner present our final master plan thank you chairman uh good evening everyone um I'm I'm back this time for the uh final presentation um for adoption of the master plan um s let me swear in oh of course you swear from the testimony that you're about to give before this sport is going to be the truth the whole truth or nothing but the truth yes we know who you are but for the record sure uh Senita chaan uh from H2 and you're a license professional planner uh my license is in a good is in good standing and you prepared the master plan that you're going to present tonight that is correct your credentials are accepted thank you again okay all right so as you all know it's uh been a year long process so next slide please so again I'm I'm sorry I'm repeating myself but just so that um to give everyone a back a background so what's a master plan um this is a guiding document uh for multi-disciplinary uh planning and uh the municipal land use law um sets forth stipulations as to how this should be prepared and by law it must be updated every 10 years and last time a com comprehensive plan was prepared for Little Falls was 22 years ago of course it was reexamined in 2008 in 2013 21 and last year in 2023 where it was recognized that much has changed uh and there was a need for a comprehensive master plan elements prepared uh as you all know is land view circulation Economic Development sustainability and open space element the housing plan element and land use plan element uh as for the ml provide a policy framework for adoption of zoning ordinances so having an updated U master plan is that's why extremely important um next slide please next slide oh oh thanks um so as I mentioned earlier this has been a yearlong process uh we have uh we engaged with uh the community uh we had regular master plan subcommittee meetings uh three of whom uh are present this evening uh we had an online survey pre Community workshops uh we interviewed the uh pertinent Department heads and uh we as you know presented the draft plan a month ago at the last meeting and then cons uh consequently on uh subsequently on on that Monday we presented it to the township uh Council and uh tonight we're presenting this for adoption as you know as for the mlul it's the planning board it's under your forview and um you know so tonight is where we presenting the M final version next slide please so Community uh participation so for example you know we conducted an online survey we have attached that to the master plan it began with general questions and then further broken down into different topics and this slide which it's a repeat from last time so we asked we took the top five responses to find out what was important um for the town so resiliency to Future Extreme weather was important quality of public school was uh important traffic congestion uh were a concern uh expressed condition of Parts was a con um concern uh expressed and also uh uh downtown and revitalization of it was also one of the U concerns expressed um so next slide please so it there were 420 survey participants from a population of a little over 14,000 and we had around 26,000 responses and 2,000 on comments and uh we tried to find out who was responding we asked these questions 93% were residents 3% owned a business and also lived in the town while the uh remaining 4% which is a small percentage said that they were it was in the others category next slide please so it was important to know why Little Falls and um these are the top five answers they found a home they like they have been living in the township for over 20 years they're close to their family and friends the character of the community quality of life next slide please so um whenever we planning and you're planning for the next 10 years um demographic analysis is important and we try to see how the how um the township has grown and you as you can see from this graphs um there was there's been a gradual um in increase in population with a sudden dip uh during the pandemic which of course can be attributed to the students um who live in the township and Affiliated to monare State um we also look into the future to see what the projections are and the regional Planning Association it's the NJ New Jersey Transportation Planning Authority njtpa forecast the population to be uh uh 16, 69 in 2050 it's almost 30 years from now so it's safe to say that um as for their projections um the in will be very gradual um then uh next slide please so when you're trying to also uh plan for population characteristics are very important um and as you can see from the age pyramid it's it is an aging population which is very very typical to the rest of the country and when you compare to the actual Generation Um it's a very not very very unique to Little Falls I if I may say because 27% of the population belong to geni which of course uh can be attributed to the students uh living in the town but um overall you can see from the way the pyramid is it is indeed an aging population and we also looked at the racial composition income it's somewhat diverse but 90 um 78.9% of the residents are white with others belonging to other races or combination thereof and um we also looked at the uh income which is a little higher than the median income so this is the background study that we did and then moving on to uh the goals and again as for the municipal land use law um goals and objectives and a land use plan are mandatory um when there are other elements then each plan element is required to have goals and objectives and um we'll be discussing uh them as as uh progress in the slideshow but um these goals that you see um have been developed this was based upon the review of the prior planning documents um we looked at the existing condition analysis and of course obtain public input um then these were vetted out with the master plan subcommittee we had few uh meetings and then uh finally were presented in our third Community engagement in December to get public input and finally refined and presented um this evening uh when you look at the land use issues right these are just overarching um you know and typically during a master planning process we identify different land use issues we examine Zone districts and as you all know it's a predominantly residential Township and the existing single family districts can continue to remain as such but there are other land uses that were also analyze and once again all this analysis and um uh was based upon the input obtained uh from the various Township staff Consultants public engagement session and our own analysis and just highlighted a few um uh in this presentation so Redevelopment planning it's a tool that the state um through the local rment and housing law enables a municipality to revitalize areas the conventional zoning doesn't work and Little Falls has used this successfully in the past it's a very good tool to uh promote Economic Development and revitalization um as you all know uh with uh the the you know nework prompt in Turnpike the existing zoning lacks flexibility given the vences that this board has um approved in the past few years so uh we made recommendations as to how this area could be uh revitalized um one of the uh one of the input that we had during our Master planning uh Community engagement was the need for have um uh having a variety of uses in the downtown so that was something that we looked into um amending zoning boundaries to better reflect existing uses eliminate split zoning and of course um flood Hazard areas uh along the p and pcman there there and um so there are stringent ma mandatory DP regulations but at the same time it's important to have recommendations for those areas as well which was covered in the master plan next slide please so when you look at the residential there were two data sets that we analyzed one was the D data which is from 2015 and the more recent property data which is what you know we're just showing both the numbers but all in all it's a predominantly residential um town as we all know and we recommended resoning some residential developments that are in the B1 or I Zone that would be better suited um uh to uh to be located in a residential Zone we also made recommendations of to amend zoning boundaries to follow property lines and to eliminate split Zone laws next slide please we also looked at the future housing type and um this was it's there in in the appendices and um you