Planning Board - Special Meeting

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 Wednesday, October 1, 2025 Commencing at 6:03 p.m. 10 11 M E M B E R S P R E S E N T: 12 ALEJANDRO VELAZQUEZ, Chairperson CELIN J. VALDIVIA, Commissioner 13 YDALIA GENAO FRANKLIN MEDINA 14 JOSE GUARENO, Alternate #1 HECTOR OSEGUERA, Alternate #2 15 M E M B E R S A B S E N T: 16 BRIAN T. STACK, Mayor 17 ALICIA MOREJON CAROLINA FERNANDEZ 18 19 A L S O P R E S E N T: 20 BRIAN CHEWCASKIE, ESQ. Board Counsel 21 CARLOS VALLEJO, Board Secretary 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, 603 Central Avenue 3 BIANCA PEREIRAS, ESQ. 4 Attorney for Applicant, H&A Developers, LLC 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 6 6 ADOPTION OF MINUTES 7 7 HEARINGS 1300 Manhattan Avenue 8 8 603 Central Avenue 10 H&A Developers, LLC 21 9 10 ADJOURNMENT 26 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  4 1 I N D E X 2 603 Central Avenue, LLC 603-607 Central Avenue 3 4 WITNESS PAGE 5 MANUEL PEREIRAS 12 6 7 E X H I B I T S 8 9 NO. DOCUMENT PAGE 10 11 NO EXHIBITS MARKED 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  5 1 MR. VALLEJO: May I have your attention, 2 please? 3 Please take notice that on Wednesday, 4 October 1, 2025, at 6:00 p.m., a special meeting 5 is scheduled for the City of Union City Zoning 6 Board of Adjustment, to be held in Union City High 7 School, located at 2500 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, 8 Union City, New Jersey. 9 This meeting is called in compliance 10 with Chapter 231 Public Law, 1975, the Open Public 11 Meeting Act. Adequate notice of this meeting has 12 been provided as follows: Notice of this meeting 13 setting forth the time, date, location, the agenda 14 to the extent known, was forwarded to The Record, 15 The Star Ledger, has been posted on the bulletin 16 board in City Hall, and has been made available to 17 the public in the Office of the Municipal Clerk, 18 also has been posted on the website of the City of 19 Union City, ucnj.com. 20 Before we do roll call for tonight's 21 meeting, can everybody kindly rise to salute the 22 flag, please? 23 24 (Whereupon the Pledge of Allegiance was 25 recited.)  6 1 ROLL CALL: 2 3 MR. VALLEJO: Thank you. Roll call for 4 tonight's special meeting. 5 Mayor Stack is absent. 6 Mr. Velazquez. 7 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Here. 8 MR. VALLEJO: Commissioner Valdivia. 9 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Here. 10 MR. VALLEJO: Ms. Genao. 11 MS. GENAO: Yes. 12 MR. VALLEJO: Ms. Morejon is absent. 13 Ms. Fernandez is absent. 14 Mr. Medina. 15 MR. MEDINA: Here. 16 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Guareno. 17 MR. GUARENO: Here. 18 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Oseguera. 19 MR. OSEGUERA: Here. 20 MR. VALLEJO: Let the record indicate 21 there are six present. 22 * * * * 23 24 25  7 1 ADOPTION OF MINUTES: 2 3 MR. VALLEJO: All right. We're going to 4 adoption of minutes of July 22, 2025. Can I have 5 a motion? 6 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: I make a motion. 7 MR. VALLEJO: Motion by Mr. Velazquez. 8 MR. OSEGUERA: Second. 9 MR. VALLEJO: Seconded by Mr. Oseguera. 10 Roll call on the motion. 11 Mr. Velazquez. 12 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Yes. 13 MR. VALLEJO: Ms. Genao. 14 MS. GENAO: Yes. 15 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Guareno. 16 MR. GUARENO: Yes. 17 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Medina. 18 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 19 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Oseguera. 20 MR. OSEGUERA: Yes. 21 MR. VALLEJO: Five in favor, motion 22 pass. 23 * * * * 24 25  8 1 HEARINGS/APPLICATION: 2 1300 MANHATTAN AVENUE: 3 4 MR. VALLEJO: All right. Item number 5 one on tonight's agenda, resolution from the Board 6 of Commissioners. Mr. Chewcaskie, please. 7 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Yes, certainly. This 8 Board recommended that 1300 Manhattan Avenue be 9 declared an area in need of redevelopment. There 10 was a resolution that was adopted by the Board of 11 Commissioners accepting that recommendation on 12 July 8, 2025. A redevelopment plan has been 13 prepared by Mr. Spatz, that plan was introduced by 14 ordinance on September 23rd, it is scheduled for 15 final adoption on October 7th. The ordinance was 16 referred to the Planning Board for review and 17 recommendation that it is consistent with the 18 goals of the City's master plan and also 19 consistent with the determination for the study 20 area as determined by the Board. 