Planning Board - Planning Board Meeting

1 CITY OF UNION CITY HUDSON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY PLANNING BOARD : TRANSCRIPT OF RECORDED REGULAR MEETING : : PROCEEDINGS ____________ ____: City Hall 3715 Palisade Avenue Union City, New Jersey Tuesday, September 25, 2018 Commencing at 6:15 p.m. M E M B E R S P R E S E N T: YDALIA GENAO, Mayor’s Designee ALICIA MOREJON FRANKLIN MEDINA JOSE GUARENO, Alternate No. 2, (Arrived at 6:27 p.m.) JEANNE KOEHLER, Vice Chairperson DIANE CAPIZZI, Chairperson M E M B E R S A B S E N T: BRIAN P. STACK, Mayor CELIN VALDIVIA, Commissioner CAROLINA FERNANDEZ RUDY RIVERO ALEJANDRO VELAZQUEZ, Alternate No. 1 A L S O P R E S E N T: CARLOS VALLEJO, Secretary to the Board WILFREDO J. ORTIZ, II, ESQ., Attorney for the Board DAVID SPATZ, Consultant, Community Housing & Planning Associates, Inc.  2 A P P E A R A N C E S: ADOLFO L. LOPEZ, ESQ., Attorney for Applicant, 1713 Bergenline Avenue BIANCA P. PEREIRAS, ESQ., Attorney for Applicant, 14th Street Associates, LLC BIANCA P. PEREIRAS, ESQ., Attorney for Applicant, 1012 Palisade Ave. BIANCA P. PEREIRAS, ESQ., Attorney for Applicant, Carlos Silveira PATRICK J. DWYER, ESQ., Attorney for Applicant, Hudson Yards West, LLC  3 I N D E X PAGE CALL TO ORDER 6 SALUTE TO FLAG 7 ROLL CALL 7 MOMENT OF SILENCE 8 ADOPTION OF MINUTES 9 HEARINGS 1713 Bergenline Avenue 14 14th Street Associates, LLC 33 1012 Palisade Ave. 60 Carlos Silveira 77 Hudson Yards West, LLC 25 RESOLUTIONS 10/12 ADJOURNMENT 82  4 I N D E X 14th Street Associates, LLC 413-417 14th Street WITNESS PAGE Manuel Pereiras 38  5 I N D E X 1012 Palisade Ave. WITNESS PAGE Manuel Pereiras 60 SWORN PUBLIC Larry Price 68  6 1 THE SECRETARY: May I have your attention, 2 please? 3 Please take notice that on Tuesday, 4 September 25th, 2018, at six p.m., a Regular 5 Meeting is scheduled for the City of Union City 6 Planning Board, to be held in the Municipal 7 Chambers of the City Hall, 3715 Palisade Avenue, 8 Union City, New Jersey. 9 Opening statement. 10 This is a meeting called in compliance with 11 Chapter 231, Public Law 1975 of the Open Public 12 Meeting Act. 13 Notice of this meeting has been provided as 14 follow: 15 Notice of this meeting, setting forth the 16 time, the day, location and the agenda, to the 17 extent known, was forwarded to The Jersey 18 Journal, The Record, and The Hudson Reporter, has 19 been posted on the bulletin board in City Hall, 20 and has been available to the public in the 21 Office of the Municipal Clerk. 22 Before we call roll for this evening, will 23 everybody kindly rise to salute the flag, please? 24 25  7 1 (Whereupon, the Pledge of Allegiance was 2 said by all.) 3 4 THE SECRETARY: Thank you. 5 6 ROLL CALL: 7 8 THE SECRETARY: Roll call for tonight’s 9 meeting. 10 Mayor Brian P. Stack? Absent. 11 Ydalia Genao? 12 MS. GENAO: Yes. 13 THE SECRETARY: Commissioner Valdivia? 14 Absent. 15 Alicia Morejon? 16 MS. MOREJON: Yes. 17 THE SECRETARY: Diane Capizzi? 18 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Here. 19 THE SECRETARY: Carolina Fernandez? 20 Absent. 21 Rudy Rivero? Absent. 22 Franklin Medina? 23 MR. MEDINA: Here. 24 THE SECRETARY: Jeanne Koehler? 25 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Here.  8 1 THE SECRETARY: Alejandro Velazquez? 2 Absent. 3 Let the record indicate there are five 4 present. We have a full quorum for tonight’s 5 meeting. 6 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Mr. Vallejo, can we 7 just -- 8 THE SECRETARY: Please, Ms. Capizzi? 9 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: I would just request 10 a moment of silence to -- 11 THE SECRETARY: Please. 12 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: -- note the passing of 13 Alex Velazquez’s mother. 14 THE SECRETARY: Yes. Yeah. Mr. -- okay. 15 16 (Whereupon, there was a moment of silence.) 17 18 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Thank you. 19 THE SECRETARY: Thank you. 20 * * * 21 22 23 24 25  9 1 ADOPTION OF MINUTES: 2 3 ( 1) Regular Meeting held on July 24, 2018 4 5 THE SECRETARY: All right. 6 Adoption meetings held on July 24, 2018. 7 Can I have a motion? 8 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: I make motion. 9 THE SECRETARY: Motion by Ms. Capizzi. 10 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Second. 11 THE SECRETARY: Second by Ms. Koehler. 12 Roll call on the motion. 13 Ms. Koehler? 14 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Yes. 15 THE SECRETARY: Ms. Capizzi? 16 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Yes. 17 THE SECRETARY: Ms. Genao? 18 MS. GENAO: Yes. 19 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Medina? 20 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 21 THE SECRETARY: Ms. Morejon? 22 MS. MOREJON: Yes. 23 THE SECRETARY: Five in favor. 24 Motion carries. 25 * * *  10 1 RESOLUTIONS: 2 3 ( 1) Resolution to Appoint the Attorney for the 4 Planning Board; Commencing on July 1, 2018 5 through June 30, 2019. 6 7 THE SECRETARY: We have two Resolutions on 8 –- 9 No, I’m sorry. 10 Three Resolutions on tonight’s agenda. 11 Resolution number 1. 12 Resolution to appoint attorney for the 13 Planning Board, commencing on July 1 st, 2018 to 14 June 30, 2019. 15 Can I have a motion to adopt the 16 Resolution? 17 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: I make a motion. 18 THE SECRETARY: Motion by Ms. Capizzi. 19 Any second -- 20 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Second. 21 THE SECRETARY: -- the motion? 22 Second by Ms. Koehler. 23 Roll call on the motion. 24 Ms. Koehler? 25 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Yes.  11 1 THE SECRETARY: Ms. Capizzi? 2 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Yes. 3 THE SECRETARY: Ms. Genao? 4 MS. GENAO: Yes. 5 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Medina? 6 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 7 THE SECRETARY: Ms. Morejon? 8 MS. MOREJON: Yes. 9 THE SECRETARY: Five in favor. 10 Motion carries. 11 * * * 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  12 1 RESOLUTIONS: 2 3 ( 2) Zohastan, LLC, 646 38th Street, Block 261, 4 Lots 7, 8. Applicant proposes two new three 5 family houses. Approved 6 ( 3) Christopher Gallo, 206 40th Street, Block 7 237, Lot 7. Applicant seeks to legalize a first 8 floor apartment converting a two family into a 9 three family. Approved 10 11 THE SECRETARY: Resolutions 2 and 3. 12 Number 2. 13 Zohastan, LLC, 646 38th Street. 14 Resolution number 3. 15 Christopher Gallo, 206 40th Street. 16 Can I have a motion to adopt these 17 Resolution? 18 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Motion. 19 THE SECRETARY: Motion by Ms. Capizzi. 20 Any second? 21 Second by Ms. Koehler. 22 Roll call on the motion. 23 Ms. Koehler? 24 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Yes. 25 THE SECRETARY: Ms. Capizzi?  13 1 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Yes. 2 THE SECRETARY: Ms. Genao? 3 MS. GENAO: Yes. 4 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Medina? 5 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 6 THE SECRETARY: Ms. Morejon? 7 MS. MOREJON: Yes. 8 THE SECRETARY: Five in favor. 9 Motion carries. 10 * * * 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  14 1 1713 Bergenline Avenue: 2 3 THE SECRETARY: First hearing on tonight’s 4 agenda is 1713 Bergenline Avenue. 5 Applicants are seeking for one year 6 extension. The Resolution was memorialized on 7 November 22, 2016. 8 Mr. Lopez, please? 9 MR. LOPEZ: Thank you. 10 It’s actually 1713 Bergenline Avenue. 11 THE SECRETARY: I’m sorry. 12 1713 Bergenline. You are correct. 13 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Yes. 14 MR. LOPEZ: Thank you. 15 Madam Chairwoman, members of the Board, my 16 client is seeking a one year extension of the 17 project. It was approved by you unanimously back 18 in November of 2016. 19 It is a -- the delay for the project was 20 merely for financing purposes. It’s a -- it’s a 21 substantial project. It provides ample parking. 22 There are no parking variances involved. 23 It is an all brick building. It is an 24 existing -- an old existing warehouse. It used 25 to house the Malanka Waste Removal Company that  15 1 used to operate here in the city. And it’s fully 2 built out on the property line on the ground 3 floor. That is being retained and the extension 4 is above. It’s residential with full parking for 5 every single apartment. No parking variances. 6 And it is a good project, good to 7 revitalize that particular area. The client just 8 needs a one year extension to commence the 9 project. And he’s otherwise ready to proceed. 10 So, we would ask you to -- we would ask you 11 to approve the extension. It is the first time 12 that he has sought an extension. 13 What is before you is the original 14 approval. 15 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: What kind of 16 financial problems is he having? 17 MR. LOPEZ: It wasn’t financial problems, 18 per se on his part, he was trying to find the 19 right bank to provide him with the proper 20 conditions. 21 The problem that he had was that some of 22 the banks that he was going to -- providing him 23 the money wasn’t a problem, it was actually the 24 interest payments during the construction 25 process.  