Board of Adjustment/Zoning Board

FORT LEE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT March 23, 2021 Present: H. Liapes, J. Nitti, H. Joh, D. Conway, S. Tropea, L. Pacheco, E. Hong, D. Sugarman Absent: G. Makroulakis Present: J. Bonica, Esq., M. Jovishoff, Phillips, Preiss, Grygiel, B. Intindola, Neglia Eng. Chairman Sugarman called the meeting to order at 7:32 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. Approval of Minutes It was moved by Mr. Liapes, seconded by Mr. Joh, and passed on a vote of 6-0 by members Liapes, Joh, Conway, Pacheco, Hong and Sugarman to approve the minutes of the meeting of March 9, 2021. Memorializations Docket #14-19, Robert Place Realty, LLC, 1545 Route 46 West, Block 2651, Lot 2, Court Remand, Preliminary & Final Major Site Plan – 105-Unit, Assisted Living Facility It was moved by Mr. Liapes, seconded by Mr. Conway and approved on a vote of 6-0 by members Liapes, Joh, Conway, Pacheco, Hong and Sugarman to grant the applicant Preliminary & Final Major Site Plan approval. Page 2-ZBA Minutes-March 23, 2021 Docket #1-21, Dr. Brian & Ashley Chang, 1117 Buckingham Road, Block 951, Lot 1.02, Single Family Dwelling It was moved by Mr. Conway, seconded by Mr. Hong and approved on a vote of 5-0 by members Joh, Conway, Pacheco, Hong and Sugarman to grant the applicant approval to Construct a Single Family Dwelling. Acceptance/Completeness Docket #8-21, HLC Development, LLC, 490 Jane Street, Block 3653, Lot 3, Two-Unit Dwelling It was moved by Mr. Nitti, seconded by Mr. Liapes and approved on a vote of 8-0 by members Liapes, Nitti, Joh, Conway, Tropea, Pacheco, Hong and Sugarman to deem the application complete. Mr. Cereste will call the Board office for a hearing date. Docket #9-21, HLC Development, LLC, 494 Jane Street, Block 3653, Lot 2, Two Unit Dwelling It was moved by Mr. Nitti, seconded by Mr. Liapes and approved on a vote of 8-0 by members Liapes, Nitti, Joh, Conway, Tropea, Pacheco, Hong and Sugarman to deem the application complete. Mr. Cereste will call the Board office for a hearing date. Docket #10-21, Electrify America, 154 Main Street, Block 4351, Lots 3 &12, Minor Site Plan – Electric Vehicle Charging Station It was moved by Mr. Nitti, seconded by Mr. Liapes and approved on a vote of 8-0 by members Liapes, Nitti, Joh, Conway, Tropea, Pacheco, Hong and Sugarman to deem the application complete. Mr. Lavigne will call the Board office for a hearing date. Christin Trentacosti stated Jason Tuvel, Attorney for 2130 Center Avenue, LLC, Docket #34-19, emailed her advising this application is being withdrawn without prejudice based on the need to re-file the plans digitally for a virtual hearing. Public Hearing Docket #2-21, Devdatta Gogate & Qichao Hu, 1588-1590 West Street, Block 4051, Lot 19.01, Proposed Addition of Rear Yard Patios, Spiral Staircases and Amended Landscape Plan of Duplex Mr. Macri stated this application is pretty straight forward. Steven Collazuol, Engineer, 1610 Center Avenue, Fort Lee was sworn in and his credentials accepted by Chairman Sugarman. Page 3-ZBA Minutes-March 23, 2021 Mr. Collazuol stated he prepared a revised plan for the applicant. Two patios are proposed, 15 x 15, a spiral staircase and changes to the Landscaping plan. The applicant is planning to install two spiral staircases to be located at the insides of each deck. Two new surface inlets are proposed at each side of the rear yard adjacent to the rear corners of the dwelling. The existing landscaping is limited to several bushes at the front of the dwelling. The applicant is proposing additional landscaping including Arborvitae plants and a Dogwood tree at the right corner of the property. In addition, four Boxwood plants on the right side of the rear yard, and five Boxwood plants are proposed within the right side yard. Chairman Sugarman asked for questions from the Board. Mr. Jovishoff stated the block wall to be removed, where is it. Mr. Collazuol stated there was a wall over the lot line and the neighbors already removed it. Mr. Jovishoff stated are the drains existing. Mr. Collazuol stated yes there are existing drains and the new drains will be connected to them. Mr. Jovishoff asked if there will be any new lighting. Mr. Macri stated no. Chairman Sugarman asked for questions from the public. Chairman Sugarman asked if any member of the public would like to be sworn in and