Zoning Board of Adjustment

1 CITY OF UNION CITY HUDSON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT : TRANSCRIPT OF RECORDED REGULAR MEETING : : PROCEEDINGS ___________________: Union City High School Media Center 2500 Kennedy Boulevard Union City, New Jersey Thursday, June 10, 2021 Commencing at 6:11 p.m. M E M B E R S P R E S E N T: GEORGE GARCIA JOHN MEDINA ROSIO PENA, Alternate No. 1 GERALDINE PEREZ, Alternate No. 2 RAYMOND CETINICH, Alternate No. 3 MINDRY WATLEY, Alternate No. 4, (Arrived at 6:18 p.m.) MARGARITA GUTIERREZ, Vice Chairperson VICTOR M. GRULLON, Chairperson M E M B E R S A B S E N T: LIBERO MAROTTA MIGUEL ORTIZ A L S O P R E S E N T: CARLOS VALLEJO, Secretary to the Board TOMAS R. PANEQUE, ESQ., Board Attorney DAVID SPATZ, Consultant Community Housing and Planning Associates  2 A P P E A R A N C E S: BIANCA P. PEREIRAS, ESQ. Attorney for Applicant, 9799 Ventures, LLC BIANCA P. PEREIRAS, ESQ. Attorney for Applicant, Francisco Rodriguez BIANCA P. PEREIRAS, ESQ. Attorney for Applicant, Park Avenue Investment, LLC  3 I N D E X PAGE CALL TO ORDER 6 SALUTE TO FLAG 6 ROLL CALL 7 ADOPTION OF MINUTES 9 HEARINGS 111 35th Street, LLC 11 9799 Ventures, LLC 12 Nerio & Graciela Espinosa 16 Francisco Rodriguez 18 Park Avenue Investment, LLC 35 ADOPTION OF RESOLUTIONS 51/53/55 ADJOURNMENT 57  4 I N D E X Francisco Rodriguez 3300 Hudson Avenue WITNESS PAGE Manuel Pereiras 23  5 I N D E X Park Avenue Investment, LLC 331 49th Street WITNESS PAGE Manuel Pereiras 36  6 1 THE SECRETARY: May I have your attention, 2 please? 3 Please take notice that on Thursday, June 4 10, 2021, at six p.m., a Regular Meeting is 5 scheduled for the City of Union City Zoning City 6 Board of Adjustment, to be held in the Union -- 7 Union City High School, located at 2500 John F. 8 Kennedy Boulevard, Union City, New Jersey. 9 Can everybody kindly rise to salute the 10 flag, please? 11 12 (Whereupon, the Pledge of Allegiance was 13 said by all.) 14 15 THE SECRETARY: Thank you. 16 Adequate notice of this meeting has been 17 provided as follow: 18 Notice of this meeting setting forth the 19 time, date, location, and to the agenda, to the 20 extent known, was forwarded to The Jersey 21 Journal, The Record, and The Hudson Reporter, has 22 been posted on the bulletin board in City Hall, 23 and has been made available to the public in the 24 Office of the Municipal Clerk. 25 Also, have been posted on the website of  7 1 the City of Union City; in front of the High 2 School building. 3 4 ROLL CALL: 5 6 THE SECRETARY: Roll call for tonight’s 7 meeting. 8 Mr. Grullon? 9 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Here. 10 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Marotta’s absent. 11 Ms. Gutierrez? 12 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Here. 13 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Ortiz is absent. 14 Mr. Garcia? 15 MR. GARCIA: Here. 16 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Medina? 17 MR. MEDINA: Here. 18 THE SECRETARY: Miss Pena? 19 MS. PENA: Present. 20 THE SECRETARY: Miss Perez? 21 MS. PEREZ: Here. 22 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Cetinich? 23 MR. CETINICH: Here. 24 THE SECRETARY: Miss Watley is on the way. 25 We have one, two, three, four, five, six,  8 1 seven members. 2 We have a full quorum for tonight’s 3 meeting. 4 5 * * * 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  9 1 ADOPTION OF MINUTES: 2 3 ( 1) Regular Meeting Held on May 13, 2021 4 5 THE SECRETARY: Okay. 6 Approval of previous meeting minutes from 7 May 13, 2021. 8 Can I have a motion? 9 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Motion to approve. 10 THE SECRETARY: Motion by Mr. -- 11 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Second. 12 THE SECRETARY: -- Grullon. 13 Seconded by Miss Gutierrez. 14 Roll call on the motion. 15 Mr. Grullon? 16 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Yes. 17 THE SECRETARY: Miss Gutierrez? 18 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Yes. 19 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Garcia? 20 MR. GARCIA: Yes. 21 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Medina? 22 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 23 THE SECRETARY: Miss Pena? 24 MS. PENA: Yes. 25 THE SECRETARY: Miss Perez?  10 1 MS. PEREZ: Yes. 2 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Cetinich? 3 MR. CETINICH: Yes. 4 THE SECRETARY: Seven in favor. 5 Motion carries. 6 7 * * * 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  11 1 111 35th St., LLC – 2 111 35th Street: 3 4 THE SECRETARY: We’re going to item number 5 -- number 1, an extension; 111 35th Street, LLC. 6 Mr. Paneque? 7 MR. PANEQUE: This is an application that 8 was filed by Mr. Alonso’s office, requesting an 9 extension. 10 However, in speaking to Mr. Alonso, it was 11 clarified that this application was only approved 12 a year ago and, therefore, there was no need to 13 file for an extension as the approval would have 14 been valid for two years. 15 So, this extension would not actually be 16 ready to be filed until next year in 2022. 17 After speaking to Mr. Alonso, he submitted 18 a letter via email with a date of June 10 th, 19 requesting that his application for an extension 20 be withdrawn. 21 The letter is signed by Mr. Alonso and it 22 was emailed both to myself and Mr. Vallejo. 23 THE SECRETARY: Thank you. 24 * * * 25  12 1 9799 Ventures, LLC – 2 1219 Bergenline Avenue: 3 4 THE SECRETARY: Now we’re going to number 5 2. 6 It’s an extension; 9799 Ventures, LLC, 1219 7 Bergenline Avenue. 8 Miss Pereiras, please? 9 (Whereupon, there was a pause in the 10 proceedings.) 11 MS. PEREIRAS: Good evening, counsel, Mr. 12 Chairman, members of the Board. 13 May it please the Board, Bianca Pereiras, 14 on behalf of the applicant. 15 The Board may recall that we appeared 16 before you in April of 2019 for approval to 17 construct a mixed use building. 