BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT                                                  MINUTES

JULY 11, 2001                                                                        REGULAR MEETING

 

OPENING STATEMENT:

This is a Regular Meeting of the Wanaque Board of Adjustment and adequate notice has been given and it has been duly advertised by the mailing of a notice to the Suburban Trends and The Herald & News on the 8th day of February, 2001 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 Bruce Grygus, Peter Hoffman, Ihor Kardasz, Don Ludwig, Robert Ricca, Frank Covelli (arrived at 9:15 P.M.), Attorney Ralph Faasse, Engineer William Gregor and Building Inspector Jeff Brusco.

 

MEMBERS ABSENT: Michael Wallace.

 

APPLICATION #14-01 Ronald Gallo, 2-4 Railroad Ave., Block 236.01 Lot 18, Site Plan, Multi-Family & Use Variance:

Attorney Richard Saunders sent correspondence asking the Board to carry this application to the August 8th Meeting, in order to prepare some documentation that’s been requested by the Board Engineer, William Gregor.

 

MOTION TO CARRY TO THE AUGUST 8TH MEETING: made by Member Ludwig, seconded by Member Ricca, voting yes were Chairman Dunning, Members Grygus, Hoffman, Kardasz, Ludwig, Ricca and Roberto.

 

APPLICATION #15-01, Kim-Marie Stanaback, 102 Monroe St., Block 439 Lot 9, Bulk Variance:

Ms. Stanaback and her contractor/fiancee Mr. Thomas Dakake of 24 Laurel Ave., Pompton Lakes, N.J., came forward and were sworn in by Attorney Faasse.

Chairman Dunning asked Eng. Gregor, from the surveyors plan, in item #3 under Notes regarding building coverage, are decks part of the building coverage?  Eng. Gregor said, he believes the answer is yes if they meet certain criteria. Chairman Dunning explained that the deck is not shown on the plan.

 

Ms. Stanaback said she is seeking a two car detached garage so she could have a place to store vehicles and yard equipment.  Ms. Stanaback said she has had a problem with her car being vandalized because it was parked on the street.  Mr. Dakake explained, that this is corner property and there isn’t much you can do on that side of the house where they want to put the driveway and garage, and at the same time, reserve some of the rear yard space.

 

Mr. Dakake said he is planning on using stone for the driveway. Chairman Dunning asked if they considered about turning the garage 90 degrees so it would face Second Ave. Mr. Dakake said he did consider that, but there’s a water problem over there, and if he opens thecurb the water will come straight down the hill. Chairman Dunning said the way it looks now, the garage will be sitting in a puddle. Mr. Dakake said he plans on putting a sump pump in the garage. Eng. Gregor added, that one of the problems with the location of the driveway is,  it’s  right at the intersection which is discouraged for safety reasons. A much better design would be to locate the garage as far away from the front lot line as possible.

 

Ms. Stanaback told the Board they plan on siding the garage and add shutters on it so it will match the house. Mr. Dakake said the reason they bought this house was because it had room for a driveway to park Ms. Stanaback’s car, and Mr. Dakake’s van and trucks. Ms. Stanaback added, that she would prefer the driveway to be on the Monroe St. side vs the Second Ave. side because of all the traffic Second Ave. gets and the speed the cars travel at. 

 

Chairman Dunning asked Building Inspector Brusco what the town code was as far as paving the driveway and Building Inspector Brusco said there is no code and it can be just gravel. 

 

OPEN TO PUBLIC DISCUSSION: None/Closed

 

MOTION TO APPROVE AS DRAWN: made by Member Ludwig, seconded by Member Grygus, voting yes were Chairman Dunning, Members Grygus, Hoffman, Kardasz, Ludwig, Ricca and Roberto.

 

PUBLIC DISCUSSION: None/Closed

 

RESOLUTION ON APPLICATION #10-01 Frank & Deborah Rossettini, 90 Laura Ave., Block 215 Lot 1, Bulk Variance:

 

MOTION TO APPROVE: made by Member Ricca, seconded by Member Ludwig, voting yes were Chairman Dunning, Members Grygus, Hoffman, Kardasz, Ludwig and Ricca. Member Roberto disqualified himself.

 

RESOLUTION ON APPLICATION #13-01 Susan & Fredrick Smith, 37 Garbarino Ave., Block 203 Lot 10, Bulk Variance:

 

MOTION TO APPROVE: made by Member Ludwig, seconded by Member Kardasz, voting yes were Chairman Dunning, Members Grygus, Hoffman, Kardasz, Ludwig and Ricca. Member Roberto disqualified himself.

 

AMENDED APPLICATION #9-01 Robert & Dorothea Ricca, 33 Mountain Ave., Block 240 Lot 26, Bulk & Use Variance: Member Ricca explained to the Board he did re-notify everyone on the 200 ft. search, but did not get the article in the paper on time. Therefore, Mr. Ricca will re-publish the article for next month’s meeting on August 8th .

