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 12th
day of January 2005 and a notice 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 William
Grygus, Frank Covelli, Peter Hoffman, Don Ludwig, John Shutte, Attorney Ralph
Faasse and Engineer William Gregor.
MEMBERS ABSENT:
Member Chris Demetriou, Ted Roberto and Lee Smith.
Application #15-04 “MKR” Enterprises/Tree Tavern, 17 Park St., Block 240 Lot 3, Bulk & Use Variance:
The Board Secretary received a fax from Attorney William Bartel dated March 31, 2005 stating that at the present time it is their intention to appear at the May Meeting and is requesting that the Board grant a continuance of this matter for a period of 90 days.
MOTION TO CARRY APPLICATION TO THE MAY 4TH
MEETING: made by Member Ludwig, seconded by Member Covelli, voting yes were
Chairman Dunning, Members Grygus, Covelli, Hoffman, Ludwig and Shutte.
Application #01-05 Ringwood Park Plaza Realty, LLC, “CVS Pharmacy”, 1104 Ringwood Ave., Block 438 Lot 1.01, Bulk Variance (Commercial) for an Electronic Sign:
The
Board Secretary received a fax from Attorney Ryan Marrone dated March 31, 2005
stating that his client and expert are unable to appear at the April 6, 2005 Meeting
and therefore are requesting the application be carried to the May 4th
Meeting. The Secretary was directed to send an Extension Letter for 90 days to
be signed and returned.
MOTION TO CARRY APPLICATION TO THE MAY 4TH
MEETING WITH THE PROVISION THAT A LETTER BE SENT TO THE APPLICANT STATING THAT
IF THE APPLICATION IS NOT HEARD ON MAY 4TH AND IF A 90 DAY EXTENSION
IS NOT RECEIVED THE APPLICATION WILL BE DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE FOR LACK OF
PROSECUTION: made by
Member Grygus, seconded by Member Ludwig, voting yes were Chairman Dunning,
Members Grygus, Covelli, Hoffman, Ludwig and Shutte.
Chairman
Dunning asked Eng. Gregor if he requested any information on the “CVS” Pharmacy
Application and is it back? Eng. Gregor said he did not request any information
and their application is complete. Eng. Gregor said he hasn’t done a report yet
but will be doing one and the members will get a copy.
Application #02-05 Alan Nejmeh, 25 Fourth Ave., Block 416 Lot 43, Bulk Variance:
Mr.
Nejmeh, owner of the property and Jason J. Nicholas, Architect LLC, 20
Horseshoe Drive, Oak Ridge, N.J. Licensed in the State of N.J., came forward
and were sworn in by Atty. Faasse. Mr. Nicholas explained that Mr. Nejmeh has a
one story house and will be adding a six foot front porch and adding to the
back of the house a seventeen foot addition. Mr. Nicholas added that the
existing house in the front is only 23.1 feet currently and is existing
non-conforming and will be adding 6 feet by adding the front porch. The lot is
also undersized and has a side yard setback issue. The idea is to add a second
floor to the house to give Mr. Nejmeh and his family more living space. Member
Grygus asked what the plan was for under the addition. Mr. Nicholas said
currently under the proposed addition is a terrace that Mr. Nejmeh is going to
keep and the front porch will remain open. Mr. Nejmeh explained he has hardly
any backyard because of the large rock in his yard.
Eng.
Gregor said the front yard variance is for the front porch and the second
floor.
Mr.
Nejmeh testified that once his house is complete, is will blend in with the
rest of the neighborhood.
Chairman
Dunning asked Mr. Nejmeh what use will he be using the attic for. Mr. Nejmeh
said it’s going to be used for storage only. Mr. Nejmeh explained he has no
storage space in the house and there is no basement. Atty. Faasse asked what
the headroom is in the attic and Mr. Nicholas said down the center of the attic
would be 8 feet high and about 11 feet wide. Atty. Faasse mentioned that the
Building Inspector, Jeff Brusco mentioned in his “Refusal Letter” that no
habitable space would be permitted in the attic level. Atty. Faasse wanted to
know why the attic had to be so high. Mr. Nicholas said it doesn’t have to be.
Mr. Nejmeh said he needs the height for storage and it would be easier to get
things up in the attic with that height.
Chairman Dunning explained the Board’s concern is that, Mr. Nejmeh may
never use the attic for living space, but a future buyer might. Mr. Nejmeh said
there will be vent pipes coming up into the attic and if he ever decided to put
in central air, the unit would be up in the attic. Atty. Faasse asked how many
rooms would be in the proposed addition and Mr. Nicholas said there would be
three (3) bedrooms, two (2) bathrooms one on the first floor and one on the
second floor, Kitchen, Living Room and Dining Room.
