##VIDEO ID:NkvRYkG4EjA## e e e e e e e e e e e evening everyone welcome to the moro Maro Township zoning board meeting of August 27 2024 please stand the salute the flag pledge Ali to the flag of the United States of America and to the rep for stands one nation God indivisible withy Justice announcement of the Sunshine Law in accordance with the the open public meeting act it is hereby announced and shall be entered into the minutes of this meeting that adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by the following posted on the bulletin board of the office of the Township Clerk posted on the bulletin boards within the municipal complex printed in the home News Tribune and cranberry press on December 29th 2023 posted on the the Monroe Township website and sent to those individuals have who have requested personal notice Madam Secretary Ro call please miss Carrie present Mr Lupa here Mr Masters here Mr busman here miss kator here Mr tany here Mr jaffy Mr Cole here Mr jice here chairman LF pres okay board members we have minutes of our regular meeting held June 25th 2024 do I have a motion to approve the minutes so moveed do I have a second second all in favor I I good anyone abstain Mr Cole's abstains thank you okay first application tonight is ba-52 48-24 c107 shared commercial LLC and dt07 shared commercial LLC as well please come forward while they're coming up any board members were not present at last meeting have you read the transcript yes Mr CO's was the only one absent and he's announced he has read the transcript thank you good good afternoon good evening Council good evening Mr chairman members of the board s you right ahead get get started if if I could Mr chairman my first question um so how many eligible board members do we have on this tonight we have a full voting board tonight excellent um so just by way of brief recap on behalf of the applicant you can hear me okay okay um we were of course here before you on June 25th uh we put on I think three Witnesses at that time four actually um we put on a testimony concerning the application including uh our test concerning the variances and waivers that are requested um of course the board members and the board's Consultants had comments that they made uh concerning the application uh was rescheduled for tonight uh since that time we've made a resubmission of revised plans and other documents uh we've reviewed the board's most recent review memos uh the August 22nd Memo from your planner the August 26 Memo from your engineer um Incorporated them into you know our thoughts and presentation and um we have the same Witnesses tonight that we we had at the last meeting and um if it's the board's pleasure I'd like to begin with our uh the project engineer Jim Henry who of course testified before you last time and um with that is there a need to rewear Mr Henry we that one second I just want to put on the record we would like a copy of the transcript that's taking place of course thank you Council yeah we'll rewear the witness raise your right hand please Solly swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth to help you go I do name and address for the record please James Henry Dynamic engineering 1904 Main Street Lake Como New Jersey not going to need any credentials um we'll just pick up where we left off from last meeting so okay please proceed excellent right Jim if you would um I know you're prepared to uh summarize things and what's changed since the last meeting and with that I'll just turn it over to you great thank you thank you um I appreciate the board having me back uh we W last meeting if everyone remembers we went through a number of different items I think it was a very productive meeting uh the board had felt that we should submit revised plans for the board professionals to review uh we had come in with an exhibit that addressed some of those comments and the board professionals at that time didn't have enough time to review it prior to the meeting we went back and forth regarding a number of changes I think it was a little bit confusing to the board because we did submit an exhibit that was different from what we had submitted to the board's professionals so what we did tonight we submitted revised plans to the board's Professionals for them to review prior to 10 days uh the board's professionals issued new review letters regarding those uh plans that we submitted and we have a updated aerial Ren aerial map as well as a site plan rendering outlining those changes in addition to the exhibit that we had submitted previously we also Incorporated a number of comments that we received from the board uh at the last meeting and uh yeah so I'm just going to go through the changes that we made and hopefully address some of the comments that were issued in the review letters uh issued by the board's professionals and uh hopefully address the comments that the board issued at the last meeting do we need to mark that as an exhibit yes so the aerial map exhibit is just just a new exhibit uh it's just with updated aerial do you know what exhibit number one I think we're up to A6 no you got me look like it was sh no I'm looking like I don't remember last time I think I think it's A6 so Market A6 uh it's going to be aerial map exhibit prepared by Dynamic engineering dated August 27th 2004 this is very similar to the other aerial exhibit that was previous previously submitted um the property uh is identified as block four lot 15 in the center of the site outlined in yellow the 200 foot Property Owners list is shown in a dash yellow around the site limits uh Route 33 runs from east to west uh to the right and left of the sheet uh there's a residential Community obviously to the to the north of us that was part of the original approval and then Applegarth Road is just a little bit adjacent to our site so just a little further to the east so then uh A7 is going to be the updated site plan exhibit rendering and that's dated August 27th 2024 as well prepared by Dynamic engineering and this exhibit is just a colorized version of the site plan sheet with the Landscaping sheet overlaid and I'm just going to review some of the changes we made since the original approval so at last meeting we had talked about really trying to align the drive-thru Lane with the egress driveway so we added the striping we coordinated with the board's engineer as far as adding proper proper striping proper signage there to have a merge point with the bypass lane around the the drive-thru and then aligning that drive-thru driveway with the egress driveway out of the site so we added some additional striping and tried to align it based on the board's Engineers comments we also received some comments uh regarding just minimizing impervious and also that we were you know we we were compliant from a parking perspective so we spoke to our client and we removed the bank spaces that were along the Northerly property line so those spaces have been removed and we're still compliant from a parking perspective there was a comment regarding uh crosswalks to make sure that this is a walkable site and there were some additional comments I Believe by the boards engineer as well trying to connect the Taco Bell to the bank so what we did was there's a there's a on the submission that we we gave to the board's professionals there's a striped area where the pedestrians can cross and access the Taco Bell and then based on the board engineer and the board planner's comments they didn't want the crosswalk going through the loading zone so we just shifted the Lo the loading the crosswalk up so it did didn't impact the loaning zone so there was a comment I believe in the board's professionals review letters regarding that we shifted it up and then we also provided some additional striping to allow for connectivity to the bank so that if you come in off of Joan Warren way you can go to Taco Bell and then if you want to go to the bank you can also get to the bank without having go back out to the road in addition to that if you let's say you were walking on Joan Warren way you came up to the intersection you also have an accessible path from Market Street from the top as well um we did hear the board's comments obviously this is um more pedestrian oriented and wanted to really just provide that pedestrian connectivity with crosswalks sidewalks so we incorporated this into the revised design uh there was a comment just regarding the the loading zone we had previously talked about this but the loading zone is kind of in the same location in the back um you know we we we ran truck turning we provided truck circulations to the board's professionals as far as the truck getting in that loading space and then not really being impacted by the drive-thru we provided some additional striping on the bottom so that when the truck pulls in and pulls out it doesn't impact the drive-thru and doesn't have any issues up doing that while their drive-through is in use uh there was some comments regarding the outdoor seating the outdoor seating area uh to the east of the building we added some additional ballards which were requested by the board's professionals to help provide some safety there's a fence that goes around that outdoor seating area as well so there's not going to be people running out into the circulation aisles and then the accessible route is basically to the north towards the main parking area so uh we really tried to protect that as much as possible we added some additional landscaping and then we also added sight triangles on our site plans uh per the request of the engineer uh there was some discussion regarding the mobile pickup spaces we have two mobile pickup spaces this hasn't changed but I just want to talk about it there you know there's basically pull off or mobile pickup spaces to in front of the site which which really have have remained unchanged but that will also serve as for cars that you know have large orders they'll pull around and pull on the mobile pickup and they can just stage there while they're waiting for their orders from an architecture perspective we worked with the architect to raise the parit there was some feedback regarding the parit at the last meeting so we raised the parit a little bit a little bit further so that we have approximately about 3 feet of parit which helps screen the HVAC uh from the you know from the nearby motoring public also there are a few Towers when you look at the architecturals that go a little higher than the three that that go significantly higher and they also help screen that HVAC area one change that we did make to the architecturals that there is a going to be a walkup again going into The Pedestrian feedback we reive from the board there is going to be a walk up area on the on the north side of the building so that if someone is walking and wants to order on their phone and the dining room is closed because the dining room isn't only always open in Taco Bell they can just walk up and actually get their order through that drive-thru to do through that walk up window rather than having to get in their car and go through a drive-thru they're able to walk up and just get get that as well and then um and then we also provide a point-by-point response to each of the boards uh professionals as far as additional kind of landscaping um other ancillary comments we tried to address that as best we could we provided some additional uh trees that was a big discussion point the last meeting just around the trash enclosure evergreen tree to try and screen that trash enclosure uh being that it is in the front of the site and then um I believe we address a number of the other Landscaping comments that were provided and that's my quick summary on the changes we made other than that the the site plan hasn't hasn't really significantly changed but there were some good comments we received from the board's professionals as well as the board as far as how you wanted this to lay out and I think it's a better plan than we started with Jim have you concluded um responding to the most recent set of comments we got from the planner and the engineer we did review the those review letters and we had no issue addressing them I don't know if there's any ones any specific ones that you want to discuss but I don't have any problem discussing any of those comments so we've tried to be as efficient as we could uh recognizing that there are other demands on board's time uh but certainly um all our Witnesses are here tonight uh Mr Henry Mr kennel uh Mr Jano um so if the board or it's professionals have any additional questions that we can address we'd certainly be happy to answer them so there's no further testimony correct I don't anticipate any unless again to respond to questions fine M we're going to start with you have there been any uh changes from what you see or what any comments you have um thank you Mr chairman um I believe uh Mr um Henry did um testify regarding um our review late letter dated August 22nd 2024 we just noted one vaver which he testified to is getting eliminated uh with the revised exhibit that he just presented tonight regarding the loading space and the crosswalk so that's being review uh removed um I believe all the other variances are remaining as is as from the last um testimony and uh we just one change I do want to put it on record is the buffer width between um um that's the Joan Warren Way buffer which I believe last time was said to be 18.2 is now 15.9 right I think there was I don't think anything has changed in the plans it's just probably the technical Dimension that was notified yeah there might we didn't change the location of place 15.9 hour plans it's great so I just want to put that on record other than that um Mr Henry just to put it on record you're willing to work with us on any other design changes that we have requested absolutely all right thank you Mr Mark any comments yeah before I get to my letter the uh can you show me where the walk up window is I didn't see that on the plan sure yeah and that was just added last meeting and this meeting thank you that was on the revised architectural plans um i' show you them on the plans give me one second and these were submitted so I don't believe they have to be uh marked and these are just the exterior elevations uh prepared by um Taco Bell for uh GL Gus let's go Architects and that is dated 7312 uh actually July 31st 20124 and you can see it's it's it's basically the same window where there there would just be like a a window adjacent to the where the the door is and there's this drive-through window installed right adjacent to it typically it's not used unless it's during those overnight hours uh so that you know pedestrians can walk up and if they order something on their phone and they want to come and pick it up they can walk up and just get it from there and where is that accommodated on your site plan on our site plan it's just on on the north side of the building I'm going to reference A7 here it's just we just have the sidewalk in front of our site that that continues to provide access to that area so there's no like counter or anything that sticks out of window yes and and you've accommodated that with the sidewalk area thank you um my recent letter is dated August 26 2024 um if we can just go through it um let's see they've uh provided 3A 3B you're looking for a waiver on the uh existing structures within 200 feet Yes it we provided a a aerial a near map aerial of the uh existing structures within 200 feet we think that addresses that we did not survey it though just because obviously it's on a on someone else's property and we would need sign off to do that so we provided a near map aerial which is a high resolution aerial showing a Jason uses within 200 feet you provided the sidewalk connection on these this latest plan that you provided today yes um The Pedestrian Ada Crossings uh detectable warning surfaces we can agree you want on site or you'll provide them on site on site we we have no problem with that okay for a I believe you discussed at the last hearing regarding the queing are you comfortable with the queuing that's provided on this latest plan yes I think we we went over the fact that the Starbucks has 11 uh stacking positions and that Taco Bell has a lot less stack typically than than a Starbucks and that we think this is adequate you 5B you addressed uh with regard to the storm water management items items five 5A 5B ask you provide me the calculations demonstrating that you've reduced the impervious coverage of the motor vehicle um imperious area we have no issue we'll provide you CAD files to that that'll uh so you can confirm our impervious coverage calcul thank you any new agreeable to items 5D 5e 5f the rest of the items I guess yes the only thing on the operation of Maintenance manual there was one previously submitted for uh that Basin we we can resubmit it but also we can we have no problem providing an additional one just for the uh uh conveyance structures that are on our site if you version are you going to be responsible for maintaining that Basin or is that going to be some other entity for the the conveyance structures on our site um and the Basin itself which is on your property the Basin I would have to defer to the client I I believe there's a hom Association because that Services the entire overall development um so so whatever that works out to be we're going to want that provided as part of this for compliance review no problem okay and Mr chairman they've agreed to the comments in my letter and except for the ones we discussed and uh I'm I'm comfortable with uh that they can address all my comments thank you m any uh any board members have any questions with respect to what you just heard seeing there's none I'm gonna um Mark I just wanted to confirm um I remember last time we were concerned about where people come out of the pickup um driving the drive-thru lanes and then merge into that that exit they they did make changes there right looks like they put in striping and at at the exit of the Taco Bell you're talking yeah yeah they they've addressed that they they've provided uh a narrowing of the aisle of the uh egress so uh so I'm comfortable with that there was one it I I missed and uh on the bank side when you come through to driveth through a one-way sign I I don't I think you're missing a one-way sign no problem um you'd be staring at it when you're in the dri through at the bank um so just add that that additional signage okay Sor thank you I appreciate those changes were made any other questions seeing there's none I'm going to open it to the public anyone in the public wishing to be heard on this application seeing there's none I'm going to make a motion to close the public portion do I have a motion make a motion do I have a second second all in favor okay board members the applicant is back here before us they complied with everything the professionals requested and our comments from last time so it's on the table for approval which would be for preliminary and final site plan with the exceptions and any other exceptions that are going to be provided by our professionals when they move and proceed forward do I have a motion I make a motion make a motion to approve under the stipulation that the applicant adhere to all professionals requests do I have a second I will second that mam secretary roll call please Carrie yes Mr Lupo yes Mr Masters yes Mr busman yes mror yes Mr tany yes chairman Le yes thank you so much thank you Mr chairman members of the board I know the next could left the time still feels good thank you so much good night good night can someone get them council could you send the next applicants in please please I think they're all in the hallway thank you down fast where is that Council sh where's Walter Walter here can you get them please I know next applicant is ba- 5239 d23 New Jersey cars LLC I'm mon row 568 LLC that application is ready Mr chairman so are we good evening nice to see everyone Walter Toto on behalf of New Jersey cars LLC uh and Monroe 568 LLC Clark Mr chairman I've had an opportunity to review the notices and they are in order thank you Mr Clark thank you I appreciate that okay again uh we're here tonight uh to discuss uh Lot 19 and 20 in Block 36 it's also known as uh 564 and 568 Englishtown Road uh this property is in the NC Zone um and uh a lot of properties in Monroe Township have have a story and this story goes back to 1929 is when this property was first used used as a as a junkyard uh and certainly it's evolved over time uh more specifically in more poignantly during covid uh and you'll hear some testimony from my client about exactly how the property and the use of the property has changed uh despite that in the NC Zone none of the proposed uses are permitted uh neither uh Auto Salvage or chassis assembly or uh or SE container uh storage uh or permitted in the zone um but having said that uh we'll have testimony tonight from the various professionals to to discuss uh exactly what is we're proposing and why we think uh there's there are reasons special reasons that Mr Ramson will testify to us why use variants can be granted I do think that part of this story that we're talking about in this narrative will include the Neighbors on Sarah Lane uh I'm so I'm just preparing for the board I don't know that I'll actually request the vote tonight may want to the applicant may want to meet with the residents after hearing them speak tonight of course but there's been some dialogue uh prior to the meeting and I think that might be beneficial to uh the neighbors the applicant the board the town so having said that I do want to uh have all my Witnesses testify tonight to the extent that there is time available for that I do think we'll fit it in but I may not uh actually ask the board to call for a vote this evening um we do have the reports uh from M's office and Mark's office uh both dated June 13th we'll address those uh and tonight for Witnesses I have Eugene mesh Eugene is director of operations for the site I have Sharif Ali from amch Sharie is our project engineer uh I also have Justin Taylor from Dynamic traffic to discuss traffic and then to wrap things up would be Mark remza uh as our planner uh so without further Ado Mr chairman I'd like to call Eugene mesh uh are me table Eugene if you would raise your right hand please Sol me swe to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth I'll help you go I do name and address please Eugene mesh 202 Jerry cord man alip in New Jersey 07726 can you spell your last name please M thank you so Mr total he's testifying as the operations person of the operation not as a professional correct correct correct Eugene there the owner of the property is English town properties what's your relationship to English town properties uh um I don't have any relationship to English town properties they own they own the land and the applicant or the tenants are both New Jersey cars LLC and Monroe 568 correct that's correct okay and New Jersey cars handles what part of existing operations what what does New Jersey cars