16 1 He has now found a bank that will structure 2 that into the overall loan and they will provide 3 him sufficient money for an escrow to be 4 established, so he can make just interest 5 payments on the actual loan during the 6 construction process, which he anticipates will 7 take approximately one year. 8 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Well, I think I would 9 feel more comfortable if he could start now. Is 10 that possible? 11 MR. LOPEZ: With the extension, it’s likely 12 that he can start within the next four months. 13 He is -- he is an architect himself, so the plans 14 are ready. 15 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Um hum. 16 MR. LOPEZ: He has to get final approval on 17 the construction loan and then submit everything 18 to the Building Department. So realistically, 19 about four months. 20 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: So, then, why would 21 we do a one year extension? 22 MR. LOPEZ: Because the original extension 23 would expire in November. 24 MR. ORTIZ: If he was to -- 25 MR. LOPEZ: And it’s the statutory  17 1 extension that he’s requesting, which is one year 2 in nature. 3 MR. ORTIZ: If he was to pull the permits 4 now, though, then he wouldn’t need the extension. 5 MR. LOPEZ: He’s not in a position right 6 now to pull the permit, until he gets all of the 7 financing and closes on that loan. So, he needs 8 -- realistically, he needs about 60 days on that. 9 And then, all submissions, probably at least 10 another 30 days. 11 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Well, are we required 12 to -- to approve an extension? 13 MR. ORTIZ: You’re not required to, no. 14 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Because I think I 15 would feel more comfortable if we could get 16 things going. 17 You know, the extensions that we’ve been 18 approving, these lots sit there and they’re not 19 developed, becomes a nuisance. 20 MR. LOPEZ: This -- an applicant has a 21 right -- the -- the -- as to an extension, it’s 22 as of right for the first one. Thereafter, the 23 Board has a lot more flexibility to reject them. 24 So, I would -- I would urge the Board to 25 grant this first extension and then, I don't -- I  18 1 certainly don’t believe it will be the case for 2 this project, but if you see no movement, you 3 could certainly, if he were ever to try to come 4 back, you could certainly tell him that that’s 5 not the basis of the representation that was 6 given to the Board last time, when you made this 7 application. 8 So, I -- I would urge you to grant this one 9 and -- 10 MR. ORTIZ: Can I make a suggestion? 11 MR. LOPEZ: Absolutely. 12 MR. ORTIZ: How about adjourning this 13 matter for next month’s meeting, because it will 14 not have expired by -- 15 MR. LOPEZ: It would not have expired. 16 Correct. 17 MR. ORTIZ: And maybe the -- the Board then 18 can get a better idea on the financing. 19 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Okay. 20 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: When does it 21 expire? 22 MR. ORTIZ: November. 23 MR. LOPEZ: November. Well, the -- the -- 24 this Board’s approval was November 22 nd, 2016. 25 So, if we do come back in -- if you’re going to  19 1 make me come back in October, it -- it would 2 still be within time. Correct. 3 MR. ORTIZ: Only -- 4 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Okay. 5 MR. ORTIZ: -- what I’m hearing is that -- 6 MR. LOPEZ: Understood. 7 MR. ORTIZ: -- they’re concerned about -- 8 and believe me, as a matter of policy, across the 9 board on these older projects, it’s becoming a 10 problem in the city. 11 MR. LOPEZ: Well, this -- 12 MR. ORTIZ: No, no. Not this one. 13 MR. LOPEZ: As far as extensions are 14 concerned, this is really -- 15 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: I understand. 16 MR. LOPEZ: -- not an old project. 17 MR. ORTIZ: No, no, not -- 18 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Understood. 19 MR. LOPEZ: Yeah. 20 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: And but you 21 said, this is the first extension? 22 MR. LOPEZ: Correct. 23 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: So, and that’s a 24 technicality. 25 Right?  20 1 As a -- but it says here, in the second 2 whereas section, that you guys presented before 3 the Board on October 25th, 2015. 4 MR. ORTIZ: It’s the memorialization, would 5 be the anniversary, though, which is November. 6 As we always do. 7 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Right. So -- 8 MR. LOPEZ: No, but it’s -- the date is 9 incorrect. 10 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: This date in 11 here is incorrect? 12 MR. ORTIZ: Oh. 13 MR. LOPEZ: Right. 14 MR. ORTIZ: Fifteen. Oh, I see it. Okay. 15 Well that -- 16 MR. LOPEZ: Right. It’s really -- 17 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Ahhh. 18 MR. LOPEZ: It -- it should really say 16. 19 We presented -- 20 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Okay. 21 MR. LOPEZ: We presented in October -- 22 MR. ORTIZ: And that’s correct because -- 23 MR. LOPEZ: -- 2016. 24 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Okay. 25 MR. ORTIZ: -- the Chairwoman’s signature  21 1 is dated 16. So that was a typo. 2 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Okay. 3 MR. LOPEZ: November 22nd, 2016. 4 MR. ORTIZ: That’s a typo. 5 MR. LOPEZ: Which would have been a month 6 after. 7 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Got it. 8 MR. LOPEZ: Right. So we -- 9 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: So, two years -- 10 MR. LOPEZ: Two years from the November 11 date, if we come back in October -- 12 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: There’s been no 13 movement, two years. 14 MR. LOPEZ: Well, there’s no physical 15 movement -- 16 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Yeah. 17 MR. LOPEZ: -- in construction. 18 It’s a larger project and there is -- a lot 19 goes into it. But he does have the engineering 20 and the architectural ready to go. 21 MR. ORTIZ: It’s just a recommendation, 22 because I think, then, Mr. Lopez can come back 23 with maybe more information as to the financing. 24 MR. LOPEZ: Yeah. 25 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Okay.  22 1 Let’s do that. 2 MR. LOPEZ: Very good. 3 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Okay. 4 MR. LOPEZ: What’s the -- what’s the 5 October meeting? 6 MR. ORTIZ: When’s the October meeting? 7 MR. SPATZ: 23rd. 8 MR. ORTIZ: 23rd? 9 MR. LOPEZ: All right. 10 Thank you very much. 11 I’ll -- 12 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Thank you. 13 MR. LOPEZ: I’ll advise the client. 14 Thank you. 15 Have a good night. 16 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Thank you. 17 MR. ORTIZ: You, too. 18 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: You, too. 19 THE SECRETARY: Can I have it to adjourn 20 the extension for October 23rd, 2018? 21 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: I’ll make a motion. 22 THE SECRETARY: We have to -- 23 Motion by Ms. Capizzi. 24 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Um hum. 25 THE SECRETARY: Any second?  23 1 By Ms. Koehler. 2 Roll call on the motion. 3 Ms. Koehler? 4 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Yes. 5 THE SECRETARY: Ms. Capizzi? 6 Ms. Capizzi? 7 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Yes. 8 MR. ORTIZ: Madam Chairwoman? 9 THE SECRETARY: To adjourn? 10 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Yes. 11 THE SECRETARY: Ms. Genao? 12 MS. GENAO: Yes. 13 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Medina? 14 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 15 THE SECRETARY: Ms. Morejon? 16 Ms. Morejon? 17 MS. MOREJON: Yes. 18 THE SECRETARY: Thank you. 19 Five in favor. 20 Motion carries. 21 This application for extension will be 22 heard on October 23rd, 2018. 23 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Um hum. 24 THE SECRETARY: Thank you. 25  24 1 (Whereupon, Jose Guareno arrived at 6:27 2 p.m.) 3 4 THE SECRETARY: Let the record indicate 5 that Mr. Guareno joined the meeting at 6:20 -- 6 MS. DILLON: Seven. 7 THE SECRETARY: -- six. 8 * * * 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  25 1 Hudson Yards West, LLC - 3309 Hudson Avenue 2 & 3308-3310 Palisade Avenue: 3 4 MR. ORTIZ: Is there anybody here from Mr. 5 Schkolnick’s office, by the way, out of 6 curiosity, which is the -- the last one on the 7 agenda, but -- 8 MS. DILLON: Mr. Dwyer is. 9 MR. ORTIZ: Mr. Dwyer is? 10 MR. DWYER: Yes. 11 MR. ORTIZ: Madam Chairwoman? 12 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Yes? 13 MR. ORTIZ: This is on for jurisdiction 14 alone. I don't want Mr. Dwyer -- 15 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Sure. 16 MR. ORTIZ: -- as a courtesy to have to sit 17 here through -- 18 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Yup. 19 MR. ORTIZ: -- all the presentations. 20 If you don’t mind, Ms. Pereiras, if we -- 21 MS. PEREIRAS: Of course. 22 MR. ORTIZ: -- we just address this one 23 issue and then –- 24 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Yes. 25 MR. DWYER: Thank you so much.  26 1 MR. ORTIZ: -- the rest is yours. 2 MR. DWYER: Thank you so much. 3 My name is Patrick Dwyer. 4 I’m from the law firm of Nusbaum, Stein. 5 I’m appearing here this evening in 6 substitution for Rick Schkolnick, who was unable 7 to be here at this time. 8 This is an application, as you know, which 9 is pending and we’ve been told that the Board is 10 -- is under the belief that it cannot exercise 11 jurisdiction at this time because of the prior 12 denial, which is under litigation. 