 

MOTION TO CARRY TO THE AUGUST 8TH MEETING WITH THE PROVISO THAT THEY RE-NOTIFY IN THE NEWSPAPER WITH A CORRECTED DATE AND TO BE IN THE NEWSPAPER MORE THAN 10 DAYS BEFORE THE AUGUST 8TH MEETING: made by Member Grygus, seconded by Member Ludwig, voting yes were Chairman Dunning, Members Grygus, Hoffman, Kardasz, Ludwig and Roberto. Member Ricca disqualified himself.

CORRESPONDENCE:

The Board discussed the letter dated June 11, 2001 from Borough Attorney, Anthony Fiorello. In this letter, Atty, Fiorello explains which Board has jurisdiction to hear a minor subdivision application wherein one or more of the lots created are non-conforming as to size. (All members received copy of this letter) Chairman Dunning asked Atty. Faasse to call Atty. Fiorello and let him know the Board disagrees with his opinion.

 

VOUCHERS: submitted by Engineer Gregor for services rendered for June, 2001 on Application #7-00 Zikra for $354.00.

 

MOTION TO APPROVE: made by Member Roberto, seconded by Member Ludwig, voting yes were Chairman Dunning, Members Grygus, Hoffman, Kardasz, Ludwig, Ricca and Roberto.

 

VOUCHERS: submitted by Attorney Faasse for Application #7-00 Zikra for review of subdivision deed and calls to the applicant’s Attorney, Board Engineer and Board Secretary for $297.00, Resolutions for Application 10-01 Rossettini and Application #13-01 Smith for $230.00, for a Grand total of $527.00.

 

MOTION TO APPROVE: made by Member Ludwig, seconded by Member Ricca, voting yes were Chairman Dunning, Members Grygus, Hoffman, Kardasz, Ludwig, Ricca and Roberto.

 

MINUTES: from June 13, 2001 Meeting.

Attorney Faasse mentioned that on Page 2 of the minutes, the word variance should be removed where the 6.8' is on the eighth line, and on the ninth line where it says 10.4' the word variance should also be removed for the Rossettini Application.

 

MOTION TO APPROVE: made by Member Ludwig, seconded by Member Grygus, voting yes were Chairman Dunning, Members Grygus, Hoffman, Kardasz, Ludwig and Ricca.  Member Roberto disqualified himself.

 

ENGINEER/BUILDING INSPECTOR’S REPORT: 

Chairman Dunning asked Bldg. Inspector Brusco if he received any money yet on Lakeland

Health Care, and Bldg. Inspector Brusco said no. Chairman Dunning told the Board Secretary to send Atty. Arnold Cohen a letter because the Board proceeded with this based on his promise that he would send the money for the application so Eng. Gregor could get started. Eng. Gregor did a site inspection for this application in May, 2001 and he submitted a bill for $440.00. Chairman Dunning wants to know if he’s proceeding with this application.

 

Bldg. Inspector Brusco, said Mr. Zikra has made inquiries about getting his permits for his  canopy’s and sign’s.  Eng. Gregor told the Board he has reviewed the revised plans that were submitted and prepared a report dated June 8th, which indicates there are deficiencies in the plans, and there are some plans that are missing. A copy of this report was sent to the applicant, faxed directly to the engineer and to the applicant’s attorney. Eng. Gregor said, he has not received anything further since that correspondence was sent. Eng. Gregor recommended that the drawings not be signed because the drawings have not been revised subsequent to the June 8th letter. The deeds were reviewed and a letter was submitted to the Board.  Atty. Faasse spoke up and said, he thought according to the Resolution, the Board told Mr. Zikra that he could do certain interior work.  Eng. Gregor said, if you look at the minutes, Bldg. Inspector Brusco told Mr. Zikra that he would not issue a permit for any internal work until the site plan has been signed. Chairman Dunning told the Board that Bldg. Inspector Brusco cannot issue any permits until the Board is completely done with this application. Bldg. Inspector Brusco also said, that Mr. Zikra’s architect came to see him and they went over the plans and discussed what the correct documents were going to be.

 

Bldg. Inspector Brusco told the Board that there aren’t any new applications as of now.

 

The Board discussed the proposed checklist which was discussed at last month’s meeting, in regards to what an applicant is required to submit with their application. Chairman Dunning said he would get in touch with Eng. Gregor and discuss this.

 

Chairman Dunning asked the Board if they wanted to have an August Meeting.  It was

decided to have the August Meeting, mainly because of the Gallo Application

 

The Board proceeded to discuss the Broughman letter dated July 2, 2001. (All members received copies).  Atty. Faasse recommended a letter be sent to the Borough Treasurer saying that the Board is in receipt of this letter, and has considered this matter and the Board approved the vouchers because they believed the fees were necessary, reasonable and within the fee structure approved by the Board for its professionals.

 

MOTION TO ADJOURN AT 9:17 P.M.: made by Member Ludwig, seconded by Member Grygus. All in favor.

MINUTES SUBMITTED BY

 

Gerri Marotta, Secretary to Board of Adjustment