Planning Board

1 1 CITY OF UNION CITY HUDSON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY 2 PLANNING BOARD 3 : REGULAR MEETING : TRANSCRIPT OF 4 : --------------------: PROCEEDINGS 5 6 Union City High School Media Center 7 2500 Kennedy Boulevard Union City, New Jersey 8 9 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2024 Commencing at 6:00 p.m. 10 11 M E M B E R S P R E S E N T: 12 ALEJANDRO VELAZQUEZ, Chairperson YDALIA GENAO 13 ALICIA MOREJON FRANKLIN MEDINA 14 JOSE GUARENO HECTOR OSEGUERA 15 M E M B E R S A B S E N T: 16 BRIAN T. STACK, Mayor 17 CELIN J. VALDIVIA, Commissioner CAROLINA FERNANDEZ 18 A L S O P R E S E N T: 19 BRIAN CHEWCASKIE, ESQ. 20 Board Counsel 21 DAVID SPATZ, P.P. 22 23 SUSAN BISCHOFF CCR CO. 24 201-390-0583 SBischoffccr@yahoo.com 25  2 1 A P P E A R A N C E S: 2 BIANCA PEREIRAS, ESQ. Attorney for Applicant, H&A Developers 3 BIANCA PEREIRAS, ESQ. 4 Attorney for Applicant, JBZ Enterprises 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  3 1 I N D E X 2 PAGE 3 CALL TO ORDER 5 4 SALUTE TO FLAG 5 5 ROLL CALL 5 6 ADOPTION OF MINUTES 7 7 HEARINGS Poultry Shop ordinance 8 8 Smoke/vape shop ordinance 11 H & A Developers 14 9 JBZ Enterprises 17 West 13, LLC 42 10 ADOPTION OF RESOLUTIONS n/a 11 ADJOURNMENT 43 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  4 1 I N D E X 2 JBZ ENTERPRISES, LLC 588-590 32nd Street 3 4 WITNESS PAGE 5 MANUEL PEREIRAS 18 6 7 8 E X H I B I T S 9 NO. DOCUMENT PAGE 10 A-1 photo board 20 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  5 1 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Please take notice that 2 on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, at 6:00 p.m., a 3 regular meeting is scheduled for the City of Union 4 City Planning Board to be held at the Union City 5 High School, located at 2500 John F. Kennedy 6 Boulevard, Union City, New Jersey. This is a 7 meeting called in compliance with Chapter 231, 8 Public Law 1975 of the Open Public Meetings Act. 9 Adequate notice of this meeting has been provided 10 as follows: Notice of this meeting setting forth 11 the time, date, location, and the agenda to the 12 extent known, was forwarded to The Jersey Journal, 13 The Record, and The Hudson Reporter and has been 14 posted on the bulletin board in city hall and has 15 been made available to the public in the office of 16 the municipal clerk. 17 Before we call roll for this evening, 18 will we kindly rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. 19 20 (Whereupon, the Pledge of Allegiance was 21 recited.) 22 23 ROLL CALL: 24 25 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Roll call for tonight's  6 1 meeting. Mayor Brian P. Stack absent. 2 Mr. Velazquez. 3 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Here. 4 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Valdivia, absent. 5 Ms. Genao. 6 MS. GENAO: Yes. 7 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Ms. Morejon. 8 MS. MOREJON: Yes. 9 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Ms. Fernandez, absent. 10 Mr. Medina. 11 MR. MEDINA: Here. 12 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Guareno. 13 MR. GUARENO: Here. 14 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Oseguera. 15 MR. OSEGUERA: Here. 16 MR. CHEWCASKIE: We have six members 17 present, so we do have a quorum tonight. 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  7 1 ADOPTION OF MINUTES: 2 3 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Chairman, first 4 order on the agenda is the adoption of minutes of 5 the regular meeting held June 25th. Eligible to 6 vote would be Mr. Velazquez, Ms. Genao, Mr. 7 Guareno, Ms. Morejon and Mr. Oseguera. Can I have 8 a motion. 9 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: I make a motion. 10 MS. MOREJON: Second. 11 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Velazquez. 12 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Yes. 13 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Ms. Genao. 14 MS. GENAO: Yes. 15 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Guareno. 16 MR. GUARENO: Yes. 17 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Ms. Morejon. 18 MS. MOREJON: Yes. 19 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Oseguera. 20 MR. OSEGUERA: Yes. 21 22 23 24 25  8 1 HEARINGS/APPLICATIONS: 2 Consideration of a Zoning Ordinance introduced by 3 the City of Union City Board of Commissioners to 4 ban poultry shops as a principal permitted use in 5 any zone district in the City of Union City. 6 7 MR. CHEWCASKIE: First order of business 8 tonight is that there were two ordinances that 9 were referred to the planning board for review and 10 recommendation. And the board's job is to make a 11 determination of consistency for the ordinance. 