13 And I hope everyone has a copy of Mr. 14 Schkolnick’s letter dated September 14 th, I think 15 it was, setting forth all the reasons why the 16 applicant believes this Board has every right to 17 hear an application which is different from the 18 first application. 19 And it’s interesting because it cites a 20 Price/Martinetti case, which someone here may be 21 familiar with, but if you look at the end of that 22 case, it -- it said something telling. 23 It says, imagine if it was a hospital. 24 Imagine a hospital came to you for a 200 bed 25 facility, and then later found financing for a  27 1 300 bed facility. We don’t want to, the court 2 says, we don’t want to interpret the MLUL in such 3 a way that that hospital could not come back to 4 you after already having a 200 bed approval and 5 ask you for a 300 bed approval. 6 Clearly, a different application, but those 7 two different approvals should be granted. 8 Everyone who owns property in New Jersey 9 has the right, all of us who has a -- has 10 property has the right to do so, to -- to make an 11 application to develop that land and, if we 12 change our minds, to make another application to 13 develop that land in a different way. 14 That’s basically the applicant’s position 15 in this matter. That’s why we believe that the 16 case which is pending, this Board has 17 jurisdiction, and should exercise it, and allow 18 the case to go forward. 19 If you have any questions about the letter, 20 I’ll try to answer them. 21 MR. ORTIZ: I -- I, too, have been deeply 22 involved with this matter, and have been in 23 communication with Mr. Schkolnick. 24 I wholeheartedly disagree with counsel’s 25 opinion of what the case law says.  28 1 There’s a case, Cicchine, which many of you 2 might have saw in my letter -- 3 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Um hum. 4 MR. ORTIZ: -- saying that this has 5 jurisdiction, versus the Township of Woodbridge. 6 In that particular case, once there’s a writ -- a 7 prerogative writ filed, essentially this Board 8 loses jurisdiction to hear anything involving 9 that property. 10 And I think that’s the more consistent case 11 law with our situation. 12 The other cases, for the most part, 13 involved consent orders of settlement. It was 14 almost like a whispering woods, and you’ve heard 15 that term before, kind of -- well, whispering 16 woods is a hearing when there’s a settlement to 17 -- to approve something. 18 And that -- that’s an exception to this 19 rule, not the rule. 20 It’s my opinion that this Board cannot act, 21 under the Cicchine case, exercise jurisdiction 22 while we are currently in litigation over this 23 property. 24 We did not initiate the litigation. And 25 that’s -- you know, Mr. Schkolnick and his client  29 1 have every right to litigate a decision made by 2 this Board. 3 But the Cicchine case, I feel, prevents us 4 from exercising any jurisdiction over this 5 matter, which is why I asked that it be listed 6 for jurisdictional purposes only, so that the 7 Board can decide are they going to exercise 8 jurisdiction, which I don't think is 9 discretionary, as Mr. Schkolnick and Mr. Dwyer 10 have asserted, or would the Board decline 11 jurisdiction based on the Cicchine case? 12 My advice is that we don’t have the ability 13 to exercise jurisdiction. 14 MR. DWYER: I -- I agree with Board 15 counsel, in part. 16 We disagree in -- in part about whether or 17 not there’s a pending litigation and if there is 18 a similar application, yes, I agree the Board 19 would not have jurisdiction. 20 But if it’s a substantially different 21 application, we submit the Board does and we 22 believe the Board should. 23 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Okay. 24 Do we have to hear from anyone? 25 MR. ORTIZ: No.  30 1 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: No? 2 MR. ORTIZ: No. 3 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Okay. 4 MR. ORTIZ: That’s for -- we -- 5 technically, this case is not under -- 6 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Right. 7 MR. ORTIZ: -- our purview, because we have 8 not accepted any service -- any notices or -- or 9 publication. 10 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Okay. 11 MR. ORTIZ: We don’t have -- this is purely 12 a decision the Board needs to make -- 13 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Okay. 14 MR. ORTIZ: -- based on the lawyer’s 15 advice, and do we have jurisdiction -- 16 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Um hum. 17 MR. ORTIZ: -- or not, based on that 18 advice. 19 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: So, based on your 20 advice, I would make a motion to decline 21 jurisdiction for this application. 22 THE SECRETARY: Motion to decline 23 jurisdiction on the application of Hudson Yards 24 West, LLC, by Ms. Capizzi. 25 Any second the motion?  31 1 Second by Ms. Koehler. 2 Roll call on the motion. 3 Ms. Koehler? 4 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Yes. 5 THE SECRETARY: Ms. Capizzi? 6 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Yes. 7 THE SECRETARY: Ms. Genao? 8 MS. GENAO: Yes. 9 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Medina? 10 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 11 THE SECRETARY: Ms. Morejon? 12 MS. MOREJON: Yes. 13 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Guareno? 14 MR. GUARENO: Yes. 15 THE SECRETARY: Six in favor. 16 Motion carries. 17 MR. ORTIZ: Mr. Dwyer? 18 THE SECRETARY: Thank you. 19 MR. ORTIZ: Because we never took 20 jurisdiction, there will not be a Resolution 21 reflecting this, so you can order the transcripts 22 so that -- 23 MR. DWYER: Okay. 24 MR. ORTIZ: -- for any purposes that you 25 may need.  32 1 MR. DWYER: I’ll tell Mr. Schkolnick. 2 MR. ORTIZ: I don't see, if we never took 3 jurisdiction, how I can write a Resolution. But 4 if Mr. Schkolnick -- 5 MR. DWYER: You could. 6 MR. ORTIZ: He -- 7 MR. DWYER: Yeah, I guess, you could if you 8 wanted to, but -- 9 MR. ORTIZ: He -- he -- 10 MR. DWYER: -- if you don’t want to -- 11 MR. ORTIZ: He can call me. 12 MR. DWYER: Yeah. Okay. 13 MR. ORTIZ: He knows my cell phone, he 14 knows everything at this point. 15 MR. DWYER: All right. 16 Thank you for your time. 17 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: All right. 18 Thank you. 19 Thank you. 20 * * * 21 22 23 24 25  33 1 14th Street Associates, LLC - 413-417 14th Street: 2 3 THE SECRETARY: All right. 4 We are going to application number 2. 5 14th Street Associate -- Association, LLC, 6 413-417 14th Street. 7 Ms. Pereiras, please? 8 (Whereupon, there was a pause in the 9 proceedings.) 10 MR. ORTIZ: Counsel? 11 MS. PEREIRAS: Yes. 12 MR. ORTIZ: Everything -- what is -- this 13 is -- has nothing to do with your notices but -- 14 MS. PEREIRAS: Um hum. 15 MR. ORTIZ: -- you’re the first one that 16 came to me with this -- 17 MS. PEREIRAS: Um hum. 18 MR. ORTIZ: -- potential problem. And I’ll 19 -- I’ll share this with the Board. I think the 20 Board needs to know this. 21 You drafted -- did you put this whole thing 22 together, or they -- 23 MS. PEREIRAS: No. 24 MR. ORTIZ: -- they finally do it 25 themselves?  34 1 MS. PEREIRAS: They finally did it. I had 2 to send an attorney down there to actually 3 notarize and witness them signing that 4 certification. 5 MR. ORTIZ: I don't know if we’re going to 6 run across this in the future, but Ms. Pereiras 7 was -- went the extra yard to get this done for 8 her client and for the Board, since we had it on 9 the agenda. 10 But The Jersey Journal, sometime earlier 11 today, took the position that they no longer will 12 give out affidavits of publication. 13 This -- and it’s not -- doesn’t effect this 14 case now, because of what Ms. Pereiras did, but I 15 just want you to realize going forward -- 16 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Right. 17 MR. ORTIZ: -- that’s a requirement that we 18 can’t waive, and Ms. Pereiras and I spoke about 19 that this afternoon. 20 But other applicants may have these 21 problems going forward. Just luckily, today, Ms. 22 Pereiras has all three cases that are left on, so 23 with that being said, she was able to get them 24 for all three. 25 But this can become a problem going  35 1 forward. 2 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: How do you think 3 you’re going to resolve it? 4 MS. PEREIRAS: One of my questions, if we 5 -- if I’m able to obtain the actual paper, cut it 6 out the same way that The Jersey Journal does it 7 and certify to it myself that it was published, I 8 think that might be sufficient. 9 MR. ORTIZ: I -- and you know, it may be, 10 as I told Ms. -- 11 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Published where? 12 MR. ORTIZ: In The Jersey Journal. 13 MS. PEREIRAS: In The Jersey Journal. So, 14 it would have been published. So, once we have 15 the actual Jersey Journal, -- 16 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Oh, okay. 17 MS. PEREIRAS: -- actually bring that or 18 bring the cutout. I don't know how else -- 19 MR. ORTIZ: I -- 20 MS. PEREIRAS: -- to solve it. 21 MR. ORTIZ: I’m going to look at the 22 statute. I’m not quite sure that it requires an 23 affidavit from the publication or -- or not. If 24 it’s not specific, I’m not quite sure, off the 25 top of my head.  36 1 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Is the date 2 important? 