Planning Board

MINUTES PLANNING BOARD OF THE BOROUGH OF MADISON REGULAR MEETING SEPTEMBER 15, 2015 A regular meeting of the Planning Board of the Borough of Madison was held on the 15th day of September 2015 at 7:30 P.M., in the Court Room, Hartley Dodge Memorial, 50 Kings Road, Madison, NJ. The meeting was called to order by Planning Board Chairman, Steve Tombalakian Mr. Tombalakian requested the reading of the Public Meeting Notice. Ms. Boardman read the following statement in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act. “Let the minutes reflect that adequate notice of this meeting has been provided in the following manner: At the reorganization meeting of the Board held on January 6, 2015, the Board by Resolution adopted a schedule of meetings. On January 7, 2015, a copy of the schedule of meetings was posted at the bulletin board at the entrance to the Hartley Dodge Memorial, was sent to the Madison Eagle and the Daily Record, and filed with the Borough Clerk all in accordance with the “Open Public Meetings Act”. The following roll call was recorded: Present: Steve Tombalakian, Tom Johnson, Jeff Gertler, Tom Lewis, Astri Baillie, Peter Flemming at 9:00pm, Mayor Robert Conley, Michael Kopas, and John Forte at 7:50pm Excused: None Absent: None Also Present: Keith Loughlin, Substitute Planning Board Attorney, Susan Blickstein, Board Planner Frank Russo, Board Engineer Frances Boardman, Board Secretary Approval of Minutes: Copies of the September 1, 2015 regular meeting minutes were distributed to all Board members for their review prior to this meeting. A motion to approve the minutes was made by Mr. Lewis, seconded by Ms. Baillie. A voice vote of “aye” was heard by all eligible voting members and recorded. Comments by the Public: Mr. Tombalakian opened the floor to the public for anyone that wished to be heard on any matter not on this evening’s agenda. Seeing no one he closed that portion of the meeting. RESOLUTIONS FOR MEMORIALIZATION – None 1 Planning Board September 15, 2015 OLD BUSINESS – CASE NO. P 15-004 Minor Three Lot Subdivision with Variances Alan Andreas Block: 602, Lots: 12 & 27 173 Ridgedale Avenue Mr. Nino Coviello, Esq. began by giving a brief summation of the previous proceedings testimony that was given on Tuesday, September 1, 2015. Those witnesses here this evening to testify include Alan Andreas, Applicant and Architect, Michael Tobia, Planner, Cristian Kastrud, Engineer and Charles Liggett, Owner of Property. Mr. Charles F. Liggett, Jr., 173 Ridgedale Avenue, Madison was sworn in to begin his testimony. Mr. Liggett is the owner of the property located at 173 Ridgedale Avenue. Mr. Liggett testified that he has been the homeowner for the past thirteen years. He stated that the home has a ½ finished basement and he has never experienced any water source flowing through this area. He stated; that the basement has a concrete floor and that there is no French Drain around the perimeter of the home nor is there a sump pump in the basement. The basement is dry and there are no cracks. Mr. Liggett is unknown of the date or year that the concrete basement was poured. Mr. Tombalakian asked the Board and its professional’s if they had any questions for Mr. Liggett, seeing none he opened the floor to the public, seeing none he closed that portion of the hearing. Christian Kastrud, Engineer, remaining under oath outlined to the Board the results of the soil boring tests that were done on September 10, 2015 at the site where the drywell are being proposed. The logs and report were reviewed by Board Engineer, Frank Russo of Bowman Consulting. It was determined that the proposed drywells will work well on all proposed lots. A discussion took place with regards to contour line and water flow. Mr. Tombalakian asked the Board and its professional’s if they had any questions for Mr. Kastrud, seeing none he opened the floor to the public. Mr. Stephen Stocker, 134 Park Avenue, Madison. Mr. Stocker asked if any pipes were proposed to alleviate water flow to Ridgedale Avenue. He also asked if there had been any testing in the rear of the proposed lots. Mr. Kastrud stated that there were no drains proposed through the driveways and that no testing had been done in the rear of the property. Mr. Chris Kellogg, 3 Walnut Street, Madison inquired if the pond could become dry. Mr. Kastrud stated that the applicant was willing to work at keeping the pond intact. Mr. Kellogg was sworn in at this point and spoke of unclean rain water being directed into the pond from the roof leaders. Mr. Kastrud stated that the applicant had no design to deposit water into the pond. Mr. Edward Baumann, 151 Ridgedale Avenue, Madison asked if it had been taken into consideration what the outcome would be if too much water was deposited into the pond. Mr. Kastrud replied that there had not been any study to illustrate that. Mr. Russo stated that the 18” pipe that is shown on proposed lot 27.03 should be a part of the O&M manual. Mr. Lance Hunter, 179 Ridgedale Avenue, Madison questioned a gradual subsurface water flow. Mr. Kastrud stated that the soil logs did not show any evidence of subsurface water flow. Mr. Chris Kellogg, 3 Walnut Street asked the depth of the drywells. Mr. Kastrud stated that the homes had not yet been designed and that information was not readily available on the depths of the drywells. 