Plannng Board

City of Trenton Planning Board Conference and Public Hearing Thursday, February 10, 2022 Via Microsoft Teams or phone: 609-436-9298 The Conference ID is 412 046 968# Members in Attendance: Randy Baum, Acting Chair Jamie Carpenter Marcus Green Joe Harrison Anthony Santora Charles Romanow Members Not in Attendance: Dan Fatton, Chair John McBride, Vice Chair Jeff Halpern Patricia Ni’ma-Mohammed Wanda Swiggett Staff in Attendance: Jeff Wilkerson, Principal Planner Michael Kolber, Senior Planner Stephani Register George McGill, Planning Board Attorney Cherry Oakley, Planning Board Secretary PUBLIC HEARING Current Planning Board Membership (as of 2/10/22) Class Term Ending Date Board Member I (Mayor’s Representative) Mayor’s Term Marcus Green II (City Employee) 12/31/22 Anthony Santora III (City Council 12/31/22 Joe Harrison Representative) IV (City Resident) 12/31/22 Patricia Ni’ma- Mohammed IV (City Resident) 12/31/23 Randy Baum IV (City Resident) 12/31/25 Jeff Halpern IV (City Resident) 12/31/23 Dan Fatton IV (City Resident) 12/31/25 Jamie Carpenter IV (City Resident) 12/31/22 John McBride ALTERNATES IV (City Resident) 12/31/23 Wanda Swiggett IV (City Resident) 12/31/22 Charles Romanow 1 Mr. McGill verified a quorum and the meeting was called to order at 6:13pm. Mr. McGill read the open public meetings act. Mr. Santora nominated Mr. Baum as Acting Chair for the evening. Ms. Carpenter seconded the motion and all were in favor. Approval of the minutes from the1/27/22 Public Hearing as amended. Member Aye Nay Ab-stain Motioned Seconded Randy Baum X X Jamie Carpenter X Marcus Green X Joe Harrison X Anthony Santora X X Charles Romanow X Mr. Kolber indicated that the public comment period has been extended again for the DRAFT Land Use Development Ordinance Update until February 28, 2022. He encouraged everyone to please provide comments at www.trenton250ldoupdate.com Mr. Kolber noted that the Annual Report was redistributed to the Board with the only updates being made to the Zoning Board portion of the report. Adopt the report and refer to City Council Member Aye Nay Ab-stain Motioned Seconded Randy Baum X X Jamie Carpenter X X Marcus Green X Joe Harrison X Anthony Santora X Charles Romanow X Item #1 Presentation: Bellevue/Rutherford Redevelopment/Rehabilitation Area Plan On March 3, 2016, the Trenton City Council passed a resolution to accept the Planning Board recommendation to designate the area known as the “Bellevue Rutherford Study Area” as an area in need of Redevelopment and Rehabilitation and authorizing the development of a redevelopment and rehabilitation plan. A draft plan for the redevelopment and rehabilitation of this area, which includes the former Mercer Hospital and surrounding neighborhood, has been released for public comment. The 3rd draft for the Bellevue/Rutherford Rehabilitation/Redevelopment Plan is in its final stage. On January 28 at the Planning Board meeting a sub-Committee was formed to make comments on the draft plan. Once Planning Board has commented and have accepted the 2 recommendations by the Planning Board Subcommittee the plan will be amended to reflect those comments if necessary and a resolution will be produced and signed. The resolution will be introduced to City Council to start the process of adopting the plan. Mr. McGill provided background on what brought the matter before the Board tonight. Via a screenshare Mr. Romanow and Mr. Baum reviewed the comments that they have submitted in writing to the Planning Department on the Redevelopment Plan for the Board to consider accepting those comments so the plan can be edited accordingly. Ms. Register noted that most of the comments from the community were about facilitating community connection and socialization. Ms. Octavia Sutphin, Community Organizer, explained that they collected community comments via a Survey Monkey and there were 221 responses to the survey. She noted that they can be provided to the Board. It was agreed that the plan will be updated and resubmitted to the Board so they can see what the final product will look like before it is