Zoning Board of Adjustment

1 1 CITY OF UNION CITY HUDSON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY 2 ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT 3 : REGULAR MEETING : TRANSCRIPT OF 4 : --------------------: PROCEEDINGS 5 6 Union City High School Media Center 7 2500 Kennedy Boulevard Union City, New Jersey 8 Thursday, May 12, 2022 9 Commencing at 6:19 p.m. 10 11 M E M B E R S P R E S E N T: 12 VICTOR M. GRULLON, Chairperson MARGARITA GUTIERREZ, Vice Chairperson 13 MIGUEL ORTIZ ROSIO PENA, Alternate #1 14 GERALDINE PEREZ, Alternate #2 15 M E M B E R S A B S E N T: 16 LIBERO MAROTTA 17 GEORGE GARCIA RAYMOND CETINICH 18 MINDRY WATLEY 19 A L S O P R E S E N T: 20 TOMAS PANEQUE, ESQ. Board Counsel 21 CARLOS VALLEJO, Board Secretary VIA ZOOM 22 DAVID SPATZ, PP, Consulting City Planner 23 24 SUSAN BISCHOFF, CCR, RPR 449 Columbia Blvd., Wood-Ridge, NJ 07075 25 201-933-8220 SBischoffccr@yahoo.com  2 1 A P P E A R A N C E S: 2 J. ALVARO ALONSO, ESQ. BY: BIANCA PEREIRAS, ESQ. 3 Attorney for Applicant, Bernardino Saavedra 4 ADOLFO LOPEZ, ESQ. Attorney for Applicant, La Q Realty, LLC 5 ADOLFO LOPEZ, ESQ. 6 Attorney for Applicant, 547 36th St UC Associates, LLC 7 BIANCA PEREIRAS, ESQ. 8 Attorney for Applicant, BB 6th Holdings, LLC 9 BIANCA PEREIRAS, ESQ. 10 Attorney for Applicant, Old Monk Capital, LLC 11 12 BIANCA PEREIRAS, ESQ. Attorney for Applicant, Torres, 13 Alejandro and Nancy 14 BIANCA PEREIRAS, ESQ. 15 Attorney for Applicant, Xu, D & E Liang & Z Wang & N Yang 16 17 BIANCA PEREIRAS, ESQ. Attorney for Applicant, 418 JPM 18 Properties, LLC 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  3 1 I N D E X 2 PAGE 3 CALL TO ORDER 7 4 SALUTE TO FLAG 7 5 ROLL CALL 7 6 ADOPTION OF MINUTES 9 7 HEARINGS 10 Bernardino Saavedra 10 8 La Q Realty, LLC 17 547 36th ST UC Associates 22 9 BB 6th Holdings, LLC 28 Old Monk Capital, LLC 32 10 Torres, Alejandro & Nancy 40 Zu, D & E Liang & Z Wang 11 & N Yang 54 418 PJM Properties, LLC 57 12 ADOPTION OF RESOLUTIONS 70 13 ADJOURNMENT 73 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  4 1 I N D E X 2 Old Monk Capital, LLC 419 7th Street 3 4 WITNESS PAGE 5 MANUEL PEREIRAS 34 6 7 8 E X H I B I T S 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 I N D E X 2 Torres, Alejandro and Nancy 209 19th Street 3 4 WITNESS PAGE 5 MANUEL PEREIRAS 41 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  6 1 I N D E X 2 418 JPM Properties, LLC 418 11th Street 3 4 WITNESS PAGE 5 MANUEL PEREIRAS 58 6 7 E X H I B I T S 8 9 NO. DOCUMENT PAGE 10 NO EXHIBITS MARKED 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  7 1 MR. PANEQUE: Good evening, ladies and 2 gentlemen. Union City Zoning Board of Adjustment. 3 Please take notice that on Thursday, May 12, 2022, 4 at 6:00 p.m., a regular meeting is scheduled for 5 the Union City Zoning Board of Adjustment to be 6 held at Union City High School, located at 2500 7 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Union City, New Jersey. 8 If we could all rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. 9 10 (Whereupon, the Pledge of Allegiance was 11 recited.) 12 13 MR. PANEQUE: Adequate notice of this 14 meeting has been provided as follows: Notice of 15 this meeting setting forth the time, date, 16 location and the agenda to the extent known was 17 forwarded to The Jersey Journal, The Record, and 18 The Hudson Reporter, has been posted on the 19 bulletin board in City Hall and has been made 20 available to the public in the office of the 21 Municipal Clerk. 22 23 ROLL CALL: 24 25 MR. PANEQUE: Roll call for tonight's  8 1 meeting. Victor Grullon. 2 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Here. 3 MR. PANEQUE: Libero Marotta, absent. 4 Margarita Gutierrez. 5 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Here. 6 MR. PANEQUE: Miguel Ortiz. 7 MR. ORTIZ: Here. 8 MR. PANEQUE: George Garcia, absent. 9 Rosio Pena. 10 MS. PENA: Here. 11 MR. PANEQUE: Geraldine Perez. 12 MS. PEREZ: Here. 13 MR. PANEQUE: Raymond Cetinich, absent. 14 Mindry Watley, absent. 15 Let the record indicate there are five 16 present. Those absent tonight are Libero Marotta, 17 George Garcia, Raymond Cetinich, Mindry Watley. 18 So we have a board of five members which 19 constitute a full quorum to establish any 20 decision. 21 22 * * * * 23 24 25  9 1 ADOPTION OF MINUTES: 2 3 Regular meeting held on April 14, 2022 4 5 MR. PANEQUE: Approval of previous 6 meeting minutes from April 14, 2022. Motion to 7 approve the previous meeting minutes. 8 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Motion. 9 MR. PANEQUE: Motion made by Chairman 10 Grullon. 11 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Second. 12 MR. PANEQUE: Seconded by Margarita 13 Gutierrez. Roll call on the motion. Victor 14 Grullon. 15 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Yes. 16 MR. PANEQUE: Margarita Gutierrez. 17 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Yes. 18 MR. PANEQUE: Miguel Ortiz. 19 MR. ORTIZ: Yes. 20 MR. PANEQUE: Rosio Pena. 21 MS. PENA: Yes. 22 MR. PANEQUE: Geraldine Perez. 23 MS. PEREZ: Yes. 24 MR. PANEQUE: Five affirmative votes, 25 motion carries.  10 1 Bernardino Saavedra - 2 3806 New York Avenue: 3 4 MR. PANEQUE: Tonight's agenda, we're 5 starting with the first application, hearing 6 application Bernardino Saavedra, property at 3806 7 New York Avenue. Mr. Alonso. Let the record 8 reflect that Mr. Alonso is not here, however, he 9 has provided through attorney Bianca Pereiras, the 10 following documentation: 11 I've been provided with an affidavit 12 that indicates that Mr. Alonso gave notice of 13 tonight's hearing for the property in question, 14 3806 New York Avenue, Union City, New Jersey. 15 I've also been provided with a copy of 16 the affidavit from The Jersey Journal indicating 17 that notice of tonight's hearing was published on 18 April 30, 2022; said affidavit indicates that on 19 Thursday, May 12th, a public hearing will be held 20 at this location with respect to the property at 21 3806 New York Avenue. 22 I've also been provided with a copy of 23 the notice that went out to all property owners 24 within the 200 foot radius, as well as a list from 25 the tax assessor's office with a date of  11 1 April 27th, listing all property owners within the 2 200 foot radius of the property located at 3806 3 New York Avenue. 4 And finally, I've been provided with the 5 certified mail slips indicating that notice was 6 given to the post office on May 30th. I had to 7 figure it out, where the arrow was pointing, so 8 the mail May 30th. 9 Based on the documentation that has been 10 provided, this board has jurisdiction to proceed 11 and hear this matter. Ms. Pereiras, you have an 12 application to the court on behalf -- 13 MS. PEREIRAS: Just to clarify, the date 14 that the notices were sent out, don't it could 15 have been May 30th and I didn't review it myself, 16 I apologize. 17 MR. PANEQUE: You're right, today is 18 May 12th. 19 MS. PEREIRAS: Correct. 20 MR. PANEQUE: Thank you for bringing 21 that to my attention. It appears that the 22 postmark stamp is dated May, however, in carefully 23 looking at the stamp, it does appear that it's 24 listed as May 2021, so the stamps are all May 20, 25 2021, and the arrow is pointing towards the 30.  12 1 MS. PEREIRAS: If I may approach just to 2 look at that because that can't be. 3 MR. PANEQUE: This what I'm going to 4 suggest then. Provided that Mr. Alonso submit 5 proof that the notices went out April 30th, which 6 is I think the intent here, because the arrow is 7 pointing to 30, it's just the other section that 8 they didn't adjust for the stamp. Provided that 9 at the next meeting he provides proof that the 10 notices were certified on April 30th, this board 11 will then have jurisdiction. There's no effect if 12 it isn't because it's being carried. 