MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING

 ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT OF THE BOROUGH OF MOUNTAIN LAKES

September 2, 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, Dietz, Max, Abate, Gallo (7:35), Willke and Cohen

Absent: Rusak and Richter

Also Present:  Attorney Michael Sullivan

 

REVIEW OF MINUTES:    Arthur    Max made a motion to approve the minutes from the August 5th meeting. Mary Dietz provided the second; the minutes were approved by voice vote by all members.

 

MEMORIALIZING RESOLUTIONS: none

           

CARRIED APPLICATIONS:

 

SINA ZAIM                                        77 Boulevard

            Blk. 59 Lot 23                                      Appl. #10-578

            FAR                                                     Zone R-A

The Board Secretary received a request from the applicant to have their application carried to October 14, 2010.   Chris Gallo made a motion to carry the application and a second was provided by Arthur Max. The motion was approved by voice vote of all members.

 

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

 

New Applications:

 

            STEPHEN & MARLA RAVIN           21 Hillcrest Road

            Blk. 95, Lot 45-47                               App. #10-574

            ILC                                                      R-A Zone

Board member Chris Gallo arrived in time to hear the application.

Beth Baldinger, a licensed Attorney in the state of New Jersey, Mr. and Mrs. Ravin of 21 Hillcrest Road and Julie Smith of 25 Hillcrest Road were sworn in. The Ravin house sits at the peak of the hill on Hillcrest Road which is bordered by trees on both sides of the road. Exhibit A-1, a survey of property, was presented. Mr. Ravin explained people can legally park on the street and when they do it creates a one lane road with visual problems for those traveling on Hillcrest.  Mrs. Ravin mentioned their conversations with the Mountain Lakes Police about parking on the street. Sergeant Andrew Piombino, in a written statement, explained his concerns pertaining to the safety of the public traveling on this road if cars are parked along it. Ms. Baldinger had the Ravin’s identify the 17 photos in Exhibit A-2. The photos were of their property and others on the street.

Mr. Ravin explained the problem with parking at his home and why they created a mulched driveway.  The mulched circular driveway would allow their son to leave the driveway forward. The applicants have landscaped the mulch driveway to create a screen while working around the existing mature trees. Ms. Baldinger presented to the Board photos of other semicircular driveways on the street. Mrs. Ravin said there are a lot of children who walk to school along this street.

Mrs. Smith then explained that she has a circular driveway and her home was also at the top of the hill. The street is heavily treed making it very hard to see. When she pulls out of her driveway she can not see around the Ravin’s son’s car. Those who do not have circular driveways on the street have a problem pulling out. For her this is a safety issue and this plan would elevate the problem on the street.

Arthur Max asked what the lot coverage was for the other homes on the street with the circular driveways.  The applicant did not have that information. Mary Dietz asked where the existing driveway went.  Mr. Ravin said it goes from Hillcrest to a grass area on their property. Mrs. Dietz asked if they considered a turn around at the end of the driveway.  Mr. Ravin said that the last time they were before the Board they had to remove the garage and part of the driveway located at the rear of the property.  Mrs. Ravin mentioned an elevated deck did not allow someone to turn a car around. The Ravins, who park in the driveway or garage, have to do a K turn to get out of the garage and face forward to pull out.  Mrs. Ravin stated the new driveway was not permanent and could be removed. Mrs. Ravin told the Board they had asked the town to remove one of the large trees and offered to pay to replace it with another tree so they could back out of the driveway but the town said no.

Mary Dietz said the applicant was asking for a variance for 1100 sq ft. which was enough space for to park five cars. She suggested they add to the back of the original driveway to accommodate their son’s car.  This approach would require less square footage. Peter Bolo said he understood that the mature trees made it difficult but would they consider reducing the parking area to only one spot. Beth Baldinger reminded the Board that this was a mulched area.  Peter Bolo said this would not stop the applicant from potentially paving the area in the future. Mary Dietz asked if the Board could put a condition in the resolution to not pave the driveway, the Board could do so. Michael Sullivan reminded the applicant that their resolution from 2005 was for a D variance so the applicant needed 5 votes to change anything tonight. Tim Willke asked if the existing driveway went beyond the driveway on the original survey.  Chris Gallo asked the applicant to show the Board where the driveway ended on their survey. Mr. Ravin showed the end of the driveway and the entrance to the garage on the survey. Peter Bolo said that some of the parking problems the applicant had today were created by the original expansion of their home. Arthur Max asked who prepared the survey and the ILC calculation.  In the original variance resolution the maximum allowed ILC was1600 sq. ft. and the new calculations showed the area to be 1811 sq ft.  He said he was not questioning the new calculations but rather how the ILC was 200 sq ft more than allowed in the resolution.