3 MS. PEREIRAS: The date is important -- 4 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: So then you’d take 5 the whole page. 6 MS. PEREIRAS: -- of the actual 7 publication. 8 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Correct. 9 To show the date. 10 MR. ORTIZ: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 11 MS. PEREIRAS: Um hum. 12 MR. ORTIZ: But I mean, this is something 13 that essentially can become a big problem for not 14 just our Board -- 15 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Sure. 16 MR. ORTIZ: -- also the Board of 17 Adjustment. 18 MS. PEREIRAS: Um hum. 19 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Of course. 20 MS. PEREIRAS: Um hum. 21 MR. ORTIZ: And forget about all the other 22 boards throughout -- 23 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Right. 24 MR. ORTIZ: -- the county, for that matter. 25 MS. PEREIRAS: Absolutely.  37 1 MR. ORTIZ: You know, not that we’re -- 2 MS. MOREJON: And the Board of Ed. 3 MR. ORTIZ: -- we worry about that but -- 4 MS. MOREJON: The Board of Ed. 5 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Yeah. 6 MR. ORTIZ: Yeah. So -- 7 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Yeah. 8 MR. ORTIZ: -- I just want you to be aware 9 of it. It’s not an issue because of what Ms. 10 Pereiras has done, but with that being said, 11 Madam Chairwoman, I’ve had an opportunity -- 12 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Okay. 13 MR. ORTIZ: -- to review the submissions. 14 Everything seems to be in order, giving 15 jurisdiction to the Board, speaking of 16 jurisdiction. 17 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you very much, 18 counsel. 19 Madam Chair, members of the Board, may it 20 please the Board, Bianca Pereiras, on behalf of 21 14th Street Associates. 22 This is for property located at 413 through 23 417 14th Street, also known as Block 64, Lots 22, 24 23 and 24. 25 Right now on the property, we have a vacant  38 1 lot, so three vacant lots. And what we are 2 proposing is something in-line with the Re- 3 Examination Report. We are proposing a three 4 family on each lot. 5 We have one expert to testify before the 6 Board this evening, and that is our architect, 7 Mr. Manuel Pereiras. 8 MS. DILLON: Please raise your right hand. 9 Do you affirm the testimony you’re about to 10 give this Board is the whole truth? 11 MR. PEREIRAS: I do. 12 Manny Pereiras, P-E-R-E-I-R-A-S, with 13 Pereiras Architects Ubiquitous, 1116 Summit 14 Avenue, Union City. 15 MS. DILLON: Thank you. 16 MR. ORTIZ: I love that word, ubiquitous. 17 MR. PEREIRAS: It’s -- it’s everywhere. 18 MR. ORTIZ: And when you say that every 19 time, I laugh inside. 20 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: You are 21 ubiquitous. 22 MR. ORTIZ: Every time you say it, I laugh 23 inside. 24 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: It’s never quickly. 25 MS. PEREIRAS: And for purposes of the  39 1 record, Mr. Pereiras -- 2 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Yes. 3 MS. PEREIRAS: -- has testified in the 4 past. 5 Thank you very much. 6 Mr. Pereiras, are you familiar with the 7 property located at 413 through 417 14 th Street? 8 MR. PEREIRAS: I’m very familiar with it. 9 MS. PEREIRAS: And did you prepare the 10 drawings before the Board this evening? 11 MR. PEREIRAS: I am and I’m very happy to 12 do so, because this is -- what we’re presenting 13 today is exactly what the City’s requesting in 14 their Master Plan. 15 The Ordinance has not been adopted yet, 16 therefore, we have a series of variances, but 17 this is an exact, almost a to the T description 18 of what the Master Plan requests. 19 We have a large lot, it’s 75 by a hundred. 20 It’s actually three separate lots, each of these 21 being 25 by 100. 22 For purposes of presentation, I have the 23 same drawings that were submitted to the Board 24 here on my right, and we could see the three 25 separate lots on 14th Street, 14th Street heads  40 1 along this direction. And we propose the three, 2 three families on this. 3 Each of these three families has a two foot 4 setback on one side and a three foot setback on 5 the other. Each of these has a ten foot setback 6 along the front and each of these has a five foot 7 setback along the rear. 8 That is all in conformance with the Master 9 Plan, the recommendations. However, all these 10 things trigger variances, based on the current 11 Ordinance. 12 For example, the rear yard. In -- our 13 current Ordinance requires 25 feet, we’re only at 14 five feet. So, that’s a variance. 15 We have lot coverage, building coverage, 16 both as -- triggers variances, even though we 17 comply with the requirements of the Master Plan, 18 our Ordinance hasn’t caught up, so we’re -- we’re 19 really designing for the future of Union City 20 here. 21 And then, we have three curb cuts, each of 22 the curb cuts being 12 feet in size, along the 23 front of the building. 24 We did, however, find opportunities to 25 create landscaping and we have three foot by ten  41 1 feet landscaping berths along the front of the 2 building, and we’re proposing shade trees. We’re 3 proposing two on one side, and one on the other, 4 so that we have nice shade trees along 14 th 5 Street. 6 And in accordance with Union City’s 7 proposed Master Plan, we’re proposing a four 8 story building. The ground floor is parking, 9 which conforms and -- and there’s -- there’s a 10 typo. It says five cars. It actually is the 11 same footprint that the Master Plan proposes of 12 six cars, so we propose six cars, whereas the 13 requirement would be six cars. So, there’s no 14 variance as far as parking. There’s technical 15 variances as far -- currently, under the current 16 Ordinance, because they’re in tandem, but we’re 17 providing six cars on the ground level. 18 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: When you say six, 19 it’s one, two, three, four, five -- 20 MR. PEREIRAS: Yeah. So, it would have to 21 comply exactly with the Master Plan. 22 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: No, I know. 23 MR. PEREIRAS: So, in the Master Plan, 24 there’s four along the back and then there’s two 25 along the side.  42 1 For some reason, my draftsman didn’t show 2 the two cars, he only showed one along there. 3 But it’s two cars. And it’s -- it’s not 4 something that -- you know, it -- it’s literally 5 a copy of what the Master -- 6 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Right. 7 MR. PEREIRAS: -- Plan is. So, that’s the 8 footprint of what we have. 9 And then, above, we have three floors, each 10 with an apartment and each being a three bedroom. 11 So, if you take the -- both an elevator or a 12 stair, you could choose which way you want to go 13 up, it leads you to a big living room, dining 14 room area, kitchen, all open, very modern, and 15 then three bedrooms along the back; two smaller 16 bedrooms and one master bedroom that has its 17 master bath and -- and master closet. 18 And that’s the same thing for three floors. 19 And then, to talk about the façade of the 20 building. We propose a brick façade. It’s fully 21 brick. There’s a slight accentuation to break 22 down the scale a little bit, a little bit of 23 brick detailing. 24 And then, the top is a stucco cornice with 25 a metal cornice along the top, a metal coping,  43 1 and a small canopy over the door. That canopy 2 houses a light, so that it lights up that 3 entryway. And it’s very beautiful. 4 And I -- I’ll answer more questions, but 5 basically, it’s perfectly in-line with the 6 requirements of the Master Plan. 7 We have siding along the sides and along 8 the back of the building, which is also a 9 permitted material here in Union City. 10 MR. ORTIZ: One technical thing, and it’s 11 not that big of a thing -- big of a deal, because 12 I -- I agree with you, this seems to be 13 consistent with what’s coming, at least on the 14 Master Plan. 15 MR. PEREIRAS: Yes. 16 MR. ORTIZ: But can you just -- would you 17 mind filing the first page with the Board? If 18 the Board was to approve this, reflecting -- 19 MR. PEREIRAS: The parking? 20 Absolutely. 21 MS. PEREIRAS: Sure. 22 MR. PEREIRAS: I’ll -- I would update the 23 page -- 24 MR. ORTIZ: And the application -- 25 MR. PEREIRAS: -- to show the parking.  44 1 MR. ORTIZ: -- too, Manuel, so everything’s 2 -- 3 MS. PEREIRAS: Absolutely. 4 MR. ORTIZ: -- consistent. 5 Just so -- 6 MR. PEREIRAS: I think it’s a great idea. 7 MS. PEREIRAS: Um hum. 8 MR. ORTIZ: It’s more housekeeping than it 9 is -- 10 MS. PEREIRAS: We’ll take care of that. 11 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: And I have a 12 question about the roof. What kind of roof? I 13 don't -- I’m not terribly familiar with the 14 architectural -- 15 MR. PEREIRAS: Sure. I’ll be happy to 16 explain it. 17 It’s a flat roof. Okay? The way the 18 Ordinance is written, we’re allowed 45 feet of 19 height in total. In order to stay before the 20 Planning Board, we had to be ten percent of what 21 the maximum is right now. 22 So, the maximum permitted right now is 40 23 feet. So, we’re basically -- we did a building 24 that’s 43 foot six, which is actually, 25 technically, a C variance, and that’s why we’re  45 1 still before this Board. 