13 MS. PEREIRAS: Okay. 14 MR. PANEQUE: Advise Mr. Alonso if he 15 cannot provide that proof, then he would have to 16 renotice. 17 MS. PEREIRAS: Understood. 18 MR. PANEQUE: And do you have an 19 application? 20 MS. PEREIRAS: Yes. Unfortunately, the 21 applicant's architect was unable to testify at 22 tonight's meeting. So we are respectfully 23 requesting this matter be carried. 24 MR. PANEQUE: Mr. Chairman -- 25 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Being that we have  13 1 jurisdiction of this application, I make a motion 2 to adjourn this application to the next board 3 meeting, which is -- 4 MR. PANEQUE: The next board meeting 5 will be June 9th, that's the second Thursday in 6 the month. 7 MR. ROSENWASSER: Before you move with 8 that motion -- 9 MR. PANEQUE: We haven't opened it to 10 the public, sir, just one second. 11 MR. ROSENWASSER: Yeah, I'm just one of 12 the neighbors, I don't want to have it postponed 13 and adjourned and I'm not able to make the next 14 meeting. I'm here today, so I'd like to at least 15 speak as one of the neighbors. 16 MR. PANEQUE: If I may, sir? When we 17 open it to the public, then okay. You're asking 18 that it be adjourned to June 9th? 19 MS. PEREIRAS: That's correct, Counsel. 20 MR. PANEQUE: Before we make a motion on 21 the request, the public cannot speak today because 22 the applicant has not presented their application. 23 So, sir, if you could get up, state your name, and 24 address? 25 MR. ROSENWASSER: Mark Rosenwasser, I'm  14 1 representing the neighboring building at 3810 New 2 York -- 3 MR. PANEQUE: Are you an attorney at 4 law? 5 MR. ROSENWASSER: I am an attorney, but 6 I'm representing the family, I'm on the family's 7 behalf. 8 MR. PANEQUE: Okay. We cannot entertain 9 any comments from the public because the 10 application hasn't been presented. And although I 11 understand your concerns that you may not be here 12 next time, the applicant has expressed that their 13 architect couldn't be here because I believe they 14 got COVID? 15 MS. PEREIRAS: Yes. 16 MR. PANEQUE: So based on that, we're 17 obliged to honor their request for an adjournment. 18 We hope that you can be here on June 9th. If not, 19 somebody else can cover and express any concerns 20 that the individuals that you're representing 21 have. But it's not fair to have concerns 22 expressed before we hear the application. 23 MR. ROSENWASSER: Understood. 24 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Okay. 25 MR. PANEQUE: Okay, sir.  15 1 MR. ROSENWASSER: Thank you. 2 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Thank you. 3 MR. PANEQUE: Anybody else want to speak 4 up? No, all right. Mr. Chairman is there a 5 motion? 6 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: I make a motion it 7 to the next board meeting. 8 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: I'll 9 second. 10 MR. PANEQUE: Roll call on the motion to 11 adjourn. Chairman Grullon. 12 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Yes. 13 MR. PANEQUE: Margarita Gutierrez. 14 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Yes. 15 MR. PANEQUE: Miguel Ortiz. 16 MR. ORTIZ: Yes. 17 MR. PANEQUE: Rosio Pena. 18 MS. PENA: Yes. 19 MR. PANEQUE: Geraldine Perez. 20 MS. PEREZ: Yes. 21 MR. PANEQUE: Five votes, motion to 22 adjourn carries. 23 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you very much. 24 MR. PANEQUE: Ms. Pereiras, please tell 25 Mr. Alonso the issue with the notice stamp, so  16 1 that we're going to need something official that 2 it went out on the 30th, which is the date I 3 believe it went out, the 30th of April. And thank 4 you for catching that. 5 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you, understood. 6 7 * * * * 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  17 1 La Q Realty, LLC - 2 707 22nd Street: 3 4 MR. PANEQUE: We're going on to the 5 second application, number 2, La Q Realty, LLC, 6 Mr. Lopez. He was just here. 7 MR. LOPEZ: Good evening. 8 MR. PANEQUE: Good evening, Mr. Lopez. 9 MR. LOPEZ: Mr. Chairman, members of the 10 board, Mr. Paneque, I'm here with a little bit of 11 an unusual request. So this application was 12 approved by this board June 2021. The chairman 13 made the suggestion and it was approved by all 14 members of the board that the parking spaces that 15 were proposed as part of the original application 16 be removed. This is a property on 22nd Street. 17 The directions of this board were that 18 we did not have to submit any revised plans, it's 19 basically just removing two parking spaces. The 20 applicant went through the entire process, 21 submitted everything to the building department. 22 And when it got to the building department, they 23 wanted the revised plans signed off by the board. 24 Mr. Spatz told them the board doesn't sign off on 25 plans, naturally.  18 1 So we are here, so I can show the board 2 that this applicant did exactly what you asked 3 them to do. And, I guess, Mr. Paneque will do 4 some sort of revised resolution acknowledging that 5 the parking spaces were removed at the request of 6 the board and that the new plans that have been 7 submitted, in essence, become the revised site 8 plan that was approved. 9 And that's really all that we're here 10 for. There's no other change other than what the 11 board requested. It is in the plans that have 12 been submitted to you. 13 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Okay. 14 MR. LOPEZ: And just so you know 15 everything, including the construction drawings, 16 are already in the building department. They're 17 only awaiting this particular transaction, this 18 revised resolution for them to issue building 19 permits. 20 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Mr. Lopez, on the 21 revised plans that you present the board -- 22 MR. LOPEZ: I think on the second page, 23 Mr. Chairman, the second page shows -- 24 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: CT02. 25 MR. LOPEZ: If I may. So this is --  19 1 yes. So this is the revisions with the notation 2 in the front, the board condition approval. On 3 the second page, towards the bottom, you will now 4 see the front of the property which previously 5 contained the two parking spaces, they have been 6 removed and it has been substituted with planters 7 for four trees. 8 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Yes. 9 MR. LOPEZ: And that's really all there 10 is to it. 11 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: And, Mr. Lopez, I 12 remember that was our request. And are you 13 referring to the site plans dated May 2nd? 14 MR. LOPEZ: That is correct. Mine show 15 sealed April 20th -- no, that's the original ones, 16 I apologize. 17 MR. PANEQUE: The one we have here, Mr. 18 Lopez, says date sealed May 2nd, 2022, on the 19 right hand corner. 20 MR. LOPEZ: Yes. 21 MR. PANEQUE: Okay. It also has a stamp 22 at the bottom, which says revised plans, which is 23 the stamp, I guess, from Mr. Vallejo's office? 24 MR. LOPEZ: Correct. 25 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Mr. Lopez, your  20 1 request is to prepare a new resolution and sign 2 the revised plans? 3 MR. LOPEZ: That would be -- that's what 4 the building department is asking for. I guess, 5 Mr. Paneque, I guess a small revision to the 6 resolution indicating that we had this meeting and 7 the revised plans were approved by the board? 