MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING

 ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT OF THE BOROUGH OF MOUNTAIN LAKES

June 3, 2010

 

Chair Peter Bolo 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 7, 2010.  Said resolution was mailed to The Citizen and The Daily Record, filed with the Borough Clerk and posted on the bulletin board in the Borough Hall on January 11, 2010 and made available to all those requesting individual notice and paying the required fee.

 

ROLL CALL:

Present: Bolo, Abate, Dietz, Max, Richter, Gallo and Willke

Absent: Cohen, Rusak

Also Present:  Attorney Michael Sullivan

 

REVIEW OF MINUTES: Chris Gallo made a motion to approve the minutes from the May 6th meeting. Tim Willke provided the second; the minutes were approved by voice vote by all members.

 

MEMORIALIZING RESOLUTIONS:

RYAN GORMAN                                                       Appl. #10-570

 

Tim Willke 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 by members Dietz, Max, Gallo and Willke.

 

JOSEPH AND JENNIFER SIINO                              Appl. #10-568

 

Arthur Max made a motion to adopt the resolution of approval; Chris Richter seconded the motion. The resolution was passed by a vote 4 to 0 by members Richter, Max, Gallo and Willke.

 

WILLIAM BARRETT                                     Appl. #10-569

 

Arthur Max made a motion to adopt the resolution of approval; Chris Richter seconded the motion. The resolution was passed by a vote of 4 to 0 by members Richter, Max, Willke and Gallo.

 

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

THE COMMUNITY CHURCH                                  4 Barton Road

Bl. 82, Lot 7                                                                 Appl. #10-572

FAR, ILC                                                                    R-A Zone

 

The applicant requested the application be carried to the July 1st meeting. Chris Richter made the motion to carry the application and Mary Dietz provided the second.  The request was granted by a voice vote of all members.

 

 

Carried from May 6, 2010

DUANE AND WENDY KOTSEN                             151 Lookout Road

Bl. 42, Lot 1                                                                 Appl. #10-564

FAR, Front Yard Setback, Height

Major Soil Moving                                                       RAA Zone

 

Michael Sullivan explained to the applicant that there were only have 6 members who could vote on the application, and they need 5 votes for approval for FAR and Height. The applicant wanted to proceed. Larry Korinda a licensed Architect in the state of New Jersey and Marc Walker a licensed Engineer in the state of New Jersey were sworn in. Larry Korinda explained they had revised the application; they made modifications to the house, sports court and added screening as suggested.  They changed the front yard setback to 30 ft, reduced the sq footage by 707 ft, the ILC by .2 and the dwelling footprint by 138 sq ft. They reduced the second floor dramatically to eliminate the attic inclusion in the FAR; it will now be 14.71%.  Exhibit A-9 was the Basement and the 1st Floor Plan showing the side entry pushed back and reduced in size. The new covered entry setback is now at 30 ft. They shortened the width of the house by 1 foot.  Exhibit A-10 showed the second floor Bedroom #3 and Laundry reduced in size, and the expanded Master Bath. They removed the cathedral ceilings and reconfigured the Hall Bath.  Exhibit A-11 showed the elevations of the house. The front elevation showed the 2 side ridges reduced 1.7 ft., this brought down the scale of the house in the back. The house is now more compact with the 138 sq ft reduction in the footprint and the 700 sq ft. reduction in the house. 

Peter Bolo asked if the board had any questions. Mary Dietz asked which ridge dropped 1.7 ft, Bedroom 3 on one side and the walk in closet on the other.  Arthur Max asked if the new ridge line affected the height of the house, no it did not.  Tim Willke asked the sq ft of unfinished part of the basement, it was 1405 sq ft.

Marc Walker then explained the hardship of the existing house and slope. The house setbacks comply on the Lookout Road side. The setback on the Tower Hill Road side does not conform and the back does not conform. They are seeking a FAR variance because the basement sq ft calculation needs to be included. The house is 30 ft from the right away line where 45 are required. Half of the soil approved in the original application was moved and they would like to move the balance, 767 cubic yards. The Sports Court is flush with the ground with no permanent structures, all the equipment will be removable. Under the Borough ordinances play equipment can be 10 feet from property line but not in the front yard.  The applicant moved the court back 5 ft and rotated it slightly, it is now 10 ft from Tower Hill property line. As requested they have added evergreen trees to create a screen around the court.  Peter Bolo asked the distance from the front yard to the sports court, it is 23 feet lower than the road. Marc Walker stated there was no flat area for the children to play and the driveway was not flat. Peter Bolo asked if they would have to fence in the court due to the grade drop off, there is not enough to fence. Bill Ryden reviewed the revised plans and sent the Board a letter stating he saw no changes and had no additional comments.

Peter Bolo asked if there were any public questions and there were none.

He then asked for public comments. Wendy Kotsen, the applicant stated the house square footage was smaller and they were happier. She felt the left side addition balanced the house. They would be using the sports court like anyone else uses a driveway. Andrea Kimmelman, of 90 Tower Hill Rd, told the board she did not have any problem with the proposed additions and would support the application. Chris Richter asked if the board could require that the applicant remove the abandoned driveway on Tower Hill.  Michael Sullivan said we could make it a condition of the application. Mrs. Kotsen said you could not see the driveway it had weeds growing in it and some left over stone.  It gave them access to the thru garage and was easier to see in the winter.

