PLANNING BOARD MEETING
BOROUGH OF WANAQUE
MINUTES
Regular Meeting
July 17, 2008
Meeting called to order by Vice Chairman Joseph Graceffo
with a salute to the flag.
ROLL CALL:
John Di Meglio William
Rucci
Mayor Dan Maher David
Slater
Joseph Graceffo Ed O’Connell
PRESENT:
Attorney Steven Veltri and Engineer Michael Cristaldi
ABSENT:
Chairman Gilbert Foulon, Members Kevin Platt, Eugene
Verba and
John Shutte
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 18,
2008 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 May 15, 2008 Meeting
MOTION TO APPROVE: made by Member Di Meglio,
seconded by Member Rucci, voting yes were Members Di Meglio, Mayor Mahler,
Graceffo, Rucci, Slater and O’Connell.
COMMUNICATIONS/REPORTS: No questions asked.
APPLICATION STATUS: Eng. Cristaldi said there are no
new applications. Eng. Cristaldi discussed the fax sent by Alaimo Associates
regarding Wanaque Reserve requesting a minor change in traffic circulation
around their clubhouse because they are experiencing safety problems with the
existing 2 way configuration. (All members have a copy.) Eng. Cristaldi
doesn’t think it’s a big change and from their own
experience there is a problem with the access and the way it was designed. Eng.
Cristaldi said if the Board doesn’t mind, he’ll go
look at it. Vice Chairman Graceffo made the suggestion that the Board send Eng. Cristaldi
to view it, assess it and give the Board a report on it, and if its Ok the Board will send them a letter letting them know
its OK.
OPEN TO PUBLIC DISCUSSION: No one stepped forward.
NEW BUSINESS APPLICATION: “Institute for Therapeutic
Massage” (School for Massaging), 1237
Ringwood Ave., Block 448 Lot
16.01 & 16.02. Owner of property is Bald Eagle Properties,
179 Cahill Cross Rd., Suite 311,
West Milford, N.J.
Owner of business is Lisa Helbig, 65
Yorkshire Ave., West Milford, N.J.
Ms. Helbig, owner of the business came forward. Ms. Helbig
told the Board this is a School for Massage Therapy and they train massage
therapists and personal trainers. They are licensed by the N.J. Department of
Education and are recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to
participate in all federal financial aides and funding and are recognized by
workforce development. It is a vocational school and train people to become
massage therapists or personal trainers. Currently they are located in Pompton Lakes since 1995 and do have a student
clinic and is where the students do their practice hours. They do 122 clinic
hours and do that on the general public and are supervised by a licensed
supervisor. They will be moving their establishment from Pompton Lakes
to Haskell and have five locations in N.J. They also teach at the University of Medicine
& Dentistry at Morristown Memorial Hospital
and St. Barnabas Hospital in Toms
River. In Pompton Lakes they do about 125 students a year
and have day and evening classes and there are about 30 students in the
building at any given time. The Massage Therapy Program is 36 weeks, the
Massage Body Work and Personal Training Program is 54 weeks. N.J. just passed a
licensing law for Massage Therapy in January and the state requires a minimum
of 500 hours. Ms. Helbig said her school is accredited by Comta
which is the agency recognized the U. S. Department of Ed and they require a
minimum of 600 hours for education so Ms. Helbig said their shortest program is
620 hours. There is a $35.00 charge for the public to come in and get a massage
and is in one room separated by cubical curtains like a hospital and they do a
one hour massage.
Atty. Veltri said he has to review the ordinance and asked
Eng.
Cristaldi if he had thoughts on the ordinance as it relates to this clinic. Eng. Cristaldi
said he really didn’t have anything to add at this time. Atty. Veltri explained
to the applicant that the Board was under the impression when they were listed
on the Agenda that this was an approved use or they wouldn’t be here for a CO.
Atty. Veltri said the Board needs to look at the aspects of the particular use
in detail to see whether they fall within the approved uses of the Borough’s
Ordinances; if they do, they’ll be eligible for a CO; if they don’t they may
need to go to the Board of Adjustment for a Use Variance. This is something the
Board needs to review.
Vice Chairman Graceffo said some of the inspections are
complete and some are not, therefore, this application will be put on hold
until the Ordinance is reviewed and the Resolution is reviewed with reference
to the approved Trailer site. Atty. Veltri added, that maybe the Board might want to wait for the owner
to come back in so certain things can be put on the record. Atty. Veltri also said, that when this structure (Trailer) was put up it was
put up as a temporary structure and there is some verbiage in the Resolution
that said that the structure would be dismantled at the end of the sales use;
this was in 2001. The Board needs to see what has happened with that building
from the date the owner’s of that structure were in front of this Board until
tonight and the Board does not want to establish another business in a building
that the Board was told would be dismantled.
