##VIDEO ID:shFLKu3mWTk## good evening everyone I call to order I call to order the uh Little Falls planning board meeting of November 7 2024 please stand for the flag salute uned States stands Nation indivisible justice for all councilman scova are there any comments for the plan board good evening chairman no one came before the governing body with any issues concerning this planning board thank you very much uh valer please Paul the row the little FS Township planning board meeting of Thursday November 7 2024 is called to order please take notice that adequate notice of this meeting was provided in accordance with njsa 10 col 4-8 and njsa 10 col 4-10 as follows the notice of the meeting was promptly posted on the bulletin board at the municipal building located at 225 Main Street Little Falls New Jersey on January 4th 2024 copy of the notice was sent bya email to the north Jersey Harald in news on the same date additionally a copy of the notice were filed in the office of the Township Clerk please note that this meeting is being Tak therefore we ask that you speak loud and clear into the microphones thank you um may I have a motion for approval of the minutes of October 3rd 2024 chairman chairman should we do roll call oh I'm sorry Mr Barry here Mr carage Mr Luke Damiano here miss catalo here Mr seber Mr Poes mayor Damiano here councilman SCA here Dr ABI here Mr a Mr Dolan here Mr remma here Mr BR leodoro here Mr coar here M Javan Mr kill Patrick here may I have a motion for the approval of minutes of October 3rd 2024 so moved second second please pull the board Mr Barry yes Mr Luke Deano yes Miss catalo yes M mayor Deano yes councilman SCA yes Dr ABY yes Mr Dolan yes Mr Rema yes Mr kpat yes um the minut minutes are approved may I have a motion from REM moralizing the resolutions from the October 3rd meeting uh number one the adoption of 202 for a master plan of the township of Little Falls sorry so moved I'll second it thank you please please P the board Mr Barry yes Mr Luke Deano yes Miss catalo yes mayor Deano yes councilman SCA yes Dr Abdi yes Mr Kilpatrick yes uh may I have a motion for the moralizing the resolution for Cor LLC I'll make the motion I have a second second please pull the board Mr Barry yes Mr Luke demano yes Miss catalo yes Dr ABY yes Mr Kilpatrick chairman votes yes the resolution is approved um so with that we have approve the adoption of the 2024 master plan thank you very much everyone applications is the sen fire department here chairman good evening everybody entering my appearance on behalf of the Sing Act Volunteer Fire Company number three John V Jr three University Plaza suet 207 hackin sack New Jersey we're here on a u an application this evening which um is the continuation of some improvements you may recall we were here on a uh lot line adjustment with 75 North Pompton so this property has been uh looked at uh in many different ways as part of that application it was noted by the engineer I'm not sure if it was Mr calars at that time it may have been Mr cristaldi that there were garages that were there that had encroached on the faresi property um in very good faith the singac uh fire company and the fareses um had you know written an agreement not going to criticize the agreement too much never got recorded with County Clerk but uh it suffices to say it was something that when they looked at their need for a new garage that we said this is the time to clean that up um unfortunately um Dr Joe passed away we' worked with them uh you know to come up with a plan and as it turns out we were able to come up with a plan that doesn't encroach on their property at all so previously the two garages that were there encroached pretty significantly on a lot like four feet it was not a small encroachment it's never a good thing to have it happens all over town in this town and other towns all over the state so when we looked at this we tried to be able to fit a garage a new garage that is at least 30 feet of depth which will allow them to um have a proper home for the 1952 fire apparatus that was um built in large part by Vince Stansfield um who passed away earlier this year as you all know and it was very special to him and it's going to go through a uh restoration and this is uh you know a significant part of that not the least of which is the other apparatus that they have now there are boats and ladders and things that you know putting them in the in the two really they weren't garages they were more like sheds so it was a lot to accomplish on one lot and um luckily they hired Mr Bush uh as the architect and who worked on the site plan and came up with a plan that eliminated the encroachments built a garage uh you know proposing a garage and then leaving at least a little bit of room and that's the nature of we're here tonight asking for some relief with respect to the variances for the sidey yard setback for an accessory structure there was just no other way to comply otherwise we would not be able to build a garage that would suit their needs or really any other needs but in doing that the fareses were good enough to still Grant um the applicants an easement just for maintenance even though we have two feet and even more around certain sides as shown the plans it's still tight quarters if they ever have to do any repair gutter work or uh painting I don't know if there'll be any painting it is proposed to be all in Brick and we're looking to match the brick of the original historic building so I think that will tie in nicely and make some other site improvements as shown on the plans so that's essentially what's before you this evening uh we do have the um the variants to uh the build the assess structure with the um setback variance uh we have one witness this evening which is Michael Bush who is the uh the architect and who also worked on and prepared the site plan that was presented to the board so that's an overview and um