know uh there were around 296 response respondents out of the 400 uh plus people uh 296 uh gave their uh recommendations and 83% of those uh appeared to approve a strongly approved single family um then the next was senior housing and 43% um favor duplexes so uh we you I put I put forth in this the top three um top three uh approved types of housing next slide please regarding commercial and business of course only 16% or 15 you know based on the property data it's 15% um because the DP dat also includes um Monclair state which is not very accurate so we have to combine look at two data to get get our answers anyway um again it's a predominantly residential Township um you know so of it's very important to have policy place to um have very to grow the non-residential or Revitalize the commercial areas in a in a more uh modern and smart fashion so we made recommendations to review and revise Bood to allow for popular modern uses because you know the zoning code also allows cell phone exchanges for exampes and obsolete use U to update zoning code to allow for medical uses such as urgent care facilities and to revise the code to revitalize the commercial corridors along Main Street and new compon so next slide please and then since 2021 um every master plan is required to have a climate change vulnerability assessment and this requires an analysis of a municipality vulnerability to climate change related hazards like increased temperatures drought flooding hurricanes Etc and based on that analysis uh these are the main vulnerability issues and recommendations which I've summarized here um i' mentioned that last time too to continue working with the county and neighboring municipalities to stabilize the river beds along pcman to upgrade the water distribution uh piping system to work on mitigation measures to limit the chance of blood damage uh to the rec facility and DBW facility to ensure critical facilities have backup gener erators to do have a de Management plan next slide please so um the master plan has um over 50 recommendations but I just summarized uh all of them um they're split to different categories General residential non-residential uh vulnerab vulnerability Etc and uh um so the key land use recommendations are to revise exis ing land use patterns and um their comp compatibility with the zoning map and make boundary changes um 11 to3 talks about updates to the zoning code to remove outdated uses and create definitions for popular commercial uses um to amend and clarify sign regulation we've had so many of these um sign variance applications before this vard so you everyone's well aware of that and then to evaluate the potential to permit a f uh to amend P regulations and permitted uses to SP growth and economic development in the downtown area and to mitigate flood Hazard and other natural hazards by implementing infrastructure projects um next slide please so um the next plan that we did um do was the circulation plan and uh circulation and land uses go hand inand um for example land uses generate parking needs generate traffic and vice versa so um the goal in this master plan was to have all uh these individual elements TI tie into each other and will not repair in a silo so in terms of circulation goals there are uh major three overarching goals with um numerous objectives underneath those sections uh which was to provide a safe and efficient transportation system to encourage mobility of all modes and connections to key locations throughout the town shell um next slide please so Transportation Trends and issues We examined how the township uh tra travels in terms of different modes um different type of roadways and their classifications throughout the uh Town um to identify areas of concern um to be looked into the regional connections between Little Falls and the neighboring towns like Monclair and other Regional um initiatives um and it is important because this then gets tied into um the sustainability and open space plan that we um also examined um or rather wrote um we looked at streetcape guidelines so that goes back to pedestrian safety um and then we also had Downtown parking uh study done and recommendations for a downtown area so um next slide SL please so the key circulation issues that were uh based on the survey um was traffic congestion was uh ranked as very important um uh to to and important very important to the township and bicycle and pedestrian safety also was ranked as very important so um next slide please so based on all our analysis um we have these key uh recommend ations the actual master plan has around uh 52 recommendations I'm just summarizing here um one is the concerns that were there about festin safety um also goes back to the fact that those roads are own um under the forview of the county and the state so our recommendation would be to continue to work with the county and state Partners on Transportation uh measures to alleviate congestion uh we recommended improving pedestrian safety again through pedestrian infrastructure improvements again you need to work with the county regarding that but this um gives the town um the how should I say it gives these recommendations are important when the town gets into discussion with the different agencies uh Implement safety enhancements in streetscape designs when Capital Improvements uh are needed to include guidelines for redevelopment plans uh to improve walking and biking conditions we've we we are doing that in our we have done that in our past Redevelopment plans and need to continue to do so to ensure that the township has adequate infrastructure for Ev uh which again we've been doing with all our uh planning efforts um parking and parking management strategies were set forth in the master plan um so um so this is it and um next slide please so um the next is economic development where uh we examine um to to see what recommend what the goals would be for the township um and uh really uh the existing conditions and the recommendations so there are three main goals which is to continue to enhance the downtown as the Civic and economic part to seek stable high quality ratables um that also reflect favorably upon the image and identity of the township and to create a mutually beneficial relationship between little halls and uh Monclair uh State University um we looked at the uh we studied the profile uh based on the Census Data uh also looked at the uh key Economic Development issues and again lack of commercial acreage compared to residential use which which goes back to what I mentioned about getting tied in with the land use plan element there are under utilized properties and Commercial corridors and traditional downtown there's increased things the trends have changed so there's increased competition from Ecommerce retailers to then the need to create attractive downtowns with walkable amenities which sort of what we call us Place making which creates that identity for the town which in turn then would attract more businesses and we have a good we have a downtown we have a park close to it like we have a sets in the town that can be capitalized uh next slide please uh we asked the survey uh what the township could use more of and this was also asked at the workshop and it's pretty much um uh very similar and um they had um said that there's a need for a variety of restaurants some uh retail fls Community cing spaces cultural facilities maybe an opportunity to have public artwork and there were other recommendations too of what this slide does it shows the top five uh next slide please so based on uh based on our analysis based on our conversations with the community uh based on discussions with uh the master plan sub uh committee and uh We've set forth these recommendations um so one is to develop a creative placemaking strategy that highlights the unique character of Little Falls we already have started um that we have um we have uh banners in um you know uh on Main Street but to continue that uh continue uh continue that um to review review the zoning reg uh regulations on uh route uh 46 Corridor to ensure that this area meets the modern demands of a highway commercial Corridor which kind kind of ties into the recommendations that um we had uh set forth in the land use plan to continue monitoring macro Eon economic Trends particularly focusing on Trends in retail and office spaces to review regulatory incentives to encourage new mix use