I don't know surve state only surve because of that okay meeting of the Summerville planning board for February 14 2024 please come to order adequate notice of this meeting as required by the open public meeting act has been provided a copy of a notice specifying the date time and location was one posted on the bullet board outside Bor Hall two mail facts are emailed to The Courier News and three given to the Kirk administrator this meeting is a Judicial proceeding any questions or comments must be limited to the issues that the board May legally consider in reaching a decision and the deorum appropriate to a Judicial hearing must be maintained at all times roll call please chairman Nado here M rinsky here mayor Gallagher here councilman vom here missir here M Warner here Mr crasa here Mr cresties here Mr Cleveland here Mr ox and Mr aens here okay Pledge of Allegiance flag the United States of America rep stands one nation under God indivisible Justice for All okay approval of the minutes for the regular meeting of um what was it January 24th second chairman avado yes Miss rinsky yes mayor Gallagher yes councilman vom yes Miss adir yes M Warner yes Mr kco yes Mr crusties yes Mr Cleveland yes okay approval of the minutes for the executive session of January 24th 2024 so moved second chairman aado yes M rosinski yes mayor Gallagher yes councilman vroom yes Miss adir yes Miss Warner yes Mr kco yes Mr cresties yes Mr Cleveland yes okay um now we have resolution authorizing a non-fair and open contract to Cha Consulting Inc to serve as the 2024 conflict conflict planning board engineer and planner second chairman Nado yes M rinsky yes mayor Gallagher yes councilman room yes M yes Miss Warner yes Mr CA yes Mr crusties yes Mr Cleveland yes okay next we have a resolution um memorializing the approval of um what is it uh 134 East Main LLC Mr chairman the only change we need to make is the date of the completeness letter of Mr Cole's report um needs to be inserted in there he's going to get it for me will put it in but as long as we could uh have a motion to Second and adopt it subject to that inclusion of that date okay so moved second subject to inclusion of that date correct chairman aado yes Mr zsky yes mayor gallager yes councilman V yes Mr yes m w yes Mr crco yes Mr crusties yes Mr Cleveland yes okay next we have have a hearing for New Jersey Elixir company LLC Mr chairman I think Mr D uh would like to recuse herself from this application okay um she's been involved I don't want to speak for you if you'd like to explain I'm kind of involved with um the applicants as to the American Legion the commander at the American I don't think okay that's fine yeah just as of out of an abundance of caution and we have enough people here tonight so right but she has to leave the strawberries have a good night good evening Mr chairman and members of the board my name is David singer um from the law firm of porio Bromberg and Newman and I represent uh the applicant tonight uh we are here before the board tonight on behalf of our client seeking a minor site plan approval to enhance the property by renovating the existing restaurant into a metery which is consistent with allowable uses in the B1 Zone the property is located at block 62 lot 20 and is commonly known as 20-30 East Main Street the proposed Renovations will not alter the existing footprint of the property property is currently vacant and this applicant intends to create a vibrant use for the main street of Somerville tonight you will hear testimony ony on behalf of the applicant by a member of um the applicant by our planner engineer and our architect uh explaining the renovation and that the proposed uh application is fully conforming with the requirements of summeral ordinances and the municipal land use law and should be granted at this time uh I'd like to call our first um witness okay you want to swear them all in one time yep we're going to swear everybody in uh just before we start um Jenna all notices and publication proofs are in and everything's satisfactory okay uh yeah if we could just get those three individuals I'll swear them all in at the same time and then they can present their name and qualifications this really the testimony you're about to give this board is the truth the whole truth or nothing but the truth okay and then just for housekeeping purposes uh will'll Mark as A1 the application and the supporting documentation A2 will be the proof of notice and publication and A3 will be Mr Cole's letter of January 31 2024 2024 yes geez um and pb2 will be the burough of Somerville fire officials letter dated February 5th 2024 yes thank you I got tripped up with the year I'm still saying 2023 thank you at this time I'd like to call up um Caleb uh who is represents uh New Jersey Elixir you could just spell your name for the record uh first name Caleb c a l EB last name Alice ahle um Caleb can you uh please explain to board what your title and position is with regard to the applicant I'm one of the founding members of New Jersey Elixir company um specifically handling um the systems with the real estate development uh land uh uh use review and uh the lease negotiations my background is specifically in real estate development um Logistics and Supply Chain management could you explain to the board what exactly a metery is and uh what your business plans are for the property yes so uh a metery is um a location where we can make and sell meat it is uh meat is a specifically a honey based uh alcohol fermentable alcohol and uh we intend to sell uh me with varieties of of mixtures of of yeast different flavors uh it'll come in several different strengths such as wine or beer strength alcohols um and we intend to fabricate this on site uh host a tasting room um that will allow folks to bring in their uh food from other restaurants uh within the community and uh we will also distribute to the local bars restaurants um within the local region with hopes to expand over the over the years and what time do you tend to operate um the metery uh generally we're going to we're going to be operating within the times of uh noon to midnight to be consistent with other uh businesses in the in the in the community and I know a question that um was in U Mr Cole's report which was marked as pb1 was with regard to the exterior lights when do you intend to operate those lights um those lights are intended to be Dust Till Dawn it is not something that we as the tenant have control over but we will be working with the landlord to make sure that those are operating as appropriate are there any questions for this witness have questions okay thank you this time I'd like to call up uh John manino our architect good evening Happy Valentine's Day same to you uh my name is John manino I'm uh owner and principal of serero architect located for on Corn Hill Roo New Jersey um John can you tell the board what your educational background is uh yes so I have a bachelor's degree in architecture uh graduated from Philadelphia College of textiles and Science in 2001 um I've been practicing since I've uh many of you may have known my old partner Carmen serer uh who was a Summerville based architect originally uh me and him were partners and I acquired a firm from him when he retired about three and a half years ago um so uh I've uh testified in front of various boards across Six States um so I'm very familiar with