unless there other further questions I'll bring up my first and only witness Mike bush from Studio 43 please raise your right hand you swear affirm the testimony that your support is be the truth hope truth pleas tell us your name by your last name give us your business address Michael BL Jr B usch my business address is 310 s ad sweet 210 barefield New Jersey greate you would board your professional and educational experience do I have a bachelor of architecture from NJIT I'm an Executive MBA from NJ also I'm a licensed architect in 48 states in b Rico and my license and the firm registration bur State jersey Mr Bush expert yes on I believe no it's it's California and Alaska so I haven't taken the pest yet because I've been one day thank you Mr chairman okay we don't have any exhibits and that us on the board okay it on the board that's what was presented so take it away so he did a great job presenting what this project is all about so the only thing I'd like to add to it um is that I think it is a definite Improvement to the community by adding this building and it's definitely going to help the operation of the fire department I think the client Choice same brick that the building is using is going to fit into the context and also I feel that it's backing up against parking lots and backyards that I don't feel would be very intrusive on anybody's uh any adjacent properties that's my thought there's any questions any questions to the board I have a question just so the record's clear the uh rear of what will be this new structure uh what is exactly behind it they're putting up the new fence currently there's a plastic six foot plastic fence that's there now partially and there's also a partial fence on the other side as well on the long side they're going to be putting a railing they're going continue an existing railing that's there to separate the space and along the back we're going to be the plastic fence separate as well a new plas the dumpsters for are also right there so they'll be shielded I think there may be May that's there but approaches as well there'll be a great Council had any conversations with neighbors any objections no by the contrary I think everyone's e to see this especially you see this encroachment fixed and know we haven't heard you know any reaction thank you yeah I got a quick question will this be used for vehicles that need immediate exit for like a fire truck or anything that needs to get out right away uh it may Bebe I believe the the vehicle that the township owns so there's an SUV that I guess the chief uses I believe that that's going to be parted there so I know there's parking spaces along the right side if you're looking at the picture here along the right side there so they won't block anything from Quick access to get out of the you're saying not where the driveway comes in by the other side not there on the other side so if there's anything blocking the right side yeah know if there is one is it fair to say that this uh truck is really not used for fighting fires anymore I understand it's still operational but no it will not us primary for parades correct and then there'll be there use boats there for storage and the chief's vehicle as well okay additional question may I have a motion to open up the meeting to the public some need a second second meeting is open to the public anyone wishing to address the uh board or the presen uh please come forward no one coming forward I close the meeting to the public any additional questions from the board may I have a motion I do have a question okay is the building going to be heated is no thank you may I have a motion uh Mr Boro do you can you help us with the what we have to do for variances the only Varian set that uh John was what is a side your Z back so we we show it as there was a question Mr kobar's report showing it at one I believe it's two your plan says one to three and a half feet yeah so I think there was an original plan maybe that's why that was left there but we we looked at it again after getting your letter it is two feet so it'll be a two feet buffer uh what's the varians call for uh 12 okay all right 12 required proposed correct any other questions or comments from the board Mr de Maria saying six feet is I hear requirement I didn't hear that Mr De Maria's motioning that six feet is the requirement but so if I should say we don't have six either I thought it was 12 you set on eight or 10 or no it's whatever's in the code it is what it is if that's six feet believe thought it was 12 for the accessory but in any event all right for the purpose of the meeting let's call it 12 Fe we're seeking the variance for only having two okay thank may I have a motion please I'll make the motion to approve the application uh seeking a side yard setback variance of one to three and a half feet where 12 feet is required may I have a second second please pull the board Mr Barry yes Mr Luke Deano yes Miss catalo yes mayor Deano yes councilman SCA yes Dr ABY yes Mr Dolan yes Mr RMA yes Mr Kilpatrick chairman votes yes the application is approved thank you everyone do that bring to a close for the Sak fire department requirement else coming in from uh the fine Fells at the sing Fire Company I do have some origal surveys that I promise thank well thank you thank you squir department for the work that you do we're all very grateful and thank you John for representing them thank you thank [Music] you our next application is nro Jackson Lane LLC it looked like you were waiting for your queue right good evening Mr chairman members of the board my name is uh Robert Travers I'm here on behalf of the applicant n Road Jackson Lane LLC this is for the property at 634 636 la Avenue in Little Falls it's also block 185 blot five and it is also the n Zone um we have an application tonight for a u multif family Residential Building I have what I believe to be four Witnesses tonight uh as