12 First ordinance is an ordinance to ban 13 poultry shops as a principal permitted use in any 14 zone district in the City of Union City. I would 15 recommend that we hear a little bit from Mr. Spatz 16 about what the ordinance does and what his 17 recommendation is. 18 MR. SPATZ: Certainly. This is 19 ordinance number 2024-26 and it is to amend the 20 zoning ordinance to ban poultry shops as principal 21 permitted uses in any zone within the City. The 22 ordinance I think clearly states the City's goals 23 and objectives in the whereas clauses. It gives a 24 definition of poultry shops and then amends the 25 ordinance to say that poultry shops are expressly  9 1 prohibited as uses in all zones of the City. From 2 a planning perspective, this is consistent with 3 the master plan. One of the prime purposes of 4 zoning is stated in the Municipal Land Use Law, 5 purpose A is promoting the public health, safety, 6 and general welfare, which this certainly does. I 7 don't believe that the sale of larger animals is 8 permitted anywhere in any zone within the City, so 9 this really just strengthens that specifically 10 related to poultry shops. So we do find it is 11 consistent with the master plan of the City. 12 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Okay. The with the was 13 introduced by the Board of Commissioners at their 14 last commission meeting. Under the land use law, 15 any development regulation is referred to the 16 planning board for their consistency review, as 17 explained by Mr. Spatz. So unless there's any 18 question, I would ask for a motion for a 19 determination that same is consistent, set forth 20 in the reasoning of Mr. Spatz. 21 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: I make a motion. 22 MR. GUARENO: Second. 23 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Velazquez. 24 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Yes. 25 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Ms. Genao.  10 1 MS. GENAO: Yes. 2 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Guareno. 3 MR. GUARENO: Yes. 4 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Medina. 5 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 6 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Ms. Morejon. 7 MS. MOREJON: Yes. 8 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Oseguera. 9 MR. OSEGUERA: Yes. 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  11 1 HEARINGS/APPLICATIONS: 2 Consideration of a zoning ordinance introduced by 3 the City of Union City Board of Commissioners to 4 ban smoke shops and vape shops as a principal 5 permitted use in any zone district in the City of 6 Union City. 7 8 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Next is an ordinance to 9 ban smoke shops and vape shops as a principal 10 permitted use in any zone district in the City of 11 Union City. Again, this was an ordinance that was 12 introduced, it wasn't referred to the planning, 13 board, it has now been referred to the planning 14 board. Mr. Spatz, please. 15 MR. SPATZ: Certainly. This is 16 ordinance 2023-60. And it is to ban smoke shops 17 and vape shops as principal permitted uses in any 18 zone within the City. Likewise, the prior 19 ordinance, the City, in this ordinance, clearly 20 sets forth the rationale and the reasoning in the 21 whereas clauses for why smoke shops and vape shops 22 should be banned as permitted principal uses. The 23 ordinance has definitions of smoke shop and vape 24 shop and then amends the ordinance to add 25 specifically smoke shops and vape shops are  12 1 expressly prohibited as uses in all zones within 2 the City. Likewise, the Municipal Land Use Law in 3 its purposes states one of the purposes of zoning 4 is to promote the public health, safety, morals 5 and general welfare of its residents. And I think 6 this ordinance certainly does that. 7 As I indicated, the whereas clauses set 8 forth the rationale for this. In terms of 9 statistical studies that have been done showing 10 the negative impact of this particularly on 11 younger people. And so we again would indicate 12 that this is consistent with the master plan in 13 terms of actions that the Board of Commissioners 14 can take could promote the health, safety, morals, 15 and general welfare of its residents. 16 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Okay. So unless there 17 are any questions, it would be necessary for a 18 motion to confirm that this ordinance is 19 consistent with the Union City master plan. 20 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: I make a motion. 21 MS. MOREJON: Second. 22 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Velazquez. 23 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Yes. 24 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Ms. Genao. 25 MS. GENAO: Yes.  13 1 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Guareno. 2 MR. GUARENO: Yes. 3 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Medina. 4 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 5 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Ms. Morejon. 6 MS. MOREJON: Yes. 7 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Oseguera. 8 MR. OSEGUERA: Yes. 9 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Okay. So what will 10 happen with respect to both of those two 11 ordinances, I will prepare a letter to the Board 12 of Commissioners indicating that the findings were 13 made that they were consistent with the master 14 plan. 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  14 1 HEARINGS/APPLICATIONS: 2 H & A Developers, LLC - 3 2704-2710 Kennedy Boulevard: 4 5 MR. CHEWCASKIE: The next application is 6 a request for extension. Does anyone want to see 7 the plans for this application? It's H & A 8 developers, LLC, 2704-2710 Kennedy Boulevard. 9 Block 156, Lots 2, 3, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 and 8. 