MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE PLANNING BOARD

OF THE BOROUGH OF MOUNTAIN LAKES

November 17, 2011

 

Chair Sandy Batty read the Open Public Meeting Advertisement Notice adopted at the annual meeting on January 27, 2011:  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, Zamierowski, Holmberg, Bailey, Dagger, & Tovo

Absent: Selver, Kane, DeVenezia, Gormally, and Environmental Commission Member

Also Present: Attorney Peter Henry, Engineer Bill Ryden

 

NEW MEMBER: Chief Tovo was sworn in as the newest member of the Board.

 

REVIEW OF MINUTES: Peter Holmberg made a motion to adopt the minutes of the October 27th meeting with corrections. John Zamerowski provided the second; the minutes were approved by voice vote of all eligible voters.

 

RESOLUTIONS: none

 

LETTER:

            Klingenburg                              App. # 09-237

 

Robert Kingenburg of 123 Lake Drive had his Attorney, Roy Kurnos, send a letter to the Board requesting a change be made to condition 10 in paragraph 10 of the resolution dated July 23 2009 for the property.  The condition reads: “No construction permit shall be issued for a dwelling on either of the new lots prior to the demolition and removal of the existing family home” Roy Kurnos presented the request to change the condition. He said he had reviewed the history of the subdivision. Mr. Klingenburg would like to be allowed to live in the existing home while the new home would be built. They would get a building permit for the new home now and the house would be razed at the time the CO is issued for the new house.

Tom Menard, of 29 Dartmouth Road, explained he had a contract to build a new home for Mr. Klingenburg. Once the new home was built the applicant would move into the new home and then take down the old home. Robert Tovo, who did not see a lot of activity at the home, asked how often Mr. Menard’s client, was out of the country. He replied about 50 % of the time. 

Peter Henry explained for the benefit of the newer Board members and audience how Mr. Klingenburg was planning on building two smaller new homes on the two lots. Normally prior to a lot being subdivided the house would have had to be torn down.  At the time of the application Mr. Klingenburg requested he be allowed to keep the house until he was ready to pull the permit on the new home.  Even though he now says he is going to live in this new home there is always the possibility that someone could come along and offer a lot of money to buy the new home. Sandy Batty asked how long it would take to build the house. Tom Menard said it would take 6 to 8 months. John Zamierowski asked how we are guaranteed he will move in. Peter Henry responded; we are not.

Colleen Whitmore, of 116 Lake Drive, did not understand, “if Mr. Klingenburg was going to move into the new house why does the new lot have a for sale sign on it”. Tom Menard said the applicant would shift the lot for sale to his lot. Ms. Whitmore did not understand why he is asking for the condition change since he was never there. During the construction, this new option would greatly obstruct her view of the lake. She thought the request was a substantial change to the original resolution where the Board had been very flexible. She also thought the high asking price of $2.195 million would cause the house to sit empty and affect the neighbors indefinitely. Frank Luzzi, of 115 Lake Drive, felt the applicant and the Board had done a lot of work to get this subdivision through and these conditions were put in for a reason. “When we start making changes problems will arise”. Joe Riccardi of 110 Lake Drive, questioned how many more times was the applicant going to request the Board change the deal. Chris Terreri, of 120 Lake Drive, said the house currently has no activity and was concerned that the change would become a nightmare.

Sandy Batty asked if there were any comments from the Board. Jim Bailey thought there was enough concern from the residents not to grant the applicant’s request. He felt there already had been accommodations made by the Board so he did not see the benefit.  Robert Tovo thought the argument presented was not compelling enough.  John Zamierowski confirmed if the Board allowed the change they would in fact create additional non-conforming issues. Sandy Batty thought the Board was running the risk of him not moving into the new home. Mr. Klingenburg could decide to sell the house and we would have an empty house sitting there for a long time. Peter Holmberg was also concerned about the house sitting for a long time so he would leave the resolution as is.

Jim Bailey made a motion to deny the change in condition #10 of paragraph 10 requested by the applicant. John Zamierowski provided the second.  The Board voted 6 to 0 to deny the request to change condition 10 with members Batty, Bailey, Tovo, Holmberg, Zamierowski and Dagger voting for the denial.

                       

PUBLIC HEARING: All applicants and professional were sworn in by Chair Sandy Batty.