testify on the application. It was moved by Mr. Joh seconded by Mr. Liapes and passed on a vote of 7-0 by members Liapes, Nitti, Joh, Conway, Tropea, Pacheco and Sugarman to grant the applicant approval to Construct an Addition to the Rear Yard Patios, Spiral Staircases and Amended Landscape Plan of Duplex. Docket #3-21, 218 Knox Avenue, LLC, 2183 Linwood Avenue, Block 5852, Lot 12, Two Unit Dwelling Mark Martins, Engineer, 55 Walnut Street, Norwood was sworn in and his credentials accepted by Chairman Sugarman. Mr. Martins stated he prepared the survey and Engineering plans that were submitted to the Board. The property is on the westerly side on Linwood Avenue Page 4-ZBA Minutes-March 23, 2021 Currently on the property is a brick and frame dwelling and attached garage. One tree is located in the rear of the property. The applicant proposes to construct a new three story, two-family dwelling. Two driveways separated by a planting strip will be installed. We are trying to maintain the existing grades. We propose to construct underground cultec drainage. The applicant is proposing to retain the existing tree in the rear yard. In the front yard, the applicant is proposing to plant three Azalea plants in the right planting area, four Azalea plants in the central planting strip, and one Azalea plant and nine Holly plants in the left planting area. Twelve Myers Yew plants are proposed in each side yard and 18 Aborvitae are proposed surrounding the rear yard. The Neglia report will be complied with. Mr. Jovishoff asked if the shrubbery will be removed and replaced along the Northerly and Southerly side. Mr. Martins stated yes, this is shown on the plan. Chairman Sugarman asked for questions from the Board. Vassilios Cocoros, Architect, 467 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs was sworn in and his credentials accepted by Chairman Sugarman. Mr. Cocoros stated a side by side, three level, two family dwelling is proposed. The floor plans of the two units are mirror images. The basement is proposed to consist of a recreation room at the rear of the dwelling, a powder room, utility room, two closets and stairs to the upper levels. The first floor will have a living room at the front of the dwelling, a dining room, a powder room, and a linen closet at the center of the dwelling, and an open plan kitchen/family area/eating area at the rear of the dwelling. The second floor is proposed to consist of a master bedroom with an ensuite full bathroom and a laundry room at the front of the dwelling and two bedrooms and a shared full bathroom at the rear of the dwelling. Chairman Sugarman asked for questions from the Board. Chairman Sugarman asked for questions from the public. Page 5-ZBA Minutes-March 23, 2021 The Board took a break from 8:18 to 8:25 pm. David Spatz, Planner, 60 Friend Terrace, Harrington Park was sworn in and his credentials accepted by Chairman Sugarman. Photo Board of Site and Surrounding Area Top left-subject property Top right-to the North showing two-family homes Bottom left-to the South showing newer two-family homes Bottom right-to the left The D variances meet the purposes of zoning. The zone permits two family homes. They are removing a dwelling that is in fair condition. The drainage will be improved. There will be a conforming amount of parking on site. We are consistent with the surrounding properties. The property is undersized. The building coverage exceeds by 249 square feet. The positive criteria is met for the C variances. There is nothing substantially negative. I believe the variances can be granted. Chairman Sugarman asked for questions from the Board. Chairman Sugarman asked for questions from the public. Chairman Sugarman asked if any member of the public would like to be sworn in and testify on the application. It was moved by Mr. Liapes seconded by Mr. Nitti and passed on a vote of 7-0 by members Liapes, Nitti, Joh, Conway, Tropea, Pacheco and Sugarman to grant the applicant approval to construct a Two Unit Dwelling. Docket #4-21, Edwin Glenn O’Connor, 1580 John Street, Block 3754, Lot 6, Two Unit Dwelling Chairman Sugarman stated this application is carried to the meeting of April 13, 2021. ADJOURNMENT It was moved by Mr. Nitti, seconded by Mr. Joh to adjourn the meeting at 8:31 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Linda Garofalo Linda Garofalo Recording Secretary