REGULAR MEETING

Salute to Flag:

This is a Regular Meeting of the Wanaque Board of Adjustment and adequate notice has been duly advertised by the mailing of a notice to the Suburban Trends and the Herald & News on the 13^th day of January, 2003 and a notice thereof has been posted on the bulletin board in the Municipal Building and a copy thereof is on file with the Borough Clerk.

ROLL CALL: Chairman Jack Dunning, Members Peter Hoffman, Don Ludwig, John Shutte, Lee Smith, Attorney Ralph Faasse and Engineer William Gregor.

MEMBERS ABSENT: William Grygus, Frank Covelli and Ted Roberto.

The Board took a moment of silence in memory of Member Robert Ricca.

Application #09-03 Wanaque Manor Associates, Portions of Properties along Jefferson St. & Boulevard, Block 457 Lot 1 & Block 479 Lots 1 & 2. Amended Preliminary & Final Site Plan & Conditional Use Variance. Authorized Agent is Attorney Peter A. Buchsbaum.

Attorney Faasse and Attorney Buchsbaum agreed that the notice was deficient and Atty. Buchsbaum has asked that this application be carried to the December 3, 2003 Meeting because of incorrect notice to property owners and newspaper. This notice mentioned the Wanaque Planning Board and also the Wanaque Board of Adjustment which was incorrect.

Chairman Dunning announced that all future meetings would be on the first Wednesday of the month starting in December.

MOTION TO CARRY APPLICATION TO THE DECEMBER 3, 2003 MEETING: made by Member Ludwig, seconded by Member Shutte, voting yes were Chairman Dunning, Members Hoffman, Ludwig, Shutte and Smith.

Atty. Faasse announced to the public the next meeting, on this application, is going to be December 3, 2003 and not December 10, 2003.

Application #18-03 Stanislaw & Ludwika Haberny, 395 Ringwood Ave., Block 208 Lot 51, Bulk & Use Variance. Authorized Agent is Henry C. Walentowicz, Esq.

Atty. Walentowicz came forward on behalf of his clients. Chairman Dunning asked the attorney if he had a copy of Eng. Gregor’s letter dated October 6, 2003 and Atty. Walentowicz said yes. Chairman Dunning asked if any new documentation has been submitted based on that letter and Atty. Walentowicz said no. Eng. Gregor said he did get a call from Architect, Frank Maleto with regard to his letter.

Eng. Gregor also said, he hasn’t received any revised drawings as of yet. Atty. Walentowicz added, they were going to ask for waivers from some of those requirements, and if not, then they would have to revise their application. Atty. Walentowicz asked the Board if they come back again and there are five members present, would the Board consider allowing the absent members to listen to the tapes and certifying it in writing and voting at a future date. Chairman Dunning answered and said that’s what the Board normally does. Atty. Walentowicz also wanted to know if there are any objectors to this application so they can at least try to address some of their questions before the applicant gets put off to another meeting. Atty. Faasse said, the members that are absent tonight are most faithful and are usually here. Atty. Walentowicz said when he said objectors, he meant in terms of public objectors. Atty. Faasse asked Eng. Gregor why this application was incomplete. Eng. Gregor said the site plan wasn’t prepared in accordance with Section 114-33 of the Borough Code, and a portion of the site plan was not prepared to scale and that is a major problem.

Atty. Faasse said there will only be three weeks between now and the next meeting and the plans have to be submitted more than 10 days before and suggested the applicant might want to consider carrying the application to the January 7, 2004 Meeting. Atty.Walentowicz said the January 7, 2004 Meeting would be fine and agreed to sign a 120-day Extension Letter.

MOTION TO CARRY APPLICATION TO THE JANUARY 7, 2004 MEETING: made by Member Ludwig, seconded by Member Shutte, voting yes were Chairman Dunning, Members Hoffman, Ludwig, Shutte and Smith.

Application #20-03 Manuel O. Hoyos, 105 Conklintown Rd., Block 200 Lot 3.01, Bulk & Use Variance:

Mr. Hoyos came forward. Eng. Gregor asked Mr. Hoyos if he had a chance to read his letter of November 11, 2003, which was handed to him tonight. Mr. Hoyos said he started going over it. Chairman Dunning suggested Eng. Gregor go over his letter and explain to him what he needs to be complete. Eng. Gregor said one of the biggest problems is that he has two sets of drawings and both have the same date with the same title with different and conflicting information. Eng. Gregor said he has no idea what this application is for. Eng. Gregor said he needs a new set of plans with a new date so that he knows what he wants. Both sets are dated March 10, 2003, but with completely different information. Eng. Gregor went on to say the site plan must be prepared in accordance with Section 114-33 the Borough Code, existing and proposed uses should be clearly noted in the application and on the site plan, uses of adjacent properties should also be provided to the Board, and a copy of the deed containing the access easement referenced on the survey should be submitted with the application. Eng. Gregor told Mr. Hoyos, if his architect has any questions, tell him to feel free to call him.