10 And it's a proposed six story mixed use building 11 consisting of 70 residential units, two commercial 12 spaces and 137 parking spaces. 13 The resolution was memorialized on 14 November 22, 2022, and there's a request for a one 15 year extension. Anyone want to see the drawings, 16 Mr. Vallejo did leave them. If not, Ms. Pereiras 17 is here on behalf of the applicant. 18 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you very much, 19 Counsel. 20 As Counsel mentioned, this application 21 came before this board and was approved via 22 resolution in November of 2022. This is for a 23 mixed use building. The application is pending 24 before the Hudson County planning board. We're 25 waiting for that final approval, we've had some  15 1 TRC meetings with them, but we're waiting for the 2 final hearing date. In that respect, we are 3 asking for a one-year extension so we can finalize 4 approvals with the county and then hopefully pull 5 permits before the end of next year. 6 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: I would like to 7 add to the members that the owner of that property 8 is always on top of everything, from cutting 9 grass, to removing snow. I wish everybody was 10 like him. So I make a motion to -- 11 MS. MOREJON: I second. 12 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: -- grant the 13 extension. 14 MR. CHEWCASKIE: So we have a motion and 15 second on the extension. 16 Mr. Velazquez. 17 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Yes. 18 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Ms. Genao. 19 MS. GENAO: Yes. 20 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Guareno. 21 MR. GUARENO: Yes. 22 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Medina. 23 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 24 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Ms. Morejon. 25 MS. MOREJON: Yes.  16 1 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Oseguera. 2 MR. OSEGUERA: Yes. 3 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Okay. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  17 1 JBZ ENTERPRISES, LLC - 2 588-590 32ND STREET: 3 4 MR. CHEWCASKIE: The next order of 5 business and I will hand out the drawings in a 6 minute, it's JBZ Enterprises, LLC, 588 to 590 32nd 7 Street, Block 204, Lots 2 and 3. Applicant 8 proposes to construct a one-story addition over 9 existing two-story mixed use structure. There 10 will be a restaurant on the ground floor, two 11 two-bedroom units on the second floor, and a 12 four-bedroom unit on the third floor, no parking 13 is provided. 14 Ms. Pereiras is the attorney and I will 15 do double duty. I will hand out the plans to 16 everybody. I also earlier received from Ms. 17 Pereiras the affidavit of service. I reviewed it 18 and the application is complete for review by the 19 board. 20 MS. PEREIRAS: Bianca Pereiras on behalf 21 of the applicant. This is for property located at 22 588-590 32nd Street, we all may know it as P&L 23 Grill on 32nd Street and the owner is actually 24 here. He's owned this building and operated the 25 restaurant for 18 years. What we're looking to do  18 1 is a create a one-story addition to provide an 2 additional apartment for a total of three units 3 and one commercial on the site, as is permitted in 4 the zone. We have one expert to testify and that 5 is our architect, Mr. Manuel Pereiras. 6 7 M A N U E L P E R E I R A S, after having been 8 duly sworn or affirmed, did testify as follows: 9 10 MR. PEREIRAS: Manny Pereiras, 11 P-E-R-E-I-R-A-S, with Pereiras Architects 12 Ubiquitous, located at 1116 Summit Avenue, here in 13 Union City. 14 MS. PEREIRAS: For purposes of the 15 record, Mr. Pereiras has testified in front of 16 this board in the past. 17 MR. CHEWCASKIE: I would suggest the 18 board accept Mr. Pereiras as an expert as having 19 been confirmed several times by this board. 20 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Yes. 21 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you, Counsel. 22 Mr. Pereiras, are you familiar with the 23 property at 588-590 32nd Street? 24 MR. PEREIRAS: I am. 25 MS. PEREIRAS: Did you prepare the  19 1 drawings that are before the board this evening? 2 MR. PEREIRAS: I have. 3 MS. PEREIRAS: Would you kindly describe 4 the proposal for the board? 5 MR. PEREIRAS: I'd be very happy to. 6 You know how they say a picture is worth a 7 thousand words, I'd like to share an exhibit with 8 the board. 9 MR. CHEWCASKIE: If we would, why don't 10 you explain that, Mr. Pereiras, and we'll mark it 11 as A-1 because I don't believe it was part of 12 application package. 13 MS. PEREIRAS: It was not. 14 MR. PEREIRAS: So what we did was we did 15 a photograph of the existing conditions of the 16 site on the left hand side, so we can see exactly 17 what's there in its current condition. And then 18 an artistic rendition of what the site we're 19 proposing to do on the right-hand side of the 20 page. So you see a real clear contrast. 21 MR. CHEWCASKIE: You prepared that 22 document, correct, Mr. Pereiras? 23 MR. PEREIRAS: That's correct. 24 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Please feel free to 25 hand it out. We'll mark it as A-1.  20 1 (Photo board marked A-1.) 2 3 MR. PEREIRAS: Moving along, we did two 4 views, equal views so you can really contrast. 