##VIDEO ID:fEQ2ACqm43M## e e e e e e e e all right on a okay um the uh I here by called the order the Zoning Board of adjustment regular meeting uh for October 15 2024 at 7:34 uh call to order and statement of compliance adequate notice of this meeting SL hearing has been provided by posting a copy of the public meeting SL hearing dates on the municipal bulletin board and website my mic wasn't on I'm sorry start again call to order and statement of compliance adequate notice of this meeting hearing has been provided by posting a copy of the public meeting SL hearing dates on the municipal bulletin board and website by sending a copy to the echos Sentinel and CA news newspapers and by filing a copy with the municipal clerk standard board procedures any hearing conducted by the board is a quasi judicial proceeding any questions or comments must be limited to issues that are relevant to what the board May legally consider in reaching a decision and decorum appropriate to judicial hearing must be maintained at all times meeting cut off announcement is made that is a matter of procedure it is the intention of the zoning Board of adjustment not to continue any matter past 10:30 p.m. at any regular or special meeting of the board unless a motion is passed by the members then present to extend the meeting to a later specified cutof off time electronic devices all in attendance are asked to mute your cell phones which I just did uh or any electronic devices as to not interrupt the proceeding Pledge of Allegiance would you lead us Tom please stay there I pled allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all thank you all right uh roll call yes okay Mr ronio here M brenley here Mr G here Mr flat here Mr Rosenberg here Mr wats here miss Collins is excused this evening uh Vice chairman grov here chairman G yes here chairman we have a more all right thank you now we have no less than four resolutions to approve and the first one is Chad and Jill Miller 67 Cottage Place Gillette New Jersey block 13407 lot 26 application number 24-15 Z the hearing date was October 1st 2024 the board action was October 1st 2024 has everybody had a chance to review these resolutions eligible members are chairman D Mr arono Mr Flatley and Mr G okay what was that again chairman G Mr arono Mr Flatley and Mr ganus okay all right there four of us okay uh again has anybody has everybody had a chance to review it any changes yes any changes or corrections to it none okay we'll call for the eligible I'll move I'll move this resolution move I'm sorry move it 2415 Z I'll second it okay roll call mron yes mrle yes Mr gas yes chman G yes motion all right one down next one is David Santos 439 Valley Road jet New Jersey block one 10901 lot 13 application 24-17 Z hearing date was October 1st 2024 board action was October 1st 2024 um MERS on this can I ask a question about this one before we move certainly all right so um I know I was reading it number four on questioning of members and as well as the board engineer Mr Santos testified yada yada yada um some of the auts in there are uh that uh something that he applied for permits for and something that he didn't apply permits for I don't know if there's any verification of that but the stuff that was applied for permits the township got its permit fee and went out and did inspections the ones where it wasn't done what page are you talking about P page three of nine oh and number four okay number four some of the items that and they're not very significant the permits were not pulled for do permits ever get pulled uh afterwards I know in real estate closing sometimes permits get pulled for and so there's no fee collected there's no inspection done for the other work that were basically saying we understand you did this without permits now you have our blessing to do everything else with permits except for these items that I'm not quite sure what you're asking in other words you're saying by this resolution do we absolve the things they didn't get permits for is that we I didn't say that you said that I guess that's what I'm saying we absolved the things if I can we absolved the things that he needed a variance for necessarily permits for correct right he still needs to get the permits yeah he still would need to get the perit isn't that beyond our scope though do we follow up on permit we don't really do we we follow up on our side yes so yes he would still have to get the permit that he requires permits they and the inspections would still have to be done we just gave him the VAR answer for it got it okay so they should be on his applications for permits yes okay great right okay so who who's on this one again the same people corre may I have a motion to approve this resolution motion to approve second I'll second it okay go ahead Mr Janis yes Mr yes Mr Ron yes chairman yes okay next one is H the uh application of Edward civen and marizza D L Roa s 30 Old Farmhouse Road mington New Jersey block 10102 loot 4 application number 24-20 Z hearing date October 15th board action date October 15th and the moralization would be today who's eligible eligible members are chairman GRE Vice chairman gr Mr Rosenberg and Mr wats okay okay I'll move it forward all right second second all right wel call Vice chairman grov yes Mr R yes Mr W yes chairman GRE yes okay next one is Anthony d alato uh it's the tenton Castle place Gillette New Jersey block 10701 lot 10-01 application 24-21 Z hearing date October 15th board action October 15th and more realization today same people same people chairman G Vice chairman gr Mr Rosenberg and Mr okay do I hear a motion question yes go ahead I just noticed on the last one if the resolution says now beol on this 19th day does that matter oh I'll have to change that yeah there that were in there incorrectly both actually the last two says 19 okay well we'll fix those dates yeah right okay um okay other than that we'll fix dates uh do I have motion to approve second okay V call Mr Rosenberg yes Vice chman yes Mr Watts yes chairman gr yes motion okay good we've done those all right now the next one is we have to move carry uh there's a block 13509 lot 40 Zone R4 40 Mitchell Road application 24-19 Z Jessica and Harold Alan a aan aloc proposes to construct in addition to an existing single family dwelling I understand there was a problem with the notice on that yes unfortunately uh the EOS Sentinel um there was an error and they did not publish their notice in the paper on time okay uh do I a motion to approve the carrying of that to December 17th 2024 so moveed here a second second all in favor I I okay we move that one got a note on that one goad right real quick Mr chairman just to point out do the the official duties here uh this this matter the 40 