##VIDEO ID:WOSEryjOYq4## e e e e e e e e hold on S okay s good evening and welcome to tonight's meting meeting of the Zoning Board of adjustment of the township of Union which is being held pursuant to the open public meeting law c231 laws of New Jersey dated 1975 notice of this meeting was advertised in the local Source Andor the star lger the two newspapers of record and notice has been posted on the bulletin board in the municipal building adjacent to the municiple clerk's office roll call Mr Wy here miss Martins here Mr bent Vega present Miss Scott here Mr Johnson here Mr mcneel present Mr Graves here miss rickets is absent Mr Champ here there being a quorum present this meeting is now declared open are there any Communications at this time uh yes Mr chairman I received Communications today from jav bound warab Steve's hil's office regarding calendar number uh 3431 and uh Council will address it once we call it thank you okay our first order of business then will be calendar number 3431 Ukrainian Evangelical Assemblies of God DBA Living World church located at 2208 Stanley Terrace block 5504 lot 1718 and 2201 applicant wishes overnight truck parking which is not permitted use in the CI Zone Mr merman thank you Mr chairman uh as the uh correspondents from Mr H indicates we're requesting an adjournment of this matter with no date obviously we understand that means that we're going to have to read advertise the next time that this matter comes forward um the adjournment basically is being requested uh based upon the input that we have seen from the public from the board as well as our discussions with staff and we we want to go in and we want to uh revise our presentation uh deal with some of the issues that we know that are is have been Troublesome uh and we didn't want to uh create another situation where we had a full room and then just come in and and wind up requesting the adjournment so we've done we've done it this way and we would hope that the board would just grant that adjournment and as I said we are aware that we're going to need to re notice yes for the record Mr chairman Rob Pan the board attorney I did the communication reference by the board secretary is of today date addressed to the board um it's from Mr hail he references the conclusion of the last hearing where I suggested that the matter be held in abeyance because there were some legal issues associated with the permissiveness of the use of trucks in the zone so it really has opened some intriguing discussions amongst our offices uh and I think it's a Cooperative effort so I think it's a legitimate request I think it should be uh recognized they have waved any time constraint Str to confront the board to act so that's legally uh protects us that's what I look for so I think uh a motion in a second uh unless anyone has any questions or concerns about the request a motion in a second and then all in favor who are eligible could uh vote to carry it without date any questions from any board members har none may have a motion and a second to adjourn without date calendar number 3431 Ukrainian Evangelical Assemblies of God Mr chairman i' like to make a motion to adjourn without notice uh for calendar number 3431 noce with with notice with notice it's with notice excuse me yeah without a new date yet they're going to reot excuse me all right to adjourn with notice uh it's going to be calendar 3431 your craning evangelic Assemblies of God doing business as Living World Church 2208 Stanley Terrace block 5504 lot 1718 and 2201 second motion council do we need a roll call or all in favor said yes all in favor is fine all in favor opposed so moved thank you Mr chairman okay for the Public's benefit if anybody's here for the Ukraine Church matter that it will not be continue tonight uh there will be new notices going out both in the uh 200 foot mailing list as well as published in the newspaper and you always could coordinate with the uh building department for any updated details regarding that application okay our our next order of business is calendar number 3437 Janetta Presley located at 2271 Morrison Avenue block 51007 lot 58 applicant wishes to erect an 11 8ot fence um it'll be carried for resolution at this time are there any board members you've all had a chance to read the resolution at this time are there any board members that would like to make changes comments or modifications to the resolution as written hearing none may I have a motion in a second to adopt the resolution chairman Ive that this board adop the resolution as R and modified as actoral prev Board second motion roll call Mr Wy yes M Marts yes Mr paga yes Mr Johnson yes Mr mcneel yes Mr Graves yes Mr Champion yes our next order of business is calendar number 3438 Jeb Foods LLC located at 332 Indiana Street block 5808 Lots 52 and 54 applicant wishes to upgrade and repair conjoined garages and subdivide the Lots Mr merman good evening Mr chairman members of the board Stephen H merman of the law firm of javal warft hicks conon Wickstrom and sinin appearing on behalf of the applicant appreciate the board's uh time this even evening uh it's a very difficult night being uh 911 and uh we all have gone through a lot over the last several years as I was actually driving in I saw something very interesting tonight and I saw shadow of what looked like one of those spacecraft that's up there right now right around the moon and so 911 is a difficult day and I appreciate the fact that you all have come out uh to uh give us your time for this application um it's a very nice application uh one that is very unique and it's Unique because of the location of the site it's Unique because of when my when our client purchased the site these two garages that are next to each other have been conjoined the property line goes right through the middle of those two buildings right now so it's two garages our client has been operating there for some time and we'll have uh Mr B Aros uh from Jeb Foods come forward in a few minutes to describe what uh goes on on the site um because of the site being uh right there in a residential neighborhood but it's on the cusp of it um there are actually two uses on the site right now the first being a bakery it was a convenience store right on the corner we're going to move the lot line so that it's no longer right between the building so that in fact the uh convenience store bakery site is going to have two parking spots dedicated to that to that use right now there are no Park there's no parking that's uh dedicated to that it's all on street parking so we'll have some parking added to that also uh we're proposing uh this to become a mixed use building uh and