Member Grygus asked if Mr. Nejmeh would be willing to explore the possibility of changing the staircase to the attic to a pull down stairwell. Mr. Nejmeh said he would not be willing to do that because it will be easier for him and for his wife to have access to the attic. Mr. Nejmeh explained he has a heart condition at the moment and doesn’t know what his prognosis is going to be later on in life.
The
staircase going to the attic will be an open staircase, as an architectural
feature, and a door would be at the top going into the attic.
Atty.
Faasse asked Mr. Nicholas how low could he make the ceiling in the attic and
still accommodate the applicant’s desire to have storage up there. Mr. Nicholas
said he would have to discuss that with Mr. Nejmeh and said the code for the
minimum ceiling height of habitable space is 7 feet. Mr. Nicholas said nothing
would be sheet-rocked in the attic space and the ceiling would be exposed
collar-ties. The only part being sheet-rocked would be the entrance hallway to
the attic so that there will be no loss of heat. Member Ludwig said a good
portion of the ducts would be in the attic and that usually wipes out any use
of living space.
Chairman
Dunning reiterated by saying that if someone buys this house in the future,
they might make the attic a rental space and that would be a life safety issue.
Mr.
Nicholas told the Board he discussed the height of the attic with Mr. Nejmeh
and decided that Mr. Nejmeh would be willing to decrease the pitch of the roof
to bring it down to a height that would meet the definition of an uninhabited
space. Atty. Faasse said they would have to refer to the BOCA Code. Eng. Gregor
suggested that in addition to decreasing the pitch of the roof the wording in
the resolution should also include that this space is uninhabited space.
Eng.
Gregor suggested that Mr. Nicholas in the future should reference who did the
survey on his plans because the State Board of New Jersey has the habit of
fining architects and engineers for not doing this.
Mr.
Nicholas conferred with his client and it was decided he would keep the
staircase and decrease the pitch.
Eng.
Gregor said these plans are adding a significant amount of impervious surface
to this lot and his recommendation would be to add a seepage pit to compensate
and address the additional storm water.
Mr.
Nicholas wanted the Board to know that the portion being added to the back of
the house is actually coming out over an existing terrace; therefore, they are
not increasing that impervious area. The only new impervious area is the 6’
porch in the front.
OPEN TO PUBLIC DISCUSSION: None/Closed
MOTION TO APPROVE APPLICATION FOR A VARIANCE FOR A FRONT YARD SETBACK OF 12.9 FT. WHERE THE APPLICANT IS PROVIDING 17.1 FT. WHERE 30 FT. IS REQUIRED BY ORDINANCE, VARIANCE FOR A SIDE YARD SETBACK OF 10.6 FT. WHERE THE APPLICANT IS PROVIDING 4.4 FT. WHERE 15 FT. IS REQUIRED BY ORDINANCE, A TOTAL SIDE YARD SETBACK VARIANCE OF 14 FT. WHERE THE APPLICANT IS PROVIDING 21 FT. WHERE 35 FT. IS REQUIRED BY ORDINANCE, THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS WILL BE PART OF THE RESOLUTION FOR APPROVAL, AS PER TESTIMONY THE APPLICANT AND HIS ARCHITECT WILL CHANGE THE PITCH OF THE ROOF LINE IN ORDER TO BRING THE FINISHED
ROOF HEIGHT OF THE THIRD FLOOR CEILING HEIGHT TO A HEIGHT
THAT IS LESS THAN WHAT IS CODE FOR HABITABLE SPACE IN ORDER TO AID AND
IDENTIFYING THIS SPACE AS UNINHABITABLE FOR ITS ENTIRETY, IN ADDITION AS PER
TESTIMONY ADDRESSED WILL BE ITEMS 5 THROUGH 9 IN THE ENGINEER’S REPORT
REFERENCE THE SURVEY, FIX THE LOT COVERAGE AND GET THE PLANS IN CONFORMANCE,
AND THE BOARD DID ADDRESS THE ISSUE OF STORM WATER MANAGEMENT AND DEEMS THE
APPLICATION DE MINIMIS IN NATURE AND THUS NO REQUIREMENT ON THE APPLICANT TO
ADDRESS IT : made by
Member Grygus, seconded by Member Shutte, voting yes were Chairman Dunning,
Members Grygus, Covelli, Hoffman, Ludwig and Shutte.
Atty.
Faasse asked Mr. Nicholas how fast can he get the revised plans in because he
would like them in 10 days before the next meeting so the Board can adopt the
Resolution and Plans all at once. Mr. Nicholas said the plans would be
submitted within the next two weeks.
