REGULAR MEETING

Salute to the Flag:

OPENING STATEMENT:

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 15^th day of January, 2002 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, William Grygus, Don Ludwig (came in at 8:15 P.M.), Robert Ricca, Ted Roberto, Frank Covelli (came in at 9:15 P.M.), Lee Smith, Attorney Ralph Faasse and Engineer William Gregor.

MEMBERS ABSENT: Peter Hoffman

APPLICATION #24-01 Richard & Regina Wieland, 138 Greenwood Ave., Block 460 Lot 16 Bulk & Use Variance: The Board Secretary said she received a letter dated July 8, 2002 from the Wieland’s asking to be carried to the August 14^th Meeting. The Board Secretary said the Wieland’s extension is good until October 6, 2002. Chairman Dunning mentioned the Board needs a Denial Letter from the Building Inspector to amend the application.

Chairman Dunning asked the Board Members if anyone would be on vacation for the August Meeting in order to make sure the Board will have a quorum.

MOTION TO CARRY APPLICATION #24-01 TO THE AUGUST 14^TH MEETING: made by Member Grygus, seconded by Member Ricca, voting yes were Chairman Dunning, Members Grygus, Ricca, Roberto and Smith.

APPLICATION #07-02 John & Debra Moore, 166 Conklintown Rd., Block 206 Lot 75, Bulk Variance: Mr. & Mrs. Moore stepped forward. Eng. Gregor spoke up and told the Board he did a report and faxed it to the applicant’s surveyor. Eng. Gregor said there are a number of issues on this application. One of the issues is, according to the Water and Sewer Department, there does exist an easement on this property for the sanitary sewer main according to records that were provided to Eng. Gregor. Eng. Gregor also said he only received a Site Plan for this property and not a Survey. The Survey should show any such easement and part of the property appears to be in a flood plain and floodway and that should also be shown on the Site Plan and Survey. Eng. Gregor told the applicants there are a number of other issues such as the section in the Borough Code that covers the information as required and certain pieces of that code are not applicable and there is

a waiver procedure, and the applicants should request waivers for anything that’s not applicable. Eng. Gregor said his recommendation to the Board is there is insufficient information available for the Board to proceed in an orderly manner this evening.

Atty. Faasse asked the applicants if they were the owners of the property and took title and have a Deed, and the Moore’s said yes as of recently. Atty. Faasse asked the Moore’s to send a copy of that Deed because the tax records are still showing the previous owners.

MOTION TO CARRY APPLICATION TO THE AUGUST 14^TH MEETING AND ALL PLANS WILL BE ON FILE 10 DAYS BEFORE THE MEETING: made by Member Grygus, seconded by Member Smith, voting yes were Chairman Dunning, Members Grygus, Ricca, Roberto and Smith.

Eng. Gregor asked Chairman Dunning if the Board was planning on changing the meeting date back to the first Wednesday of the month. Chairman Dunning said that issue hasn’t been discussed as of yet.

APPLICATION #02-02 Frank & Lynn Morici, 4 Paul Place, Block 312 Lot 1, Bulk Variance: Member Ted Roberto excused himself from this application because he lives within 200 ft. of the property.

Mr. & Mrs. Morici came forward and were sworn in by Atty. Faasse. Chairman Dunning asked the applicants what they are seeking and they said a two-car garage. Drawings submitted were a site plan/ survey with the last revision date of May 28, 2002 and also submitted were some architectural drawings of the proposed garage. The garage will be 24 X 24 attached to the existing dwelling. Chairman Dunning asked Mr. Morici if he tried to purchase any surrounding property and Mr. Morici said he tried to purchase Lot 26. Mr. Morici also said the existing shed on the property will be coming down. Eng. Gregor said it says on the plans the shed will be relocated, and if that is not the case, it should be stipulated on the plans that the shed will be removed. Member Grygus asked how the applicant was going to finish the new proposed driveway and Mr. Morici said it will be paved. Member Grygus was also concerned about a sight issue if you are heading west on Bergen Ave. and making the swing onto Paul Place. Mr. Morici indicated on the plan that he intends to remove a section of the hedgerow to allow for the new driveway. Eng. Gregor said, any hedgerow along the curvature of a street with a driveway, whether it is the existing driveway or the proposed driveway, the hedge will create a sight impairment. Eng. Gregor added, that anything above 2½ ft. in height is considered an impairment. Mr. Morici said his hedge is about 3 ft. high. Member Grygus asked Mr. Morici if he would consider removing the hedges altogether and Mr. Morici said he would have no problem with that.

Member Grygus asked the applicant how he was going to finish the outside of the garage and Mr. Morici said with vinyl siding like the house. Chairman Dunning asked Eng. Gregor if there is a standard length for a driveway? Eng. Gregor said there is no written standard in Borough Ordinances, however, the recommendation is that the portion of the

driveway that is within the property lines should be a minimum of 20 ft. in length to accommodate vehicles parked on your property. Eng. Gregor said if the applicant parked a vehicle right from the corner of the garage to the edge of the driveway as drawn on the site plan, its exactly 20 ft. at the narrowest point and at the widest point, at the longest distance, its 33 ft. as scaled off the drawing.