commercial opportunities in the Township in certain areas um to encourage public Improvement were feasible and to utilize pedestrian safety improvements along Main Street as an economic development next slide please so sustainability is an uh important aspect um these days in the state of New Jersey and um we set forth a few uh goals uh sustainability goals and these are the three major ones to implement policies that work toward achieving and state LEL climate change which Tien with our land use plan that mandatory section to improve townships residency and sustainability and to encourage the utilization of renewable uh resources um again sustainability Trends there's a potential for reducing Greenhouse emissions to adopt smart growth principles and E infrastructure that can help in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle M travel um increas ining frequency and intensity of city of uh flooding and rainfall events proms in Need For Greater storm water management efforts um So based on our analysis um oh next slide please we have uh set forth sustainability recommendations um there are around 22 of uh those um but I'm just going to talk about the key FS to consider opportunities to implement green strong infrastructure and green streets in capital Improvement projects when but cost is important so it's it's um cognizant of that so when cost effective um to definitely consider that to consider Energy Efficiency improvements at Municipal facilities to continue to identify opportunities to install additional EV charging stations at municipally owned parking lots and high school parking lot uh to encourage the use of lead building practices for new development Redevelopment and building additions and to continue to work with utility company to ex uh replace existing uh street lights with downward facing LEDs and um finally to update the St Township storm water manag um the last but not the least we also um looked at the open space and Recreation uh plan element and um in that of course there was uh public discussion but we also interviewed our Recreation director um to get his input um I we spoke to our Z construction official as well so um there was a lot of um input and Analysis done for this section as well and um this we had three main goals to enhance existing parks and open space properties uh to create connections between the existing Park to form an open space Network which as I mentioned back uh five and pedestrian uh interconnectivity that we have spoken about in the circulation plan gets tied down in this um uh in this uh plan element as well and to utilize strategic strategic open space ACC in environmentally sensitive areas um we spoke as I mentioned to got the input from the public and our recognition director um and some of the things um uh that will brought to our attention was limited restrooms parking spaces and Lighting in some Township parts to improve walking biking connections to existing parks and Open Spaces to improve facilities to support a range of Ages and abilities um to utilize buyout properties in the syc area as potential future open space uh next next so um these are the key open space and Recreation recommendations um in that uh basically it's to implement facility and open space improvements to add signage at Trail Crossings which also goes back to that pedestrian and bicycle safety uh that we discussed in the circulation plan element to explore potential options for implementing the syc open space and enement plan um to work cooperatively with County and state agencies to implement flood mitigation measures where available to upgrade the rec center and food check restrooms to be ADA Compliant and then 10 to 15 of this uh uh uh plan element uh we uh set forth upgrades to the various uh Park facilities so next slide please so we are at the end of this pre presentation and uh what are the next steps the next steps are that choose to adopt the master plan tonight and then um the next would be to implement recommendations over the next 10 year period by the governing body thank you very much ready for any questions thank you do any members of the board have any questions comments no comments coming from the board members so I know have reviewed all 230 Pages there about at this time um may I have a motion to open the meeting to the public I'll make the motion second second all in favor I I oppos meeting is now motion open to the public anyone wishing to address us please come forward no one coming forward I close the meetings to the public um one more time any thoughts or comments or questions from the board members there being none may I have a motion motion being to approve the master plan of as presented what adopt the master plan has presented adopt the master plan as make the motion for V so we have 10 board members present but only nine only nine board members are going to be able to vote on this okay sorry who made the motion second please po the board Barry yes Mr bar yeso yes Miss Calo yes Mr cber yes mayor Dano yes councilman SCA yes Dr AB yes Mr kilp chairman votes yes the master plan for the township of Falls is adopted uh just a word to our planner and her team in h2m uh thank you very much for all your very strenuous efforts little little more than the year and uh it looks great it's a good master plan thank you so much and thank uh a big thank you to the planning board and the master plan sub committee for your commitment thank you I'm going to call a uh five minute minute [Music] recess planning board back to order the first application is coric LLC just an announcement if anyone is here for the not Road Jackson Lane LLC uh application it will not be heard tonight it will be heard in November and there will be no further public notice November 7 on November 7 Mr V we're waiting good evening everyone nice to see you John V on behalf of coric LLC uh guess part two it uh or part we count 178 and the amendment is probably like part five but uh so we're here tonight on 194 so um as you just passed the resolution approving the shared driveway this is the application for that property so as I think I started to touch upon at the last meeting the um the existing property is a a small multif family house that's been located there since probably the mid 1950s and the proposal tonight is a continuation of um what we're seeing on new Turnpike with uh mixed juuse buildings to provide for um retail and business Ju which are permitted in the zone but also to provide for housing on the upper floors earlier plan show six units and as we represented at the last meeting we worked with the Architects here this evening to reduce the uh density down to four retail stores uh stay the same and by doing that we have eliminated the variance for um for parking and the the parking code for the township shows the parking predicated upon the net selling area we'll have the architect um speak about that but without the evse credit we have um we have met the requirement we need 16 we're providing 16 with that we do have a credit and um so the site will actually be overpar we uh asked the architect at the last meeting if there was enough time to put together a uh you know what the building would look like it's very hard to tell in black and white so we have a nice elevation that we're going to show this evening so because of the fact that residential is still not permitted in this own planner spoke about um you know some considerations about allowing that because of the soft office Market second floor third floor office the downtown is um is difficult and we're seeing a trend with offices coming down to the first floor in fact um on the building that this applicant presented and is under construction now has had interest from uh two Financial companies Edward Jones being one of them uh for that space because they want to have some prominence they don't want to be up on the second and third floor 23 being a great Corridor for traffic gives the ability for insurance companies lawyers doctors graphic artists uh some of uh different service businesses that typically would be on the upper floors now bringing it down to uh to the ground floor which is nice so tonight we have uh the primary variance is for this uh D1 variant so there's the yeah there's the elevation of the building and the D1 variant is simply because residential is not permitted in the B1 zone so that's the primary variance we also have bulk variances that we're