the with the process what licenses do you currently hold so uh I'm a licensed architect uh again across Six States New Jersey Pennsylvania New York Connecticut Delaware and Virginia I would ask the board to accept John manino as an architect we will accept it just going to pull up some of the uh the plans screen a little small okay so um on the screen is uh digital PDF of what you have in front of you was previously submitted as part of the application do you want to Mar this has this been submitted with the application then that will be part of A1 yeah this is no change to this uh document um what you see before you is on on the very top of the drawing is the current layout of the vacant Indian restaurant um and below is the proposed interior modifications of uh the applicant is proposing for the metery um as Caleb has alluded to earlier the uh this is a primarily an interior Rehabilitation project um it's going to involve really a complete uh Demolition and reconstruction of the inside except for some uh the existing bathrooms and uh main existing service utilities um it would be all new finishes new ceiling um an elaborate seating area a serving bar as well as the production facilities necessary to produce the meat in the back of the area that previously was occupied by a full service kitchen um seating arrangements that you see there uh help for hierarchia seating some Lounge seating some bar seating as well as some other you know more communal type of seating arrangements um the applicant uh though primarily interior renovation work is proposed there are some exterior Renovations being considered of course primarily the front facade facing Main Street um currently it is presented per the Indian restaurants uh color scheme and branding uh the applicant is proposing to upgrade the facade with a new color scheme new signage um all to be in compliant with uh with the ordinance um um I want to draw your attention to uh what's been marked pb1 the uh report from Cole dated January 31st 2024 um to the extent you haven't addressed it in your opening uh you can address um Mr CO's comments specifically in section four of his uh yes um I would like to um enter an exhibit to assist in addressing some of the comments that were posed in uh Michael Cole's uh letter okay so mark that is a three four I think it's a four it's a three a three okay yeah I I'm mistakenly Mark Mike's report is A3 instead of1 um so A3 just give us a title uh who prepared it and date okay so um the date on this document is February 14 2004 um it is noted as exhibits and it was prepared uh by our office before you is really um simil uh same floor plans that you've received as party application as well as the same exterior elevations what we did in an effort is we increased the size of the images of the elevation along with printed it in color because the application was made in black and white just so we have a better visual of what currently exists U from the Indian restaurant's uh image to what is currently being proposed uh by the applicant for the facade modifications um we can touch on individual comments or talk about um I know in section 4 a we talk about parking and circulation um so to the extent uh the building settle on the way consider painted not painted ma um and that consideration should be given to painting the facade again so I'll touch on um I'll elaborate on that comment a bit just touch on the generalities of the exterior Renovations proposed in respect to the comment uh number two along the alleyway um currently there are six blocked up windows that were blocked up over the years um the applicant is proposing to reopen and reuse four of those locations to to help with get some natural diffused uh daylight into the space um we will be reusing the existing openings existing structural lentils so we wouldn't be creating new openings uh per se um with respect to the doors that access the alleyway we will be replacing those doors with new doors and new hardware um in order to continue use of those doors as uh EG stores which are were previously being utilized as erress stores as part of the Indian restaurant um um turn your attention to uh 4D building elevations and facade um and specifically if you could provide testimony related to as requested by Mr yes and and I will touch on on the the front facade which is item one under Section d as well since we have a before and after representation uh on the screen um so again uh the existing elevation left over from the Indian restaurant consists of a creamy yellow color painted wall with a burgundy accent and there are some wood um articulated treatments both over the uh storefront entry as well as at the corners of of the building uh the applicant's intent is to remove all The Branding uh that is left over from the Indian restaurant which would include all the woodwork uh the projecting wood Canopy over the door and uh and the Cornus and repaint the facade primarily in a in a soft white color which would be uh consistent with what we see with the adjacent uh building facade which we know as kaima um and then we would incorporate a a gray a soft gray uh accent in replace a the burgundy to help uh utilize a backdrop for their new Elixir sign uh that would be proposed over the door uh in addition to that we we're also proposing a uh fabric style uh awning uh over the entrance storefront um and again the the the height and location and size uh would be consistent with um uh the orance um as far as the number two uh you know I think that touches on most of of those comments except for the rooftop equipment that's lumped into that comment um the space currently uh is fed by three rooftop units um in this exhibit I'll try to highlight it here in this exhibit we highlighted where those locations are this rectangular box here this rectangular box and this rectangular box back here are the three primary rooftop units that feed this facility it is our intent to if possible to reuse the equipment if they're in condition to do so otherwise if Replacements required we will be replacing in the same location as they currently exist so we can utilize U existing curb openings Etc we don't anticipate any rooftop screening since the existing units are not visible and we don't anticipate the uh any newer units uh changing that uh condition um the uh I want to turn your attention to um section 4 F regarding the signage um and explain it timony yes yes so um what had been submitted as part of the application was a sign that was being proposed at 3 feet high by 8 foot wide however in conversation with the applicant the applicant has agreed to amend the signage size to ensure that uh it will not be any taller than two feet in height and no more than 8 feet in width um the proportions would probably make the sign a little bit smaller in width but we are proposing today u a sign no larger than two foot high by eight foot wide um to ensure compliance um the sign itself um you know a full signage package will be prepared by the applicant and their signage vendor to provide all the information necessary material mounting uh illumination and illumination levels uh the intent is to uh maintain a consistent illumination with the adjacent properties um as far as intensity is concerned and uh currently they are proposed as being internally illuminated with regard to um section 4G the rooftop mechanical equipment you'll revise the