Member Grygus asked Eng. Gregor, based upon his site visit, will the impervious coverage be increased tremendously on this lot? Eng. Gregor said the impervious coverage will be increased significantly. Member Grygus asked if Eng. Gregor foresees any potential storm water problems? Eng. Gregor said obviously, with an addition of a garage that is 24 X 24 and a driveway that is nominally larger than that in impervious, and not removing the old driveway, you will have an awful lot of impervious. Eng. Gregor said, there will be more storm water for the road system. Eng. Gregor said, this lot will have two driveways on a radius and obviously the applicants have to have a driveway. Eng. Gregor went on to say, if he had any recommendation at all, it would be to consider removing the existing driveway and replacing it with the new driveway. Eng. Gregor also said, having children himself and having the car situation, he understands, but speaking as an engineer on the safety issue, he would recommend one driveway.

OPEN TO PUBLIC DISCUSSION:

Member Ted Roberto, 12 Father Hayes Dr. stepped forward and was sworn in by Atty. Faasse. Member Roberto told the Board that the Morici’s have tried to buy Lot 26 initially at the auction and since then, but to no avail. Member Roberto mentioned the point about the hedges. He went on to say, his brother-in-law purchased the lot next door from Member Roberto and built a house on it extending Father Hayes straight through. Member Roberto said there is going to be a “Stop Sign” or a “Yield Sign” at the end of Paul Place and a “No Outlet Sign” by Father Hayes Dr. Therefore, the traffic issue at Paul Place will be somewhat taken care of. Member Roberto also said, the hedges at the applicant’s property do aesthetically more good for the neighborhood and keeping them at 2 ft. high would be a good idea. The other issue is the second driveway and because of the traffic and the amount of cars in that area, and in Member Roberto’s opinion it would be safer to have the cars on a driveway rather than on the street. He also said, there is a lot of children playing in the area and you have to be really careful when driving in that area and he thinks it would be a benefit having the second driveway.

Eng. Gregor added, that by no means when he recommended the removal of the driveway does he recommend it be better to park on the street. It would be much better to park off street than on street at any time.

Member Smith said personally he doesn’t see any problem with the two driveways because he went to visit the site. He does, however, have a big problem with the side yard setback and thinks its too close and he would be voting no on this application.

Chairman Dunning said the variance requirements are the side yard and front yard.

MOTION TO APPROVE WITH A SIDE YARD VARIANCE OF 9.94 FT., FRONT YARD VARIANCE OF 13.6 FT., REAR YARD VARIANCE OF 11 FT., FOR A TWO CAR ATTACHED GARAGE ONE STORY AND REMOVAL OF THE SHED AND REMOVAL OF THE HEDGES ALONG FRONT OF PROPERTY: made by Member Grygus, seconded by Member Ludwig, voting yes were Chairman Dunning, Members Grygus, Ludwig and Ricca. Member Smith voted no.

Application #06-02 Raymond Longo & Edward Longo, 116 Jefferson St., Block 456 Lot 12, Bulk Variance:

Raymond Longo, applicant, stepped forward along with his Architect, Thomas Hitchins, 19 Capstan Rd., West Milford, N.J. and were sworn in by Atty. Faasse. Raymond Longo testified he has title to this property along with his brother, Edward Longo.

Mr. Hitchins proceeded telling the Board that Mr. Longo has an existing enclosed front porch and wants more bedroom space on the second floor therefore he decided to build out over the existing porch with a 2 foot cantilever on to the front of the existing dwelling. Mr. Hitchins said this is an old established neighborhood and built long before the existing zoning was put in place and this project would not be out of character with the neighborhood by putting this addition on the second floor. Mr. Hitchins also said, the two (2) feet added on wouldn’t be anything out of the ordinary for that existing neighborhood.

Chairman Dunning told Eng. Gregor what the Board has is another application with a sanitary line running across it and Chairman Dunning wanted to know if the easements should be shown on this property? Eng. Gregor responded by saying, this was mentioned in his report dated July 9, 2002, item #4. Mr. Hitchins said he can certainly add that information to the plan and added that they are not increasing the footprint of the foundation and will not be interfering with any of the public utilities.

Eng. Gregor told Mr. Hitchins, items #3 & #4 in his report dated July 9^th with regards to the Water & Sewer Departments, if there are easements, show them on the drawing, and if there are not any easements, would the applicant grant easements for the water and sewer so that easements then exists. Mr. Hitchins said that would be up to the applicant. Eng. Gregor went on to say, item #6 in regards to an existing hydrant that is noted on the Site Plan as “not in use” and the Water Department confirms that the hydrant is active but not functional and recommends that the hydrant be removed. Eng. Gregor said, what they mean is that it is connected to an active water line and is not functional because it has no valve on it and once you open it up you can’t shut it off. Therefore, it has been painted a very unique color (green) to alert the Fire Department not to use that hydrant.