Mitchell Road application is going to be carried to the December 17 2024 meeting with additional notice being required only as to publication the applicant did provide sufficient at least to my knowledge provided sufficient uh mailing a personal notice to all Property Owners within 200 ft of the subject property so uh if you're here for the Alan application 40 Mitchell Road we'll be hearing that on December 17th this is your notice to come back then for that hearing so okay there's that it's out of the way all right very good thank you my pleasure um okay now the next one up that actually we're going to hear tonight is a bulk variance and floor area ratio block one 12702 lot 47-04 zone R2 12 a Maria Court application number 24-22 Z and George Wang applicant proposes to construct an addition to an existing single family dwelling is the applicant present have a seat do you need a yeah yeah we usually have one out here hold on no I only bring it oh oh oh okay oh I thought I always see it sitting here no cuz you usually applicants bring their around I only I I hide it so nobody steals oh that's a good idea Tricky Tricky Mr chairman while we're getting set up I'll just point out for the record you wanted you go do that real quick on the notice I reviewed it I found it to be sufficient both in terms of its content and timeliness of service uh both uh it was both published um on time more than 10 days in advance of this hearing and sent to us owners of properties with 200 feet of the subject property by certified mail more than 10 days in advance of the night so the board is jurisdiction to here and decide the case um so we're still waiting for Deb I can swear everybody why don't you swear everyone in everybody raised their right hand please he's going to swear you in um Miss in the audience are you testifying on on no she's the echos senal oh my apologies okay she only reports okay okay I didn't know if you were with the applicant okay do all three of you swear or affirm that uh testimony brats provided be the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth I do I do great awesome all right just give us a second wait for de just got married yeah I know and Now Pronounce You applicant and wife yeah you can have SE you can relax Rel Rel while you're there check that microphone make sure that's working okay [Music] just you might want to put the center down a little bit on that it's going to collapse yeah yeah that's right yeah that way it won't collapse okay um how do you pronounce your last name uh WG Wong Wong okay that's what I thought thank you either you say when or Wong I'm I'm user friendly so w I just want to make sure I'm pronouncing it that's okay yeah Mr Wong uh you're and you are a I'm an architect architect okay okay could I just have your credentials in background so I could uh deem you qualified as an architect yes uh Douglas asol um registered architect um graduate of New Jersey Institute of Technology I've been licensed since uh 2000 and your license is still current it's still current and I've appeared before Boards of adjustment uh most recently Madison Handover Township um and Floren Park okay have you ever appeared in lill par I have I appeared uh here about 10 or 12 years ago I should remember you but I don't sorry all right I deem you qualified thank you thank you okay uh so um would one of you like to just some just to give us an introduction of why you're doing this and the purpose for it sure sure maybe I can that Mr chair before we go any further um can I skip both of your addresses for the record oh I'm sorry sure uh 12 Avenue Maria Court mington New Jersey 07946 okay and uh Mr O was that your name Asal ASR a l sorry a Sr a l yes as okay your business address please uh N9 whiy Road in whiy New Jersey okay awesome thank you so much okay Mr Wong back to you okay yeah um yeah good evening uh thanks for uh having this meeting for uh my request for Vance uh you know the reason why we uh request a arance uh from my perspective is a pretty three forward uh three point uh number one from house internal perspective the two in the rooms in the well you call the second floor or two and a half floor whatever in in the Attic uh no vertical windows it's pretty dark and they only I mean for two rooms right for each room they only have those like a skylight type of window you can only open that high there's a handle you can open that but only that much so in that case the the eror in the in the in the top I mean attic whatever floor you call right so is it's really not a fresh I mean the air circulation is pretty bad okay and what rooms used for now bedroom yeah I will tell you why later yeah so yeah uh so uh yeah so basically the two isier right one is a pretty dark and the the second one is is is a is air and especially in the summer because there's no air condition on the top there there's a heater but no air condition I don't know because uh I I'm the second owner yeah I mean I don't know how the original owner build up it's kind of like a customized but that's just reality so uh that's why uh we we we would like to make some change uh well I mean I I noticed there are some questions in the letter I think a planner's letter I I got from deborra this this afternoon right regarding so you know actually for the whole house you have a you know or have a room in in the basement and the basement is considered a floor right by definition something like a 50% you know something right yeah yeah yeah so I I think I understand I mean this this Criterion right I mean like a treat this half basement as a as a floor because uh you know for for a house like like a my house right part of the area totally underground and a part of the area I for the basement level right is is above the ground right like like a walk basement we have a walk out basement so basically so I mean you you you have to classify right a house I mean room like like a mine and you have to have something like a cutle point right and now the cutle point is 50% so I understand so this is Center helpful right for some maybe other purpose or technical or maybe zoning or planning or tax whatever but from the perspective of person who live in their house using it use it right and and from perspective it it doesn't help okay because I mean the issue is it's you know you have halfway totally underground so all those like a redon whatever those bad like a harmful things right in the in the typical like a full basement already there maybe at a lesser like a degree right because you have a open out like a like a workout part but comparing with a regular floor that means 100% above ground it's totally different right so that's why to get to I think I what I understand you're saying is that you need the rooms um that you're