8 MR. PANEQUE: Yes. 9 MR. LOPEZ: Okay. 10 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: I don't have any 11 objection with that. Any members of the board has 12 any question? Seeing none, at this point, I want 13 to open to the public. Any member of the public 14 wants to step forward on this application? Closed 15 to the public, hearing none. 16 With that, I make a motion to grant the 17 request of the applicant just to revise the 18 resolution stating that the two parking spaces 19 were removed. 20 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: I'll second 21 it. 22 MR. PANEQUE: Seconded by Margarita 23 Grullon -- 24 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Gutierrez. 25 MR. PANEQUE: Motion made by Chairman  21 1 Grullon. We have Carlos laughing under the mask. 2 Remember I'm new at this role. 3 Motion made by Victor Grullon to approve 4 the application, seconded by Margarita Gutierrez. 5 Roll call on the motion. Victor Grullon. 6 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Yes. 7 MR. PANEQUE: Margarita Gutierrez. 8 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Yes. 9 MR. PANEQUE: Miguel Ortiz. 10 MR. ORTIZ: Yes. 11 MR. PANEQUE: Rosio Pena. 12 MS. PENA: Yes. 13 MR. PANEQUE: Geraldine Perez. 14 MS. PEREZ: Yes. 15 MR. PANEQUE: Five votes, motion 16 carries. 17 MR. LOPEZ: Thank you so much. 18 MR. PANEQUE: Thank you, Mr. Lopez. 19 20 * * * * 21 22 23 24 25  22 1 547 36th ST UC Associates, LLC - 2 547 36th Street & 546-548 35th Street: 3 4 MR. PANEQUE: 547 36th Street UC 5 Associates. Mr. Lopez. 6 MR. LOPEZ: Good evening, Mr. Paneque, 7 Mr. Chairman, members of the board. 8 MR. PANEQUE: Give us just one second to 9 circulate. 10 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: You may proceed. 11 MR. LOPEZ: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. 12 Chairman. 13 MR. PANEQUE: Mr. Lopez, if I may just 14 intercept a minute. I want to bring this to 15 everybody's attention. This is a continuation 16 from a hearing which started last month and you 17 were asked to come back with revisions to the 18 plans, correct? 19 MR. LOPEZ: That's correct. 20 MR. PANEQUE: Now, tonight we have five 21 board members, but I don't know if everybody was 22 here last month for purposes of being able to vote 23 on this application, so... 24 MS. PENA: I wasn't here. 25 MR. PANEQUE: You were not here.  23 1 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: That's only four. 2 MR. PANEQUE: Ms. Pena was not here, 3 that's my recollection as well. So with respect 4 to having a quorum -- 5 MR. LOPEZ: Can we find out if Ms. Pena 6 had a chance to review the prior meeting's 7 transcript? 8 MR. PANEQUE: Ms. Pena, did you read the 9 transcripts from the last meeting? 10 MS. PENA: I did not. 11 MR. PANEQUE: Okay. The other side of 12 this coin is even if Ms. Pena read the 13 transcripts, she wouldn't be able to do it and 14 vote tonight, that's one. Two, we only have five 15 members even if that took place and you do need a 16 use variance here. 17 MR. LOPEZ: I would need all. 18 MR. PANEQUE: So Mr. Lopez -- 19 MR. LOPEZ: As far as my meeting, you 20 don't have a quorum? 21 MR. PANEQUE: Yes. 22 MR. LOPEZ: I would ask that you please 23 carry us to then the June meeting, if possible. 24 MR. PANEQUE: Okay. Chairman Grullon? 25 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Yes. I mean  24 1 again, I apologize. 2 MR. LOPEZ: We understand. 3 CHAIRMAN GRULLON: Not having a quorum. 4 MR. PANEQUE: We expected to have more 5 members here tonight, it's just they didn't 6 materialize. So the application is to carry the 7 matter, Mr. Lopez, with no need for any further 8 notice? 9 MR. LOPEZ: Correct. 10 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: I make a motion to 11 carry this application to the June meeting. 12 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: I'll second 13 it. 14 MR. PANEQUE: Motion to carry the 15 application to the June 9th meeting made by 16 Chairman Grullon, seconded by Margarita Gutierrez. 17 Roll call on the motion. Chairman Grullon. 18 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Yes. 19 MR. PANEQUE: Margarita Gutierrez. 20 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Yes. 21 MR. PANEQUE: Miguel Ortiz. 22 MR. ORTIZ: Yes. 23 MR. PANEQUE: Rosio Pena. 24 MS. PENA: Yes. 25 MR. PANEQUE: Geraldine Perez.  25 1 MS. PEREZ: Yes. 2 MR. PANEQUE: If anybody was here on the 3 application for 547 36th Street, this application 4 is being carried to June 9th due to the fact that 5 the board lacked a quorum tonight to hear this 6 application. There will be no further notices. 7 So if you want to be heard, you have to be here 8 next month. 9 AUDIENCE MEMBER: We're going to be on 10 vacation, we're not going to be here. 11 MR. PANEQUE: If you're going to be on 12 vacation and you want to -- Mr. Lopez? We have 13 members of the public here that are telling us 14 they cannot be here next month. You may want to 15 have a side-bar. 16 MR. LOPEZ: If we can -- they testified 17 last time. If we could bring them up briefly, I 18 had a conversation, I think they want to make sure 19 that the fence that have been agreed to, which we 20 put on the record last time, is still going to be 21 part of the application if approved. I think 22 that's your -- 23 AUDIENCE MEMBER: The fence and the wall 24 that touches the two buildings. 25 MR. LOPEZ: Correct.  26 1 MR. PANEQUE: Is that in your plans? 2 MR. LOPEZ: Yes, it is. 3 MR. PANEQUE: Okay. 4 MR. LOPEZ: And we had said last time, 5 we put it on the record -- 6 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: I remember. 7 MR. LOPEZ: -- that we would be putting 8 a fence up exactly with what their needs were and 9 that's not going to change. 10 MR. PANEQUE: If I may just make a 11 suggestion, if you can take a few minutes and show 12 them in the copies that you have, would that -- 13 AUDIENCE MEMBER: Okay. 14 MR. PANEQUE: So we cannot take 15 testimony because we don't have a quorum on this 16 application. And anything you say will not be 17 heard by the members that are here. But my 18 suggestion is for you to meet with Mr. Lopez and 19 the architect, they can show you -- and those are 20 the plans that are going to be entertained by the 21 board hopefully at the next meeting. 22 MR. LOPEZ: Mr. Paneque, just, if you 23 could please clarify, that what she said at the 24 last meeting is part of the record? 25 MR. PANEQUE: Yes.  27 1 MR. LOPEZ: She testified at the last 2 meeting and we put certain conditions and that 3 will be part of the record. It's only what you 4 say tonight because there's really no hearing, 5 it's just an adjournment. 6 AUDIENCE MEMBER: Okay, thank you. 7 MR. PANEQUE: Thank you, Mr. Lopez. 8 AUDIENCE MEMBER: Thank you. 9 10 * * * * 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  28 1 BB 6th Holdings, LLC - 2 33-35 6th Street: 3 4 MR. PANEQUE: The next application 5 before the board is application number 4, BB 6th 6 Holdings, LLC. Ms. Pereiras. 7 For the record, I have been provided by 8 Ms. Pereiras with the following: 9 I have a certification as to publication 10 and service indicating that notice of tonight's 11 hearing at this location with respect to the 12 application for the property located at 733-35 6th 13 Street was given to all property owners within the 14 200 foot radius. 15 I've also been provided with a copy of 16 the notice that went out. Said notice indicates 17 that the meeting will take place tonight at this 18 location. 19 I've also been provided with a copy of 20 the tax assessor's list noting all property owners 21 within the 200 foot radius of 733 6th Street. 