2 So, that doesn’t give us permission to 3 basically go any higher. So, we’re stuck 4 basically doing a flat roof. That’s what the 5 Ordinance -- the future Ordinance will say. 6 So, because of a flat roof, we show a flat 7 roof, and what we do and what you see there in 8 those center points, those are roof drains. So, 9 there’s a primary drain and there’s a secondary 10 drain. And then, these lines are pitches to the 11 drains. And the way we do that is we have a 12 rigid insulation that’s tapered, so we call it a 13 tapered rigid insulation, which starts out at 14 like six inches, and drops down to two inches. 15 And that way, the water goes to those drains. 16 So, that’s why you see those lines there. 17 Usually, before the Board, we don’t show 18 that. My draftsman did more. This is usually 19 what we do for construction documents. 20 And then, you have two stairs. Those two 21 stairs are bulkheads. They are not within -- 22 zoning, basically, allows you to have the stairs 23 go up to the roof, and that’s because you want to 24 be able to service the equipment. 25 MR. ORTIZ: There’s no intention of putting  46 1 anything on that roof, other than the drain. No 2 terrace, no -- 3 MR. PEREIRAS: We’re not proposing 4 anything. 5 MR. ORTIZ: Okay. 6 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: So, it’s a four story 7 building. 8 MR. PEREIRAS: It’s a -- 9 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: And there are other 10 four story -- 11 MR. PEREIRAS: It’s a four story -- 12 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: -- buildings on that 13 block? 14 MR. PEREIRAS: There’s a seven story 15 building literally behind us. So, and -- and 16 there’s another four story building, basically, 17 three quarters of a block away. 18 On that block, there are no four stories, 19 but we are complying exactly with what the Master 20 Plan is requesting of us. 21 So, we have a variance for height -- 22 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Yeah, that’s fine. 23 MR. PEREIRAS: -- as far as number of 24 stories and as far as building height, but we’re 25 in compliance --  47 1 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Right. 2 MR. PEREIRAS: -- with the future of Union 3 City. 4 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Okay. 5 There’s a lot of different views on the 6 future of Union City. 7 So, this -- 8 MR. PEREIRAS: I understand. 9 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: -- building looks 10 pretty dense, so the -- the three families that 11 are living in each house, they don’t need or 12 require a backyard? 13 MR. PEREIRAS: So, what we did, and what we 14 follow is the -- the Master Plan. So, we have -- 15 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: But that –- I mean -- 16 I know that you keep saying that, but what I’m 17 asking is, if you’re thinking about the families 18 that are living there, a backyard? 19 MR. PEREIRAS: All you have is a five foot 20 by 25 feet. 21 MS. PEREIRAS: Normally, a backyard is only 22 used by one of the units. What we’re looking to 23 do is -- 24 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: I don't that that’s 25 true.  48 1 MS. PEREIRAS: -- provide –- 2 Normally, at least when I do leases for 3 residential tenants, it’s only one apartment that 4 has use for that backyard. So, we’d like to give 5 larger apartment space, or livable space for -- 6 for the tenants. 7 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: So, the other two 8 families don’t need a backyard? 9 MS. PEREIRAS: Normally, they don’t -- 10 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Really? 11 MS. PEREIRAS: We don’t give them access. 12 MR. PEREIRAS: It’s wonderful that Union 13 City is a -- 14 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Interesting. 15 MR. PEREIRAS: -- wonderful city. 16 MS. PEREIRAS: Yeah. 17 MR. PEREIRAS: It has a lot of parks, and 18 there’s access to parks very close by. 19 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: It’s a very dense 20 building. 21 MR. ORTIZ: I’d like to hear -- this sounds 22 like something that we should hear from the 23 planner on. This is right up his specialty. 24 MR. SPATZ: Right. I -- I agree with your 25 concern about the lack of rear yard, but when the  49 1 Master Plan was put together, which would 2 eventually lead to a Zoning Ordinance amendment, 3 the idea was -- the feeling was that it was more 4 important to have a sufficient amount of parking 5 on the property, rather than the rear yard. So, 6 -- 7 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Sure. 8 MR. SPATZ: -- they allowed a bigger 9 coverage and a less of a rear yard, so that a 10 conforming amount of parking can be provided 11 onsite. And they felt that that was the tradeoff 12 and that the parking outweighed the -- the rear 13 yard, although I agree, in an urban area, some 14 green space would certainly be a good thing to 15 have. 16 However, that was the balance that they -- 17 that they used when they came up with that. 18 MR. PEREIRAS: And I have a great idea that 19 might make you feel better. 20 We don’t propose anything on the roof. 21 However, if green space is important to you, it 22 could definitely be provided on the roof. 23 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: No. 24 MR. PEREIRAS: Now it’s -- 25 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: No.  50 1 MR. PEREIRAS: -- an expense -- 2 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: No. 3 MR. PEREIRAS: -- to my client –- 4 Okay. 5 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: I don't think that’s 6 a safe alternative. 7 What’s the material of the garage door? 8 MR. PEREIRAS: The garage door? We haven’t 9 specified anything. It’s anything off the rack. 10 They could do vinyl, they could do wood, they 11 could do metal doors. 12 Would you like us to specify for the 13 Planning Board? 14 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: I -- I think it 15 -- yeah. I mean, it’s nice to -- it’s nicer to 16 see something warm when it’s residential, because 17 a lot -- I’m noticing a lot of development, 18 because of our parking requirement, has metal 19 garage doors and it looks very industrial and 20 unfriendly. So maybe something -- 21 MR. PEREIRAS: I don't mind saying non- 22 metal door. 23 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Yeah. You know, 24 board -- 25 MR. PEREIRAS: That’s fine.  51 1 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: -- with windows 2 on two of the panels or something. You know, 3 something aesthetically -- 4 MR. ORTIZ: Would you -- would you -- so 5 you want wood in the Resolution -- 6 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: I mean -- 7 MR. ORTIZ: -- if you were to approve it? 8 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: I don't want to 9 limit the -- 10 MR. ORTIZ: Well, there’s only -- 11 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: -- his client. 12 MR. ORTIZ: -- vinyl or metal. Outside of 13 that, if I’m correct? 14 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: There’s wood, I 15 -- I’ll -- 16 MR. PEREIRAS: There’s -- there’s -- 17 MR. ORTIZ: No, no. Outside -- no, I’m 18 saying the –- I think the only other materials 19 are -- 20 MR. PEREIRAS: There’s wood look. 21 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Vinyl. 22 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Right. 23 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Yeah. Yeah. 24 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Right. Right. 25 MR. PEREIRAS: There’s no really --  52 1 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: That's correct. 2 MR. PEREIRAS: -- wood -- while it exists, 3 it’s like way over the price budget -- 4 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Sure. 5 MR. PEREIRAS: -- of anything. 6 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Sure. 7 MR. PEREIRAS: So, let’s have -- 8 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: It’s like a synthetic 9 wood. 10 MR. PEREIRAS: Let’s just pick on -- and 11 let’s -- 12 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Right. 13 MR. PEREIRAS: Let’s say, on the record, 14 that we’ll do a wood looking garage -- 15 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Sure. 16 MR. PEREIRAS: -- door. 17 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: You know what I 18 mean. Something less industrial. 19 MR. PEREIRAS: I -- I agree. I love it. 20 Yeah. 21 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Does any Board member 22 have any other comments or questions? 23 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: I mean, I -- in 24 -- in-line with what you were saying about the -- 25 sort of the density of the units and the lack of  53 1 rear yard, but then it’s with -- in keeping with 2 what’s going to be adopted in the Master Plan, 3 but it does have sort of a -- like a New York 4 City apartment vibe to it, where it’s a railroad 5 car kind of apartment. 6 MR. PEREIRAS: Well, we made sure we didn’t 7 do it as a railroad. 8 And what we did is we created a corridor 9 along the side of everything, so that you’re not 10 going through one bedroom to get to the next. 11 You have access through the side. And that 12 access also leads you to the secondary means of 13 egress, along the back, too. 14 So it’s a very safe kind of construction. 15 You’re not going through other bedrooms, you’re 16 not -- it’s not a railroad apartment. It’s 17 actually a very nice apartment, very open, very 18 airy, lots of windows. 