21 I would recommend a motion by the Board 22 to recommend that the ordinance be adopted and 23 then I would prepare a letter to the Board of 24 Commissioners. 25 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Does anybody  9 1 have any questions? Anybody from the public? If 2 not, can I get a motion? I make a motion. 3 MR. VALLEJO: Motion by Mr. Velazquez. 4 MR. GUARENO: Second. 5 MR. VALLEJO: Seconded by Mr. Guareno. 6 Roll call on the motion. 7 Mr. Velazquez. 8 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Yes. 9 MR. VALLEJO: Commissioner Valdivia. 10 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 11 MR. VALLEJO: Ms. Genao. 12 MS. GENAO: Yes. 13 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Guareno. 14 MR. GUARENO: Yes. 15 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Medina. 16 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 17 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Oseguera. 18 MR. OSEGUERA: Yes. 19 MR. VALLEJO: Six in favor, motion 20 carries. 21 * * * * 22 23 24 25  10 1 HEARINGS/APPLICATIONS: 2 603 CENTRAL AVENUE, LLC - 3 603-607 CENTRAL AVENUE: 4 5 MR. VALLEJO: Item number two, 603 6 Central Avenue, LLC, 603-607 Central Avenue. Ms. 7 Pereiras, please. 8 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you. 9 MR. CHEWCASKIE: So I guess I'll set 10 this up for the board but first, I guess we should 11 have Ms. Pereiras' appearance. 12 MS. PEREIRAS: Good evening, counsel, 13 Mr. Chairman, Members of the Board. May it please 14 the Board, Bianca Pereiras on behalf of the 15 applicant for 603, 605, 607 Central Avenue. 16 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Okay. A few moments 17 ago, Ms. Pereiras handed me the affidavit of 18 service and publication. I've reviewed same, it 19 is in appropriate form, so the Board has 20 jurisdiction to hear this matter. 21 This is an unusual matter and I may ask 22 the Board Chairman to sign a subdivision deed this 23 evening with regard to the financing of this 24 property. So the application was made for 25 subdivision approval, but this project is under  11 1 construction and was originally approved by the 2 zoning board several years back. I reviewed the 3 zoning board resolution, that resolution indicates 4 that there would be three two-family homes 5 constructed on three lots. They never granted the 6 subdivision approval. So this application is to 7 formalize that subdivision approval that was 8 mentioned, but not necessarily approved, by the 9 zoning board. 10 So in light of the fact that with the 11 review, we required the application to come to the 12 Planning Board, who has authority to act on those 13 subdivisions. So since their project was under 14 construction, there was financing involved, I 15 requested Ms. Pereiras to prepare a subdivision 16 deed. I've had the opportunity to review the deed 17 and I've also prepared the resolution because, my 18 understanding, there may be one minor change to 19 what was originally approved. But that's where 20 we're at and I'll allow Ms. Pereiras to continue. 21 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you very much. By 22 way of background, the area in question was 23 originally three separate tax lots in the City of 24 Union City. However, there was a warehouse that 25 was built on the site and it overlapped the  12 1 property lines. So at some point in the past, 2 administratively, the tax assessor merged these 3 three lots. When we went before the board in 2020 4 with our applicants, Mr. Tony Pietar (ph.), who's 5 a long time resident of Union City, his goal was 6 to construct three two-family home and that 7 application was approved by the board and extended 8 through the end of this year, permits were 9 submitted. 10 So we're really coming before this Board 11 to bring that back into conformance, so that it 12 corresponds with the approval by the zoning board, 13 allowing each of the two-families to be 14 constructed on the site. I'd like to call our 15 architect, Mr. Manuel Pereiras. 16 17 M A N U E L P E R E I R A S, after having been 18 duly sworn or affirmed, did testify as follows: 19 20 MR. PEREIRAS: Manny Pereiras, 21 P-E-R-E-I-R-A-S, with Pereiras Architects 22 Ubiquitous, located at 1116 Summit Avenue, Union 23 City. 24 MS. PEREIRAS: For purposes of the 25 record, I ask that Mr. Pereiras be accepted as an  13 1 expert in the field of architecture. 