PUBLIC DISCUSSION:
Donald
Sheehan from 4 Maple Avenue came forward. Mr. Sheehan said the reason he
stopped by tonight was basically to find out when he could get his permits so
he can get started on his addition. The only thing holding up his getting
permits is the fine- tuning of the Storm Water Management Report. Eng. Gregor
told Mr. Sheehan he received via fax today his Storm Water Management Report.
Eng. Gregor said he would have a report ready for Monday and then the Building
Permits can be issued.
Eng.
Gregor said he would also fax his report to the other Applicant Angelique Biggs
on Monday.
MOTION TO AUTHORIZE CHAIRMAN AND SECRETARY TO EXECUTE A
SEALED SET OF REVISED PLANS FOR APPLICATION #08-04 Sheehan/Biggs BASED UPON
APPROVAL BY THE BOARD ENGINEER ON THE REVISED CALCULATIONS WITH REGARD TO THE
DRAINAGE THAT’S BEEN PROVIDED TO HIM UPON CONCURRENCE OF THE CHAIRMAN: made by Member Covelli,
seconded by Ludwig, voting yes were Chairman Dunning, Members Grygus, Covelli,
Hoffman, Ludwig and Shutte.
RESOLUTION ON APPLICATION #02-04 Stanislaw & Olga Tokarz, 48 Furnace Ave., Block 219 Lot 1.01 Bulk & Use Variance:
MOTION TO APPROVE: made by Member Covelli, seconded by Member Grygus, voting
yes were Chairman Dunning, Members Grygus, Covelli, Hoffman, Ludwig and Shutte.
CORRESPONDENCE: No questions
asked.
Chairman
Dunning told the Board that there is a similar situation with Application
#02-04 Tokarz as was with the Sheehan/Biggs Application. Building Permits are
being held up also because of drainage calculations. Eng. Gregor said he would also have this report done for Monday
as well.
MOTION TO AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN AND SECRETARY TO EXECUTE
THE REVISED PLANS RECEIVED BY THE BOARD SECRETARY IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE
REQUIREMENTS SET FORTH BY THE BOARD THROUGH RESOLUTION AND SUBSEQUENTLY
APPROVED BY THE BOARD ENGINEER IN WRITING BY HIS REPORT: made by Member Covelli, seconded by Member Grygus,
voting yes were Chairman Dunning, Members Grygus, Covelli, Hoffman, Ludwig and
Shutte.
VOUCHERS: submitted by Atty. Faasse for
Resolution on Application #02-04 Tokarz for $125.00.
MOTION TO APPROVE: made by Member Ludwig, seconded by Member Grygus, voting
yes were Chairman Dunning, Members Grygus, Covelli, Hoffman, Ludwig and Shutte.
VOUCHERS: submitted by Eng. Gregor for Engineering Services for Application #02-05
Nejmeh for $187.50, and Application #06-05 Cosgrove for $187.50, for a Grand
Total of $375.00.
MOTION TO APPROVE: made by Member Grygus, seconded by Member Ludwig, voting
yes were Chairman Dunning, Members Grygus, Covelli, Hoffman, Ludwig and Shutte.
MINUTES: from the March 2, 2005 Meeting.
MOTION TO APPROVE: made by Member Ludwig, seconded by Member Shutte, voting
yes were Chairman Dunning, Members Grygus, Covelli, Hoffman, Ludwig and Shutte.
Engineer’s Report: Eng. Gregor
reported on the Donus Application and said the engineer for this application
has been in touch with Eng. Gregor for the last three weeks in preparation for
submitting revised plans. Eng. Gregor did receive the revised plans last week
and has begun his preliminary review. Eng. Gregor said there are a signed and
sealed survey and a signed and sealed typographic plans prepared by two
different surveyors. The meets and bounds on the signed and
sealed
survey are different than the meets and bounds on the typographic survey and
also different than the meets and bounds on the site plan. Eng. Gregor called
the engineer and told him of the difficulty and advised him that this needs to
be resolved and that Eng. Gregor has stopped his review and he would do no further
work on it until the plans are in agreement. Eng. Gregor asked the Board if
they would like for him to send a letter to the applicant’s engineer confirming
what he discussed with him on the phone. The Board agreed that Eng. Gregor
should send a letter to the applicant’s engineer.
Also
discussed was the “Lakeland Health Care” application for a Canopy and Sign. The
Board Secretary told the Board that Attorney Peter Lefkowitz hasn’t responded
to her letters asking him for the money owed to Eng. Gregor.
MOTION TO ADJOURN AT 9:25 P.M.: Carried by a voice vote.
______________________________
Gerri
Marotta
Secretary
to Board of Adjustment