changing on the second floor to be more usable friendly to have the windows larger to have better ventilation and more light exactly okay yeah so that's why we didn't even though namely we have more rooms in the basement right if you consider floor but we couldn't use it as a bedroom we use it as a storage room that's why I I mentioned earlier why we rather use room ATS not using the room even though with dark and and air issues but we we were not using the room in in the basement even though I mean namely is there we only use that story in the front of your house it looks like a two-story house right yeah uh from backyard is two but from the front actually I try to address it is in my second Point yeah well it it slopes from front to back okay yeah yeah so the front looks like from the stre perspective looks like a one story yeah exactly that's what I tried to say for my second part s I'm sorry did you did you send that picture in with your application oh did you send it in I think earlier I I took a picture in there you're okay you're I just make sure we got it I just want to make sure because if not we'd have to take it as an exhib I don't see it in mine yeah I don't I'm not sure I see it I I don't see it in my oh well I I can send you more I mean one can I yeah yeah yeah yeah I don't get get color let me see that I think we got it digitally my out yes I don't think you did want no no that's all right that's all right let me see no he's showing it all right so all right so real quick while everyone's looking at their photographs I'm going to mark this is exhibit A1 this is a photograph you submitted of call it grayscale photograph of the house um do you know when this was taken rough idea oh this I just downloaded from realtor.com okay it's from realcom it's the same I mean it doesn't change yeah yeah I mean actually I sent Debra a picture I took just like last month or something could you could you print out the Four Color photographs for everybody I can't I can't print the color but I can go print could you print them in black and white at least because I think it's important we have that yep yeah just we'll take a second break sure sure yeah yeah okay all right you could keep talking okay okay all right have a question I do have a question when well one second time yeah one second talk um okay now uh aside from what you just told us um is there when you um how long you've been living in the house uh since 2019 2019 we bought a house like October something like that we mve in yeah uh and um uh I see uh yeah from the back you have uh it looks more like a twostory right right right yeah um is anything changing with the back of the house no okay uh yeah all right does anybody have questions of Mr Wong yeah you have questions of him so you were describing it as two and a half story I think you were saying that earlier on it doesn't matter I don't want to forget don't get hung up on the terminology yeah yeah yeah yeah wait I I think I know but I just need to be abundantly clear that the basement is one story you have a middle level right and then you have forget the ordinance and the law the third story which is the bedrooms and that's what we're talking about right now right and there's an attic above that no no no the the sort of line is an attic I mean so the basement the first floor the second floor actually is attic that's why they only have like a skylight they don't have rooms a staircase to go up yeah yeah yeah yeah okay yeah there's no other pull down or anything else above that I'm just want him to I want him to so above that there's no pull down attic there's no access to the just a roof that's it just a roof just a roof so those so those bedrooms up there touch the the ceiling is the roof okay there's exactly that that's really what I wanted to know so you're really you're in the Attic that's really your second floor of your house exactly exactly these windows uh if we're look looking at the picture next to the aerial view to the directly to the left looking at the rear elevation of your house the windows on the top two windows we're talking about those are the roll out windows that don't provide sufficient air this is proposed this is proposed not not a not a current not the existing yeah yes SK ex terms this house is thank you a walk a walk out C I have I do have so thank you it looks bigger than it is or it looks from the back from the front it looks smaller right yeah so if I can uh continue the skylights is that what you were saying before these are the only air well that's for the front actually there's in the back the back sorry this too right right right right that's it yeah that's it okay can I can I ask a point of clarification either for the architect or Mr wall so this is the existing house right right exactly yeah okay the top floor here there's bedrooms in here right now or exactly that's that's the two rooms just behind this room there's two bedrooms on this yeah one one this side one that side exactly yeah we don't that's why we don't have Windows you couldn't tell there's a room behind I all right so then you're proposing is an addition on top of this to add additional bedrooms and additional bathroom right we yeah us to the plans I'm just trying to confirm what's existing and what's getting the existing roof would come out and a full it would pop up in the center in the center not over the entire footprint just uh the center for ex footage would be for an additional 673 for a total of 144 the you have to pass those no no there pictures that came out can ask a question since we're understanding this house um the picture to the left on the bottom there yeah you're pointing at the windows on the side of the house left side of the house if you were facing the house right yeah the the window in the lower level thank you Tom okay um thank you there's a dotted line and then there's a uh two windows that must open or something and I'm just wondering has that window that used to be there been made larger and what would be the reason for making it larger uh uh the existing conditions side VI oh the side the well there's another should be another you know often times the previous stuff that was there is in dotted lines so if you look at the picture there's a section that's half the size of that window that's a window well there it's not being removed it's it's just window an existing window the dot lines indicate the um window well the window not the existing window so the window that was there is the same size as what's proposed we're not changing anything okay we don't change anything for the basement and the first floor the only thing is is is a top I think I understand the majority of the house I MA front the side is completely undergr um then it drops