2 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Thank you. Mr. 3 Pereiras has appeared before this Board on 4 numerous occasions. I would recommend the Board 5 to accept him as an expert in the field of 6 architecture. And, Mr. Pereiras, just for the 7 record, your license is still in good standing? 8 MR. PEREIRAS: It is. 9 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Thank you. 10 MS. PEREIRAS: Mr. Pereiras, are you 11 familiar with the property in question? 12 MR. PEREIRAS: I am. 13 MS. PEREIRAS: Did you prepare the 14 drawings and present the application before the 15 zoning board originally back in 2020? 16 MR. PEREIRAS: I did. 17 MS. PEREIRAS: Can you describe briefly 18 those approvals and why the subdivision is 19 necessary to go forward? 20 MR. PEREIRAS: I would be very happy to. 21 What I'm presenting today is what was in agreement 22 with the zoning board of adjustment, and what 23 we're proposing to do is construct three 24 two-family houses. In these three two-family 25 houses, there are some very subtle differences  14 1 between the lots. The first, lot which is 21.03, 2 has a three foot setback along the south side, 3 zero foot setback along the north side, five feet 4 in the rear, two feet in the front. If you 5 notice, the site has a slight inclination on 6 Central Avenue. Central Avenue is not square with 7 the back of the lot lines. 8 Lot 21.02 is the same as far as concept. 9 Three feet on one side, zero on that lot line, 10 five feet in the rear, and two feet in the bottom. 11 And then lot 21.01, this is a little bit 12 of a difference. We wanted three feet again on 13 the south side, but we also wanted for fire safety 14 three feet on the north side. So we created a 15 three foot setback along that side, two feet in 16 the front, five feet in the rear. But if you have 17 three feet on both sides of that lot, that lot is 18 a little bit bigger than the other two. So lot 19 21.07 is 27 feet wide, whereas 21.02 and 21.03 are 20 24 feet wide. 21 That makes the breakdown of lots as 22 follows: Lot 21.01 is 1,640 square feet, 21.02 is 23 1,478 square feet, and lot 21.03 is 1500 square 24 feet. And this is -- again, we're asking for 25 variances as far as lot depth is concerned and lot  15 1 area is concerned. But this is a hardship, this 2 is a preexisting condition prior to the warehouse 3 being there. And it brings the lots much more 4 into conformance with the zone. It allows us to 5 create three two-family houses. That makes sense, 6 fits into the neighborhood. The zoning board felt 7 in agreement with that. And we're presenting this 8 for you, hoping you agree as well. 9 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Is there any change 10 between the houses as approved by the zoning board 11 and the houses that are under construction in 12 terms of size, number of rooms, parking, et 13 cetera? 14 MR. PEREIRAS: None. 15 MR. CHEWCASKIE: There was a reference 16 that I saw in Mr. Spatz's report -- I should ask 17 you that, have you seen Mr. Spatz's report? 18 MS. PEREIRAS: I have not. 19 MR. CHEWCASKIE: I apologize. Mr. Spatz 20 is not here because of a holiday. The only issue 21 that Mr. Spatz raised was a roof deck, so I don't 22 know if that was on the original drawing or not. 23 MR. PEREIRAS: A roof deck was not on 24 the original drawing, we expect to be before the 25 zoning board of adjustment again for the roof  16 1 deck. But that is subsequent to construction 2 documents and what's being constructed now and the 3 permits that have been provided to the building 4 department do not have the roof deck as part of 5 it. 6 MR. CHEWCASKIE: So you're not asking 7 this Board for any approvals related to the roof 8 deck, you're just asking this Board to approve the 9 subdivision, which basically is to draw the lines 10 between the three houses? 11 MR. PEREIRAS: That's correct. 12 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Do you have anything 13 further, Ms. Pereiras? 14 MS. PEREIRAS: I do not. 15 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Do any Board Members 16 have any questions for Mr. Pereiras? 17 MR. GUARENO: I notice that they're all 18 basically the exact same layout and considering 19 parking, is there any way -- again, size wise, I'm 20 not 100 percent sure as far as the entrance on one 21 of them -- one of the ones at the end, to make it 22 on the other side? Hopefully fit a parking space 23 in between? Because I know the parking obviously 24 is horrible. 