Beth Baldinger said the applicant would be willing to a condition in the resolution to never pave the area. She then went on to cite the following court case: Josephine F. Lang verses the Zoning Board of Adjustment of the Borough of North Caldwell presented before the Supreme Court of NJ. The outcome of the case was that a Board must look at the unique characteristics of a property when deciding to grant a variance.

Dr. Bolo asked if there were comments from the public, there were none. He then asked for Board comments. Mark Cohen stated he was having trouble understanding why 550 sq ft of driveway would not work for the applicant and granting a variance would not change the parking problems on their street.  Pia Abate asked if the applicant could create a parking space along at the end of the driveway for two cars rather the circular driveway. Mary Dietz appreciated the safety issue but when they renovated their home they had used all their lot coverage up. She suggested they remove some of the paving from the rear of the driveway and try to reduce the additional area to 500 sq ft. Mulch was a great solution and felt she could agree to make not paving the area a condition of the resolution. Tim Willke thought the report from the police officer was compelling and the mulched area was great but agreed it should be a smaller area. Chris Gallo said he had struggled with application, a circular drives fit in the neighborhood, understood the problems of the street and the multiple variances on the property. He would like to see the applicant shorten the existing driveway. 

Peter Bolo reminded the applicant they need 5 votes and asked if they would like to carry their application, adjust the plan and come back. Beth Baldinger requested their application be carried to October 14th. Mary Dietz made a motion to carry the application and Mark Cohen provided the second. The application was carried by a voice vote of all members.

 

            FAIZULLA & DIETLIND KATHAWALA     39 Woodland Ave.

            Blk.128, Lot 17                                                App. #10-581

            Side                                                                 R-A Zone

 

Faizulla and Dietlind Kathawala of 39 Woodland Ave. were sworn in. The applicant were replacing their air conditioner.  They were requesting a side yard variance to be able keeping it in the same location. Peter Bolo asked the applicant if they could move the unit to somewhere else on the property.  Mr. Kathawala said it would require an elaborate changed to do so.  The unit was replaced when we moved in the home around 1979-80 before the bulk requirement were changed in 1981.  Peter Bolo asked if they would consider adding some landscaping in front of the unit to block the view.  Yes, Mr. Kathawala would be willing to do so. Pia Abate asked if there were smaller units available to replace the older one they were replacing, no there were not.

There were no comments or questions from the public.

Michael Sullivan prepared a resolution granting the variance ahead of time.

Peter Bolo asked if there were any comments from Board. Mary Dietz supported replacing the air conditioners with energy efficient ones. Peter Bolo asked that 3 ft evergreens of the applicant’s choice be planted in front of the units. Mark Cohen thought hearing this type of application was not necessary.

Chris Gallo made a motion to approve the application with the addition of a evergreen screen. Mark Cohen provided the second.  The resolution was passed by a vote of 7 to 0 with members Bolo, Cohen, Dietz, Max, Abate, Gallo and Willke voting in favor.

 

 

 

 

Other Matters / Public Comment:

           

Due to Back to School Night the Board decided to change their next meeting to October 14th. A motion was made by Tim Willke to change the meeting date. A second was provided by Pia Abate and approved by a voice vote of all members.

 

IPPOLITO                                                       15 Crestview Road

 

The Borough Council will be vacating the section of North Glen Road, above where it intersects Crestview Road, which runs along side the Ippolito property. Michael Sullivan reminded the Board that they may have to hear an application on this property if the road does not get vacated.

           

MCPRIMA PRESENTATION

 

Corey Nachshen, a member of the Borough’s Environmental Commission, and Planning Board as well as an Environmental Engineer by trade made the presentation. MCPRIMA, Morris County Public Resources Interactive Mapping Application, is an interactive resource document. It provides an on line mapping of all the resources in the Borough and could be updated continuously. The interactive mapping program was developed by the Morris County Planning Department as a for profit project.  They are using the Borough as their guinea pig for developing this pilot program. Mr. Nachshen showed the Board how they would be able to use the program when considering an application.

 

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

 

 

Mark Cohen made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Tim Willke provided the second.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 pm.  

                                                                                                                       

                                                                                                                       

 

                                                                                                Respectfully submitted,

           

 

                                                                                    Cynthia Shaw, Secretary