19 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: So, I guess the 20 point made -- what -- when I first saw the first 21 page, with the three skinny lots, I was like oh, 22 God, this is not -- but I see that you have, like 23 you said, stairs in the back. 24 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Um hum. 25 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: And then in the  54 1 front middle, so it does give it a -- a nicer -- 2 MR. PEREIRAS: Um hum. 3 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: -- feel to what 4 would normally look like a railroad apartment. 5 So, yeah. That’s -- that’s a good element 6 to it, I think. And then the brick façade. 7 MR. GUARENO: The -- the stairs on the 8 roof, is that for roof access? 9 MR. PEREIRAS: Yes. 10 MR. GUARENO: So would that bring it above 11 the -- the 45 feet? 12 MR. PEREIRAS: Yeah, it does. It goes 13 beyond it, but stair bulkheads and elevator 14 bulkheads are exempt from zoning. 15 And there -- the problem is, I have to put 16 equipment on the roof. My condensers have to go 17 on the roof, because there is no rear yard and 18 the -- the future Ordinance, basically, says that 19 the five feet that we do have has to be 20 completely unobstructed. So that makes it the 21 only place I could do equipment is up on the 22 roof. 23 MR. GUARENO: Okay. 24 Thank you. 25 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Where’s the garbage?  55 1 MR. PEREIRAS: There’s a garbage room in 2 -- located and this is one of the early ones. 3 What we’re doing is these stairs, right back 4 here, there’s space underneath those stairs, and 5 it’s a room and that’s where the garbage is going 6 to be stored. 7 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: And there’s 8 access through the garage or through the back? 9 MR. PEREIRAS: No, through the side yard. 10 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: How do you get 11 to that? 12 MR. PEREIRAS: So, the three foot side yard 13 that you have, that’s how you get the garbage 14 out. 15 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: There’s no way 16 to get there through the garage? 17 MR. PEREIRAS: No. 18 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: You have to -- 19 MR. PEREIRAS: You got to go around. Yeah. 20 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Got it. 21 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Okay. 22 Any comments from the public or questions? 23 Board? 24 Anyone? 25 MR. GUARENO: Yeah. I have one more.  56 1 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Go ahead. 2 MR. GUARENO: What is the -- the distance 3 between the building on the right and the one in 4 the center? 5 MR. PEREIRAS: So, the future Ordinance -- 6 MR. GUARENO: No, I’m sorry. 7 Between the -- the garage doors. This 8 door. 9 MR. PEREIRAS: Between garage doors? 10 MR. GUARENO: Yes. 11 MR. PEREIRAS: So, there -- between these 12 two garage doors, you have six feet. And between 13 these two garage doors, you have 18 feet. 14 So, enough for one car between these two 15 and no cars between those two. 16 MR. GUARENO: That’s what I wanted to make 17 sure. 18 MR. PEREIRAS: Yeah. 19 MR. GUARENO: Because that’s something that 20 -- 21 MR. PEREIRAS: I hate that, too. 22 MR. GUARENO: I always forget, but this -- 23 I do like that, because it gives them -- either 24 the tenants or the city an additional parking 25 space.  57 1 MR. PEREIRAS: Yeah. 2 That’s why we flipped the direction of one 3 of them, so that we could provide one additional 4 space on the street. 5 Other -- because if we had the same look on 6 all of them, you’d basically -- 7 MR. GUARENO: You would lose it. 8 MR. PEREIRAS: -- lose all the parking 9 spaces. So, we were able to do that with one, 10 flip it over and we save the parking space on the 11 street. 12 MR. GUARENO: That’s a good thing to do. 13 Thank you. 14 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Anyone else? 15 No? 16 Okay. 17 I’ll make a motion to approve the 18 application. 19 THE SECRETARY: Motion to approve the 20 application by Ms. Capizzi. 21 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: I’ll second. 22 THE SECRETARY: Any second on the motion? 23 Motion (sic) by Ms. Koehler. 24 Roll call on the motion. 25 Ms. Koehler?  58 1 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Yes. 2 THE SECRETARY: Ms. Capizzi? 3 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Yes. 4 THE SECRETARY: Ms. Genao? 5 MS. GENAO: Yes. 6 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Medina? 7 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 8 THE SECRETARY: Ms. Morejon? 9 MS. MOREJON: Yes. 10 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Guareno? 11 MR. GUARENO: Yes. 12 THE SECRETARY: Six in favor. 13 Motion carries, with the condition that 14 revised plans required. 15 MS. PEREIRAS: Absolutely. 16 Thank you all very much. 17 THE SECRETARY: Thank you. 18 MR. ORTIZ: And also, just so the record’s 19 clear, it’s also the -- the garage door is going 20 to be wood-like, I’ll -- 21 MR. PEREIRAS: And I’ll call that out on 22 the plans so you don’t have to worry about it in 23 the Resolution. So, my updated plan and I’ll put 24 that on there. 25 MR. ORTIZ: Okay.  59 1 MR. PEREIRAS: Makes things easier. 2 * * * 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  60 1 1012 Palisade Ave.: 2 3 THE SECRETARY: Application number 3. 4 1012 Palisade Avenue. 5 Ms. Pereiras, please? 6 (Whereupon, there was a pause in the 7 proceedings.) 8 MS. PEREIRAS: Again, Bianca Pereiras, on 9 behalf of the applicant. 10 MR. ORTIZ: Madam Chairwoman, I’ve had an 11 opportunity to review the submissions. 12 Everything seems to be in order, giving 13 jurisdiction to this Board. 14 MS. PEREIRAS: Okay. 15 Thank you. 16 The application is for 1012 Palisade 17 Avenue, Block 186, Lot 42. Currently, onsite, we 18 have a two family home. The application before 19 the Board this evening is to legalize a ground 20 floor apartment. 21 We have one expert to testify before the 22 Board this evening, our architect, Mr. Manuel 23 Pereiras. 24 MR. PEREIRAS: Still Manny Pereiras, still 25 under oath.  61 1 MS. PEREIRAS: Mr. Pereiras, did you -- are 2 you familiar with the property located at 1012 3 Palisade Avenue? 4 MR. PEREIRAS: I am. 5 MS. PEREIRAS: And did you prepare the 6 drawings before the Board? 7 MR. PEREIRAS: I have. 8 MS. PEREIRAS: And would you kindly walk us 9 through the application? 10 MR. PEREIRAS: I’d be very happy to. 11 We have a large lot. It is 34 feet wide by 12 130 feet in depth. It’s on Palisade Avenue. 13 And we’re -- it’s -- it’s a very simple 14 application in many ways, a little complicated in 15 others. 16 We have a preexisting building. So, we 17 have an existing legal two family that’s been 18 used as a three family for many years, and we’re 19 simply legalizing that condition. 20 The ground floor apartment somehow was not 21 considered an apartment. 22 Mr. Price can probably give us a lot of 23 history on this property, since it’s right next 24 to where he lives. 25 But what you’re looking at here is the  62 1 ground floor apartment that we’re looking to 2 legalize. 3 The front of it is a garage, an existing 4 garage for two cars. They have additional 5 parking also in the rear that’s accessed through 6 an easement. So they have plenty of parking. 7 They actually have -- they actually have five 8 spaces already. So that’s a huge improvement to 9 what we normally see in Union City in preexisting 10 buildings. They have five existing spaces and 11 we’re looking to legalize this apartment. 12 The garage is along the front of it. There 13 is access both through the center stairwell, 14 where you walk through the entrance, same as 15 everyone else, and walk into the apartment and 16 you have three bedrooms, then the living room, 17 kitchen, dining room area along here. And the 18 two bathrooms are existing. We’re modifying it 19 in order to make it meet all Code standards of 20 today. 21 There is -- as you walk out towards the 22 back, there is an existing deck that we’re 23 looking to reconstruct a much nicer, much better 24 way. It’s there. It’s basically the top of the 25 garages, where they park. We’re looking to put  63 1 decking in there, put a railing, make it a little 2 bit more beautiful. 3 And then, we’re looking to fix and correct 4 -- these are the existing apartments. We’re not 5 looking to make any changes to those. And what 6 we are looking to do is to correct and fix the 7 access to the roof, which right now is a little 8 uncomfortable. So, we’re making it more Code 9 compliant, so that there is a roof deck, so that 10 they could take advantage of the New York City 11 views that are right there. 12 We’re not making the building any taller, 13 we’re not making it any different. It’s simply 14 being able to use that roof deck. And there is a 15 fire escape that is required, as a Code 16 requirement, to have a secondary means of egress. 17 And that is going on the side yard. 18 So, basically, I’ll open up to questions, 19 so I could answer anything. 20 It’s a -- it’s an old building. We’re 21 basically looking to legalize and to make the 22 roof access a lot better and easier. 23 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: So, proposed roof 24 deck -- 25 MR. PEREIRAS: Correct.  64 1 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: You’re building a 2 roof deck? 3 MR. PEREIRAS: Correct. 4 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: There wasn’t one 5 there before. 