MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING

 ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT OF THE BOROUGH OF MOUNTAIN LAKES

October 14, 2010

 

Adequate notice of this meeting has been provided in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act and posting written notice of the time, date, location and agenda of the meeting on the bulletin board in the Borough Hall and by transmitting such notice by fax and e-mail to The Citizen and The Morris County Daily Record and by filing the same with the Borough Clerk on September 9, 2010 and was made available to all those requesting individual notice and paying the required fee.

 

 ROLL CALL:

Present: Bolo, Dietz, Max, Abate, Rusak, Richter and Cohen

Absent: Gallo and Willke

Also Present:  Attorney Michael Sullivan

 

REVIEW OF MINUTES:  Mark Cohen made a motion to approve the minutes from the September 2nd meeting with corrections. Mary Dietz provided the second; the minutes were approved by voice vote by all members.

 

MEMORIALIZING RESOLUTIONS: none

           

CARRIED APPLICATION:

STEPHEN & MARLA RAVIN                       21 Hillcrest Road

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

            ILC                                                                  R-A Zone

 

The Board Secretary received a request from the applicant to have their application withdrawn. A motion to accept the withdrawal was made by Arthur Max. A second was provided by Pat Rusak and approved by a voice vote of all members.

  

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

 

New Applications:

SINA ZAIM                                                    77 Boulevard

            Blk. 59 Lot 23                                                 Appl. #10 578

            FAR                                                                R-A Zone                                                                                                                                                                                 Zone R-A

 

Larry Korinda, a licensed Architect in the state of NJ and Sina Zaim of 77 Boulevard were sworn in. Mr. Korinda explained this was a simple application. The existing FAR is 17.87% and the new FAR would be 18.61%. This represented an increase of .74 in FAR or an additional 150 sq ft on the second floor over an existing porch.  Exhibit A-1 was the site plan for the property. The footprint would not be changing.  Exhibit A-2 was a copy of the floor plans already submitted.  The applicant would be rebuilding the foundation due to structural issues and would rebuild the enclosed porch. On the second floor they will be adding a Sitting Room and restoring the deck over the terrace using half walls like the original house had. Exhibit A-3 showed the elevations of the home and the addition with the rear deck. Exhibit A-4 was a photo of the house as it was originally built. The attic is included in the new and old FAR calculation. 

Mark Cohen asked what the foundation issues were and did that precipitate the process of redo this section of the house.  Larry Korinda said the structural issues, which included settlement and deterioration at the lower level, did create the need to rebuild the foundation. Mr. Zaim added the roof was also leaking. Chris Richter asked if the architect had applied the new ordinance requiring covered porches over 500 sq ft to be included in the FAR calculation. Larry Korinda did not but did do the calculation at the meeting. The back covered porch area was 340 sq ft.

Peter Bolo asked if the applicant would be willing to reduce the ILC to compensate for the increased FAR they were requesting. Larry Korinda would like to keep original front walkway. Mr. Zaim explained that the existing patio was surrounded by trees and the only place they had to sit outside was on that patio. The patio has a Bilco door to the basement and it is where they keep their garbage cans. Since the house faces a street on both the front and back of the property it is difficult to have a private backyard. If they removed the existing patio they would reduce the ILC by 260 sq ft.

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

Mark Cohen said he did not have a problem with the ILC and application as presented. He felt the repairs needed to be done and the renovation would improve the house. Pat Rusak said she had no problem with plan, felt the FAR appeared to be original and was ok with the ILC. Chris Richter mentioned he was concerned that applicants keep adding “just” 150 sq ft and keep returning to the Board asking to add small amounts of square footage.  Even so he did not have any issues with the application. Mary Deitz congratulated the applicant on restoring the porch but had a problem with the addition over the porch.  Arthur Max said he usually was against FAR additions and increasing the mass of a house but he did not think he would notice the change in the house if he drove by.  Pia Abate had no problem with the application although she was usually concerned with the mass of a home.  Peter Bolo thought the restoration of the house was great and in keeping with the Borough Master Plan. He thought the renovation would be an improvement and would be willing to for go the ILC reduction he mentioned earlier.

A motion was made by Mark Cohen to accept the application as submitted and a second was provided by Arthur Max.  The application was approved by a vote of 6 to 1 with members Bolo, Richter, Cohen, Max, Rusak, and Abate voting in favor.  Mary Dietz voted against the application.

Michael Sullivan read a prepared resolution for the Boards consideration. The Board made one correction to the resolution. Chris Richter made a motion to accept the resolution as changed and Mark Cohen provided the second.  The resolution was approved by a vote of 6 to 0 with members Bolo, Richter, Cohen, Max, Rusak, and Abate voting in favor.

           

            LYNNE NEELEY & RAYMOND ROGERS  121 Powerville Road

            Blk. 88, Lot 16                                                 Appl. #10-582

            Side                                                                             R-A Zone

 

Lynne Neeley and Raymond Rogers, residence of 121 Powerville Road, and Kim Hurley, a licensed Architect in the state of NJ, were sworn in by the chair.  Ms. Hurley explained that she did not prepare the application and was just here presenting it. On page 4 of the application the ILC area should be corrected for sidewalks and walkways. It should be 463 sq ft rather than 453.  This change would not reflect a change in the total ILC for the property. Exhibit A-1, 2 photos of the current house and 1 of the driveway were presented. The applicant then presented the front elevation of the house already submitted. They would be replacing the roof and front porch giving the house a facelift. The applicant would be lowering the height of the porch front, reducing the 2nd story porch to a 1 story. They would be cutting back the existing roof line and removing a second story porch access. The applicant would be reducing the non-conforming side yard setback by .34 ft. When including the existing driveway the ILC is 26.25%. By removing part of the driveway, the applicant would be reducing the ILC to 24.78%, thereby removing an existing non-conformity.

There was no one present from the public.

Mark Cohen was glad to see them reduce the ILC before bring the application before the Board.  Arthur Max asked where the driveway ended and would the applicant have enough room to back out of their garage, yes they would. He felt the driveway area they were removing would improve the side yard area. Chris Richter explained the following to the applicant, by reducing the driveway they would be removing the non-conformity requiring properties to have a pervious buffer of 2.5 ft along the property line.

Mary Dietz made a motion to accept the application presented and Pia Abate provided the second. The application was approved by a vote of 7 to 0 with members, Bolo, Richter, Cohen, Max, Rusak, Dietz and Abate in favor.

Michael Sullivan read a resolution he had prepared to the Board. Chris Richter made a motion to accept the resolution and Arthur Max provided the second. The resolution was approved by a vote of 7 to 0 with members, Bolo, Richter, Cohen, Max, Rusak, Dietz and Abate in favor.

 

Other Matters / Public Comment:

Arthur Max mentioned the Board had not received the link for MCPRIMA site presented at our last meeting.  The Board Secretary will forward the link to the Board.

Pat Rusak asked about the work being done in the front yard on 28 Hillcrest. The Secretary told the Board the Zoning Officer and Construction Department was on top of the project.

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

The Secretary told the Board there were no applications for our next meeting.  Mark Cohen made a motion to cancel the November meeting and Chris Richter provided the second. The cancellation was approved by a voice vote of all members present.

 

Arthur Max made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Pat Rusak provided the second.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm.  

                                                                                                                       

                                                                                                                       

                                                                                                Respectfully submitted,

           

 

                                                                                    Cynthia Shaw, Secretary