off um for the access to theage below and the entire back is exposed lock out and and slopes from um the grade from the patio up to the front right and the windows all on the lowest level where the walk out basement is are all being kept the same size as they were before not we don't changing anything basement and nothing what's on the first floor currently what kind of rooms Oh you mean first floor's uh kitchen living room uh I think there's a two like a like a bedrooms I mean one is actually use a bedroom for my wife and another is my wife used as her home office oh okay so it's just two bedrooms on the first floor two back if we're talking about the middle level yeah yeah middle level well I'm talking first living floor the not I'm not calling the basement of the first floor right are there any bedrooms on the basement level are there any bedrooms in the basement well there's the two rooms so I don't know but we cannot use you know as a bedroom as a me for the reason I just mentioned just read on those kind of things use them as B you can't do yeah there's no there are two rooms in the in the basement she she Storage storage okay you can't put the bedroom down there unless you have two modes of ESS right uh this house had a fire correct yeah exactly that's a sort of point I try to cuz I see the window has it been repaired since the fire well that that's why I mean the third thing I try to say uh uh maybe I can finish like a second third and then okay yeah yeah all right so the first thing I just mentioned right I mean from house internal perspective right why we want to do that the room right the dark and one what the second thing is from a house external perspective if you stand on the street right take a look at the house and my house is the only one in the entire block only with one layer Windows everybody else it's two stories two story I mean even one room uh I mean one house 23rd Avenue Mar R core they even have three layers of Windows yeah if you need that you have to more cop that yeah that's fine thank you give them to uh we want to mark them well you can give it to okay I got so basically I mean my house just looks like a like a outliers I mean for the for the entire stet everybody at least two layers of windows so you're saying your house is the odd house out it's totally our layers and part of that is due to the terrain of the property where it goes down where everybody else is tends to be flatter uh well I I never go to the backyard of that property know how this look like but I'm saying most of the other properties don't have that extreme slope down there I well I I couldn't I couldn't tell either yes or no because I don't know I I just don't have that information Mr I'm sorry to cut you off I just got to do my housekeeping here so this this Photograph you submitted 23 I a Maria C um this is also from realtor.com I'm assuming right right right to your knowledge this accurately depicts what this I think this house just being sold uh like a few months ago so I think this picture should be most so that's going to be Exhibit 2 yeah exhibit A2 A2 okay yeah so that's why I mean we really like to have a more conventional looking and layout just like my neighbors right you wanted to blend in more with the neighborhood yeah yeah it's more consistent with my neighbors okay so I think maybe that's Al help address the the second question I mean in the letter D sent me this this afternoon uh regarding those public goods public bad like a positive impact negative impact I think I mean if we make the change like this right make just like a from straight it will be like a two layers right just consistent with all my neighbors I think the the negative impact should be zero I didn't see any negative impact I mean inste I would see I mean the value of entire block could be increased okay because there is a more consistent view regarding this this neighborhood right so uh I couldn't see any any any negative impact for that well the third one is why uh we proposed this request for bar this time not last year not next year just because of fire right as U you know Mr uh G just mentioned yeah because we got a fire uh like early this year one electrician came to my house to check and like a fix the generator I think it did something wrong and now my insurance my attorney are handling that from legal perspective okay but as a result the whole house is gone now it's a god job now I mean because it's a break I mean the outside is still there right but the inside is empty right now so you're taking advantage of the fact that you have to do some work exactly exactly because now we need to rebuild I mean we saw that this is a you know opportunity we can just incorporate those uh like a like a variance change with the rebuild okay it's a good time to do it when you have to do work anyway you might as well but um but basically that yeah that that's that's what I'm going to say yeah um let your architect could you talk a little more about the plans and you know what's what's on that floor and how it's laid out well did well were you finished with what you wanted yeah yeah I finished I think he's finished I could tell he was finished through um start ground floor plan um would which is not changing right which is not changing um two large car Bays under 700 a home gym and a recreation the front are mechanical room for the furnace and water heater and laundry room there is a full bathroom downstairs and um that's the existing conditions to be fix so that's the walk out basement so walk out basement you see uh um the entry door rear yard um off the recreation room towards the left side uh of the uh of the ground floor okay right stairs up to the first floor on the first floor your major living areas of the foyer once you get to the top of the stairs um there is a guest Suite uh here um on the first floor um family room office in the back um with the powder room but these are Renovations um and then we have some modifications to the existing dining and living room in the front and then there's an exting that's I guess was Aon we're going to make into oh so you are doing some modification that modifications but this is all existing there's no okay just interior interior exactly just this way refence phot here everything that you see here on the on the first two levels the ground and the first floor is staying the same okay so the deck everything back there is the same yeah that's supposed to be the same that's on posts over open air there deck so everything in the rear on the first two levels is staying the same okay change is second you're popping up the second putting on an addition that's about 14 55 ft total um over the middle of the second floor that's how it's viewed from the rear but from the