NEW BUSINESS APPLICATION: “Super Max Radio.Com”, (Radio
Advertising), 1069 Ringwood Ave.,
Block 430, Lot 1 through 13. Owner of property is Bald Eagle Urban Renewal
@Wanaque, 179 Cahill Cross Rd., West Milford, N.J. Owner of business is max
Kinkel, 15 Broad Street, Suite 13, Pompton Lakes, N.J. 07442.
Max Kinkel owner of the business came forward. Mr. Kinkel
explained the name of the radio station has been known as “Super Max” since his
Detroit location
and known as Max Kinkel on “CBS FM” for 15 years. The business makes radio
commercials; probably two to three an hour and they have two sets of studios;
they have a main recording studio and post production. Sometimes they have
three or four actors that are doing the commercials and in post-production they
put it all together with sound effects etc. The two studios eventually will be
having three shifts in a 24-hour day.
Vice Chairman Graceffo told the applicant that his
inspections are in compliance except for the Fire Prevention Bureau and they
have to go back there because the structure is still under construction.
MOTION TO APPROVE: made by Member Rucci, seconded
by Member O’Connell, voting yes were Members Di Meglio, Mayor Mahler, Graceffo,
Rucci, Slater and O’Connell.
NEW BUSINESS APPLICATION: “ATT Wireless” (Franchise
Store), 1084 Ringwood Ave.,
Block 435 Lot 17. Owner of building is Aeran Park,
58 Maplewood Ave., Wayne, N.J. Owner of business is Rene Resnek, 2-13 36th Street, Fair
Lawn, N.J.
Mr. Resnek, owner of the business came forward. Mr. Resnek
said he’s been with ATT for 14 years and owns a few stores. This is an
exclusive ATT store where by ATT comes in and they do the fixtures and make it
look corporate. Mr. Resnek said he has a store in Hawthorne, N.J. on Lincoln
Ave. and just got approved by ATT for the Haskell location based on the
distance from another ATT store because there is territory protection which
means they have to be 5 or 6 miles apart from another ATT exclusive store. Mr.
Resnek told the Board this would be a full-service store. He’s a technician for
cell phones and maybe 5% of stores nationwide do repairs. Normally if you break
your phone, you have you to buy another phone; he will do light repairs such as
if you drop your phone and a lot of stores don’t do that. They will also be an
authorized payment center; if somebody wants to pay their bill they can do
so.
Vice Chairman Graceffo said as far as inspections, the
Fire Prevention Bureau said they need to repair of the Exit Signs and need two
Fire Extinguishers and then they will re-inspect.
MOTION TO APPROVE: made by Member Rucci, seconded
by Member Slater, voting yes were Members Di Meglio, Mayor Mahler, Graceffo,
Rucci, Slater and O’Connell.
NEW BUSINESS APPLICATION: “H & C Auto Service”
(Auto Repair), 550 Ringwood Ave., Block 233 Lot 1.01 Owner of building is Tom
Palkow, 1 Melrose Ave., Wanaque, N.J. Owners of business is Juan Carlos Collado
& Daniel Hidalgo.
Mr. Collado one of the owners came forward. Mr. Collado
said this would be a repair shop and also will do State Inspections for cars.
Mr. Collado said he would be painting the building so it looks nice. Vice
Chairman Graceffo said he personally appreciates that and hopes they will
continue to maintain it and make some additional improvements to the site.
Vice Chairman Graceffo mentioned all the cars that were
always in front made the site look like a junkyard rather than an auto repair
shop. Mr. Collado agreed and said it would be kept nice so people can park.
Vice Chairman Graceffo said they need permits for the Heating System, and all
other inspections are in compliance.
MOTION TO APPROVE: made by Member Rucci, seconded
by Member O’Connell, voting yes were Members Di Meglio, Mayor Mahler, Graceffo,
Rucci, Slater and O’Connell.
Conceptual Discussion: Application #16-02 “RSK
Development”, 20 Mountain Avenue,
Wanaque, N.J.
Owner of property is Stan Kazanowski and Architect is Joseph G. Marra. Mr.
Kazanowski wants to discuss revising site plan with less units.
Architect, Joe Marra came forward. Mr. Marra said the
Board approved this application back in October 2003 and because of the
Highlands Regulations, which he believes became effective in March 2004, this
application fell in the Highlands and was stopped by the State of N.J. The owner, Mr.
Kazanowski, who is here tonight, pursued his rights to build this project
through the administrative circuit in Newark and through the Highlands Act
tried for one of the exemptions, which Mr. Marra believes are 17, and was
denied. An application was also filed with the State of N.J.
under the Highlands Act for a waiver for
takings of land. This application cost several thousands and the State of N.J.
has had the application for a waiver since August 2007. Recently in the month
of June there was a meeting regarding the waiver and the State of N.J. and asked Mr.