22 This list was done by the tax assessor's office 23 with a date of April 29, 2022. 24 And I've been provided with the 25 certified mail receipts with a stamp mark date of  29 1 April 29, 2022. And this one doesn't have the 2 little arrows, they actually used the numbers, 3 thank you, post office. 4 Based on the documentation provided, 5 this board has jurisdiction to proceed and hear 6 this matter. 7 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you, Counsel, and 8 thank you board members. Bianca Pereiras on 9 behalf of the applicant. My applicant had every 10 intention of being here this evening to testify in 11 front of the board. Unfortunately, he has caught 12 COVID and he is home. So I'm respectfully 13 requesting that this matter be carried to the 14 June 9th meeting, at which time he will be here to 15 present before the board, along with our expert. 16 MR. PANEQUE: Okay. 17 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: I understand, Ms. 18 Pereiras -- you're aware that this matter has been 19 carried many, many times. I believe this is like 20 the sixth time that it's been carried. 21 MS. PEREIRAS: Unfortunately, this is 22 one that I had mention there is litigation, 23 currently. I was hoping it would have been 24 resolved by now, but it's not at this point. 25 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Okay.  30 1 MR. PANEQUE: If I may just add, 2 Chairman Grullon, even though the matter has been 3 carried, the applicant did provide notices for 4 tonight's hearing. So it's as if the public was 5 receiving notice of the first meeting because they 6 have the meeting for tonight. Internally, we have 7 been carrying it, but they've been re-noticed. So 8 her request would be to carry it to the next 9 meeting. And under the circumstances, where the 10 applicant wanted to be here and cannot because of 11 COVID, the board should consider that as a valid 12 reason for carrying it, under the circumstances 13 that notice were given for tonight at an expense 14 of the applicant. 15 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Sure, no, 16 definitely. I don't have any objection with that. 17 And make a motion to carry it to the June meeting 18 without notice because notice was sent to this 19 meeting. 20 MR. PANEQUE: Correct. So the 21 motion would be -- the application would be 22 carried without the need to further notice. 23 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: I'll second 24 it. 25 MR. PANEQUE: Motion to carry the  31 1 application to the June 9th meeting made by 2 Chairman Grullon, seconded by Margarita Gutierrez. 3 Roll call on the motion. Victor Grullon. 4 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Yes. 5 MR. PANEQUE: Margarita Gutierrez. 6 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Yes. 7 MR. PANEQUE: Miguel Ortiz. 8 MR. ORTIZ: Yes. 9 MR. PANEQUE: Rosio Pena. 10 MS. PENA: Yes. 11 MR. PANEQUE: Geraldine Perez. 12 MS. PEREZ: Yes. 13 MR. PANEQUE: Five votes, motion 14 carries. 15 Anyone here on the application for the 16 property at 733-35 6th Street, this application is 17 being carried to the June 9th meeting with no 18 further notice. So if you want to be heard, be 19 here at the next meeting, thank you. 20 21 * * * * 22 23 24 25  32 1 Old Monk Capital, LLC - 2 419 7th Street: 3 4 MR. PANEQUE: Next matter before the 5 board is matter number 5, Old Monk Capital, LLC, 6 property at 419 7th Street. 7 Let the record reflect I've been 8 provided with the following documentation by Ms. 9 Pereiras. 10 I have a certification as to publication 11 and service signed by Ms. Pereiras giving 12 notice -- indicating that notice of tonight's 13 hearing was sent to all property owners within the 14 200 foot radius for the meeting to take place at 15 this location. 16 I have also have a copy of the notice 17 with respect to the property at 419 7th Street 18 noting that the meeting will take place tonight at 19 this location. 20 I also have the tax list from the tax 21 assessor's office noting all property owners 22 within the 200 foot radius of 419 7th Street, said 23 tax list was done March 28th, 2022. 24 I have an affidavit of publication from 25 The Jersey Journal, said affidavit of publication  33 1 was done May 2nd, published in the paper giving 2 notice of tonight's hearing for 419 7th Street. 3 I also have the certified mail slips 4 with a postmark date of May 2, 2022. 5 Based on the documentation that has been 6 provided by Ms. Pereiras, this board has 7 jurisdiction to proceed and hear this matter. 8 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you very much, 9 Counsel. 10 MR. PANEQUE: Ms. Pereiras, I just want 11 to intercept a minute. On the previous 12 application on the record with respect to 733 6th 13 Street, I believe I did not read into the record 14 that along with the documents that were provided 15 by Ms. Pereiras with respect to establishing 16 jurisdiction, there was an affidavit from The 17 Jersey Journal with a date of May 2, 2022, giving 18 notice of tonight's hearing for the property 733 19 6th Street. That should have been placed on the 20 record before and I apologize for that. I saw it, 21 but I went into another speech about something 22 else. But the record has been amended to include 23 that that was part of your submissions. 24 And going back to the 419 7th Street, 25 this board has jurisdiction to proceed and hear  34 1 this matter. 2 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you very much, 3 Counsel. Again, Bianca Pereiras on behalf of the 4 applicant, Old Monk Capital, LLC, for application 5 to construct a second floor deck to the rear of 6 the property. 7 This is an existing building, it is an 8 existing two-family home. And the applicant is 9 looking for some outdoor area to enjoy. We have 10 one expert to testify before the board this 11 evening and that is our architect, Mr. Manuel 12 Pereiras. 13 14 M A N U E L P E R E I R A S, after having been 15 duly sworn or affirmed, did testify as follows: 16 17 MR. PEREIRAS: Manny Pereiras, 18 P-E-R-E-I-R-A-S, with Pereiras Architects 19 Ubiquitous, 1116 Summit Avenue, Union City. 20 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: We accept your 21 qualifications, Mr. Pereiras. 22 MR. PEREIRAS: Thank you. 23 MS. PEREIRAS: Mr. Pereiras, are you 24 familiar with the property at 419 7th Street? 25 MR. PEREIRAS: I am.  35 1 MS. PEREIRAS: And did you prepare the 2 drawings that are before the board this evening? 3 MR. PEREIRAS: I have. 4 MS. PEREIRAS: Would you kindly describe 5 the project for the board? 6 MR. PEREIRAS: I'd be very happy to. 7 This might be one of the simplest projects we've 8 ever presented before this board. We have an 9 existing two-family house that was renovated very 10 beautifully and what we're proposing to do is have 11 some outdoor space for that house. As you can 12 see, the rear yard setback for this house is over 13 30 feet, it's almost 31 feet, it's 30 feet, 14 11 inches. All the houses in this neighborhood 15 have a two-story frame. And then the rear 16 portion, there's a one-story portion. And what's 17 very typical of this entire block is that in that 18 one-story portion, it's a deck for that second 19 story. I believe almost all the houses on the 20 block have that deck. This is the one that's 21 missing that. 22 Turning now to sheet Z02, these are the 23 same document that were submitted to the board. 24 You see the existing condition and the proposed 25 condition. On the left-hand side, we have all the  36 1 existing conditions. As you can see on the right, 2 it's exactly the same thing with the exception of 3 some columns on the ground floor, which are four 4 by four treated posts and then the deck. 5 And if I turn to the last page, which 6 shows our elevations, if you look at the side of 7 the house, this is the area that we're doing. 