street that's what you see the two story home where the second floor is about set back it's about it's it's in line but it's set back on the sides yeah yeah so we want to of course we want to the new construction to avoid the side reement we don't want to encroach you know yeah further encroach further encroach so and we didn't want to build all the way across that wasn't the intent of this is to get adequate rooms that that Mr W needs uh with full daylight and and fresh air without looking that imposing from there yeah just uh just just going back to the let's get to the second floor plan and what's being proposed on the second floor is as you see here of three bedrooms all right with Master site walking closet bathroom and then um two bedrooms with the Jack and bathroom in between and then um take advantage of this construction project to create some amenity for Mr long with the double height okay so that's that Center piece is just an is a high ceiling it's just a high ceiling yes open to below so it looks like a bigger space trying to make this cave look more like a colon okay so how many total bedrooms and total bathrooms also total bedrooms on the uh uh so three bedrooms on the second floor one so there's four bedrooms total okay bathrooms starting with the ground floor one two um a half two and a half um three and half four and half okay understood thank you four boms well it's really five bedrooms cuz that office has a closet and a window for for the for the for the for the but doesn't have access to anywhere nearby but it could be used as a bathro could used it's a hall closet though it's not in the room um the Clos is in the hallway too oh so it really doesn't have a closet in it have a Clos okay so if it doesn't have a closet I think what is it what is it doesn't have a closet it's really not a bedroom or how does that work how it work there's no defition there's no definition okay what does real estate agents think uh if you have a bed it's a bedroom oh okay yeah that figures you have a kitchen table in it guess what it's called it's a right there you go but traditional speaking if you don't have an actual Closet in there it it's not a usable might sleep there maybe yeah but you're using that as a as a as an office not put a kitchen table in there right no does it have any bearing on our kit have two kitchens no no I'm just just curious no I I know I'm just clarifying the I just want know does it matter to us no he really doesn't well our lawyer asked how many bedrooms so I wanted to make sure he was getting the accurate number I appreciate I don't know why but he did just wanted to clarify total scope of what's being proposed here right yeah and that and that's the way it was built that's the way the room was built no no it's some modification we can do creative things with that we can make that a mother-in-law s if he want us to was that was that we'll have to come up with a new phras yeah was that room originally a bedroom with a closet and the modification made without a bedroom oh well yeah sure take the mic with you please we've been a little LAX on that we need you to speak into the mic got to get on the records yeah okay yeah originally uh I try to WR on I'm not the architect I think originally the the dividing line is here they have a this is original bedroom and here's another room my wife use uh as a office yeah uh then this is a is a kitchen this side is a kitchen okay yeah yeah now they just internally make different C right I mean okay so you're making the kitchen bigger and the bedroom smaller right right right there's a door into the powder room right off the hallway yes off the hallway and off the office yeah and and also the office correct yeah okay um all right any other questions for the architect I've got one yeah so the the side that's away from the uh garage entrance um is that does that slope down the other the other side away from the garage uh at the gar you want to know where the side opposite to the garage the side of the house opposite to the oh I'm sorry the opposite here okay I can tell by one of the photographs I think yeah uh it's there's there there is okay go to the so looking at the picture it looks like it's level but I'm asking no slopes that way yeah the slopes uh there's about two or 3 foot the retaining wall in the rear and then it slopes up to the front thank you mhm Mr asro real quick the uh I should have asked this previously the plan set you have in front of you just want to make sure it's the same one that's the last revised date was the original date September 25th September 2 okay just making sure we're looking at the same PL M and uh one other question I guess kind of a dumb question asked but because I know the answer but the exterior of this Edition it's going to look it's going to be a ially uniform with the rest of the house right it's not going to be like right that would be out of the budget scope uh for Mr Wong you know maintain continuity so it doesn't have to redo everything okay so it's going to be that same neutral colored brick well it's not going to be a brick up there well the however oh uh in in some ways it's similar architecturally but uh material wise uh going for um uh clabbert over the uh the but it's going to be the same color uh aesthetically uniform with the rest right exactly right we're going to hold you to that as a condition of we're going to avoid any kind of metal panel type facade okay so yeah um okay I I'll have a silly architect question where the office where you The Powder Room has a door going into it and then there's another door those two doors are swinging against each other as an architect is that something you Doo often if want double access and which Jo we talking I mean it's just referring to the powder room off the office uh uh for the convenience of the guests and whoever is in occupying um it was Mr Wong's desire to have access directly from the office and the hallway the guest room is not does not have a door to that you're talking about the office when you say guests we labeled it as office okay right he's saying guests in the house oh from the house okay right I mean anybody who's not in the office directly got it just a point of observation means nothing to the case for the guest room you showed the width but not the length as you did in other rooms unless I'm supposed to do uh you raise a good point I can give that Dimension to you it matters it matters not to me right oh just tell us what it is so we know for clarification it is um 13 um sorry this is a 316 scale yeah um 18 ft wide 14 fo3 front to back okay a nice size room that matter not either now would you classify the existing top Flor would you consider that an entire story or is that a half story yes by uh code