do exactly New Jersey cars handles the auto dismantling as well as well as the uh chassis uh truck chassis that we build in our facility okay and then how about Monroe 568 LLC Monroe 568 LLC handles the uh container Depot uh part of the operation which is the storage of the of the containers and there are the owners of both of those entities New Jersey cars and Monro 568 they're the same owners yes it's it's basically the same it's just separated for accounting purposes for accounting purposes correct and you are one of those owners correct correct correct okay and what about your role as an employee of these entities what is it that you do for New Jersey cars and for uh Monro 568 so as I mentioned earlier the the companies are in essence the same it's it's divided for accounting purposes and I manage day-to-day operations for both NJ cars and from Monroe 568 and Eugene what are the uh what are the proposed days and hours of op days and hours of operation um with regard to our proposal for both applicants New Jersey cars and Monroe 5 I'm going to refer to both entities as the applicant going forward okay because they're so integrated what are the days and hours of operation for the So currently our our operations are from 8 to 5 Monday through Friday and then on Saturdays 8 to1 Sunday we're closed uh 8 to1 but and on Saturdays is the facility open uh to the public no on Saturday it just uh we had have a limited staff that comes in to prepare for the week so they'll work on uh reorganizing or you know doing some light repairs but there's no traffic in terms of uh of uh clientele coming in to uh to to pick up or drop off or any type of business like that and how many employees are we proposing let me back up what the existing amount of number of employees on one day a maximum how many are there uh roughly about 24 and that's going to stay the same yes okay um that's each and every day does that include Saturday Saturdays include oh no Saturdays we have about eight but Monday through Friday yeah to answer chairman lf's question is it would be 24 correct and and the uh Auto Parts facility that we operate is completely closed on Saturday and Sunday we don't we close them down for the weekend okay uh and that's only as well as I let sorry as well as the containers we Clos that down for the weekend as well so it's just chassis repairs uh and maintenance uh an organization that's open on Saturday 8 to1 and that's a seasonal based on what what the weather permits and that's only one shift of employees yes 8 to one exactly uh and the employees do uh operate within the different uh activities that are happening happening on site with regard to Auto Salvage the chassis assembly and then the C container storage yeah there there's obviously there's some separation and different Crews that work on uh various tasks so there is some separation in terms of what the employees roles are um but but Saturday is strictly just uh like a maintenance day it's 8 to1 no no traffic comes into the facility so Eugene I know uh you know I mentioned the story or The Narrative of this property going back since 1929 but I also know um that you guys you have you have a statement to read about the evolution of the property preco covid during covid and then post Co you want to take the time to read that statement before the board it's not it's very it's brief Mr chairman yeah I mean I prepare to just simple two-page description of what the property was like I've been there since 2020 I'm sorry since 2000 since a long time since 2000 I've been there and uh originally we were it was a full auto salvage operation which was there since from the story since 1920s uh so basically we had you know the layout of the property was we had about a th junk cars on site that we would uh daily you know process uh Crush purchase inventory strip so it it was a it was a pretty messy operation um so you know things happened where during covid you know we ran into a bunch of problems with closures with Staffing and and um things things like that so we we had to make you know transition so if you just give me a few minutes I'll briefly just read what I wrote here so I don't miss anything but it's the gist of the story of how we transition from preco to during Co and then and afterwards so I'll just be brief so here we go um so my name is uh eug mesh and today I would like to discuss with you 568 Englishtown Road and how it's evolved over the past 24 years I've been running the operation here since August of 2000 I will describe in detail the facility broken down into these three periods pre-co operation then the pivot during covid and then finally our current operation preo the facility was an old-fashioned junkyard that's been here since 1929 for years we would purchase cars either from private individuals or auto auctions these cars will be processed valuable Parts removed and the rest we would crush at our facility we would process close to about 100 cars a week the operation was challenging as it was messy as well as labor induced in addition to dealing with oil antifreeze and other waste products there was also a heavy flow of tow truck as well as retail traffic visiting our facility daily the cars were kept outside and stacked three high on carax the parts are kept in containers at our facility and these containers um were expensive to maintain as they were filled with used parts as well as aftermarket components um during covid as uh the business was forced into survival mode during the P pandemic we transitioned in order to continue we made some changes to our business model we started transitioning from dismantling cars on our site to just simply exporting them out of the country this found uh had new advantages to our business plan first it was a much cleaner and environmentally friendly operation we were no longer dismantling cars on our site instead we would load them in containers and Export them out we started reducing the cars that were kept on premise for parts and increasing the number of containers coming into our facility to load with these wrecked vehicles uh due to the backlog of loading and regarding the traffic at the ports we were forced to start keeping the containers at our facility a little bit longer than we anticipated okay and this simultaneously um you know opened up a can opened up a new opportunity for us as we uh explored more International Trade markets we uncovered our need for truck chat so we started importing them into our facility as well and as we introduced that into our business we were further uh reduced the number of cars we kept on site so we also seized all crushing operations and cut back substantially on dismantling cars here as we introduced more shipping containers into our facility uh we uncovered a demand for storage space these containers are now stored our facility empty and we we stacked them no more than three high with a special container Handler during CO as we transitioned there was an increase of traffic into our facility and this brought negative attention from some of our neighbors I was sympathetic to all this and I wanted to address it immediately so we made changes we made all deliveries and Pickups by appointment only that way we can control the traffic coming in and out of our facility this has worked out and after speaking to the neighbors it appears that this is no longer an issue So currently our operation at present time um is broken down into three facets one is the smaller but continual salvage yard which is now taking place instead of outdoors in a in a garage all vehicles are dismantled inside of our garage we no longer disassemble cars outside all fluids are contained and cleaned and that is is a top priority of ours we have reduced our car inventory to about 90 cars on site in addition Car Crushing and scrapping no longer takes place at this site most of our business is now retail customers used and new parts are either delivered or shipped out very little traffic stems from the car salvage operation second part of our operation is empty shipping containers this is a clean operation containers are inspected for damage and then stack no more than three high they are all empty customers picking up or terminating are all scheduled and arrive by appointments only this allows us to manage the traffic flow into the facility uh typically we only work five days a week pertaining to Containers so the weekends there's no traffic coming into or into the yard or out of the yard okay uh so that's with the containers and the third part of our operation is the truck chassis these chassis arrive from Thailand they're loaded four per container our team unloads them and assembles them these are all brand new chassis and they help keep the operation clean there are no fluids that need to be handled or disposed of with this operation once the chassis are assembled they are stored on site till needed all three facets of operation are Auto related and helped and have helped to transform this facility into more environmentally friendly operation for Monro Township as well as the surrounding neighbors appreciate the time allow me to read that so Eugene just a couple of follow-up questions on this um with regard to the containers who who are your customers for these SE containers so the containers come in typically from Asia uh and they just they get brought into the country with cargo whether the cargo goes to like hypothetically to Sam's Club or once they're unloaded they get returned back to our facility empty and then we store them that's one type of customer the second type of customer is we bring in chassis into our yard so once the chassis come in we unload the container and then the container gets either put back into our stock resold or it gets back to the shipping line returned or if there's auto parts that either get exported out like cars get exported out of the country we order containers in we load them up with cars and then they get picked up already leaving our facility with cars inside of them loaded so explain operationally when when a container has a chassis and these are truck chassis yes the chassis is essentially the frame of the truck upon which the body gets yeah so the the chassis it or the chassis come in brand new from the manufacturer uh from Thailand they get they're they're four per container so all we simply do is we unload it and then we assemble the components that not that are not assembled at the factory they're light components we'll put on some outer Wheels we'll put on some outer twist locks some landing gears and then once that's done the chassis gets activated for the GPS gets activated and get gets released to the End customer which typically they go on lease for you know a couple years so that's a very clean um you know safe operation there's no there's no fluids there's no um you know negative impact to to to the facility as well as uh to to um to the town and Eugene you mentioned uh Auto Parts so how are those sold are you are they being sold to the public are you having walk-ins and if you are having walk-ins would you agree to a condition whereby Auto Parts can only be sold uh via appointment only or via over the internet I mean what's happening there with Auto with auto parts sales so Auto Parts is what we used to do full-time 247 and we had a tremendous amount of cars at our facility crushing was there it was very environmentally unfriendly as well as you know I'm sure a nuisance to their surrounding neighbors prior to to the transition what we've done now is we've changed in terms of we've limited the amount of cars on our site we're down to anywhere between 75 to 90 vehicles at our facility number one number two we no longer dismantle anything outdoors everything is brought inside dismantled and the scrapping is very seamless now we just throw the carcass whatever is left inside of a container and they remove from our property regarding our clientele obviously when you have a thousand cars at your facility you have more customers who are interested in Auto Parts now with 90 to 75 cars the amount of volume pertaining to Auto parch traffic has gone down you know when I say gone down I mean there's no more scrap containers leaving there's no more car crushers carrying you know it's 15 cars hauling out through town um and then walk-in traffic has has been much more limited because of that so you know I feel that whatever we've lost on that part of the operation we increased on you know the chassis and the container side but it's an increase with much more friendlier outcome uh in terms of in terms of environmental as as well as eyesores um so in terms of agree agreeing to just do uh internet sales and shipping Parts out as opposed to having wholesale traffic coming into the yard I mean retail traffic coming into the yard I don't mind agreeing to that because it's such a small scope of our operation right now if you want to recommend something like that to limit more traffic coming to the facility we can do either delivery only or you know ship out Parts as opposed to customers coming in there um picking up parts and Eugene you mentioned you're down to 75 to 90 cars uh during since 2000 or even more recently let's say preco what was the maximum am amount of cars being salvages in store at the property oh we had over a th000 cars at our facility sitting there um it was a little bit of you know hectic operation back then um you know the cars were we had organization but it didn't look organized but we did have our own organizational system where we kept the cars in specific orders and you know there was a if you can imagine once a car gets dismantled you're talking about 75 to 100 parts that come off a car that are now all over the facility so um you know it was just a lot sloppier and Messier operation than it is now now a containers is you know it's just a square rectangular that's Dred nothing in there so it's much easier and looks much better than having you know Parts all over the facility so Mr chairman at this point I have nothing further for Mr mesh but I think I'll call him back up during Mr Ali's testimony when Mr Ali has testifies as to the use variant sketch it'll be more easy for the to understand perhaps operations and how these things are integrated I know the board has heard a lot already I don't want to inundate the board with too much testimony from this witness at this point we are not inundated don't worry about it you call your next professional off fair enough uh Mr Ali Sharie please thank you thanks raise your right hand and speak into the mic please soundly swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth to help you go I do name and address please uh Shar Ali a l y share please give the board the benefit of we don't need his credentials he's been here multiple times thank you Mr chair proceed sure give the board the benefit of your uh engineering testimony and your methodology and what you your site visits Etc what you've done to prepare for this evening yeah I I did uh multiple um side visits I'm very familiar with the um original junkyard I've been there so many times before throughout the year since the beginning of 1980 uh when I moved in the area and I'm very familiar with the current operation and um uh as a matter of fact I just visited the site yesterday again so um so the area is very uh uh this is an area uh in Monroe where um we're very very close to our neighboring Township manalan Township and this area was been neglected for a long time and now is coming and we see a few site plans a few nice buildings been put up there Franklin Plaza started uh a few years ago so it's coming um and we would like to see um good good products as a residence in Monroe um so we uh as far as the area uh of concern here is that if you're familiar with the intersection of uh mounts Mill Road and English down Road uh there is a lot of construction it's been taking place for a long time I don't know why the contractor taken his time there but since the beginning of the winter and hopefully that future traffic play will take place but you will see the improvements is much better than what we had out there if you on Mount m road we used to have a huge problem with a line of sight he just can't get out of that intersection was very very dangerous intersection so the Improvement that took place out there the site plan will continue that Improvement will open up the road will continue to Improvement uh we have we also heard about the uh uh the uh little community of Sarah Lan that was built I believe back in the 70s uh and um it's got um it's it's been there it's been there and um it's a little nice little community and I drove on sarene and I'm very familiar with sarene uh and I drove on a number of times so um so that's the little community that we have to the north of the uh project site and that's pretty much the most of the residential uh units in the area to the south of the site you have a mix of a few residen but for the most part it's mix of commercial and uh residential uh across the street uh as a landmark you will have Franklin Plaza and uh that was a long history there was that Plaza uh before the plaza and St God got cleaned up and also you'll have uh Union Hill Road and you'll see a few nice building that took place there and it's been shapen up and once you cross that uh little Bridge there that you manalan Township uh to the west of the site you have for the most part vacant lands so uh that's the surrounding there and uh just for the record we um Lot 19 a lot 20 uh in Block 36 and it shows on the official tax map sheet 53.0 One 7 acres of land totally Disturbed uh I can tell you that um I would say about 98% of the site is in previous coverage and for the most part of that 98% I would say it's all motor vehicle travelways so it's been Disturbed um and you heard the testimony that was totally full of junkyards out there um the the rest to reach that 100% is just a scattered uh uh trees that hugging the uh property lines uh but what you also see out there um which is something that I personally don't like like anybody else resident in Monro is that you got the parking lot in front of the fence and you back and up into the county road it's a big mess but that's been like that since you heard since 1920 that's how they they were operating and then you have 6' High fins goes all the way around uh the property uh to secure uh the junkyard so uh but when you get inside um when I used to be a junkyard and I'm pretty sure some of you been at been there is Big Mess yeah it's junkyard you see that in man Alin uh you see that in maror some part of Oldbridge they have they still have Jun over there but this is the only one that we have in town and hopefully soon will be cleaned up uh with this site plan application uh but you get inside and beside that you see the junor uh you will have also six uh buildings scattered throughout the site and the crushing machine it's just everything this side plan application and this plan that you have on the easel is pretty much shows uh the existing building it shows the parking lot in the front yard uh and it shows the fence all the way around and the that open big area and it shows no trees at all except along the uh the boundary line so that's what we have out there um so uh the second exhibit that IID like to show you that's an exhibit uh there we go and you will see what I describe uh what's on site and that is the um we just um this area as of today is taken from uh uh website so I'm not sure as of today yes it was downloaded today I got a couple photos that I'll show you different okay everyone everyone will have a chance to speak right let them give their testimony everyone in the public will have their everyone will have their chance to speak we we listen to everyone we observe everyone and we'll get to that when we get there so the uh the websites that you have available out there to download and print aial uh it depends on when they took the photos but this is was downloaded and uh plotted on the map today so it could be the photos from a month from two month but that's the most recent on the website plotted under your direction excuse me plotted under your direction and control yes yes we moving this in as an exhibit Mr to yes Mr Claren A1 please thank you right uh likewise like Google can you mark it please sure so that is uh what's been downloaded and you'll see Saran Community to the north you'll see Frankin Plaza uh on the other side uh opposite side of the road and uh it's pretty much what I have described uh that's what you see on the map and also shows 200t radius and it shows that the nearest uh residential on the culdesac not the adjacent one next to the site uh you have two residents on Englishtown uh Road uh to the north obviously within the 200 ft but s resonance you'll see pretty much about two more or less Shar I'm sorry to interrupt you just for the record you you you're indicated you downloaded the picture today that doesn't mean the photo is from today correct correct so that photo could be from any time period you just happen to download it today and put it on display so yes to your knowledge the photo may not be accurate uh as of today because yeah as of so you us it as a reference as a reference yes so we're not uh uh go ahead do you know is there a time limitation could it be more than a year old more than six months I know it's just a reference I just want to get some no the the available website out there they usually within two three months they have these photos so it's not like you open your it's not like you open your phone and you see uh Google you know they've been updating it every week uh but that's what we have and that's what we are presenting okay thank you yeah please continue so uh that uh I I went through the uh the existing condition onsite and a surrounding uh again uh it's a s Acres that happen to be in the Inc Zone um and within the in seone you have a vulk requirement got to do with the uh site configuration the width the length and the depth we meeting all the requirements as well as the area uh we also have within the bul requirement building coverage in previous coverage uh which got to do with the Improvement on site uh we are meeting the building coverage the building coverage that is required is about uh 30% and we have about 3.3% and I'll get into our uh proposal uh from that but you also heard that uh 98% of the site is in previous coverage within that uh within the NC Zone you only allowed about 60% so with that said I would like to go into the site plan and uh what we are proposing to gain of the St so you have very um and I also have some handouts sh can you describe uh Mr Clark an A2 once he describes it prepared by Shar prepared by whom that uh that's prepared by amch engineering under my directions A2 thank you a to so I also have a few hand out if you would like to have one of them un that you see it clearly on the screen but you just let me know yes okay I can so um what is proposed onite the uh color exhibits uh has got a few colors on it just to uh try to make it simple and to understand uh what's going to be in the