Meeting called to order by Member John DiMeglio with a
salute to the flag.
ROLL CALL:
John DiMeglio David
Slater (came in at 8:16 P.M.)
Mayor Warren Hagstrom Eugene
Verba
Tony Brindisi Thomas
Balunis
Kevin Platt William
Rucci
PRESENT:
Attorney Steven Veltri and Engineer Michael Cristaldi
MEMBERS ABSENT:
Chairman Gilbert Foulon and Vice Chairman Joseph Graceffo.
READING: Open Public Meeting Announcement
This is a Regular Meeting of the Wanaque Borough Planning
Board and adequate notice has been given and it has been duly advertised by the
placement of a notice in the Trends and the Herald News, mailed on January 21,
2005 and a notice thereof has been posted on the bulletin board in the
Municipal Building in the Borough of Wanaque and a copy thereof has been on
file with the Borough Clerk.
MINUTES:
from the February 17, 2005 Meeting.
MOTION TO APPROVE: made by Member Brindisi, seconded by Member Balunis, voting yes
were Members DiMeglio, Mayor Hagstrom, Brindisi, Platt, Balunis and Rucci.
Member Verba abstained.
COMMUNICATIONS/ REPORTS: No questions asked.
APPLICATION STATUS REPORT: Eng. Cristaldi said no new applications have
been received.
NEW BUSINESS APPLICATION: “Elite Martial Arts Academy”, 617 Ringwood Ave., Block 235 Lot 13, Haskell, N.J. owner of building is James Stokem and owners of business are Kathy & Michael Moran:
Mr. Michael Moran owner of business came forward and was
sworn in by Atty. Veltri. Mr. Moran said he is planning on opening up a martial
arts school both for adults and children’s classes. Member DiMeglio mentioned
the Fire Prevention Bureau stated that a Fire Extinguisher, Exit Light,
Emergency Light and Smoke Detector are needed, the Plumbing Inspector stated
that a permit is required by a
licensed plumber to remove existing sink, the Building
Inspector stated that alterations to existing tenant space would require
Building Permits and a C.O.
Mr. Moran said classes would be held Monday through
Thursday and on Saturday.
MOTION TO APPROVE: made by Mayor Hagstrom, seconded by Member Brindisi, voting yes
were Members DiMeglio, Mayor Hagstrom, Brindisi, Platt Verba, Balunis and
Rucci.
“APPROVED REDEVELOPMENT PLAN & ORDINANCE FOR CANDLE FACTORY” PRESENTED BY TOM CARROLL, BOROUGH ADMINISTRATOR & MICHAEL KAUKER, BOROUGH PLANNER.
Tom Carroll came forward and said a little over a year
ago or more, they began discussing possibilities for the Candle Factory
Property, with the possibility of moving the Wanaque Manor Tract over to the
Candle Factory Property. Originally the developer talked about doing 120 Units
and came to the Planning Board with a conceptual and a significant comment from
the Planning Board regarding parking and the number of units. The new plan is
before the Planning Board for review tonight and then the Planning Board will
have a Public Hearing on the plan next month. The Council will have their
Public Hearing in May, assuming that the Planning Board recommends it. The plan
before the Board tonight calls for 102 Units therefore, its downsized by 18
from the previous plan and calls for roughly 50-55 parking spaces, which is
basically ½ parking space per unit in addition to the required parking spaces.
The developer heard the Board’s comments on reducing the size of the
development and did by almost 20% and comes up with a site plan that is
workable for the site.
Planner Michael Kauker came forward. Mr. Kauker said the
original plan was reduced from 120 to 102 units and the number of parking
spaces is 240. The townhouses will have 2 parking spaces per unit times 70
townhouses for 140 spaces, in addition there will be 35 spaces for guests. The
senior condos will have 1½ spaces per unit at 32 units, which gives you 48
spaces and a total of 102 units, and the guest parking will be 64 spaces. The
parking ratio on site will be on average over 2.3 per unit. The reduction of 18
units effectively allows for a better conceptual site plan layout. When the
ordinance is reviewed and approved and finally passed by the Planning Board and
Borough Council, this selected developer will be coming in with a detailed site
plan. All of the relevant requirements and keys to parking requirements have
been included in the modified ordinance so that the numbers Mr. Kauker gave are
mandated by the ordinance, therefore, everything has been modified to reflect
the requirement of the new standards. Being mindful of COAH’S obligation by
municipalities, a paragraph with regard to compliance with COAH requirements
has been added to the draft ordinance and was not in the previous draft. Mr.
Kauker said if any Board Member has any comments feel free to pass them along
to Mr. Carroll or himself.
Atty. Veltri said to Mr. Kauker, with regard to Page 6 of
the Ordinance paragraph H v. “Required off-street parking maybe provided in
private driveways and garages, common garages under residential buildings and
surface parking lots”. Atty. Veltri said the last three words “surface parking
lots”, he assumes to be a common lot and Mr. Kauker said that’s correct. Atty.