uh U it uh since it is more than onethird of the floor area below um and because this is considered um a 2 and 1 half to three story building um this the uppermost story being more than onethird of the floor area below would have to be classified as a story and uh because of that condition it um uh Mr Wong will uh uh has to do one of two things with regard to fire separations uh either make it Class A construction which every level is separated with 1 hour separation or sprinking um Mr Wong is proposing to sprinkler this building oh um uh so as to um uh avoid the uh um you know the the the the rated doors and uh stairs that are totally enclosed and that sort of thing right right to make it look less like an office build exactly right right or elementary school so um yeah I think I just want to be clear so are you describing the the proposed the proposed yeah the prop because of the addition yeah I understand as it exists now is that a two and a half story or a three story Bill oh it's a two and a half story as it exists now okay okay because there I think there was a point of clarification on the plans um I think you might have wrote that it was two when supposed to be I would if right now that it is a 2 and a half story building existing and proposed to be a three story building understood yeah with a third full story right yeah I don't want to steal our board planner thund but she had a comment in her review memo that the uh that calculation on the plan seem to be corrected as well as uh noting that the required front yard setback here is 75 not 52 yeah some confusion initially um we had a survey that indicated a 50 foot line for whatever reason I don't know why it was there but um uh or that maybe this uh home was in a development uh that that had 50ft setbacks but um uh if it's 75 ft then it's 75 ft and we would you know submit for a variance for approval for seven for violation within yeah exactly if you get an approval tonight if if we do plans and everything yeah they have to right and then clarify the discrepancy uh Liz before we continue have any questions for the uh I don't have any questions I I can make some comments but I can wait no coming okay um so essentially you know they they are require three variances and um two of them are related to height and one of them is related to the front yard setback and I would say you could probably characterize all of them as hardships because you have this existing building that is 51 ft from the front yard lot line when it's supposed to be 75 so it was built that way so it was built that way and so they're they're sort of staying within the existing um setback and and if they it's also a lot that is about half of what is the minimum required in the zone so if they pushed the building back to the 75 ft then they'd run into the rear yard setb so so that's a I would say a hardship the other thing is because of the topography you do have this basement and it's not even it's it's a basement that's walked out and then you have the garage um and it's it's sort of unfortunately counts against them because it it then it becomes story a full story um and because of it's a full story that adds to the overall floor area which pushes them to the over on the floor area ratio right so they um if it was considered a basement it would be excluded from the floor area calculation and they have the existing home is actually exceeds the maximum floor area permitt so they've already without the basement with the basement the bement current currently currently they're just making a if you didn't count the basement if the B basement let's say was excluded they would meet the F currently and they would meet the F proposed okay so it's just because um it happens to be exposed in the rear yeah and on this one side right if it was just Exposed on the garage level you wouldn't have that issue right if it was less than 50% right would you would be just or the other way around if the if the garage was covered and it wasn't if was detached or something detached cover with soil to the right then they would they would also so they need it so it's it's a hardship so and then again similar to the to the houses on long no Road right on the downside yeah and then the other variants they need is as as the architect testified to that are currently at 2 and A2 because they're sort of pushing out to to make that upper story more it becomes a third story you're only allowed two and a half stories so that is a c variance for that extra half story so due also to the basement being yeah it's all sort of and and the kind of unusual topography and also just the existing conditions on the site which they have to work with Okay so those are sort of the three variances okay all of which cannot be modified because that's the way it is right I mean you know right exactly yeah and and and if they were to expand as I think was testified to and they can't really expand to the rear right you can't expand on the ground level yeah exactly so this is in keep in in in summarizing that the the what they're you doing here on the on the quote on quote third level is the most compact method of doing it it is and I think what their testimony was was that they've tried to make it so that the appearance from the street will not be sort of overly massive or right you which it it isn't if you look at the other houses that are on the street well and for clarification you say height but they're still within the 35 ft even with the third storage exactly so they are they are they're under it and that's 35 ft measured from the back of the house the low the back of the house if it was done correctly yes it would be from the if can you test uh either the garage level or where is the 35 ft 348 ft measured from cuz it it should be from the lowest gr right thank you for staying within the 35 ft yes could you actually provide testimony if you're looking at the front facade at post construction If This Were to be approved what would be from the the the ground level on the front facade to the top of yeah what would that is [Music] 282 and that's to the newest the highest low 282 okay so it'll it'll appear 28.2 ft to people on the on the street on the street right yeah which is smaller than yeah it's like a a twostory home chatam that you see from what I from what I can see from your picture in the top right that top nope top right that one yes uh and from what I've also seen from how the layout out of the street Robie Maria Street uh you don't have an a neighbor right in your backyard correct there's nobody who's going to be seeing that this looks like a three-story building from the back yeah I mean my biky our neighbor talking to the sorry yeah my my backyard neighbor uh I think maybe have one acre or two