future on site to clean up the mess that is out there um so you uh you heard that the and you seen that the parking lot that they have out there is in front of the fence and when you're backing up most likely you're backing up uh into the county road so what we are proposing is that to extend the improvements uh there that the county is doing uh by giving the county the proper right of way the future right of way uh the uh the pavement widening to match uh what the county did add there and also that's their requirement curb sidewalk that will be also provided and eliminating that parking lot condition that you see add there in front of the fence so the fence will stay the gates will stay for security and we are seeking 8 foot high fence with all the way around the property if the area in the front is too high I know we the ordinance like 8 foot they may permit 8 foot high but see see through we can propose six foot high in the front sees through if that's an issue but all the way around uh to be sensitive to the neighbors respect the neighbors we are proposing it for high solid fence white vinyl solid fence so um eliminating the parking lot putting the parking lot behind the fence we have 38 spaces uh that we will have on site 9 by8 this SPAC is typical standard size within the 38 spaces we're going to have two Ada to meet the federal requirement and also AV spaces uh to meet the state requirement of Av cars so that's within that the the ordinance required based on the breakdown of the uses that I'll be describing the ordinance require only 35 spaces Mr Shar hold on a second gentleman in the back please this is being recorded we're picking you up do not talk during if You' like to speak please exit and you could talk thank you please proceed so the ordinance required 35 spaces we are providing 38 so we are exceeding uh the ordinance uh requirement as far as the count we also get because we propos in an AV space the state says you'll get one credit one space as a credit so on paper and a we basically have 39 spaces but out there we'll have 38 space so we've been through this we all understand the two existing driveways so the condition with the driveways coming off so I already talked about the Improvement I talked about the parking lot by getting in and out the site the existing Drive the two driveway out there with the gates that you see add there we're going to maintain the location of the driveways but not the operation the first driveway to the north rather than being multifunction Drive uh movement there all the movement we're only going to restrict it to in and that's it just to get into the site and the reason for that we are as a a sight engineer concerned about the line of sight it's it's not that great so we prefer and the county uh most likely that's what they will agree to only in and that's the the driveway closer to the neighbors we're also trying to be uh sensitive and respectful to our neighbors just to have a driveway coming in you know just movement in now The Wanted ass sou is going to be fully operational driveway is going to be all the movements and it's going to be wider and it's going to be matching the open the gate out there so that is about couple hundred feet to the south of that North driveway so that's as far as the Moon movements so the location of the driveway we say the same as you see out there is just the movements and the traffic and we have our Consulting and he can speak more to that the what's proposed on site so I I did mention that 38 spaces but uh what's proposed us for is building we're eliminating six buildings and we've proposing two buildings the six buildings in very bad shape the all over the site that's going to be demo everything out there will be cleaned up uh proposing two building building number one as it shows on the exhibit it's about 3600 Square ft that is 60 by 60 and that building is going to be less than 30 ft in height and it's going to have two parts to one is an office and that will be 1,080 squ ft fet and the auto salvage on the port which is a sale area and and the port storage uh that will be 25 2,520 Square ft that's the first building right next to the building which will appear on the map as one continuous building is the auto salvage uh uh building which is about 2920 Square ft so it's a little bit less than 30,000 s that's going to have over Overhead Doors 12 ft wide bring the cars in and that is the area where they will be working on the cars indoor right on the side or to the south of the two building is going to be two pretty much two areas one is uh the the on concrete Pats and one area will be out of you know um out door pretty much no cover and the second one will have a cover so both of them will be for to store materials so the one has the cover obviously and we have uh the client here can explain what will be stored there but that will be to protect the materials from the rain that the other one is not necessary so the one outdoor open storage area is about 2,376 Square ft and the one with the roof on top will be 3600 Square ft and right next to that we have the refu uh enclosure which is you you see it on the map is 15 by 15 now that is as far as the building uh also we have four additional parking spaces that is to the South near near the the property line uh is 12 by 27 spaces for a larger equipment pieces or a vehicle uh we also have six tractor trailer spaces 12x 55 and most likely one of them or two of them will be for loading and unloading if a truck comes in so that will satisfy the ordinance as far as uh the loading requirement uh now the rest of the yard is going to be or organiz in such that the way you see it and you heard it from the the applicant as you're coming in on the first driveway to the north you will see the auto salvage on the uh right hand side and that you heard that uh I heard the number a thousand cars you used to have out there what which what we have on a site plan is 75 to 100 cars so will be way less within that confined uh I'm going to say dark brown area that you see there and uh he's also committed to not to exceed 16 feet high within that area and we have our planner and he will testify why is that again because because of our neighbors um now as you go uh further down you heard that chess is uh uh from the cin and that's the area the purple area is uh will contain about a 100 of them and we on a s plane you see that we are committed to 10 ft high so 16 ft High Auto Salvage chess is is 10 ft high that is along the north property line where you have the neighbor to the north now as you uh as you going in and you're looking to the to the left that's the area in the middle of the site that will be uh will have the containers we have two two types of containers 20 foot containers and we have the 40 the 20 starts first as you're coming in on the left and that will be about 26 ft in height it could be 25 and a half but it's somewhat around that number so the maximum we are committed to 26 ft and he her three stack High uh um so they we are uh talking about three container on top of each other maximum 26 ft so if you have a zoning officer going out there trying to make sure that everything is in order you see three containers 30 26 ft done so anything above that issue of violation the containers uh on the other side so we stepping a little bit higher 29 ft high is the 40 foot containers now the total container for the 20 I'm sorry we we estimated to be about somewhere around 240 containers would be most likely would be less than that if I can interrupt there I think the total between the 20 Footers and the 40 foot containers would uh would total 500 not 740 not 240 plus the 500 would it be a total of 500 okay so I made a mistake on my map but will be uh 240 and 260 yeah yeah that's okay okay my apology now the 44 containers 2 29 High three containers on top of each other easy for a zoning officer to look at it and to uh figure it out the uh and the correction to the number is 260 containers now as you're coming around uh now all the way in the back as you're coming around the driveway that you see in Gray uh there's nothing there in that area and you come around that area and you will see uh on the way uh as you driving imagine if you're driving through you will be outdoor storage area for equipment and then you'll see the assembling area uh on concrete pad that is 80 by 55 and you heard what's that for for the sampling and then you have the chesses again about a 100 of them 10 ft High same thing uh will be on so that's pretty much that um what we are proposing to clean up the site and to make it more reasonable um rather than that big mess you see out there uh the area uh and I neighbor also tell you that there is no sewer line in the area there we all know that uh it's all on septic and we are proposing um up to moderation septic system that will be all the way in the back area but there is water out there thank God there is water out there uh so uh that will uh the two building will be fed by uh the mud water system so um that's all I have oh I meant I I meant to uh also to um to go over the Landscaping so what we yes so that's a very uh important component yes that will uh we again we felt that um we we need to respect our neighbors and to do something also about that so in addition to the 8 foot high solid fence that will be um putting along the the boundary line on the neighbor side and you will see that on the plan we have double row of Evergreen at planting we're going to buy them eight foot high not six or four that planting will be eight give them a couple years they will go crazy they will grow to somewhere between 20 to 24 ft High um but they need the sun uh to grow fast so that's what we are uh planting in that area uh along the front edge of the site you're not going to see that mess that we have out there that's going to be uh it's going to be uh uh some trees uh shade trees and what the plans is uh is not show again this is not a site plan application this is a used variance application and we're just trying to give you and we obviously we'll be working with your staff and your recommendation if we need additional uh landscaping material we'll do uh but uh we just shown some uh trees along the side that's going to be a a green area some l shrubs in front of the parking spaces but remember we talked about this parking spaces is on the other side of the fence so you're not going to see on the other side along the the uh again the common Pro uh boundary line with the neighbors we have continuation of um Evergreen all the way around and then when we come back again as the exiting the site on the sou property line we have a double row of landscaping because we do have have a neighbor uh at the beginning of the site there so um I think I covered up sh with regard to Landscaping to the north uh closest to the s lane residence what is out there now are there any Evergreens out there now what happen so my win yeah so my guys at the office they uh they they did some uh green colors there that is the existing uh vegetations out there and it's pretty much a lot of good trees healthy trees but it it does extend all the way to the north but the guys didn't cover that but you could see it on the map so yes I was out there I I I went all the way to uh to the end of uh Sarah Lane and I was looking for the containers and I was looking at the height of the um the residence there I was so concerned about that second floor but I noticed there only one floor um but I started looking for the containers Prett hard I even took a few pictures yes I did see the container on certain angles as the the wind was blowing the leaves but the uh I would definitely say that in the winter time definitely you will see the containers because it's you're not going to have the foolish and you're going to definitely see the containers so that's the reason we are proposing 8ot High solid fence and we proposing the Evergreen to supplement what's add there in the winter time yes so uh also as um a point of concern um was the neighbors we have prepared um across sections that will take you from the culdesac of Sarah Lane through the wooded area there into the site trying to to demonstrate to you what will uh what you will see uh whether in a summer or winter time and they that's A3 Sharie that was prepared by amch under your direction correct Sharie yes okay Mr Clarken A3 please mark it I think he did just grab the wireless Lord any way to enhance that picture or now so um what we did this is a true scale uh we're using Bey scale in in height and also uh the horizontal way so what we did is that uh we took a section and the section starts from sarine cesac the house there at the end as you're driving all the way up the road going through from that house just a line of sight going right across and what you see is few in the windows here inside the house you'll be going through all the trees obviously in in the summertime you're not going to see anything maybe a little bit of the containers uh as you kind of like you're really looking for the containers but soon as you start hitting our future fins and hitting the Evergreen you'll see that the Evergreen even at 8 foot high and the fence will be pling the view you be missing the chest is this is a true height again and then you be if you go through the green the Evergreen you'll be seeing the the containers but most likely when they are totally healthy and about 15 20 ft you you will not be able to see the containers you may be seen between the gaps of the trees but for the most part you're not going to see that so that's our proposal and that is a true scale of what's out there Mr chairman is it possible to zoom in on this a little bit uh L you able to do that we're going to find out right now okay here you go see you have magic pounds yeah if you go here you perfect yeah so you will see yeah so the neighor can also see that you will see that the co out for the 8 foot high uh White uh vinyl fence you'll see the line of sight is right above that fence uh that's the eye opening by the way the two lines is the eye opening uh so you will see that you the first eye that the lower line is just over the fence but it's going right the the trees the second one is again above the fence but again was going right through the Evergreen so I would say that at the beginning you may see the containers but over the years as the uh Evergreen start taking off and it's getting a lot of sun then uh it will be totally blocked sh how long is it taking an 8 foot Ary to grow to 15 to 20 I'm not an arborist but I I can I can say to the one that I have around my house there the uh if you give him plenty of uh Sun uh I would say maybe a foot every year it's a little more I think it's a little bit more but okay or maybe more but you know an arbor can speak to that but uh I'm just talking about what I have seen out there yep fair enough okay brief anything else I have nothing no I think I covered uh everything and um and if you have uh any question if you'd like to go through it reports uh I can go through it reports though I think we'll Reserve all our comments to the end sure like to get your testimony in yep so nothing further for Mr oy no bring your next not not nor for me as well no bring next professional call Justin Taylor our traffic expert Justin got nervous huh right so swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing with the truth to help you guys I do please give us your name and address Justin Taylor t a y l o r and the business address is 1904 Main Street Lake homo New Jersey Justin give the the board the benefit of your CV if you would sure absolutely uh I hold a bachel engineering from the University of Delaware uh I've been practicing traffic planning for gosh almost 25 years now I'm a licensed engineer in the state of New Jersey as well as uh several other states I'm also a certified professional traffic operations engineer by The Institute of Transportation Engineers Walter will accept his credentials as a professional as he's appeared here before thank you thank you thank you very much Justin I give the board the benefit of your the methodology analyses findings conclusions with regard to traffic and parking if you absolutely so my responsibility as part of this project was to take a look at what the proposed changes uh would have from a traffic operations circulation and parking St can you get that mic closer there you go do this so from a circulation St just check to see if it's turn that off when you went you know let's just anyway that's fine perfect good good so the first thing we looked at was the circulation to the site as shareif had mentioned you know what let's put a two back up as site plan rendering so we can reference that as Sharie had mentioned when you're out there today I'm sure the board's familiar but the access to and from the site is completely uncontrolled there are are two driveway connections to the rear of the property but the front of the property where most of the parking takes place is just straight asphalt coming in off of English Town Road with the proposed development of the site what we're looking to do is really clean that up to provide two concise um uniform locations where Vehicles will be able to enter and exit the site and that follows good Transportation Planning methodology by reducing the number of conflict points I would also note that we are locating the southern driveway directly opposite the driveway to uh Franklin Plaza in order to again consolidate that number of access points where people are going to be coming to and from and turning to and from English Town Road um so that represents a a modernization to what's out there today and and a great improvement from a traffic perspective on how the vehicles are accessing to and from the site we also took a look at the parking that's being preped proposed as part of the project now your ordinance doesn't really contemplate this use specifically it doesn't have Auto Salvage it doesn't have chassis uh assembly so we tried to fit within the confines of the ordinance and as was testified um when you look at the retail component and the office component and the industrial component we come to a parking requirement of 30 um 32 spaces and we are providing 38 but because this is an operating and existing facility we also have the ability to go out and take a look at what the demand that's currently being generated by the site is my firm went out and conducted parking counts during two full days in December of last year to really quantify what that parking demand might be what we found was the max maximum number of spaces or vehicles on the site um that were operating um was 27 Vehicles now in conversations with the appli and they do anticipate there's a potential increase in employees um upwards to what Eugene had mentioned of about 24 so in order to accommodate that we looked to add some additional spaces and as uh testified to we are providing 38 so it's my opinion that the proposed number of parking spaces uh will be more than sufficient to support any type of demand generated by the facility excuse me Mr total sure uh December when was it 23 22 21 uh December of 2023 um3 you were there on December 20th and 21st of uh 23 23 yeah that's correct and is that peak time in December or is that off time I'm jumping ahead I shouldn't but so you did it in December is that when is there peak time so my understanding is that the uh utilization and the operation of this is relatively uniform throughout the year so that that was a good representation when we were out there um of what type of demand we could anticipate throughout that year Justin any indication the weather on those days it was clear there was no snow there was no rain it was a typical uh Clear Day Mr chairman to that point my understanding is that I don't know if if you want to call it Peak but if the weather's good that's when they're at their at their Peak essentially yeah uhing heat uh rain snow Etc go ahead please continue that's correct So based on the observations we did there plus a little Surplus on what you know if they were to increase their number of employees uh it's opinion that there is sufficient parking to uh support any demand generated by the project and then as a traffic engineer we want to look at operation now you've also heard that the counts and the operation is really um desired to clean everything up it's not necessarily an intensification of the use it's a modernization so that things are more uniform and not hodg Podge on the site so what we would do and what we would think is that the traffic is not going to change from one aspect from what's there today to what's uh would be there if this was approved however we wanted to build in a little bit of comfort a little bit of factor of safety when we analyzed it so we increased the number of employees by uh nine additional vehicles and we also doubled the amount of trucks that we counted from a traffic generation perspective to bump up the volume we also concentrated the volumes at the two new driveway locations as opposed to the multiple points access that they were coming in and when we conducted these capacity analyses what we found was minimal changes in the operation of both the northern driveway and the driveway opposite Franken Plaza with both of those access points anticipated to operate with levels of service C or better during both of the peak hours that we would study Justin what is a satisfactory level of service in New Jersey anything better than an F I mean but so C is C is great but we're talking about is average delays of 20 seconds with people coming in out during those commuting hours so so based on my review of the project and working with shareif hand inand I think what's being proposed here from a traffic perspective is a great modernization over what's out there today it's going to be an improvement for the circulation we've um Consolidated the parking and provided it so that you don't have vehicles backing directly to and from uh the county roadway so I think all in all it's an improvement over the uh the traffic situation that's there today one thing I would know is we are asking for a use variance and one of the things we typically do when we're talking about use variant is we would take a look at what permitted uses are in this zone now this is a commercial Zone retail just like Franklin paza across the street is permitted um convenience stores with with fueling uh facilities are permitted in this zone so there are other uses from a traffic perspective that could be much more intense with much higher traffic Generation Um so I think from that perspective the granting of the use variant is actually an improvement over some of the traffic conditions that could be there if uh permitted use went in okay uh Mr chairman nothing further for Mr Taylor on my end very good okay so what we're going to do is we're going to take a a quick recess sure before we get to Mi Rema and we will convene at 8:05 terrific thank you thank you thank you e e e e e e e e e e e e e e can everyone find your places please so we can reconvene one two yeah