there is sufficient parking in the parking lot uh that will handle uh both the uh commercial use as it currently exists as well as the additional residential uses so without further Ado I'd like to call my first witness Mr Ben ARIS yes for the record uh Mr chairman board members and Council Rob panul the board attorney I did Mark A1 the application as it was submitted A2 is the site plan from eka Associates consists of seven sheets the seventh sheet being a survey onepage survey six page site plan and A3 are the architectural plans that submitted uh consisting of two sheets so we're A1 through A3 for the record and I do note the the departmental comments including the August 6th 202 for uh communication from colar engineering so uh that we have as part of the record can I ask the witness to raise your hand and swear or affirm that the testimony you can provide this evening is the truth and the whole truth I do and for the record could you state and spell your name with your business affiliation Benjamin Arrow b n j a m r n last name r e r o and you're the representative of the applicant yes thank you let's start with that question what's your position with Jeet Foods I'm the owner the owner how long has Jeet Foods been in in business uh since 2016 I would say uh six years and sorry eight years eight years uh has Jeb Foods ever operated any other location than the one that we're talking about today right no and could you tell the board succinctly as you can what Jeb foods does what do you do um we import uh specialty food products from uh West Africa uh loting fore flowers and we um we we uh sell them wholesale uh we primarily do wholesale and also internet sales of our products so while there are sales going on there are no retail sales going on on the property is that correct no um when you say you import the products how do those products arrive at the site um they come in uh continent um most times once every 3 4 months got a Contin load we offload them within 2 three hours and it can leave now with regard to the sales how do the products leave the site uh they are picked up by um uh trucks so are those they're appitized because they we do wholesale and they picked up by uh trucks but how often uh are there pickups or outgoing orders at the site uh for wholesale very few I say maybe once every two weeks um but for retail which are smaller Par Four pound bags uh those are picked up almost every day by UPS UPS USBS right so so uh but you don't have any of your own trucks there's no trucks that are stored on the property these trucks are all transient no right uh are there any Vehicles associated with the with the business that are are stored on the site overnight obviously you have your own personal vehicle I'm not talking about that uh but as far as trucks or other delivery nothing's kept overnight right okay how many employees are uh employed at this site myself just myself when you have the um pallets and the trucks come in that's got that's got to be hard on you to do that just by yourself do you have any help yeah I I I uh get uh uh how do you call them monol laborers I go to Springfield there's a place on Springfield that pick up some my laborers for that day so day labor yeah I just P them at daily rate they help me outlo so um as far as the operation day-to-day operations uh of your site could you tell the board give the board the benefit of hours of operation uh between 9 and 5: Monday to Friday right and for the majority of the time it's only you on the site yes um the current site can can you explain to the board why you're here for the upgrade of your site um the um garages are falling apart um the foundations are um messed up and so I'm trying to U renovate them and uh give it a better you know uh better look for the community right and uh uh just make it uh safer um it's a really terrible thing so um there's a second part of this application and that is with regard to mixed use for the residential uses could you tell the board why you have uh decided to seek these additional uses for the property no there um it I just figured since I'm going to be renovating it uh M cre uh residential aspect to it uh the whole area is zone for residential and I've always uh it has always be an issue that I have a business there um even though I was grandf fored in so I felt if I put a bit of residential in there that might help out a little bit you know that might you know change ludes a little bit so it doesn't look like it's people look at my building and so suppos you know have some residential that you also and and other than the uh movement of the lot line there's going to be no uh Renovations or improvements uh are proposed relative to the existing sit that one more time there's there no improvements proposed for the existing building on the corner that currently houses the bakery is that correct you mean n lurel 90 Laurel we are not proposing any improvements to that property the only thing that is being proposed OS is the lot line adjustment on 3:15 I yes I have no further questions Mr chairman uh certainly reserve my right to ask additional questions based upon questions from the board or the public of my my client witness are there any board members that would like to question Mr Arrow's testimony chairman when this container comes and drops off uh the product every three months where does it usually park on laal or on Indiana say one more time when the container comes and drops off your product um where does it usually park on it parks in my parking lot your parking lot yeah any other board questions yeah have a question Mr Mr AR can you explain to the board what type of products do you sell out of there what are they dry food what type of products come like I said they're special food products uh glutenfree uh we we we kind of moved towards healthy food products and we're trying to create a healthy the whole thing started with us trying to create um health conscious food products for our community I kind of went bigger and so we wanted products that that were not genetically modified or had U um um some health issues with them we wanted to create products that were like the casawa flour for instance is 100% gluten free uh grain free uh so anyone that has celc disease can substitute Cava flour for their wheat flour um so that's that's kind of our primary uh product uh Nigeria where we bring it for is the highest producer of Cava flow in the world so we using that to also help the economy in Nigeria by being the casab and also help the economy here and help the community here by making it available for them all right my next question is there any baking done on premises on our end yes no we s them