acres like a land they're I mean their their their their borderline right is a pretty close to my backyard but their house at least a half acre away from my house I I I never saw them I mean I think maybe one or two times there this dog you know just walking wrong but it's a far away I mean it's a it's a I I even couldn't barely see their house I mean also with trees okay yeah and what what house does it what street does their house uh Old Forge Old Forge okay Old Forge I think my uh uh backy our neighbor uh I think a couple I mean because D give me the the list I think they they own three address uh 164 160 164 182 okay there there there there same whole another street that it's on yeah on the back in the back yeah but that's but their house all close to the Old Forge okay not not to to my side far away at least a half acre away so you're not imposing on anybody in the back no I I don't think so I mean they even couldn't come close to my house oh I'm sorry yeah no we got you see anybody in the audience right no no no I'm just making sure send me too yeah yeah all right um any other questions for the applicant who is uh architect or is expert and you don't have any more of those to add I know that those were really it's fairly yes I know yeah do you want to sum up on some of the conditions I know nobody's here well I know member of the public technically speaking um I can't see beyond that could you move that a little bit just so I can see okay no lady from the the newspaper right now yeah there's only one person in the audience and that's the lady from the newspaper you don't have any questions do you okay so I'm going to close it to the audience do you want to make any comments any comments if you do I got to swear you in I'm good good okay good you thought it was aing board yeah she thought it'd be exciting no that's okay yeah all right no it's the board of adjustment it's on the calendar as the yeah it's on the calendar as the planning board but we usurp their meeting oh okay meeting yeah it's the board of adjustment well yeah the agenda Pages say that the planning board was cancelled and this actually went in the paper paper yeah we canel it I it was your newspaper okay yeah maybe you could clear up the notice issue all right good well we'll start we'll do that after afterwards but hearing no hearing no and seeing no audience I close it to the audience okay um would delate deliberate uh would you like to start uh thank you Mr chairman wait did you didn't you want to have Chris do that oh yeah well let's liberate first ask Liz one question Liz I'm sorry to put you on the spot um so they need an F variance do they also need a bulk for an excessive floor area not a ratio but just gross area no there there there's nothing the the floor area ratio in in Long Hill isn't a percentage the way it is in other towns it's it's an actual square footage oh okay so that's what they yeah okay all right cool want to clar Let's right first and you can do that okay third floor variant yeah but not yeah go ahead Russ you can deliver it um thank you uh yeah I I think uh wey what I I'm not a problem Russ a gladiator 2 came out yeah um all right I appreciate our planner lizz's comments about it being a true hardship um you know you're kind of doing it the way you have to do it in this case and you're going to M to your point Sarah you're going to make it look more uniform with the other houses so I think I I appreciate you pointing that out um you being surrounded by trees and things like that I guess from the rear if there was anything that would look quote unquote different um again that's just very um minor if even an issue whatsoever um so I would be in favor of it so thank you thank you for Jess yeah so for for basically the reasons that our planner laid out I think that you've met both the criteria for the D4 and the C variances um in terms of you know the positive you are rehabilitating a home that was damaged by fire so obviously that's very important for our community um in doing so you're actually improving the way that the home looks right it's a little bit outdated in terms of the style you're bringing it um more into the current time you're making the street look more consistent what you're doing in the inside I think to your point is going to add value to the home and the community I don't see any negative um I think that just by you know virtue of the property the way the house is designed now and the fact that you're trying to work with what you have um that you're you know doing doing the best um that you can with with what you have on the property and I am for the application Gary uh I concur with my clients my clients my my colleagues my colleagues uh Randy and J and Jessica um thanks Gary thank you yeah and um her I'm assuming that you're not in the home right now because it had a fire I don't want to waste any more time I hope you can get back in there soon thank you so much okay Jonathan yeah I I agree that uh you know pretty much what Liz laid forward I don't want to repeat everything but I was you know my thoughts exactly um and I appreciate uh the you taking the time to come speak to us and I I you know I think you have a good plan there and I wish you good luck I'll be and I would be supportive of this Tom oh I have to agree with what everyone else has said about this and thank you Liz excuse me for your comments frankly um the existing top floor whatever you call it right now seems virtually uninhabitable so this is this is an example to me where our zoning requirements just do not fit so I'm in favor of it thank you Jerry I have nothing to add I think uh Miss Brennan and Mr Watts did a great job of highlighting the positive and and our our planner also of how how we meet the posit the positive and the negative criteria there's no detriment to our Zone plan or our or zoning ordinance or anybody in the neighborhood there's nothing wrong with this application I'm in favor of it thank you Tom uh I concur with my colleagues thank you again Liz for pointing out the fact that this is a gutted house that needs Rehabilitation let alone the fact that you're going to make it livable for people up in the top floor whatever number that is um I'm very glad that the front will look nice clean in style with the rest of the neighborhood and nobody can see the back which I don't disag disapp disapprove of but there are people who like don't like third and three and a half stories it won't look like that it's gorgeous good luck and hope you have a very successful project thank you if I may add one thing I forgot I just wanted to say thank you for recognizing the 35t height ordinance in addition to our story ordinance it was mentioned earlier in the meeting but that's I think that's a very