EAGLE ROCK REAL ESTATE, LLC  App. #11-245

            Bl. 5, Lot 2                                            50 Route 46 East

            Side Setback, Parking, Sign                    Zone B            

 

Bernd Hefele, a licensed Attorney in the state of New Jersey, would be presenting tonight on behalf of Eagle Rock Real Estate. The applicant had requested 12 Waivers. Sandy Batty questioned granting waivers for the landscaping and the surface water management plan. Bernd Hefele stated they could give the landscape plan to the Engineer, Bill Ryden. Mr. Ryden responded he would prefer to see the landscape plan at the hearing but did not see the need to revisit the surface water management plan this time. Robert Tovo was also concerned about the landscape plan because the site had such poor site distance. Marc Walker, a licensed Engineer in the state of New Jersey, explained the ground was not being disturbed and there was little to no site work being done. Peter Holmberg made a motion to grant the waivers solely for completeness and a second was provided by Robert Tovo. The motion passed by a vote of 6 to 0 with members Batty, Tovo, Holmberg, Bailey Zamierowski and Dagger voting in favor.

Bernd Hefele stated the applicant was planning major improvements to the property. Ron Lombardi, the principle of the company, was going to make it a rehabilitation facility.

Marc Walker presented the site work for the property formally known as the Family Christian Bookstore. The building is poorly lit, it is in the B zone and there are no lot coverage or building foot print changes.  They were looking to bring the building up to code, converting 2 parking spaces into handicap parking and making the building ADA accessible. They will restripe the parking lot and add new lighting. There is a stream that flows into a storm pipe which goes under Route 46 and pours into the stream on Pollard Road. They are planning to use the current sewer and water connections. The property owner will improve the current landscape but will limit it to the island because they need to be concerned with the site distance. They will not be removing any trees because they belong to the state DOT. Sandy Batty questioned where the right of way for the road was. Mr. Walker said it was the front property line. 

Marc Walker explained Eagle Rock was adding a second floor to half of the building.  The second floor would be built directly on top of the existing 1st floor requiring a side setback variance.  The second variance is for the sign setback.  Currently the sign is ˝ in DOT right of way and ˝ on the property.  They will be moving the sign onto the property. They were looking to move the sign 6ft, locating it on the lot line (0 ft) rather than the 10 ft that is required.

The applicant would need a third variance for the number of required parking spaces. They were not sure how to classify the type of use for the building so they decided to determine the amount of parking required for the building as if it were office space. The new second floor would have an office, conference room and general space for physical therapy. The square footage of the entire building would now be 7572 sq ft which would calculate out to parking 38 spaces.  There are currently 27 spaces on site and no room to add additional spaces. Eagle Rock does not think they will need 38 spaces. The physical therapy area would require 8 parking spaces. The separate 1st floor doctor’s office would have 3 employees plus spaces for patients.  Peter Holmberg asked if the applicant needed additional handicap spaces due to the nature of the business.  Mr. Walker stated that the business did not have a bearing on the number of required spaces.  You need one for every 25 spaces. The two handicap spaces planned are van accessible. They would be removing the shed. Mr. Walker clarified Mr. Ryden’s questions concerning the air conditioning units, the trash enclosure and the lighting on the east side of the building. Bernd Hefele pointed out the actual site was such that you really can’t add any additional parking. Peter Holmberg stated that the Board had to consider the future uses of the property when talking about parking.  Peter Henry suggested some type of deed restriction pertaining to parking. Mr. Heflel said he thought his client could agree to a condition in the resolution but not a deed restriction.

John Zamierowski asked if the size of the sewer line was adequate for the increased space. Marc Walker did not know the actual size but it should be adequate. Bill Ryden said it should be a 4” line which is adequate.  Jim Bailey questioned the garbage area; it would not be a dumpster but rather cans.

Bari Vitolo currently works for Sportscare in their facility located in the Weichart building on Bloomfield Ave. He explained it was an outpatient physical therapy facility where the patients stay 1 to 1 ˝ hours, for rehabilitation. The new location would have an aquatic facility.  The business would have 3-4 employees.  The existing business would be moving to the new location.  The rental space is for a separate doctor office that would have 3-4 employees. The rehab patients would be 3 to 4 at a time as there is only one therapist. The doctor would be less than 3-4 patients per hour. Mr. Vitolo thought the parking available would be double what they needed. The rehabilitation office would not have any medical waste but the doctor would have a small amount which is heavily regulated. Robert Tovo asked what the upstairs space was for. Mr. Vitolo said it was a break room, file storage and an office for Mr. Lombardi. Peter Henry questioned the testimony discrepancy concerning the use of the second floor’s open area.  It was clarified that it would be used for file storage.

