Plannng Board

City of Trenton Planning Board Conference and Public Hearing Thursday, March 9, 2023 Via Microsoft Teams or phone: 609-436-9298 The Conference ID is 412 046 968# Members in Attendance: Charles Romanow, Chair Randy Baum, Vice Chair Markus Green Jeff Halpern Anthony Santora Adam Weiss Members Not in Attendance: Patricia Ni’ma-Mohammed Wanda Swiggett Staff in Attendance: Michael Kolber, Senior Planner George McGill, Planning Board Attorney Cherry Oakley, Planning Board Secretary PUBLIC HEARING Current Planning Board Membership (as of 3/9/23) Class Term Ending Date Board Member I (Mayor’s Representative) Mayor’s Term Markus Green II (City Employee) 12/31/23 Anthony Santora III (City Council 12/31/23 Vacant Representative) IV (City Resident) 12/31/26 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 Adam Weiss IV (City Resident) 12/31/25 Jamie Carpenter IV (City Resident) 12/31/26 Charles Romanow ALTERNATES IV (City Resident) 12/31/23 Wanda Swiggett IV (City Resident) 12/31/24 VACANT The meeting was called to order at 6:04 pm by Mr. Romanow who read the Open Public Meetings Act and a quorum was verified. 1  PUBLIC HEARING: Item #1 22-P-226SB: 226 South Broad Street - TRENTON NJ Applicant/Owner seeks preliminary and final major site plan, preliminary and final subdivision, parking and lighting variances, and conditional use permit to convert a former bank building into a recreational cannabis dispensary. The site is zoned Business A (BA); The site is in the Mercer-Jackson 1 redevelopment area with a zoning of Commercial; Location 226 South Broad Street; City Tax Map: Block(s) 9501, Lot(s) 2, 2.01, 2.02, and 2.03; Applicant: Woah Flow LLC, 226 South Broad Street, Trenton NJ. The Applicant’s attorney described the project before the Board and the variances sought. He indicated that the dimensions of the lawn and the bicycle parking, and the planned lighting are all areas where variances will be sought. Fewer variances will be sought tonight than were previously noticed for because some pre-existing conditions eliminate the need for a variance. He introduced the other members of the team that would testify tonight. Mr. Frank Bucko, the Chief Operating Officer and Managing Partner, indicated that they were looking to have this initially be a medicinal dispensary and eventually transition into a recreational dispensary of cannabis. He indicated the status of his application with the State Commission has them possessing a license for medicinal cannabis which allows them to get everything started as they continue to work with the state to give them permission to operate. There are 15 employees expected upon opening and at full operation they should have 40 to 50 employees. They will be open from 8 AM to 7 PM Monday through Sunday. There will be security provisions on-site through controlled access, and there will be digital camera security which needs to meet CRC State requirements. There will be an armed guard on site and controlled access to any storage areas. There will also be an unarmed guard monitoring cameras. Delivery of materials to the site will be done through a new proposed service door in the driveway. The cash pick-ups are anticipated to occur 2 to 3 deliveries per week either before the store opens or when it closes. He described all of the cannabis products that would be sold on-site, as well as glass and paper products related to the use of cannabis. It is anticipated that they will be able to serve 50 to 75 patients per day. At the peak hour of sales for the day they would be able to accommodate 20 at a time. Mr. Bucko described what each level of the building will be used for and how the product will move between floors to service the customers. There will be live classes offered throughout the day that patients will be able to participate in to increase their knowledge about the use of cannabis. There could be as many as 30 people working at one time during peak hours. It’s anticipated that the drive-through will be strictly for medical patients which means 30% of their customer traffic coming through the drive-through and 70% would be walk-ins. 2 The Site Engineer, Cameron Corini, was sworn in and accepted as an expert before this board. He described the site and where the egress is, where the project is located, and what the existing buildings have in terms of known site conditions including impervious coverage. His plan is a review of the slight improvements to the project. He described how the six parking spaces and the wall-mounted site lighting that will be provided. He noted that the plans do not currently include an ADA-accessible space but that one can be provided in the rear alley on Conover's Avenue. He noted that this may not be the ideal location because of the location of the main entrance to the property for customers' access. He noted that on South Broad Street there is on-street accessible parking that currently exists. He noted that there is space in front of the building for a single accessible ADA parking space. He noted that they are requesting, as a condition of approval, that the Applicant be allowed to work with the City to determine where the ADA space may be accommodated. The bike racks can't be included in the plan. The entire site will be surrounded by a 6-foot high wrought iron fence. He noted that the applicant believes it would be better to install the bike racks in the City’s right of way rather than inside the gated property. They asked if they could work with the City to determine the best location for the bike racks. The landscaping includes some trees and moderate ground cover. He noted that the landscaping allows the applicant to reduce impervious coverage. He noted that offsite in the City right of way there are existing Street trees that are in pretty good condition. He noted that there is one tree that does not look healthy and they are open to removing it and replacing it. He discussed the options for addressing the comments in the letter regarding lighting which included changing the style and making at least one of the lights a lantern rather than a foot candle. They asked to work with the City and the Board's professionals to come up with an acceptable lighting plan. He noted that they are able to comply with all comments in the review memos subject to the few items that they would like to coordinate with the City on. The Applicant is open to adding street trees but would like the City to review the plans to help make a determination about what is an appropriate number to add. As they believe that the improvement of the damaged part of the sidewalks goes hand-in-hand with the addition of street trees that might affect the public right of way. There will be external cameras and they need to be positioned before the lighting plan is finalized. The architectural plans tonight do not propose any standalone signage. There may be a sign that is needed for accessible parking. The applicant intends to power wash the building and remove the existing SJ Nurses signage. The Applicant indicated that they are able to accommodate a masonry structure for the fencing. The Board prefers the masonry structures for trash enclosures because they tend to last longer there will be bollards added within the structure to make sure that the structure is protected and also able to accommodate board-on-board trash enclosure if that would be the Board’s preference. The mechanisms to make it work will not be able to be repaired but the clock will remain. 