in 50b bags uh the retail bags are 4B bags which we send to customers are there any other board members that would like to question this way Mr chairman I I I do have a followup question based upon the question that my clients already answered there are no perishable foods being stored on this property that's correct no no nothing that needs Refrigeration we're not proposing any Refrigeration no anything like like that for that so so you're not preparing any product on site there are no perishable products on site everything's basically Dry Goods right yeah a non perishable uh single ingredient stle there's no ingredients missed in it it's just it's made it strictly from casaba roots and it's dried and it's uh blended into powder and Shi here thank you can I just be clear on the commercial aspect of the mixed use building that also doesn't have a retail feature or it's not encouraged it's supplementing use on the other site I'm not sure I understand so so if if I may Mr thank you um The Proposal is the building that currently uh consists of the two garages side by side the warehouse that uh has been described by the the witness is located in those two garages right now it will maintain and continue basically to operate in the same space but in the new building that is the commercial use on the bottom there's only that one use obviously we'll have the architect testify as to what the use is going to look like and the engineer will discuss the the various uh properties yeah that's what I was clarifying not open door retail where we need parking or concern the the retail use is in the existing building uh that we are moving the lot line that that is that is retail um and that has been retail uh for as long as my clients have had control of the site um and certainly uh of this particular building uh I just want to note one thing um and one additional question for Mr Arrow right now if uh we were to come to the site we're going to see a uh storage container that's on the site that correct yes yes it's your intention that once the renovations are all done that you're not going to need any additional storage outside of the building no the only reason it's there in the first place I I just recently I just recently uh put it there when I when I thought I was renovating I I didn't know have to come before the board to do that so I put it there so I can store the stuff in the garage because my fear is garage is going to collapse in a minute now uh but what if I once I'm able to fix that then I'm going to take whatever is supposed to be in the garage back inside and return just wanted to make the board aware of the fact that you're going to be uh upgrading the site and whatever is currently on the site's going to be removed yeah thank you thank you any other board questions hearing none are there any members of the public that would like to question Mr Arrow's testimony hearing none counselor your next witness my next witness would be Robert Coleman can I ask the witness to swear or affirm that the testimony you provide this evening is the truth and the whole truth it is I do and for the record State and spell your name with your business affiliation Robert Coleman last name spelled c o l n an and I'm a licensed architect in the state of New Jersey thank you Mr Coleman could you uh please give the board the benefit of your background and know you've already stated you're a licensed architect in the state of New Jersey but uh where'd you go to school Miami University in Oxford Ohio how many years have you been a licensed architect in the state of New Jersey 43 you licensed in any other states uh Pennsylvania New York Connecticut basically the states that cluster around New Jersey Mr murma the board will accept his credentials thank you Mr chairman Mr Coleman uh would you uh explain to the board uh what your role has been relative to the design of this project uh Mr AOS originally contacted me to uh basically uh draw make some drawings for a repair of the two buildings that were on the site which I did um we met I believe with the uh construction official on the site and we walked around the building with him and he looked at it and there was so much damage to the wall and the footings down at the grade level that it was decided that would be better for us to just build a new building and at that time we decided well we'll put some apartments upstairs uh to have a mixed use building and some uh living units upstairs to provide income for the owner and some uh living units for the uh neighborhood and so that went through that design process to get to he today um you have prepared drawings for this project uh I hope so well it should be right in front of you there we go oh there we are there we are um why don't you blow let's blow that up so that we get rid of all the nonsense okay there we are you guys can see that on your screen there we go could you just run through this exhibit identifying it by the uh page number this is page number one of two you see uh the top buildings the top row of buildings here are the front and the rear of this uh of the our proposed building the right side is the uh front front elevation which borders Indiana Street you'll see on the right the overhead door uh with a man door next to it to get in and out of the uh warehouse storage work area without having to open the uh people door or the overhead door you'll see rows of windows on the second floor which are the apartments and they're either uh in the living room areas or the bedroom areas to the left on the first floor you'll see two more windows which are in the uh work area and office areas which we have on the first floor and the entry door right here off Indiana Street the re that entry door that you just identified that's the entry door for the commercial use or is that the entry door for the residential users CU there are two entry doors on that that that the door on the left is for the you'll see here that's the entry door for the lobby for uh Mr aros's business which comes into a Lobby a little conference area a barrier free ADA Compliant bathroom and his little office in the back looking here as long as I'm on this sheet this is the uh entrance to the apartments which is off the left rear Corner near the parking areas and the parking spaces which comes up this side and you'll see three two-bedroom apartments here with living area which would have a dining area living room furniture and a small kitchen and two bedrooms and each of the units basically would consist of a living area with a kitchen in it like this one right here small kitchen bathroom two bedrooms with closets and they're all the areas are inside the living units