5 This is such a critical piece of property for 6 Union City. When you come down Kennedy Boulevard, 7 when you come up Bergen Turnpike, this is what you 8 see. And right now, you see a -- and pardon me 9 for taking the liberties of saying this, you see 10 an ugly bar that really doesn't represent Union 11 City in any way whatsoever. But that's the P&L 12 Grill, so we're looking at a complete renovation 13 and reconstruction of the existing building to 14 something that really fits perfectly into the 15 neighborhood, and can represent Union City and we 16 could all be proud of. I think it's about time 17 that this application comes before this board. I 18 think it's desperately needed for that particular 19 location and it really will give Union City itself 20 a huge facelift. 21 We're dealing with an odd shaped lot in 22 a very intricate and important location. It is 23 extremely visible because of its proximity, its 24 neighbor is a gas station, so it's visible from 25 all along Kennedy Boulevard. So we have really  21 1 two very important facades. The facade that's 2 facing the gas station and the facade that's 3 facing 32nd Street. In addition to that, it's a 4 small lot. We have a slightly undersized lot. 5 We're at 2,462, whereas a fully conforming lot is 6 2,500, so we're 48 square feet short, de minimus 7 in nature. But the configuration of the lot makes 8 it difficult. It's 53.4 feet in one direction, 9 39.87 on the other side. And on the opposite 10 side, the west side, it's 58.62. So we're dealing 11 with an odd shape. 12 The existing building -- and I'm turning 13 now, by the way for purposes of the record, the 14 drawings that I have on the easel are the same 15 drawings that were submitted to the board. 16 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Just identify those by 17 date, Mr. Pereiras. 18 MR. PEREIRAS: The submission date on 19 these drawings were revised 4/29/24 and they are 20 labeled release for zoning approval. 21 Currently, I am at sheet Z02. On Z02, 22 we see the differences between the existing site 23 and the proposed site. You can barely tell the 24 difference, that's because we're kind of using the 25 footprint of the building. The only real  22 1 difference is that on the west side of the 2 building, there were Bilco doors to head down to 3 the basement, so you had to go into the ground, 4 open up the doors to get down. And we are now 5 replacing those, covering them up, and we're doing 6 a small addition, two foot addition which is going 7 to -- you're going to understand why and how we're 8 doing that as soon as we get to the floor plans. 9 Everything else around the outside of the building 10 is the same. We're not changing anything. We're 11 not making anything bigger to the sides, other 12 than that two foot strip for only a portion here 13 in the front. So we're respecting the footprint 14 and going up along that footprint. 15 You see more photographs on Z03, so we 16 really understand the site and how important it 17 is. It's, you know -- I'm speaking to the choir 18 here because you understand Union City and you 19 understand how important this location is for the 20 site. 21 The basement is the same basement; 22 however, the entrance right now is those Bilco 23 doors on the sidewalk. We're making an entrance 24 that you can walk down. The owner is getting 25 older, it's harder for him to open the doors and  23 1 move in the same way. So we're creating a door 2 that you could head down into the basement and 3 make it comfortable. 4 Right now, the way you get to the second 5 floor apartments is really odd. You walk all the 6 way through the back of the building on the side 7 and you go up an ugly staircase to get upstairs. 8 We're proposing to demolish that staircase and 9 what we're doing is we're eating up into our 10 building two feet. And then we have those two 11 feet that I spoke about on the site plan. So 12 that's the tiny addition that we're proposing here 13 so that we could have a good stairwell that is 14 coming from 32nd Street. So now, when you're in 15 front of the building on 32nd Street, you'll have 16 a door to get into the apartments above and a door 17 to get into the restaurant. So it makes it nice 18 and safe, clean, you're not walking through an 19 alley to get to the back of the building. 20 We also since now that is not a walkway 21 to get to the back, we created an area to put 22 trash receptacles. So now the trash for the 23 building has a place to go and its safe because 24 it's not in the path of egress. The business 25 itself, as you could see, we're renovating the  24 1 restaurant. I don't know if you've been there in 2 awhile, it needs a do-over, it needs a renovation. 3 And we're cleaning it up. We're creating more 4 booths along the front on both sides, so the 5 seating is more comfortable, you can have families 6 in there, everyone wants to sit in a booth. So 7 we're doing that and we're doing a renovation 8 throughout the building, just a little bit of 9 makeup to make it look beautiful, new finishes, 10 new light fixtures. Everything in there is new, 11 but it's the existing configuration, other than 12 the booths. 