going to go through uh some of which have been made a lot better because of the new Shar drive but but are still some variances that persist for uh minimum side yard setback for the setback and also for the three-story building whereas two and a half stories is required uh a variance was picked up at the last meeting by the planner with respect to the parking setback from the back whereas 5 ft is required and we have a deviation for that as well and finally there's a pre-existing non-conformity for the mean lot dep you need 100 feet and I think we're just shy of 100 feet so there's a technical uh pre-existing nonconformity for that so our lineup this evening is going to be David fantina who's going to testify in the area of engineering uh Dave had the opportunity to speak with the board engineer tonight to discuss the drainage drainage is always difficult we've had this on every application on Route 23 it's it always winds up being a challenge and uh we're going to let Dave give the testimony but I'll just give you a little precursor to it in that um it looks like the originally plan um drainage and storm water management is the preferable way to go so luckily that engineering had been done already those drainage calculations had been done there's still some additional work to do um if the board sees fit to do this we'd like if we were able to conclude this evening um we would uh ask the board to make it a condition of approval that we meet the satisfaction of your engineer with regard to the engineering and it would be very similar to what we've done on a host of applications um on North pound inter aside from aside from the uh engineering we also have with us the architect Adam nesota who prepared these beautiful plant also the same architect who prepared plans for 8284 North Compton next to Holy Angels and finally uh Nick gravano who is a Prof professional planner is going to testify with respect to the D1 variants as well as the um the C variances that are required so that's the overview of uh what we're doing this evening and I'm going to bring up our first witness David fantina to testify in the area of engineer pantina do you swear from the testimony that you're about to give before this board is going to be the truth the whole truth or nothing but the truth I do please tell us your name SP last name and give us your address for the record David fantina fs and Frank a n t n 15 Sunset Drive Bernardsville New Jersey and I'm still a licensed professional engineer in the state of New Jersey my license is still in good standing I all your licens is up to date yes they are okay your credentials are quite accepted and welcome back thank you very much hey Dave overview of your plans and letters from both professionals okay essentially um the plan you see up here in my right uh I've got the the site plan open there and the building to the right was approved uh at the last meeting building to the left which is lot eight is the one that we're talking about but the two sites are obviously um combined because we are uh proposing the shared driveway in and out between the two buildings and there'll be across e for that and everything on the on Lot 8 what we're proposing is a building with 1573 square ft of retail space that number is about 63 square feet larger than shown on my plans but we discussed it with the architect 1573 is the actual amount of retail space in the new building uh in addition to that there will be four uh two-bedroom apartments on second and third floors that means that we require eight parking paring spaces for the residences eight for the commercial 16 parking spaces are required we have 16 parking spaces that are totally on Lot 8 there's a 17th that strs the lot line we're not taking credit for that with this application and in addition to that we will have EV ready spaces which will give us uh an additional bonus so we have uh ample parking now that the decision has been made to reduce from six residential buildings uh residential units to four uh there are variances and I'll just run through them very quickly uh a 10-ft front yard is required at 2.16 FT which obviously is in keepable with the approved buildings for the South the side yard will be 12 feet and we're requesting 9.99 I should point out that the 9.99 is against problem also owned by the applicant there is 12 ft uh provided against the neighboring property we're uh proposing a three-story building only two and a half stories is allowed and I'll let the architect talk about that a little more depth the lot depth 100 feet is required and it is 96.83% of the of the bulk variances but I think the the main thing for me to talk about maybe the drainage because uh when I submitted these plans uh the last meeting we did have positive outflow from the detention Basin we have a very very large underground detention Basin straddles both of the property lines uh both properties and there'll be cross easements for for maintenance of that we had a positive drain at the bottom of that which was running down is going to run down New York Pompton Turnpike to an inlet however my client and I uh he asked me to change that because we would have had to have cross several gas lines so I changed uh the nature of that but Mr kobar has pointed out and I think correctly that the original design was actually better than the revised design so we're agreeing to go back to the original design with the Proviso that instead of running the drainage down Newark Pompton we're going to be tying into an existing storm sewer in the middle of Newark Compton turnpike I ran that by Mr uh calars and uh without putting words in his mouth he said that would be approvable and it was certainly preferable to the to the alternate uh detention system that we had come up with May Jack just for the benefit of the board members the applicant has withdrawn um his uh desire to excuse me to um had the surface be permeable in grein and he has reverted back to the original concept which is to have the uh green into rout 23 Greener system so we have actually reverted back Mr V to the our Engineers August 27th 20124 report that's correct and the drainage calculations were submitted based on the prior dist um Mr calars you accept that I do it's much better design having a positive outflow for the detention base okay so that issue has been addressed and resolve thank you okay okay uh other than that um we're gonna have hbac units on on on the roof the architect can talk about that uh but we think the the uh property will work extremely well especially in conjunction with with the the property next door these two will will be tied in very uh very very nicely you'll function very well and as you can see by the picture uh it's certainly going to be a very attractive building last the dumpster it didp located some point out the first we saw site like that we moved it all the way to the north it'll be the D this location kind of out of the recommendations that were made with regard fencing and Landscaping those are all acceptable absolutely yes understand that will have to be respect to drainage and access yes the access Mr V are you ring the engineers report yes where are you I am uh voting on page seven of 10 actually 10 I'm sorry 10 of the plan this only has five pages so we're having trouble following you yeah I'm just you're on the planners engineer yeah no I'm I'm currently on the planers can you go to engineer Engineers absolutely we'll get to our planner in a minute I don't want you to feel with that we'll get to you in a minute let me say I'm sorry I thought Mr V was just trying to see if there are any engineering comments within the they're subsumed in this report also so it's okay we talked about the dumpster the Landscaping so let me just ask in terms of the dumpster is that dumpster still going to be shared between the two buildings 194 19 198 yes okay yeah there will be easements for of course as we discussed last meeting for 198 there's going to be an easement for the shared driveway there's going to be an easement because I believe space number nine straddles the lot even though it is uh going to be used for this application so we have 16 spaces here we always had 12 on the other application the will change approv to 12 that stays the same 'll be easement for that and there also be an easement and a sharing agreement with respect so this way if they're ever seever if the proper are ever seever they never to