18 This Board voted to approve that 19 application. Unfortunately, my clients were hit 20 rather hard during this COVID pandemic and they 21 were unable to proceed with the construction. In 22 fact, they weren’t able to even carry the 23 building any further and were forced to sell the 24 property. 25 The new owners took a deed into this  13 1 property just last month and have already 2 retained the architect to finalize construction 3 documents and submit, hopefully within the next 4 two months, for application and permits before 5 the -- the Union City Building Department. 6 As such, we respectfully request that this 7 Board grant us a one year extension to allow them 8 that time to submit for permits. 9 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Ms. Pereiras, -- 10 MS. PEREIRAS: Yes. 11 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: -- could you briefly 12 describe this application? 13 What did we approve? 14 MS. PEREIRAS: Yeah. 15 So this was a mixed use building with 16 commercial and four residential units. This was 17 a four story building right on Bergenline Avenue. 18 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Was that going to be 19 a new construction? Or just -- 20 MS. PEREIRAS: It’s going to be new 21 construction. 22 There’s an existing structure there that’s 23 going to be torn down and a new building put up. 24 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Okay. 25 And you say the -- the property was sold to  14 1 a new owner? 2 MS. PEREIRAS: Correct. 3 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: And -- 4 MS. PEREIRAS: And the owner is the 5 applicant before the Board this evening. 6 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: We -- if we grant the 7 one year extension, they’ll be ready to proceed? 8 MS. PEREIRAS: They are ready and willing 9 to proceed as quickly as possible. 10 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Okay. 11 I don’t have any other question. 12 Any member of the Board has any question? 13 Hear none. 14 Any member of the public has any question 15 for this application? 16 Hear none. 17 So with that, knowing that -- due to the 18 circumstances of the COVID-19, the owner was, you 19 know, not able to proceed with the -- with his 20 plan was -- he sold the property, we’re going to, 21 you know, grant this one year extension to the 22 new owner to proceed with the construction. 23 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you very much. 24 THE SECRETARY: Motion on the table to 25 approve the extension by Mr. Grullon.  15 1 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Second. 2 THE SECRETARY: Second by Miss Gutierrez. 3 Roll call on the motion. 4 Mr. Grullon? 5 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Yes. 6 THE SECRETARY: Miss Gutierrez? 7 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Yes. 8 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Garcia? 9 MR. GARCIA: Yes. 10 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Medina? 11 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 12 THE SECRETARY: Miss Pena? 13 MS. PENA: Yes. 14 THE SECRETARY: Miss Perez? 15 MS. PEREZ: Yes. 16 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Cetinich? 17 MR. CETINICH: Yes. 18 THE SECRETARY: Seven in favor. 19 Motion carries. 20 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you all very much. 21 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: You’re 22 welcome. 23 24 * * * 25  16 1 Nerio & Graciela Espinosa - 2 2415 Bergenline Avenue: 3 4 THE SECRETARY: All right. 5 We are going to move to number 3. 6 Nerio and Graciela Espinosa, 2415 7 Bergenline Ave-- Bergenline Avenue. 8 Mr. Paneque, please? 9 MR. PANEQUE: Yes. 10 Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen of the 11 Board, I’ve been provided with a letter dated 12 June 9th, from the law firm of Paneque and 13 Paneque. 14 Just to clarify, I have no affiliation with 15 this law firm, other than a familiar (sic) 16 relationship. So I just want to bring that out 17 to the Board. 18 If the application had been presented, we 19 had made arrangements for a substitute attorney 20 to cover tonight’s hearing. 21 However, the letter that we received from 22 the law firm of Paneque and Paneque indicates 23 that they are withdrawing their application due 24 to extenuating circumstances and, as such, this 25 application is being withdrawn.  17 1 THE SECRETARY: Thank you, Mr. Paneque. 2 3 (Whereupon, Mindry Watley arrived at 6:18 4 p.m.) 5 6 THE SECRETARY: Let the record reflect that 7 Miss Mindry Wately joined the meeting. 8 We have eight members right now. 9 All right, application has been withdrawn. 10 11 * * * 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  18 1 Francisco Rodriguez - 2 3300 Hudson Avenue: 3 4 THE SECRETARY: We are going now to number 5 4. 6 Francisco Rodriguez, 3300 Hudson Avenue. 7 Miss Pereiras, please? 8 MR. PANEQUE: For the record, I’ve been 9 provided by Ms. Pereiras with the following 10 documentation: 11 I have a certification as to publication 12 and service, which is signed by Miss Bianca 13 Pereiras, indicating that notice of tonight’s 14 hearing on June 10th at six p.m., at this location 15 at the High School, was provided to all property 16 owners within the 200 foot radius. 17 The application notice indicates that it is 18 seeking the variances for these two expansion of 19 a nonconforming use variances for the property at 20 3300 Hudson Avenue, Union City, New Jersey. 21 The -- I’ve also been provided with a copy 22 of the affidavit of publication giving notice of 23 tonight’s hearing at this location for the 24 property in question, 3300 Hudson Avenue. 25 This affidavit indicates that notice was  19 1 published on May 28th of 2021. 2 I’ve also been provided with the copy -- 3 oh, actually, the original certified mail 4 receipts, with a postmark date of May 28 th, 2021, 5 as well as a list of all property owners within 6 the 200 foot radius of 3300 Hudson Avenue, Block 7 202, Lot 1, from the Tax Assessor’s office, with 8 a date of April 30th, 2021. 