Seth Leeb, a licensed Architect in the state of New Jersey, had prepared the plans for the building. The plan has two entrances now rather than one and two egresses from the second floor. The aquatic area will have two tanks, one with a seat and a small tank for continuous swimming. The 2nd floor had an office break and conference room plus the bull pen. In design a bull pen is a large general area that will be used desks or cubicles. In this case it will be used as file storage space and the floor was designed to handle the load.  Code requires lighting at each exit. They plan to remove the entire roof and redesign the building with a main roof and two gables. The back side of the building creates the need for the side yard variance which is an existing non-conforming situation. Sandy Batty asked if the attic had usable space. Mr. Leeb said no, maybe the hv/ac equipment would be installed there. The building would be stone and stucco. The roof material would be fiberglass roofing shingle. The stone would be only in the front. The roof area and drainage would be the same as before. The roof runoff would not go into seepage pits.

Robert Tovo asked Mr. Leeb how he came up with the number of examining rooms.  He responded, based on his previous experience and the request of the property owner. Peter Holmberg thought Mr. Leeb had created a nice plan. He thought the plan would really need larger number of staffing for the space drawn. He asked could the 2nd floor support physical therapy space. No, patients would not be allowed by code on the second floor because there was no elevator. Mr Leeb added he thought the space was a nice size for a satellite office for a doctor. Peter Holmberg thought the office space would be for 6 employees. Sandy Batty asked if the sign was one sided.  Seth Leeb said the sign was two sided, lit from below and on a timer.

Bari Vitolo said the hours of operation were 7am to 8pm; presently they are not open on Saturdays. Sandy Batty confirmed the lights would go off at 9 pm. She then asked about electronic filing of patient records.  Mr. Vitolo said we are moving in that direction but still needed a paper records for some things.

Bernd Hefele said Eagle Rock would be willing to have a condition in resolution stating if the use changed the new occupant of the space would need to come before the Planning Board concerning parking. Peter Henry felt it should be part of the resolution but thought it should also be part of the deed. Tom Dagger questioned why the applicant would not agree to that restriction.  Mr. Hefele thought it would put a cloud on the title. Mr. Henry did not agree.

Peter Holmberg thought the applicant knew their business and the parking limitations and how that will affect them. John Zamierowski thought that physical therapy was a great use for the space but it had no bearing on the building’s future use. Robert Tovo was concerned about the DEP issues pertaining to the property. Bernd Hefele said he represented the previous owner and all the issues have been resolved with the DEP. Bill Ryden did not see the need for lighting on the right side of the building because of the ravine.  Seth Leeb said it was for fire safety and security. Bob Tovo, as Police Chief, said it was best to have the entire building lit for the best security. The Board asked that the landscaping plan, trash enclosure and Verizon building be added to the site plan.

The application was carried to the 15th of December meeting.

 

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

            Master Plan

The Board received Appendix A which had been updated. Jim Bailey told the Board of Susan Kimball’s recommendation to have a public hearing on the chapter she had reviewed and hold off on the chapters that had not been completed. The Board decided they would not do a public hearing in December and hold off and do the entire document at one time.

 

Other Business

            New Planner

Susan Kimball has requested she not be reappointed in January. The Board has formed a new committee to select a planner. Peter Holmberg and John Zamierowski will be on the committee. Mr. Holmberg will ask Corey Nachshen and Nick DeVenezia if they would like to join the committee.

 

Generators

The Board reviewed Ordinance # 08-11, introduced to regulate the installation of emergency generators, to determine its consistency with the Master Plan. The Board made a recommendation to Council they make changes to items #1 and #4 of the ordinance clarifying the intent of those conditions. A motion of approval was provided by John Zamierowski as to the consistency of the ordinance with the Master Plan. The second was provided by Tom Dagger.  The Board voted 6 to 0 to approve the consistency of the ordinance with members Batty, Bailey, Tovo, Holmberg, Zamierowski and Dagger voting to approve.

 

Sandy Batty made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The Board adjourned at 10:45 PM

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

                                                                                    Cynthia Shaw, Secretary