MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING

 ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT OF THE BOROUGH OF MOUNTAIN LAKES

July 1, 2010

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 7, 2010.  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 11, 2010 and made available to all those requesting individual notice and paying the required fee.

ROLL CALL:

Present: Bolo, Rusak, Dietz, Max, Richter, Gallo and Willke

Absent: Cohen, Abate

Also Present:  Attorney Michael Sullivan

REVIEW OF MINUTES:   Chris Richter made a motion to approve the minutes from the June 3^rd meeting.  Arthur Max provided the second; the minutes were approved by voice vote by all members.

MEMORIALIZING RESOLUTIONS:

DUANE AND WENDY KOTSEN                             Appl. #10-564

Mary Dietz made a motion to adopt the resolution of approval; Tim Willke seconded the motion. The resolution was passed by a vote of 4 to 0 with members Richter, Dietz, Max and Willke voting in favor.

SERGEY RYBALOV & ANASTASIA RIVKIN        Appl. #10-571

Arthur Max made a motion to adopt the resolution of approval; Chris Richter seconded the motion. The resolution was passed by a vote 4 to 0 with members Bolo, Richter, Max and Willke.

PUBLIC HEARINGS: All applicants and professionals were sworn in by Chair Peter Bolo.

THE COMMUNITY CHURCH                                  4 Barton Road

Bl. 82, Lot 7                                                                 Appl. #10-572

FAR, ILC                                                                    R-A Zone

Marjorie Roller, a licensed Architect in the state of New Jersey, and Michael Lightner a licensed Attorney in the state of New Jersey would be representing The Community Church.  Mrs. Roller explained the church was in the process of hiring a new minister and they currently have a home for the new minister to use. The Hapgood style home the church owns is original and the church would like to add a two car Garage with a Family Room and Kitchen on the 1^st floor. On the second floor they wish to add a Master Bedroom and Bath.  The house will be used only for the clergy and is currently occupied by the interim minister. The house is dilapidated and in need of a lot of work.

They understand the ILC is high. The church’s need for parking has caused a hardship for the house. They feel the improvements would be beneficial to the town to improve the home. The applicant presented Exhibit A-1, a survey of the entire property done by Richard S.  Hudson dated April 13 2010, showing the extent of the parking on the property.

Mary Dietz asked if they could re-route the walkway from the church past the house. She asked if they were removing trees; no they were not. Chris Richter also asked about the asphalt behind the house; it is used for 3 parking spaces. The total requested ILC would be an increase of ½ of 1%. The ILC calculation reflects the entire site and includes all the church buildings and the house. The new house FAR would be an increase of .9% with 588 sq ft being added to the home.

Dr. Bolo asked if there were any questions and/or comments from the public; there were none.

He then asked if there were any comments from the Board. Mary Dietz thought whatever they did with the building would improve it.  They had designed a compact addition that will enhance the building. They will be adding paving for the driveway therefore she would like to see the pavement reduces behind the house.  Chris Richter also would like to see the asphalt reduced behind the house. Arthur Max asked if the drawings submitted represented the substance of what the house would look like.  Mrs. Roller said the renderings submitted will be similar to what they would be building. Jack Gentile, a member of the church’s Board of Trustees, also presiding at 249 Morris Ave., spoke on behalf of the church.  He explained the Day School uses the area behind the house as a play area. The church could take away the concrete patio or some of the front driveway.  The applicant then submitted Exhibit A-2, 2 photos of the house today. Pat Rusak liked the elevations presented and asked they watch the drainage when they did the renovation.

Mary Dietz made a motion to accept the application with a reduction in the paving behind the home which would create an increase in the green area behind the house. A second was provided by Arthur Max. The application was approved by a vote of 7 to 0 with members Bolo, Richter, Dietz, Max, Rusak, Gallo and Willke voting in favor.

New Applications:

DOUGLAS DUERR                                                    204 Boulevard

Bl. 80, Lot 24.01                                                          Appl. #10-573

Side and Rear Setback                                     R-A Zone

Douglas Dueer, of 204 Boulevard, was sworn in. He was looking for relief from the side and rear setback to install a shed on his property. They would like to add a little more storage space to the property because they only have a 1 car garage. The sewer line runs through the back yard of his home so he did not want to put the shed on top of the line. Chris Richter asked the applicant the height of deck; it is 5 ft off the ground. Peter Bolo asked if they could put a storage area under the deck.  Douglas Duerr thought his snow blower would not fit under the deck. Dr. Bolo asked about putting the shed on the side of the house. The applicant said there are windows and a door that would interfere on the side of the house.         

