MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE PLANNING BOARD

OF THE BOROUGH OF MOUNTAIN LAKES

February 28, 2013

 

Chair Jim Bailey read the Open Public Meeting Advertisement Notice adopted at the annual meeting on January 24, 2013:  Adequate notice of this meeting was given to the Citizen and the Daily Record, filed with the Borough Clerk, posted on the Bulletin Board in the Borough Hall on January 28, 2013 and made available to all those requesting individual notice and paying the required fee.

 

The meeting was called to order at 7:32 pm.

 

ROLL CALL:

Members Present: Bailey, Nachshen, Bravo (7:36pm), Happer, Zamierowski, Dagger,

Absent: Tovo, DeVenezia, Horan and Kane

Also Present: Attorney Peter Henry, Engineer Bill Ryden

 

APPOINTMENT OF BOARD ATTORNEY – Dan Happer made a motion to appoint Peter Henry of Dillon, Bitar & Luther the Planning Board Attorney; Corey Nachshen provided the second.  The motion was approved by a 5 to 0 roll call vote.

 

REVIEW OF MINUTES: Tom Dagger made a motion to adopt the minutes of the January 24th meeting. Corey Nachshen provided the second; the minutes were approved by voice vote of all eligible voters.

 

RESOLUTIONS: none

 

PUBLIC HEARING:

Michael & LaVonne Feigeles                             181 Boulevard

            Block 56, Lots 8                                                Appl. 13-252

            Subdivision, Steep Slopes, Side Setback              Zone R-AA

 

Marc Walker, a licensed Engineer in the state of New Jersey, presented the application along with the owner Michael Feigeles of 181 Boulevard. Both gentlemen were sworn in by Peter Henry. Marc Walker presented the waivers the applicant was looking for. In this instance the applicant was subdividing the property but not building a house.  The waivers requested applied to building a new home, there were no storm drains in that location and many of the large trees were lost during the Sandy storm. Jim Bailey asked if the Board had any comments about the waivers. The Board approved all the waivers requested.

The Chair had the applicant proceed with the application. Michael Fiegeles told the Board in the spring of 1998 they were looking to purchase a home. Scott Dignes had subdivided this property and was going to build two houses.  The applicant purchased all the property with the idea they would subdivide later. Their family has used the property over the years, their children were growing now and they were ready to do the subdivision. 
Marc Walker continued, there was more than 4 times the land area needed to subdivide and the houses in this area of the Boulevard were set back really far creating a large front setback requirement. The applicant needed a building box area of 85’ x 50’.  Because of the deep setback the existing home has a building box with steep slopes in it. The new lot does not have a need for any variances and meets all the requirements for building. This lot was 150 ft wide in the front and 135 ft in the rear. There is a provision in the ordinance allowing a lot to be 150 ft wide at the front tapering back to a rear width of 130 ft. Mr. Walker told the Board he had looked at ILC and FAR of the existing lot. The FAR for the remaining lot would become 10.9% and the ILC would become 18.75%, both less than the maximum permitted.  The existing home’s patio creates a side yard setback of 23.4’ rather than the required 25 ft. therefore a variance is required. Mr. Walker continued Bill Ryden’s letter requested FAR calculations which they will provide. They have filed an application with the Morris County Planning Board; the results of that application will be forwarded to the Borough. There are no wetlands on the property.

Tom Dagger confirmed the variances requested were for steep slopes in the building envelope and side yard setback. John Zamierowski questioned the ability to build the original house with steep slopes in the envelope.  Mr. Ryden explained when building the original house the owner would have had the ability to use the entire lot to create the building envelope. It was noted the shed on the property in not within the setback. Dan Happer asked about the height of the existing house.  Marc Walker explained the height calculations on the plans. Tom Dagger asked when they did the original subdivision would they have had to prove they have had two building boxes; Bill Ryden confirmed they would have. He then asked how steep the slopes in the building box of the existing house were. Mr. Walker responded they were about 20%. Corey Nachshen commented the shed in the setback should be moved. Mr. Walker reported the shed sat against the retaining wall and would be more visible to the neighbor if moved but the applicant could move it or request a variance. John Zamierowski asked about the water run off once the new house was built. Marc Walker said the town had a storm water ordinance that would need to be followed when the house was built.  All the run off created would have to stay on the lot. Blair Bravo said she was in agreement with the subdivision.

The Chair, Jim Bailey, asked if there were any additional questions. Peter Henry questioned the lot numbers suggested on the plans. Mr. Walker will revise sheet #1 to fix the suggested new lot # be 8.01 wherever referenced.  Mr. Henry mentioned the last resolution on the property was also for a subdivision. He pointed out the concerns in the resolution about the driveway being installed across the county right-of-way.  He felt the Planning Board should not make this determination. There was no one from the public wishing to speak on the application.

Once again the Board reviewed the location of the shed on the property. Dan Happer pointed out the shed sat along side property as well as the rear so they would need 2 variances for the 12’ x 14’ shed. The neighbors in the back and on the side would be disturbed by the shed. After further discussion the Board felt the shed would disturb the neighbors less if left where it was.  Peter Henry reviewed the variances required for the 2 lot subdivision. They would need a 1.6 ft variance for side setback, a variance for steep slopes in the building box and two variances for shed (1 ft off the rear and 4 ft off the side) plus all the other standard conditions. The applicant would need to comply with comments #4, 6 & 7 of Bill Ryden’s letter.

Blair Bravo made a motion to approve the application for subdivision with the variances outlined by Mr. Henry and a second was provided by Dan Happer. The Board voted 6 to 0 to approve the application with members Bailey, Nachshen, Happer, Bravo, Zamierowski and Dagger voting in favor.

 

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

There were no reports from committees this month.

 

Other Business

The Board Administrator reported having problems with emails she sent to Board members bouncing back as non-deliverable.  She asked everyone to make sure her email address was an approved recipient on everyone’s computers.  Hopefully this will help the problem.

 

The Board is still in need of one alternate.

 

Dan Happer made a motion and Blair Bravo provided the second needed to adjourn the meeting. The Board adjourned at 8:24 PM.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

                                                                                    Cynthia Shaw, Secretary