got it just give everyone a second to sit down good okay Mr Toto we're ready to proceed Please Mr chairman uh for Mark remza our project planner Sly swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth Mr REM I do name and address please mark a Rema last name spelled r MSA address is 10 duberry Court Mount Laurel New Jersey Mark give the board the benefit of your yeah we he's been here before fair enough please continue okay Mark please uh provide the board with your your planning testimony uh if you would yes so uh good evening uh M Mr chair and board members and members of the public um we're here tonight for a D1 use variants and it's for the uh proposed um it's for the proposed um uh uh container storage and the Assembly of the uh chassis the uh Auto Salvage component is a pre-existing non-conforming use and as you've heard uh that use has been around uh since 1929 on the property uh pre-existed zoning uh in New Jersey pretty much and and in Mount Laurel I mean in um Monroe and uh um uh pretty much pre-existed most of the uh development that's around the property um so today it's uh evolved around the property um I'm not going to um uh get into too much detail but the surrounding uses uh to the north uh is a residential dwelling uh that's in the NC Zone and then farther north of the Sarah Lane residence uh to the east of the the shopping center the Franklin Plaza that's in the NC Zone South uh of the property is a residential dwelling uh with wooded uh areas and that's also in the NC Zone and then further to the West uh is a residence and a construction yard um Tri-State brick face and stucco that's in the r3a uh residential zone so that's sort of the uh lay of the landscape I'm not going to go into detail of The Proposal um uh you heard a lot about the operations uh and um uh I'm just going to summarize uh from what I was taking uh notes on from uh uh Eugene and sharie's testimony so and I I know that there was noted a whole lot of uh different types of bulk variances we're not really here for the bulk variances tonight uh if this is successful those bulk variances would be add rest um at uh at site plan um uh so the just get to my there we go um so in terms of what's being proposed is uh a in my opinion a significant change from uh what was an automobile salvage yard to the lessening of the automobile salvage yard um actually the removal of all the old um uh scattered buildings on the property into to one modern building also you you're hearing about the intent to um improve the uh circulation of the property right now uh people have uncontrolled in Ingress and egress from the County Highway uh and that's going to be totally eliminated um also uh you heard that the property um has almost 100% I think 98% imperious cover and the intention is to reduce that by at least uh 21% uh to uh 77% coverage um so that that would be a significant benefit environmentally uh having more U area for uh infiltration of of of rainwater and things like that also there's really no screening at all today um from the uh uh Salvage uh to the residents to the north um uh there there are trees but they're all deciduous trees so in the fall and the winter and early spring those trees uh are bare uh because they lose their the their foliage and the intent here is to U improve the uh visual aesthetic uh with uh the fencing but also putting in uh a combination of evergreen trees uh you heard U I think Shri talk about um maybe Arbor VY uh my recommendation would always be no monoculture have a mix of of of of evergreen trees and and by the way I'm also a landscape architect and I can tell you uh healthy ones will grow up to three feet a year so uh if we're planting them at 8 ft uh within a few years we're already going to be close to the 15 ft and then uh taller but the intention is to um put the uh improved Landscaping along uh the perimeter of the property um and uh you heard from Eugene that the operation itself uh of this Auto Salvage has been greatly uh reduced uh and and in place uh putting um a a different type of of let's call it a light industrial type use the property's been a light industrial use since the late 20s and so now it's a cleaner one where uh the um uh property won't have the the fluids and and all the other issues that are associated with the auto salvage uh that that is uh currently operating and and had been operating on the property so that's sort of the planning framework um uh that I I'm looking at on this property I have to tell you uh in in my 44 years of of uh in the planning uh field um this is one of the more challenged properties that I've I've I've seen challenged because of the automobile salvage yard um and uh what do you do with an automobile salvage yard uh as uh you go forward and into the future so with that I had to look at uh the positive criteria um and that requires the special reasons and so when I was reviewing the municipal annus law um uh I found uh several um uh purposes of zoning uh that would be Advanced by this uh proposal to improve the property um one is um njsa 40 calling 55 d-g and I'm going to give you all the the small uh letters to each subsection and I'm going to paraphrase uh the uh purpose in the law and G talks about providing sufficient space and appropriate locations for a variety of land uses uh in New Jersey and so this one we have sort of a a combination of a a commercial and and a industrial type use so this is a unique use uh it's been this way for uh since basically uh I guess when they were salvaging Model T and model A Fords um uh also the um U property can accommodate this because it's it's all been U Almost 100% impervious cover um and uh because of the low intensity of traffic that it generates I think uh uh it uh it speaks to the um uh uh lower intensity uh commercial/industrial use uh that's being proposed the next one is H and that's to promote the free flow of traffic uh you heard Justin talk about um how um uh the uh change uh to the U Storage of the uh containers and the um uh assembly of the chassis uh does reduce the the traffic and does not exacerbate any conditions and he had to actually um um take a very conservative approach to increase the the numbers of of trips and so forth and still comes out that it's at uh the driveway um levels of service are are C and by the way in New Jersey you don't start looking at um levels of of of service issues until they hit D and and E is is a flashing sign uh for for traffic uh uh and then f is is failure the next one is I to promote a desirable visual environment well the proposal is to be sensitive to the residents to make whatever uh effort to improve that um I'm going to go to is that is that A3 uh it is that's A3 A3 yes press the bottom button slide it oh green light okay so I'm going to go over to A3 make sure I don't block it um so the idea here is to be sensitive to the uh neighbors um here U uh where my hand is uh over the uh sarene uh uh properties and then this is the property that's in between uh uh Sarah Lane and and the subject property uh this area here is where it's heavily uh wooded but it's deciduous and so in the winter it's going to lose uh its leaves and so the idea here is to put uh the uh double rows of of conifers here that's the evergreen trees um uh at the 8ot height with the intention of having that uh uh grow quick and then also the sensitivity of of keeping the stacking of the um uh vehicles uh much lower and then pulling farther away is where the uh in the center of the property is where the um stacking of the containers uh I think the highest one was uh 29 ft is what I heard yes yeah and and the Zone allows commercial buildings up up to 35 ft but but nevertheless the idea is to um uh move those taller stacked containers as far away as possible and and still manage the the operation of the property um the next one would be J uh to prevent urban sprawl and the degradation of the environment um uh you've heard we've have a challenge site now and the idea is to improve the uh um uh upon the amount of of pervious amount of land that actually infiltrates the water going from 98% down to 77% uh that would be a significant Improvement also uh the planting of the trees also um to absorb the the moisture uh as well as add to any noise abatement because as they evergreen trees grow taller they're they're much more much more dense foliage um the next one would be o this is an unusual one that I normally don't come across but that's to maximize practical recovery cycling recycling of recyclable material that speaks to the still the Lesser but still the continued um uh Auto Salvage it is a form of of Rec cycling uh material um and then the last would be a I look at all of the other uh uh purposes and I always come back uh looking at uh does this promote the public health safety morals and G general welfare and looking at uh the efforts that are being made to improve this property and to improve the operations um uh and to overcome some of the challenges of the property I think uh the proposal would also Advance uh a uh the other part is site suitability you know we must demonstrate the sight's particularly suited for the proposed use uh so the site is currently used as what I've described as sort of a commercial SL light industrial type of use uh today um and it can e it can easily accommodate the location of the um uh continued Auto Salvage uh although uh at a reduced amount but also in my opinion uh it can accommodate the uh cleaner operation of the um uh containers uh and and the Assembly of the the chassis it can also accommodate the actually the the reduced uh type of traffic that would come to the site because um what I heard from Eugene is that the property is going to have uh appointments so so that deliveries are uh scheduled as opposed to uh just willy-nilly uh driving to the property uh as it was before um so the negative criteria there's two two parts to that and so the first one is is there a substantial detriment to the public good and and we have to look at does this acrew any substantial de detriment to the surrounding properties um so the immediate surrounding properties to the north is is that residential um uh uh property with the uh largely wooded area and the house in the NC Zone um I I don't see um the uh uh impact to that but farther north um uh we have to be sensitive to the um uh residents and uh from what uh I could see from my perspective is that visual um uh uh uh views uh into the into the property are important so uh the the idea is to create a buffer that doesn't exist today and have a buffer that uh will be substantial enough so that within a few years uh it can screen uh and obscure as much as possible of the property um to the east across the street that's the uh uh across the County Highway that's the shopping center um I don't see any uh negative impact uh as a matter of fact uh I see an improvement because the the alignment of the uh the driveway with uh Franklin um Plaza is a plus uh rather than the uncontrolled U uh access Ingress and egress today uh to the South again is another residence in uh a large piece of property uh mostly wooded um uh in the NC Zone uh I uh but still there's going to be the Landscaping uh uh proposal along that perimeter as well and then to the West the West uh um uh Sharif described it as uh undeveloped land but much farther west on that very large property in the r3a zone I think is the remnants of a a horse training facility and then um up along the uh Mount Mills Road there that um that's where the house and the combination of that construction yard so I don't see any negative impact of of this proposal on that so really it's the focus on uh the residents to the north and I think uh what's being proposed uh uh is doing the best that it can to amarate uh existing conditions today and and address future conditions so the last part is uh looking at the uh master plan and uh uh the Z own plan in the zoning ordinance and the proposal was not substantially impair the intent and purpose purpose of the Zone plan and zoning ordinance well out of the gate this is a pre-existing non conforming use in the NC Zone neighborhood commercial Zone and neither the ex pre-existing use and the proposed use um uh are are permitted in that zone so what's being proposed is a reduction in the amount of automobile salvage uh so that's a a dimition of of of uh that intense of use and then to uh replace the balance of the property uh with um automobile salvage I mean with um um a container and U uh uh the Assembly of the chassis so when you look at the master plan for this area it it it looks at the neighborhood type commercial it's a highly aspirational master plan uh it it uh has ideas of having uh commercial development built up on the road with with residents above uh mixed use with residents above uh none of that has happened in this NC Zone this part of of the community um but there are some uh land use uh elements uh goals and objectives uh in that 2022 master plan that when I reviewed it I found um uh that uh there are certain goals and objectives that this proposal can actually promote and that's to achieve a balance of land use types that maintains and enhances the quality of life of the township again challenge property with an oldtime automobile salvage yard H how can we um uh address this going forward and and and the proposal is to reduce the amount of intensity of use of the automobile salvage and have um the chassis assembly and the container storage uh so that um uh it's a less intensive type of use um and the effort is to also address the the traffic generation to help strike that balance um also there's another one that says promote Industrial Development appropriate areas uh while it's NC Zone uh this is a unique property it's been a light industrial type of use for uh 95 years and uh the idea here is to lessen the intensity of the old style of of of use Auto Salvage and replace it with something that's more modern and cleaner uh it also it talks about encouraging uh infill development well this is sort of an infill type development or an Adaptive reuse of development um uh of of a property again Almost 100% imp per 98% impervious reduced reducing that down adding the uh screening and so forth uh that would uh help address some of the uh aesthetic issues um also there's a section that talks about the circulation plan all my goals and objectives and pretty much that talks about um you know addressing uh uh or not exacerbating uh uh the traffic in the area and you heard from Justin that the proposal uh will uh not worsen the traffic as a matter of fact they'll be maintained levels and also with the fact that the uh deliveries uh will be scheduled will help address the control and the um uh operations for the chassis and containers is only five days a week so it does free up the uh weekends and if there were in the NC Zone generally commercial uses are are seven days a week so that that would have um a different impact on the area but nevertheless uh I I think um this challenged property uh uh can be uh granted the use variance for all the reasons that I mentioned Mark quick question with regard to Exhibit C would it change would our efforts at mitigation and and attenuating the impact of our proposal would they be for not if that was a two-story home well uh we heard that that there are Cape cods with a second floor yeah uh so um within when whenever you do landscape planting you don't want to put super big plants in and the reason why is because they have a a a higher mortality rate they have more meaning from the start from the start they have they have more difficulty uh getting um established so you have to strike the balance and and the eight foot type of of conifers that are proposed is that right kind of balance so yes um with within the first year they'll be 8 feet tall uh then within the next year uh they they can grow up to the next three feet so they'll be roughly 11 feet right and then uh another three feet after that um uh so so now that's around 14 ft let's let's be h it could it could be anywhere from roughly 12 to to to 14 ft and then another year after that then it's really they're really starting to take off um plants I'm also a landscape architect so with plants they usually talk about the first year sleeps the next year it creeps and then the third year it leaves and that's after the plants have gotten a chance to to Really establish and then they really take off and I've seen that on my my own property when I've I've done uh plantings so having said that considering that to be a second flooor at some point in the first three or four years there would be proper mitigation well it would start to address the the issue and then within the next years after that um it would start to really take over and then really obscure uh what's happening there I have to be uh Frank about it understood Mr chairman nothing further for Mr R thank you I I do have one question um you said it's a pre-existing use do we have a res an existing pre-existing resolution that the property was approved only only testimony from Eugene regarding his so there's nothing documented that that the that the junkyard or AKA Salvage jard was came before this board previously so there is so you mark indicated there's a pre-existing use and I'm just asking since there's a pre-existing use there should be some documentation no pre-existing because it uh it pre-existed zoning it pre-existed it pre-existed zoning I mean we're going back before the municipal land use law so no it's not been the subject of an approval Mr chairman but the the use has been out there again since 1929 Eugene testified as being out there since 2000 but it is though it's been non-conforming since the adoption of the ordinance um that is subject to actually your first ordinance that was in the late 50s yeah this this pre PR predates the your first ordinance ever and we did an opal request and we did not obtain we did not receive any prior resolutions okay and before we we let Mark go what's the difference between a junkyard and a salvage yard well some people use them interchangeably um uh salvage some people call them wrecking yards some people call them junkyards some call them salvage yards and so really what's here is is what was all all three uh of those descriptions okay very good that you a testimony uh yes Mr chairman I'd like to reserve our right to uh come back with regard to addressing any of the Public's comments we're going to start with our professionals first sure Ma we're going to put you in the baddest box first and I can I can ask questions to the entire contingent right questions you want so um let me well let me start with the operations questions just to understand um Mr NES I believe you testify that um you know the the operations are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and that's when your employees are coming to dismantle or assemble the chassis nothing is happening before that and nothing is happening after that that's correct okay uh your delivery trucks when are they coming are they confined to between between 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or do they come before that or after that the facility uh for deliveries or pickups is from 9:00 to 4:00 that gives us time to get set up in the morning and then in the even in the evening to finish up before we leave so because everyone runs out at 5:00 so we cut it off at 4: so that gives us time to finish up so 9 to 4: for pickup and deliveries okay so if you could walk us through a typical delivery say you've getting a of new um you know um cars the the salvage cars that come in you did um and I believe Mr Ali showed us area where those trucks would be parked could you walk um could you explain to us as to how they are entering the site where these cars are getting downloaded and where they are stored before they being worked on I believe the building is the one that where they going to be worked on right correct so so the cars typically are you want to bring up the site plan to bring that up I believe so yeah yeah so this this image here is actually it's it's not what's happening here right now but uh what the plan would be was for vehicles to come in okay so these are vehicles that are coming in for auto salvage typically they arrive either on a tow truck or a car carrier they don't they don't drive into our facility oh so hold on a second okay so they would arrive through so the existing layout has the buildings that we plan on breaking down typically the cars would arrive through here either on a flatbed tow truck or on a car carrier handling multiple cars we would take them off with our forklifts bring them in just simply do a test of the motor transmission do an inventory of the vehicle and it's full inspection of the vehicle process that into our database okay and then it would sit on car racks outside until we actually do sell components from that vehicle once a component uh a door or a motor something like that is sold the vehicle then would be brought in with the forklift into our dismantling Bay which is currently uh in this building I believe if I'm looking at this correctly uh there they have the hydraulic lifts where the dismantling takes place uh once that's done it comes back outside and and put on racks um you know we tried to contain all the fluids and all those type of things extract them in the vehicles once they get enter our garage uh and that's what we're doing currently uh prior prior to introducing the containers and Chassis it was a whole different ball game because they would just simply come in you know get unloaded in our in our facility and then the guys would the inventory would be the same the uh however it would be everything would be done Outdoors so if we needed to take a door off or a you know know some kind of light off it would just be done outside um and then the vehicle would just sit there in the in the same place so that's that's how things are a little bit different right now okay so the way I'm understanding is with this proposed site your delivery truck comes in it's going to drop off the cars where uh is the new auto salvage area and it's going to get on racks and then whenever a part is ordered that car is going to be brought out brought into the building dismantled sold the part out and that car is again whatever left of the car is put back on those racks yeah ideally going forward the the proper way to do this is minimize the handling of the vehicles so what we'd like to propose is when the vehicle comes in to bring it into our dismantling Bay fully dismantle the high value components and then just scrap the contents right after that so we don't have to handle the same vehicle multiple times because every time you handle it there's a cost associated with it as well as labor so if we have the proper facility in the store storage as well as dismantling all intertwined we can do that much more efficiently than what we're doing now so so that's what so um because we are going back to the height question I want to understand the 16 ft High that's the max that's being provided there uh for a zoning officer