Kazanowski to come to the Wanaque Planning Board with a conceptual plan with
what they want him to build. They want him to build the project with a waiver
but they want him to meet certain requirements that have been enacted since
this Board approved the project. One of them is a 300 ft. buffer from the
wetlands and they instructed Mr. Kazanowski to look at what he could build with
a high-rise building 300 ft. away from the wetlands buffer and that’s the
reason why he is here tonight.
Atty. Veltri asked if there was any reason why Mr.
Kazanowski isn’t here tonight with an attorney. Mr. Marra said its because it’s a conceptual plan and just wants this Board
to be aware of what’s going on. Atty. Veltri told Mr. Marra that he’s not an
attorney and attorneys have been here in the past representing Mr. Kazanowski.
Atty. Veltri said that Mr. Marra said two things in the opening statement; the
State of N.J.
asked him to come before this Board with a conceptual plan and asked if Mr.
Marra had any writings from that agency saying that. Mr. Kazanowski answered
from the audience and said no. Mr. Kazanowski came forward and said at the last
meeting he had with the Deputy Attorney General and other people he was not
represented by counsel. The state asked Mr. Kazanowski what he thought about
their idea and he told them he didn’t like their idea and wanted to continue
with what was proposed and approved by the Board. He told the state that he
doesn’t see putting a huge building on the front of a piece of property would
be adequate in the Town of Wanaque
and wants to build what was approved. They told him to at least submit this new
plan and speak to the Board and see what their output would be. Atty. Veltri told Mr. Kazanowski that a conceptual hearing is a
lot different than a preliminary site plan. At a conceptual hearing the
applicant gives the Board what they intend to do and the Board in a very
non-binding fashion give the applicant their thoughts. Atty. Veltri doesn’t
want a misunderstanding because now Mr. Kazanowski is blending in a state
agency that’s asking him to come before the Board with anything that is in the
Municipal Land Use Act. Atty. Veltri went on to say that if the applicant comes
back with a preliminary site plan, no one on the Board is bound with anything
they said tonight nor is Mr. Kazanowski. Mr. Kazanowski told Atty. Veltri he is
the first person in the State of N.J.
to apply for this waiver and he feels the state doesn’t know how to deal with
this waiver.
Atty. Veltri made it clear to Mr. Kazanowski that he
doesn’t want somebody from the state
quoting what is being said
tonight.
Mr. Marra said the waiver that is before the DEP is called
a “Highlands Preservation Approval Application
with Waiver” and is a very lengthy application and costs several thousand
dollars and its been with the state for over a year
and they’ve done very little with it. Mr. Marra said he’s not an attorney, but
he feels Mr. Kazanowski has rights under the “Highlands
Preservation Approval” and they basically stopped his project. Mr. Marra said basically what the state said,
because there is wetlands near this property, you have to have a 300 ft. buffer
and then he can build his 18 units outside of the buffer area. It turns out
that they’re suggesting a four-story building and parking underneath, parking
spills across the line and it’s not what Mr. Kazanowski wants to build. This
plan would require a variance for height, it would be 18 units just like the
original, however, it would be concentrated outside the 300 ft. buffer line and
then there would probably be 18 or so parking spots underneath, three stories
of stacked units with six on a floor, elevators and meet all the construction
codes and be designed with steel, concrete, sprinklers, fire alarms, handicap
accessibility, and additional parking would be in the back over the 300 ft.
line. The state asked Mr. Kazanowski to
appear before this Board with this conceptual plan and it means nothing and is
not an application.
Atty. Veltri asked how many variances this plan would need
and Mr. Marra said for building height, he’s not sure if it would trigger other
variances. Atty. Veltri said because of the height, he maybe forced to go to
the Board of Adjustment and not the Planning Board.
Mr. Marra showed the Board the layout of what was approved
by the Board; it has four buildings with a total of 18 units. Mr. Kazanowski
said he is willing to put fewer units on this site and also have low-income
housing; there would be 13 units instead of 18. Mr. Kazanowski made this
proposal to the state and their comment was to see what Wanaque thought because
they felt it wouldn’t matter where the units were built on the property. Mr.
Kazanowski said why would he want to build the units
in the section where the state suggested instead of building in the front where
the property is nice and flat.
Atty. Veltri said if the Height Variance triggers a D
Variance, the Board of Adjustment has jurisdiction; so for someone from the
state to suggest either come back to the Planning Board with that type of
building and get the Board’s comments is silly because the Board is never going
to hear that application. With the Board of Adjustment there is another
problem, the Municipal
Land Use Act does not
allow them to view conceptual hearings. Atty. Veltri told Mr. Kazanowski, he’s
going to be forced to file a Preliminary Site Plan Application with the Board
of Adjustment to elicit their comments.