the board knows I've been here before this board a number of times on this property and I'm hoping tonight's the uh hope tonight's winter winter chicken dinner so we'll see anyway my first my first um witness is Michael upman he's the the engineer do you guys want that do you want the um is that where you want the the diesel well we can't read it but he might he can explain it too far away move it just a little closer and if you're going to speak from there can we get him a microphone Mr Bley girlo before we start we have representatives from Woodland Park tonight you step up and just introduce yourself and thank you so kindly and good after good evening your honors my name is Al buleon I'm also back on this application as well as well as some other it's been a while since we've seen you I will be objecting on behalf of World part and present with us tonight are my client but uh May and members of our Council coun D Council and council president mron thank thank you we swear Mr yes swear from the testimony that you're about to before this cour is going to be the truth the whole truth uh yes I do please tell us your name sure Michael hubman it's hu b c h m an I'm licensed professional engineer and planner and I'll be testifying as the civil engineer on the project tonight and My office address is 263 South Washington Avenue in Bergenfield Mr hubman what is your uh what is your license number uh it's a 29497 how long have you been a licensed engineer in standard for 40 years and have you uh been accepted by either this board or similar boards as an expert in the field of engineering uh yes for for over 40 years this is our specializes in this you know smaller sites uh subdivisions site plans for the small that's excellent now your licens is current yes it is thank you very much he has accepted thank you Mr chair thank you okay uh Mr chair we have this Mark Market A1 just identify is that aized version of she that's sub uh yes it is this is the the site plan sheet uh it's 366 5.1-cu it's dated uh 510 2024 with one revision 912 2024 and it just colorized for the presentation okay thank you did you prepare those plants uh yes I did right you my office did and you're familiar with site very familiar yes descri site sure uh you know we've worked on this for quite a number of years uh the site is uh it's uh it's lot five block 185 it's 634 and 6 36 laana Avenue North is sort of to the upper uh uh right on this uh project it's a triangular shaped lot as you can see from from the coloring here laana Avenue the circle is just to the South Southwest of US Route 46 uh and then there are two uh is in Newark theic Valley Water easements about 100 feet from the right ofo line of Route 46 the Lots uh what was it here it's 39,000 Square ft it's about. n Acres it's presently uh under developed uh two trees on it it's I guess it was cleared over the years uh you that's the existing site we're also on the border I guess Woodland Park is here uh we're sort of on the border of Woodland Park is on the two the two legs of the triangle which would be uh East and uh North North nor for the benefit of the board can you identify what we are considering for the front of the property sure well we're considering lacana Avenue as the frontage okay let me re re word when we're looking at the structure the front of the structure will be facing laana Avenue the front is facing uh sort of diagonally with Lana Avenue yes son are we considering are we saying that the front of the building faces like the one AV yes because it's diary facing so I would say that yeah okay that affects the variances to the side yard that is correct um it's not a reard it becomes a side mentioned in my review letter uh sure well I me just just to talk about I think the zoning also right the front yard is along Lana and then the side yard is to the right and then in the last uh set of reviews they had one of the older applications we had called that Westerly yard the the rear yard which was 10 foot set back that was now considered to be a side yard so it's front side side and the rear we just took it to the point which is that um sorry oh okay all right U but the Topography of the site uh it's sort of uh you know slopes gradually towards the rear and then there's a a little more severe that's shown on sheet two uh we had gone we were here a few years ago two or three possibly and then it came up that there might be Wetlands on the property in the flood Hazard zone so we had that we had taken care of a state application for the letter of interpretation and the flood Hazard area uh a verification they call it that's where the state says you know yes I agree with you there's the flood Hazard area and that that took almost two years because said were very very long down at the NJB so that sort of changed some of the uh other the lot we're proposing uh the 16 unit uh Apartments would include got here it's four one-bedroom 10 TW bedroom and uh two three-bedroom apartments at 16 Apartments uh there three uh low and Moder an income uh units proposed on the site tring to read my notes I believe it's a it's a one three bedroom and two two bedrooms because that was the uh the 20% of the 16 which is 3.2 and then it rounds down to three for that uh it's a it's a pretty simple circulation on the site plan uh Ingress and erass on laana we're going to have to remove part of that wall that the do re built there and we have a traffic expert that will get more into that and the site and the uh this is under the jurisdiction of the county to about this point aligned in the BR uh so that's going to be removed uh our site is about 9 feet or so higher than the neighbor to the north at L 2 which is in Wood Park uh so we're proposing a retaining wall along the uh by North it's a weird North around I guess a North northeast side of the site uh proposing a I think it's a 40 uh 43 space parking lot uh 29 spaces are required that uh tannish area