to understand there is going to be a rack that comes up to 16 ft high and everything has to be contained within those racks whatever car parts there are is that correct yes so for the for this this particular section where the outdoor storage is they are already pre-manufactured car racks yeah and they only store three high and so the height of the tallest you know the third car is only what Sharie has here is 16 ft so that's correct so once as zoning officer comes out there's no way to add a fourth car to the rack because it's just not feasible to to to park it you know okay understood yeah um now the second question I had in terms of uh operations and understanding um was um the the testimony was given that uh this is an auto auto uh salvage or dismantling along with truck chassis building up along with storage container re storage container and uh rental Usage Now Mr Toto I think I'm trying to get at us all these three are principal users or they are all intertwined like tomorrow if the site just becomes a storage container rental facility and the other two uses go back is that a possibility or do they all three stay intertwined as accessory or principal users Eugene could you give a percentage as to what part of the business uh equates to 100% whether it's the auto salvage the SE containers and the chassis leasing an assembly what what do you have as far as percentages so I would say propose with this proposal yeah I'm proposing that we do um so so the car auto parts business and the truck chassies are pretty much hand inand in terms of what what they entail so you know if you're changing a tire on a vehicle removing it from a junk vehicle or you're putting a tire on a on a brand new chassis it's the same type of Labor that's involved to very similar use if you're if you're changing a light or installing a light okay on a chassis as opposed to a car so that that type of business is pretty much all the same whether you're doing it on on something that's like I said a truck chassis or on a car I find that to be kind of all intertwined so the Staffing is very similar to to that and the operation is very similar so I think we have that part of our operation where the chassis as well as the car dismantling is uh I think we spoke about maybe about 70% of the operation and then the rest of it will be the containers in terms of Labor Force the chassis and the Pho Parts require obviously more manpower than the container storage because they're dry containers once you put it in a in a stack they don't move unless you have a request for it to be picked up um and there's nothing inside of it so it's just simply one operator and then there's you know someone checking in the uh container at the gate and then there's a data girl entry male or female that's entering the container information into our database for inventory purposes so in terms of Staffing that that part part of the operation is is is much smaller um obviously in terms of space requirement in the yard you know it's it's a little bit larger um as you can see in this Photograph M the short answer is we consider it an integrated use one principal use okay thank you so all these are intertwined so um going back to um that testimony and uh the other that was provided uh the auto salvage dismantling is all done indoors is the buildup also done indoors because we do see another area on this property shown as proposed concrete pad assembling area what is that being used for so those are for brand new chassis that arrive in containers so the assembling area is part of it is being used for us to remove the contents from the container once they're removed from the container we have to assemble the the uh light components that are not assembled on the chassis when they arrive and then it gets moved to a different part of the facility where they're ready for pickup so that concrete area is um an outdoor area that we work right now we'd like to propose for it to be done indoors because you know being outdoors it's just there's a lot of elements that you know slow the project down um so I think part of this whole transition is to get that pad somehow inside um in terms of uh speeding up the process of of building the the the equipment um that outdoor area that you see right now we can probably use it for you know maybe uh just light repairs or even re you know re uh configure it to storage if necessary I mean we we're flexible well Mr mesh I think we'll need a little more um concrete you know exact information because you're before the board and the Board needs to know whether there is any kind of Maintenance happening there repair happening there buildup happening there or are you covering it as a current currently Eugene what me is asking I mean to interrupt no that's okay um we're kind of waffling here we're talking about possibly removing this entirely or everything being conducted internally when you were talking about uh assembly in this area would it be solely for assembling lights to the truck chassis and that's it nothing's happening with with automobiles here no no no that that that is solely for uh removing the contents of the container and then installing the components that are necessary to finalize that that chassis build and how long does that chassis build take for each chassis uh typically uh we can do about eight chassis a day is what we can we can uh build how many employees are involved with assembling the lights to the chassis um eight okay all right um You did testify regarding uh maintenance of these containers and sometimes washing them is that happening on this site like cleaning of these containers and re you know keeping them up for rental or selling or something like that is no we don't we don't do anything in terms of cleaning washing or um no we just we just um you once they arrive whatever the condition they're in whether they're new or used we just let them sit that way we don't rehab them okay uh the other um testimony was there's a forklift going to be on site picking up I imagine these are Big siiz forklift um how tall are they and where are they placed and how often are they moving so there it's a container Handler is is the forklift that's required for this and uh the the height of it it it's uh not sure exactly how the Mast is but I mean it's it goes way way more than um than what we use it for we only go three containers high so the Mast is probably um it's probably about the same thing about about 30 ft for the actual mass of of the forklift um I would have to get back to in terms of the the full dimensions of it I don't know if the top my head how many of them are there on the site are they permanently placed in certain areas no they're mobile they're mobile so yeah you can move them I mean we you know just typically Park in the evening somewhere where they where there's space available we have a designated a parking spot for them but they are mobile okay um and how many did you say oh we have two okay all right um thank you Mr jash I think those are enough on the operations sure my pleasure n can I just follow up on how high is the are the uh container uh lifts when they're not in operation when the Mast is not at 30 ft you can you know basically um you can bring it all the way down okay what height and then it just it's so it's uh it's a hydraulic system so it's it probably goes anywhere from uh typically when we park it it's on the floor as as you would be accustomed to like Forks okay on a front end loader you can either bring them down or if you need to bring them up you bring them up when it's stored it's it's in the down position and then when you need to uh hook up and move a container you there's there's clamps that basically uh it's a design system that locks into into the containers okay and it's a safety device as well so once the container gets lifted uh you can't release it until it gets placed and it has to be on you know specific the operator knows how to use it a little bit more technical than me but there there's a bunch of safety precautions Within These machines that are designed just to move these containers E when the fork is when the forks are on the ground or the lifts how high how high is the machine itself uh it's probably about I would say maybe 20 feet or so okay from from the ground okay um thank you reminded me of two more questions um there was one another testimony provided about any kind of noise impact on adjacent properties is there any noise study done as relation to the operations of this property no we have not performed any noise studies okay all right and in terms of because these are vehicles and cars and I know you testified that it's going to be a cleaner operations you're no longer dealing with um you know oils or what have you is there any for you know dismantling or providing of these chassis is there any kind of hazardous material stored on site and if so would you be willing to provide that list to us and the Board of Health and and the quantities sure I mean um couple of things regarding the the noise um so basically prior to all this we were like I said a full auto salvage yard dismantling junkyard um and we had a lot of more noise because we had the car crusher we had you know a lot of forklifts running around moving cars around plus we had customers in there plus we had cutting of vehicles you know we were still loading vehicles and container so there was a lot of noise on the facility beforehand which was never really an issue with any of the neighbors that that I was aware ofto that that's an opinion he's not a professional in sound so we're going to take that on face value that's his his own opinion of what noise should be understood Mr chairman okay yep apologize no no apology it's just I I need to have the record clear that got it understood professional in audio regarding the container operation um just casual conversations with the neighbors in my own opinion I don't notice any additional noise to the property because of that so that's number one um the second question regarding fluids uh so we have been inspected by the uh D every single year since I've been there for 24 years and every year we've been in compliance plus we have our own environmental Consultants that have visited the property on an annual basis to train the staff regarding the auto salvage junkyard operations so we're very very well suited and aware of the requirements are for uh fluids and uh any type of environmental hazards this property has now transition from that okay to a more of a dry operation the container side of the business has zero fluids the chassis side of the operation on new chassis components has zero fluids on the used chassis operation has zero fluids so in our recent uh d uh inspections there's actually been conversations about not requiring annual inspections and maybe even a lesser permit because there's no longer crushing going on at the facility there's no more of the uh the volume that we used to do so um I think the staff as well as the facility is more than capable of handling whatever there is now of fluids uh with with the 90 cars that are are going to be stored there and I don't think that would be an issue in any way I mean in terms of fluids kept that you're talking about gasoline antifreeze oil um and you know some brake fluids and stuff like that but it's it's very minimal compared to what it was okay and you would be providing a list if the board was looking at this favorably to our board sure we can provide all the reports we provide to the township as well as Tire scrapping that we do and stuff like that we we do provide annual reports to the township on a on an annual basis anyway so we will give you anything you need for your records what is Tire scrapping is that another use that you're doing on the property no it's so basically the tires that come off of vehicles they have to be disposed properly yeah as well as if there's tires that come off chassis they have to be disposed properly so it's the same side part of the operation it's not it's not an additional uh service that we're providing it's something that we have to do basically either with full service junkyard or chassis repairs understood thank you um thank you Mr mes uh Mr Mr Ali um couple of site plan questions um I believe the testimony is it's only being asked for a use variance tonight we are not looking at any of the bulk variances is that correct correct okay um there's lot of testimony being uh provided on uh you know the Evergreens and the plantings that have been provided um just to understand um wherever these plantings are provided is there any birming being proposed with it there is any what any boing yeah uh not at the present time you know uh again the site plan will be uh visiting the grading uh drainage patterns and if we are able to within where right now we uh are right now as a site exist you uh all the Improvement up to the property line uh our proposal is that to provide a band of uh 20 ft uh wide uh grass uh vegetated area with the Evergreen that will be pretty much going all the way around the site so within that 20 ft if we able to create uh three or 4 feet high a burm uh not interrupting the uh drainage pattern then we'll we'll do that with the site plan that will create another maybe 3 or 4 feet within that area on top of the 8 fence now we 12 ft high so it will improve the situation uh in addition the 8 foot high uh Evergreen so yeah it's everything will be pump up by three or four so yeah that's a good question but that will uh will surface and will be uh much uh uh clarified at the time of the uh s plan well let me ask this way if lot of testimony is being presented as you know the site is being updated and um being considerate of the neighborhood and providing visual buffers um is this something that can be studied right now because we don't know whether you know board is relying on the testimony that there will be visual buffers provided wouldn't it be bolstered if a birming can be provided and fencing above that and Landscaping above that well I can I can tell you within 20 ft we probably can uh do 4T High BM and we are committed to that if we are forced to put uh a small retaining wall or a landscaping wall on our side which uh we could do that to to increase the height of the burm but also uh that will be something um for the zoning officer to see that there is a landscaping wall there and it's not there is no encroachment or expansion of the area that is been uh you know proposed for the chassis or the uh junk uh cars so we could do that so we can be committed to a three uh four feet high burm yeah I'm not resigned we're not resigned to doing that only at site plan certainly this is something that we will consider uh birming that you mentioned yeah again like I'm going back to the fact that the board is the board members are hearing the testimony that the site is being improved it's being considerate to the neighbors it's providing in the visual buffers but if you know additional I mean we all know Monro zoning code requires you to provide buffers and birming and there's a reason for that to provide the visual um you know additional effort in kind of buffering the site so if you know the evergreens are being provided was it looked into adding birming right now and justifying that you know it's actually been improved as a visual barrier it's a fair question so it needs to be explored further not merely a s plan we could do that not discuss this of course prod but to hear your point it's worth considering sir okay yeah I just learned also from the neighbor that yes from the outside it may look like one story building but from the back they do have Windows on a second there's a second floor and I'm not sure where's the height of the uh the windows from the ground but I can look into that and look at the eye opening and I can adjust my verm and the trees so we'll work with the neighbor but I just learned that today you know um from the neighbors um the other question again I know I'm not going into site plan but to understand um you know for the boards um and for my understanding um as you go into the site you know you have the Salvage area you have the chassis area you have the containers area right now it all looks very well laid out but we all know you know things when they are stored outside can go out of line how do you envision this site to stay you know that there's the proper 24t aisle being um saved the chassis are within there like is there like a little fencing provided in all these areas or how are things being maintained yeah so that came up uh during the uh technical review meeting uh you know Mr rosimo or t engineer board engineer did voice his opinion on that uh our proposal um at the time was to put um steel pillars on the outside um to give an indication that hey this is a limit on the inside what we could do is that we could do um some kind of um a curb delineation but it's not going to be a full face curb could be a depressed curb or could be a flush curb so will be obvious uh to asum officer hey you know you encroached over that uh curb line or the flush curb line so that's that's the um the only thing I would think of now uh given the fact that this is uh uh uh you know it's just a very act it's going to be a very active or it's already a very active site and you have a lot of Motor Vehicles um that been traveling through and that will probably address your concern but um we um any recommendation from your office or Mr Rim's office on now we could uh we'll take that too okay um all right I think I have now a question for Mr Taylor's testimony just thank you Mr Ali um Mr Taylor very quickly I know I'm eating up too much time so I want to understand couple of testimony that was provided uh one was regarding um the um the testimony that was provided was that this is in a um commercial Zone um in a neighborhood commercial Zone that would have had um you know shopping centers or Automotive users but those are conditional users in this zone right I mean when they are permitted they come with their own set of parameters as to what's the minimum lot area what's the size and what's the requirements of the parking and everything that would be required so is that a fair comparison to you know what would typically be permitted in a Zone just as of right so what I did what I did was just draw a quick comparison looking at uh Franklin plit across the street which is approximately 25,000 Square ft with the parking if you were to take that and Transplant that into this site it fits within the boundaries of the site so it was a very easy comparison between those two um and that's the correlation that I kind of Drew from a retail uh square footage um from a a gasoline service station um the the amount of acreage we have on this site greatly exceeds what would be necessary to accurately and adequately Park that so I think it's a fair comparison as well okay um in terms of the traffic layout there was testimony given on this losc I'm assuming all that is based on the car traffic right does the delivery traffic change any of that like you would have a car trailer or a tractor trailer trying to make that left while the cars are coming in is that going to back up the traffic again so it's a it's a very valid question and when we run these capacity analyses we incorporate the truck percentages into these Maneuvers and so there are factors that get added in the analysis so in the counts that we did there's the actual truck percentages that's coming to from the stud and the traffic that we search charged onto the facility are all considered heavy Vehicles we've considered all of them tractor trailers so the analysis that I gave you all has that baked into those numbers so off the top of your head how many did you anticipate as the truck delivery vehicles that would be visiting the site in the AM and the PM peak hours so during the am peak hour um as counted we had a total of five tractor Trail uh excuse me eight tractor trailers three in in and five out and in the PM we had two in and uh none out and so in order to accommodate this during the peak hours we doubled that which I think is an incredibly conservative uh estimate considering they would be spread out more throughout the day but uh we in order to provide those conservative analyses these worst case scenario we just doubled those numbers okay in terms of the parking count analysis I think testimony was given that um because this site is operational you expecting about 27 vehicles um on site now I've heard testimony it used to be an auto salvage it was more prolific in getting retail on site that has gone down but they still have a retail component of it um that 27 vehicle count is based on it being completely used as an auto salvage yard or it's already being used with these three combinations that are going on today so it's actually with all three combinations today we were out there in December of 2023 counted from the day for the moment it opened we counted 7 a.m. to 5:00 P p.m. to make sure that we got the entire um day type of parking demand but also that we were hitting that Peak throughout the day and so that's the incorporation of the chassis utilization the salvage yard and all the current um operations that are going on there today um I think what we heard from Eugene is that if it's the board's desire that may even go down if he's going to either ship the auto parts or make it online only then the parking demand may potentially even go down from that okay okay so it will go down to that and how will that impact like the testimony was given the auto salvage is only going to up to 75 to 90 cars does that reduce the amount of retail on site and does that reduce the parking count from 27 vehicles to even lesser yes it's my understanding that if there is not public capable of coming on site to pick up an uh an individual part it would be mailed then the parking demand would most likely go down from what we we observed out there okay um I'm sure I have bunch more oh um in terms of the um study that was done in December 20th and 21st um I believe it was given it's a typical day or it's one of the peak Peak periods um from a traffic um expert I know you do a lot of these studies is December the peak time or like that's the time when you know people are kind of so I I find when we look at commuting patterns especially in this area you don't find an elevation or decrease during the December month schools in session you have typical patterns as people are going to and from work and the operation of this facility it's my understanding is as long as it's nice out it's not raining it's not snowing the operation is pretty typical and so I think the days that we collected the data is representative of uh of a daily operation that's out there today okay um all right um thank you thank you Mr Taylor I don't think I have any I have couple of questions for Mr uh ramza um actually Mr Toto do clarify um is this um I believe the testimony was given that um Auto Salvage is being used as or is being testified to as pre-existing non-conforming use is do you have a certificate of non-conformity or no we do not