8 This is a preexisting structure, we're simply 9 putting the deck on top of it. It's going to be a 10 Trex deck with railing all around and that's 11 pretty much it. It's as simple as that. 12 There are some existing nonconformities 13 that we're dealing with and some nonconformities 14 in technicality, we're expanding. Because there 15 is a zero side yard setback on both sides of the 16 house, we're technically expanding that because 17 the deck is on the same footprint. There's no 18 rear yard setback requirement, the front yard is 19 fine. 20 The only other variance that we have are 21 preexisting nonconformities for lot size. The lot 22 is an existing 1,668 square feet, whereas 2,500 23 are required and 16.67 feet wide whereas 25 is 24 required. There is no properties available 25 adjacent to the site to increase the lot size in  37 1 any way. And we're not looking to expand the size 2 of the footprint of this building in any way other 3 than providing the outdoor deck which is so 4 necessary now with COVID, after COVID in our 5 experiences. 6 There's a preexisting driveway in the 7 front of the house, we're looking to keep that. 8 And we're not looking to make any other changes 9 other than what's there. That concludes my 10 testimony. 11 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Thank you, Mr. 12 Pereiras. Just one question, Mr. Pereiras. Are 13 you expanding the bedroom counts in any way? 14 MR. PEREIRAS: We are not. 15 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Are the existing 16 building, it's just renovations you say? 17 MR. PEREIRAS: It's already been 18 renovated, it's beautiful. This is the last piece 19 of the puzzle for it to be completely finished. 20 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: The dimension of 21 the deck, do you know how -- 22 MR. PEREIRAS: Yes, I could tell you the 23 exact dimensions. The full length of the 24 property, which is the 16 feet, 8 inches and it's 25 16 feet deep, 11 of those feet are on top of the  38 1 existing building. And then there's another 2 5 feet that we're going out. 3 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Okay. Any members 4 of the board have any questions regarding this 5 application? 6 At this time, I'll open to the public. 7 Any member of public want to step forward? 8 Hearing none, close to the public. 9 Taking into consideration that you're 10 only providing open air space to the residents of 11 the units, I make a motion to grant this 12 application. 13 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: I'll second 14 it. 15 MR. PANEQUE: Motion to approve made by 16 Chairman Grullon, seconded by Margarita Gutierrez. 17 Roll call on the motion. Mr. Grullon. 18 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Yes. 19 MR. PANEQUE: Margarita Gutierrez. 20 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Yes. 21 MR. PANEQUE: Miguel Ortiz. 22 MR. ORTIZ: Yes. 23 MR. PANEQUE: Rosio Pena. 24 MS. PENA: Yes. 25 MR. PANEQUE: Geraldine Perez.  39 1 MS. PEREZ: Yes. 2 MR. PANEQUE: Five affirmative votes, 3 motion carries. 4 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you very much. 5 6 * * * * 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  40 1 Torres, Alejandro and Nancy - 2 209 19th Street: 3 4 MR. PANEQUE: The next matter before the 5 board is case number 6, Torres, Alejandro and 6 Nancy, property at 209 19th Street. Ms. Pereiras. 7 Let the record reflect I've been 8 provided with the following documentation: 9 I have a certification as to publication 10 and service from Ms. Pereiras indicating that 11 notice of tonight's hearing went out to all 12 property owners within the 200 foot radius of 209 13 19th Street. 14 I have an affidavit of publication from 15 The Jersey Journal, said publication was published 16 on May 2nd indicating that tonight's hearing here 17 at this location, the board will be presented with 18 an application for 209 19th Street. 19 I have a copy of the tax assessor's list 20 of all property owners within the 200 foot radius 21 of 209 19th Street, said list has a date of 22 March 28, 2022. 23 And I have the certified mail slips with 24 a postmark date of April 29, 2022. 25 Based on the documentation that has been  41 1 provided by Ms. Pereiras, this board has 2 jurisdiction to proceed and hear this matter. 3 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you very much, 4 Counsel. Bianca Pereiras on behalf of Alejandro 5 and Nancy Torres for property located at 209 19th 6 Street here in Union City. The application is to 7 construct a rear addition to provide additional 8 space for an existing two-family home. It will 9 continue to remain a two-family home. 10 We have a few existing nonconformities, 11 which our architect will speak at length about, 12 Mr. Pereiras. 13 MR. PEREIRAS: Manny Pereiras, I 14 recognize I am still under oath. 15 MS. PEREIRAS: Mr. Pereiras, are you 16 familiar with the property at 209 19th Street? 17 MR. PEREIRAS: I am. 18 MS. PEREIRAS: And did you prepare the 19 drawings for the board? 20 MR. PEREIRAS: I have. 21 MS. PEREIRAS: And can you please 22 describe the addition for the board? 23 MR. PEREIRAS: I'd be very happy to. 24 First, let's talk a little bit about the site. We 25 have a conforming site of 25 by 100, 2,500 square  42 1 feet. We're in full compliance of that. However, 2 the existing building has a series of existing 3 nonconformities, the first of which being side 4 yard setback. We are at -- right on the property 5 line, along one side. And we are 2 feet, 2 inches 6 along the other side. That nonconformity, we're 7 expanding on that because we're looking to do an 8 addition to the property that I will describe in 9 plan view in a second. 10 We have compliance in front yard 11 setback. And we have in my drawings, it actually 12 says that we're looking for variance for maximum 13 lot coverage, that's an error. We actually are 14 not looking for that variance. We comply in the 15 rear yard. This is all grass area in the back and 16 we will be in compliance with landscaping. And 17 then the other preexisting nonconformity which we 18 were expanding is parking. We have an existing 19 two-family house, whereas we only have one parking 20 space available in the front which is an existing 21 space. 22 If you look at the existing floor plans 23 that I show on Z02, it's a very inconvenient 24 house. What we're calling a bedroom is only 8 25 foot 8 by 7 feet wide. It is only a bedroom  43 1 because it's pre-code. It's a very small space, 2 very uncomfortable. And as you can see, getting 3 to the other bedroom is through basically the 4 living room on this end, after passing the 5 kitchen. It's an old design of going from bedroom 6 to bedroom in order to get through the house. And 7 we have a ridiculously small bathroom that the 8 toilet is confined within a 3 foot space. 9 So the owners of the house are looking 10 they have -- they want to live more comfortably in 11 the house. What we're looking to do is an 12 addition to the rear to provide two decent size 13 bedrooms and then rearrange the bathrooms in the 14 front so that they have a two bedroom, two 15 bathroom house as well as in each of the 16 apartments. 