MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE PLANNING BOARD

OF THE BOROUGH OF MOUNTAIN LAKES

November 18, 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: Batty, Bravo, Zamierowski, Bailey, Nachshen (7:35 pm), Kane and Holmberg (7:40 pm)

Absent: Jackson, Lewis, Selver

Also Present: Attorney Peter Henry and Engineer Bill Ryden

REVIEW OF MINUTES: Jim Bailey made a motion to adopt the minutes of the October 28^th meeting.  John Zamierowski provided the second; the minutes were approved by voice vote of all eligible voters. Martin Kane abstained from voting.

RESOLUTIONS: none

PUBLIC HEARING:

            Michael Kraft                                       150 Laurel Hill Road

            Bl. 55 Lot 24                                        App. # 10-243

            Minor Subdivision                                 Zone – AA

            Building Envelope/Steep Slopes

            Height

Marc Walker, a licensed Engineer in the state of NJ, and Michael Kraft, the applicant, were sworn in.  Mark Walker explained the minor subdivision site map submitted to the Board. The shaded areas on the map were the steep slope. The plan also showed the walkways to be removed on the property.  The Boulevard is an extra wide road that includes a side access road.  Sheet 2, already submitted, included the building height and story calculations for the existing house. The lot is in the R-AA zone; it contains 72, 338 sq ft of property and has two front’s one Laurel Hill and the other on the Boulevard.  The lot has a Hapgood home and a detached garage on the Laurel Hill side of the property. In creating the two lots both of the new building boxes take into consideration the average front yard setback.  On the Boulevard side of the property the existing house has a height of 41.9 ft and 3 ½ stories where 35 ft and 2.5 stories are allowed. Mr. Walker explained the two pre-existing conditions pertaining to the Garage located in the front and side yard setback.

Marc Walker said the applicant would be creating a new lot on the Boulevard.  Remainder Lot 24 would now be 37,890 sq ft and the new Lot 24.01 would be 34,449 sq ft. The two lots would conform in width and size.  The existing house FAR would now be 12.4% for the remaining Lot 24 rather than 6.5% for the entire parcel. Exhibit A-1, The Building Envelope Exhibit, was presented. The shaded areas are the slopes greater than 15 %, and there are no easements or wetlands on the site. He went on to explain the Site Slope Breakdown. The total area of the building envelope was 16,021 sq ft for the remainder Lot 24 where 8,500 sq ft is required.  Only 525 sq ft of the minimum building envelope are steep slopes. Mr. Walker mentioned that the existing house and yard has worked well since 1911. He did request an additional variance be granted for the steep slopes in the building envelope on the remaining Lot 24. The proposed Lot 24.01 has steep slopes that are minimal so the applicant has applied for a Minor Soil Moving Permit to move 140 cubic yards. Marc Walker then read Exhibit A-2, Bill Ryden’s letter dated October 6, 2010, into the record approving the minor soil moving permit. Exhibit A-3 dated 9-20-10 was the Minor Soil Moving Plan. Dykstra Walker prepared the plan ahead of time so that they could show the board the soil moving was minor in nature.

Mr. Walker said the applicant needed 2 additional variances, one for the front yard and one for the side yard, for the detached garage on the remaining Lot 24. Once the new property line had been created the existing house is still too tall on the non-street fronting side of the property. Therefore a third variance would be required for height on the remaining lot. The new Lot 24.01 conceptual grading plan was on sheet 2. The drawing showed the area where the new house could potentially sit.

John Zamierowski asked the applicant to confirm the number of variances that were requested. Marc Walker replied there were two building envelope variances, one for each lot. There were also two for the detached garage and one for building height on the old lot. Mr. Zamierowski confirmed they were not changing the grade around the existing house. On the new lot the steep slopes occur to the right and left of the fountain. He then confirmed someone could build a house without disturbing the slopes. John Zamierowski then mentioned the front yard of the new lot had a slope greater than 15%. Marc Walker explained that in the front yard a slope greater than 15% was allowed by the Borough ordinances but a maximum of 15% were allowed in the building box.