the plans to show the uh rooftop equipment yes we'll include the locations of where the existing rooftop units are located which are also the anticipated locations of any new equipment for replacement um and certainly any new equipment would would meet the uh noise regulations that are necessary for the for the code and ordinance okay next I want to turn your attention to what has been marked as uh tb2 the um report of the Fire Marshall dated February 5th 2024 um to the extent you didn't address uh ESS in your prior testimony can you please address the comments in fire uh yes and I'll start by just highlighting on the plan for everyone um where the egress doors currently are U obviously we have the main front doors that face the uh main street the sidewalk that acts as an Ingress and egress we have these two doors there's one man door here another man door here both are signed uh as exit doors that go onto a commet Alleyway driveway uh adjacent to the property and then there's two other exit doors right now there's this rear door as well as there's a shared uh access uh with the adjacent restaurant um currently that is can also and was utilized as an exit door as well um our proposal and our proposal plan is to utilize all of the existing exit doors in their same location except for one uh we would be abandoning the shared access with the adjacent um restaurant mainly for security purposes and just ease of management between the two businesses and so on um there's no need to share that that access point um that will keep us with four egress points for our space with respect to the fire uh fire prevention bureau's comments um much of which really pertain to compliance with building and fire codes which we will address as part of the Interior fit up work so um with respect to compliance the the interior fit up work will comply with all applicable building and fire egress codes as necessary per per the New Jersey uniform construction code and the latest codes that are adopted within that um I understand that there is a concern on his part with respect to the two doors that access the alleyway again those are two existing doors that are currently signed as exit doors and have been um should a need arise we are able to accommodate egress even with just the front and rear doors from an egress standpoint and still comply with building code um so again that'll be something that'll be addressed as part of our application for uh for building permit and the the the two side doors empty onto the alley correct the rear door is does that empty onto a loading dock yeah it's a raised uh it's a shared raised platform I wouldn't really say it's a loading dock per se I mean it really acts as a service platform for for the two for the two tenants um there there is no way for a for a vehicle really to back up to it I mean there's parking spaces in front of it and there's there's columns that support the shed so it's not really a loading dock but uh but it is a an elevated um platform okay thanks any questions yeah those doors that platform can act as a safety this it's for fire exit only it's not for customers coming in and out that's just it would be it's for exit if for just for fire exit yeah and it it acts as a service access for the tenant of course yeah correct yeah customers would not be permitted to enter from the rear of the building all access for customers from an Ingress standpoint would be from the main street just like all other tenants so the alleyway is also just a safety issue cor so if there's something going on yeah you're G to be trespassing but it's for the safety of the people in the building to be able to Exit out exit correct thank you we're in the process of reviewing title to see if there is a lot of the documents are are fairly old and and not easy to read in terms of whether there was a prior agreement historically but it is something we're looking into We Believe has been used as ESS um in the past that there is likely some sort of an agreement in place historically okay any other questions for this uh I just can you address refuse and handling of recyclables and garbage I believe our planner will address that but um currently all the all the refu and and dumpsters are existing um where they currently exist each tenants in this case the um metery and um Kima um have access to individual enclosures the metery from what my best of my knowledge and again the planner can attested this they have an enclosed area in the back where their Refuge goes what you see as uh open and uncontrolled let's say uh is really the adjacent uh adjacent tenants regarding the sign the led the sign I understand it's a custom sign I just requested it be dimmable so that the brightness can be adjusted should yeah I I I believe the applicant is is uh certainly more than more than willing to make sure that that's accommodated okay um are you going to address the drainage the I have our our planner and engine okay address coms okay so the rest of the items and Mike H's report he'll address will'll be addressed by our thanks this time I'd like to call up um our planner and engineer Joe Vince Mr Vince can you please tell the board your uh educational background sure I have a bachelor science degree from Fairley Dickinson University and civil engineering technology I also have a bachelor's science degree from NJIT land surveying can you um tell the board what licenses you currently hold I'm a licensed engineer land surveyor and planner and how many boards uh have you appeared before a lot um I don't know uh I appeared before the Zoning Board in this town I've been to Bridgewater other surrounding towns and uh I also represent several other municipalities as the uh the bural engineer the planning board zoning board engineer and building department engineer I would that the accept um Jo Vince as our planning and Engineering we find him acceptable thank you um I want to go back to what's been marked as pb1 um the letter from Michael Cole dated January 31st 2024 um and I want to draw your attention to uh item 4 B storm water drain okay um I did inspect the site I didn't see external any external roof leaders uh which um I would also uh agree that they're uh internal roof drains um the Project's not going to have any change in storm water management uh there's really no change at all proposed to the building or footprint and or any other site improvements and um if we need to provide a die test we can uh certainly agree to do that um want to turn your attention to the the next item in the report item C sight lighting yes uh So currently the um there isn't much sight lighting uh on right on the side in the alley uh currently the alley is pretty bright um a lot of the lights are coming off the neighboring building there are uh two or three fixtures on our building but they weren't currently operational I believe um the applicant is uh in discussions with the landlord to try to get those lights fixed uh there's also a spotlight type light on the uh at the rear on the loading dock um when I say Spotlight it's more of a residential type fixture with just two bulbs and uh that's not operational at this point in time but uh the intent is to just fix it in kind um but it's really not a substantial light it's uh it's just going to light up the area um typical of a uh a residential type fixture turn your attention then to um the extent uh you know the question