9 Ms. Pereiras, I have a question for you. 10 MS. PEREIRAS: Absolutely. 11 MR. PANEQUE: You provided me with two 12 sheets of certified mail receipts. 13 One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, 14 eight. 15 Eight and six -- 14 certified mail 16 receipts. However, the 200 foot list is quite 17 extensive. 18 MS. PEREIRAS: It is. 19 There is actually some significant condos. 20 And so on those we submitted to the condo 21 associations, as permitted by the MLUL. 22 MR. PANEQUE: Okay. 23 And the condo association is listed here as 24 -- is that Hudson Yards West, -- 25 MS. PEREIRAS: Yes.  20 1 MR. PANEQUE: -- LLC? 2 MS. PEREIRAS: We have -- I’ll tell you -- 3 That is correct. 4 MR. PEREIRAS: No. 5 MS. PEREIRAS: No, no, no it’s not. I’m 6 sorry. 7 MR. PANEQUE: No? 8 MS. PEREIRAS: I’ll just doublecheck. 9 MR. PANEQUE: CC 3300 Palisade, LLC? 10 MS. PEREIRAS: It’s 3312 Hudson Avenue 11 Association. 12 So that association, -- 13 MR. PANEQUE: Okay. 14 MS. PEREIRAS: -- if you look at the 15 certified list, makes up one, two, three, four, 16 five, six, -- 17 MR. PANEQUE: Got it. 18 MS. PEREIRAS: -- seven, eight, -- it keeps 19 going to the rest of the certified list. 20 MR. PANEQUE: Yeah. No, I just -- 21 MS. PEREIRAS: It’s mostly that one. 22 MR. PANEQUE: I saw that. 23 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you. 24 MR. PANEQUE: You are correct that under 25 the statute you did not have to serve each  21 1 individual condo owner and you’re allowed to 2 serve the association, which there is proof here. 3 Okay. 4 Can we go off the record? 5 MS. DILLON: Sure. 6 7 (Off the record at 6:23 p.m.) 8 (On the record at 6:26 p.m.) 9 10 MS. DILLON: On the record. 11 MR. PANEQUE: Okay. 12 We -- just so that the Board is aware of 13 what has transpired, the certified mail receipts 14 were all stamped by the post office, with the 15 exception of the one that I question for the 16 condo association, which appears that the post 17 office failed to stamp. 18 I think they call that Murphy’s law. 19 Now, Ms. Pereiras was able to go on her 20 phone and she pulled up a tracking of the 21 certified mail receipt number and it appears that 22 not only was it mailed but it was received on 23 June 1st. 24 So, it has been received; it has been 25 mailed. Ms. Pereiras is going to print that  22 1 tracking information and -- and make it available 2 as part of her packet. 3 That being the case, this Board does have 4 jurisdiction to proceed and hear this matter. 5 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you very much, 6 counsel. 7 Again, Bianca Pereiras, on behalf of the 8 applicant for property located at 3300 Hudson 9 Avenue, also known as Lot 1 and Block 202. 10 The application before the Board this 11 evening is to renovate and modify the interior of 12 an existing building to change it from mixed use 13 to purely residential. 14 On-site we had a commercial space occupying 15 both the first and the second floors of this 16 existing building while the remaining was 17 residential. The application is to convert that 18 commercial space, that currently exists, to 19 residential. 20 We are located in the D-ST Swiss Town 21 Redevelopment Area where multi-families are not 22 permitted, and such we are seeking a D-2 variance 23 to expand on a nonconforming use. 24 We have one expert to testify before the 25 Board this evening and that is our architect, Mr.  23 1 Manuel Pereiras. 2 MS. DILLON: Please raise your right hand. 3 Do you affirm the testimony you’re about to 4 give this Board is the whole truth? 5 MR. PEREIRAS: I do. 6 MS. DILLON: Please state your name for the 7 record. 8 MR. PEREIRAS: Manny Pereiras, 9 P-E-R-E-I-R-A-S, with Pereiras Architects 10 Ubiquitous, 1116 Summit Avenue, Union City. 11 MS. DILLON: Thank you. 12 MS. PEREIRAS: Mr. Chairman, for purposes 13 of the record, Mr. Pereiras has testified -- 14 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: We accept -- 15 MS. PEREIRAS: -- before this Board in the 16 past. 17 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: -- your 18 qualifications, Mr. Pereiras. 19 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you very much. 20 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Thank you. 21 MR. PEREIRAS: Thank you. 22 MS. PEREIRAS: Mr. Pereiras, are you 23 familiar with the property at 3300 Hudson Avenue? 24 MR. PEREIRAS: Yes. 25 MS. PEREIRAS: And did you prepare the  24 1 drawings that are before the Board this evening? 2 MR. PEREIRAS: I did. 3 MS. PEREIRAS: And would kindly describe 4 the project to the Board? 5 MR. PEREIRAS: I’d be very happy to. 6 We’re actually dealing with one of the most 7 beautiful buildings in Union City, in my opinion. 8 It’s a beautiful brick structure; amazing 9 cast stone details. And we’re doing what this 10 building really deserves. 11 Right now it’s carved into a lot of 12 hodgepodge commercial offices in really bad 13 condition. It doesn’t fit into the area. It 14 doesn’t fit into that building the way it is. 15 We’re, basically, restoring it back to 16 residential. And we, in this particular case, we 17 let the building speak to us in how we had to 18 split up these residential units. 19 And I’m going to walk you through that. We 20 simply did what actually fits in the building. 21 For purposes of the presentation, the same 22 drawings that were submitted to the Board, are on 23 the easel to my left. 24 And I’m going to start with sheet Z01. 25 In Z01 we see the site -- we see that we  25 1 have a series of existing nonconformities. We 2 have side yard, front yard, rear yard. 3 There’s only room for parking two cars in 4 the rear of the site. We’re not looking to make 5 any changes to the actual site or the footprint 6 of this building. 7 It -- it -- like I said before, it’s a 8 gorgeous building. We’re looking to keep the 9 integrity of that building. 