Corey Nachshen asked, after they moved the 140 cubic yards of soil would there be any steep slopes left in the building box, there would be none. Additional discussion occurred pertaining to the steep slopes. Sandy Batty questioned the 15% grading on the driveway. Marc Walker said when the house was built a major soil moving permit would be needed to build the driveway. The driveway would require that a portion of the existing wall be removed to obtain access to the Boulevard right of away. Jim Bailey asked how the Borough’s current water restrictions would effect the creation of this new lot. Bill Ryden explained that when the house was built the project would be covered by the Borough ordinances. Blair Bravo said the water restrictions should be lifted next summer.

The Board then discussed the FAR for the existing house. Marc Walker presented Exhibit A-4; a letter dated November 16, 2010 from Vincent J. Cioffi, a licensed New Jersey Architect, and read it into the record. It contained a schedule of the FAR calculations for the house.  The new FAR calculations, after the subdivision, would be 12.4% for the remaining Lot 24. Bill Ryden asked if that calculation included the walls on the property; yes it did. There were some concerns that the FAR calculations were done correctly. Blair Bravo asked if item 6 of Bill Ryden’s letter pertaining to the demolition of structure would be in the resolution; yes it would. Jim Bailey observed that not all the check list items were met. Mr. Ryden explained the entire check list did not apply; some were for a major subdivision. All the requirements for the minor have been met.

Sandy Batty asked if there were any questions or comments from the public. John A. Moore, of 225 Boulevard, asked if the existing house was in proportion to the yard. He felt parking would be an issue as well as the flow of the traffic on the Boulevard right of way. He was concerned about the water drainage on to his property. He asked the Board if they would see the proposed home once designed. Sandy Batty explained the Board would see the plans only if the home needed a variance or soil moving permit. Marc Walker said the drainage would not be an issue as the two houses were parallel to one another so the water would not flow to Mr. Moore’s home but to the Boulevard. Once they remove the walkways and patios there would be less runoff. Martin Kane asked Bill Ryden if he was concerned about the drainage. Mr. Ryden will address that when the actual development plan comes in. He then concurred that per the submitted plan all the water would drain to the Boulevard. Kevin Heskett, of 235 Boulevard, asked if the Borough approved the application and then someone came to the board for the major soil moving permit could the board deny someone the ability to building a house on the lot.  Sandy Batty explained they could not but they could affect the amount of soil moved.

Sandy Batty explained to the applicant the need to carry the application to verify the FAR calculations. Peter Henry recommended that the architect who did the calculations be present at the next board meeting. The application was carried to December 16^th.

GIM Investors of Mountain Lakes                    App # 09-238

GIM Investors has requested the Board remove condition #7, pertaining to the COAH Scarce Resource Order, from the minor subdivision resolution for Block 118.04, Lot 2. Peter Henry had prepared a resolution to release them from that requirement. After much discussion the Board decided not to pass a resolution but rather let Bill Ryden have the authority to remove the Scarce Resource Order requirement where applicable. Blair Bravo made a motion to allow the Engineer, Bill Ryden, to remove this condition from the resolutions unless the Borough’s status changes pertaining to the Scarce Resource Order. If the Borough became subject to COAH’s jurisdiction again the condition would apply. Martin Kane provided the second and the motion was approved by voice vote of all the members present. Peter Holmberg abstained.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

MASTER PLAN COMMITTEE –

The Master Plan Committee had Chapter 5, the Circulation Plan, Chapter 6 the Conversation Plan, Chapter 7 the, Community Facilities and Utilities Plan and Chapter 8 the Recreation Plan ready for a second review before the public hearing. The Board decided accepted all the changes.  The chapters will be posted on the web site and submit to the county. We will have a public hearing at the next meeting.

Jim Bailey told the Board that the Committee will be sending Chapter 3, 4 and 11 to our professionals for review.

Other Business

Sandy Batty mention that now that Joan Nix was no longer a member of the Planning Board we need to send any applications involving historic structures to the Historic Preservation Committee for review. The Board Secretary will send them to committee member John Grossman.

Corey Nachshen would like to have the NRI (Natural Resource Inventory) on the Borough web site.  The Board suggested he talk to the Borough Manager to obtain the approval to do so.

Sandy Batty made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The Board adjourned at 9:30 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

                                                                                    Cynthia Shaw, Secretary