presented to City Council. Mr. Robert Prunetti described the effort to meet with the community to incorporate their input into the plan and he noted that it is important to keep moving forward with this Redevelopment Plan as the owner of the property in this Redevelopment Area ready to get development underway would consider the ongoing momentum towards adoption of this plan to be a “…tremendous confident booster.” Michael Sullivan, ASLA, AICP, indicated that he is willing to work on making changes to the Plan and incorporating all approved comments quickly. Mr. Baum asked if there was anyone from the Public who wanted to speak. With no response from the gallery the following vote was set forth: To direct the Planning Staff to work with Michael Sullivan to incorporate the comments and suggestions made by the subcommittee as provided to the Board’s subcommittee (Randy Baum and Charlie Romanow) and as presented by other members of the Board tonight and the purpose of that will be to incorporate those comments and amend the plan as it exists and provide the plan back to the board for the board’s review at the next Board meeting which will be February 24, 2022 at 6pm on this platform. Member Aye Nay Ab-stain Motioned Seconded Randy Baum X Jamie Carpenter X Marcus Green X Joe Harrison X Anthony Santora X X Charles Romanow X X 3 Item #2 21-P-457EM: 457 Emory Avenue- TRENTON NJ Applicant/Owner seeks to rehabilitate and change the use of a single-family residential dwelling with a commercial space into four (4) residential units -2-two bed rooms units and 1-three bedroom unit and 1-four bed room unit. Waiver of variance are listed as: Parking- 6.5 spaces required: 4 proposed, Rear Yard Setback: 20ft required; 15 +/- ft provided (existing), Maximum Lot coverage 60% permitted; 70%. The Site is located in the Business B Zoning District; Location 457 Emory Avenue; City Tax Map: Block(s) 20805, Lot(s) 23; Applicant: Richard O’Neal, 800 Denow Avenue, Suite C388, Pennington, NJ 08534. Mr. Arnold Lakind introduced the project. Mr. Richard O’Neal was sworn in. Mr. O’Neal presented his experience in development within the City of Trenton. He described what he intends to do to improve the aesthetic of the building. He indicated that cameras will be installed for security and bike storage will be installed in the basement for residents as the basement has a height of 7 ft. Adjusting the Rear Yard Setback would require moving the building so there are no plans to do that. He noted that his mother-in-law lives in that area and thus he plans to use one of the units himself so he can be closer to her. There are 4 parking spaces planned for the rear of the building. The waiver for the grading is being withdrawn. Measures will be implemented to protect the tree wells along Anderson Street. Mr. Todd Geter was sworn in and accepted as an expert in architecture before this Board. Exhibit A-1 and Exhibit A-2 are Site Plan, First Floor Plan, and Existing Exterior Photos. Mr. Geter described what will be built as part of the project and where the rooms for each unit will be located. He indicated that there will be no change in lot coverage or the magnitude of the rear yard setback. He spoke to how this lot compares to other lots in the area; noting that it is larger because it is a corner lot with more open space. The Applicant agreed to planting 2 additional trees on Anderson Street and 2 additional trees on Emery Avenue chosen from the approved list that the Planning Board will provide. Mr. Baum asked if there was anyone from the Public who wanted to speak for or against this project. With no response from the gallery the following vote was set forth: Approve Preliminary and Final Site Plan and the 4 variances requested along with the planting of 4 additional street trees and pursuant to the stipulations of the Applicant during testimony as conditions of approval. Member Aye Nay Ab-stain Motioned Seconded Randy Baum X Jamie Carpenter X Marcus Green X X Joe Harrison X Anthony Santora X X Charles Romanow X 4  Meeting Adjourned at 7:52pm Cherry Oakley, Planning Board Secretary 5