no I don't think at the time of the purchase that they obtained one um so we're seeking D1 relief okay but still reserving our right to establish the fact that auto salvage is clearly a pre-existing use and has been out there for close to 90 years but you haven't applied for it yeah we have not Mr Clark okay we have not I don't know how the board can grant relief if it's not applied for uh I'm not asking for pre-existing relief I'm only asking for D1 relief okay yeah okay so um we've heard that um I believe most of the testimony relied on the container as well as the truck chassis being um you know more of a cleaner operation and is going to significantly improve the site the testimony was also provided that it's a um more of a light industrial type of use but there is a retail component to it right for the auto salvage yard there's a commercial component yes so it's not a typical um light industrial use so um I'm sorry okay um just for the board's edification now we're willing to eliminate the the retail component at least as it relates to on-site traffic and well I think I think Eugene talked about a retail component that would be done uh online yeah yeah that would and online retailing is still retailing understood so you're talking about onsite retailing yeah talk about onsite correct yeah so so the salvage yard was always a combination uh light industrial and and commercial use Okay because I'm going back to the uh the parking um justification or the parking calculation that was provided was based mostly you know the testimony and I'm sorry I'm going between you both the testimony was that you know we we don't Monroe doesn't have any typical um parking ratio for this this type of use and clearly so they wouldn't have because this is not a permitted use so the comparison was done with a warehouse and a light industrial use but is it a fair comparison because there is a retail component to it warehouse and um light industrial other than Amazon doesn't have a retail component right Amazon is a retail component it's all online I know but would be the North American indust uh classification system says that um it's a non-store um uh uh type of use but you are the testimony is that this is going to be more used as a warehouse and a light industrial use and there's not going to be any retail component to it is that well it wasn't going to be a warehouse it's more of um storage it's a unique type of storage so you're correct that it's it's a type of use that really doesn't fit neatly into um chapter 108 okay in terms of the um the testimony that was provided regarding the Evergreens and their their growing and you know one of the word that was used is if it's healthy it's going to grow three foot per year um typically yeah is there going to be some kind of maintainance bond that these trees are going to be remain you know healthy and vibrant and there would have to be okay and it's it's not going to be the typical maintenance bond that we see in any other again because of the type of use and the whole testimony being um Justified on the visual buffers it's causing is the applicant willing to provide it as a little more expanded and I think we can discuss with board engineer what that maintenance question it would have to be because it's a key component of the application okay um the other um why is there no substantial impact to the adjacent property right to the north I believe one of the testimony was there's no impact to that property is there any reason it's because the property is all wooded 100% wooded not not 100% U the back port is 100% wooded and the house is pushed very close to the to the um Highway and um the house has already uh experienced the um Auto Salvage Ard that's there today and it'll continue to have that same impact so what's being done is actually moving moving the um I'm sorry uh thanks um actually there'll be more Landscaping now um where there's none today um uh along that Northern property line so U there's really no U negative impact to that property uh caused by the proposal I mean I think a little more um as you know I think I brought up the fact that we don't have any kind of noise study so we really don't know because that house yes it is a little more um it is quite adjacent to this property and the crosssection was provided from properties in Sarah Lane but I think a crosssection from this property should also be shown as to how it's going to impact this property I understand they've lived next to this type of use but that doesn't make it you know well if we are improving we need to improve to everybody that's getting impacted well it's the uh existing home in the NC Zone and um uh the right now there's no buffer at all uh from the proper to the adjoining property line and so what we're proposing is to uh have a 20ft buffer and screening uh that's not there today and so uh I think there's an enhancement uh uh of uh to that property that's in the NC Zone understood but like what I'm saying is I don't think testimony that there's no impact to that property is fair I said no substantial impact there's there's a difference between the two that the the proofs are we have to show that there's no substantial impact so actually the impact is being uh reduced to that neighbor I don't want to argue I just wrote down what was said and I understand the the context was substantial detriment but you mentioned the noise study as something that we have to contemplate with regard to the birming that's part of that it's part of the basket of things that we're going to take away from the hearing tonight so yeah thank you Mr Toto um Mr chairman I I can think of this only right now something else will pop up but I'm stopping thank you okay Mark we're going to roll into your your testimony now or your comments thank you Mr chairman uh so I have several questions I'll start with Mr mesh the um the containers are empty containers delivered to the site empty just for storage um so containers are delivered either empty yes or loaded with chassis which we remove and then the containers get placed at our facility so those are the two types of or they get right either empty or with chassis that's the only two and I think you said four chassis per container four chassis yes and after you put the chassis together do we going to do to them put wheels on them or whatever you're doing where do they go that the now the ones that are completed so they get uh typically we stack them four or or five high uh and they hopefully get picked up at a you know fairly quick pace so they go out the gate or they get placed in a different part of the facility to be U you know picked up eventually and how are they how are they shipped out of your facility are they put back into a container no they're shipped out either um in Stacks so depending where the customer is going with the chassis if it's going local sometimes they'll just pick up like one or sometimes they'll pick up as many as five high they chain them bind them and then ship them out to wherever their final destination is okay when when the container comes in with the chassis how do you unload them like where do you unload them on the site so on on the um if you the work area that M was uh mentioning is where the uh chassis get unloaded from the container so it's it's a little bit uh there's like a ramp there so they basically back up to to the um to the concrete pad and then we remove them out of there with our forklifts out of the container is this at the assembly assembly area exactly at the assembly area okay I'm jumping around but contamination on the site existing contamination that was you know predated NE your recent uses um is there a cleanup operation to clean up up to any of the contamination do you know of any contamination that's exist no we have we have a clean bill of health from DP uh we've been inspected every single year since I've been there plus like I said we have our own environmental consultant that comes in and and just make sure that everything is being properly drained stored removed from the facility so there there's no environmental contamination that exists today on the site that's correct Mark we have that we can provide that to your office where uh where do you store the fluids that you take from all the vehicles so the where will you under under your site plan that you're proposing where will we yes so we have uh tanks that we currently use those tanks are actually Outdoors right now covered with uh with a temporary roof where a Crusher is so we're proposing to remove our Crusher removing the that storage component of of fluids in that whole area and uh bring all that indoors so the the crush will be removed from the facility and the dismantling as as well as the uh fluid collection will be done indoors um to remove from from site there's special companies that come out there and they actually extract antifreeze and and um and gasoline and stuff like that oil right you know right out of there so that'll be any Salvage uh buildings one and two correct only two I think Mark not building one only building two but it'll be indoors yeah right it'll be indoors be Indo and what about tires where where are you storing the tires testified that you know you collect the tires and then I'm sure you gather up enough and then you you ship them off site for recycling yeah so the tires are picked up on a weekly basis currently from right down the road is a gentleman called rubberman he's located down on Englishtown Road they'll bring their um truck into our facility and they'll just any scrap tires that we accumulate throughout the week get automatically you know picked up by them and disposed from our property we get receipts from him uh showing that they're picked up how are they stored on your property though are you do you have a dumpster do you have some kind of container or they just thrown in a pile outside the building so there's two different types of tires currently right now the tires that come out Vehicles automobile vehicles that they're stored inside on rims okay when they're dismantled off the rims they get you know put in a in a it's a minor operation they get left indoors and then the truck the ones for the chassis uh when they when they're defective they gets stored in a container exactly on a weekly basis and and that gets picked up on a weekly every Friday they come pick them up where where is that located on your site the container uh So currently it's located if in the same same area where you saw the chassis assembly um the assembly area where the right right in that same vicinity we have a container that stores tires so under your site plan you're going to be storing it across the whole property to the other side side of the property away from the building well in terms of in terms of I if we start um repairing the chassis indoors then they'll be stored indoors if the chassis are being repaired uh in the assembly area or being worked on the assembly area then they'll be outdooring the container regardless with environmental uh precautions all tires are kept inside as long as they're off as long as their rims are extracted from them if they're on rims and we can stor them outside and they could stay outside yes that's correct okay um I continue with my review letter some comments in there vehicle circulation for the site I guess traffic engineer Justin how how are Vehicles circulating the site internally trucks that come in so we worked with shareif to ensure that we can circulate what's termed to WB 67 an astro design vehicle which is the 53t trailer um and so the axis aisles have been designed to accommodate those Vehicles throughout the site um from an exterior perspective the trucks will all be coming to and from the southern driveway um no trucks are are Destin for the northern driveway so with regard to that if they're coming in the southern driveway and a circle around the container area how do they know that they how do they get back to the southern driveway to exit since they can't go out the the northern driveway and still be able to make the turns that you have on site was this submitted as part of the application Tre read the truck circulation plan so there there's been room um and it's been designed for them to be able to circulate along the western side of the proposed building between that area and the container storage area um we have and if it hasn't been provided it absolutely can be provided to the board but we did work with him to ensure that that we could circulate that that largest tractor trailer so they'd be able to C uh circulate in a clockwise uh Direction around around the container area so you'll provide signage and what's needed to to um have the truck make that turn between the bu between the container area and the buildings is that what you're saying yes yes we will ensure that they do not uh I mean the northern driveways enter only anyway so we'll have an appropriate signage to to guide the vehicles from the rear to the uh to the southern driveway okay where where are the propose the proposed gates for the access drives and do you have proposed Gates I could say there should be the proposed gates for the access drives where are they specifically what you what you uh what you see out there as far as the gate uh you heard me before saying that we are maintaining the same Gates so same opening same what you see out there uh so the driveway that is showing on the map right now is the same driveway as what you see ad there sh can you point on the plan where the gates yeah are and will remain so so are you utilizing existing Gates or you're removing that that fence and installing a new well the fence right now that uh the fence right now that we have um out there uh it's pretty much outside the RightWay and it's on the property and uh if you if you recall uh or what you see out there you see a parking space is in front of the fence so the fence is setback uh away from the road and so uh with that fence most likely that that fence is about I believe 6 feet high Eugene 6 feet high the fence so that that fence that will will keep on site with the gate along with that the 8 foot high fence will be along the side and the back area so I guess that's really getting into site plan but my concern is a truck pulls into the site and the gate is closed they're sticking out onto the road um there's no stacking area for a truck to sit in front of your gate well that's operational and I think Eugene can answer to that the gate is never going to be closed if you have a truck coming in they all uh is a communication right yeah I mean the goal is to make have them scheduled by appointments not just show up unannounced so the gate opens when I get there in the morning or whoever opens up the facility we open up both gates and they're open throughout the whole day we don't close them until we until we leave so when the facility is open the gate is actually open and like I said the the goal is and that's what we've been implementing now is by appointment only so we know exactly when you're coming what you're bringing and we know how much time we need to you know deal with you before the next person comes we don't want to have the buildup uh number one on the street uh for the for the town to deal with and the neighbors deal with and we also don't want to have the headache for the staff inside the facility to deal with you know multiple customers uh at the same time so that's what we're doing uh currently right now and um you know it was took a little bit for us to just transition to that but I I think it is it is working and obviously the goal is to keep uh enhancing the process uh to to make sure that it is you know the appropriate for the for the town as well as for the neighborhood thanks I I still it's believe it's a concern on the driveways and and location of the gate and the ability for a truck to uh to to stack there the other thing is you have no buffer proposed in the front based on these plans and we're looking at an existing fence that's out there today and that's what you're proposing or are you proposing something different there's no buffer provided your Frontage and and you're telling me from what I'm understanding is you're keeping the existing fence the way it is out there and you're not even providing any buffer well uh right now what again this is a used variance plan but at the site plan we showing the minimum right now but I'm pretty sure at the site plan that will be doing the required burms fit within that area the street trees low medium high size shrubs within the the frontage of the site but just right now depicting you know the minimum to just to uh get the board to understand you know the application as a used variance not a site plan understand I'll repeat what I believe our planner said that the landscape buffer is a big part of this use variance uh based on your testimony and right now you're really not proposing any buffers in the front based on this plan um so I think that's certainly something that should be part of um what you're providing to us uh currently Mark with regard to that we'll make note of that and also with regard to the gates if they can be put more set back from the road so that there is a uh area for a a truck uh if should they come after hours or when they're not supposed to come we we'll try to account for that as well we'll look into that um and and not to get too far into site plan storm water management have you looked at storm water management there's no consideration for any storm water management based on this plan I hate to say this but we we're not at a s plan but we definitely will be addressing the storm water when we come up with the uh when we come back with the site plan but my testimony and what's out there it's about 89 uh 98% of the site in previous coverage we will be reducing that to 70 74 74% so there is a reduction on the in previous coverage reduction on the um motor vehicle travel way so we're not going to be again into water quality and recharge but we definitely will address that there is a a drainage issue out there then we'll we'll we'll take care of it at the site plan we'll study that and we'll take care of it at the site plan so I don't see a location of where you would handle any storm water management and then the other thing is I'd like to see all the calculations and how you come up with the reduction in the impervious because I'm not coming up with those numbers sure we we can provide that thanks um the septic field location uh yeah the septic uh is dropped all the way in the back so that's at the high point of the property that's that's at the high point of the proper have you done any soil samples out in that area and it was already witnessed by the uh County and it passes this is the perfect area for the septic away from everything and definitely will be um a septic tank in the front area and then a pump tank and pumping up to the uh disposal field will that be inside the building or on the outside the septic tank and the uh pump will be outside so again I'd like to see the location of that we'll do a lot of a lot of things are being put outside the building there in that aisle between the uh container area in the building so um you'd have to show that they do have a concern with the encroachment of the trucks into the landscape area uh you're you're showing Landscaping right up to where you're storing the chassis and I believe our planner spoke about it as well um you're showing a grass area there's absolutely nothing to stop these vehicles and trucks from encroaching into that grass area um so I'd like like to see something some delineation how do you prevent that that creeping of the uh of the operation into the landscape area yeah so uh was part of my testimony before is that we shown steel po um all along the perimeter of the area that will be occupied or be improved um and as far as the interval of that I believe what we shown close to 50 ft but we can increase that if we have to yes uh take a look at that and see what what we can do better um chairman that's all I have at this time thank you Mark uh I'm going to open this to the board members at this point are there any questions for any of the professionals any testimony you heard yeah I have a question okay we're going to go one at a time we're going to start with Marino this is uh has to do with the uh Landscaping plan unless I'm looking at this wrong uh we're going to say on the uh Sarah Lane side yes um you're illustrating on the plan that the uh Evergreens you're showing on a plan that are on the inside of the fence instead of the outside of the fence that is correct will be on site yes the fence will be online and the everen green will be on the proper side may be on the other side though to on the neighbor side well the issue will be the uh maintenance how you going to get to and how you maintain it unless that you keep on having Gates you have to bring the bring the fence line in a little bit so it's still on your property you can maintain it right that's an option but but usually you will be on the uh on the property side for maintenance issue also those tanks that you're storing the flu is whether it be oil whether it be um anife right transmission flu are these tanks like on the ground meaning like uh is there is there a perious like is it like on a concrete tank like they're currently currently on a concrete pad under a roof currently um and they've been that way since I've been there since uh 2000 where we're we're proposing is to bring them indoors um and and um you know uh that would be we think a benefit to keep then keeping them outside where they are currently okay um Mark I know you said that you don't think there's an impact on the neighbors to the north but and the reason why explanation you gave them is because there's trees let's call them older trees you know they're there mature trees but those mature short trees aren't yours they're theirs so in the future say that individual wants to I don't know put a building up put a pool put a shed now basically their hands are tied because if they have to take some trees down they're going to see this eyes sore so wouldn't that be an impact to the individual so my my comment about no substantial impact was just to the neighbor to the north so and and that neighbor to the north has the wooded lands yes so we have to look at what the impact is today there could be um actually it zoned um um commercial that property so uh if that person wanted to put a pool or something they'd have to come before this board to get a use variance and there's no guarantee on on that either however um uh the property is long and deep and so what I have to do is look at the impact today of of of our proposed use of what's there today today it's very difficult to speculate what could be there tomorrow now the the folks farther north um I was more or less speaking to the addition of the the landscaping and the the fencing and the uh lower stacking of of items and then putting the uh taller items to more toward the south of the property that was the distinction that I made but when I said there was no substantial