important thing thank you for respecting that yeah I uh concur with my colleagues I think that this is a suitable project for the neighborhood I think the house actually looks uh out of place now and I think it will look more in tune with the neighborhood the way it will look and what you're doing to it is not obtrusive it it it fits the house it is uh a minimal U expansion of that level but it's usable it's a usable expansion and I think it's going to look really suitable for the neighborhood so I would be uh in favor of it thank give us a uh summary yeah Mr chairman I'll do my best actually before I do I I was going through my notes I realized I Look likeed to bring something up um we got a email from our board engineer uh Joe B earlier I think it was today actually or no yesterday my apologies um he had one I'm sorry clarify everybody got a copy of that it's attached to Liz's the back of list right right um just want to he had one recommendation that you guys do and I just want to see if you agree to do this um the way I had I understood it was he was recommending that the uh the Second Story roof area gutters and down spouts be diverted to the same drainage locations as the existing roof drains are directed to does that make sense um yes I don't see why that would be so you guys we'll do that as a condition should okay okay great just wanted to make sure we got that covered okay thank you Mr chairman right so let me go back to summarizing here okay so the applicant here is seeking uh a D4 variance for the floor area ratio uh maximum permitted here in the zone which is the R2 zone is 15% they propos or well particularly for this property would be 4,424 ft and they're proposing an F of 21.6% which equates to 5,117 Square ft um they're also seeking a bulk variance for the principal dwelling front yard setback that they're vertically exacerbating um the required to uh provide a 75t minimum front yard setback here they're proposing the existing condition of 51 ft that's going to be vertically you know exacerbated um finally the last bulk variants they need is for the building height and principal building height in terms of stories 2.5 stories is the maximum permitted here they're proposing three as far as conditions go they would be uh complying with one condition I know noted from our board planners memo dated uh November 25th U that they the applicant here would be revising the schedule of bulk requirements on submitted plans to indicate the the existing dwelling is 2.5 stories and that the minimum required front yard setb back in the R2 zone is 75 ft they would also comply with that condition I just referenced from our boorn engineer which is that the second the proposed Second Story roof area gutters and down spouts shall be diverted to the same drainage locations as the existing roof drains and uh I think the only other condition was that the exterior of the Edition would be aesthetically uniform with the balance of the existing dwelling and that's it so we need a motion a roll call and we need five out of seven to approve this one Mr chairman as do I have a motion okay do I have a second second okay V call Mr yes Vice chairman gr yes Miss Brennan yes Mr Gan OAS yes Mr Flatley yes Mr Rosenberg yes chairman correct yes motion Carri thank you congratul good luck really appreciate it thank you for your time and I mean before Thanksgiving is truly than oh thank you we're glad we could we can make your Thanksgiving uh I really appreciate every thank you thank you yeah good luck thank you so much Deb uh how many applicants do we have on the 17th two oh okay cuz we you know Tom just pointed out to me that we had actually haven't uh finalized our bylaws yet and you know we haven't really you know we haven't gotten the we haven't voted them in yet no no I didn't think we did because we were still looking at them we were still looking at them right we haven't we have what we think is a final draft right but we haven't voted on it yet we we have not voted I'm I'm I wasn't at that meeting but I'm fairly sure when Steve covered you guys did that that's what I was told that meeting okay you better check because I didn't think I thought that some people still needed to look at it I didn't think we actually voted them in as our bylaws could you double check that okay when you do the minutes if we haven't could you put that on for I don't know what you know unless you want to put the on the reord yeah let's do it on the reorg yeah if we haven't yeah because I don't remember doing it we could have but I you have a commercial use variant on the reorg you have a no no on December 17th right that's the date yeah and we have two you have the one that Carri tonight which is it's basically they were over there in perious they're going straight up so yeah straight forward and then you have a commercial e so where what where is that you remember 329 Maine is that oh it's a main street okay it's got little string okay I might not have said that to you yet okay um I think it's 329 M they've been in front of you before uh they got approved for some apartments but and he has some commercial space they want to go to all apartments now is that that building that sits sideways mhm it takes it's very odd it takes a couple different properties that's the one yeah I remember that one yeah that's the one across from the Sterling Hotel I think no no it's the one that's it sideways uh the one that used to be the police station okay oh okay yeah whatever the hairdressers and stuff yeah it was the hairdress in yeah I know which one that is yeah so um I would suggest that um um if they haven't passed we would move that to the that would make a lot of sense to at the beginning of the year anyway right yeah fine okay I just don't remember them passing because I thought there was some issue that some people hadn't read them all and we would didn't you know I hadn't read them through I'll double check it okay all righty I thought we were going to do a final read to yeah that's what I thought too uh anything else no I think the only thing on December that we don't have to discuss on December 17th I will be sending out the um proposed dates for 2025 okay for the you know prior to the next meeting sobody can look them over and for them for next year sounds good the reor okay and when is our reorg meeting again it is January this third week 21 January 21st okay all right that's the only meeting that that it's the only meeting because you know January's become a little bit complicated the way the tues we can't have a meeting prior before the weor committee right okay all right just so we know so we have one meeting in January all right okay um all right do I hear a motion to adjourn all right all in favor I we're adjourned