17 So by ripping out the existing bathrooms 18 and the bedroom that was there, we made two 19 comfortable sized bathrooms with a washer and 20 dryer. And then two bedrooms in the back that are 21 normal size. It is 10 feet wide by 18 foot, 11 22 deep. And then that gives us enough room to have 23 a walk-in closet for one of the bedrooms and a 24 reach-in closet on the other one. 25 Beyond that, we're not looking to make  44 1 any other extensions or additions to this house. 2 It's simply providing -- reconfiguring it and 3 providing those -- taking one bedroom away and 4 providing two in the back that are comfortable and 5 safe for the neighborhood. 6 If you look at it in elevation, it's 7 consistent with the house, we're just basically 8 extending it back. We still have a fully 9 compliant rear yard at 20 feet with our current 10 ordinance. So there's still space back there. 11 And I did want to mention there's an existing shed 12 back there that we're not changing. That's an 13 existing shed that will remain. But our addition 14 will still be 20 feet away from the rear yard. 15 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Does that conclude 16 your presentation, Mr. Pereiras? 17 MR. PEREIRAS: It does. 18 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Mr. Pereiras, this 19 is a two-family house? 20 MR. PEREIRAS: It's currently two-family 21 and we'd like to keep it -- 22 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: It is going to -- 23 you're going to maintain as two-family? 24 MR. PEREIRAS: Yes. 25 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: And your request  45 1 is just -- the bedroom count will remain the same, 2 it's just to expand? 3 MR. PEREIRAS: We're actually adding one 4 bedroom to each of the floors because we're 5 removing one bedroom, but adding two. 6 CHAIRMAN GRULLON: This is an existing 7 condition as two bedrooms apartments? 8 MR. PEREIRAS: The existing conditions 9 are two bedroom apartments, the proposed condition 10 are three bedroom apartments. 11 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Three bedrooms, I 12 see. That does change the parking -- 13 MR. PEREIRAS: Parking. That's why 14 we're expanding on our parking. 15 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: And again the rear 16 yard, you're going to maintain the 20 feet that is 17 required? 18 MR. PEREIRAS: Correct. 19 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: What will be the 20 size of the apartments now, the square footage and 21 compare to the previous square footage, if you 22 have that information? 23 MR. PEREIRAS: I'll tell you a very 24 quick calculation. Our addition is 506 square 25 feet per floor.  46 1 CHAIRMAN GRULLON: The addition? 2 MR. PEREIRAS: The addition. 3 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Okay. That will 4 enhance the living condition on the apartments? 5 MR. PEREIRAS: Significantly. I think 6 the current apartment -- what we're proposing 7 first and foremost works for a family very well. 8 It's going to be a three bedroom house, so it's 9 going to be inviting for family. It's also going 10 to be decent sized rooms, that really significant 11 enhances the living conditions. 12 Also I'd like the board to be aware that 13 this is a significant addition, so we're bringing 14 this house up to code. So all things that are in 15 violation of current codes are being brought up to 16 standards. We're having smoke detectors, we're 17 going to have fire rating between floors. So 18 we're not only protecting the inhabitants of this 19 house, but really the neighborhood by doing this 20 construction. 21 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Thank you, Mr. 22 Pereiras. I don't have anymore questions. Do you 23 guys have any questions? 24 At this time, I want to open the 25 application to the public. Anyone from the public  47 1 want to step forward on this application? Hearing 2 none, close -- 3 MS. WEISS: I'm a little concerned, 4 Elizabeth Weiss 1807 Palisade Avenue. And I 5 wasn't notified, I feel like I probably should 6 have been. I'm not within 200 feet? 7 MS. PEREIRAS: We can check you on the 8 certified list, what's your property address? 9 MS. WEISS: 1807 Palisades. Because I 10 was notified for the other one on 18th Street, I 11 was notified for that. So I looked on the map, it 12 looks like I'm closer. 13 MS. PEREIRAS: We'll check. 14 MR. PANEQUE: You're at 1807? The 200 15 foot list goes up to 1805. 16 MS. WEISS: Okay. 17 MR. PANEQUE: You miss the cut off by -- 18 MS. PEREIRAS: Just a little bit. 19 MS. WEISS: Okay. So I'm just concerned 20 about the overall density of everything in the 21 neighborhood, all the new buildings, all the, you 22 know, new people coming and parking. I mean it's 23 not that significant two to three bedrooms, but 24 they're going to be larger. Also, even though 25 it's got the 20 foot setback, it's got that big  48 1 shed there. So I just feel like every ounce of 2 air is being taken away from us with every one of 3 these new proposals, you know. 4 So having that shed there doesn't affect 5 the -- where is that shed? 6 MR. PEREIRAS: So a shed is considered 7 an accessory structure and it also predates our 8 ordinance. So our setback is still to the 9 building and we're compliant with that aspect of 10 it. 11 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: And the expansion 12 is to the rear of the building? 13 MR. PEREIRAS: Correct. 14 MS. PEREIRAS: Correct. 15 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: But you're not 16 covering the entire yard, you're leaving the 20 17 foot -- 18 MR. PEREIRAS: Correct. We have a 20 19 foot setback and the neighbor had a concern that, 20 you know, there's an existing shed back there. 21 There is an existing shed back there, but it's a 22 preexisting nonconforming use and we're not 23 looking to change that in any way. But the 24 building is setback 20 feet. 25 MS. WEISS: If you're taking all that  49 1 space from the yard, it feels like the shed should 2 go. 3 MR. PANEQUE: Mr. Spatz, you want to 4 provide any information on the shed? 5 MR. SPATZ: They are permitted to have 6 an accessory use. It would affect the coverage, 7 it wouldn't affect anything else in terms of 8 setback. It's -- you know, there were different 9 standards for accessory uses, so they would be 10 allowed to keep it. Obviously, they could take it 11 down if they chose to, but the ordinance would 12 allow them to keep it. 13 MS. WEISS: So how much space between 14 the shed and the addition? 15 MR. PEREIRAS: There's about eight feet 16 between the two, eight or nine feet. 17 MS. WEISS: Okay. 18 MR. PEREIRAS: Approximately. 19 MR. PANEQUE: Anything else, Ms. Weiss? 20 MS. WEISS: I guess that's it. 21 MR. PANEQUE: Thank you. 22 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Thank you. 23 MR. PANEQUE: Anyone else from the 24 public? 25 MR. MAYERSOHN: Norman Mayersohn,  50 1 M-A-Y-E-R-S-O-H-N, 212 18th street. Always glad 2 to see there's a lot of renovation going on in the 3 neighborhood, always glad to see upgrades. The 4 only concerns I would raise are I think that 5 extension to the rear would be beyond the 6 neighboring houses. So in other words, to the 7 east and west, you have houses that don't go back 8 that -- they're all about equal now. So you would 9 have one that extends much farther back for 10 whatever the open space implication of that is. 11 And increasing the capacity of the 12 house, even if it's not going to be used 13 immediately to bring more people there, is -- 14 always raise the parking concern, which is a 15 serious situation all through Union City. And it 16 certainly is over there. That particular block 17 has the school, I forget the name of the -- 18 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Emerson school. 19 MS. PENA: DePalma. 