Mr. Hitchins asked his client if he would grant the easements for items #3 & #4 the water and sewer lines and Mr. Longo said yes. Eng. Gregor added, that his recommendation is that easements be provided for both utilities.

OPEN TO PUBLIC: None/Closed

Atty. Faasse said the variance is for the front yard setback of 24.6 feet and required is 30 feet and proposing of 5.4 feet for the second floor.

MOTION TO APPROVE FOR A FRONT YARD SETBACK VARIANCE OF 24.6 FEET WITH THE CONDITION THAT ALL EXISTING UTILITY LINES THAT EITHER SERVICE THE STRUCTURE OR RUN THROUGH THE PROPERTY ARE ANNOTATED ON THE SITE PLAN: made by Member Grygus, seconded by Member Roberto, voting yes were Chairman Dunning, Members Grygus, Ludwig, Ricca and Roberto. Member Covelli not qualified and Member Smith voted no.

PUBLIC DISCUSSION: None/Closed

RESOLUTIONS: None

CORRESPONDENCE: Letter from Passaic County Planning Board dated June 28, 2002 in regards to Sierra Landscape Design. (All members received a copy)

A new Sign Drawing for the LaSala Application at 1353 Ringwood Ave. came in from Butler Sign and Eng. Gregor will review it and report back at the next meeting.

A letter dated Thursday, June 13, 2002 from Member Lee Smith informing the Board he completed a course at the Rutgers-Center for Government Services from Rutgers University.

Chairman Dunning told the Board he spoke to the Building Inspector, Jeff Brusco and asked him why he was relieved of his duties to the Board. Mr. Brusco said it was a mutual agreement that his services aren’t required by the Board on a monthly basis and his time can be spent better doing other Borough services.

VOUCHERS: submitted by Eng. Gregor for Engineering Services on Application #04-02 LaSala for $183.00, and Application #02-02 Morici for $220.00, for a Grand Total of $403.00.

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

MINUTES: from Meeting of June 12, 2002.

MOTION TO APPROVE: made by Member Ludwig, seconded by Member Covelli, voting yes were Chairman Dunning, Members Ludwig, Covelli and Smith. Members Grygus, Ricca and Roberto were not qualified.

ENGINEER’S REPORT: Eng. Gregor reported no new applications.

Member Grygus asked Eng. Gregor if he inspected the bridge by the Moore property (Application #07-02) at 166 Conklintown Road. Eng. Gregor said he went across it

both ways, on it and off of it, but did not inspect it. Chairman Dunning said he thought the Fire Department was not happy with that bridge at the time of the fire at that property.

Member Grygus said the only reason he brought this up was because, in talking to the former property owners, the right-of-way or easement does exist, but it’s not improved at all. Eng. Gregor spoke up and asked Member Grygus that he is aware a right-of-way exist from one property owner to another? Member Grygus said it’s for the driveway. Eng. Gregor said that its not shown on any survey. Member Grygus said that’s why he asked the Moore’s to show it on the survey. Member Grygus went on to say, if the Board knows that it does exist as an alternate means of accessing those properties, should a good look be taken at the structural integrity of the bridge? Eng. Gregor said, if legal access to those properties exist, from other than across the bridge, then Eng. Gregor doesn’t really see the need for investigating the structural integrity of the bridge, unless you choose to.

Eng. Gregor gave a scenario of what would trigger off an inspection of the bridge. If the Fire Department wrote a letter to the Board stating they felt there was inadequate access to that site because of the bridge, then it would be Eng. Gregor’s recommendation to the Board that the Board would ask the applicant to submit an engineering report certifying the safety of the bridge.

Member Grygus asked Eng. Gregor if there’s been any further progress with Mr. Zikra (C-Town) because Member Grygus saw the sign had been moved. Chairman Dunning spoke up and said Mr. Zikra moved the wrong sign and it was not the sign the Board approved. Eng. Gregor said he is working on the drainage situation with Eng. Gardner and as far as the signage is concerned, Eng. Gregor is not going to proceed anywhere until he gets an “As Built Site Plan” from him. Eng. Gregor added, that when the drainage issue is done, he will be asking for a Final Site Plan then Eng. Gregor will proceed with the final inspection.

Chairman Dunning asked the Board Secretary to check on Mr. Zikra’s Escrow Account.

Member Grygus wanted it to go on record that Eng. Gregor shouldn’t proceed with anything additional on the application until we receive more money from Mr. Zikra.

MOTION TO ADJOURN AT 9:50 P.M.: Carried by a voice vote.

________________________

Gerri Marotta

Secretary to Board of Adjustment