MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING

 ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT OF THE BOROUGH OF MOUNTAIN LAKES

July 10, 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:  7:31 PM

 ROLL CALL:

Present: Richter, Bolo (7:35 PM), Dietz, McConnell, Murphy, Tolud and Vecchione (7:32 PM)

Absent: Max & Sheikh

Also Present:  Attorney Michael Sullivan

 

REVIEW OF MINUTES: Mary Dietz made a motion to approve the minutes from the May 1st meeting. James McConnell provided the second; the minutes were approved by voice vote by all members.

 

MEMORIALIZING RESOLUTIONS:

JOHN WHITEHURST & RHUNA SHEN                    Appl. #13-636

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

 

PUBLIC HEARINGS:

           

BILL & MELISSA ALBERGO                    78 Lookout Road

Blk. 49, Lots 23-24                                         Appl. #14-638

ILC, Front and Side Setback                          R-AA zone

 

Bill Albergo, of 78 Lookout Road, presented his application. He wants to put air conditioning in his home and needs a side setback variance. When reviewing his site plan with the Zoning Officer he found he needed a front yard setback and ILC variance for a patio built about 5 or 6 years ago; he did not get a variance at that time.  Mr. Albergo explained he had to repair the patio every time they had a storm and lost trees. Each time he did the repair the patio got bigger.  He fixed the patio and terraced the yard to improve the water run off onto his neighbor’s property. The patio is 16.7 ft. from front property line but is not visible from the road. The previous owner was granted variances for a wraparound deck but never acted upon them.  The ILC including the air conditioning pad, 9 sq. ft., is 23.3% the same as before. James McConnell asked if the walls were constructed by the applicant. Bill Albergo said the wall were 100 years old but re-pointed by them.  Chris Richter asked Mr. Albergo what he built himself. He answered they built the stone retaining walls, block patio, and the mulch play area with a swing set. Is the swing 10 ft. off the property line?  Bill Albergo was not sure but said they can move it to comply. He continued the walls, driveway and home are 17% of the ILC. He talked to Zoning Officer and got the retaining walls approved but did not get approvals for the patio.

After some discussion it was determined the applicant required an 18 feet side setback to edge of the air conditioning unit. Mary Dietz asked if the ac unit could go where the shed was. Bill Albergo said they preferred not to lose the shed since it holds their lawn mower and bikes since they don’t have a garage. Chris Richter asked what the metal drain on the plan was. Mr. Albergo said it was a catch basin to capture the neighbors runoff. Mr. Richter asked if this was the only location they could have the patio. Yes because the property is steep with a 35 foot drop off at the back.  Mary Dietz asked if the growth of the patio went toward the street. Mr. Albergo answered no it moved toward the back of the property. James McConnell asked about the dirt area on the site plan. Mr. Albergo answered it was their bar which was .02% of the ILC. Mr. Richter asked if he could have submitted his application under contributing dwelling ordinance. No they could not because they were not altering the house.  Mary Dietz asked about the drop along North Briarcliff Road. Bill Albergo said the patio was 14 feet down from the road and their garden blocked the view of the patio. James McConnell added you can’t see patio from the street. Peter Bolo said you can see the patio if you really look. Stephen Vecchione added your eyes go to the retaining walls when you look at the property.

No one from the public was present.

Stephen Vecchione asked what the concrete pad in front yard was. Mr. Albergo did not know it was there when he bought the house.

Peter Bolo made a motion to approve the application requiring the swing set be moved 10 feet off the property line and the air conditioning unit be installed 18 feet off the property line. A second was provided by James McConnell. The application was approved by a vote of 7 – 0 with members Richter, Bolo, Dietz, Murphy, McConnell, Vecchione and Tolud voting in favor.

 

 

 

DAVID & JULIE SHEPHERD                                52 Briarcliff Road

Blk. 82, Lot 1                                                             Appl. #14-637

Height (2), Front setback                                            R-A zone

 

Larry Korinda, a licensed Architect in the state of NJ, and Julie Shepherd, owner of 52 Briarcliff Road, presented the application.  Mr. Korinda began the Hapgood house required three variances one for a front yard setback of 22.2 ft. where 40 ft. is required, a height variance on the street facing side of 38.67 where up to 35 ft. is allowed, and a height variance on the non-street facing side of 39.17 where up to 38 ft. is allowed. The house is between The Community Church on the right and the canal to the left. They plan to build a new garage 2 ft. back from the existing garage. For some reason the house was originally placed close to the street even though the lot was large. He thought when built the house could have been better placed on the property.  The planned additions are to the right hand side of the house. They include a new front staircase, a new 2 car garage, a mud room that will tie the garage to the expand kitchen, add a family room and a new rear deck. Exhibit A-1 was a photo board consisting of 3 photos of the house from various angles. Chris Richter asked if the stairs would be built so they do not require a variance; yes that was correct.  Mr. Korinda continued the gable ends are an unusual feature of the house and they were trying to use that feature in the new house plans. They plan to take off the green house and reconstruct the bay window that was originally part of the home. The 1st floor sits out of the ground 5 ft. and they are relocating the Bilco door. Exhibit A-2 was a shaded version of sheet V-1 showing the additions on the 1st and 2nd floors. The house has a split level quality to it. Exhibit A-3 was a colorized version of Sheet V-2 depicting the house elevations. He pointed out the lot was flat and the new garage wing would balance the house since the current house is taller than it is wide. All the new roof lines for the additions are below the current roof line. The two height issues result from the house sitting so high out of the ground. The house sits off center on the property.

The applicant was willing to meet the requirements requested in Engineer Bill Ryden’s memo, dated June 25, 2014, to obtain a minor soil moving permit and soil erosion control certification.  Chris Richter asked why a seepage pit was on the site plan. The lot was flat and close to the canal. The pit would fill up with water when installed. Mr. Korinda answered it was the engineer’s idea to add it. Mr. Richter asked about the proposed fire pit. Julie Shepard answered it was made of stone, low to the ground and had no chimney.

There was no one from the public wishing to speak about the application.

James McConnell confirmed the front setback for the existing front porch was 22.2 ft. and the garage is moving back from 31.5ft. to 32.4 ft.; that was correct. Chris Richter stated he thought the height variances were irrelevant and thought the house renovations made sense. Mary Dietz like the plan but questioned why they did not move the whole structure back since they are within a few feet of meeting the front yard setback.  Mr. Korinda said it would create issues with the basement. The new garage location was better than the setback for the adjoining property. Mr. Richter said if you pushed it back the ILC would be greater. Peter Bolo said he thought if the garage was so far back the house would not look as aesthetically pleasing. Stephen Vecchione thought the house plan looked really good for a 100 year old house. James Tould asked why they did not consider putting two windows over garage rather than one. Mr. Korinda said they were trying to make the house look more important than the garage.

James McConnell made a motion to approve the application as presented in addition to items 5 and 6 of Bill Ryden’s letter; Peter Bolo provided the second. The application was approved by a vote of 7 – 0 with members Richter, Bolo, Dietz, Murphy, McConnell, Vecchione and Tolud voting in favor.

 

Other Matters / Public Comment:

No one from the public was present.

The Board reviewed the new Lake Front Exception Ordinance.

 

Peter Bolo made a motion to adjourn the meeting and John Tolud provided the second. The meeting was adjourned at 8:31pm. 

                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

                                                                                                            Cynthia Shaw, Secretary