13 We go upstairs, we have the apartment 14 that was there, existing. We're proposing the 15 stairwell to lead you up to a hallway and that 16 hallway leads you into two apartments, one in the 17 front and one in the back. The apartments are 18 comfortable sizes, they're 876 square feet and 19 775 square feet. And they're each two-bedroom, 20 complying with all codes in Union City, safe 21 beautiful, simple apartments, two bedrooms that 22 are desperately needed. We have a huge deficit in 23 housing stock, prices are really high for rentals. 24 That's because we don't have enough apartments 25 like this being developed. It's very hard to  25 1 develop in Union City, it's very hard to get to 2 this board. That's why we have a huge deficit in 3 apartments, this is going to help satisfy that. 4 And the biggest deficit that we have in 5 Union City is apartments that are big enough for 6 families. So what we're proposing is on the third 7 floor, have a stairwell that continues up to the 8 third floor. And we have a four-bedroom apartment 9 on that floor. Again, we're not making this 10 building any bigger. We're actually stepping in 11 on the sides and that third floor is completely 12 compliant, remember our zoning ordinance allows 13 four stories here, we're only three stories, okay. 14 And our ordinance allows three apartments, we have 15 three apartments, and the existing business. 16 And in addition to that, what's 17 important is we're setting this building back as 18 well. So even from the street, it really fits in 19 and it works well. And I'll go back to the 20 elevations to show that. But by providing this 21 apartment, we provide a huge need to our 22 community. Try to find a four-bedroom apartment 23 in Union City, you can't. It's impossible, okay. 24 This is going to provide that for the neighborhood 25 that's desperately needed.  26 1 In our elevations, we could see how the 2 building steps back. So this is the side view of 3 the building. These are the new stair addition 4 that we have here and see how the stairs turn 5 back, so the entire building steps back. So from 6 the street level, you really read this portion 7 over here. And we did that very much on purpose. 8 We knew we were allowed up to four stories, but we 9 wanted this building to look beautiful, we wanted 10 it to fit into the neighborhood perfectly. So 11 instead of going four stories up, we went two 12 stories, in line with the buildings next to it. 13 So it really, really fits into the neighborhood. 14 And then we stepped back that third story and we 15 never even built the fourth story, we're not 16 proposing that. So we're keeping it as a 17 three-story building and it really reads from the 18 street as two-story that works well with the 19 existing facade. 20 Now, when we're talking about the 21 facade, talk about a facelift. You're going from 22 a red shingled barn roof that is falling apart to 23 a beautiful brick building that really represents 24 Union City. So what we're doing is that entire 25 facade, front and side, even on the second floor  27 1 is brick. Nice large windows facing the street 2 that has a nice rhythm. We were lucky enough to 3 design the last two buildings that were new on 4 that block, so looking going further towards the 5 east, you have two buildings. This is the same 6 sized windows, same rhythm, so we have a 7 continuity on 32nd Street. The rhythm, it's brick 8 just like those other buildings. So now we're 9 creating a beautiful streetscape that all kind of 10 ties together from the corner, which is this, all 11 the way up 32nd Street. So this is a very 12 important piece to make that happen. And then 13 what's the restaurant. It goes from being the P&L 14 Grill that was outdated by 50 years to a beautiful 15 sleek kind of open restaurant with large glass 16 windows so you could look in, black frames, and 17 very simple lettering, not bold, not obnoxious 18 signage, very simple lettering to show that it's 19 there. So I believe that we were able to design a 20 building that really, really fits into the 21 neighborhood. 22 So let's talk about the variances we're 23 seeking. For one, we are here before the planning 24 board. That means we don't have a use variance, 25 we're proposing exactly what is supposed to be  28 1 here. The zone allows for apartments above, it 2 specifically recommends three apartments above and 3 commercial on the ground floor. That's what we're 4 doing. We have commercial on the ground floor, 5 which is the existing P&L Grill. The owner Mark 6 here has been there for 18 years, he plans to be 7 there longer and continue serving the community 8 and we're looking to renovate his store and create 9 apartments above that are satisfying a need in the 10 community, a huge need in the community. And 11 we're in a location that is the best spot of 12 transportation in probably the entire State of New 13 Jersey. You have every single bus line you could 14 imagine going through there. Whether it's on 15 Kennedy Boulevard or 32nd Street, you have access 16 to the city, you have access to go west on 17 Route 3, every single bus line imaginable is right 18 there. If you want -- within three blocks, you 19 basically have access to anywhere in the State of 20 New Jersey or going over to New York City. So it 21 is the perfect location for a commuter. 