Board of Adjustment/Zoning Board

FORT LEE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT December 19, 2023 Present: H. Liapes, D. Conway, H. Joh, L. Pacheco, J. Luppino, E. Hong, D. Sugarman Absent: J. Nitti, S. Tropea Present: J. Mariniello, Jr., Esq., D. Juzmeski, Neglia Eng. Chairman Sugarman called the meeting to order at 7:37 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 2023. Approval of Minutes It was moved by Mr. Conway, seconded by Mr. Liapes and passed on a vote of 5-0 by members Liapes, Conway, Joh, Pacheco and Sugarman to approve the minutes of the meeting of December 12, 2023. Memorializations Docket #32-23, 2470 Rossett Builders, LLC, 2470 Rossett Street, Block 6953, Lot 15, Preliminary & Final Major Site Plan – Three Unit Dwelling It was moved by Mr. Liapes, seconded by Mr. Joh and passed on a vote of 5-0 by members Liapes, Conway, Joh, Pacheco and Sugarman to grant the applicant Preliminary & Final Major Site Plan approval. Acceptance/Completeness Docket #36-23, Elizabeth Builders, LLC, 441 Elizabeth Street, Block 4052, Lot 10, Two Unit Dwelling It was moved by Mr. Liapes, seconded by Mr. Pacheco and passed on a vote of 6-0 by members Liapes, Conway, Joh, Pacheco, Hong and Sugarman to deem the application complete. Mr. Macri will call for a hearing date. Page 2-ZBA Minutes-December 19, 2023 Docket #37-23, 2464 Lemoine Avenue, LLC, 2464 Lemoine Avenue, Block 7151, Lot 4, Preliminary & Final Major Site Plan – Twelve (12) Unit, Residential Building It was moved by Mr. Conway, seconded by Ms. Hong and passed on a vote of 5-0 by members Conway, Joh, Pacheco, Hong and Sugarman to deem the application complete. Mr. Liapes recused himself. Mr. Macri will call for a hearing date. Public Hearing Docket #44-22, Kate Fazzini, 1655 Maple Street, Block 3558, Lot 9, Enclosed Deck for Single Family Dwelling Ms. Fazzini stated the proposal is for a 10’ x 10’ sunroom on the back of a single family home. Matt Horner, representative from Patio Enclosures, 509 Green Pond Road, Rockaway was sworn in. Mr. Horner stated this is a 10’ x 10’ patio enclosure with a 7 foot wall. There’s a 6’ rolling door at the entrance. This is to be built on a deck. Mr. Mariniello asked are you aware of the plans dated May 26, 2022? Mr. Horner stated yes. Chairman Sugarman asked if there are stairs down to the deck? Ms. Fazzini stated yes. Chairman Sugarman asked for questions from the Board. Mr. Juzmeski stated the side yard setback is required. The applicant needs to provide the maximum lot coverage. Chairman Sugarman stated variances are required for the setback. Chairman Sugarman asked for questions from the public. Chairman Sugarman asked if any member of the public would like to come up, be sworn and testify on the application. Mr. Mariniello stated the Engineer has to provide maximum approved lot coverage. Page 3-ZBA Minutes-December 19, 2023 It was moved by Mr. Joh, seconded by Mr. Pacheco and passed on a vote of 6-0 by members Liapes, Conway, Joh, Pachco, Hong and Sugarman to grant the applicant approval to Construct an Enclosed Deck for a Single Family Dwelling. Mr. Luppino arrived at 7:50 pm. Docket #25-23, 1550 Bergen Boulevard, LLC, 1550 Bergen Boulevard, Block 3454, Lot 10, Preliminary & Final Major Site Plan – 30 Unit, Multi-Family Building (continued from the public hearing of November 28, 2023) Mr. Molinelli is representing the applicant. He stated we have reduced the amount of units from 32 to 30. Mr. Vergona, Architect stated the rendering shows the penthouse level has been taken out, reduced the building by two units, and the height has been reduced. The HVAC will be screened. Exhibit A7 – rendering dated November 27, 2023, revised December 5, 2023. Mr. Molinelli stated the revised site plan has been submitted also. Mr. Vergona stated SK1 dated December 5, 2023 shows the changes. Parking is for 51 cars, the requirement is 50 spaces. SK2 enhancements have been made on the east elevation. The height of the building is now 44.6 3/4 “, four stories including parking. The height is the same. SK3 the garage door is shown, it is on the lower level only. SK4 ground floor plan – revision involves the parking area and the EV parking charger was added. SK5 bay windows have been added. SK6 bay windows have been added. SK7 upper residential floor is shown, there are 3 units instead of 5 units. SK8 the penthouse level is removed. The screening around the mechanicals is shown. Mr. Hubschmann asked is there a landscape plan? Mr. Vergona stated no. Page 4-ZBA Minutes-December 19, 2023 Chairman Sugarman asked for questions from the Board. Mr. Conway asked if the footprint changed. Mr. Conway asked how many workers will there be? Mr. Vergona stated 30-40 workers over a period of time. 10-12 at one time. Mr. Conway asked if there is enough parking for the workers? Mr. Vergona stated yes, the first construction is of the garage, shown on SK4. Mr. Conway stated at the last meeting you didn’t know if there would be a crane. Mr. Molinelli stated the sheetrock will be boomed. Mr. Vergona stated they may use a crane for the rooftop equipment. Mr. Conway asked if the curb cut will be done after parking. We have two curb cuts now. Eventually people cannot park along the curb because there will be construction workers there. Mr. Molinelli stated the Fort Lee Police can section the area off. Mr, Conway asked when the