10 We do have a large site, even though it’s 11 undersized for that location -- for the Swiss 12 Town redevelopment. We’re at 3,941 square feet. 13 On sheet Z02 that I turn to now, you -- we 14 see the existing conditions. 15 On the basement we have a series of storage 16 spaces. There’s cell tower equipment that’s in 17 the basement. That all remains. We’re not 18 looking to change that in any way. 19 The first floor we have office spaces. And 20 as you can see, they’re a series of cubicles and 21 spaces along there. Same thing on the second 22 floor. 23 What we’re proposing to do is to naturally 24 split this up into good residential units. There 25 are some awkward spaces and that’s simply a  26 1 function of the existing architecture of the 2 building. 3 We have the center stair here, which is the 4 vertical circulation of the building. And we 5 have the front and the hallway. 6 So we have one space here that is 361 7 square feet. Unfortunately, I can’t make that 8 bigger in any way. So we have a little bit of a 9 density issue there. We have an undersized 10 studio. 11 But what we’re proposing as a studio, it 12 works very well. It’s a great efficiency studio. 13 It’s ADA accessible. And it -- it fits in that 14 location really well. 15 To the right we have a one bedroom 16 apartment. 17 To the rear we have a -- a two bedroom 18 apartment. The rear apartment is 1200 -- well, 19 1,207 square feet. 20 The one bedroom apartment is 616 square 21 feet. 22 If you go up to the second floor, the 23 stairs lead you to a center core; that leads you 24 to the two apartments where we split it front and 25 back.  27 1 The back apartment is 1,108, two bedroom. 2 And the front apartment is 1,159, three 3 bedroom. 4 We go up to the top floor and there’s 5 something that’s slightly confusing here. It -- 6 we open it to same core. The rear apartment, we 7 call it a studio area, that’s because it is a 8 studio -- an artist that lives there and that’s 9 where he does his work. So it’s not a studio 10 apartment; it’s a studio area, an art studio and 11 he lives in that space. 12 And this is actually the owner’s son. He’s 13 been there for many years. He plans to be there 14 for many more years. Amazing artist. Traveled 15 the world. Producing amazing works of art and he 16 produces them right here in Union City. And 17 that’s the space that he works in. 18 And we’re looking to clean that up so he’ll 19 have his apartment, which is part art studio/part 20 apartment. So it’s a live-in condition. 21 And then the apartment along the front, 22 it’s also another two bedroom apartment and it is 23 958 square feet. 24 There are very minor things that we’re 25 doing to the exterior of the building. Mostly  28 1 just correcting window situations; creating a 2 little bit of a larger window for the studio 3 area, so he could get some good northern light 4 and some light from the east. 5 And that’s pretty much it. 6 We did draw up the elevations of the 7 building. Just because this is just a gorgeous 8 building, we do have no other changes to the 9 façade other than what I described. 10 The building is going to meet all Code 11 criteria from today’s contemporary IBC Code for 12 -- for safety. 13 So we’re going to sprinkler this building. 14 It’s going to have all the proper fire ratings. 15 It’s going to have an alarm system. It’s a huge 16 upgrade to the building, which is a huge benefit 17 and -- and definitely positive criteria. 18 That concludes my testimony. 19 MS. PEREIRAS: Mr. Pereiras, if you could 20 just call out some of the nonconforming 21 preexisting conditions that we have -- 22 MR. PEREIRAS: Be very happy -- 23 MS. PEREIRAS: -- on our zoning chart. 24 MR. PEREIRAS: -- to. 25 We have a few existing nonconforming  29 1 situations. 2 Minimum lot area. 3 Ten thousand is required; we have 3,941 4 square feet. 5 The minimum lot width. 6 A hundred feet is required in this 7 district; we have 39.3 feet. 8 The minimum front yard. 9 Twenty-five feet would be required; we have 10 17 feet three inches. 11 The minimum side yard. 12 Three feet for one side; 12 feet for both 13 as a total. We have zero on both sides of the 14 site. Also a preexisting nonconforming 15 situation. 16 Building coverage. 17 Sixty is permitted; we’re at 66 percent. 18 And the maximum lot coverage. 19 Seventy-five percent is permitted. We’re 20 actually slightly over the 75 percent; we’re 75 21 percent -- I think it’s 75.5 percent. That’s an 22 existing non-conformity as well. 23 And then off-street parking. 24 We’re expanding on that off-street parking 25 requirement. We would require a total of eight  30 1 spaces. We’re actually reducing it because the 2 commercial space had a requirement of 13.5 3 spaces. And now that we’re doing residential, we 4 have a total -- 5 And I’m actually going to defer to a 6 planner to verify my numbers but I believe we 7 have a total of 16 -- 8 We’re -- we are expanding on it. 9 We have a total of -- of 14 spaces are 10 required. 11 So, those are preexisting, nonconformities 12 as for -- except for the parking that’s expanded. 13 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Thank you, Mr. 14 Pereiras. 15 Does that conclude your testimony? 16 MR. PEREIRAS: It does. 17 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: You have any other 18 witness, Ms. Pereiras? 19 MS. PEREIRAS: We do not, Mr. Chairman. 20 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: I have a concern 21 here. 22 Your request is to -- to -- you know, to -- 23 to create an apartment in a mixed residential 24 building. 25 MR. PEREIRAS: Well, we’re removing --  31 1 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Right? 2 In a mixed use -- 3 MR. PEREIRAS: We’re removing the 4 commercial and making it only residential. 5 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: But do you have any 6 residential there? 