22 And, beyond that, it would be completely 23 inappropriate to create parking on this site. So 24 in many sites in Union City, it makes sense to 25 create parking. We want to create parking, the  29 1 owner wants to have his own parking spot in the 2 building. Here, it doesn't make sense. Why? We 3 don't want to create another curb cut going into 4 the building with the gas station right there. 5 There's no room to do that. If we did that, there 6 would be no restaurant. We want a restaurant on 7 the ground floor. It's important to keep that 8 continuity across there. So it is inappropriate 9 to create parking on a site such as this. 10 And why do we want residential above? 11 Number one, it's necessary because we have a huge 12 need in Union City. You can't get a four bedroom 13 anywhere, it's hard to get apartments, the prices 14 are skyrocketing. We have to solve that by 15 creating more apartments. And it works with the 16 businesses. When you have apartments above and 17 businesses below, the apartments feed the 18 businesses, the businesses create areas for the 19 people in the apartments that they want to go to. 20 And it's a cycle that is positive. When you have 21 just the business and they close their door at 22 7:00 or 8:00 or 9:00, that's it, it's abandoned, 23 there's no one there, there's no activity. When 24 you have people living there, guess what? People 25 are coming in and out, they watch, they want to  30 1 see what's happening in their neighborhood. 2 So it really activates and it's solid 3 planning to have this mixed use approach. And 4 it's exactly what our master plan recommends that 5 we do and that's what we did. We followed the 6 master plan exactly in that nature. 7 To go through the variances. I 8 mentioned before, we're 48 square feet less than 9 what we have to -- 38 square feet less than what 10 we have to be. So it's an existing nonconformity 11 for lot area. It's impossible to make this land 12 bigger, we can't purchase property anywhere around 13 us. So it's an existing nonconformity that we 14 have to live with. Same goes with the lot depth, 15 100 feet is required, we're at 58.7. We can't 16 purchase more property, there's no room to grow 17 this lot. So we're stuck with that preexisting 18 variance that we have. 19 The next existing variance that we have 20 is the rear yard, 20 foot is required. We have an 21 odd lot. We're not making it worse in any way, 22 we're going straight up. So we're not expanding 23 on that rear yard into the back, we're expanding 24 vertically for that rear yard variance. 25 Side yards. This is a really weird one,  31 1 okay. Because this ordinance allows us to be 2 zero, right on the property line, okay. But the 3 way the ordinance reads is you could be zero, but 4 if you provide one, we want it to be 5 feet. And 5 I think that made a lot of sense when they were 6 writing the ordinance because if you have an 7 alley, they want to be able to walk through it. 8 Here, we're dealing with a preexisting condition. 9 It's 2 foot 3 on one side. If we made an addition 10 to the building, we would eliminate that variance. 11 What we're looking to do is keep it the same way. 12 And on the other side, it's 5 feet along the back, 13 we're looking to make that two feet. So it's 14 really odd, we can make it zero, but we have a 15 variance because we're not zero, okay. 16 And building coverage. Because the 17 ordinance contemplates a 20-foot rear yard, the 18 lot coverage permitted is 80 percent. We don't 19 have that condition here, it's impossible to meet 20 that condition and that's why we have that 21 variance. And, again, it's a preexisting 22 nonconforming variance, we're not making that 23 worse. 24 And, finally, is the parking and I think 25 I explained that at length. This site is  32 1 inappropriate to have parking there. And we have 2 every single bus route possible. This is the 3 perfect use and presentation and kind of aesthetic 4 for this site. We believe strongly that we're 5 presenting the best building possible for you. 6 With that said, that concludes my 7 testimony. And I'm open to any questions, 8 recommendations, or changes you may have. 9 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Oseguera. 10 MR. OSEGUERA: I guess I want to go back 11 to the parking just because, you know, I'm kind of 12 unconvinced that the site is inappropriate. If 13 you're going to bring a family in, especially 14 you're talking about four people apartment, it's 15 pretty unlikely that none of those people are 16 going to have a car or that, you know -- I agree 17 with the use, but, you know, to put no parking 18 just doesn't make a lot of sense. 19 MR. PEREIRAS: So when -- you have to 20 think of the hardship of putting parking here. If 21 we were to put parking here, we would create two 22 big problems. Problem number one is we're 23 creating another curb cut on 32nd Street. What 24 does that do? Once we create the curb cut, we're 25 removing parking from the street. So we're making  33 1 the problem worse for the neighborhood. So that's 2 problem number one. 3 Problem number two is if we create 4 parking on the ground floor, you don't have room 5 for a restaurant anymore. You can't have the 6 restaurant. And that goes against what our 7 ordinance is. We wouldn't even be before this 8 board, we would go before the zoning board of 9 adjustment. So there's an ordinance issue there 10 if that's the issue. Because what you want is to 11 have commercial restaurants and stores on the 12 ground floor. If you don't want that, and you 13 want parking instead, that's an ordinance issue. 