they're all there are three Apartments roughly the same size two bedrooms kitchen bathroom living dining room area um can you give us uh an estimate or or the exact uh sizes of those bedrooms I'm sorry not the bedrooms but the apartments themselves let's see forgive me I'm not used oh there it is right here it's right under the word second floor the first uh unit is 674 Square ft second unit is 799 Square ft and the third unit is 680 Square ft thank you um the uh residential uses and the commercial uses there any connecting door between the two uses or is it totally segregated the SE there's a separate entrance to the second floor living area which is again off that left rear corner uh and it doesn't connect at all to the commercial warehouse use at all they each have separate entries um could you describe a little of the uh the look of the building building and what type of materials that you're proposing uh this building be constructed of the first floor which is a commercial use will be a uh a concrete block which will either be regular block with a masonry paint or a split face block which has a that look of stone on it and the second floor would be a frame with done in siding probably a vinyl siding or a Hardy plank depending on the availability of the the colors and I propose to use Earth Tone colors on the Block de sding in the roof which would be uh tan dark gray slate colored colors now this is a uh a residential block the Bas block I'm talking about the the the block itself the surrounding neighborhood right okay how how do how do those colors that you just proposed work with the with the neighborhood as I recall the neighborhood from the time I was there there are earthtone colors in the neighborhood there's some Grays uh some light Blues White lot of white um front porches is predominantly uh two family houses one two family houses two stories um and they're basic B basic houses that you see in this area all right I have no further questions Mr Coleman at this time Mr chairman I would reserve my right to ask additional questions based upon other questions to the witness are there any board members that would like to question Mr Coleman's testimony I do have a a question um one um have you seen the comments coming from the fire department yes I have right here um spring system will be put in the building that's not a problem I'll put the uh fire department connection uh probably maybe this big space between the window and the garage door it's a lot of space there for them to get to it'll be very obvious there it'll be labeled as required by the uh fire code and the fire department we will supply a fire alarm system uh laid out and designed by a fire alarm specialist uh that's not a problem I will be supplying uh floor plans to those excuse me professionals for them to do their work um the knock box excuse me again will be laid out and labeled on the plans the electric vehicle charging station and the uh EV fire blank uh I suppose those are more of the site PL so he labels them out in the uh parking area where they can be reached by the uh the appropriate car and the the space would be labeled in with signage oh um that that's that's no problem and um in terms of heating and cooling um what are you proposing uh in the concern is if it's if it's a combined unit where would do the compressors go um are they going to be on the side of the building the back of the building um and I know I haven't seen a site plan so maybe they they're identified there um well I can I can uh make the uh HVAC units I'd probably use a heat pump so we don't have to have gas meters or oil you know um because they're getting very efficient now I've used them on a number of cases as far as the outside units go if they're not on the uh the site wall we just don't know CU I know I can build a little recess that's hidden by the pitch of the roof and put them on the roof and then access them from the hallway that goes between the units upstairs that's not a that's not a problem they're not big units like they used to be okay the I I I think the concern if I may Mr M me uh the concern of the board is whether or not they're going to be seen or whether or not they're going to be hidden either on the roof or behind the building which would you think would be the well they'll be completely hidden if I can build a recess Up on the Roof you won't see the from the street at all Mr chairman question Mr Johnson I'm sure there are two stairways but you only mention one Stairway to get upstairs a building this size height I only need one I only need one stair in a building this size and height it's only two stories and of course all the windows will be egress windows as required if I can interpret again we're building this building to to fire cat fire cat does not require more than than one it does not require more than one stairway in a building this height thank you Mr Coleman any other questions from the board members hearing none are there any members of the public that would like to question the testimony of Mr Coleman hearing none counselor thank you at this time I would call our Arch I'm sorry our engineer Joe Bach of eka good evening Mr B can I ask you to swear or affirm that the testimony provide this evening is the truth and the whole truth yes sir and for the record to State spell your name with your affiliation uh Joseph Bachi B A CI I'm with eka Associates 328 Park AV Scotch Plains New Jersey thank you Mr Bacher could you give the board the benefit of your educational and professional background sure uh graduate of recu University with a BS in civil engineering I've been licensed since 2017 I've appeared before this board before many others in throughout the state we'll accept Mr bot's credentials he's been here before thank you Mr chairman uh Mr bot could you uh explain what your role was relative to uh this project that's being presented oh yeah I'm the principal engineer for this project um oversaw the uh design and drafting of this right that's your side plan that's up there yes great uh that's already been marked uh as A1 so uh why don't you run through the side plan and and then we'll come back and we'll talk about some more specifics sure um so starting with the the cover sheet this is sheet uh one um I'll just direct your attention to the zoning map in the middle just to set the scene of of where we are within Union uh you can see we're right on the edge uh the border with with um Maplewood uh on the corner of Indiana and Laurel Avenue uh it's again the site comp is consist of uh lot 54 and 52 um you're bound to the north as I mentioned by Laurel AV and you know like I said right on the on the edge of town uh to the