impact it was to the immediate neighbor to the north in the neighborhood commercial Zone I can understand that and and and I could see why you're saying that but it is it isn't your trees it's their trees and they have a right to do whatever they want to do with it and and if they so be do want to take them down something there they're looking at this eyesore well they're if they took them down today of course you've got your tree replacement ordinance so they'd have to abide by that but uh they took all those trees down today on the neighborhood commercial property um what would they see there today they would see the entire Salvage art and there's no buffer at all so what I'm saying is the proposal is to enhance what's not there today this application would uh add to that by putting the 20 foot wide buffer with the uh evergreen trees and and the fencing that would be uh the relationship to the immediate adjacent property owner well then that would go back to what I would say to Sharie why don't you Mo consider moving that fence in because he said how what about maintaining it because the evergreens are on the inside instead of on the outside that's that's a that's a very valid point and I I believe we should take a look at at that suggestion I don't have any more question Gabby yeah hi uh you spoke about the use of uh forklifts and you indicated that there are two forklifts can you just verify that's all there are on the property just two uh no I spoke about container handlers so we have two container handlers on the property which are specifically just to move containers we also have additional forklifts which are we have a 5,000lb um forklift we have two of those which are small little ones that you can use within the facility plus we also have a front-end loader in the on the property as well if you were in a warehouse I'm just trying to get an idea of the use of the vehicles that you have on site sure uh and I'll use um Costco as an example uh it's from Florida ceiling the uh the racks and they use large extensive forklifts to reach the top rack uh do you have anything that goes that high so uh typically a warehouse has a different type of foundation correct our foundation is not conducive to those type of fork clips that you're referring to so these are for our uh Foundation we have to use either a front-end loader or something with rugged tires on there to be able to move within the yard and then also to handle equipment inside the yard uh it's a different type of Tire it's a different type of pork do you have any do you have any cranes on the property uh yes we have one crane on the property how high does that crane go um way high yes you can go way high it can go high don't you think that's a deterrent to the neighbors how do you prevent that from uh occurring well I think that we can discuss keeping the crane uh perhaps just typically low until it's necessary to use so yeah I believe that's a very important aspect for the concern of the neighbors sure to make sure that a crane which is visible from any place that you want to be because it's taller than the trees so I hope you can take that item into consideration thank you yes I I agree with that yeah sorry yes I I just wanted to learn a little bit more about these containers um how of how often are they brought in how often do they go off the site like what's your average we're a we're averaging right now uh in and out of the facility I took a look at the last couple months on average it's about uh altogether maybe 15 and 15 out uh is what our I would say n um 90day average has been so if you take a look at um how many typically come in it'll be about 15 a day and 15 out a day and that's from uh 9 to 4 and there's one container per truck that comes in and out or does it take multiple uh so the containers they come two ways they're either a 20ft container or a 40ft container on the inbound side they only come in one per truck on the outbound side uh if it's a 20-ft container typically the truckers take two 20s or 140 would go out so on the outbound side it could be if if two containers go out it's one truck leaving but you count that as two outs okay um and you proposing to have up to 500 of those I mean are these going to be continually turning over or do ERS kind of come here to die are they going to be no they don't come here to die they they come here um either they're um most of them get resold some of them go get reloaded and go back to to uh the ports on vessels um and then some of them we have some customers that rent them out um on seasonal rentals to like um you know Walmart and stuff like that so they'll typically in the busy season which is uh you know anytime there's a holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas they'll go out for uh 3 to four months storage um and then they come back to our facility after those three four months have expired and you're proposing up to three high is there an ability can you still turn a profit to what you need to do if you'd go too high with some of these I mean I think that would go a long way to you know easing some of the concerns it would probably limit you know the amount of birming you need to do it would reduce what are concerns about the you know the height of your buffering if you're able to do too high instead of 3i um well there's there's if you can answer now you know come back with the answer to that no I I understand the concerns I mean there there's um you know I guess once we decide where the hotspots are in the facility we can figure out a way to resolve those issues um based on our conversations we identified a hot spot on s lane and uh you know that's why we decided to put along that fence line mostly chassis which and uh cars so the cars were there before so they're used to and already uh you know basically accepting of the cars uh at that height and then the chassis the same thing it's very similar type of uh I guess um appearance so that's why we decided to do that as we move further into the facility we would go with the 20s which are shorter okay they only go up to I think it was 20 uh what did the 20s come out 26 okay and then as you move further into the facility towards like Union Hill Road over there there would be at at 20 uh 28 and A2 I think it is 29 ft 29 29 ft so that's what we're trying to figure out if that's something that you know with addition of the trees and the fence and possibly some other things that were recommended by the board if that would something that would be acceptable to to the residents as well as the town we're not opposed to working with anyone we're just trying to figure out what's uh fair for both parties okay thank you yeah thanks any other board members I have a question Jerry so I I know there's a question about uh use the mic please I'm sorry talk into the mic please I know there's a question about uh the non-conformance uh the non-conforming use um but my question really is um uh it was a the use was a salvage yard or a junkyard but just a couple of years ago the use the non-conforming use evolved and changed and the business is changing based on this uh use use variance I I just have a question about um about the appropriateness of that change without approvals from a from a use perspective it's a valid question because they taken the time to come before us now for it why didn't they take the time previously to come before the board it's something I can't answer I don't think anyone on this board can answer that would only come from the owner of the property how he pursued it or not sure I I can answer that so as soon as the uh I don't want to speak for the owner as to how things can morph into business Revival and whether or not you think something is permitted whether it's integrated into what's been existing out there for 70 or 80 or 90 years I I the question is is certainly a valid question and it makes a lot of sense because at some point you have to figure well this isn't Auto Salvage anymore now we're dealing with sea containers now we're dealing with chassis so when that happened we had to address the issues with the zoning office uh and and come before the board with an application and that's essentially why we're here so this started we're going on more than a year since we've applied uh and we've gone through some iterations of plans uh but I can only say that that's that's why we're here could we have been here sooner in a perfect world I imagine so but once we got word that what you're doing out there is not necessarily approved nor is it a PRI not all of the use is not or not prior non-conforming uses that's when we assembled this team started putting together a use variant sketch met with the TRC committee and uh you know I've tried to get before the board as quickly as we could uh within within reason Mr Mr chairman I just want to again clarify for the record I know a lot of times it's being said one of the users was Prior non-conforming but that hasn't been testified to that's not what was s there are no proofs provided to the board so we cannot really call it a prior nonconforming use I don't know why we can't call it a prior non-conforming use we'd have to be Mr mesh testified to the fact that he's been out there since 2000 and I'm not asking the board to decide that and I imagine next time we come back I'll have to establish that just for the record and I'm willing to do that of course yeah whether it's through Aerials whether it's through testimony from prior owners I get your point Mak the proofs are are lacking yeah and you know it's just be gone and to Mr clar's point from before as well same thing uh the proofs are not necessarily there because like we've said from the start we're here for a D1 yeah for all so let's just call it use variance and move forward hold on hold on I don't excuse me what use use the mic what's the use so if we're here for the Salvage I'm good everything else seems a little conspicuous no right cuz you've been talking about well before 1950 and 1929 yeah sure it was always a salvage drug right now all of a sudden a couple years ago you've switched it yeah and now we're going to we're going to build some things we're going to store some sea containers we're going to do a bunch of other busy things sure well they haven't built they haven't built anything well but again sure but I understand your point you basically have a container yard here now right no no no listen yes yeah no I I understand what you're saying absolutely and uh I I'm not trying to purport that these are all prior non-conforming uses that's why with mik's point and Mr clar's point is what are you here for so it's it's a use variance for all of these uses that we consider to be an integrated principal use not saying that c containers of yeah gotcha I I agree with you 100% it's a use VAR it's it's a use stop talking about it's always been that way we've always done it you have it well no no I understand but I I don't think we can ignore the history of the property either and if you were coming here for just the Salvage jard great oh I understand what you're saying it's a prior non-conforming use I I agree great there other there other two so to the extent yeah for this evening I will no longer talk about prior nonconforming uses okay can and I just want to ask a couple questions go ahead sure more about the business model with the containers they're all are they rented I mean are they are they yours sitting there in the yard or the people own them so um okay a couple of things pertaining to I don't know if you want me to speak about the transition a little bit because just want to clear a couple of things up so first of all um regarding the auto salvage operation which it when we purchased the place in 2000 it always was and if you listen to all the neighbors and all the stories I don't think anybody's going to deny that it always was a junkyard even back in the 50s or even earlier so what happened was you know during Co a lot of things changed we we changed and how it started was in my statement I mentioned instead of dismantling the vehicles there we would buy vehicles and load them in containers and ship them out of the country that became a big market so that's how containers got introduced into the property and that's how it they're interconnected into this whole story okay we didn't just come up and say let's just get containers in here so we started loading cars as opposed to disassembling them at our facility into the containers shipping them overseas there was a backlog with all the shipping lines I'm sure you guys heard about it at the ports and that caused us to have the containers sit on our property much longer than we anticipated so that's how it it slowly transitioned you you can't you know remove a thousand cars and bring in you know a couple hundred containers overnight this happened based on what the market uh you know dictated and and and we basically once we found out that there was some um you know I guess uh issues with with the neighbors and stuff like that and we were visited by the by Chris beevans we had discussions about applying for this particular use variants so um you know this has been in the works for a while he you know we we we didn't just do this overnight to to to uh you know kind of like ski the line here so it was done because it just happened uh to survive in terms of the co era and then once we started doing it we realized hey instead of doing this dismantling on a daily basis if we can bring in chassis in the containers which is really Auto Salvage it's not breaking apart it's just building they're they're brand new components which are what's a car a car is basically a motor wheels and a frame chassis is the same thing without the motor without the grease without the dirt it's just chassis of a of a truck of of the frame and then it's got the wheels and it's got you know the landing legs and stuff like that that's that's all it is so it does kind of blend with what we were doing the containers is a byproduct of you know their arriving in the container so we have to put them somewhere and now that they're there uh there's additional there's additional demand for for that type of for that type of business so that's why you know it it happened in 2000 uh and 20 when covid started and then it's been unfortunately this long to get to this step because um you know there was a lot of changes in the business and once we decided uh Chris said this was the best option for you guys to go in front of the board we had to assemble a team we had to prepare everything we went through multiple meetings and uh I guess there's some complexity with with the site and and with this type of thing so that's why um you know it took so long to get to this point but it wasn't done in any kind of way to cheat the system or to take advantage of the system it was done um out of I guess not knowing the system to answer your question well do you own the containers or you you didn't answer the question at all sorry I I just I just wanted to address that issue so so the containers are owned either by The Shipping Lines okay which bring the chassis to us okay and then they will pick them up once they have you know room on their vessel that's the first type of customer the second type of customer is someone who brings the containers to us and then actually resells them there so they'll bring it in let's say for the purpose of delivering Goods to an end user and then the container comes to our facility to sit there and they'll resell it to their and customer so there's some you know maybe 20 to 30 days which takes to do that and then the the third use is the container comes in with Auto Parts or for the purpose of being of cars being shipped so they come in for that as well until the the uh process is ready to load the vehicles into the cars there's there's time while they sit there as well so there there's multiple reasons why the containers are arriving in our facility um and um I I hope that answers your question no that thank you and but you said you can resell the container so I could so this is retail right I can go in there and buy a container if I wanted one if you wanted to purchase a container we we could contact the they're not my container so I can contact the shipping line and say hey instead of instead of taking this container back out can we you know get a price in mind I can intermediary for the shipping line to sell containers right I mean we don't advertise or we don't have people off the streets coming to buy containers uh it's it's not our main business and these are still shipping containers right these aren't the decommission ones that you see on construction sites the nasty ones no no no no these are these are yeah they're cargo worthy or or they're one Trippers would you ever have a bigger container than the 40 foot there are bigger ones um there the biggest one that I've seen um is a 45-footer okay and I think there's probably maybe one or two that have come into our facility I don't know if they're still there but I don't think they're there anymore but they're they're in the last couple years I've seen one one or two of them would we have to account for the right the uh roadway in there if you put a 45 in there fit in the racks right yeah it's the same height it's the the height doesn't change it's just a little bit longer so and could stick out into the roadway uh well we wouldn't put obviously we wouldn't put it to block our own uh roadway we would put it somewhere where it's not but it's not very common I've seen it in in the last couple years I've only seen one or two enter our facility and they typically don't stay very long they're unique and I'd like to see something with the noise I really would understood yeah any other questions oh one more question the um container forklift is it a reach or a forklift no it's it's a regular Fork it it doesn't extend okay those those are for loaded containers uh we don't we don't do that or that's not we don't move loaded containers Mr thank you most of my questions have been put your mic on please go last am on hello um off two two two things along the same along the same lines um how did you come up with the number of 500 containers the total uh you're talking about for proposed are you going to have 500 containers all the time or is it going to be less more well the site can only um you know obviously with with the new uh plans that are being proposed here the site can only handle so many so um currently right now it could probably handle about 500 or so uh ballpark but with the changes to the layout of the of the site you know that that number is uh is is variable it it would it would not go up it would have probably go down from what I see in terms of the the layout of the facility so on average you have 500 containers existing exit currently now yeah I think that's that's a fair number okay second second question unrelated um gas for example the sure you oxygen acetylene yes oxygen acetylene do you do any welding we do you do and is that where is it done it's done in um it's either done inside the garage where the dismantling area is or it's done on the um in the work area it's it's we have a special uh a special uh cart that we use that has a fire extinguisher on there and everything is strapped appropriately to do any type of welding it's so it's not outside pardon me it's not outside where no no it's not it's it's it's it's in a designated area where where the floor is is uh you know is designed for that all I have any other questions from any board members okay so before we go to the public portion um I just want to make one statement I know you guys all been patient depending on how long it takes we may not be concluding this tonight so I'm going to let you know right now with we're going to open to the we're going to we're going to open it to the public uh and we're going to get started so I'm going to ask you to step back please and we're going to ask anyone in the public wishing to be heard on this application to please come forward not morning yet but good evening my name's Leonard Bergen b r GN yes I do want to speak the truth and hold the truth and so help me God let's wait till we get done okay that's the first can I say that is it the first all right is it yes that's someone I love it okay well I'm glad somebody agrees with something that I have all right let's do it a little bit let's do a little bit more formally raise your right hand please tell me swear to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth to help you go so oh my God yes your address please you've already given us your name your address what's that your address I am addressed thank you my address is 572 English toown Road two doors down from uh the uh the facility I live directly on Englishtown road so as far as the traffic is concerned I do appreciate the analysis but they don't live there on a daily basis within the last year there's probably over 500 units built on Mount SM Road there's probably another 500 units built on Englishtown Road right next to the Englishtown auction so there should be another analysis done in my mind um the other thing is I don't want to speak for my family and neighbors but the height of the containers duly noted the use of it duly noted the landscape duly noted the biggest thing is the water runoff that comes off of the property um it is exorbitant it's it floods all the adjoining houses next to the property it's something has to get done not for this proposal but immediately something has to get done um I think I spoke for everyone for that I mean I knew that this this has been going on for three years but I've been witnessing now the water for three years and my daughter's family can't even go outside when it RS it's totally ridiculous the amount of the amount of runoff um and that's really it everybody else touched base with pretty much everything that I wanted to say I mean I had a list of things here but everybody said everything that I wanted to hear just a quick question yeah with the last large storm we had are you seeing where the the runoff is emanating from oh yeah we have a video would you like to see the video oh no I we're not we're not we're not going to do that now you yeah I would like to see it but independent you you'll have ample time to sit with Mr Toto to review this yeah to examine it and see you know as far as the height of the storage containers two would be ideal for the Neighbors we'd rather not see a screen because if it did get tattered it would become worse of an optic than seeing the trailers um so the trees would be ideal um I live in the northeast corner so I will be able to see the 16 foot high cars being stacked it is an isore I would like maybe even a higher uh higher trees there immediately because the cars are there right now as we speak in that same area uh I walk out my front door and I see cars stacked dismantled broken windshields you name it sitting from me to you from you know from my house um but again that's not the form that we are we're talking about this proposal and these ordinances but I just wanted to voice my opinion something