3 The stormwater generally flows towards Conovers Alley on the exiting site. With the proposed improvements there are minor changes to the site grating but the drainage pattern will remain exactly the same. The downspouts appear to discharge to some sort of underground basin. There will be about 2600 ft. of landscaping which will reduce the impervious coverage on the site. The Board noted that the access should be a right turn only because of the traffic patterns and safety concerns. As a condition of approval, the Applicant will be required to consolidate the lots. Mr. Luis Luglio was sworn in, presented his credentials, and was accepted as an expert before this Board in the field of traffic engineering. From a circulation standpoint, much of the circulation is an existing condition. He described the six parking spaces that would be provided in this project. He noted that the provision of an ADA parking space in one of the parking stalls for non-ADA access use will be lost. From a circulation standpoint, there will be one-way access through the site the Applicant does not have any concerns about the comments in the Brightview application. The employees will not be parking onsite, and the deliveries are infrequent. Trash pick-up will likely be one time per week. He noted that other businesses in the area do not have parking. He explained that when the operation is solely focused on medical, there is a substantially smaller amount of customers. Once it gets turned into an adult recreational use business that is typically a different parking need as well as pattern. He described the trip generation studies that are common for businesses like the Applicant’s. He noted that unfortunately there's not a lot of data available for this type of business specifically but there is a lot for general retail locations. It is anticipated that there would be 103 vehicles coming in the a.m. peak which would be 7 AM. In this dense urban area that is discounted because most of the customers are walking in. The location for this dispensary is located in a very walkable area. He described the numbers that are anticipated for this type of facility in its current location. The testimony provided previously was the amount of peak activity that this facility would be able to manage which was 20 people at its peak retail hour. He offered to provide a report on the other dispensaries that this Applicant has that can support the estimations that have been made with regard to the specific project. He noted that the number of cars that are coming out onto South Broad Street is a function of the number of parking spaces that are provided in the rear of the building. There is not a good sight line from the driveway into the intersection. He noted that regardless of the peak hour the number of vehicles coming out and making a right turn is not overwhelming and will not have a negative impact. There is a plan to shuttle their employees from the cure arena who may are in current talks with them. There is metered parking on South Broad Street that this business plans to also utilize. The shuttle will be stored in a Cure Arena parking lot overnight when not in use. When someone with medical access to cannabis is purchasing a product from the business they will contact the dispensary in advance, and the dispensary will prepare their product and have it ready for pick up once they arrive. This means they anticipate a transaction taking between 5 to 7 minutes. 4 Mr. Chuck Latini, Jr. was sworn in and presented his credentials and was accepted as an expert before this Board in the area of Planning. He addressed the proofs for the requested variances. He noted that they meet the conditional use and design standards. He highlighted how the testimony detailed how this project complies with the ordinances and conditional use standards. He described the conditions under which a Board can grant C Variances and Bulk Variances. He noted that this specific piece of property is a landmark area and the pre-existing building renders a hardship on the Applicant and that factor does warrant the granting of the variance. He highlighted the Trenton250 Master Plan’s intent to increase the retail option. Mr. Michael Kolber, Senior Planner for the City of Trenton, was sworn in and testified that the City does support this application. Mr. Romanow asked if there was anyone from the Public who wanted to speak for or against this application. Mr. Chris Benson, a caller, asked if there was going to be someone out directing traffic to make sure the traffic doesn’t block Conovers Alley, which is how his tenants access his housing. The Applicant indicated that there was going to be a concierge position for the business that could address his concern should traffic become a problem. With no additional testimony from the gallery the following vote was set forth: Approve 3 variances, conditional use, a preliminary and final site plan with conditions street trees, signage for no left turns, fix curbs and sidewalks, resolve the inconsistencies between the engineering and architectural plans, deliveries will be outside of normal business hours, work on bike and ADA parking, and the drive through window is for medicinal patients only. Member Aye Nay Ab- Motioned Seconded stain Charles Romanow, Chair X X Randy Baum, Vice Chair X Markus Green X Jeff Halpern X Anthony Santora X X Adam Weiss X Item #2 Announcement: Trenton Land Development Ordinance The City of Trenton has released draft 2.0 of its new Land Development Ordinance. The Planning Division will briefly explain how changes from the previous draft can be reviewed and how comments can be submitted. The public comment period will go to May 1, 2023. The draft Land Development Ordinance can be found at: www.trenton250ldoupdate.com. Mr. Kolber demonstrated where to view the Draft of the LDO and how they are capturing the changes and making them visible to the Public. He pointed out the parts that are 5 planned for open space/park area. He explained why some areas were not already designated that way. He also requested the Board have their comments submitted by May 1st to make sure things can be addressed after May 3rd. There are candidates for the open positions on the Board, and Michael is working with those members to complete their applications. There is a conflict with the City Council’s 2nd meeting date of this month. Adjourned at 8:34pm Respectfully submitted Cherry Oakley, Planning Board Secretary 6