worry about that that both parties have to um Mr V if it's gonna allow you better flow of the meeting you want to continue with the planers report I report and our plan here it's address I was gonna say I didn't know Mr fantina was a planner I was very surprised about um brand BL I know Mr chairman for first as well we're in agreement with that comment about P we're in agreement with that this is exempt from fa County but we will ask for a letter of no interest and we will be file with the Hudson essic fa so Conservation District da spoke about aack units that will be on the roof the architect this as well be a so that you don't see them up some spers go into the into into the uh drywall yes not a drywall anymore they the ground pension system actually s s move the microphone actually you um who are on page eight i' um made comments about the crash enclosure so will you be providing that yes okay and then we' also mentioned um that you're providing a row of junipers but that also to provide a privacy fence absolutely we'll do that okay s do you have any other comments I think some some of which uh are uh probably the architect and the planner can answer but there's one other we had spoken about the off Street loading you would require um a VAR from that right because you you're not providing any off off uh off Street loading space that is correct okay uh how is that going to work if I have an Amazon package coming in how do I get it smaller buildings like this are not high buildings you find practice that works a lot better not to have a space that sits empty almost all day and to let someone that's paring one of the Aviles that spes have a full 24 Drive M to allow the truck to navigate better Thani we 198 the horseshoe around the building so there's the site would have to pull into a 9 by 20 yeah anybody know how wide f x or it's no wider than that um some of the vehicles are longer um at least the door slide back so they won't be bu of cars so I guess that's it if the would like dedicate one of thees the think we have one space with only need 15 I'm not asking for that s anything else uh yes so you uh I had um let's see on page nine I had asked about um the driveway Isle egresses onto the Northbound side of U new p in terms bike it's a brizy intersection so just to provide um testimony um that you know cars can safely make a left turn or are you going to just have right only I think that would we would have to defer that to the NJ doot our plan is that it would be right turn and left turn okay but do may have something to say about that okay on erass are you going to allow uh left can turn yes I I think we would like to uh subject to do approval and are you proposing any signage for um the I mean I know the business will have a signage but for the building itself are you proposing any signage no please sign okay question um let me ask you this since you age to everything that is in the August 7 27th report of our planner um one other I'm sorry the last one um the resolution for 198 nework Quon stipulated that the stores shall have a 900 PM perf on any day uh that commercial businesses are open to the public so I'm assuming it carries to this as well yeah and then um there will be no overnight parking of vehicles on this one as well correct Vehicles commercial vehicles right no because the resid need can we move on to the engineers report yes I could I could disc through the engineers report um the engineers report of August August 27 um correct and starting at the bottom of page two technical comments um the survey if it has not been already been submitted will be submitted uh keymap will be modified to show the zoning districts uh we will certainly note that all curb and sidewalk will be replaced along the frontage uh we'll correct the the block number calculation of sanitary through flows is very simple we'll provide that uh we mentioned the architectural plans the the updated architectural plans the actual retail space is uh 1573 I believe is the number 1573 so we'll modify our plan The Architects plan was actually modified after ours was printed we'll modify ours to match before day mov off that so 1573 is the net when you take out the staircase and you take out the storage room that's that is the net shows that you think would be helpful but it's U is uh those other numbers the calculation is based on N um seven and eight require um like exhibited or is the testimony sufficient I'm sorry I haven't exhibited just showing the architect appear showing the gross and the net on the ex are we through with the engineer you want that to be part of the architect's it it impacts submit CH maybe for the record the artist rendering of the building we should Mark that A1 and we can mark this A2 A2 John e in the meantime um okay so you said this was A2 A2 is an exhibit that was prur by the architect Shing the gross and net floor area or the ret no that's that not the plans only show the gross they never show thank so when you're looking at that you'll see the the total the top number is the grow bottom number is the net backing out the staircase the bathroom the storage room so the net sales area is 1573 square fet under the code we need one space for every 200 square fet that comes out to 7.86 we rounded it up to eight and the calculation for the apartments it's easy it's four un at two per unit so that's 16 and we get a credit of one St for the total re par 10% 10% but are you providing um because that then calculates to 2.4 so are you providing three how many uh EV spaces are you proposing whatever the minimum it is 15% right 15% of uh 16 is I think 2.4 so because uh section 28025 says you up it so it becomes three so and then of course um it's no that's the rsis the rsis but the actual ordinance um I'm basing it on memory two yes 280 D 195 it says if it's a fraction it becomes one hold okay so which is fine their EV my concern is that um their evsc ready space doesn't mean that they're from the gecko they're going to be I get right it maybe we're just not there yet to have three dedicated spaces for a relatively small parking lot but that we would agree to 15% that they're makes right I mean I it's up to the board if they think to is um you know it's very prerogative I'm just the benefit of the board members can you put that into English I my recommendation be no more than two I think for something for a small building like this we can we can always add them regulations change we can always add them I I don't disagree with you joh I'm just telling you what the ordinances I don't disagree I think it makes sense that's why I said I leave it to the board so would two require a variant i in it kind of would be a variance because and it's a technical one because it's 2.4 which is really we can't we can't deal we can't deal with kind of w we absolute yes 2.4 uh would be a Vance because of as I quoted the section of the ordinance so the ordinance says if it's a fraction you round it up you round it up okay yes we'll do whatever the board likes if Bo rather see three spaces would be three prefer two then we will ask the variant for one space What's the total amount the parking spaces 16 and what's required uh two and a half okay but you need you have six 16 you need 16 you get an exemption because it's fine as as you have it now we'll do two two EV ready spaces so that's another variance that we uh contining with the engineers letter um seven and eight have to do with some additional dimensions and um various things add plans we take no OB section to that a line talks about a sign that was shown originally on Route 23 that was shown on the survey it's no longer there so we've taken it off the plans uh item 10 we we said Granite block curving will be provided uh item 11 has to do with the Curve along the njd right right we agreed with that um item 12 we need proove the uh HS andic so Conservation District item 13 has to do with a um the uh in the driveway we take a look at that and address that to Mr kobar's satisfaction same thing with number 14 uh item number 15 will provide the rim information that he's requiring uh item number 16 is no longer really applicable with the fact that we're no longer running the drainage line down uh down nor turn bank so that's not really applicable anymore item 17 18 19 have to do with utility plans we we'll agree to provide that information item 20 we talked about where the hbac units are going on the roof item 21 has to