7 MR. PEREIRAS: Yes. 8 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Because according to 9 the memo from the Building Department, it’s only 10 one commercial structure. 11 They’re not recognizing as any residential. 12 MR. PEREIRAS: Then I look to this Board to 13 consider this an application of converting a 14 commercial building to residential. 15 This is appropriate and needed for this 16 building and for this structure and for this 17 location. 18 I don’t see how this could be considered an 19 entirely commercial building. It’s definitely 20 residential units up there that are over a 21 hundred years old. And kitchens and bathrooms 22 that are very dated. 23 That said, if the Building Department -- I 24 -- I don’t need to question it, I don’t need to 25 argue it, we’re looking at this as a full  32 1 building redesign. 2 We’re going to be doing sprinklers for the 3 entire building. We’re going to be renovating 4 the entire building. 5 And, therefore, this application is simply 6 converting the commercial building into 7 residential appropriately. 8 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: I saw that. 9 Excuse me one second. 10 Off the record. 11 MS. DILLON: Off the record? 12 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Off the record, 13 please. 14 MS. DILLON: One moment please. 15 16 (Off the record at 6:36 p.m.) 17 (On the record at 6:40 p.m.) 18 19 MS. DILLON: On the record. 20 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: I had a concern of 21 conflicting information here; one from Building 22 Department that called this application to be 23 entirely commercial building and the request is 24 asking for a mixed use building, you know, 25 conversion.  33 1 And for this, would like to, you know, 2 request the applicant to make the necessary 3 changes and bring back this application to the 4 next meeting. 5 MS. PEREIRAS: Yes, Mr. Chairman, we have 6 no objection. 7 We will modify the application and the 8 drawings and submit and hopefully go before the 9 Board next month with no notice requirement. 10 CHAIRMAN GRULLON: Yes. No new notice 11 required. 12 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you. 13 CHAIRMAN GRULLON: Mr. Vallejo, I make a 14 motion to carry this application without new 15 notice. 16 THE SECRETARY: July 8. 17 CHAIRMAN GRULLON: Yes. Um-hum. 18 THE SECRETARY: Motion on the table to 19 carry this application to July 8 th by Mr. Grullon. 20 Any second the motion? 21 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Second. 22 THE SECRETARY: Second by Miss Gutierrez. 23 Roll call on the motion to carry this 24 application to July 8; no new notice required. 25 Mr. Grullon?  34 1 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Yes. 2 THE SECRETARY: Miss Gutierrez? 3 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Yes. 4 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Garcia? 5 MR. GARCIA: Yes. 6 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Medina? 7 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 8 THE SECRETARY: Miss Pena? 9 MS. PENA: Yes. 10 THE SECRETARY: Miss Perez? 11 MS. PEREZ: Yes. 12 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Cetinich? 13 MR. CETINICH: Yes. 14 THE SECRETARY: Seven in favor. 15 Motion carries. 16 (Whereupon, there was a pause in the 17 proceedings.) 18 19 * * * 20 21 22 23 24 25  35 1 Park Avenue Investment, LLC - 2 331 49th Street: 3 4 MR. PANEQUE: For the record, I’ve been 5 provided by Miss Pereiras with a certification as 6 to publication and service, giving notice of 7 tonight’s hearing on June 10th, with respect to 8 the property located at 331 49 th Street, Union 9 City, New Jersey. 10 The certification indicates notice was 11 given to all property owners within a 200 foot 12 radius of said property for tonight’s hearing. 13 I’ve also been provided with an affidavit 14 from The Jersey Journal indicating that notice of 15 tonight’s hearing, with respect to this 16 application, was published on the 28 th of May of 17 this year. 18 I’ve also been provided with the certified 19 mail receipt, with have a -- which have a 20 postmark date of May 28th, 2021. 21 And I’ve been provided with the Union City 22 Tax Assessor’s office tax list for properties 23 within the 200 foot radius of 331 49 th Street. 24 This tax list was done on May 5th, 2021. 25 Based on the documentation that has been  36 1 provided, this Board has jurisdiction to proceed 2 and hear this matter. 3 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you, counsel. 4 Again, Bianca Pereiras, on behalf of the 5 applicant, for 331 49th Street, also known as Lot 6 31 in Block 280. 7 Presently we have a residential building. 8 We are seeking to legalize two residential units 9 for a total of four within the structure. 10 We are located in the R low density 11 residential. And we have one expert to testify 12 before the Board this evening; Mr. Manuel 13 Pereiras. 14 MR. PEREIRAS: Manny Pereiras. 15 I recognize that I am still under oath. 16 MS. PEREIRAS: Mr. Pereiras, are you 17 familiar with the property at 331 49th Street? 18 MR. PEREIRAS: I am. 19 MS. PEREIRAS: And would you kindly 20 describe the proposed legalizations for the 21 Board? 22 MR. PEREIRAS: I’d be very happy to. 23 We have a -- a site that’s slightly 24 nonconforming. 25 We do have the 25 foot front yard set--  37 1 front yard frontage -- lot width. 2 Not my day today. 3 And we have a lot depth of 97.5 feet. So 4 that we’re slightly shy from the hundred that’s 5 required. That’s our first existing 6 nonconformity as far as variances go. 7 Obviously, the next one that gets triggered 8 is the minimum lot area. Twenty-five hundred is 9 required; we’re at 2,433. So we’re 67 square 10 feet shy of having a conforming lot. 11 We do have a use variance for you here 12 today. We’re converting what is a legal two 13 family to four family. 14 This Board, actually many years ago, saw 15 the same application. The applicant had issues 16 with the process -- legalizing it. Difficulty in 17 a lot of Code issues. 