is is the apartment building you drive under there a oneway in we didn't want the uh the cars you know there's a house to the north we we wanted didn't want the exit but ready uh uh you know lights uh headlights from the car so we just made that in circle around there's a entrance and exit on the southernly side uh usual part we have 9 by 18 parking stalls where I think your ordinance requires a 9 by 20 I believe so that would be some some sort of waiver there is enough room to to make them wider but that's the RSI does accept the 9 by8 spaces uh there in the garage area there's five East spaces which is now with the requirement 15% of the spaces have to be uh suitable for electric vehicles and other requirements you need an adaa space and so forth uh the parking again I same this right so our required parking is 29 and we're proposing 43 spaces on site which uh you know is is is much an excess of what's required where uh this area to be vacated is shown as being used 4279 square feet so that was I that was part of our project all along I think was the area of the uh wood I'm sorry the uh little FY property that was that was to be vacated that on go on that's shown on sheet too two is the site plan and we usually just show the zoning notes and the calculations parking calculations and so forth on that street uh you'll see it right there's the great not Brook is behind us the flood Hazard line is so you where that triangle it's really doesn't affect the property it's it's really low in the Triangle this is the second sheet which is the same it's not colored but shows more of the edge engineering uh which we have all our utilities coming out to laana Avenue sewer coming out to the Sewer in laana Avenue uh all of our drainage runs towards the rear we have a basin in the rear now we we're a considered a major project by D regul not that major major for storm water we're over a quarter acre in perss that sounds like over a major project but it doesn't mean that you of where we're a really big project if we really aren't just a small a lesson maker we have to provide green infrastructure we're providing uh pervious pavement areas and a water quality Basin here which you a bio retention Basin everything will be piped out and that meets the we use the type was it the type four storm or D storm I think it's called which is very severe that's the latest one that they they use for that the runoff because of carcan and all the other uh bad swarms that had lately so everything drains toward the rear it's going to be piped towards the Brook at the rear uh you have the flood Hazard line is is way in the back here it's like elevation 265 and our our buildings at about 280 287 first floor so for utilities right they're they're ailable uh is that we're proposing the sign which we're requesting variances but I think we we're gonna we're going to withdraw the uh the sign application if the client decides to do a sign we'll do that at a we'll make a separate application separate time but for tonight's uh for tonight's meeting uh I think there were was three variances I think there were two variances one for height uh uh where it's actually two it's for signage areaa and sign height so obviously those are moved at this point right so we're uh I'm not going ahead with that with the sign in the front that's are you going to increase it or you going to decrease the sign sign as far as the application so I'm a little confused well what we what we were thinking was that we'd like to just try to get a sign that could comply with uh Town's ordinance without having to come back excellent so that's the okay so that's gone right the second sheet shows the grading and uh generally we're coming in at the level area and then it pitches down quite a bit toward the north so there's a retaining wall along that Northerly line going around the back Landscape and Lighting plan uh what we're proposing are uh basically some shade trees and Arbor Bitties around the site uh really along that that residential property and I I looked at this also we could even add some more if you're your professional thought that we should add more this is this will be a fairly level area between the wall and the neighbor so we could even add more uh of those green giant trees word professionals so that we should I looked at it today I thought we should probably add more to uh landscape lighting they're three we try to minimize the lighting on site so one of our older applications we have the poles more towards the the residence on the northeast so we we're to show three poles there's one along the uh by the refu area three pole lights and there two in the front which are pretty far away from everybody and that lights up the entire it's very low light in the parking and then there's a little higher light in the uh you there just ceiling lights in the uh garage area right and that's is that anything else oh sure uh on a birey to we have like an aerial but but that's 100 ft to the RightWay line then the right away must be another at least 20 or so feet it's shown on the first sheet we have an aial A Google area Tri angles dra to scale just to show how far it's you know about 100 say almost 150 ft to the roadway and how much lower sorry slower is it than 46 I I really don't have that number of is it substantial it's it's far yes it's substantial I mean just from the it's say Valley and over here you're at at 286 you know we're we're around existing 276 and so so it fls down 10 ft this year and then another 10 feet you know as you go I don't have any other questions you just want let's mark the other oh the landscape yeah you presenting two colorized right yeah let's mark that describe what it is right the landscape and or lighting and Landscaping plan it's sheet uh seven seven of nine uh same dates uh 510 2024 uh I think think that was my mother's birthday dates like that keep it interesting so and then revision one