Veltri said, why would the municipality and the Board want to put that in the
ordinance as a municipality?
Mr. Kauker responded by saying, that the Borough allows
surface parking obviously on the site that is not garaged. Atty. Veltri is
concerned that there is no specific number off-street for each unit then a
developer can come in and say he has 25 spaces in a lot and that’s where he
comes up with the number to meet the ordinance. Mr. Kauker said that’s ok and
that’s subject to the Board’s review on site plan; it can’t be a separate site
it has to be contained within the site plan within the project. Atty. Veltri
said with the language like it is, to him that’s language favorable to a
developer and not a municipality.
Mr. Carroll spoke up and said this ordinance is
specifically for this site and its going to be based on the site plan that’s
going to be presented and is not something that’s going to be incorporated into
a general ordinance for any other developer coming in. Mr. Carroll added that
this is being done under the redevelopment aspect of the law and are curtailing
this to this particular site.
Mr. Kauker said that you might want to say instead of
“surface parking” is “exterior parking” and Eng. Cristaldi added “exterior on
site parking”. Mr. Kauker added, that redevelopment plans and ordinances are
usually prepared in sync with one another.
George Hanley, Esq., of Weiner Lesniak, 629 Parsippany Road, Parsippany, N.J. came forward.
Mr. Hanley showed a plan on the easel that was revised in
accordance with the comments they received at the prior meeting.
Joseph Gurkovich, Planner, 57 Village Drive, Montville, N.J. came forward.
Atty. Veltri said to Mr. Gurkovich this is only a
conceptual and what ever is said tonight is non-binding to him and the Board
and Mr. Gurkovich agreed.
Mr. Gurkovich explained by reducing the size down to 102
units they have more parking spaces that the Board requested. Eng. Cristaldi
asked about the parking for the townhouse units there’s a car in the garage and
one parked right behind it in the driveway? Mr. Gurkovich said that was
correct. Eng. Cristaldi wanted to know where would their company park? Mr.
Gurkovich said scattered throughout the site are parking areas. Eng. Cristaldi
asked how many bedrooms were in the condo units and Mr. Gurkovich said they are
one-bedroom units. Eng. Cristaldi mentioned that if someone is visiting at unit
54 they have to park a bit of a ways and he doesn’t see any sidewalks and it looks
like they have to walk in the street. Mr. Gurkovich said this is a conceptual
plan and there will be sidewalks at least on one side of the street. Member
DiMeglio asked about the off parking and how many do they have? Mr. Gurkovich
said there are 35 spaces for the Townhouses and 17 spaces for the
Condos. The development will be for people who are 55 and
older and no one under the age of 19 can live there. Mr. Carroll added, that
this project is age restricted, the project is mainly townhouses, the condo
units are going to be smaller than the Pulte Project and the market will be a
little less expensive than the Pulte Project. There will also be some
affordable housing at this project. Member Verba asked if there would be enough
sewer capacity. Mr. Carroll said yes and if the Board remembers, when the
Borough purchased the Wanaque Manor property, they obtained the 86 sewer
capacity units that were there and that was based on two-bedroom units. The
Borough through the redevelopment process is selling that capacity to the
developer, which will provide the developer more than 102 units of senior
capacity. Mr. Carroll added, that the Borough would receive about $700,000.00
for those sewer rights, which will pay for half of the purchase of the Wanaque
Manor property. It was noted that once the Pump Station is in place, that will
take care of the water needs. Mr. Kauker mentioned that the maximum height
allows 45 ft. in the Borough and the buildings will not be higher than that.
Member DiMeglio announced a Public Hearing would be set
up for the next meeting.
“Master Plan Amendment for Storm Water Management Plan”. Presented by Tom Carroll & Michael Kauker:
Eng.
Cristaldi announced he would be handling this portion of the meeting. Eng.
Cristaldi said the Master Plan has to be amended to include a “Storm Water
Management Plan”. The DEP has two
concerns with run-off; one is that we’re not letting any water get back into
the ground to recharge the water table and after awhile it effects the wells.
What the DEP wants addressed is that when the slum water calculations are done,
they want people to put water back into the ground and let it seep into the
ground through seepage pits etc. The other thing the DEP wants addressed is
water quality. Eng. Cristaldi said a lot of times, people leave bottles in the
street and everything gets washed into the inlets, leaves and all kinds of
debris ends up in the brooks and streams and the DEP has a number of things
they want addressed in cleaning up what can get into the waterways. In order
for the Borough to start passing all the ordinances, the Master Plan has to be
amended. The Planning Board has
received the “Storm Water Management Plan” from the DEP and now the Planning
Board has to make recommendations to the Council that they endorse it. (All
members have copies of this plan).
Member
DiMeglio said the Board will have to look this plan over and at the next
meeting if there’s any changes that should be made they can discuss it. Eng.