2 Planning Board September 15, 2015 Mr. Frederick Zeigler, 181 Ridgedale Avenue, Madison asked if the samples were obtained during a very dry season and if being in drought like conditions would alter the outcome of the results found in the study. The reply from Mr. Kastrud was that the samples were taken prior to coming back to the Board. Mr. Michael Tobia, 546 Van Buren Road, Morristown was sworn in as the next witness. Mr. Tobia had testified before the Board on several occasions and was accepted as an expert witness. Mr. Tobia reviewed the zoning/planning analysis with the board. He stated that both lot 27.01 and 27.02 are fully conforming, but due to the wetland buffer on lot 27.03 a side yard setback variance is necessary. He stated for the Board that there are thirty six bulk requirement standards that would apply to these three lots and the application before the board conforms to thirty five of the requirements. Mr. Tobia explained that the pond on lot 27.03 is an exceptional physical feature. This physical feature has forced the applicant to move the house to the north. There is no substantial determent to the public good and the homes that are proposed are appropriate for the neighborhood. Mr. Tombalakian opened the floor to the Board for questions. Mr. Gertler asked if there is any other way to enhance the property and better situate the home on lot 27.03. Mr. Tobia stated that due to the wetlands and buffer requirement on the lot there is no better alternative, although the applicant and his professionals have looked at other alternatives which would create other variances. Mr. Gertler asked if the house on lot 27.03 be moved further away from the buffer and embrace the pond. Mr. Alan Andreas, applicant, whom remains under oath, explained to Mr. Gertler that it would be unfair to the rear neighbors if the house was moved back because it would affect the open view. Mr. Andreas stated that he is not opposed to this suggestion but would like to talk to the rear neighbors and take their feelings into consideration. Mr. Gertler noted that the fence bifurcates this lot creating a visual inconsistency. Mr. Tombalakian explained that State law requires a fence in the wetland buffer area. It was suggested that the house be repositioned behind the 50ft buffer and a different layout of the home be proposed. A Conservation Easement would still be necessary for lot 27.03. Mr. Coviello was informed that revised plans would need to be submitted ten days prior to the next scheduled Planning Board meeting. Mr. Tombalakian asked the public if they had any questions of Mr. Tobia. Mr. Chris Kellogg, 3 Walnut Street, Madison asked if proposing two homes on this lot would be a better application. Mr. Tobia restated that two homes would eliminate the side yard setback but the building envelope of the homes would be massive. The applicant felt that creating three lots would produce a variety of lot sizes and these lot sizes are compatible in an R-3 Single-Family Residential Zone. Ms. Sandy Kolakowski, 136 Park Avenue, Madison asked if any incentives were offered to the applicant to keep the home in its present condition and just make interior renovations. Mr. Tobia explained that the renovations would be immense and the applicant feels that the best financial undertaking for this property is to subdivide and construct new homes. Seeing no further questions from the public that portion of the meeting was closed. An announcement was made by Mr. Tombalakian that this application is to be carried to the Planning Board meeting of Tuesday, October 20, 2015 without further notice. 3 Planning Board September 15, 2015 A five minute recess was taken at 9:00pm. All members of the Board returned to their seats at 9:10pm including Mr. Flemming, whom arrived at the meeting at 9:00pm. NEW BUSINESS – CASE NO. P 15-009 Preliminary and Final Site Plan with Variances KL Realty Holdings, LLC Block: 2401, Lot: 2 223 Main Street Mr. Sam DeAngelis, Esq. began by giving a brief summary of the application before the Board this evening. The applicant, K L Realty Holdings, LLC, a subsidiary of Sotheby International Realties, proposes to demolish an existing residence and non conforming accessory structure at 223 Main Street to construct a professional office space with eight parking spaces in the CC District. The proposed project requires a variance to exceed the maximum allowable impervious coverage permitted in the CC District, variances for deficient landscape buffers along both side and rear yards, and variances for proposed sign area and height. Testifying this evening will be Mr. Jeff Fellers, applicant and Mr. Thomas Murphy, Engineer. Mr. Jeff Fellers, 6 Yardley Road, Mendham was sworn in. Mr. Fellers is the principle applicant Mr. Fellers has been a real estate broker for several years and has managed a real estate firm in this area for seven. He has been trying to find the right location since 2012 to open his franchise. Mr. Fellers began his testimony recapping for the Board the plan for the proposed structure. This site will have an open floor plan. There is not a lot of foot traffic that is drawn to this