was raised regarding Solid Waste Management yeah so uh the proposed use really doesn't generate a lot of trash I was uh talking to the applicant about it um a lot of the containers and things that they get for the products they get sent back to uh where the products are coming from and they get refilled and reused um we really there there's going to be minimal trash there may be some cardboard boxes and things um but the amount of trash is going to be less than what the Indian restaurant generated and probably the uh the restaurant next door uh all the trash is going to be kept in the dumpster area that's going to be provided by the landlord um I was told that the uh the dumpsters that are getting assigned to the tenant are the ones in the uh in an existing enclosure um and then as far as the recycling I believe the county does it with uh with containers that they provide um the tenant right now is not aware of any containers that are on the site but uh they'll talk to the landlord the county about that and uh they're going to use that if possible if not they're going to uh just have to put it in the uh the dumpster and uh deal with a private Waller thank you um uh uh four um Mr call discusses the sanitary sewers can you um provide testimony regarding whether there's going to be any flow increases the we don't anticipate any increase in flows and oh that was the one with the die test and if we have to die test the uh the sewer who will comply whatever Mr Cole like um I want to draw your attention to um the summary of variances and waivers that were Mr report um I want to recap that according to Mr will be complying with Section 102 120g um you know also testify be comp with Section 10219 um I'd like you to address um the comment regarding section 102-117 which is regarding the OD or noise oh there there's no expected odors um it's a a relatively uh clean process and odor free from uh what I've been told about it and um there'll be no no oders that would uh create a nuisance to any of the other surrounding properties no no exhaust strands no there there's no exhaust or uh any sort of fumes that are associated with the use it would likely actually be less than what was existing there there isn't a full kit right good um and with regard to uh the waiver do you believe a waiver is necessary for the dumpster no I don't see any other practical uh means of disposing the waste and it's pre-existing correct correct there's no changes at all proposed to the site okay and and how much waste are you going to generate I mean you're talking about cardboard boxes and that kind of stuff but does the production itself generate waste no are you food with this drink at all so you will have people eating food out of cake out containers so you'll have that way right it's going to function similar to a brewery where you you could bring your food in and consume it and uh there'll be a Tasting Room which leads me to a question about the water usage so you have all these Vats that you're brewing in I assume occasionally you clean them out so that's a large vol water that's going to be going through the sewer system yes um are there any questions for Mr V going back to the I guess the take in food somebody comes with a party of 10 and they want to bring food in they want to order it or get it from the food truck are you going to have the capacity for your garbage to handle that excuse me yes because there there's dumpsters already associated with the space that was GNA that was for a restaurant use so uh the amount of garbage that would be generated is going to be substantially less than the restaurant but you still have the capacity to take care of it yes and if and if it gets to be to to much will you go to there would have to be accommodations made with the landlord uh certainly the intent is not to have overflowing garbage on the site right and uh you know that would be a code violation but uh that that's certainly not the intent a typical condition is is that the frequency of a pickup will be increased if it's a public health issue right just a typical comment very that's what I was going to right right yeah they'd have to come pick it up more frequent or get a larger container or it would have to be accommodations made but I can imagine 100 or 99 seats if everybody brought something in you were packed right that could be a lot of garbage can I just ask I think I'm going back to the owner so the canning assembly line are you canning stuff that's going into the restaurant are you canning stuff that's going to be sold outside of the building so where are you storing the stuff that's going to bu outside like I don't see a storage room except for the cooler you have say that one more time you have stories within want to come to microphone yeah that would be better you guys to hear come on up to the microphone and then everybody who's watching and on TV can he you hear you so the storage for the camp stuff that's going to be leaving the restaurant or the F yeah so we we have space about 19 pet worth on the inside of the space it just wasn't marked out on the plan can you show that on the plan architure that on the um is that the Stag the staging area correct sorry yeah staging area by that back door by the fire exit yeah yeah so in the staging area that's throughout here we're not we're we we're purposely leaving access that'll allow folks to travel our our not our customers but our employ employes um who need to go back of house for whatever reason um will be able to go uh access and then egress the property from the back and then we have space through here where we're going to be able to store pallets um of of goods that will be for distribution okay any other questions I just have one on the sewer flows I agree with you I don't think they're being increased but The Correspondents from um sbsa stating that we had the situation with Village yeah Brewery that I got an email after the fact because it was change from a commercial to a restaurant and the approval was prior to this the code change it got into a TI a tack on what connection feed was required yeah our uh our process much less intensive than a standard Brewing we're literally dumping honey and water into a tank letting it sit pumping it out putting it into some Kegs and serving it up and um you know none of the water is going to waste with the exception of the occasional rinsing that we have to do to clean the interior there's a lot less uh heating up going down rewashing and going through the whole process that beer does take to make it's much simpler with with meat oh I agree with you I'm just saying haven't board approved this in paperwork from the srsa so that they're on the same page as they all us yeah okay any other questions do you have any more testimonies to present I just want to finish shars approvals we already this state federal licing in process approvals if there are no further questions respectfully subm okay I'm going to open it up to the public for comments and questions anybody hearing none we will close the public session um and we will be voting on preliminary approval correct uh what have you do you apply for both preliminary and final okay um is the board see a need to separate the two okay okay so what we're looking for would be preliminary um and final this is classified as a minor yeah change in use minor change in use minor site plan approval um all of the variances