Michael Sullivan asked if there was a hardship due to topography of the property. Mr. Dueer thought there was a hardship and showed the Board Exhibit A-1, a series of 3 color photos of the back yard with very large rocks.  Peter Bolo asked if they had a walk out basement. They did not, the windows were about 3 ft off they ground. Pat Rusak asked how far away the neighbor’s garage was; it is about 15 ft off the property line.  Arthur Max asked if Mr. Dueer could put the shed by the air conditioning units. He could not due to the slope of the property. Peter Bolo asked if there was any vegetation behind the shed so the neighbors would not see it, there was.

Peter Bolo asked if there were any questions from the public, there were none. He asked if there were any comments from the Board. Chris Richter thought the applicant could get creative with the area under the deck. Mary Dietz agreed with Mr. Richter, she suggested they consider working under the deck or put it to the rear of the house. Chris Gallo did not like the fact that the shed would be visible from the street.

Peter Bolo explained the board could vote on his current application or he could carry the application and come back with a different plan.  The applicant decided he would prefer to withdraw the application.

SAMIR AND FOLGUNI SHAH                                 4 Brook Lane  

Bl. 116, Lot 3.17                                                          Appl. #10-575

FAR                                                                             R-1 Zone

Mr. and Mrs. Shah, who reside at 4 Brook Lane, were sworn in as applicants. Marjorie Roller, a licensed Architect in the state of New Jersey would present the application. The applicant has a new home behind King of Kings Church. It currently has two roofed porches and they do not use the one on the north side.  The do not use it because of the noise from the adjacent property.  They would like to enclose that porch in glass. Mrs. Roller explained that this project was affected by the new ordinance pertaining to porches.

Mary Dietz confirmed the size of the porch; it is 20’ 4” x 10’ 2”.  Exhibit A-1 was a photo of porch on right side of the house off the formal Living Room. It is affected by the weather; the mahogany wood flooring is getting ruined because it never dries out.  Mary Dietz asked what type of system they would be using to enclose the porch. They would be adding glass between the columns and they will not be heating the space.  Chris Richter confirmed the enclosure would increase the FAR due to the new ordinance.  Mary Dietz confirmed the slight increase in ILC was to cover the new pad for the French doors. Peter Bolo thought the house did not look massive from the road and the improvement would not affect the neighborhoods. There were no comments from the public.

Mary Dietz made a motion to accept the enclosure of the covered porch and Pat Rusak provided the second. The application was approved by a vote of 7 to 0 with board members Bolo, Richter, Dietz, Max, Rusak, Gallo and Willke voting in favor.

DEBORAH KESSLER                                                28 Hillcrest Road

Bl. 96, Lot 11.02                                                          Appl. #10-576

Side Setback & ILC                                                     R-A Zone

Deborah Kessler, of 28 Hillcrest, was sworn in. Mrs. Kessler has lived in Mountain Lakes since Sept 2001and in this house since September of 2007. Seth Leeb, a licensed Architect in the state of New Jersey presented the application. The applicant was looking for 2 variances. One was for ILC and the second was for side yard setback. Exhibit A-1 was a series of 5 photos of the house and Garage. The Garage roof is accessible from Master Bedroom. They would like to take out the window and replace it with a door.  They propose putting a railing around the perimeter of the roof for safety reasons. The Garage is completely in the setback. Sheet V-3 already submitted showed before and after elevations of the Garage. The Garage changes create a usable space for the homeowner that is safer.  The house next door is 45 ft away.

They also would like to widen the driveway for safety. 206 sq ft would be added so two cars could pass in the driveway. They will be removing some driveway elsewhere to increase the size of the planting beds and to have additional vegetation closer to the house. The new front walkway will now be aligned with the center of the house. They plan to use permeable pavers for the new walkways. A second walk would be added.