east of Indi by Indiana um and then South and West Residential Properties I'm gonna go Jo Joe before before you leave that could you with the cursor could you show the board on the radial map um the approximate location of where the garage units are that we've been talking about the board gets a flavor from this bird's eye view yeah from the bird's eye they they straddle the the property line um in this I can't really make a it's oriented more uh right but some somewhere about where where that uh that just kep popped up with a rectangle right there that's uh the approximate location right so the lines going right down the middle of the the existing structure that's correct okay thank you um that's a good segue I'll go to the uh survey now it's it's the last sheet in the set and we can look at it in a little bit more detail uh so again uh you have lot 54 to the north lot 52 uh to the South here and you can see the existing property line separating these two uh goes right through uh where the garages are located currently um lot 54 roughly rectangular in shape a little bit of an arc uh up to the north here um an approximate area of 4,880 square ft it's an existing non-conformity uh 5,000 sare ft is required uh as you can see there's not much to the site it has again the existing one-story garage an existing one-story building which takes up a majority of the site and then some paved areas in between those buildings uh to the north and and along the sides here uh on lot 52 to the South here uh again you have the uh one-story Garage on this site uh nearly the almost the entirety of the remaining site is is paved uh there is a shipping container on site currently that's a temporary storage uh so that will be removed I'll go into that a little bit more later uh in terms of grading both sights um not too Steep and but steep enough to direct uh storm water off um so it kind of slopes down both sites towards Indiana uh Street um there are a number of existing nonconformities lot size width depth front yard side yard setbacks uh I'll go into them a little more as I talk about the proposed uh conditions we going to move to sheet two of this set which is the subdivision plan a little too far um and again not a complicated uh proposed subdivision I I highlighted the existing property line previously which is uh right here uh kind of in the middle of the site uh the subdivision itself really just consists of pushing this property line up about uh 35 ft in placement it here so that'll create lot 541 again somewhat you know generally rectangular in shape and then proposed lot 5201 will be this uh L-shaped just going over it with my cursor here um lot 5201 will uh be in conformance with lot size approximate area of 7,198 square F feet uh proposed lot 541 will be undersized uh currently is we are making a little bit smaller uh 3,179 Square ft um I'm going to move to sheet three our site plan um as applicant and and Mr mman stated lot proposed lot 541 which contains the existing Bakery uh really nothing going on there of consequence uh nothing with the building is changes is changing uh the only changes is adding two employee parking spaces in the rear of the building um and relocating some AC units to accommodate that so currently No Parking On on lot 541 we are adding two spaces so uh while we are under parked there um existing and and in the proposed condition we are improving the situation let me let me stop you right there is this going to require a curb cut um a new curb cut yeah there is a a new curb cut proposed as well for those uh two parking spaces uh moving down to the to the meat of the application is we focus on proposed lot 5201 uh that's where we have shown uh we go over with my cursor you can see here is where the uh proposed two-story mixed use building will be ancillary to that is a proposed parking lot a total of six spaces including one EV parking space so credit for seven spaces uh one handicap of course as well uh so it's these four spaces here and then two parallel spaces here uh we doing uh we did include a trash enclosure uh we have proposed uh vinyl fence around the sides of the property uh in this area um again another another curb cut um so so existing the the sidewalk this was pointed out in the engineer's letter as well I'll just uh address this sidewalk is in a little bit of disarray the curve and sidewalk so um we have no problem he the your engineer asked us to fix those sidewalks no problem doing that and that goes along with our proposed curb cuts and and modifications we're proposing on the sidewalk to accommodate that um as far as the footprint of the new building was concerned is that the same footprint of the existing structure is or is it larger um they are similar it is uh bear with me so right now building coverage well it changes because the lots are changing so square footage wise they're they are very very similar you can see the background um existing garages behind there so it it's nearly a perfect fit um I will touch on the variances so for lot 5401 just to lay them out uh we do have a rear rear yard setback of a 10.76 ft um from this side requirement is 25 ft we are seeking relief there um building coverage on this slot we're proposing 61.0 2% uh 40% is required but currently um they're at uh 67.3 one uh perent um lot coverage for this lot um 99.33 proposed 97.4 uh existing uh with 60% uh maximum um and as I mentioned we are seeking relief for for parking uh there's no parking now we are proposing two spaces uh lot 5201 um terms of the variances uh the depth Remains the Same at 96 ft front yard setback of uh 4.4 feet uh it's 5.76 existing with 25t uh minimum required uh side yard setb uh we are getting it off the side yard a little bit right now uh the garage uh touches the sidey yard uh we are we are increasing that to one foot uh lot coverage proposed 89.1 7 um versus 60 allowed but currently at 96 87% um there are a number of waivers regarding parking uh parking setback from the building uh we're proposing 4 feet in this area uh 10t is required uh 4.8 ft from the street we are proposing 10 foots required um property line as well 4.8 ft we're proposing 10 required uh and set back from residential Zone uh .93 ft versus 10t um that's currently parking lot back there so that's very similar to uh the existing condition um let me see I think I covered most of the improvements um I did leave out we are replacing I mentioned the loot coverage is is going down you can see the hatched areas in the rear here and on the sides uh that's paved areas that are being uh converted to grass or or landscaped areas so we're reducing impervious coverage by about 500 sare ft um around the building