should be done now and not wait for further you know for this thing to turn over again to turn a new Leaf which seems like it's going to take months and maybe years um I really think something happen has to happen now I really do um I appreciate everybody's time and that's all I have thank you and again I've been uh uh a neighbor for 57 years Monro Township resident so still love it my family lives here born and raised here thank you for your time you're welcome thank you we're GNA take this gentleman here he jumped up first very very eager young man yes to tell the truth the TRU and nothing WR the truth to help you guys yes I do your name and address please s Richard Kathy 7 Sarah Lane Monro Township can you spell your last name please g a t h y thank you and I'm is that your wife yes it is okay she not yet is she going to give any any testimonial hand up she probably is so we're ready to roll keep that hand up please tell me swear to tell the the truth the whole truth nothing but the truths thank you and your name Donna Cathy thank you okay Donna we're going to ask you to turn that mic on please because your husband's going to use one you're going to use one or one of you are going to speak on behalf of bage you can sit down we're not in we're not in court here just pull the mic close to you so we could hear and yeah I do live in a two uh story house on S LAN and it's a huge house it's five bedroom two and a half bath and I can see everything that goes on in my backyard see the crane constantly moving I hear the people screaming each other hey Charlie Charlie like that I'm retired I try to go on my backyard and relax you know kick back I can't even do it because of the noise that's over there and I think it's honestly I think it's a shipyard it doesn't look like no junkyard few few cars you got hanging in there you know the rest is I guarantee it has over 500 uh containers in there you're invited to come to my house anytime you want and sit in my backyard and see what I go through every day or we'll take a walk over to the junkyard and let's just take a walk around that's all that's that'll answer all your questions and I've been there 30 years so we we've never complained when it was a junkyard I mean it wasn't even stacked us that high even when the trees you know the the leaves fell it wasn't such an eyesore now we're looking at a shipyard we're I feel like I live in Newark and they're talking about the noise level they're not telling about the slamming of the containers that that startles you yeah they're not telling you that how would you like to live then you're in your backyard having dinner you know lunch with your husband and boom you hear that I guess the fork C must have dropped it too fast or whatever so I'm hearing slamming of containers that they're not telling you and it is a terrible eye store if you I was hoping that Chris would have been here for the numerous complaints that we made about their about their running their illegal Shipyard and they have run for four years now and that's been going on about four years complaining and now they come up with this what they're not telling you is that the ground level of how they built up the ground level prior to even starting it their ground their height of is this much higher from and we're sitting down here so now they're proposing to have the the three stack I really wish you could just take a drive by and see what we have to see every day and deal with the constant slamming of the containers from the like they said in the crane constantly and the yelling and the burning they didn't even tell you about the burning you should call up Chris the zoning officer we've complained about burning smelling I don't even know what they're burning back there they're not telling you all that block complained and we got 15 houses 15 houses on our block and everybody complains we got young kids that have just been excuse me guys guys this is not an open the snitch not to you this is not an open discussion this is a legal proceeding no it's not for you it's people behind you that are having an individual conversation we have to follow all the rules and regulations okay so you will get your chance to speak your private dialogue can take place outside of here this young lady and gentlemen have the floor right now is the public and we're going to go back to them please continue I would just like you to touch Bas with Chris the zoning officer at the numerous complaints we've made throughout the years and like they said with the traffic and the burning and and the slamming of the containers I feel like I live in Newark I I feel like I live in a shipyard now if this proposal goes through especially three High there's no amount of trees that's going to cover that you know and I PID really good taxes just like you all and I don't think any of you would want to live next to that I mean I appreciate them coming to try to address it but three high is really unacceptable and a shipyard it's not a junkard and the the containers I know Eddie I knew Jack's father I knew a lot of people and they never they always respected the neighbors they never never even when he had a junkyard my dog used to run over there they used to take care of it I was just hoping that would show you the photos they didn't stack them all crazy or nothing like that so I don't know what he's now he got I got sea I got Sealand in my backyard I'm just hoping that Chris make my touch SP with you to address the complaints we've had throughout the years they started this illegal operation Saran St by thank you for your time just a quick question with regard to the burning are you guys uh seeing any evidence of excessive smoke coming from the property it's the it's a smell and we we've addressed that to Chris and I'm sure if you look in his records he's come out there welding his stuff and there the welding is done outside okay that was it that's my only okay thank you thank you anyone else from the public wishing to be heard on this application and this application only please come forward ahead 44 Solly swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth to help you got thank you okay um I did hear that Environmental Testing is done every year but was it done at Phase One and phase two that's something that still needs to be determined they haven't submitted it so that's one of the requests should we move forward that's one of the stipulations that it needs to be provided to the engineer for confirmation of that okay and does the applicant have a 2024 junkyard license the answer is yes yes yes yeah we'll provide that as well it was part of the public record but we'll provide that affirmatively okay and then my last question has something to do about contaminating and I guess you don't know that answer yet we don't know that but they also testified that they have do we don't need you to get back up they tested they have documentation and again that's part of the stipulation should anything go forward they need to provide that as well okay and that's all I have right now thank you anyone else from the public wishing to be heard thank you sure we'll do one at a time that's my husband we'll sway in one at a time okay ladies first okay Solly swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing with the truth so help you God I do your name please Lori zika z i ha and we're going to get your husband in now too oh I'm sorry we need your address first please eight Sarah Lane Bob Robles r o b ls8 Sarah Lane so we swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth to help you God yes sir you're going to you're going to use that mic you're going to use that one you're first all right um the house I live in was my parents house they were they bought it brand new uh 1956 when it was built um I've been living there 61 years so I seen when it was the junkyard Jack's Junkyard yard uh the the cars they didn't have them stacked on racks then they were on ground level and my brother owned the property behind our yard which is the property before right next to the junkyard and the house runs up along on the English toown Road so at that time David offs put a fence all around there because there was no fence at the time the property um the fence is an 8ft fence in the back and the the land was down low where the bottom of the fenes and at one point several years ago there was uh filling going on I don't know if it's when David off sold the property or if it was the new owners that bought the property that filled it in but now the ground is as high as the fence and the cars that used to be there the rooftops are now were over the fence those cars are no longer there now because they have the containers there um the property that is behind me and and the one just before the junkyard line it's not a heavily wooded property as was stated by these gentlemen um the land is mowed there are trees around there but it's not heavily wooded so uh there is it's it's too high the the the containers are too high you come up the road where my house is and then you could see all the containers behind us behind the house everybody asks us what is all that garbage back there it's embarrassing it ruins the value of your property and it should be lower if they want to keep it it needs to be lower and some kind of buffer to to you know to hide it you know because it's it's ruin in the value of your property to look at that you know it's like you're living next to Port norc so I think that they need to do something for the better what she said there you go smart smart man smart man indeed very good okay is that it I think so thank you anyone else in the public wishing to be heard on this application and this application only seeing there's none I'm going to make a motion to close the public portion second do I have a motion um a motion to close or second second Mr tany all in favor of closing the public portion I thank you Mr Toto I think in the beginning of the conversation you wanted to reserve the right whether this goes to a vote or not now's your time to speak Mr chairman there are a number of items uh both raised by the the board uh the public the board's professionals that we need to take a a a long hard look at at uh including noise among the least of the issues uh so at this point I'd like to for the board not to vote and for us to come back uh with supplemental material the same items we talked about with Mr asot the environmental Etc so I would like to to come back along with those terms are are are you in agreeance to meet with neighbors to work out anything that could be worked out absolutely okay and when do you plan on coming back I can't imagine making it back within within a month I really don't uh we would Endeavor to do it in two months the October meeting M extension through the end of the year so you want it till till December I'll extend through the end of the year and I'll I'll put that in writing fine thank you yeah y Abol just keep in mind we don't have meetings in December understood I can go to January no yeah so I'll I'll extend to the end of January 31st 2025 God it hurts to say that that's fine that's fine thank you thank you but we Endeavor to get before the board before then of course if we hit 2025 you'll have to re notice fair enough if we do it in November you you're not going to have to re I appreciate that Mr chairman okay yep what's November yeah why don't we just why don't we just put it down and carry it to November so we don't run into any more mishaps whoever's here about this application is here they understand it because there'll be no further notification so let's slate it for November unless we go to January no notice required in November what's the date in November November November 26 we're going to shoot for oh October October Walter say what's that October 29th good good no additional notice October 29th so everyone in the public obviously he agreed to meet with you guys or you folks beforehand and October 29th is the new Target date for them to come back answer some of our questions answer some of your questions and we'll see where happens or where it goes from that point Thank you thank you for your time evening we appreciate it see you guys soon enjoy the rest of what's left of the summer okay board we're we're not done yet so everyone just sit down whoever's leaving please leave quietly we still have work to do okay board members we have no memorialization s do we have any discussion items no okay now we're going to open it to the public the general public anyone wishing to be heard please come forward yes someone y yeah just give us one second okay yes sir you have your floor name and address please I don't think I have to swear you in okay oh done my name is sud Mur I uh live on spell your name please okay sudhir uh first name S as in Sam u d as in David h e e r sudhir last name yeah last name madapur m a m a d as in David A P Ur and your address please 271 Morning Glory Drive Monroe okay he's all sworn in okay sir just I didn't I didn't swear him but go ahead um so this is regarding the want to give him time me I want to see what he wants to say first got okay yeah so this is regarding the upcoming uh Warehouse project on North dill and Butcher Road now you realize that that's a planning board application yes but we we have questions about the zoning actually of but the board the board cannot answer any of those questions right so the board cannot cannot get involved with a planning board application that would be improper it could be considered prejudicial right and anything you say to the board we cannot respond in any way right we cannot have a dialogue we cannot have a conversation I'm I'm sure this is very important to you but it's immaterial to this board right so can I just put forth a question you don't have to answer because it's about zoning actually so if you have a question about zoning I suggest you talk to the zoning officer okay so it cannot be heard here not not really we we we can't we can't give you any advice we can't answer you we can't really discuss it at all all right but I I want you to go to the zoning officer if you have a question about zoning okay as it concerns that application I see okay thank you all right just thank you m hi yes your name my name is agnish first name r a g n i s h last name is Vats vs 54 Edington Lane Monro Township go ahead yes sir I just have one question you just mentioned uh to my fellow friend sudir that you will not entertain any questions regarding the zoning so Mike concern is that this zoning was done much long time back when there not so many residential areas in the surroundings where this Warehouse new Warehouse is is planned to to come so if that can be considered by the zoning board to amend the zoning I know the application is been taken by the planning board hold on hold on this this zoning board does not amend ordinances only the council can amend zoning ordinances and how to approach them you go to the council meeting the last time we were present in the council meeting and they said they can do nothing about it it has to be taken care care of by the planning board now the planning board meeting we were there last time we did wanted to present our questions but it didn't happen now the next planning board meeting is on the on the 26 so we are planning to come in that meeting but the my question was as we were doing our research and we did lot of the the findings and we came to know that the zoning was done as a commercial for that property which is a private property and uh the federal business centers they want to build build a big Warehouse over there now the Butcher Road and the disb Hill Road those are single Lane roads how the tractor trailers can come on that excuse me okay you you're trying to make your case to the wrong board okay you obviously have an issue with the warehouse I understand understand that all right and I respect that and your right to speak but you are talking to the wrong board so the planning board nobody here can answer you we can't have a discussion I'm sorry no no I I I I follow you but it's so confusing I mean planning board to zining board back to planning board and then go to the council and talk to the uh the the council members to take some action and you stop this warehouse and do something about the residents are impacted 8,000 res ID 2,000 homes are will be impacted by this Warehouse okay I suggest you go to the planning board or the council or the zoning officer it's just that this particular board cannot get involved in any way so you cannot even help with the with the with the with considering the rezoning of the of the commercial area whatever it is we this board does not handle rezonings what this ask you if you need to ask a question you'll have to come up what this board does is what you just heard tonight we listen to applications that become before this board and we make decisions based on that application and that application only there is no application for a warehouse in front of this board so we cannot pass judgment or make any comments or say anything about it because we know nothing about it if if if something is going through the process it has to follow the process if the Zoning Board needs to do something when it comes to us we'll do it if the planning board needs to do something when it comes to them they'll do it if the council has to do something when it comes to them they'll do it currently again we all understand your concern but there's nothing before this board that we can help you with because we have nothing you sat here and heard all testimony about an application we based our decision on that we can't base anything because we don't know anything about it because it's currently not before this board it needs to come before this board before a decision could be rendered after we hear all the testimony so if it makes this if it comes to this board the way you heard testimony tonight the way you heard people talk that's the time to come here and voice your opinion at that point and then we can proceed from there then you can come up as public and ask us questions why we just heard an application what was going on we don't have that paperwork in front of us okay I understand that but my again my concern was if you can recommend of the of the again what are we recommending we don't know we don't we don't know what's going on so how can we recommend something and we don't make recommendations we come here before people come before this board to make a decision if they could use property not use property so on and so forth there is no application here we can't recommend we can't comment we can't help you at this point because there's nothing before this board we have no documentation at all zero so as for the the master plan of that Township when the zoning is done for for the certain areas okay this is commercial zoning this is residential zoning whatever is the board does take care of that if the board does not this board does not not not our J nothing to do with master plan okay only by the zoning office you you mentioned it's all done by the all I'm telling you is this board does not handle the master plan that's all I'm going to say I got you thank you so much for your time sir okay anyone else want to come up and be heard from the public please do hello hi my name is ganesa can you spell it please uh g y a n e s h w a last name s a d a m a s t l a address is 283 morning L Tri monra so again like we also I'm also trying to uh concern the same concern about the warehouse but just want to get few things right we met came to the planning board meeting on on that day only one person was heard just want to be on the record right what happened on that day there were like 100 people here only one person was heard we were trying to get meetings with the mayor for this concern just to meet him right as a fellow resident but that meeting was not taken we tried to meet uh with Rupa Sega our Council woman even that was denied so the thing is like I know we can go to the planning board which will come on the day on September 26 but as a board at least our voices should be heard of what is what our concern is because we been here like 3 hours here sitting on the board and then the zoning which was done for this property right uh for the warehouse property which was done way back but now that that where whatever zoning was done was incorrect I want to just bring it to the board it's I know that you will not answer it but I just what I'm saying is it was done Incorrect and it has to be changed we as a public we don't understand how these meetings happen from the planning board because we just throwing off thrown off from one board to the other meeting but then our concern right is not heard by the mayor not by the councilwoman not by you and we had to just go to the only the one last meeting which is the planning board meeting so that's that's my concern and just I just want you to answer like how do I go because I cannot give you any legal advice I'm sorry I try the business administrator I represent this board okay I canot we were there on the we were there on the council meeting on that day and we were just hold on let me cut in here most of yous are at the planning board meeting okay that that is the Forum to hear your your voice at the planning board meeting you're all made aware of that at the planning board meeting the application was carried to another planning board meeting that's coming up you were made aware of that at that time you'll be heard all in the public testimony anybody who wants to get up and speak will be heard at that meeting that is the only forum for that application and any of your concerns it's not this board as our attorney has already said it's not the council because there is an active application before the planning board not being interfered by any anybody else I have one question right I know the planning board is going to make the decision for that for that property and all that okay but the zoning right the zoning how is the zoning uh happened for this property questions can go see the zoning officer as our attorney advised you yeah to hear your your concerned is at the planning board meeting that's going to be coming up I I don't know the date you can check with zoning to see when that date was I believe it was announced at the planning board meeting uh that that you were only one person in a public public was heard at that time there like people there but only one person was heard is likeor so yeah that that's what our concern was like at least we come to this meeting and at least show our concern that's what we here for and been waiting for 3 hours so I thought like at least to put on the record that this is a concern from the Monro resident and that's why we here to hear us that's what I have all right thank you thank you anybody else wishing to be heard from the public CL it okay I'm going to make a motion to close the public portion so move second second all in favor public portion is now closed I have a uh any correspondence uh I make a motion to adjourn journ second second all in favor thank you e