Board of Adjustment/Zoning Board

FORT LEE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT January 12, 2021 Present: H. Liapes, G. Makroulakis, J. Nitti, H. Joh, D. Conway, L. Pacheco, E. Hong, D. Sugarman Absent: S. Tropea Present: J. Mariniello, Jr., Esq., M. Jovishoff, Phillips, Preiss, Grygiel, D. Juzmeski, Neglia Eng. Chairman Sugarman called the meeting to order at 7:36 p.m. NOTICE OF MEETING: The Chairman states: Let the minutes reflect that adequate notice of this meeting has been provided in the following manner: All members of this Body have been advised in writing at least 48 hours prior to this meeting of the time, place, and proposed Agenda of this meeting. A written notice of the time, place, and proposed Agenda was posted on the bulletin board of Municipal Building, 309 Main Street, Fort Lee, New Jersey. On the same date, a copy of said written notice was mailed to the Record, Jersey Journal, Time Warner Cable and Fort Lee Online. A copy was filed with the Borough Clerk and, on the same date, copies were mailed to all persons who have requested copies of such notices and have prepaid the fee fixed for the year 2021. The meeting was held remotely, by means of communication equipment. The foregoing Electronic Public Meeting is recommended due to the current situation involving COVID-19 Virus and directives of State and County governments. The meeting was conducted using Zoom operating system. Mr. Conway was sworn in by Mr. Mariniello. Chairman Sugarman turned the meeting over to Mr. Mariniello. Election of the following Officers of the Board: ∙ Chairman ∙ Vice-Chairman ∙ Secretary of the Board A motion was made by Mr. Liapes to appoint Doug Sugarman as Chairman for the year 2021. The motion was seconded by Mr. Makroulakis and passed on a vote of 7-0 by members Liapes, Makroulakis, Nitti, Joh, Conway, Pacheco and Sugarman. Mr. Mariniello turned the meeting back to Chairman Sugarman. A motion was made by Chairman Sugarman, seconded by Mr. Nitti and passed on a vote of 7-0 by members Liapes, Makroulakis, Nitti, Joh, Conway, Pacheco and Sugarman to elect Harry Liapes as Vice-Chairman of the Board. Page 2-ZBA Minutes-January 12, 2021 A motion was made by Chairman Sugarman, seconded by Mr. Conway and passed on a vote of 7-0 by members Liapes, Makroulakis, Nitti, Joh, Conway, Pacheco, and Sugarman to elect George Makroulakis as Secretary to the Board. Resolution for Professional Appointments 2021 ∙ Board Attorney Joseph Mariniello, Esq./Mariniello & Mariniello, P.C. ∙ Conflict Board Attorney Brian Chewcaskie, Esq., Cleary Giacobbe Jacobs, LLC ∙ Board Planner Phillips, Preiss, Grygiel, Leheny, Hughes LLC ∙ Board Engineer (Site) Neglia Engineering ∙ Board Engineer (Traffic) Neglia Engineering All members present voted to approve the resolution for the Board of Adjustment professional services and award contracts to: Mariniello & Mariniello PC, Board Attorney; Phillips, Preiss, Grygiel, Leheny, Hughes LLC, Board Planners; Neglia Engineering, Site Engineer; Neglia Engineering, Board Traffic Engineer; and Brian Chewcaskie, Esq., Board Conflict Attorney. Appointments to the Zoning Board ∙ Recording Secretaries ∙ Court Reporter It was moved by Chairman Sugarman, seconded by Mr. Liapes and passed on a vote of 7-0 by members Liapes, Makroulakis, Nitti, Joh, Conway, Pacheco and Sugarman to appoint Linda Garofalo, Christen Trentacosti and Barbara Klein as Recording Secretaries for the year 2021. It was moved by Chairman Sugarman, seconded by Mr. Liapes and passed on a vote of 7-0 by members Liapes, Makroulakis, Nitti, Joh, Conway, Pacheco and Sugarman to appoint Beth Calderone, Calderone & Assoc. as Court Reporter for the year 2021. Liason Representative to the Planning Board Chairman Sugarman, Mr. Liapes and Mr. Makroulakis will act as the liaisons to the Planning Board for the year 2021. All members were in favor. Official Publications of the Zoning Board of Adjustment – The Record, The Jersey Journal, Star Ledger and Spectrum. All members voted in favor to designate The Record, The Jersey Journal, The Star Ledger and Spectrum as the Official Publications of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. Approval of Minutes It was moved by Mr. Liapes, seconded by Mr. Joh and passed on a vote of 6-0 by members Liapes, Nitti, Joh, Conway, Pacheco and Sugarman to approve the minutes of the meeting of December 22, 2020. Page 3-ZBA Minutes-January 12, 2021 Arrangement of member’s seating for voting process and voting order Following review by the Board the seating will remain the same. The voting order has changed. All members were in favor. Rules of the Board of Adjustment. Motion to adopt. It was moved by Mr. Makroulakis, seconded by Mr. Liapes and affirmed by an all-in-favor vote to adopt the Rules of the Board of Adjustment for the year 2021. 2020 Annual Report of the Zoning Board of Adjustment – Review and Adoption It was moved by Mr. Makroulakis, seconded by Mr. Conway and passed on a vote of 7-0 by members Liapes, Makroulakis, Nitti, Joh, Conway, Pacheco and Sugarman to adopt the 2020 Annual Report of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. Memorializations Docket #15-20, 2289 Center LLC, 2289 Center Avenue, Block 6051, Lot 10, Two Unit Dwelling It was moved by Mr. Joh, seconded by Mr. Conway and passed on a vote of 5-0 by members Makroulakis, Nitti, Joh, Conway and Sugarman to grant the applicant approval to construct a Two Unit Dwelling. Mr. Liapes voted to deny the application. Docket #34-20, Donald Nuckel & Miyoung Cho, 300 Tom Hunter Road, Block 3952, Lot 3, Two Unit Dwelling It was moved by Mr. Nitti, seconded by Mr. Joh and passed on a vote of 6-0 by members Liapes, Nitti, Joh, Conway, Pacheco and Sugarman to grant the applicant approval to construct a Two Unit Dwelling. Acceptance/Completeness Docket #36-20, 240 Columbia Ave, LLC, 240 Columbia Avenue, Block 552, Lot 23, Preliminary & Final Major Site Plan – Seven (7) Unit Residential Building Mr. Jovishoff stated Mr. Macri is not present tonight. Mr. Jovishoff received the revised plans. There are several comments outstanding. He recommends the application be deemed complete. It was moved by Mr. Conway, seconded by Mr. Makroulakis and passed on a vote of 7-0 by members Liapes, Makroulakis, Nitti, Joh, Conway, Pacheco and Sugarman to grant the application complete. Mr. Macri will call the Board Secretary for a hearing date. Page 4-ZBA Minutes-January 12, 2021 Chairman Sugarman stated the transcripts of the Route 46 application were sent out. Any Board members that were not present for this hearing should listen to the tapes prior to the next meeting on January 19, 2021. ADJOURNMENT It was moved by Mr. Joh, seconded by Mr. Liapes to adjourn the meeting at 8:05 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Linda Garofalo Linda Garofalo Recording Secretary