Chairman Dunning told Mr. Hoyos, if he thinks his architect isn’t going to have enough time to do these changes before the December 3^rd Meeting, then the application can be carried to the January 7, 2004 Meeting.

MOTION TO CARRY TO THE JANUARY 7, 2004 MEETING: made by Member Ludwig, seconded by Member Hoffman, voting yes were Chairman Dunning, Members Hoffman, Ludwig, Shutte, and Smith.

Richard Dinkfeld, 101 Conklintown Road came forward. Mr. Dinkfeld said he’s the piece of property with the right-of-way through there that’s access to his property behind it. Mr. Dinkfeld said he has concerns about the right-of-way. Atty. Faasse told Mr. Dinkfeld if he has any information about that right-of-way and if its in his deed or on his survey, please get copies of it to the Board Secretary so she can supply it to the Engineer and the Board Members.

Atty. Faasse recommended Mr. Hoyos sign a 120-day Extension Letter and he did.

Atty. Faasse reminded Mr. Hoyos that any new plans have to be submitted more than 10 days before the meeting.

PUBLIC DISCUSSION:

Dave Slater, 996 Ringwood Ave., Haskell, came forward. Mr. Slater told the Board he has application papers from the Building Department for a variance to put a canopy over his side door. Mr. Slater started to look at the cost for the variance and said it would be about $750 to $800 and that is more than the cost of the material. Mr. Slater wanted to know if all of this was necessary. Chairman Dunning told Mr. Slater that the Borough has recently passed a new ordinance that has two titles, one is called “Projections into Yards” and the other title is to allow for a “2 Ft. Cantilever Encroachment”. Eng. Gregor said, he was sent this information, however, in reviewing the information, he’s going to recommend to the Board that there is a problem with the way it’s worded. Mr. Slater’s property is corner property, which automatically has two front yards and his property is also on a County road. Eng. Gregor told Mr. Slater that it’s not uncommon in the State of New Jersey that the variance procedure costs more than the improvement itself.

Resolution on Application #19-03 Frank & Marina Covelli, 61 Rhinesmith Ave., Block 242 Lot 7.01 Bulk Variance:

MOTION TO APPROVE: made by Member Ludwig, seconded by Member Shutte, voting yes were Chairman Dunning, Members Hoffman, Ludwig, Shutte and Smith.

CORRESPONDENCE: Discussed earlier in meeting.

VOUCHERS: submitted by Eng. Gregor for Engineering Services for Application #18-03 Haberny for $330.00, Application #19-03 Covelli for $330.00, Application #20-03 Hoyos for $165.00, Application #09-03 Wanaque Manor for $1,540.00, for a Grand Total of $2,365.00.

MOTION TO APPROVE: made by Member Ludwig, seconded by Member Shutte, voting yes were Chairman Dunning, Members Hoffman, Ludwig, Shutte and Smith.

VOUCHERS: submitted by Atty. Faasse for Resolution on Application #19-03 Covelli for $115.00.

MOTION TO APPROVE: made by Member Ludwig, seconded by Member Smith, voting yes were Chairman Dunning, Members Hoffman, Ludwig, Shutte and Smith.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: from the October 8, 2003 Meeting.

MOTION TO APPROVE: made by Member Ludwig, seconded by Member Shutte, voting yes were Chairman Dunning, Members Hoffman, Ludwig, Shutte and Smith.

ENGINEER’S REPORT: Eng. Gregor wanted to comment on the ordinance that the Mayor & Council passed that provides for allowing up to 2 ft. of architectural features into a side yard, front yard or rear yard without requiring a variance. Eng. Gregor thinks this is a very good idea, however, the way this is worded there’s a bit of a problem. Eng. Gregor said, they also included which is normally not included in these ordinances, a cantilever of the principal structure and such cantilevers are typically 2 ft., however, they also included eaves. Therefore, if you take the cantilever of 2 ft. and an eave of 1 ½ ft., it requires a variance the way it’s worded. Eng. Gregor added, he doesn’t think that’s their intent and he thinks the language has to be clarified.

Eng. Gregor also told the Board he had a discussion with the County today regarding the pending application before the Board that will have an impact or may have an impact on County Roadways. The County has waived the requirement since the property does not front on a County Roadway. This is in regards to Application #09-03 Wanaque Manor. Atty. Faasse recommended that Eng. Gregor get that decision in writing from the County.

Chairman Dunning mentioned the letter from Eng. Gerald Gardner to Eng. Gregor regarding the Zikra property and asked if anything new developed from this letter? Eng. Gregor said no, other than they have asked him to clarify what is required and he told them an “As Built Drawing” and two consecutive days for a flood test.

DISCUSSION: None

MOTION TO ADJOURN AT 9:08 P.M.: made by Member Ludwig, seconded by Member Shutte. Carried by a voice vote.

_____________________________

Gerri Marotta

Secretary to Board of Adjustment