MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING

 ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT OF THE BOROUGH OF MOUNTAIN LAKES

February 7, 2013

 

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 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.

 

 ROLL CALL:

Present: Dietz, Max, Abate, Richter, Albergo, and Rusak

Absent: Bolo

Also Present:  Attorney Michael Sullivan

 

REVIEW OF MINUTES: Pat Rusak made a motion to approve the minutes from the January 3, 2013 meeting. William Albergo provided the second; the minutes were approved by voice vote by all members.

 

MEMORIALIZING RESOLUTIONS:  

GARY PRITCHARD/IPPOLITO        Appl. # 13-623

                                                                       

William Albergo made a motion to adopt the resolution of denial; Pia Abate seconded the motion.  The resolution was passed by a vote of 4 to 0 with members voting to deny.

 

PUBLIC HEARINGS: All Applicants and professionals were sworn in by Chair Chris Richter.

 

Carried Application:

JEFFERY & LYNNE ANSELL                                              260 Boulevard

Blk. 100, Lot 23                                                           Appl. #13-622

FAR, Height, Side, Building Env, Slope                          R-A zone

           

The Board Secretary received a request to carry the Ansell application until March 7, 2013.   Chris Richter made a motion to carry the application and Arthur Max provided the second.  The motion was carried by a voice vote of all members present.

 

New Applications:

BRIAN and SUSAN MARSHALL                              220 Morris Avenue

Blk. 91, Lot 3                                                               Appl. # 13-624

Rear Yard, Side Yard                                                   R-A zone

 

Zoning Board member Pat Rusak is also a member of the Historic Preservation Committee. She recused herself from HPC meeting in order to vote on the Marshall application at Zoning Board meeting.

Brain Marshall of 220 Morris Avenue presented the application.  He explained they were not at the meeting to modify their property but to rebuild their garage destroyed during the Sandy storm. The garage is listed as a contributing dwelling in the historic district and will be rebuilt to mimic the original historic design, it will however be constructed to meet today’s standard.  The garage was originally constructed in 1911 on a 5 acre parcel. When the property was subdivided the garage became non-conforming. To improve the side yard non-conformity they will be moving it in an additional foot off the property line to be inline with the house. In the rear the garage will be moved back toward the power lines and rail road tracks.

Michael Sullivan reviewed the requested variances. The side setback would be 12.2 rather than 10 ft where 25 ft is required.  The rear setback was 21 ft and would now be 19 ft where 25 ft is required. Chris Richter confirmed they were applying for their variance under the new Historic Preservation ordinance since the home was a Hapgood.  Their application included the required Certification for Eligibility for Bulk Incentives. Mr. Richter suggested we should have a sign off on the document showing compliance from the Zoning Officer.

Mary Dietz asked about the second floor of the garage. Brian Marshall explained the garage had a second floor before.  She continued, the area on the second floor could count toward the FAR if the walls were over 5 ft or the space was more the 40 % of the floor below. Mr. Marshall continued they did make the garage wider so to have the same roof pitch the structure was actually 2 ft higher. Chris Richter suggested a condition be added to the resolution requiring a letter from the Architect stating the second floor was storage and did not exceed the 40% rule. If the space was greater than 40% they would to recalculate the FAR for the property.

Pat Rusak told the Board the garage was shown on a 1916 Martindale map. Arthur Max asked the applicant if they considered repositioning the garage to meet the setbacks.  Brian Marshall stated they had, once they moved the garage closer to the house they would have to completely turn the garage.  The driveway to access the garage would interfere with the historic wall plus they would need to have additional pavement on the property. A new driveway entrance would have to be cut into the wall.

There was no one from the public who wish to comment on the application.

A motion was made by Pia Abate to approve the application as presented and include the condition to confirm the second floor was for storage. A second was provided by Bill Albergo.  The Board voted 6 to 0 to approve the application.

 

Other Matters / Public Comment:

Chris Richter told the Board he had spoken to Mayor Happer about getting two new alternates for the Zoning Board. He asked the Board to talk to people to see if we are interested in serving. Mr. Richter also brought up the idea of combining the Planning and Zoning Boards. Michael Sullivan stated he would be concerned about the volume of applications we would have once the economy improved. Combined Boards would also have the responsibility of commercial applications and the Master Plan updates.

 

Frank Borin was introduced as the new Council liaison to the Zoning Board of Adjustment.

 

Chris Richter made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Pat Rusak provided the second. The motion was carried by a voice vote of all members. The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 pm. 

                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                Respectfully submitted,

 

 

                                                                                                            Cynthia Shaw, Secretary