6 MR. PEREIRAS: There -- I mean, you could 7 always go up there, but we’re making the material 8 nice as a -- to be like a proper roof deck. 9 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Do the other 10 buildings have a roof deck, too? 11 MR. PEREIRAS: I don't think so. 12 (Whereupon, there was a pause in the 13 proceedings.) 14 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: So that won’t change 15 the height of the building? 16 MR. PEREIRAS: The -- the bulkhead that we 17 are creating -- so, the bulkhead that we are 18 creating will be bigger, because now we want 19 people to walk up there with a comfortable 20 height. And that will not extend past the peak 21 of the existing building. So, if you look at the 22 façade of the building, we made sure that we 23 didn’t go beyond it, even though the bulkhead 24 doesn’t count towards the variance, because it’s 25 a stair bulkhead. So, the way the Union City  65 1 Ordinance is written, it’s exempt. 2 But even that, we wanted to be considerate 3 because it’s on Palisade Avenue, because you’re 4 right there. So, what we did is we made sure 5 that we didn’t go beyond the peak of the existing 6 roof. 7 MR. ORTIZ: I -- what’s -- what buildings 8 are surrounding that? Are there backyards and 9 that kind of thing around this -- 10 MR. PEREIRAS: It’s -- 11 MR. ORTIZ: -- particular building? 12 MR. PEREIRAS: It’s actually a really 13 complicated little area, those -- because there’s 14 a lot of -- there’s a few easements and there’s a 15 few properties that kind of wrap around other 16 properties, because we are on the Palisades, so 17 it’s on the cliff. 18 So the back of this property, there’s 19 actually garages, which is what you’re looking 20 at. 21 MR. ORTIZ: I’m only concerned about 22 peoples’ privacy. 23 MR. PEREIRAS: So, if you look at the site 24 plan, this is a garage along here, and then there 25 is asphalt, and then there are more garages along  66 1 the back that are accessed through an easement 2 with the adjacent neighbor. So, there are 3 basically garages there. 4 Behind the garages, there is another nice 5 area, almost like a backyard, great place for 6 barbecues along there. 7 And you know, not sure if I could -- want 8 me to pull it up on satellite? 9 MR. ORTIZ: I think there’s pictures of the 10 -- there’s pictures of the back –- 11 MS. PEREIRAS: There’s a picture here. 12 MR. PEREIRAS: And there’s a picture there. 13 Perfect. 14 MS. PEREIRAS: Yes. 15 MR. ORTIZ: The only reason, Board members, 16 that I even brought that up is the only concern, 17 and I’m not sure it is a concern and it’s 18 ultimately your decision, is if this roof deck, 19 not so much the apartment itself, but the roof 20 deck creates some kind of intrusion into people 21 surrounding backyard, that’s the only -- that’s 22 the only concern I have for it. 23 MR. PEREIRAS: I can’t see how it would. 24 MR. ORTIZ: Which is why I asked you what’s 25 around it.  67 1 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: It’s legally a 2 two family? 3 MR. PEREIRAS: It’s legally a two. 4 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: And there is an 5 existing first floor -- 6 MR. PEREIRAS: Yes. So -- 7 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: -- apartment, 8 and you’re just legalizing it and then, adding 9 the rooftop, sort of putting the final touches on 10 it, making it a safe place -- 11 MR. PEREIRAS: Right. 12 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: -- with a 13 railing and -- 14 MR. PEREIRAS: Right. That's correct. 15 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: -- some sort of 16 weatherproof -- 17 MR. PEREIRAS: Right. So, we’d put -- 18 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: -- floor. 19 MR. PEREIRAS: -- a deck on top of the roof 20 so that it’s a nice decking. We’d put a railing 21 so that it’s safe. The stair -- 22 MR. ORTIZ: Who’s going to have access to 23 it? Everybody in the building or just the third 24 story apartment? 25 MR. PEREIRAS: It’s an owner occupied  68 1 building, so I would assume it’s just the owner. 2 MR. ORTIZ: And the owner resides on the 3 third floor? 4 MR. PEREIRAS: The -- I think it’s -- she’s 5 on the second, her parents are on the third. So, 6 it’s -- it’s kind -- 7 MR. ORTIZ: I got it. 8 MR. PEREIRAS: Yeah. She’s present here. 9 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Does anyone on the 10 Board have any questions? 11 Anyone from the public? 12 Sure. 13 Come on up. 14 MS. DILLON: Please raise your right hand. 15 Do you affirm the testimony you’re about to 16 give this Board is the whole truth? 17 MR. PRICE: I do. 18 MS. DILLON: Name and address for the 19 record, please. 20 MR. PRICE: Larry Price, 1006 Palisade 21 Avenue. 22 MS. DILLON: Thank you. 23 MR. PRICE: By the way, on this picture -- 24 MS. DILLON: Don’t wander, Mr. Price. 25 MR. PRICE: I know. I know.  69 1 1006 is here, this is the property. That’s 2 the property I own. So, I’m within 200. I’m 3 well acquainted with this property, having 4 probably been in it, over the last 50 years, 5 several hundred times. 6 First couple of questions. 7 This fire escape, where is this going to be 8 located? 9 MR. PEREIRAS: So, the fire escape is on 10 the side yard. It is -- the building itself juts 11 in. 12 So, the building is actually about two foot 13 eight inches along here, and then it juts further 14 in. We’re putting the fire escape right there 15 and you could see it in the elevation even 16 better, along the side of the building like this. 17 So, you’ll have access from the roof, 18 access from the third floor, access from the 19 second floor, and then a ladder drop down. 20 MR. PRICE: Okay. 21 So, it’s not going to block the side yard 22 at the ground level. 23 MR. PEREIRAS: No, not at all. There’s 24 nothing -- the -- the basket is 12 feet above 25 grade.  70 1 MR. PRICE: Okay. 2 By the way, the other -- in terms of the 3 façade in the front of the building, a rather 4 charming -- the building was constructed -- 5 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Um hum. 6 MR. PRICE: -- in 1924. Charming sort of 7 neo-gothic building. It has a tile roof and the 8 peaks on -- is that going to change at all? 9 MR. PEREIRAS: We’re not touching that. 10 MR. PRICE: Okay. Okay. 11 I make two comments. 12 The first is that this is a larger lot than 13 normal, much larger. It’s 34 feet wide, 130 feet 14 long. I think it’s 4300 square feet. It’s much 15 larger than the standard issue building lot. And 16 the house is much larger. 17 By the way, the -- I have to dispute a 18 little of the testimony. Existing apartment -- I 19 mean, what this -- what this really was, the 20 prior owner, who sold two years ago, who bought 21 in 1982, was a son and a family, he was divorced. 22 He had a bachelor apartment on the ground floor. 23 It was hardly an apartment. That’s where he 24 slept. You know, he wasn’t cooking his own food. 25 He went upstairs to mom for that.  71 1 So, in terms of an existing apartment, 2 that’s -- that’s a stretch. Okay. 3 But I think an apartment in this area makes 4 a lot -- this could be a super apartment. First 5 of all, this is not one of those little cramped 6 one bedroom behind the garage numbers. This is a 7 big house. This house, probably 3,000 square 8 feet on each floor. So, whatever. 9 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Sure. 10 MR. PRICE: And then, you step outside the 11 back and there’s a concrete deck, which is 12 probably six feet wide and -- by the width of the 13 house, because it’s -- there are porches, there 14 -- whatever you want to call them, porches 15 upstairs and the columns support. 16 And then, beyond that, you have probably 20 17 feet of what could be the loveliest garden -- 18 because you know, there’s New York, there’s the 19 river right there. 20 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Um hum. 21 MR. PRICE: You could have a little -- 22 there’s a peach tree there now, where it’s a race 23 in the neighborhood to see who gets the peaches. 24 I lost this year, so I’m a little bitter about 25 that.  72 1 But, anyway, this could be a super 2 apartment. And the house will accommodate it. 3 You know, it’s -- I question -- the part I 4 question is the roof deck. There’s no existing 5 roof deck. The only way you get to the roof is 6 through -- you know, one of those pull down, go 7 up a ladder kind of things. Nobody in the 8 neighborhood -- Ms. -- Ms. Morejon will confirm 9 that, nobody has a roof deck. I don't even know 10 why they want a roof deck. But -- but I kind of 11 question whether that part fits here. 12 But as for the apartment -- you know -- 13 MS. MOREJON: It’s a beautiful house. 14 MR. PRICE: One of -- one of the things 15 that’s good about this building, they have the 16 three parking spots in the back. 17 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Um hum. Right. 18 MR. PRICE: That was very unique in 1924. 19 In 1924, you build a building like this, it was 20 one -- one garage space or two -- you know, two 21 for the owner, and the tenants walked. And 22 today, of course, nobody walks. 23 So -- but they put -- the neighbor, by the 24 way, who gives the easement, that’s me. 25 And they have the three garages in the  73 1 back, which is -- was unique then and is very, 2 very handy today. So, they can -- they can 3 accommodate an extra apartment. It would be a 4 great apartment. And it would make a lot of 5 sense. 