which is 991224 so Mr Travers okay I lost that question so we just skip over okay we'll get back to it um I do have a question from our engineer can you describe from an engineering point of view how the access so the property is going to work from laana Avenue regressing right or we have a traffic engine here so he's not an engineer or he's not well he's an engineer but I I could right uh describe it uh we're showing the uh what is it you know Ingress and egress and the left turn only uh leaving the site okay but you can't make a ra we're showing that you can't make a right turn out right you can make okay you're going up the hill oh I'm sorry did I say no right you're coming out as a right turn I'm sorry okay you cannot looking at it upside down so the uniqueness of this property causes me concerns about the access the uh Ingress and erress in my mind becomes a safety issue and a pretty steeply slop black on Avenue at that point our professionals have reported that in order to leave they can only go right up the hill navigate the circle which is a little tricky in uh high traffic volume times and this has lay them from getting to the wonderful stores in W Park really good vles um the circle itself can be difficult when uh there's a high traffic L anybody from here who's been through that understands what I'm saying so is unique application unique property access is critical to uh the approval of the applications County may have some issues it may present a different plan or changes which will affect this uh application in a large way um I thought a lot about this and I I am recommending that you see County approval first part our Board of adjustment deep diving into application do you want to confer to think about that well I here's what I can say uh I've never been in that situation before where we saw County Pool but I do understand your concern um the county redid that Circle um round call it um they put an island in there which which really negatively impacted our site um so I I don't know what the possibilities are but I guess that's a question from the county as to what they're going to do maybe it's said maybe there's an uper return Lane maybe there's a shortening of that ising that's there uh clearly I'm not an engineer so I couldn't tell you but um if uh if that's the board's feeling then we're gonna have to get count approval anyways first last okay uh any comments from the board agree disagree I would have to agree to seek County approval I'm also concerned with the traffic and from the looks of how you've put it Forward they can only enter from that one side of the road so that one side of the road is going to be the only enter and then out and then that affects Woodland Park as well so it is a major intersection and the the roundabouts are difficult to navigate in general and that's so close to that I'm very concerned with that Ingress and egress it would it would seem to me that the this is just my unprofessional op that the problem is really the left turn inight the right turn out inight could just go be double left turn out sight just go down make the turn come back but clearly we recognize that left ter problem exactly so essentially anybody that lives there would have to navigate certain way just to get into their building coming out going right is not a problem but as far as anybody coming up trying to make a left turn in that's only going to back up into Little Falls again that's board would like us to do so you agree you'll take it to the county first sure thank you very much and I also do have to compliment you you have removed most of the the Varian is except with the exception of the side and the four compact spaces and this board will never say you have too many parking spaces well that was that was part of the issue that we have is we could have uh when you know one of the Varian is is par po La Chang I don't think that want us to elate spaces in as much as there's a huge difference in elevation between the property line and where the road is um so I guess we'll make an application to the county but so the question is will I need to I don't know how long those take um I'll refer that to Mr Bri well I was going to say what why don't we carry it you want to carry it two months yeah we can carry it as long as you notice and then we can revisit where you are and if you need address very good just way we don't lose sight of it keep it on I'd rather not have notified but but I guess on some [Music] level okay all right anyway thank you for your time I appreciate it and uh hopefully we'll be back see couple minutes thank you very's officially what's not December January I January give me a sec January second date jary um what was your question the planning board meeting would normally be on the second first it would be on January 2nd which most likely will not happen because we have to wa for Council appointments had our reorg in 2024 we should have established the first hearing date in 2025 we did would you like to know what it is because I don't know what it is Valerie do you know what we did okay well let's leave it at we did we did okay so what do we do this why don't we officially carry it to our December meeting okay okay then that'll give us time to figure out additional dates so why do we carry now what's through December um December 5th so uh all members of the public we're going to carry this matter to December 5th at 7 o'clock no further notice to the public required so anybody who's interested in this application could return on December 5th at 7 o' we caveat that it may be further adjourned based on representations from Mr Travis about how he's doing okay great thank you very much Mr TR thank you uh we have more board business there any old business before the board any new business before the board may have a motion for adjournment so moves may I have a second second all those in favor I I anyone oppose thank you very much