20 AUDIENCE MEMBER: Hudson. 21 MR. MAYERSOHN: It's the Hudson school 22 on that block, it's between Palisade and 23 Manhattan. And you have a couple studios there, 24 which have loading zones and things like that, a 25 photo studio. So that's something the board  51 1 should keep in consideration. 2 Yeah, I certainly don't object to seeing 3 places upgraded. You know, I'm constantly working 4 on my place, so I know about that. But, you know, 5 that's -- its effect on the neighbors to the east 6 and west is something I'm not aware of. And, you 7 know, exactly how that lays out in the plans, but 8 it's probably worth questioning. 9 MR. PANEQUE: Okay. 10 MR. MAYERSOHN: Thank you. 11 MR. PANEQUE: Thank you, sir. 12 MR. PEREIRAS: So the neighbor is 13 accurate. The existing houses to both sides are 14 about the same depth as our house is currently 15 now. And we are asking for an addition to the 16 rear yard. But I think this board is very aware 17 that the planning board took great care and great 18 consideration figuring out a master plan for Union 19 City, took very good care of preparing an 20 ordinance for Union City, and set certain 21 parameters for that ordinance. One of those being 22 a 20 foot year yard setback, which I think is 23 extremely appropriate, perfect for a dense 24 environment, really preserves a lot of what we 25 consider open air.  52 1 And there is a shed back there, but it's 2 also a one-story shed, so it's a shed. We're 3 permitted to have sheds. And I think this 4 applicant has followed the ordinance to the best 5 of their ability. And I think, you know, it's a 6 good application. It's in line with what our 7 master plan is and what our ordinance is. And we 8 can't ask the applicants to do more than just 9 follow what the ordinance is. I think it's a good 10 application in that sense. And I hope this board 11 will consider that. 12 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Thank you, Mr. 13 Pereiras. Any anyone else from the public wants 14 to step forward? Hearing none, close to the 15 public. 16 Taking in consideration that this 17 application is just to enhance the living 18 condition of the residents and is not affecting 19 the height of the building. It's also complying 20 with the rear yard in a 25 by 100 lot, I would 21 make a motion to grant this application. 22 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: I'll second 23 it. 24 MR. PANEQUE: Motion to approve the 25 application made by Chairman Grullon, seconded by  53 1 Margarita Gutierrez. Roll call on the motion. 2 Victor Grullon. 3 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Yes. 4 MR. PANEQUE: Margarita Gutierrez. 5 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Yes. 6 MR. PANEQUE: Miguel Ortiz. 7 MR. ORTIZ: Yes. 8 MR. PANEQUE: Rosio Pena. 9 MS. PENA: Yes. 10 MR. PANEQUE: Geraldine Perez. 11 MS. PEREZ: Yes. 12 13 * * * * 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  54 1 Xu, D & E Liang & Z Wang & N Yang - 2 213 Roosevelt Street: 3 4 MR. PANEQUE: Next application is 5 application number 7, property address 213 6 Roosevelt Street. And we have our Chairman 7 Grullon recusing himself as he is within the 200 8 foot radius of this property. Chairman Grullon is 9 going to recuse himself. We are then going over 10 to have Margarita Gutierrez as our acting 11 chairman. 12 Now, we are down to four members since 13 the chairman is recusing himself. For the record, 14 I've been provided by Ms. Pereiras with the 15 jurisdictional documents, which I will place now 16 on the record. 17 I have a certification as to publication 18 and service which indicates that notice of 19 tonight's hearing was provided to all property 20 owners within 200 foot radius of 213 Roosevelt 21 Street. It's signed by Ms. Pereiras. 22 I have the copy of the notice that went 23 out giving notice of tonight's meeting at this 24 location for the property at 213 Roosevelt Street. 25 I have a copy of the affidavit of  55 1 publication from The Jersey Journal indicating 2 that on May 2nd, notice of this application was 3 publish in The Jersey Journal. 4 And I have a copy of tax list? 5 MS. PEREIRAS: The tax list, I need to 6 provide to your office, Counsel, if I may in the 7 morning. My secretary was not available today and 8 I'm not sure where she placed that list. 9 MR. PANEQUE: Okay. As stated by Ms. 10 Pereiras, the tax list will be provided in the 11 morning. 12 I've also been provided with the 13 certified mail receipts with a postmark date of 14 May 2, 2022. 15 Since we do not have a quorum at this 16 time, being that Chairman Grullon had to recuse 17 himself, Ms. Pereiras, this board is going to 18 carry your application to the next meeting. 19 Hopefully, we will have a quorum at the next 20 meeting. You will have to provide Carlos PANEQUE, 21 our secretary, with a copy of that tax list as 22 well as to my office. With the condition that 23 that tax list is provided, this board will then 24 accept jurisdiction to proceed and hear this 25 matter at the June 9th meeting with no further  56 1 notice requirements. 2 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you very much, 3 Counsel. 4 MR. PANEQUE: I'm going to ask that 5 acting Chairperson Gutierrez make a motion to 6 carry this application to the next meeting, not on 7 applicant's request, but on the fact that this 8 board does not have a quorum to proceed at this 9 time. 10 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: I make a 11 motion to adjourn to the meeting to June 9, 2022. 12 MR. PANEQUE: Motion to adjourn made by 13 acting Chairperson Margarita Gutierrez. 14 MR. ORTIZ: Second. 15 MR. PANEQUE: Second by Miguel Ortiz. 16 Roll call on the motion. Margarita Gutierrez. 17 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Yes. 18 MR. PANEQUE: Miguel Ortiz. 19 MR. ORTIZ: Yes. 20 MR. PANEQUE: Rosio Pena. 21 MS. PENA: Yes. 22 MR. PANEQUE: Geraldine Perez. 23 MS. PEREZ: Yes. 24 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you, Counsel. 25 * * * *  57 1 418 JPM Properties, LLC - 2 418 11th Street: 3 4 MR. PANEQUE: Next matter heard is 5 number 8. 6 Let the record reflect that we have 7 Chairman Grullon back in session. 8 For the record we've called case 9 number 8, property located at 418 11th Street. 10 Ms. Pereiras has provided me with 11 certification as to publication and service noting 12 that notice of tonight's hearing with respect to 13 the property at 418 11th Street was sent to all 14 property owners within the 200 foot radius. 15 A copy of the notice that was sent with 16 respect to the property at 418 11th Street to all 17 property owners as well as the tax list from the 18 tax assessor's office with a date of March 28, 19 2022, listing all properties owners within the 200 20 foot radius of 418 11th Street, as well a copy of 21 the affidavit of publication from The Jersey 22 Journal with a publication date of May 2, 2022, 23 with respect to this property. 24 And as well as the certified mail 25 receipts with a postmark date of April 29th.  58 1 Based on the documentation that has been 2 provided, this board has jurisdiction to proceed 3 and hear this matter. Ms. Pereiras, the floor is 4 yours. 5 MS. PEREIRAS: Good evening. May it 6 please the board, Bianca Pereiras on behalf of the 7 applicant 418 JPM Properties, LLC, in regards for 8 property at 418 11th Street, also known as Lot 23 9 in Block 52. 10 The application is to reconstruct an 11 existing building and to legalize the units that 12 are currently there. There are three units that 13 we're looking to legalize as well as enlarge and 14 renovate this property. We have one expert to 15 testify and that is our architect, Mr. Manuel 16 Pereiras. 