have been explained um Away by the applicant they are not necessary no variances or waivers um I do have some conditions but one of the things that I did hear that the board may want to weigh in on one of the things that the applicant does not want to comply with uh in Mr Cole's report is the screening of the rooftop equipment so I don't know if you want to address that um and discuss whether or not you feel that's necessary or not otherwise I can just say the applicant's willing to comply with all the conditions in Mike's report if if they replace some and it's different sizes and they're visible from the street then it should be but if they're not visible from the street then I see no reason that was the testimony I heard that they're not in public view currently i p up the street view from and you can't see them now but if they do have to be replaced and you put in larger ones they should be screened then that's generally what we've done if it's not in public view why why screen it then yeah so the applicant is keep the locations well they change but they're still not in public view the board's comfortable with that but if they are but if they are what we typically do is some lattice we're not talking something yes Yeah just something to dress it up so that yeah the we'll replace the rtus in kind um if allowable and if they are larger and you can't see from the street we we'll screen it up but we're not putting you know chillers up there right so okay so the approval would be uh site plan approval uh the conditions I have would be compliance with all conditions in Mr Cole's report marked as pb1 as well as the conditions um in the report of the Fire official marked as pb2 um um the hours of operation 12:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. signage will be compliant specifically 2 feet by 8T um the frequency of pickups or the size of the trash container will be enhanced if and as necessary uh so as not to create a public health hazard um the only condition that would be altered in Mike's report would be that screening of the rooftop equipment would only be required if the equipment was replaced and visible from the street um I would suggest that the board ask for or uh a copy if you're able to locate it based on the title work of any agreement for that rear uh egress uh easement or AIS or whatever the case may be just so we have one for the file um the plans if I got this correct shall be amended to show that that staging area is what will be used for storage that's that's the intention just so again that's that's clear um the applicant will do its best to tidy up its portion of the rear um uh loading do area and can you help me with the sewer connection fee condition how do we want to word that just documentation that if there's no fee to the authority if there is a fee that they should prove of paying a fee but I am I'm comfortable that a restaurant this will be typically St by seats not by the actual process and I think the seats are very similar so I don't see a uh connection fee however the authority wants to make that determination okay so documentation that either there is no fee or if there is a fee what that is in proof of payment right real quick can you just clarify the hours noon to midnight and then because I thought I saw in the report that it was going to be open till 2: am but that's what the state allows but we're going to be more consistent with what is done in the current Community okay those the conditions and that's the uh relief it's necessary I will move it on all those conditions second okay chairman NADA yes Miss razinski yes mayor Gallagher yes councilman yes Miss Warner yes Mr CR yes Mr cresties yes Mr Cleveland yes Mr aens yes and just a quick thank you if I may Mr chair um I want to thank you for uh investing in our community um it's a very unique thing that you're doing uh I I think it complements the uh the brewery we have and obviously all the restaurants we have and uh look forward to trying out some meat so thank thank you thank you thank you okay um I'm going to keep my comments fairly brief um we got a request from the burough councel to look into um Z owning as it relates to Firearms retail stores and it's my understanding from our attorney that that's we're subject to at least one lawsuit and as a result I I don't think we should discuss that change right now until the lawsuits are settled um but anything we do now isn't going to affect the current situation at all because it's a it was a permitted use when they got their permits and so nothing we do right now is going to change anything um the the other thing that I wanted to address is we got and I just got it today the a sample ordinance opposing the fairhouse in act and I think I think we need to discuss that at this board I know that the bur council's going to discuss it but I'm sure they're going to ask for our input and so get I think we all got it but yeah I think it was distributed it's a draft resolution that has been proposed by Jeff seran for the municipalities and or the boards or really anybody that wants to weigh in on this to just Express their displeasure uh with the with the bill yep okay but I think we need to get a little more input before we even discuss it um okay that concludes my comments I will now open the meeting up to the public okay so if there's anyone that wants to speak if you just can just come up to the microphone give your name and your address and uh floor is yours Caroline flamos 37 West Springs Street um while I do appreciate your remarks addressing the situation with the proposed gun shop I do have a few different things I'd like to share with the board pertaining to the Future um and I do think that we can still look ahead to the Future even if it doesn't affect this specific shop um because the reality is there's nothing that says another one wouldn't open right within the same zoning area um so I think we can try to look to the Future as many people including the mayor actually at a previous meeting have expressed that this is probably not the most ideal location all right um I was a little surprised to hear a couple of meetings ago during a count Town council meeting that the board has not convened in 20 plus years to review the zones overall in our town that was a little shocking um I've been a resident here for over 12 years and um that upsets me greatly to hear the second thing I'd like to do is share some suggestions but I also want to share some facts about communities who uh have gun shops in them um and I actually sent these facts to all of you um I sent them to Jenna who's going to pass it along uh along with citations just in case you want to know where my sources are from um there are roughly five incidents per day where Firearms go missing from gun dealers through robbery burglary larsy or other loss too often these guns are diverted to the illegal Market states with the most gun dealers per capita have 10 times higher rates of guns traffic to another state and subsequently used in a crime that states with the fewest gun dealers then seats with the fewest gun dealers per capita the large number of gun dealers near schools is a concern because of the crime that they attract in 2021 there were nearly 900 thefts or robberies from gun shops at a rate of over two per day gun violence can depreciate the home the value of a home up to 4% while this doesn't sound like