MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING
ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT OF THE BOROUGH OF MOUNTAIN LAKES
March 6, 2014
Chair Chris Richter 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 16, 2014. Said resolution was mailed to The Citizen and The Morris County Daily Record and by filing the same with the Borough Clerk on January 23, 2014 and was made available to all those requesting individual notice and paying the required fee.
Start: 7:33 PM
ROLL CALL:
Present: Richter, Max, Dietz, McConnell, Sheikh, Murphy, Vecchione and Tolud
Absent: Bolo
Also Present: Attorney Michael Sullivan
WELCOME NEW MEMBER: Chairmen Chris Richter welcomed our new Board members Jim Murphy, Stephen Vecchione and John Tolud
REVIEW OF MINUTES: Arthur Max made a motion to approve the minutes from the January 16th meeting. Chris Richter provided the second; the minutes were approved by voice vote by all eligible members.
MEMORIALIZING RESOLUTIONS:
MICHAEL VERZALENO Appl. #13-635
Chris Richter made a motion to adopt the resolution of approval and seconded the motion. The resolution was passed by a vote of 1 to 0 with member Chris Richter voting in favor.
PUBLIC HEARINGS: none
Other Matters / Public Comment:
No one from the public was present at the meeting.
For the benefit of our new members Chairmen Richter explained the Board from time to time finds things that are not consistent with the Borough Ordinances. When they identify these situations they can make a recommendation to the Borough Council to change the Ordinances. At our meeting tonight we would be discussing two recommendations we would like to make to the Council.
Amendment to 40-3 Definitions – Michael Sullivan explained the Zoning Officer has found our Ordinances to be silent concerning allowing walkways and driveways in the setback. It has been suggested we change the definition to cover such occurrences since they have traditionally been allowed. The Board will request “driveways and walkways” be added to the Setback Line definition for clarity.
A motion was made by Mary Dietz to recommend the amendment to Section 40-3 Definitions – Setback Line. A second was provided by Chris Richter and approved by voice voter of all eligible members.
Amendment to Chapter 245-20 A – Lake Front Exception
At the Boards last meeting we heard an application for several variances for a fireplace and patio built near the edge of Mountain Lake with out permits or review by the Construction Department. When the Zoning Officer reviewed the work already completed he felt the height of the fireplace did not meet the conditions set forth in the lakefront exception Ordinance. The fireplace was determined to be somewhere around 14 ft high which many Board members thought blocked the view of the neighbor and was not in the spirit of the Ordinance. As the Ordinance is currently written the height of the fireplace could not be denied by the Zoning Board.
To prevent this from occurring again the Board is suggesting accessory structures should be added to the construction of new homes or additions that must be no less than the setback of the neighboring house or principle building, or 25 feet, whichever is greater. An exception to that addition would be any accessory structure 5 feet or less in height such as a fire pit or the required 4 ft fence for a swimming pool.
A motion was made by Arthur Max to recommend the amendment to Section 245-20 A. Lakefront Exception (1). A second was provided by Mary Dietz and approved by voice voter of all eligible members.
Michael Sullivan told the Board he would not be available for our June 5th meeting and requested it be changed to June 19th. The Board did not see a problem with making the date change. The Board Administrator will notice the change in meeting date.
James McConnell made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Arthur Max provided the second. The meeting was adjourned at 8:31pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Cynthia Shaw, Secretary