building is complete, will the trash recycling room be open to the garage? Mr. Vergona stated there will be dumpsters. Mr. Conway asked can dumpsters be pushed to the street? Mr. Vergona stated yes. Mr. Luppino asked when the building is done how many parking spaces are we losing? Mr. Vergona stated 3 to 4 spaces. Chairman Sugarman asked will the construction materials be delivered off of Route 46? Mr. Vergona stated it would be easier if they did. Ms. Kathy Lofaro, 555 North Avenue, Fort Lee asked about the ingress and egress – one has a door, one doesn’t. If one is without a door, can’t anybody enter? Mr. Vergona stated yes. Page 5-ZBA Minutes-December 19, 2023 Ms. Lofaro stated on December 6, 2023, Mr. Molinelli stated 50 parking spaces are required. Then Mr. Spatz stated 54 parking spaces are required. Mr. Vergona stated 50 spaces are required, 51 spaces are provided. Ms. Lofaro asked if there will be any full time employees working here? Mr. Vergona stated no. Ms. Lofaro stated there are 4 parking spaces on the street on North Avenue and they are always full. These will be eliminated. How are you going to provide those four spaces that are being lost? Mr. Vergona stated this will be a loss. Ms. Lofaro stated I welcome you to come to North Avenue and try to find a parking space. Mr. Molinelli asked where do these people live? Ms. Lofaro stated I don’t know. Ms. Lofaro stated I’m concerned we’re losing 4 street parking spaces. Ms. Diane Zild, 555 North Avenue Fort Lee stated we are at the end of North Avenue. 30 families will be here. How do we handle an emergency? You will have trucks on North Avenue. How are emergency vehicles going to get through? Mr. Vergona stated a traffic expert testified to this. We meet the parking requirements. Chairman Sugarman stated we have guest parking in my building. All streets are crowded. This situation is not unique to North Avenue. Traffic has to be dealt with. The applicant eliminated their parking variance. Something has to be built here. Ms. Lofaro asked about “Duties of Owner” NJAC 5:10-11.2, multiple dwellings of 9 or more units, need someone there 24 hours a day or the owner must reside within one block or 200 feet. Mr. Mariniello stated he will look into this. There are plenty of buildings in Fort Lee with this issue. Mr. Molinelli stated there will be cameras and the building will be secure. David Spatz, Planner, 60 Friend Terrace, Harrington Park was sworn in and his credentials accepted by Chairman Sugarman. Page 6-ZBA Minutes-December 19, 2023 Exhibit A8-Photo Board of Site and Surrounding Area Top left-aerial view taken from Google maps Top right-subject property Bottom left-the motel across the street Bottom right-to the east, motel and Midwest building The use is permitted. The area is retail, gas station, auto service, multi-family and residential. There is a D1 variance for density. The site is well suited for what we are proposing. It has been vacant for many years. We meet the purposes of zoning. Contributions are being made to the Borough’s Affordable Housing. The site is challenging to develop. It formally was a gas station. All drainage will be handled on the property. Parking is now conforming and meets the RSIS standards. Landscaping is being provided. The 6 foot fence provides a public benefit and screening. We are consistent with the neighboring properties. Chairman Sugarman asked for questions from the Board. Chairman Sugarman asked for questions from the public. Mr. Molinelli stated the Vehicle Circulation exhibit dated December 19, 2023 is being handed out to the Board. This was requested by Neglia Engineering. Chairman Sugarman asked if any member of the public would like to come up, be sworn and testify on the application. Richard Hubschmann, representing Westgate stated we have concerns. This project is going to be 10 feet taller. This is on Route 46. We believe that with the proper landscaping on our property we would withdraw any objections. We would like the refuse container moved away and taken as a consideration. We would like to submit a plan that shows what we are looking for. Mr. Molinelli stated that arbovitae and planting are proposed on Westgate’s property in the gap area shown on our plan. Four trees are to be planted on Westgate’s border property. The south section will have the number of arborvitae increased as shown. Irrigation and maintenance will be provided for two years. The refuse area is under the building. It will be picked up where it is. Mr. Vergona stated the refuse is at grade level. The Board took a break at 8:55 and returned at 9:00 pm. Mr. Molinelli stated the trash recycling will be moved north to the area before the vehicles on the outer exit. Mr. Hubschmann agreed to this location. Mr. Molinelli stated we also agree to the landscaping requests. Page 7-ZBA Minutes-December 19, 2023 Mr. Juzmeski stated the Fire Official needs to approve the trash location. It was moved by Mr. Luppino, seconded by Mr. Liapes and passed on a vote of 6-0 by members Liapes, Joh, Pacheco, Luppino, Hong and Sugarman to grant the applicant Preliminary & Final Major Site Plan approval. Mr. Conway voted to deny the application. ADJOURNMENT It was moved by Mr. Conway, seconded by Mr. Luppino to adjourn the meeting at 9:05 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Linda Garofalo Linda Garofalo Recording Secretary