a lot if it were a $500,000 home that would be a depreciation of $220,000 another quote our results indicate that homicide rates increase in the Years following an increase in gun density additionally gun density itself has no significant relationship with homicides not involving a gun now that we've seen how allowing a gun chop into our small community especially in a mixed commercial and residential areas with schools dance studios a church and other small businesses could Ser seriously impact things let's discuss other ways in which this is completely wrong New Jersey law s368 states that towns are supposed to collect certificates of insurance from landlords and businesses on an annual basis and be sure that they keep a record of these certificates additionally they are supposed to show that there is 500,000 general liability coverage low in my opinion I used to work in the insurance industry and write these types of policies this is to protect your citizens in case they are injured in or around these businesses if they are a landlord and they have 500,000 in general liability and they have three or four stores and somebody slips and falls in another one the first thing when there's a lawsuit related to that slip and fall is for the insurance company to see if the nature of business in every single spot that the landlord opens has been disclosed if it hasn't the policy is voided and now that citizen who broke their neck has no protection then they're going to sue the town okay it is also to indemnify the town from lawsuit as the town will have done its due diligence in protecting its citizens Town ordinance for this section says window signs are permitted in the B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 and B6 Zone District as an accessory structure to non-residential uses subject to the following requirements the intent of these requirements is to regulate signs located inside a building that could reasonably be construed as serving the same or equivalent function to signs outside the building a window signs both permanent and temporary and aggre shall not cover more than 30% of the total area of the various display windows I don't know if you've been by this shop 100% of the windows are covered why because federal law and I believe state law requires them to cover the shop windows but if that's the case and it's in conflict with our local zoning such a shop never should have been approved for this Zone however state law oh I'll skip that one our zoning code also o States any building structure or use which would create an undue Hazard of fire explosion or nuisance by reason of odor noise dust or smoke or which in any way would be detrimental to the health safety and public morals of the community can be excluded I think we're all saying that this could be a potential safety risk especially if we're seeing that crime and burglary goes up in areas where there are gun shops BAS B on these law laws and ordinances along with scientific research I make the following requests of the board please adhere to New Jersey Law 1368 this is as much to protect the town as it is the residents I also suggest the following and you can take it or leave it for me I never wrote a business especially a landlord but any business with less than a million in liability we're in a very litigious State it's not wise in my opinion if you're going to be a business withot traffic to have less than a mill but that's up to them secondly landlords should furnish a CO COI but should be required to list the nature of the business taking place on the premises including a full list of all stores and what goods or services are sold at said location this is to be sure that the insurer is aware of the risk they are insuring in the case of 131 North Gaston Avenue if the insurer is unaware that a gun shop is on the premises and a person slips and falls at the adjacent Pizzeria or hair salon when the insurance company conducts their investigation and learns of unauthorized business taking place on premises they would only be reli uh liable to return premiums it would void the policy please consider some new Cate categorization and consider sending some businesses immediately to the Zoning Board of adjustment this should include businesses which deal in hazardous materials or carrying items manufactured with the intent to be used as Weapons if hazardous materials or items manufactured with the intention to be used as Weapons fall in a zone that abuts Residential Properties schools Parks or other places young children may be found I strongly suggest prohibiting such business from taking place in these zones please establish a true gun-free School Zone by prohibiting the sale of items manufactured with the intent of usage As Weapons within a th000 ft as the crow flies from the property line of any public or private school Nursery School daycare Park children's fitness or dance studio or residential area when an inspector is sent out to a property which has been granted a permit please be sure they are up to code with all zoning regulations within the town this would include if state regulations prevent them from being compliant with Town ordinance in that case the you should not have been permitted for that zone please confirm with applicants that they have a valid lease at the address listed on the application and that all federal and state permits are within compliance before a permit is issued I would love to see if we could have an independent study on how much this could reduce the property value of homes in the area bearing in mind that this is the only Public elementary school in our town we are not Bridgewater we don't have a whole ton of schools I used to teach in Edison Township we had 11 elementary schools if a parent was very angry about something that happened in the neighborhood they could simply go to the Board of Ed and ask for their child to be sent to a different school and sometimes they would do that we have no choice we are being held hostage in the last council meeting at 41 minutes and 22 seconds the mayor did say that tonight the count the planning board would vote to make a recommendation to review zoning and that it won't affect the store that's currently going in so yes we understand that it won't affect this store but we work were told that at tonight's meeting there would be a discussion and vote we also know that we can't Zone things completely out of our community but exclusionary zoning which was referred to in the last meeting is actually part of a completely different issue that happened way back in the 70s and is related to residential and not commercial so it doesn't actually have anything to do with this at the end of the day it's our government's responsibility to protect itself and its citizens please consider everything that I just mentioned as you make your recommendations thank you anybody else all right we'll close the public session first of all I want to say sorry Maria Ranken I live at 67 Lisa Terrace in Somerville um thank you for all of that you do um I appreciate that we have the opportunity to speak here tonight and the opportunity for public comment um and with that said I'm I'll keep my comments brief but I just want to say that I strongly strongly support Banning gun sales within at least a th000 feet of all schools childcare facilities and children's recreational areas um and I do hope that you