MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING

 ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT OF THE BOROUGH OF MOUNTAIN LAKES

October 3, 2013

Temporary Chair Mary Dietz 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 3, 2013.  Said resolution was mailed to The Citizen and The Morris County Daily Record and by filing the same with the Borough Clerk on January 7, 2013 and was made available to all those requesting individual notice and paying the required fee.

Start: 7:35 pm

 ROLL CALL:

Present: Albergo, Max, Dietz and McConnell

Absent: Richter, Bolo, Abate and Rusak

Also Present:  Attorney Michael Sullivan

APPOINTMENT OF TEMPORARY CHAIR

William Albergo made a motion to appoint Mary Dietz temporary chair for the hearing, a second was provided by Arthur Max. The motion was approved by a voice vote of all members present.

REVIEW OF MINUTES:  William Albergo made a motion to approve the minutes from the September 5, 2013 meeting, Arthur Max provided the second. The minutes were approved by voice vote by all members.

MEMORIALIZING RESOLUTIONS:

DOUGLAS BROWN AND HELEN LIU                    App. # 13-630

William Albergo made motion to adopt the resolution of approval; Arthur Max seconded the motion.  The resolution was passed by a vote of 3 to 0 with members Albergo, Max, and Dietz voting to approve.

PUBLIC HEARINGS: All Applicants and professionals were sworn in by Chair Mary Dietz.

Application:

            JAMES & TERRY CINNAMOND                   15 Lowell Road

            Blk. 61, Lot 29                                                  App. # 13-631

            ILC, 2 Side Yard                                               R-A Zone

Seth Leeb, a licensed Architect in the state of New Jersey, and James Cinnamond, of 15 Lowell Road presented the application.  Mr. Cinnamond said his family had moved to Mountain Lakes in 2001 and wanted to expand their Hapgood to add a bedroom and enlarger the kitchen.  Seth Leeb said the house was a contributing dwelling and they would be applying under the Historic Preservation Ordinance. They would be requesting variances for ILC, 2 side yard set back and a rear yard setback. Exhibit A-1 was page V-1, the plot plan colorized. They would be removing the walkway in rear and some of the driveway to accommodate the two story addition. The house is centered on lot and does not need any other variances. They will be creating a covered porch, adding a mud room, relocating the powder room, expanding the kitchen and add a family room off the kitchen.  The height of the existing basement is only 6’ 6” and has stone walls so they propose a new basement area under the addition. Upstairs they plan to relocate the existing bath and add a master bath and bedroom.

Mary Dietz asked about the attic space above the additions. Seth Leeb said the attic did not count before and did not count now. One variance required is for ILC because of the unique shape of the property and the existing non-conforming garage at the rear of the property. There is a long driveway acess the garage and the property is a parallelogram. The property currently has ILC of 29.5% and 30% is allowed. They will be removing some of the driveway to help reduce coverage but still are requesting 33%. Exhibit A-2 was a photo board consisting of 19 photos showing the property from various angles. They need the driveway turn around to pull out forward; there is a blind curve that limits the sight distance. They need a rear and side yard variance for an existing shed attached to garage, the rear setback is 4.5 ft. and the side setback is 2 ft. Michael Sullivan asked if the homeowner had received any notice of violation, they had not. Michael Sullivan confirmed the shed was there when they purchased the property in 2001. Mr. Leeb presented exhibit A-3 the listing brochure showing the shed and exhibit A-4, a survey dated October 20, 1993, where the shed is shown on the 20 year old survey. Lastly they need a side yard variance of 15.1 ft for the patio built by owner 10 years ago.

Mary Dietz asked if there were any questions from the Board. Arthur Max pointed out the new design doubles the size of the house. He asked why they applicant did not reduce the lot coverage so they would comply. Seth Leeb explained it was a large addition for a very small house plus the length of the driveway creates the problem. They would have to remove 499 sq ft from somewhere to comply. If he took it out of the house he would not meet the requirements of the owner. The only way to reduce the ILC was to reduce the driveway and the only option was the 436 sq ft K-turn area. They could also reduce the driveway in front of the shed but that would not eliminate the need for the variance. Arthur Max asked if they could shave the turn around area to meet the requirement for the 2.5 ft setback. Mary Dietz commented, we are delighted you are preserving the Hapgood and want to give you the increase ILC, but we see areas you could remove to comply. She continued this is not an all or nothing situation. Seth Leeb said they could reduce the turn around to 11’ x 12’ or 132 sq ft. This would remove 304 sq ft from the turn around area and remove 95 sq ft in front of the garage but that leaves them 100 sq ft. short. Mary Dietz said the higher ILC prevents the proper recharge of run off. William Albergo was concerned about reducing the turn around too much.

The Chair asked if there were questions from the public. Michael Johns, of 274 Rock Lane was glad to see the Board holding the line on setbacks and ILC. But he questioned why the Board was not discussing the shed. Jim Mc Connell asked what the shed was for besides trash cans; it was for trash and recycling. William Albergo confirmed only one side of garage would hold a car.

Mary Dietz thought the applicant was close to eliminating the variance for ILC and could get there. Seth Leeb reiterated the suggestion to shave the turn around and removing coverage in front of the shed. Doing so would reduce the coverage by 399 sq ft and set the ILC at 30.61%. They could add a small drywell or linear drainage system to capture some of the new roof run off to accommodate the remaining 100 sq ft.

Mrs. Dietz asked if there were any comments from the public. Valentin Dimitrov, of 250 Rock Lane, said the shed was not a problem for them and prefers the garbage in the shed rather than out in the open. The patio was away from his property and not a concern. James Herschfeld, of 8 Laurel Hill Road, thought they should keep the shed because of the bears; they were in support of the project. Jim Mc Connell asked if they could put the cans in the garage. Jim Cinnamond said his family had a lot of sports equipment that filled the garage. Mary Dietz thought they should do a dry well for more than the run off for the addition. Mr. Leeb said they could do it different ways and would do more than the 100 sq ft. The applicant was willing to install one dry well to approximately accommodate the roof run off from the new addition.

William Albergo made a motion to approve the application for ILC, 1 side setback for the patio and a rear and side setback for the shed. The ILC would be reduced to 30.61%by eliminating some of the pavement in the turn around area and in front of the shed. One dry well would be installed to approximately accommodate the roof run off. Arthur Max provided the second. The application was approved by a vote of 4 – 0 with members Max, Dietz, Albergo and McConnell voting in favor.

Other Matters / Public Comment:

No on was present from the public.

We still need one new alternate.

William Albergo made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Arthur Max provided the second. The meeting was adjourned at 8:38 pm. 

                                                                                                Respectfully submitted,

                                                                                                            Cynthia Shaw, Secretary