25 MR. PEREIRAS: We discussed that at the  17 1 zoning board when they approved the layouts of the 2 setbacks. And ultimately, they preferred more 3 repetition and the look of the houses to be the 4 same and not be odd than to try to squeeze another 5 parking space in there. I understand your point. 6 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: This goes back, 7 if it goes back to the zoning board, have we got a 8 commitment about this being built? 9 MR. PEREIRAS: Yes. So everything is in 10 place waiting for this at this point. So the 11 building department has reviewed the drawings, 12 they're ready to approve it. We've gotten through 13 our building subcode official, electric, plumbing, 14 and nothing is being released until the 15 subdivision gets memorialized. 16 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Anybody have any 17 questions? Anybody from the public? 18 MR. VALLEJO: This application was 19 before the zoning board of adjustment? 20 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Originally. 21 MR. VALLEJO: Originally. That was 22 approved, I don't know about the roof deck, I 23 don't think -- 24 MR. CHEWCASKIE: I think you were out, 25 Mr. Vallejo. The roof deck will go back to the  18 1 board of adjustment. They're not asking this 2 Board to approve the roof deck, we're only being 3 requested to approve the subdivision. 4 MR. VALLEJO: Okay. 5 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Does anybody member of 6 the public have any questions about this 7 application? Okay. There are none. It's up to 8 the Board now. 9 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: I make a motion 10 to approve. 11 MR. VALLEJO: Motion to approve by Mr. 12 Velazquez. 13 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Second. 14 MR. VALLEJO: Seconded by Commissioner 15 Valdivia. Roll call on the motion. 16 Mr. Velazquez. 17 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Yes. 18 MR. VALLEJO: Commissioner Valdivia. 19 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 20 MR. VALLEJO: Ms. Genao. 21 MS. GENAO: Yes. 22 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Guareno. 23 MR. GUARENO: Yes. 24 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Medina. 25 MR. MEDINA: Yes.  19 1 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Oseguera. 2 MR. OSEGUERA: Yes. 3 MR. VALLEJO: Six in favor, motion 4 carries. 5 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you all very much. 6 MR. CHEWCASKIE: And, you know, maybe 7 just so we don't bounce back and forth, I also 8 prepared a resolution approving this, which you 9 know typically we wait until the next meeting, but 10 since this was straightforward. We've 11 incorporated the board of adjustment resolution on 12 that, I would like someone to move that 13 resolution. 14 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: I make a motion. 15 MR. VALLEJO: Motion by Mr. Velazquez. 16 MS. GENAO: Second. 17 MR. VALLEJO: Seconded by Ms. Genao. 18 This is adoption of the resolution 603 Central 19 Avenue. Motion by Mr. Velazquez, seconded by Ms. 20 Genao. Roll call on the motion. 21 Mr. Velazquez. 22 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Yes. 23 MR. VALLEJO: Commissioner Valdivia. 24 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 25 MR. VALLEJO: Ms. Genao.  20 1 MS. GENAO: Yes. 2 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Guareno. 3 MR. GUARENO: Yes. 4 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Medina. 5 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 6 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Oseguera. 7 MR. OSEGUERA: Yes. 8 MR. VALLEJO: Six in favor, motion pass. 9 * * * * 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  21 1 HEARINGS/APPLICATIONS/EXTENSIONS: 2 H&A DEVELOPERS, LLC - 3 2704-2710 KENNEDY BOULEVARD: 4 5 MR. VALLEJO: We're moving now to item 6 number three, H & A Developers, LLC, 2704-2710 7 Kennedy Boulevard. Ms. Pereiras, please. 