we have a concrete walk um I think I mentioned the trash enclosure parking um I think that's uh that generally covers the site improvements uh going to the next sheet the grading plan uh not too much going on here we're we're we're maintaining existing drainage patterns uh getting the water off from the parking lot onto uh onto the street in both cases so it be from from this location on site off to the street likewise from the back of the parking lot uh towards the street and and no proposed changes to the north up here uh and I mentioned we're we're reducing perious coverage so no stor Water Management uh is proposed we'll we'll be improving that situation uh last sheet I'll talk about uh lighting and Landscaping I mentioned we're we're adding some landscaped areas we just have typical uh typical ground cover and and um Foundation plantings in the front of the building here make it look nice uh uh grass area adjacent to the parking lot back here in the rear uh we have two building mounted lights proposed on the two-story mixed use building that'll illuminate the sidewalk and and this portion of the parking lot we have a freestanding light in the rear over here to eliminate uh the remainder of the parking lot and one wall mounted light between the two buildings to illuminate the area of uh employee parking um there was another comment in the engineer review letter that there was a uh little bit too much light going off site um I didn't see that but I I'm happy to work with you to resolve that issue we'll make sure that the light there's no excess uh spillage to the neighboring properties um that really concludes my rundown of the of the plans so you've already made references to the uh College's report uh is there any issue with complying with all the requirements that are set forth in it no no issue there likewise with the comments from the fire department no issue uh they have some comments about the EV uh being protected being away from the building uh no issue complying with that okay um let's talk about the parking for a minute uh how many parking spices are proposed uh we have a total of six physical spaces one being uh EV so uh counts for seven and that's satisfactory under the terms of the ordinance as far as parking for the residential uses only we're not talking about it the commercial uses but the residential uses that would cover the residential uses yes and and for the commercial uses there also a a separate parking requirement under the ordinance uh yes there is um and that would be so we uh had a different calculation uh than than the board engineer the board engineer determined 14 total spaces uh and then again this is just for lot 5050 um 50 sorry 5201 um so he determined 14 uh you heard the client's testimony though it's just him that works there so I think those calculations are obviously generalized you know x amount of square feet you need x amount of spaces but he's already testified that he's the only employee there so I don't see an issue um with parking on on site given that those facts and we'll we'll leave it to our our planner to uh justify the variant but there is a variance that's being requested for the number of parking spaces on this site as well uh is there also a variance for the number of parking spaces associated with the uh Bakery use at 9 Laurel yes how many spaces required how many spaces do we have I believe there eight required two proposed zero existing okay Mr chairman I have no further questions of this witness at this time I reserve my right to ask additional questions based upon questions of the board public and professionals thank you are there any board members that would like to question Mr baji yeah I do I see um that we provide for handicap uh at least one space for handicapped parking is that for the commercial use or is that for the residential use uh just for the site itself um so not we don't differentiate because the apartments is on the second floor and they're not handicap accessible that's a good point so um is that still in compliance yeah I mean it it does sound a little counterintuitive but it's it's a requirement to have adaa space and how do how do we propose I mean that area is very condensed in terms of of the housing so when you drive up and down Laurel and you go down any of these streets there's hardly any parking spaces how do you intend I know that he he's the only employee but when he um when he uh you know starts this new Venture you may have people coming in wanting to pick up their product um how do you propose uh those people are going to park my understanding is that that won't be the case that he he doesn't have um you know no retail component uh my understanding his clients aren't coming uh to his they're I guess a distributor you might say um so they're they're taking it in and they're wholesaling it um on top of that if you saw you know the architectural plans there is a um in terms of managing you know inventory and everything the the there dedicated dedicated loading within um the building itself so I know that's going to be all internet based sales and and the like but somebody's got to pick it up and take it somewhere right yeah but I don't think that would affect uh parking because there there is the dedicated loading inside so I think he you know he coordinates pick up they they'll pull in they'll pull into the facility get loaded and pull out correct yes and the parking lot's also available for that Mr mcneel not only inside the building but the parking lot would be available for uh that type of thing if the truck was uh blocking part of the street it would be able to uh pull into the parking area they do their business by the time everybody comes home from work truck's going to be gone is there entry from the park lot into the retail area it's not a retail area Mr MD I'm sorry not retail not retail um the applicant wouldn't have any objection to making sure we characterize that limited feature for the commercial uses because I too raised the retail concern with the lack of parking in the area so as long as that's the way the record's going in I don't want to lose control the site should he get successful or some new user come in 5 years from now and realizes it has a big walk up and Retail feature we want them to be successful but this model is the way you're proposing to get the variant Rel both the parking and the use aspect correct uh that is correct Mr panul I haven't specifically discussed that with our client but I don't believe that it's going to be an issue are there any other board members with questions for Mr bot hearing none are there any members of the public that will like to question Mr botch's