Peter Bolo asked about the second walkway to the new enlarged deck. Seth Leeb explained both walkways are 303 sq ft and the total sq ft. of driveway is 3,343. Chris Richter asked about the property line to the right of the house. There is a strip of land going down to Ball Road.  Deborah Kessler explained the property the driveway corner sits on was purchase from the neighbor when she bought the house. Seth Leed said that strip of land is not on the survey of the property. Mary Dietz asked about the Garage in the setback.  Seth Leeb explained he had done research into the Garage’s current location. Neither he nor the Board Secretary could find any variance for the Garage.  Chris Gallo asked if the applicant would be willing to remove the additional side walkway.  Mary Dietz said there was lot of property, did the applicant look into reworking the driveway to meet the ILC. Chris Richter thought there was so much they could do on this property to meet the ILC. A more detailed survey with topography would have helped their cause.  Peter Bolo did not have a problem with the deck or the ILC.  Arthur Max felt the applicant had enough property to meet the ILC.

There were no public comments on this application.

Seth Leed asked if the applicant could separate the application. They asked to carry the ILC portion of the applicant and just have the Board vote on the side yard setback. Chris Richter made a motion to approve the side yard variance and carrying the ILC increase to the August meeting. A second was provided by Chris Gallo. The application for a Side Yard variance was approved by a vote of 7 to 0 with Board members Bolo, Richter, Dietz, Max, Rusak, Gallo and Willke voting in favor.

ANTONIO DIMARCO                                              31 Cobb Road

Bl. 61, Lot 18                                                               Appl. # 10-577

Building Envelope                                                         R-A Zone

Seth Leeb a licensed Architect located at 1719 Rt. 10 East Parsippany, N.J. presented the application. Tony Di Marco, of 198 Morris Ave., was sworn in as the applicant. Mr. Di Marco contracted to purchase the property in April of 2005.  The house has been empty for 4 1/2 more years waiting to close.  The house was a liability and was damaged so it had to be taken down. The applicant explained he was looking for a variance for building envelope.  Michael Sullivan confirmed the land has remained vacant since the house was taken down.

Seth Leeb explained the property has a 25ft. side and rear yard setback in this zone.  It also has a front yard setback of 59 sq ft because of the property setback to the right and left of this lot.  The zone requires an 85’ x 50’ building envelope.  Because of the large setback in the front the required building envelope will not fit on the lot.  Michael Sullivan stated that a building envelope requirement such as this is usually used in new subdivisions applications. Mary Dietz confirmed the new buildable area would be 66 ft x 50 ft. Seth Leeb explained if the required 40 ft setback had applied there would have been enough room for the envelope.  The lot meets all the other bulk requirements.  The average front yard setback creates the hardship. 

Chris Richter asked if the Board denied the application the property becomes an unbuildable lot.  Peter Bolo thought this was really a normal lot.  Seth Leeb said this was a hardship but they will respect the front yard setback of 59’. Chris Richter asked if the submitted plot plan was an accurate foot print of the new home; it was.  Tony Di Marco stated they had 2 design options for a house.

Peter Bolo asked if there were any questions from the public. Louise Chaker, of 35 Cobb Road, spoke. They were the immediate neighbor and were happy to see a new home being built. They were concerned about the new dry well that would be installed; the area is always very wet. They asked if the dry well could be installed more toward the middle of the lot.  Tony Di Marco agreed to move the dry well to the front of the property and put a drain where the dry well was originally located on the plans. They would also add a swale in the backyard to keep the water on the property.

Peter Bolo asked if the Board had any additional comments. Peter Bolo thought there was a hardship because of the front yard setback.  This meets the standard for a variance and the lot would be ok in another part of the Borough.

Mary Dietz made a motion to accept application for the building envelope variance as long as the applicant adds drainage on the side of the house, the dry well to the front, and a swale on the other side of the property. The applicant must meet all the other bulk requirements. If they build something else they will have to come back. A second was provided by Chris Gallo. The application was approved by a vote of 7 to 0 with Board members Bolo, Richter, Dietz, Max, Rusak, Gallo and Willke voting in favor.

Other Matters / Public Comment:

We need to work on a new check list for our applications. When we do we would have to create an ordinance to support any changes we make to the application. The Board Secretary will email each Board member a copy of the application before the next meeting.

 Peter Bolo asked if there were any comments from the public, there were none.

Tim Willke made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Mary Dietz provided the second.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 pm.  

                                                                                                            Respectfully submitted,

                                                                                                Cynthia Shaw, Secretary