18 We’re correcting that here today -- we’re 19 coming before this Board to, basically, redo what 20 was done many years ago. Hopefully, -- and so 21 that he could finalize his process and go through 22 the Building Department and make -- get a proper 23 C.O. for all four units. 24 I’d like to describe to you where the units 25 are.  38 1 We have this front portion; houses two 2 units right now. There is a basement in this 3 front portion. And then there’s this rear 4 portion of the house and that’s where we propose 5 the fourth unit, along that rear portion. 6 As far as front yard, we have -- they have 7 prevailing front yard. 8 We have a minimum side yard that we do not 9 meet. There’s nine inches on one side; two foot 10 three on the other. 11 And we are expanding on the parking 12 variance. Since we’re legalizing two more cars 13 -- two more units, eight cars would be provided; 14 whereas, we have no parking. There’s no ability 15 to provide parking at this site. 16 Concerning the drawing, we see the 17 condition of this -- this house. 18 What we see here is the -- the basement 19 layout. We have the main stair leading from the 20 center of the building; that takes you down to 21 the apartment. There’s also an emergency stair 22 along the back. 23 And this is an existing two bedroom 24 apartment. You have the living room, dining 25 room, kitchen along the rear portion. You have  39 1 the two bedrooms along here. And you have the 2 mechanical room and the kitchen at this portion 3 over here. 4 The bedrooms, we are making -- changing 5 them significantly and we’re updating the entire 6 apartment in order to comply with Code. 7 We’re creating a two hour fire separation 8 in the ceiling to make sure that if there’s a 9 fire, that is contained. 10 We have a sprinkler system going throughout 11 the entire structure. It’s -- 12 We have also an alarm system going 13 throughout the entire structure. 14 And we’re creating emergency egress windows 15 for all the bedrooms. So if there’s ever any 16 danger, people could escape not only to the two 17 exists that they have within the apartment but 18 also to the windows, meaning that they’ll have 19 four exits coming out of this one small unit. 20 The entire square footage of this apartment 21 is 740 square feet for the apartment that we’re 22 proposing. 23 Actually, I’m sorry -- very sorry. 24 I’m telling you, this is not my day. 25 The -- what I described to you was the  40 1 existing condition. 2 The proposed condition, we’re actually 3 demolishing that entire apartment and we’re 4 creating a much -- much, much nicer apartment. 5 We’re creating a one bedroom apartment. 6 The one bedroom is along the front, which 7 makes access for egress even better. 8 We still have -- we’re maintaining the two 9 exists from the front and the back, as I 10 described. But instead of having this small 11 living room/dining room area, we made it a much 12 larger. We took a -- put away the other bedroom 13 and we made it into a larger living room/dining 14 room/kitchen area. 15 And we modified the existing bathroom. 16 We’re removing it altogether and we’re making an 17 ADA bathroom, which is triggered because we have 18 four units. And anything over three units, you 19 require ADA accessibility. 20 The two apartments above remain; no changes 21 are proposed to that. 22 And then the rear structure is -- we’re 23 maintaining the existing footprint of that rear 24 structure. What we have is an area of 4,000 -- I 25 mean 478 square feet in total, where you have an  41 1 entrance to the living room/dining room/kitchen 2 area. And then an internal stair that takes you 3 up to the bedroom area, with its walk-in closet. 4 The bathroom is on the first floor with the 5 kitchen/living room/dining room. And the -- and 6 the bedroom is on the second floor. 7 We’re not looking to expand that in any way 8 to the outside. It’s just basically using the 9 existing condition and legalizing what we have 10 there. 11 That is it for my presentation. And I’m 12 open for questions. 13 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: All right. 14 Mr. Pereiras, so that -- Apartment number 15 3, that’s a one -- you’re -- you’re proposing to 16 do a one bedroom apartment. 17 Is that a new construction? 18 MR. PEREIRAS: So, the -- it’s not new 19 construction. The interior is significantly 20 fixed. So we have to make it all comply with 21 Code. 22 So we’re creating new ceilings, new fire 23 ratings throughout everything, sprinkler system, 24 alarm. 25 So it’s an existing apartment that we’re  42 1 basically redoing completely. 2 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: And -- and that’s the 3 only one that is going to be duplexed. 4 No? 5 MR. PEREIRAS: That’s the only duplex; 6 correct. 7 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Any construction on 8 Apartment number 2 and number 4? 9 MR. PEREIRAS: Only Code required things, 10 such as the sprinkler system and the alarm 11 system. 12 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Okay. 13 But your basement unit, you’ll be, you 14 know, kind of renovating completely? 15 MR. PEREIRAS: It’s -- it’s more than 16 renovation. It’s a full alteration. 17 We’re demolishing the entire thing and 18 rebuilding it to something actually very 19 beautiful. It’s going to be a very nice one 20 bedroom apartment. 21 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Are you proposing to 22 do anything with the façade of the building? 23 MR. PEREIRAS: We aren’t proposing 24 anything. 25 If the Board would like anything  43 1 particular, we’d be happy to do so. There’s 2 nothing proposed at this time. 3 (Whereupon, there was a pause in the 4 proceedings.) 5 MR. PEREIRAS: Façade’s in nice shape. 6 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Could -- could you go 7 over the safety improvement that you’ll be doing 8 in the building? 