8 MS. PEREIRAS: Bianca Pereiras on behalf 9 of the applicants, H & A Developers, LLC, for 10 property at 2704-2710 Kennedy Boulevard. The 11 Board may recall that we were before you back in 12 July of '22, at which time the Board approved an 13 application for a mixed-use building. We had an 14 extension granted also by this Board that is valid 15 through November of this year. 16 However, we are still pending approval 17 from the Hudson County Planning Board. We 18 submitted an application to them, I conferred with 19 them earlier today and it looks like this 20 application is going to be heard in November of 21 this year. So because our municipal approvals 22 were expiring, we're looking to have that 23 extension for one year so that we can make all the 24 county approvals in time, so that we can get that 25 resolution and submit for permits before the Union  22 1 City building department. So we are asking for a 2 one year extension on this matter. 3 MR. CHEWCASKIE: So just so that I'm 4 clear, the application has been filed with the 5 County? 6 MS. PEREIRAS: It has. 7 MR. CHEWCASKIE: And they expect to hear 8 it in November? 9 MS. PEREIRAS: That's correct. 10 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Would there be any 11 other approvals besides the County required to 12 obtain building permits then? 13 MS. PEREIRAS: That is the only 14 approval, unless there's something on the building 15 side. 16 MR. PEREIRAS: So there's a third party 17 structural review that's being undertaken right 18 now. We plan to get approvals on that within the 19 next week or so. There's a TWA filing that has to 20 happen as well, but that is not -- the City 21 doesn't wait for that. So what we need in order 22 to get permits is the County approval and this 23 extension. 24 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Okay. Any Board Member 25 have any questions regarding the request for  23 1 extension? Does any member of the public have any 2 questions regarding the request for extension on H 3 & A Developers? 4 Hearing none, I would recommend, since 5 it would be subject to all other approvals anyway, 6 that the County has not acted on this yet, that 7 the Board grant the extension. 8 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: I make a motion 9 to grant it. 10 MR. VALLEJO: Motion by Mr. Velazquez to 11 grant the extension. 12 MR. GUARENO: Second. 13 MR. VALLEJO: Seconded by Mr. Guareno. 14 Roll call on the motion. 15 Mr. Velazquez. 16 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Yes. 17 MR. VALLEJO: Commissioner Valdivia. 18 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 19 MR. VALLEJO: Ms. Genao. 20 MS. GENAO: Yes. 21 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Guareno. 22 MR. GUARENO: Yes. 23 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Medina. 24 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 25 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Oseguera.  24 1 MR. OSEGUERA: Yes. 2 MR. VALLEJO: Six in favor, motion pass. 3 MR. CHEWCASKIE: And as with the prior 4 application, I did prepare the resolution for 5 action by the Board this evening, since it was an 6 extension, so you may have off next month. So if 7 we could have a motion to approve? 8 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: I make a motion. 9 MR. VALLEJO: Motion by Mr. Velazquez. 10 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Second. 11 MR. VALLEJO: Seconded by Commissioner 12 Valdivia. Roll call on the motion. 13 Mr. Velazquez. 14 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: Yes. 15 MR. VALLEJO: Commissioner Valdivia. 16 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 17 MR. VALLEJO: Ms. Genao. 18 MS. GENAO: Yes. 19 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Guareno. 20 MR. GUARENO: Yes. 21 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Medina. 22 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 23 MR. VALLEJO: Mr. Oseguera. 24 MR. OSEGUERA: Yes. 25 MR. VALLEJO: Six in favor, motion  25 1 passes. 2 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you all very much. 3 MR. PEREIRAS: Thank you, everyone. 4 MR. CHEWCASKIE: Do you have the deed? 5 MS. PEREIRAS: I do. 6 * * * * 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  26 1 ADJOURNMENT: 2 3 MR. VALLEJO: There being no other 4 application on tonight's agenda, can I have a 5 motion to close tonight's meeting? 6 CHAIRPERSON VELAZQUEZ: I make a motion. 7 MR. VALLEJO: Motion by Mr. Velazquez. 8 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Second. 9 MR. VALLEJO: Seconded by Commissioner 10 Valdivia. All in favor? 11 12 (All Board Members indicate in the 13 affirmative.) 14 15 MR. VALLEJO: The ayes have it. Let the 16 record show that the meeting has ended. Thank you 17 and good night, everyone. 18 19 (Whereupon the meeting was adjourned at 20 6:26 p.m.) 21 22 23 24 25  27 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