do with more information on the lighting plan which we're happy to provide item 22 are some Landscaping uh changes which we will make item 23 by requiring some additional construction details which we will do item 24 an operation maintenance manual I thought we had submitted one but if not we'll certainly provide one and item 25 is a map to go with the uh grinage calculations and we'll simply provide that that's an item 21 the lighting plan what kind of lighting are you going to have on the building it going to be a form of boo neck or something else it's okay Mr the AR is going to speak that sh on the elevations it's in the engineer report yeah um not the back the front yeah it's we have some polls which are which will provide more information there going to be any type of goose next committing yes sh the one on top of the 194 that's sh the elev are those those five black things on top yes interesting okay uh one final yes one comment um in regards to item 16 you read on in that paragraph second half relates to the pipe system instead of going along 43 connects to the center which is what're does the com absolutely thank you very much uh and and the last last sentence there is that either alternative requires njd approval which the whole project does we agree with that that it that's all I have um then let me ask you this question does the applicant agree to everything that has been discussed and testimony to uh the engineer report thank you and do you have another any questions to the engineer no go ahead uh regarding the detention system uh as it was just explained that the it will be discharging into the sewer system on Route 23 will the system also permeate into the ground at all it will not it will not strictly be detention right okay thank you how large is the detention chank okay that's good thank youit it wait to the end our next witness is the architect I'm sorry yes the architect Adam Kota going to testify so did you swear from the testimony that you're about to give before this board it's going to be the truth the whole truth or nothing but the truth yes it do please tell us SP gives your address yes it's Adam lasa l o ta and my address is 2424 East York Street uh unit 215 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania accept here professional before butuc yes uh great to see you all back uh I graduated from NGIT in 2012 be professional Bachelor of architecture uh then got license in 2018 in the state of New Jersey subsequently I picked up a number of licenses in other states including Pennsylvania Rhode Island and Indiana and all my licenses are active and in good State Indiana Indiana that's that's a new one from last time yes I truly don't recall that there's a good project in another state then I will happily applaud yeah thank you Mr chairman thank you to the board great to see you all again uh uh here we have another uh addition onto New York pton Turnpike you see here we did uh create a visualization a rendering of the front facade in order to show some more visual interest and kind of some changes that we did there's some slight changes here than what was previously submitted uh but just to go over it and it's okay what we proposed here is that we did a building that more in character with the neighborhood similar to the other but with some slight variation to not have the same from Urban fabric along down so what we propos here is of course the ground floor is the two retail units earlier correction versus footage so we have those two primary retail tenants you know one on the left one on the right and we wanted to propose a brick along the ground floor to Anchor it onto the ground along with the fact that we have that 2.14 front setback um so we wanted to make sure to Anchor it and create a good Street presence along that retail front we want to propose a nice sign band that kind of helps to provide that por sign and it's a nice sign for what we're proposing along the entrances and above the entrances along that sign of course naming but of course we'll make sure that those signages are not self eliminated are in similar style proposing black lettering lettering that's not eliminated along that white sign band and we'll make sure that the size all thein signage and of course we have 194 address plaque and all three of these are eliminated by not Goose necks but they're going to be downward small sces this which by a little bit of elimination along the signage um but also for the store frontages we're proposing black store fronts and closing up and down wall again just stre pres that and then the second and third floor it is a three story building um we are trying to play some arital trickery again here with have the building look as a two and a half by having between second and third Flo and having Ser of better Street presence monolithic you straight ball here we're trying to play with colors and some contrast here I think the color visualization a little easier to see black and white submitted here we're showing hearty siding across the front in a dark bright color and again we're showing bement Windows along with some trans are going to be black with some white trim work visual trick here in the middle see blacka that's the dividing wall between two unit the retail on the ground floor the second floor and third floor units are are miror images of each other with that division happen right same black Tri black handing on that so we want kind of a lighter element and a kind of SE darking on that so again bring up the dra before we do the lighting on the bottom corn now because the signage those are just those small downward fa you put any are larive oh they don't have to be tiny you like we can provide something of a goose I would just caution not doing anything too big a little bit more minimalis little more we're looking for minimalist but we're just looking for design we'd like to have that design in all our new building okay we're happy to amend that Prov you can Pi the goack above like 194 is sign yes we can provide theack May position think what Mr v may be saying is have the scon lights where they are and just put a over the 194 is that you thinking and also the like the area for the we all on the same page instead of the three smaller ones we can move them up and okay absolutely we want a small one we don't want snow falling on anybody's head right I agree so you were charged with the mission of coming up with this in less than a month we were here on September 5th I think it was and we got this done but the footprint change explain that get plans addition of the windows no absolutely I think we show the side Elation slightly in visualization is a window here is on the side before we get to the interior um I'd like to any board members have any thoughts on the blackout in the middle I know is for architectural stand out but any something is is that going to be is that going or it's going to be a black ped panel soar the same look of being of a window doing windows and to break language dou Tri break it I'm not hearing any real objections um my only other i' like you to give testimony to this is that you will build what we're seeing the brick Hardy for wh okay and not Dev unless you have an issue that you can't do something agree that Mr ven yes wey to we want to make sure that we're sh here has latitude to do yes matal so one one other item that theed out to me so the area that you're see up on the screen right now I'm not sure what page that is but um in practice that's not the way the other building was built a look more attractive F that so that's are you on the bottom yeah oh one other um I'm sorry I go ahead if I make feel free to hop in soon I'm sorry feel free to happen thank you um I had actually commented uh on page eight uh comment number 11 that um that you're proposing a blank facade along the sides both of which would be visible from newor comp similar to what you had done two months ago had this same comment that you know to consider really brightening brightening up and living that uh facade um so yeah so actually the what is showing on the screen there is the last page of the architect five on the submitted yeah that side elevation is incorrect there is a window on the side so if you actually one or just one in the middle yeah you scroll up to the third page of the document which has the second floor then so if you scroll up a little bit more that's third floor one more yeah that's so