MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING
ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT OF THE BOROUGH OF MOUNTAIN LAKES
November 5, 2009
Chair Peter Bolo called the meeting to order and announced: Adequate notice of this meeting has been provided in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act by adoption of the annual notice on January 8, 2009. Said resolution was mailed to The Citizen and The Daily Record, filed with the Borough Clerk and posted on the bulletin board in the Borough Hall on January 12, 2009 and made available to all those requesting individual notice and paying the required fee.
ROLL CALL:
Present: Cohen, Richter, Abate, Max, Dietz, Rusak, Gallo Absent: Bolo, Sheasby
Also Present: Attorney Michael Sullivan
The board welcomed new member, Chris Gallo.
REVIEW OF MINUTES: Arthur Max made a motion to approve the minutes from the October 1st meeting. Pia Abate provided the second; the minutes were approved by all members by voice vote.
MEMORIALIZING RESOLUTIONS:
MARK & LORRAINE LALIN Appl. #09-558
Mary Dietz made a motion to adopt the resolution of approval; Pat Rusak seconded the motion. The resolution was passed by a vote of 5 to 0 by members Richter, Cohen, Max, Rusak and Dietz.
PUBLIC HEARINGS: All applicants and professionals were sworn in by Vice-Chair Richter.
JOHN & JENNIFER ZIEGLER 270 Boulevard
Bl. 100, Lot 27 Appl. #09-559
Front Yard RA Zone
Lawrence Fox, of Chester, NJ, an Attorney licensed in the state of New Jersey presented the Ziegler’s application. John Ziegler is the owner of property and has lived there for 2 years. The applicant was here to modify a previously approved application for 270 Boulevard. Mrs. Ziegler’s prepared the original drawings for the front yard wall however she is not an architect. The pillars at each end of the wall on the drawing were 24”x 24”. When they were built they came out 30” x 30”. They are larger than approved but they are proportionate to the home and are similar to others in the area. The applicant used on site stone in the wall and pillar construction. In all other respects the wall was built as approved.
Exhibit A-1 was a photo, taken by John Ziegler, of the residences before any renovation had taken place. Exhibit A-2 was a photo of the house today. Mr. Fox asked why the wall was built in that location. John Ziegler stated it was there for safety reasons, to provide a sound barrier, and add curb appeal. The pillars are electrified. Lawrence Fox asked the applicant if there was any intention to violate the resolution or if he was aware of any Ordinance limiting the size of the wall. The applicant stated no to both questions. The attorney asked if the wall was within the setbacks. The applicant stated no.
Chris Richter asked if the board had any questions for Mr. Ziegler. Mary Dietz reminded the applicant the resolution stated new drawings had to be submitted showing the wall not in the right-of-way. John Ziegler stated he had the property surveyed to make sure it was not. Pia Abate reminded the board they gave their approval based on the new ordinance even though it had not been adopted. The Borough Attorney Michael Sullivan explained to the board that they had to look at this as a new application.
Keith Bednar, a landscaper for 21 years, built the wall and pillars at 270 Boulevard. He was given a copy of the wall drawing. He stated it was difficult to use the natural stone. It was hard to get the curve of the wall to work with the pillars and still give you the “Hapgood Look”. He did not think the slight variation in size would make a difference.
Chris Richter asked if there were any questions from the Board for Mr. Bednar. Arthur Max asked him when he determined he was not going to be able to get the pillars to work. Keith Bednar answered, when he got to where the wall met the pillars. Chris Richter confirmed the wall was 8” cinder block covered with stone. Mary Dietz asked the depth of footing. Keith Bednar told her it was 30” deep. Mark Cohen asked the number of inspections the Borough would do for the wall. There would be three, the footings, electrical, and the finished wall. Arthur Max asked if the grading of land was at 30”, it was. He asked Mr. Bednar if he had told the homeowner he could not make the piers 24”, he had not. Chris Gallo asked if the lights count in the height of the piers, they did not. Chris Richter asked Mr. Bednar if the Ziegler’s told him about the 24” requirement. Keith Bednar said no, but they did give him a copy of the drawing.
There were no questions from the public.
Mark Cohen asked what the procedure was after the board approved an application. Michael Sullivan explained it is up to the Zoning Officer to follow up on the conditions of the resolution. Pat Rusak asked if there was any financial penalty that could be imposed. Mr. Sullivan stated the only cost was the cost of coming back to the board with a new application. Arthur Max stated the board was granting a variance based on a mistake. Mrs. Dietz told the applicant they should have come to the board once they found the problem.
Chris Richter made a motion to amend condition #2 of the original resolution for pillar size and to change condition #3 to require an as-built survey to show location of stone wall on the property. Mark Cohen provided the second. The application was approved by a vote of 7 to 0 with members Richter, Cohen, Max, Rusak, Dietz, Abate and Gallo voting in favor.
Other Matters / Public Comment:
There were no additional comments from the public.
The Board asked Doug McWilliams, there council liaison, where the new ordinances stand. The Planning Board gave the ordinances to their attorney so he could clarify some of the wording. The Board Secretary will let the Zoning Board of Adjustment know when the attorney will be presenting the rewritten ordinances to the Planning Board.
Chris Richter, the vice chair, adjourned the meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:35p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Cynthia Shaw, Secretary