consider that in all future zoning regulations thank you thank you Bill Cisco 37 Eastern Avenue um I was previously a member of the flood zone committee right exactly and during that those times the term exclusionary zoning came up quite often and as it was just mentioned previously um what I've heard is that it's a residential housing type exclusion and then during the last few uh Council meetings we've heard it again but again for commercial so I do not know what the rule is and I was wondering if somebody can clarify what does exclusionary zoning mean and does it apply to commercial so exclusionary zoning in its purest form means exactly that that you're excluding any particular use from a particular Zone it has been come to be more associated with affordable housing and residential types of zoning um but in like I said it's it's purest form it typically just means to exclude any sort of use from a particular zone or any area within the municipality is that is this information is this um available anywhere to read or to find or like where where can we find this information so we can where does it say it like where does it say Define exclusionary e owning so I guess maybe I could help you a little more if I could understand and the reason for the I'm just trying to find out or understand if in the future this board can exclude gun stores from our from our town well and what I can tell you is one of the things that uh the burough and the board will be doing is looking into all of those issues from every angle not only in light of the litigation but in light of case law and everything else to make sure that anything that it does will be sustained and is proper from a legal perspective okay thank you thank you hi good evening everyone my name is Maisy Walsh I live at 17 West Cliff Street uh again also thank you and thanks to everyone who came up and spoke before me I actually wasn't planning to speak tonight I just had a couple questions based on some of the things that we heard um I am here you know with these lovely people most of them over here um about the gun shop as well um and my questions are are really this is my first planning board meeting and so I just had some questions because we listened to this metery presentation um and it was very detailed and it was about you know signage and it was about how they plan to get deliveries and you know Hazard public hazards and I wanted to know if the gun shop went through that process as well and if if not why not I can explain that yeah didn't because it's a permitted use it wasn't a change of use this metary is a change of use from a restaurant to Brewing okay and that's why they had to appeared before the board retail to retail typically doesn't require an appearance before any board if it's a permitted use and this was so it didn't didn't require going to a board just like a clothing store are going to some other kind of hard Goods doesn't you know downtown they they change standards all the time and they don't have to go to a board we require applicants who are changing the use to come to the board um we require new restaurants at particularly food um food establishments to come to the board okay um and applicants if a site plan is required for an application they have the right to file an application for to wave that site plan appearance if if any change they're making to the exterior of the building is minor in nature they can come and and request a waiver right so the doors and stuff like that that he was talking about and and but typically if there's retail establishment and and another one moves in doesn't go to any board so change of use just doesn't apply to retail no not if you're going retail to retail or Sporting Goods to Sporting Goods which I think that's what it felt is is a gun shop considered Sporting Goods yeah that was the that was the catch that was the catch that was what people did not expect okay so is this area that's around you know the school obviously is this area zoned as any retail business can be there would a liquor store have to apply or or something there there are certain sic I think now it's called naics codes that are permitted within the particular zones they're all outlined in our ordinance and the attachments to the ordinance um this particular one fell under the Sporting Goods which is permitted in the SIC codes that are allowed there um so that's all all in our ordinance you can take a look at that but it's hard to answer that question because there's so many different ones in different zones right okay so Somerville we just don't have anything that says that you know that there are certain types of business that are either more or less allowed or accepted in certain areas if you take a look at the ordinance and those NAIC and sic codes within the particular zones that will show you what they are and aren't so whatever's listed there is loud okay you look at schedule a schedule a schedule a the land use ordinance chapter 102 okay it will give each Zone be PS for things C for conditional use at the conditions and if it's not listed it's prohibited okay all right great thank you so much I appreciate it thank you thank you mckel milenberg 31 Eastern Avenue and thanks again for being here listening to us so I kind of build on what my fellow citizens here are talking about uh one main question um you said nothing's going to change what happened so one M main question I have now is how long does it take to review uh this this example of um permitted use of say Sporting Goods within a thousand feet of a school obviously you know many of us are upset it even happened was approved so how long would it take for a change to actually happen at the zoning or the planning level uh so that we could review this in the future it wouldn't just be approved because it's within the retail license that's allowed it's going to depend a lot on when we can discuss it um you know as I said earlier it's subject of a lawsuit right now and um on advice of councel we're not going to talk about it until the lawsuits settled one way or another okay all due respect the council here or to the the planning board um I think the lack of having spoken about this in the past and I myself plan to be at every council meeting I can every planning board meeting every zoning meeting were were relevant because I think um uh this crept up on us and I think it's it's just not right I it's my opinion um but I'm incredibly upset and some are many of the people in the town so I'd like to see while there's a pending lawsuit I'd like to see action uh or at least advise us as Citizens what can we do uh what questions can we answer what petitions can we file if necessary um how can we make sure we're being heard so that a month from now there is an exact same kind of permit because if somebody applies today I understand they're allowed to open a business just like this correct anywhere in Somerville it's my understanding as long as within zoning and permitted uh rights correct say that again as long as what so another business like this another firearms store could open up somewhere else in Summerville if they wanted to could so that I mean my concern is let's stop uh let's at least consider what's happening I would like to hear the permit process will go through more due diligence before opening up a business like this well I will say that that traditionally there have been sporting