Mr. Marra asked if this project was 3 stories and wasn’t a
Use Variance or a Height Variance, would the Board prefer a plan like that as
oppose to the previous plan that was approved back in 2003 and maybe knocking
off the back units? Eng.
Cristaldi said they could take a look at how much the applicant wants the 300
ft. buffer enforced. If they would prefer to have some latitude on this site,
the thing they want to send back is that they would like some latitude on the
300 ft. buffer to keep it somewhat like what they originally had. If the
applicant wants the 300f ft. buffer enforced to the T, then the applicant has
to go back to the state and tell them that and that will determine everything.
Mr. Marra said back in 2003, Mr. Kazanowski got approval
for a Wetlands Buffer that was 25 ft. and they did an averaging plan within 75
ft., therefore, he got the approval and then they changed the law and now they
want him to meet the new law. Eng. Cristaldi said if the state is asking the
applicant to come back to the Board for anything it really centers around that
300 ft. buffer and whether or not this Board would want to recommend to the
state to give the applicant some leniency and to keep the plan similar to what
he had before. Eng.
Cristaldi suggested when the applicant goes back to the state he should have
someone with him who understands the wetlands and can argue the point about
granting this waiver.
Mr. Kazanowski thanked the Board for their time.
RESOLUTIONS:
None
VOUCHERS: submitted by Richard A. Alaimo Engineering for
Invoice #042928, Project #P0495-0000-000 Fee Service Mtg. Attendance for
$380.00.
MOTION TO APPROVE: made by Member Di Meglio,
seconded by Member Rucci, voting yes were Members Di Meglio, Mayor Mahler,
Graceffo, Rucci, Slater and O’Connell.
Atty. Veltri said to Eng. Cristaldi that he doesn’t see
in the ordinance a specific prohibition of a massage. Atty. Veltri also said
it’s not specifically permitted but he doesn’t see that it’s specifically
prohibited either. Eng.
Cristaldi asked if there is anything similar to either category. Atty. Veltri
passed the book over to Eng.
Cristaldi for him to look at. Atty. Veltri said the last time they had this
issue, which was a couple of months ago, there was a
prior resolution where the Board prohibited the massage use on the site. In
terms of a clinical type of massage, Atty. Veltri doesn’t see that is a
prohibited use perse.
Eng.
Cristaldi said the Board could decide whether or not they want an August
Meeting while he’s reading the ordinance. Atty. Veltri asked Eng. Cristaldi if he has anything on the Agenda
for next month and Eng.
Cristaldi said he has no applications. Atty. Veltri said he tries to be at
every meeting, but the third Thursday in August he will be taking his daughter
to college. If the Board has a meeting, Atty. Veltri can either have a
replacement or he will write up any legal opinions on any issues that he can
foresee the Board having.
Member Rucci wanted to know how to resolve the issue with
the Pulte Trailer Site with regard to the “School of Massage Therapy”.
Atty. Veltri said the problem is that someone really has to look at the file to
see what’s happened since 2001. In addition to the Resolution, Atty. Veltri
asked the Board Secretary to also pull the minutes from the 2001 meeting. Atty.
Veltri does remember the Pulte people saying to the Board that they were going
to dismantle the structure after the sales office closed.
Eng.
Cristaldi said what you have to do is to define the use a little better because
its really a school and he feels it may fall under a
service establishment.
Atty. Veltri asked the Board if they felt it is a
permanent building or a temporary building that needs to be taken down. One of
the members said the building was on blocks and came in sections. Someone said
the original sales office has since moved over to the Wanaque Reserve.
Vice Chairman Graceffo said if the Resolution states the
building was suppose to be dismantled, then you have an issue. Member O’Connell suggested that the Building
Inspector should take a look at the file and see what happened from 2001 to the
present.
Eng. Cristaldi said the Building Inspector can check to
see if the structure meets the requirements for a permanent structure, if it
does, they can come back to the Board and just say they have an existing
structure that is suppose to come down but would like approval on a new site
plan with the building as it is for a different use. If the Board approves
that, they can go back to the Building Inspector and ask if it meets the
standards for a permanent structure, and if it doesn’t, they can make changes
to it to meet the Building Inspector’s requirements and then get a CO.
It was decided to cancel the August Meeting.
Atty. Veltri asked the Board if anyone has a problem with
the use of the building (School
of Massage Therapy), and
if the only issue is the building. All members agreed that it was the building
and not the use. Eng. Cristaldi added that the Board may not be holding the new
business up at all, because if there is a problem with the building, they can’t
put the use in there until the site plan is straightened out. Vice Chairman
Graceffo said, the bigger problem is not the use of the building, but whether
there is a building to use or not.
MOTION TO ADJOURN: at 9:40 P.M. carried by a voice
vote.
______________________________
Gerri Marotta
Planning Board Secretary