9 MR. PEREIRAS: I’d be very happy to. 10 So, all our safety improvements come from 11 Code. We have various codes that apply. Mostly, 12 the International Building Code. 13 The greatest difference is that we’re going 14 from what’s called an R-5 structure, to an R -- 15 to an R-2 structure, which changes the Code 16 requirements significantly. 17 First and foremost, we’re going to have a 18 fire suppressed building. So this building is 19 going to be fully -- have a full functioning 20 sprinkler system that complies with NFPA 13. 21 Basically, you’re going to have sprinkler 22 heads in every single room. You’re going to have 23 your openings protected. 24 In addition to that, what we call fire 25 ratings, are improved throughout the building.  44 1 Fire ratings are done by means of an 2 assembly. It’s how a floor or how a wall is 3 constructed and the time frame it takes for a 4 fire to transpose from one end to the other. 5 In a very simple way, we’re creating a two 6 hour fire separation between this basement unit 7 and the units above. 8 We’re also creating a one hour separation 9 between the unit in the rear to the front. 10 And we’re creating a one hour separation 11 between all the existing units, as well as a one 12 hour separation in the stairwells. 13 The exterior walls, since they’re close to 14 the property line, also get upgraded to be a one 15 hour rating. 16 In addition to that, everything’s going to 17 meet electric code; everything’s going to meet 18 plumbing code. 19 Everything’s going to meet all the 20 requirements of the North Hudson Sewage Authority 21 or the Passaic Valley -- Valley Sewage Authority. 22 Which means it’s going to improve stormwater 23 runoff requirements and improve our -- our sewer 24 system. 25 In addition to that, we’re going to have a  45 1 fire alarm system. We have two fire alarm 2 systems going into this building. One alarm 3 system is going to be a low voltage alarm system 4 that’s going to address all the common areas. 5 And, in addition to that, there’s going to be a 6 110 volt interconnected fire alarm system within 7 each of the apartments. 8 In addition to that, all the bedrooms that 9 we’re creating are new, which is basically two. 10 One in the new apartment in the basement, 11 which is created along the front, is going to 12 have an emergency escape window. 13 And the -- and the apartment in the rear is 14 going to also have that emergency escape window. 15 What does it mean to have an emergency 16 escape window? 17 It fundamentally means that people could 18 exit in the case of an emergency. The opening is 19 going to be 5.7 square feet in total width. It 20 has minimum dimension of two feet in every 21 direction. And the sill height is no more than 22 44 inches. 23 So, those are the improvements we’ll be 24 doing to -- to the structure. 25 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Thank you, Mr.  46 1 Pereiras. 2 One last question. 3 On the parking requirement, are you 4 increasing the amount of bedroom or the amount 5 apartment? 6 Did -- is that a -- did -- is that -- would 7 that affect the parking requirement of this 8 application? 9 MR. PEREIRAS: Yes, we are expanding on a 10 preexisting variance there. 11 So there is no parking in this -- in this 12 project currently. There’s no way of providing 13 parking in this project. 14 We’re creating these -- basically, it’s a 15 one bedroom unit that we’re creating two of them. 16 And -- and we are expanding the parking 17 requirement on that. 18 Based on the RSIS standards, it’s 1.8 19 parking spaces per each one of these units. 20 Let’s round that. What -- what -- we could say 21 that we have four parking spaces are required, 22 based on these units. We cannot provide those 23 parking spaces and there’s no ability to do so on 24 this site. 25 However, we are in Union City. These are  47 1 small apartments. Economic apartments. 2 Accessible, which we need greatly. We have a -- 3 a lack of -- of apartments in Union City. It’s 4 very hard to get an apartment that’s economic and 5 -- and able to do. And we have great access to 6 public transportation. 7 Hopefully, we’ll have a resident that does 8 not have a car in these units. I think it’s very 9 reasonable, considering our public transportation 10 and the size of these apartments. 11 These aren’t huge apartments that is going 12 to house a whole family. This -- these are small 13 apartments. 14 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Thank you, Mr. 15 Pereiras. 16 I -- I don’t have any more questions. 17 Do you -- any member of the Board has any 18 question? 19 MR. GARCIA: I have a question. 20 Could you just explain the stairwell in -- 21 in the proposed basement plan? 22 The one that’s at the front of the building 23 toward 49th Street, just because I don’t see it in 24 the existing basement plan. 25 So are you proposing to build that  48 1 stairwell? 2 MR. PEREIRAS: So, -- are you -- do you 3 mean these steps along the front of the building? 4 MR. GARCIA: Yeah, those. Yup. 5 MR. PEREIRAS: Those are the preexisting 6 steps in the building. They should be on both 7 the existing and the proposed. 8 MR. GARCIA: Okay. 9 MR. PEREIRAS: That doesn’t change. 10 MR. GARCIA: So, -- yeah, it was just 11 missing -- 12 MR. PEREIRAS: That’s on the outside of the 13 house. Yeah. 14 MR. GARCIA: -- on here. 15 Okay. 16 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Anyone else has any 17 question? 18 Hear none. 19 At this time I want to open it to the 20 public. 21 Any member of the public want to step 22 forward on this application -- (indiscernible)? 23 Hear none. 24 Closed to the public. 25 Taking into consideration that it’s going  49 1 to be improvement of the safety of the building 2 and it’s also going to provide low -- low rental 3 apartments to the residents of Union City, I make 4 a motion to grant this application. 5 THE SECRETARY: Motion on -- on the table 6 to grant the application of Park Avenue 7 Investments, LLC. 8 MR. MEDINA: Second. 