MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE PLANNING BOARD

OF THE BOROUGH OF MOUNTAIN LAKES

June 24, 2010

Chair Sandy Batty read the Open Public Meeting Advertisement Notice adopted at the annual meeting on January 28, 2010:  Adequate notice of this meeting was given to the Citizen and the Daily Record, posted with the Borough Clerk and on the Bulletin Board and made available to all those requesting individual notice and paying the required fee.

ROLL CALL:

Members Present: Nachshen, Batty, Holmberg, Nix, and Jackson

Absent: Lewis, Kane, Selver, Zamierowski, Bailey, Bravo, Engineer Bill Ryden and Attorney Peter Henry

REVIEW OF MINUTES: Peter Holmberg made a motion to adopt the minutes of the May 27, 2010 meeting with a correction. Corey Nachshen seconded the motion; the minutes were approved by voice vote.

RESOLUTION:

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Peter Holmberg made a motion to adopt the resolution of approval; Corey Nachshen provided the second. The resolution was carried by a vote of 3 to 0 with members Batty, Holmberg and Nachshen voting in favor.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Master Plan Committee – 10. Historic Preservation Plan

The Master Plan Committee met again to incorporate the comments from the Board into the Historic Preservation Plan. Joan Nix stated she had also reviewed comments made by our Attorney, Peter Henry.

The Board went through the plan page by page and confirmed the changes. The book “Historic Mountain Lakes Restoration and Renovation Handbook” will now be listed as a reference in the plan.

The Board worked extensively on revising and clarifying the section titled Location and Significance of Historic Sites and Historic Districts. Corey Nachshen and Joan Nix will work on updating and correcting the tables and maps in this section of the element. It was decided to add a listing of the 4 properties on the Morris County Inventory of Historic sites and remove the Fanny Road Bridge.

George Jackson, who was not at the last board meeting, questioned the decision to simplify the recommendations to the Council for creating a new Historic Preservation ordinance.  He felt the recommendations in the element should have more detail. Corey Nachshen felt the purpose of the document was for guidance and not to propose the actual ordinance.  Too much detail could create limitations for those writing the ordinances. Sandy Batty said the Planning Board ultimately gets to review all the ordinances the Council creates and the Master Plan was only for guidance. Joan Nix stated the guidelines in the Master Plan should only be enough to support the ordinance. Peter Holmberg agreed with the other board members, the Master Plan was only a guideline and the board should maintain the current list of 5 recommendations determined at the last Board meeting. Corey Nachshen asked if the board could have a discussion at a meeting with the HPC when they were ready to create their ordinance recommendations for the Council.  Sandy Batty thought we could.

The board then reviewed the Appendix required for the Historic Preservation Element. It was determined the board should ask the planner to review the entire element before the public hearing. She should be able to tell them the best way to handle the Appendix.

The public hearing will be noticed for July 22^nd. The board discussed placing the element on the Borough web site.  It was decided the secretary would attach the element to the agenda. The board must have final copy of element by the 12^th of July for public viewing. 

Peter Holmberg suggested when the Master Plan was complete the board should create a second version of the Master Plan for the public that is easier to read and understand.  He thought it should be an abbreviated version, reduced to a few pages.  Corey Nachshen said he was working on something currently that could be used as a starting point to create this document. 

Other Business

Environmental Commission - Corey Nachshen told the board a Natural Resource Inventory (NRI) was being created by the Environmental Commission. The inventory has not been updated since the 70’s. Sandy Batty asked if he would make a presentation to the Planning Board when it was complete.

Highlands Committee – Sandy Batty gave the board an update on the state Highlands Council. She told the board the DEP was currently holding stakeholder sessions.

Sandy Batty made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The Board adjourned at 9:35 PM.

                                                                                    Respectfully submitted,

                                                                                    Cynthia Shaw, Secretary