14 We need -- I think the ordinance is 15 correct, we want the restaurants. We want the 16 stores on the ground floor, that's very important. 17 MS. MOREJON: If I may? You have 18 four-bedroom apartment, at least three cars in a 19 four-bedroom apartment. Then you have a 20 restaurant, they're going to have business, where 21 you going to park those cars? 22 MR. PEREIRAS: So you know the 23 neighborhood and you know how it is. 24 Statistically, a four-bedroom unit in Union City 25 doesn't have four cars, it just doesn't happen  34 1 statistically. And I'm sure you could -- 2 apartment is very different from a house living, 3 okay. It's very different from a four-bedroom 4 house, because statistically it's not, okay. 5 Parking for the people who do have cars would be 6 street parking, okay. 7 MS. MOREJON: If I may, please? If you 8 go to IHOP, the parking across the street, you can 9 find no parking, so it's going -- what business is 10 he going have if he has no parking? 11 MR. PEREIRAS: The P&L Grill? He's been 12 running the P&L Grill for 18 years, that's not 13 going to change. And this application doesn't 14 change that. What he's looking to do is make it 15 beautiful. There's no opportunity to create 16 parking on the site, that's the hardship. If he 17 could do it, he would do it. I think that there's 18 no question. I would like to see parking. It's 19 impossible to do on the configuration of this site 20 and keep the restaurant. But that's his 21 livelihood. This is a man, that's his business, 22 he wants to keep the restaurant. And I think we 23 want him to keep the restaurant. It's important 24 for that location. 25 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: If you can, and  35 1 it's a suggestion, because it would probably 2 please the board a little better, do you remember 3 when you did that parking study, like that, maybe 4 if you could introduce something like that at the 5 next meeting? And then we could just visualize it 6 a lot better because you don't have any parking, 7 that goes all the way up to the doctors' office 8 over there. That goes all the way there. This is 9 right-hand turn in the middle and this is a 10 nightmare over there. So if we could see the 11 parking, especially at night, we could make a 12 determination like that. 13 But I think it's a great project. The 14 only thing is the parking situation. And with the 15 other hat that I wear, I hear it every single day 16 about -- even people that don't know what's going 17 on complains about it. I don't know where all 18 this building that everybody says is happening in 19 Union City. This is what everybody says, we're 20 overdeveloping, we're overdoing that. We're not. 21 We just got to conform with what people are saying 22 at these meetings day-in day-out about the 23 parking, the parking, the parking. 24 So if you have something like that we 25 could take a look at?  36 1 MR. PEREIRAS: Absolutely. 2 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: I would love to 3 see this rehab, I used to go there. 4 MR. OSEGUERA: I pass it every day. 5 MR. PEREIRAS: And you pass by it and 6 you used to go there. And let me tell, if you 7 looked like this, I'm sure you'd still be going. 8 And you, instead of passing by, would visit it. 9 And that's what we need to do. 10 So, Mr. Chairman, I heard you loud and 11 clear. We'll have a traffic engineer prepare a 12 traffic study so we have the supporting argument, 13 so we can approve a project like this. 14 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Chairman, I have a 15 couple questions, but also Mr. Spatz has a few 16 observations. 17 MR. SPATZ: Just to note, the entire 18 frontage of this property is painted yellow, so 19 there's -- I'm not sure whether they actually 20 could put a driveway into that, but I think it's 21 painted yellow, and the parking starts east of 22 this building. And there's a traffic bump right 23 at the property. So, you know, I understand the 24 need for parking in general. I'm not sure that 25 you could even put a driveway into this, given the  37 1 fact that its proximity to the traffic light at 2 the corner might cause more problems rather than 3 less problems. 4 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: That's bad 5 there. 6 MR. SPATZ: Just something to think 7 about. I think that the parking count study that 8 was done, I think, is certainly going to be 9 helpful. But I don't think there's even an 10 ability to put a driveway into the property. 11 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Just a couple of 12 questions, Mr. Pereiras. 13 First, with respect to what you said, 14 there is no change in the footprint of this 15 building except to accommodate the stairs? 16 MR. PEREIRAS: That's correct. 17 MR. CHEWCASKIE: So the first floor, 18 which currently operates as a restaurant, the 19 square footage isn't changing? 20 MR. PEREIRAS: That's correct. 21 MR. CHEWCASKIE: On the second floor, 22 what exists there today? 23 MR. PEREIRAS: There's an apartment 24 there today. 25 MR. CHEWCASKIE: And how many bedrooms  38 1 are in that apartment? 