testimony hearing none counselor thank you at this time Mr chairman members of the board I would like to call Nicholas graviano licensed professional planner Mr graviano can I ask you to swear or affirm that the testimony you provide this evening is the truth and the whole truth I do and state and spell your name for the record and your affili yes my first name is Nicholas with an H last name graviano g r a v is inv viictor i a n o I am a planner and partner with graviano Gillis Architects and planners with a business address of 101 Crawford's Corner Road in Hell New Jersey let me cut to the chase for the chairman and board and your Council has there been any change in your credentials since you were qualified here last week as a plan I thought it was we'll accept Mr graviano we'll accept his credential thanks for having me always a pleasure being in here all right Nick could you uh tell the board uh and describe the uh the neighborhood and the zoning and why is this an appropriate use certainly uh as the board is familiar with this site now the the professionals before me did a great job describing the site as well as the uh surrounding neighborhood um this is essentially a corner location where the bakery is located on the corner uh the applicants specialty food operation is located behind the bakery on Indiana uh Indiana is a mixture of predominately residential uses ranging everything from single family to multif family uses there's single family homes two family homes three and four family apartment buildings so there's a wide range of residential uses on on Indiana uh this site is located in the RB District the applicant is before the board this evening because uh one there is a subdivision to the existing Bakery property which is reducing the property size that triggers a D2 expansion of a non-conforming use variants because that property is getting smaller you heard the rationale for that subdivision it's to clean up the site as well as to provide off street parking for the existing Bakery use the applicant is requesting the D1 use variants for proposed lot 54.1 because the applicant is proposing to take the commercial the existing non-conforming commercial use the food Wholesale Food operation and making that a mixed use building where that will house the food operation as well as three two-bedroom apartments as you heard Mr uh Coleman go into detail before um that is a use variance because that use is not permitted in the zoning District I'll touch on the bakery site first proposed lot 54 01 which requires the T D2 variants for the expansion of non-conforming use uh when you look at a D2 variants the applicant must demonstrate that this proposal makes this use more acceptable in its particular setting and you heard some of the reasons why the subdivision is being conducted one it's eliminating a very uh unusual lot line configuration that's split through buildings that are dilapidated and and needed Demolition and second ly uh the applicant is now providing off street parking for such use um where there is no off street parking uh in this current situation so certainly that is uh an improvement to the site and makes this proposal more acceptable in its setting um it is a corner location that has accommodated a NE a retail commercial use the bakery um so certainly this this area has a history of the bakery being on that site and the Improvement uh of the parking situation will certainly be a of benefit to the community there's no substantial impairment to the Zone planner zoning ordinance with this proposal this use uh exists today Additionally you heard Mr botch go into detail the applicant does require uh lot area lot depth rear yard setback building coverage lot coverage and parking relief um as I stated before the parking is an improvement um all those variances can be granted under the C2 criteria uh whereas it relates to a specific piece of property here you have an existing uh commercial building additionally it advances purposes of zoning uh Agni a in that it promotes the public health safety morals and Welfare by bringing it more into Conformity with the Township's uh parking Rel regulations uh additionally sufficient space and appropriate location for a variety of commercial uses Corner locations have been historically uh the site of neighborhood uh retail and and small stale commercial uses and then lastly uh it's good Civic design and Arrangement criteria I to prom promote the off Street uh parking on the site uh as to proposed lot 5 2.01 which will be the mixed use building uh when it comes down to it uh this is a zone that allows two family dwellings ings um the commercial operation has been existing on the site for quite some time the applicant provided testimony that he's been on the property for for eight years now from 2016 so you're really looking at the one additional use when it all the one additional unit when it all boils down to it but I think when Mr Bachi uh showed his engineering plan this is a footprint of a new building which is pretty much the exact location of the building that sits there today and when you look at the streetcape I've had a chance to be on this uh Street on two separate occasions once over the weekend and and once before the hearing tonight this eliminates a building that now has two buildings that now has four garage doors is replacing it with a building with only one garage door Additionally the applicants provision of the residential you dwelling units gives it a building that's in character with the residential nature of the neighborhood um this is a building which is very consistent looking with a residential dwelling whether it's a single family dwelling or a one family dwelling um so when you look at the criteria for the use variants you look at in particular cases and for special reasons um that's the positive criteria of the variance this site is particularly suited for the Mixed use building one it currently houses a commercial use two it's located in a residential neighborhood which consists of numerous multifam uh dwellings additionally this use variant supports the purposes of zoning Ag and I as with the uh other lot with the bakery um with in relation to purpose a a promotion of public health safety morals and Welfare um two very poor conditioned structures are being replaced with a new building that's being constructed according to uh modern building codes the neighborhood certainly appropriate for this proposed mixed use purpose G uh providing sufficient space and appropriate location for commercial and residential uses to meet the needs of New Jersey citizens and then lastly this proposal certainly promotes a desirable visual environment