you can see in the living rooms yeah that window right there is a window on the side so there going to be a window and also a dmer on the side there on both sides so will add some visual so it won't just be L wall l so a dormer on the second floor and third floor as well or just third the Dormer would be on the third floor which would align with the window below so similar to the style of the dormers on the front elevation that will that language will carry to the side and also the as well so the floor plans are correct the elevations are incorrect so we apologize for that are you going to correct of course okay yes well we wanted as official testimony yes we will be providing that window that is roughly centered on the side elevation both on the second floor and provide a dormer that lines up with that for the thir that's good which we recommended and approve of on both sides yeah so we'll be on the side facing the driveway and on the um side where the side is and on the left and right elevation shown on PL that are that's open will be F in y sh yeah so we will have that uh lower brick kind of wne scating that is shown on the elevation there but we will carry it uh to provide a solid side wall on both elevations and of course as shown on the renderings there there are areas of greenery of you know between the uh driveway and also between the sidewalk and the front wall there is going to be a series of shrubs and some Landscaping there as well do we have that on a plan that is part of the that is part of yes we added a tree there because like Street looks nice so yeah and then just to go through the floor plans again um first floor you see the uh two uh retail units uh with those storefront indents for the engine wave helps give a little bit of a covering before you enter into those retails um and the parking spaces behind it and if you go to the next page you'll the index reason for the index is just to create something different than 178 and 190 make this to S different fines different lines different trim and then on the the second and third floors are very similar in nature because they're are mirror images of each other you actually just draw a line from know plant north to south they are mirror images of each other with some small tweaks so we're proposing all the kitchens and the Living Spaces the the main more I guess public parts of an apartment where most of the time they hang they live that's facing the street stre side versus the bedrooms are going to be at the rear of the property so pull them away a little bit from newor P turn bike so although the Avenue can be quite busy so it's nice to have the VS kind of farther away from the street traffic so that same floor plan as you're seeing here on the screen um the second floor and then the third floor mimics it with just the have up that the edges around the perimeter ceiling will be sloped in order to accommodate um the change in visual interest to kind of provide that like I said architect respective trickery in that trying to have to build for the mansard grouping that we're showing on the elevation of course the how do the occupants of the second and third floor get to their Department sorry how do the applicants enter into the building they get to their apartment's elevator or strictly stair no it's just going to be one staircase that's going to be access from the rear of the property so as you can see on the first floor plan um there's going to be a sidewalk uh they're going to enter into a small Lobby will have their mail room and then from there there'll be uh a switchb staircase that leads up to the second and to the third FL thank you and yeah that's presentation thank all you got that's all I got no further questions any questions to the board comments oh thank you very much thank you Mr chairman thank you to the board okay our next next witness is Nick bravano going to testify in the area of planning you swear from the testimony that you're about to give before this report it's going to be the truth the whole truth or nothing but the truth I do please tell us your Nam by your last name you giv us your address yes my first name is Nicholas with an H last name graviano gr r a v is in 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 Hell New Jersey yes I hold a bachelor's degree from Rock University a master's degree in city and Regional planning from Rock University a la what's the name of the University excuse me what's the name of the University you went very fast oh I went to undergraduate and graduate school at Ruckers University okay I went to law school at Temple University School of Law I'm a licensed professional planner in the state of New Jersey I've been qualified by this board before as well as over a 100 boards in in 18 different counties one question are your licenses all active yes chairman your credentials are quite acceptable welcome back thank you for having me I appreciate it all right thank you I'll keep this brief the professionals before me did a great job of setting up the application I know the board's very familiar with the site the applicant is before this board this evening requesting uh preliminary and final site plan approval as well as a D1 use variance and C variances for specific piece of property known as block 37 Lot 8 uh that property is on the easterly side of nework pp Turnpike uh the site presently contains a multif family dwelling property is located in the B1 General business zoning District which permits a wide array of commercial uses but as you heard Mr veter state the multif family use is not permitted uh hence the applicants request for the D1 variants before you this evening um as you heard in architectural testimony the applicant is proposing two commercial units on the ground floor as well as four two-bedroom apartments on the second and third floor um as you all know this property is surrounded by a mixture of smallscale commercial uses low and medium density uh residential development so it's certainly a proposal which is in keeping with the ablished uh land use pattern of the area uh when we look at the D1 variants the board has the power to Grant such variants in particular cases and for special reasons that's the positive criteria of the D1 variants uh New Jersey courts have held that promotion of the general welfare is the zoning purpose which most clearly amplifies the meaning of that term special reasons now this applicant does not need to demonstrate that there are other viable locations within the municip howy to accommodate this use just that this site itself has particular characteristics uh that make it appropriate for such use uh the applicant must also uh demonstrate that the negative criteria is satisfied that relief could be granted without substantial detriment to public good and will not to substantially impair the intent purpose of the Zone plan and zoning ordinance in terms of the particular suitability why is this a rational site for the proposed use it's located amongst other commercial and mixed use both buildings both existing and under construction it's on a roadway which is on New Jersey Transit bus routes 11 and 195 with great access to Newark as well as the city additionally it's 7 miles or a 15minute walk to the little fge train station so it's an area that's served by transit uh looking at the advancement of the municipal land use law it certainly advances purpose a to encourage municipal action to guide the appropriate use of lands in a manner which will promote the public health safety morals and general welfare this is a new mixed use building built to current standards um it eliminates an existing dwelling where the driveway backs out onto the turnpike so this is an orderly and rational configuration to have motorists safely enter and exit the site additionally it advances purpose e promotion of appropriate population densities and concentrations that will contribute to the well being of persons and neighborhoods it also advances purpose G to provide sufficient space and appropriate location for a variety of commercial and residential uses to meet the needs of New Jersey citizens then lastly through the impeccably designed engineering and Architectural plans it certainly promotes a desirable visual environment through creative development techniques and good Civic design and Arrangement it creates a very attractive uh Street skate by putting the building on the sidewalk the parking is