Cristaldi said its down at the County now for review and then we can get
everyone’s comments together at once. Eng. Cristaldi added, that we really have
to go along with it unless the County has something they want us to add that
doesn’t conflict
with
what the State wants. Eng. Cristaldi said the Board could probably approve it
now. Mr. Carroll told the Board you have to have a Public Hearing first before
the Board can approve it. A Public Hearing has to be advertised because it’s an
amendment to the Master Plan.
MOTION TO OPEN MEETING TO PUBLIC DISCUSSION: made by Member Brindisi,
seconded by Member Rucci, voting yes were Members DiMeglio, Mayor Hagstrom,
Brindisi, Platt, Slater, Verba, Balunis and Rucci.
John Maiello, 26 Rhinesmith Ave. came forward. Mr. Maiello said he remembers Pulte
mentioning something about 15% of the units could be sold to people who have
young children. Mr. Carroll answered the statement by saying the exemption to
the Fair Housing Act says it can be one person must be 55 and older and no one
under the age of 19. Therefore, a 30-year woman could move in with her 65
year-old mother but couldn’t bring in a 10 year-old grandchild to live.
Mr.
Carroll wanted to bring the Board up to date with Mt. Lakes Estates and
Lakeside Manor. Mr. Carroll said there’s a lawsuit going on now between Sumo
Enterprises and Kara Homes regarding a multitude of financial dealings going
on. The Borough has finally been contacted by Sumo Enterprises that they want
to sit down with the Borough to see what the Borough’s wants and desires are
and to finish the project. Attorney Fiorello and Mr. Carroll have been talking
and asking for some Escrow Funds to cover Attorney Fiorello’s and Engineer
Cristaldi’s costs and will be moving forward and meeting with them in the next
month or so in order to get Phase I completed. Our main goal right now is to
get the final top put on the road so there aren’t any raised manholes and storm
drains and associated flooding on Conklintown Road. Mr. Carroll said the
Borough is finally starting to see some progress as far as administratively on
that project, he honestly doesn’t see any construction happening for at least
two years. The developer has to go back to DEP for their permits and the
Highlands Council for an exemption and whether or not they get that is
anybody’s guess. They also didn’t connect any of the water services and their
water main extension permits have expired and therefore none of the homes can
be connected to the water mains that are in the roadway.
Penny Anson, Shady Ave., Haskell came forward.
Ms. Anson asked, did the Planning Board have input to the Redevelopment Plan
and as to why it was chosen for residential, given the fact that there are so
many factories in that area of Fourth Ave. Mr. Carroll came forward and said in
the ten years he’s been Borough Administrator, trying to get any type of
commercial/industrial development, first for Powder Hollow and/or the Candle
Factory, has been very slim pickings. Mr. Carroll talked regularly with the
County Economic Development Consultant and the problem with the Candle Factor
property was that is was old, outdated, it is not
near
a highway, does not have easy in and out, and the only way to get there is
Ringwood Avenue and the associated problems with traffic on Ringwood Avenue.
The Borough tried and had their own consultants in looking at it but could not come up with a solution. Mr. Carroll said, keep in mind they had 86 units approved across the street on the side of the mountain. The compromise here was, take the units off the mountain and put it on the Candle Factory property; it’s a matter of having the pristine mountain and 102 units at the Candle Factory or having 86 units on the mountain and still having an empty Candle Factory.
CLOSE PUBLIC DISCUSSION: made by Member Slater, seconded by Member Balunis, voting
yes were Members DiMeglio, Mayor Hagstrom, Brindisi, Platt, Slater, Verba,
Balunis and Rucci.
RESOLUTIONS: None
VOUCHERS: None
MOTION TO GO INTO
EXECUTIVE SESSION AT 8:55 P.M.: made by Mayor Hagstrom, seconded by Member Verba, voting
yes were Members DiMeglio, Mayor Hagstrom, Brindisi, Platt, Slater, Verba,
Balunis and Rucci.
MOTION TO CLOSE EXECUTIVE SESSION AT 9:17 P.M.: made by Member Verba, seconded by Member Rucci, voting yes were
Members DiMeglio, Mayor Hagstrom, Brindisi, Platt, Slater, Verba, Balunis and
Rucci.
Atty.
Veltri announced the Board is back from Executive Session and no action was
recommended and no action is being taken by the Board.
Atty.
Veltri told Eng. Cristaldi that he looked at the subdivision deeds that were
faxed over to him by Atty. Acquaviva’s office on March 16th with regard to Application #19-04
Uhlhorn/Gormly and doesn’t have a problem with the form but he doesn’t know
about the legal descriptions of the lots.
This
will be taken care of at next month’s meeting.
MOTION TO ADJOURN AT 9:20 P.M.: made by Member Slater, seconded by Member Balunis,
voting yes were Members DiMeglio, Mayor Hagstrom, Brindisi, Platt, Slater,
Verba, Balunis and Rucci.
Gerri Marotta
Secretary to Planning Board