2 MR. PEREIRAS: I believe it's two and 3 let me be 100 percent positive for the record. 4 It's actually a three-bedroom apartment. 5 MR. CHEWCASKIE: So there's a 6 three-bedroom apartment on the second floor. You 7 can -- you're converting that to two two-bedroom 8 apartments and that's probably within the same 9 square footage that exists or is there an 10 expansion? 11 MR. PEREIRAS: There's an expansion. 12 That fit in about half the building, we're growing 13 it. 14 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Okay. But it was a 15 three-bedroom unit? 16 MR. PEREIRAS: That's correct. 17 MR. CHEWCASKIE: And then the third 18 floor is the additional, which is the four-bedroom 19 unit. 20 Other question I have for the board. 21 You identified the brick facade on the side by the 22 Sunoco and also in front along 32nd. Is the brick 23 all around the building or are there other 24 treatments to the rear and to the other side? 25 MR. PEREIRAS: No. The other two sides  39 1 will be vinyl to keep the costs low. But these 2 will be two-hour rated fire walls. So it would be 3 constructed in a way to meet all fire safety, but 4 we did vinyl because they won't be visible from 5 anywhere. It's only a two-foot space between 6 building next door and it's completely covered. 7 MR. CHEWCASKIE: And going back to the 8 parking, the commercial use and the residential 9 use that presently exists, has existed without any 10 parking for how many years that place has been 11 there, and I'm going back to like the '80s that 12 I'm remembering it? 13 MR. PEREIRAS: As far as I could 14 remember. 15 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Chairman, I know 16 there is another person here, I don't know if we 17 should open to the public at this point in time 18 before we make a motion to carry the case. 19 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: We could, yeah. 20 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Did you have any 21 questions, sir? 22 AUDIENCE MEMBER: Just came to listen to 23 what's going on. 24 MR. CHEWCASKIE: I just wanted to make 25 sure. Since there's no public and I believe Ms.  40 1 Pereiras wants to engage the traffic engineer as 2 we've done on prior applications, is there a 3 motion to carry this application to November 26, 4 2024? 5 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: I make a motion. 6 MR. GUARENO: Second. 7 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Velazquez. 8 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Yes. 9 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Ms. Genao. 10 MS. GENAO: Yes. 11 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Guareno. 12 MR. GUARENO: Yes. 13 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Medina. 14 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 15 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Ms. Morejon. 16 MS. MOREJON: Yes. 17 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Oseguera. 18 MR. OSEGUERA: Yes. 19 MR. CHEWCASKIE: So this application 20 will be carried to November 26, 2024, no further 21 notice will be required. I do not know when this 22 was filed, Ms. Pereiras, so do we have the 23 extension of time, if necessary? 24 MS. PEREIRAS: Of course, Counsel. 25 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Thank you.  41 1 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you all very much. 2 MR. PEREIRAS: Thank you, everyone. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  42 1 HEARINGS/APPLICATIONS/COURT ORDER: 2 WEST 13, LLC - 3 409 4TH STREET: 4 5 MR. CHEWCASKIE: We also had a request 6 to adjourn the West 13th, LLC, matter. This has 7 been a remand for the court. So I don't think we 8 actually have a choice, it's really the 9 applicant's burden to proceed. Do we have a 10 motion to adjourn the application? 11 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: I make a motion. 12 MS. GENAO: I second. 13 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Velazquez. 14 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Yes. 15 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Ms. Genao. 16 MS. GENAO: Yes. 17 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Guareno. 18 MR. GUARENO: Yes. 19 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Medina. 20 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 21 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Ms. Morejon. 22 MS. MOREJON: Yes. 23 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Mr. Oseguera. 24 MR. OSEGUERA: Yes. 25  43 1 ADJOURNMENT: 2 3 MR. CHEWCASKIE: There are no 4 resolutions this evening. Do I have a motion to 5 adjourn the meeting? 6 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: I make a motion. 7 MR. GUARENO: Second. 8 MR. CHEWCASKIE: All in favor? 9 10 (All Board Members indicate in the 11 affirmative.) 12 13 (Whereupon, the meeting was adjourned at 14 6:39 p.m.) 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  44 1 C E R T I F I C A T E 2 3 4 5 6 I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing is a 7 true and accurate transcript of the testimony and 8 proceedings as taken stenographically by me at the 9 time, place, and on the date hereinbefore set 10 forth. 11 12 13 ____________________________ 14 SUSAN BISCHOFF, CCR, RPR LICENSE NO. 30XI00233700 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25