shielded in the rear so it's not highly visible from the turnpike so it's certainly a desirable visual environment for the corridor in terms of the negative criteria there's certainly no substantial detriment to the Zone plan or zoning ordinance it also advances the four PR Michi test which is site suitability I gave the reasons for the particular suitability the special reason certainly promotes purposes a e g and I there will be no public impact her engineering testimony that the site will flow function and operate safely um in terms of the Zone plan impact this is a very modest project there's no substantial impact for the Zone plan and looking at the 2013 master plan on page five there objectives to encourage more intensive development in areas that are adequately served by transportations facilities this is certainly one of those sites and then additionally the master plan on page six seeks to plan for efficient and proper Redevelopment of areas of transition uh moving on to the C variances uh there are C variances required by this application the first one relates to lot depth uh that is an existing condition not created by this application certainly could be granted under the C1 criteria whereas strict application of the municipality zoning ordinance would create an undue hardship upon the applicant before you this evening there are also uh variances required for front yard setback sidey yard setback building pipe in relation to stories two and a half is permitted three is proposed the applicant has eliminated the need of the variance for the parking spaces by reducing the two units uh needs the parking setback variants the stall size variant as well as stated previously the variance for the lack of a loading dock um certainly uh a building of this type can accommodate loading through one of the parking spaces in the rear parking area um all the rest of those variances can be granted on the C2 criteria whereas hardship need not be demonstrated or must be demonstrated that it relates to a specific piece of property and and the purposes of the municipal land use Laur are Advanced by the application um similarly to the D1 analysis uh the C variant is certainly Advanced purposes of zoning a e g and I without substantial impairment to the Zone planner zoning orance thank you thank you chairman nice uh s do you have any comments on I guess the question is do you agree with all the variances or is there any additional changes due to various upgrades no no I agree uh and I have no questions thank you thank you any questions to the board any comments okay thank you oh is that your last uh yes that's our final that point this point then I would like to open the meeting to the public may I have a motion may I have a second second all those in favor I I meeting is now open to the public anyone wishing to address to the board address the board a comment please step forward no one stepping forward I close the meeting of the public Mr B thank you thanks everyone just uh some brief summary remarks um about this um application and just some observations um as we've seen in the past I think chairman you were the only one um that's sitting on the day now that was here when we did the um Kramer application at 70 East Main Street with the shared driveway with Vander and um that worked it works very very well we we saw that a couple months ago a few months ago with the DL development having that uh sometimes you can't do it um like this 178 application and that will work fine but this is really this is ideal and it opens up the site and it will allow for um I think better retailers it's nice to have uh an opportunity these are tight spots on Route 23 particular on this side of 23 um on the other side on the western side they're deeper but um I think we're able to accomplish a building that will work very well I think our the applicants uh professionals have demonstrated that um you know building a building in Conformity with the Zone would be a building that is going to be um for rent and for lease consistently having you know a significant amount of uh Upper Floor office space perhaps at some point that will get changed and it will um you know lessen the need for these type of variants at least for the use variants probably we still wind up having a lot of the um a lot of the bulk variances and you know in a way I feel there's like a little bit of a healthy competition between the Main Street Zone business district and the route 23 pton Avenue district and I'm not here to say who's winning or losing but we see 208 um nework Compton the papis application that's ready for demolition this week and 8284 may have filed for uh demolition permits already and 30-38 U we'll see if that's coming so there's just a lot of progress in this area that is um is nice to see because it's a long period of time um where we didn't see this kind of activity and it is um nice to see with the additional residential development that's happening across the street and the existing very nice single family neighborhood on Strickland and Grove in that whole neighborhood um this gives them now an opportunity to walk to the downtown to have different things as opposed to just a mix of you know two and three family houses that were previously there I think that we've addressed um you know all of the concerns of the uh of board and the board professionals I think our planner did a great job of defending the variances that we do have some of which we just could not um we could not avoid and I think this will be a very uh elegant addition a continuation and something that looks different you don't want to see cookie cutter buildings going up and down and um this architect who's newly retained to the project I think did a very good job of uh of making it look different we like what's there at 178 and think that that looks really nice but this is uh this is now a bigger building we didn't shrink the footprint so it's a bigger building it's a more prominent building and um I think it will fit into that area very well there are any further questions we are still here to answer any questions and hope the board sees fit to approve this application again thank you thank you professions thank you I do have the comments on your comment concerning uh the fact that DK pum Turn Pike is now part of the conversation with development in little it's a pleasure to see agreed any further questions the board comments Mike Kars anything uh nothing further nothing may I have a motion I'll make a motion that uh the application be approved for um Lot 8 um which is address 194 nework pton Turnpike uh the application requires a d variance for residential use uh on the plot also u a c variance for minimum side yard setback where uh see uh 12 feet is required and 9.99 ft is requested another C variance for three stories where a two a maximum two stories is permitted um I I believe the parking spaces was resolved so no variances needed for that that's correct correct oh I I'll get to the EV yes thank you um parking setback of it's a c variance for less than five feet where five feet is required um parking stall size a c variance for a 9 by8 spaces where 10 by 20 is required um we'll also Grant a exemption from the requirement for a loading zone and we will um approve a variant for two eveve ready spaces where three is required councelor any additional comments not i' as to the variances and as to the conditions uh basically the applicant has agreed to comply with all terms of conditions set forth in the board Engineers review report as well as the board planners review report and the comments uh in terms of the uh the uh goose lighting you want that to be reviewed and approved by Mr chairman oh that would be her engineer consultation with the board chairman yes he can yes I think that's it very good so we have a motion our counselor has agreed to it uh may I have a second second please PLL the board Mr Barry yes Mr Kar yeah sorry s Mr Luke Deano yes Mr talo yes Mr zeber yes Dr AB yes Mr K chairman votes yes the application is approved John is the applicant here thank you the applicant was the applicant son the applicant was uh getting on a plane tonight to go to AG so he had to leave what's your early uh well please tell your dad uh thank you and to you and your family a very nice application welcome to Liverpool thanks everyone thank you any other business any new business motion for adjournment make the motion second