location. There will be a total of two employees on site. The hours of operation were presented as follows: Monday through Friday 9:00am to 5:00pm, with hours on Saturday and Sunday from 10:00am to 4:00pm. Mr. Fellers discussed the proposed signage being requested. One of the proposed signs will be mounted on the rear of the building. The sign will be blue with white lettering. The applicant is requesting a variance for the size of the front yard freestanding sign where six feet is allowed and 12 square feet is proposed. There is also a front yard setback variance where the applicant is proposing three feet from the street and the required is ten. Mr. Fellers stated that Sotheby’s mandates the signage for each franchise. The light box affixed on the top of the sign post creates a maximum height of the sign 6.3 feet where 4ft is allowed. A design waiver is sought for the down-shielded lighting with a 24 volt power switch mounted to one of the posts underground conduit. At the request of the Technical Review Committee the applicant was asked to have the application reviewed by the Sign and Façade Committee. The application was reviewed by Sign and Façade and their comments were sent to Dr. Blickstein and Mr. Russo. Mr. Tombalakian shared with the Board members the Sotheby’s sign at their Bedminster site from his phone. Mr. Russo questioned Mr. Fellers if there was a need for the eight parking spaces shown on the site plan. Mr. Fellers stated that there was; two spaces would be for the employees leaving five open spaces for clients as well as one handicapped spot. Mr. Tombalakian asked the Board and its Professionals if they had any further questions for Mr. Fellers, seeing none he opened the floor to the public for questions. Seeing none he closed that portion of the hearing. 4 Planning Board September 15, 2015 Mr. Thomas Murphy, Murphy & Hollows, 192 Central Avenue, Sterling, NJ 07980 was sworn in. Mr. Murphy gave his qualifications to the Board and was accepted as an expert witness. The following exhibits were marked into evidence: Exhibit A-1: Site Plans, 6 sheets, last revised August 12, 2015 Exhibit A-2: Grading Plan, 1 sheet, last revised August 12, 2015 Exhibit A-3: Picture of proposed signage Mr. Murphy stated his testimony explaining the existing site conditions in the CC Zone. He went through the variances that being requested and the design waivers. A drywell will be installed to collect the total roof area of the proposed new building. The variances were gone through individually. The required impervious lot coverage is 70% where 77.2% is being proposed. The signage variances were discussed and Mr. Murphy explained the fact that the signage being proposed was adequate for this business in the CC Zone. It was suggested by Mr. Forte that the freestanding sign be set closer to the building. Mr. Murphy explained that the applicant wanted the signage to be visible to the public and that the property had a shallow slope upward from the road. Other items that were discussed included the landscape buffer and draining. Mr. Murphy stated that the application would not have a negative impact on the neighbors or zoning ordinance. Mr. Russo asked Mr. Murphy if a cross access easement had been considered with the neighboring property owned by Mr. Alan Andreas. Mr. Murphy stated that in a discussion with Mr. Andreas he had stated that his office building did not have sufficient parking. Mr. Russo also asked if the proposed parking lot stalls along with the drive aisle could be reduced reducing the variance relief required. Dr. Blickstein questioned Mr. Murphy if a sign analysis in the zone had been completed. Mr. Murphy replied no. Dr. Blickstein could find no compelling argument for the size of the proposed sign. After some discussion the applicant agreed to bring the height of the sign down to 10 sq ft. He also agreed to lowering the caps and push the sign back 5feet. The August 26, 2015 memorandum from Bowman Consulting was discussed. An Operation and Maintenance manual will be prepared and submitted for review by Mr. Russo. Mr. Tombalakian asked the Board and its Professionals if they had any further questions of Mr. Murphy seeing none he closed that portion of the hearing. The floor was then opened to the public for questions and or comments on this application, seeing none that portion of the hearing was closed. The Board began their deliberation. A list of conditions to be included in the resolution as discussed this evening was recited back to the Board and the applicant by Mr. Keith Loughlin, Esq. Motion to approve this application was made by Mr. Gertler, seconded by Mr. Mayor Conley. A roll call was requested and recorded as follows: “Ayes” – Mayor Conley , Ms. Baillie, Mr. Flemming, Mr. Forte, Mr. Gertler, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Kopas, Mr. Lewis and Mr. Tombalakian “Nays” – None “Absent” – None Planning Board 5 September 15, 2015 PLANNING DISCUSSION –None CORRESPONDENCE – None Since there was no further business to come before the Board, Mr. Tombalakian made a motion to adjourn the regular meeting at 10:30 P.M; seconded by Mr. Johnson. A voice vote of “aye” was heard by all members present and carried. Respectfully submitted, Frances Boardman Board Secretary 6