The Board was asked for their comments. Pia Abate was happy with the right side of the house being moved back.  Mary Dietz did not like that the new Mud Room stuck out pass the house on the side. Larry Korinda said they did reduce the size but it was a room the applicant really needs. Tim Willke liked the new FAR even though it exceeds the limits he was comfortable with it because they have to include the unfinished basement area in the calculations. Chris Gallo could not support the application with the sports court. Marc Walker said they could not put it anywhere else because of all the slopes on the lot.  The lot drops 44 ft from Lookout Road to the back of the lot. If they put the court in the setback they would have to move more dirt and disturb more of the property.  Larry Korinda reminded everyone of the safety issue, the house is on a dangerous curve.  Chris Richter stated the applicant could not say there was a hardship due to the topography of the lot because that was true of other people on the hill. Mr. Walker told the Board that putting the court within the setback would create a 10 to 12 ft retaining wall and put it in the middle of the backyard. Where they are locating the court creates less of a negative impact than elsewhere on the lot. Arthur Max thought the applicant would have reduced the size of the court.  Wendy Kotsen said they saw this as a good area for the court because it was flat it and already has pavement on it. Mary Dietz applauded their effort on the rest of the application but she would hate to see it now get hung up on the sports court.  Marc Walker said the applicant would make the court smaller. They would move it back and work with a 20 ft setback on the Tower Hill side and reduce the size of the court.  Peter Bolo liked the application and was in favor of the reduced sports court. 

Chris Richter made a motion to approve the application with the sports court reduced in size. A minimum front yard setback of 20 feet will be required on Tower Hill Road side. The maximum width of the court was not to exceed 25 ft. The applicant must comply with the comments made in the letter from Bill Ryden. A second was provided by Arthur Max. The application was approved by a vote of 5 to 1 with members Richter, Dietz, Max, Abate and Willke voting in favor and Gallo voting against.

 

New Applications:

 

SERGEY RYBALOV & ANASTASIA RIVKIN        38 Lakewood Dr

Bl. 8, Lot 16                                                                 Appl. #10-571

ILC, Front Yard Setback                                             R-1 Zone

 

Sergey Rybalov and Anastasia Rivkin live at 38 Lakewood Drive. Rick Nelson, a licensed Architect in the state of NJ, presented the application. The applicant has lived here for 5 year and would like to add a garage. They need two variances one for ILC and one for front yard setback.  The property is irregular in shape and is in the R-1 zone. The house has frontage on the lake; the front yard setback is 30 feet in this zone. Exhibit A-1 was a colorized version of the proposed site plan already submitted. The front setbacks in the neighborhood vary greatly due to the topography of the property and the changes in the shore line. The Garage is set at 31 ft. but if you do an average of the homes on either side of this one you get a front setback requirement of 83.55 ft. They have created a foyer out the front of the house and small bump out to the side to make the Kitchen more workable.  Rick Nelson included 500 sq ft of dry walls and the 294 sq ft concrete pad under the deck in the ILC calculations. Exhibit A-2 was the basement plan colorized.  The Garage is on a slab, the Mud Room will be on a crawl space.  Exhibit A-3 was the 1st floor plan colorized. They are adding a Laundry Room, Mud Room with a closet and a Foyer with a covered Front Entry. They counted the Basement in the FAR since it is out of the ground at some points 6 ft.  The house is contemporary so the ceilings are cathedral and counted in the FAR. With the additions he did a new calculation for FAR. Now they do not have to include the basement in the calculation and are now under the allowable FAR.  Exhibit A-4 was a colorized version of the 2nd floor that includes a new Bedroom above the Garage. Exhibit A-5 was a colorized version of the front elevation. Mr. Nelson kept the house to only 1 ˝ stories.

Peter Bolo asked the Board if they had any questions. Mary Dietz asked Mr. Nelson if he considered putting the garage within the setback with the second story above. He responded they looked at a lot of the options for the garage but wanted to keep the view of the lake from the Living Room and Master Bath.  We did not put it on the other side of the house because you would go from the garage into the Master Bedroom. Peter Bolo thought it would be an improvement and in keeping with the neighborhood. He did have a problem with the circular driveway and asked if it could be reduced. Exhibit A-5 was a photo of pavement under the deck. They plan to replace the deck. Pia Abate said she would like to see them remove the concrete under the deck and leave the driveway. Arthur Max asked if they could retain the circular driveway for safety reasons but could reduce the width. Anastasia Rivkin would like to keep the area under the deck because they use it. Rick Nelson said they could reduce the width of the driveway and reduce some of the walls. They could loss 245 sq ft by narrowing the driveway with the new ILC becomes 27.3%. Sergey Rybalov stated they tried to work within the setbacks but it did not work. They even discussed knocking down the house and starting over, move the house closer to the lake. Rick Nelson said the additions did not affect anyone’s view of the lake. Pia Abate asked about adding landscaping on the left side of the property, they could do foundation plantings on south side of the garage. Mary Dietz asked if they could push the front of the garage back to the current front of the house. Mr. Nelson said the required setback is 30 ft and we are at 31 ft.  The average front yard setback creates the hardship.

Arthur Max made the motion to approve the application with the reduced Improved Lot Coverage of 27.3% by removing some of the driveway pavement. Submit a new site plan showing the front setback at 31 ft. and lastly including the addition of 3ft high plantings along the new Garage. Pia Abate provided the second. The application was approved by a vote of 5 to 2 with members Bolo, Richter, Max, Abate and Willke voting in favor. Dietz and Gallo voted against.

 

Other Matters / Public Comment:

 

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

 

Arthur Max made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Chris Richter provided the second.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 pm.  

                                                                                                           

                                                                                                            Respectfully submitted,

           

 

                                                                                                Cynthia Shaw, Secretary