9 THE SECRETARY: Can I have a second? 10 MR. MEDINA: Second. 11 THE SECRETARY: Second by -- by Mr. Medina. 12 Roll call on the motion to approve this 13 application. 14 Mr. Grullon? 15 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Yes. 16 THE SECRETARY: Miss Gutierrez? 17 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Yes. 18 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Garcia? 19 MR. GARCIA: Yes. 20 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Medina? 21 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 22 THE SECRETARY: Miss Pena? 23 MS. PENA: Yes. 24 THE SECRETARY: Miss Perez? 25 MS. PEREZ: Yes.  50 1 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Cetinich? 2 MR. CETINICH: Yes. 3 THE SECRETARY: Seven in favor. 4 Motion carries. 5 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you all very much. 6 Have a good night. 7 I’ll see you next month. 8 MR. PEREIRAS: Thank you, everyone. 9 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Goodnight. 10 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Thank you. 11 MR. PEREIRAS: Goodnight. 12 13 * * * 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  51 1 ADOPTION OF RESOLUTIONS: 2 3 ( 1) 391 Mountain Road, LLC. 391 Mountain Road. 4 Block 175 Lot 48. Applicant proposes to a rear 5 addition and the conversion of one family into 6 two family. Approved 7 8 THE SECRETARY: We’re moving to Resolutions 9 now -- right now. 10 Number 1, 31 (sic) Mountain Road LLC. 11 This application was approved at the 12 previous meeting. 13 Can I have a motion to memorialize the 14 Resolution? 15 CHAIRMAN GRULLON: Motion. 16 THE SECRETARY: Motion by Mr. Grullon. 17 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Second. 18 THE SECRETARY: Seconded by Miss Gutierrez. 19 Roll call on the motion. 20 Mr. Grullon? 21 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Yes. 22 THE SECRETARY: Miss Gutierrez? 23 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Yes. 24 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Garcia? 25 MR. GARCIA: Yes.  52 1 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Medina? 2 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 3 THE SECRETARY: Miss Pena? 4 MS. PENA: Yes. 5 THE SECRETARY: Miss Perez? 6 MS. PEREZ: Yes. 7 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Cetinich? 8 MR. CETINICH: Yes. 9 THE SECRETARY: Seven in favor. 10 Motion carries. 11 12 * * * 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  53 1 ADOPTION OF RESOLUTIONS: 2 3 ( 2) La Q Realty, LLC. 707 22nd Street. Block 4 116 Lot 15. Change of use from a mixed use 5 grocery/warehouse and one (1) residential unit to 6 four (4) residential. Approved 7 8 THE SECRETARY: Resolution number 2. 9 Q Realty, LLC, 707 22nd Street. 10 Can I have a motion -- 11 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Motion. 12 THE SECRETARY: -- to adopt the Resolution? 13 Motion by Mr. Grullon. 14 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Second. 15 THE SECRETARY: Seconded by Miss Gutierrez. 16 Roll call on the motion. 17 Mr. Grullon? 18 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Yes. 19 THE SECRETARY: Miss Gutierrez? 20 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Yes. 21 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Garcia? 22 MR. GARCIA: Yes. 23 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Medina? 24 MR. MEDINA: Yes. 25 THE SECRETARY: Miss Pena?  54 1 MS. PENA: Yes. 2 THE SECRETARY: Miss Perez? 3 MS. PEREZ: Yes. 4 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Cetinich? 5 MR. CETINICH: Yes. 6 THE SECRETARY: Seven in favor. 7 Motion carries. 8 9 * * * 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  55 1 ADOPTION OF RESOLUTIONS: 2 3 ( 3) Aris B. Ventura Martinez. 104 40th Street 4 Block: 238 Lot: 18 Conversion from one (1) family 5 to a two (2) family home with a 197 sq. ft. 6 addition to second floor. Approved 7 8 THE SECRETARY: Resolution number 3. 9 Aris B. Ventura Martinez, 104 40 th Street. 10 Can I have a motion to memorialize this 11 Resolution? 12 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Yes. 13 Motion. 14 THE SECRETARY: Motion by Mr. Grullon. 15 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Second. 16 THE SECRETARY: Seconded by Miss Gutierrez. 17 Roll call on the motion. 18 Mr. Grullon? 19 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Yes. 20 THE SECRETARY: Miss Gutierrez? 21 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Yes. 22 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Garcia? 23 MR. GARCIA: Yes. 24 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Medina? 25 MR. MEDINA: Yes.  56 1 THE SECRETARY: Miss Pena? 2 MS. PENA: Yes. 3 THE SECRETARY: Miss Perez? 4 MS. PEREZ: Yes. 5 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Cetinich? 6 MR. CETINICH: Yes. 7 THE SECRETARY: Seven in favor. 8 Motion carries. 9 10 * * * 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  57 1 ADJOURNMENT: 2 3 THE SECRETARY: There being no other 4 application on tonight’s agenda, can I have a 5 motion to close tonight’s meeting? 6 Motion by Miss Gutierrez. 7 Seconded by Mr. Grullon. 8 All in favor? 9 10 (Whereupon, there was a chorus of ayes.) 11 12 THE SECRETARY: The ayes have it. 13 Thank you. 14 Let the record indicate that the meeting 15 has ended. 16 And goodnight, everyone. 17 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Goodnight. 18 19 (Whereupon, the proceedings were concluded 20 at 7:00 p.m.) 21 22 23 24 25  58 1 STATE OF NEW JERSEY : 2 : 3 COUNTY OF ESSEX : 4 5 I, KAREN A. MARINO, assigned transcriber, 6 do hereby affirm that the foregoing is a true and 7 accurate transcript in the matter of the REGULAR 8 MEETING of the UNION CITY ZONING BOARD OF 9 ADJUSTMENT heard on Thursday, June 10, 2021 and 10 digitally recorded. 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Monitored and proofread by: Deborah Dillon