good stores in Somerville and and growing up there was one on Main Street okay well be before my my time as a resident here um my problem is the proximity of it to the school where kids walk by every day Patza place that my kids want to go to my main concern is that the it's the wrong location against my opinion uh but I'm incredibly upset that that's where it is I don't care if it was somewhere else maybe more discreet but we should be thinking about about that in terms of the value to the town does it actually provide value I'm I'm all for small businesses is great uh but let's think about where we put these businesses okay so that's all I have to say we will consider everything we need to consider I hope so thank you thank you chairman if I can weigh in for a moment yeah just in response um the council referred the action of reviewing zoning here to the planning board uh the the planning board uh would accept they they're obviously they they received that communication tonight the board received that communication tonight from the burrow councel uh the board as a single issue taking that up would probably begin that discussion at the next meeting but in light of lawsuits being filed we don't have a choice once again the under advice of council it begins to create a an issue if we begin to discuss uh the zoning as it relates to the applicant I shouldn't say the applicant the store that's going in so now we are precluded from speaking about that until such time that those suits are resolved one way or another however they're resolved once they're resolved I'll tell you this do you have a a planning board here who is extremely thorough if I can speak for all of you uh they're extremely thorough uh extremely diverse in their thinking and they're going to come up with a solution that is best for town for everybody what that is I don't know but I can tell you they're a very thorough group they are very passionate about what they feel and what they think and when they do begin speaking about it we want you here we actually want the public here this is this is the forum for voicing what you think should be allowed in a zone or not in his own um you know you've mentioned a liquor store before we have a liquor store in the zone it's actually closer to the school we have a a smoke shop which is is closer to the the school we have a pot store going up on Route 22 you know I I look at some of these things and I shake my head and and I look at them and I also say well where was the public outcry when those were coming in as well um the exclusionary zoning issue you know the the the idea of trying to be technical in terms of saying that is not it well the reality is when you exclude something completely from a town to me the lay person I'm not an attorney that's that's exclusionary you're excluding something from a town and history has shown and I think Council will bear me out on this that if you exclude something completely from a Zone chances are if you're challenged on it you're going to lose that and then they have the ability to go in wherever they want um we have created zones in the past for I believe it it's adult bookstores uh and for marijuana shops which are on the fringes of town we Tred to push them out as far as we could so that they wouldn't be in the core of town we thought it as a body both as a planning board body and as a council that those zoning laws made sense so I think everybody up here understands what you're saying and I think you're going to have a very thorough and passionate discussion about where this should be located and where it should not be located um given that again we are in a holding pattern until these these lawsuits are resolved and can I ask a clarifying question yeah so that matter we are on holding patter but we had already planned on looking at the zoning throughout Town that's correct and that's we're not stopped from doing that so right that that is correct still we can still proceed with I think we have resed the past 20 years parts of yeah we have and I didn't say 20 years I think it was 10 so um anyway we it's on our agenda for this year to look at the whole master plan look at the resoning um and take a look at how the town is grown what's good for it what's bad what we need to change and that is where we can discuss in general things like this we just can't specifically discuss which one is so we're not stopping completely looking at the town as a whole we just have to not do this particular portion of so I cany we can't talk about this I guess store yeah but we can talk about just in general like yeah we're going to take a look at the whole town the residential the business areas the the PS which are Prof and residential that's changing quite a bit in the town so is our due diligence is to look at the town and see what's changing and what we need to change with it so in general we're going to be doing that all this year that's our goal so the more participation we get the better is that a onee process six mon process I didn't hear that oh it's a year it's a year it's a year year and um yeah it's a year and uh basically the process we've done before broken down Tak a look at different sections some of us form committees to look at specific things we come back together um to take a look at the big picture our our planners advise us along the way we look at other Town towns and how they handle things so it's a it's a information gathering and then an application over the town with hopefully a lot of input from the residents of the Town yeah about 10 years ago the residential zones looked at for decks and detached garages to try to uh easier to get permits but that was an ed adop committee was formed that took the recommendations back to the planning board so the board has done subcommittees to look at specific issues and then make recommendations to the general board so don't give up hope we're not sitting here waiting on everything we just we can't do that one particular thing until the okay close yes one more hi my name is Ellen Parker I'm at 12 putam Street Somerville I I thank you for being on the planning board and I'm speaking because you're my neighbors you're my community my children went to school with your children I volunteer with with your families um we have been talking about facts um there is a fact um in 2021 the US CDC said that over 48,000 people died from cun related deaths I am not just I know that not all guns kill but it's a fact that they do it is a sporting product I understand that but we don't want I would just implore you to look at these proposals that these people have said the facts that they have said to protect our community we do not want anyone to well any any of our children any of our families any of our grandparents any of our neighbors to be hurt by this or even how would we feel if a gun bot in Somerville you know was used to Violent invi in gun violence to someone within or without of our community so um just please take the time to consider the rezoning the facts that have been proposed and know that you know we are very Earnest in wanting to keep Sumer they'll safe we've come together during countless hurricanes and other disasters we need to come together to protect our community in this way thank you thank you okay I'd like to close a public session at this point motion a second all those in favor okay we just CL public we to close the meeting