6 I hope that -- 7 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Okay. 8 MR. PRICE: Maybe we could make it a 9 condition that the peach tree remains, but -- 10 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Absolutely. 11 Peach tree remain. 12 Absolutely. 13 MR. PRICE: I’m joking. 14 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: I’m not. 15 MR. PRICE: But -- but anyway, it’s -- it’s 16 a -- you know, it’s a lovely building. 17 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Yes. 18 MR. PRICE: And it was neglected for a lot 19 of years, because the owner was an older lady and 20 whatever. 21 So, I would encourage you to encourage the 22 new owner to -- whatever, but it has a lot of 23 potential. 24 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Thank you. 25 MR. PRICE: Actually, and a lot of it’s  74 1 been realized. I mean, they bought the apartment 2 -- or they bought the building two years ago and 3 spent a year -- first year and a half -- you 4 know, basically refurbishing the building. So, 5 they’ve done -- 6 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Good. 7 MR. PRICE: -- a lot of work already. 8 MR. PEREIRAS: They’re doing a good job -- 9 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Beautiful. 10 MR. PEREIRAS: -- fixing it. 11 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: It is a beautiful -- 12 MR. PRICE: But it’s a lovely home. 13 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Thank you. 14 MR. PRICE: You know, if you have a million 15 dollars, that’s what you can -- 16 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: There you go. 17 MR. PRICE: Okay. 18 Thank you. 19 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Thank you. 20 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you, Mr. Price. 21 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Any other questions 22 or comments? 23 MS. MOREJON: No. 24 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Okay. 25 I’ll make a motion to approve the  75 1 application. 2 THE SECRETARY: Motion to approve the 3 application by Ms. Capizzi. 4 Any second the motion? 5 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Second. 6 THE SECRETARY: Second by? 7 Ms. Koehler. 8 Roll call on the motion to approve this 9 application. 10 Ms. Koehler? 11 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Yes. 12 THE SECRETARY: Ms. Capizzi? 13 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Yes. 14 THE SECRETARY: Ms. Genao? 15 MS. GENAO: Yes. 16 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Medina? 17 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 18 THE SECRETARY: Ms. Morejon? 19 MS. MOREJON: Yes. 20 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Guareno? 21 MR. GUARENO: Yes. 22 THE SECRETARY: Six in favor. 23 Motion carries. 24 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you all very much. 25 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Thank you.  76 1 THE SECRETARY: Thank you, Ms. Pereiras. 2 MR. PEREIRAS: Thank you. 3 * * * 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  77 1 Carlos Silveira - 310 26th Street: 2 3 THE SECRETARY: Ms. Pereiras? 4 MS. PEREIRAS: Yes. 5 THE SECRETARY: Can you please go on Carlos 6 Silveira, 310 26th Street? 7 MS. PEREIRAS: Yes. 8 Carlos Silveira. 9 We actually submitted this application 10 quite awhile ago. Unfortunately, my clients are 11 not in a position to proceed on it at this time. 12 They need to have the finances to make the unit 13 Code compliant, if this Board were to give them a 14 -- an approval. And they don’t want to come 15 here, two years from now, requesting an 16 extension. 17 So, they’re trying to put all their 18 finances together, make sure they’re able to, 19 hopefully, get an approval and be prepared to 20 work right away. 21 So for the time being, we have not 22 submitted for jurisdictional proofs. So, it’s 23 not a matter of adjourning. We’d just like it to 24 be not even carried -- 25 MR. ORTIZ: I -- I --  78 1 MS. PEREIRAS: -- or hold on to it. 2 MR. ORTIZ: I think -- I think for the 3 protection of this Board and in light of the 4 litigation that’s pending against -- 5 MS. PEREIRAS: Yes. 6 MR. ORTIZ: -- the Board, I think the only 7 option then would be to withdraw the application, 8 especially if you’re not even sure when that 9 could possibly happen. 10 MS. PEREIRAS: Right. I -- I don't want to 11 withdraw until I have a decision from them as to 12 when. Right now, it has been pending for awhile. 13 I understand that, but they have -- I think, 14 recently, Mr. Vallejo, they submitted finally the 15 application and the escrow fee. So, they’re 16 getting a lot closer to where they should be. 17 Unfortunately, finances are a -- 18 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: So what do you do? 19 MS. PEREIRAS: -- little difficult for 20 them. 21 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Adjourn it? 22 MR. ORTIZ: No. Here’s -- here’s my 23 concern, and I -- 24 MS. PEREIRAS: Um hum. 25 MR. ORTIZ: I think you understand what my  79 1 -- 2 MS. PEREIRAS: Um hum. 3 MR. ORTIZ: -- concern is, but my concern 4 here is the timeframe that we are obligated to 5 act in. 6 MS. PEREIRAS: Um hum. 7 MR. ORTIZ: By leaving this on the books, 8 so to speak, that could -- that could hurt us in 9 any kind of litigation that comes down the pike. 10 And I’m not saying there will be, on legalizing 11 an apartment. 12 MS. PEREIRAS: Yes. This is a small 13 application. 14 MR. ORTIZ: But I’ve become a lot more 15 protective after this litigation that’s pending, 16 particularly with Hudson Yards. 17 MS. PEREIRAS: Um hum. 18 MR. ORTIZ: So, I mean, I don't see where 19 we can leave this on the books indefinitely. I 20 -- I think it has to be either withdrawn or 21 dismissed, to protect this Board. 22 MS. PEREIRAS: Then I ask counsel, just so 23 I can speak to my client one more time, advise 24 them that that is a position that the Board is 25 taking, and then maybe they can make either a  80 1 decision or decide either to proceed or -- or 2 withdraw it at that point. 3 MR. ORTIZ: As long as you’re clear, on the 4 record, just for this one -- one time, that it is 5 your request, you are waiving any time mandates. 6 MS. PEREIRAS: Absolutely. I feel 7 perfectly comfortable saying that we waive any -- 8 MR. ORTIZ: From your -- from your mouth. 9 MS. PEREIRAS: Correct. 10 MR. ORTIZ: Not mine. 11 MS. PEREIRAS: Not a problem. 12 THE SECRETARY: That would be the next date 13 pending your notification. 14 MS. PEREIRAS: I will speak to my clients, 15 and Mr. Vallejo, I’ll get back to you to see if 16 we can, hopefully, reschedule it. 17 THE SECRETARY: Okay. 18 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: So what are we doing? 19 MR. ORTIZ: What she’s asking is, she’s 20 waiving the time. 21 Am I correct? 22 MS. PEREIRAS: That is correct. 23 MR. ORTIZ: Any time mandates that we may 24 have. 25 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Um hum.  81 1 MR. ORTIZ: She’s going to talk to her 2 client. On the next date, they’re either going 3 to go forward, or withdraw, or we’re going to 4 dismiss. 5 MS. PEREIRAS: Um hum. 6 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Okay. 7 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you very much. 8 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: You’re welcome. 9 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Thank you. 10 MR. PRICE: You still have to -- 11 MS. PEREIRAS: We didn’t submit for 12 jurisdiction. 13 MR. PRICE: Oh. 14 MS. PEREIRAS: We did not submit for 15 jurisdiction. 16 * * * 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  82 1 ADJOURNMENT: 2 3 THE SECRETARY: There being no other 4 application on tonight’s agenda -- 5 MR. PRICE: You’re not taking jurisdiction 6 tonight. 7 THE SECRETARY: -- can I have a motion to 8 close tonight’s meeting? 9 MR. PRICE: Right? 10 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: I’ll make a motion. 11 MR. ORTIZ: They didn’t submit anything to 12 -- 13 THE SECRETARY: Motion by Ms. Capizzi. 14 MR. ORTIZ: -- give us jurisdiction. 15 THE SECRETARY: Second by? 16 Ms. Koehler. 17 MR. PRICE: So it’s -- 18 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Yes. 19 MR. PRICE: -- basically not submitted. 20 THE SECRETARY: Roll call on the motion. 21 Ms. Genao? 22 MS. GENAO: Yes. 23 THE SECRETARY: Ms. Morejon? 24 MS. MOREJON: Yes. 25 THE SECRETARY: Ms. Capizzi?  83 1 CHAIRPERSON CAPIZZI: Yes. 2 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Medina? 3 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 4 THE SECRETARY: Mr. -- Ms. Koehler? 5 VICE CHAIRPERSON KOEHLER: Yes. 6 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Guareno? 7 MR. GUARENO: Yes. 8 THE SECRETARY: Six in favor. 9 Motion carries. 10 Let the record show that the meeting has 11 ended. 12 Thank you. 13 Good night, everyone. 14 15 (Whereupon, the proceedings were concluded 16 at 7:12 p.m.) 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  84 1 STATE OF NEW JERSEY : 2 : 3 COUNTY OF ESSEX : 4 5 6 I, DEBRA A. KASZNIAK, assigned transcriber, 7 do hereby affirm that the foregoing is a true and 8 accurate transcript in the matter of the REGULAR 9 MEETING of the UNION CITY PLANNING BOARD heard on 10 Tuesday, September 25, 2018 and digitally 11 recorded. 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Monitored and proofread by: Deborah Dillon