through creative development techniques and good Civic design and Arrangement by eliminating those four separate garage doors making a building that's more in character uh with the neighborhood and and providing a very smallscale commercial use which exists today to service a very very limited uh section of of the community as a whole this is a very limited operation that serves a very limited Community as a whole I certainly do not see any substantial detriment to the Zone plan or zoning ordinance with this proposal uh and the uh C variances being requested with with the application uh relate to the setbacks as well as well as the parking uh the applicant is requiring um front yard setback side yard setback lot coverage uh and the parking variant as as we discussed with relation to the parking the applicant has the ability to provide each residential dwelling unit its own space as well as providing three additional spaces for the commercial use you heard the op applicant's operational characteristics there is only one employee on site but there is also additional parking on hand uh for any potential uh visitors so uh the D and C variances for both the bakery site and the proposed mixed use building site uh meet the positive and negative criteria for the approval I have no further questions to Mr graviano reserving my right to ask additional questions based upon the board or the Public's questioning are there any board members that would like to question Mr graviano testimony I just have one and it's it's more of a clarification for my purposes I've heard the term Bakery and now I'm hearing the ter you know but the the owner had had Iden uh implied that it doesn't bake anything there he only I will I will answer answer that the bakery use is the front use 90 Laurel that's that use that separate use which used to be a convenience store it's been a bakery Mr montuso gave it a zoning permit to operate as a bakery I think it was almost a year ago um so that site has been operating and operational as a bakery um and though the commercial unit that we're talking about now is basically the uh warehouse storage use that's been described with the office uh that uh is now replacing the two garages so the bakery use separate that's on the front lot I think that's 54.1 as we've identified it 54.0 uh 52.1 is the newly created uh lot with the mixed use building and the parking lot all on one lot are there any other board members with questions hearing none are there any members of the public that would like to question the testimony Mr gravano has given thank you Board hearing none are there any members of the public that would like to comment on this application hearing none Mr Murman would you like to sum up thank you Mr chairman um as I stated at the very beginning of this uh hearing uh this is a well design project I know it's a well-designed project because I've was in on the design meetings this is not the first uh set of plans that we reviewed to to bring this before the board we know that what we're doing here is an upgrade to this neighborhood we also know that what this is providing is three units of absolutely necessary housing we all understand the housing crisis that we have here in New Jersey and there are Apartments going up all over and this will provide additional Apartments small apartments basically affordable units when it comes right down to it serving uh this community uh and allowing people to stay in the community um who are who want to stay in the community uh the negative impacts are minimal based upon the existence of the use um and the fact that the residential units and the and the commercial units are going to basically be operating at different times we expect that the parking lot will be full in the evening and then during the day it'll only have Ben's car there uh and potentially whatever other vehicles are necessary to come in it's nice to know that the UPS truck can turn around in the parking lot and not have to try to turn around in the street so um all in all I think this is a fantastic project and we believe we met our burdens are proof uh and we're asking the board to uh approve the project thank you thank you as at this time we we'll conference this Mr Wy would you like to begin Miss Scott um yes good evening I will AG with my colleague I thought it was a pretty clean application the professionals did a good job of explaining it um the fact that you're upgrading the property I do agree there's a housing shortage but also think that uh sometimes these uh units that go up may not necessarily be affordable so uh I think you should keep that in mind the community that you will be you know attracting so I would also be voting this Mr mcneel I would also agree um with my colleagues that the application is is clean uh and I would agree that it would be a substantial Improvement um to that corner um one that travels up and down that road all the time um I think it would be an improvement and it would outweigh the negative criteria so I too would be uh voting yes Miss Morts thank you Mr chairman um after hearing the testimony that was provided tonight um and comparing what's currently on the lot versus what was um proposed tonight this is definitely an improvement to the site and definitely to the neighborhood so I will be voting yes Mr Graves supportive of the application since it's providing affordable housing units with off Street Park Mr Johnson yes I agree with my colleagues it was a very good presentation tonight and I don't think it's a detriment to the neighborhood I think it's an asset it'll get rid of the those trummy looking garages and provide some housing for the area also so I will go guess Mr benna thank you Mr chairman based on the testimony I think it's a good application I all like to add uh the renovations proposed tonight will be an enhancement to the property and the neighboring area I also see no negative impact and I will be voting yes tonight as for myself uh I find this to be a very positive application the applicant proposes to upgrade and improve the property with the proposed structure it's a nice looking structure the variance the varian's requested will not have a negative impact on the property or the neighboring Property Owners therefore I too will vote Yes for this application may I have a motion in a second roll call Mr Wy yes Mr Martins yes Mr bent Vaga yes Mr Scott yes Mr Johnson yes Mr mcneel yes and Mr Champion [Music] yes we'll put the agenda for September 25th of the resolution of approval may have a motion to adjourn Mr chairman there be no further business coming before the board I Mo that we adjourn second motion all in favor opposed so moved