17 MR. PEREIRAS: Manny Pereiras, I 18 recognize that I am still under oath. 19 MS. PEREIRAS: Mr. Pereiras, are you 20 familiar with the property at 418 11th Street? 21 MR. PEREIRAS: Very familiar. 22 MS. PEREIRAS: And did you prepare the 23 drawings that are before the board this evening? 24 MR. PEREIRAS: I have. 25 MS. PEREIRAS: Would you kindly describe  59 1 the project for the board? 2 MR. PEREIRAS: I'd be very happy to. 3 This project has been a very difficult one that 4 has consumed a lot of my time. This is a 5 difficult project for various reasons. Number 6 one, if you drive by the site, it's in horrible 7 disrepair. We've gone through to do some 8 emergency repairs right now just to keep it 9 stable. 10 It's situated in a neighborhood that I'm 11 very intimately aware of. I grew up literally 12 around the corner of it, so I know this property 13 very well. It sits right next to a warehouse that 14 is setback significantly and touches the rear yard 15 of that property. And then across the street, you 16 have an enormous warehouse, which just was taken 17 over by Espinosa Beef that is now running a beef 18 butcher shop out of there, supplying a lot of New 19 York restaurants with beef there. So there's a 20 lot of traffic in that area. 21 And then the very first residential 22 house is this property. And then there are all 23 smaller scale residential houses moving forward. 24 So one of the things -- and there's a history to 25 this property. This has gone before the planning  60 1 board years ago. We wanted to make sure that this 2 property respected the existing scale of this 3 building that was there, so that we're not larger 4 than other buildings, we're not doing anything 5 very different. 6 However, we wanted to make it livable 7 good apartments. So we really massaged the floor 8 plan a lot to make it work and demolished a small 9 portion of the front of the building in order to 10 create parking because parking is such a 11 significant issue in this part of Union City as 12 well. 13 So to describe what we're doing. You 14 have an existing house here and we have a little 15 more detail than we normally have. We have 16 existing floor plans and we have demolition floor 17 plans that I'm going to share with you. 18 So right now, speaking from a site 19 perspective, you can see that this house is pretty 20 far up along the property and yet the adjacent 21 house is setback. What we're looking to do is 22 demolish that front portion of the property in 23 order to create these two parking spaces. So 24 we're taking this existing structure and we're 25 making it more conforming by pushing that front  61 1 yard setback further back. 2 And then we're in-filling this portion 3 of house. We're actually demolishing this portion 4 so that we can create a side yard setback of 3 5 foot, 1. That does a few things, number one, 6 we're more compliant with the code and the 7 ordinance by creating that 3 foot, 1, that's 8 required of us. But also it allows us the 9 opportunity to open windows along the side of the 10 house. So this entire portion of the building is 11 going to be reconstructed, smaller allowing a 3 12 foot, 1 side. 13 And then we have an addition that's 14 proposed that's 27 foot, six and yes we are asking 15 for a variance on rear yard. However, we're 16 providing 15 and a half feet and I'd like to you 17 keep in mind where our neighbors are. You have 18 the warehouse right here. That warehouse is all 19 the way to the rear yard and all the way to here, 20 and right on the property line. So we're not 21 affecting any neighbor there. And then on the 22 other side, there's a shed there as well. 23 So we're not affecting the neighbor on 24 the east side either. So any neighbor that would 25 potentially be affected is the west and the east.  62 1 And if you go to the north side, that's this car 2 wash, which is right on the property line as well. 3 We're not affecting any neighbor there. So we are 4 asking for a rear yard variance, but we're 5 respecting 15 feet, 6 inches. And I think it's 6 perfectly reasonable in this situation that we 7 have here. 8 These are the existing plans. As you 9 can see, there were illegal units here. This new 10 owner has purchased the property, he's cleaning it 11 all up. And that's why we're before you here to 12 legalize these three units and bring them to code 13 compliance and bring them to a lot better 14 compliance with our ordinance. 15 In order to do that, it's significant 16 work. These are the existing conditions on the 17 facade all the way around. If you look at it now, 18 there's basically a big hole here. It's like 19 ready to collapse, we had to do emergency work to 20 just hold it up. 21 This is our demolition plan. The solid 22 lines are walls that we're keeping. The dashed 23 lines are walls we're removing. As you can see 24 there's a significant portion of this that is 25 being removed. And that's in order to bring it  63 1 into better compliance with our ordinance. 2 And, finally, as our floor plans, we 3 really massaged it so that we could have a really 4 decent good three family house. It's not as big 5 as the ones we used to have, but it's really 6 working and conforms with the neighborhood. 7 First and foremost, it's only three 8 stories high so it fits with the neighborhood very 9 well. We have master in the rear, two additional 10 bedrooms for an office or for kids. And then the 11 living room and dining room space very modest 12 along the front and open floor plan. And we have 13 the same things in the floor above. 14 From a facade standpoint, we worked on 15 this a lot. Because we couldn't create like a 16 really traditional design because it doesn't fit 17 into anything. You had a warehouse on one side, 18 you had very ugly houses on the other side. So we 19 worked with something more contemporary so that we 20 could have a beautiful design that goes from that 21 warehouse to residential scale. And we kept the 22 house very low so that it fits into the 23 neighborhood, we're at 35 feet in height. And we 24 provided the parking along the front of it. 25 And, you know, I could talk more, I  64 1 don't think it's necessary. I'm open for 2 questions. 3 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Mr. Pereiras, you 4 just mentioned that you're proposing to demolish 5 the existing building? 6 MR. PEREIRAS: No, we're not. We are 7 keeping a lot of the structure, we're demolishing 8 a lot of it as well. We have a demolition plan 9 that shows exactly the extent of how much we're 10 doing. And that's not a factor of we wanted to, 11 it's that half of it is falling apart, it's in 12 really bad disrepair. And then the whole side, 13 it's because we want to create a side yard 14 setback. 15 So if you look at this existing side of 16 the building, it's right on the property line. We 17 want to create the side yard setback that our 18 ordinance requires, so all of that portion is 19 being demolished, specifically. Our floor plates 20 are staying the same, so all our floors are 21 staying at the same height, using the existing 22 joists, just being repaired. So the actual box of 23 the house except for that right wall is going to 24 remain. 25 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: You're aware  65 1 according to the record of building department 2 this is a one unit structure? 3 MR. PEREIRAS: That is correct. It is a 4 one unit structure, it's been illegally being used 5 as a three family for many, many years. The 6 appliances are all dated. I'm sure well before 7 the '80s, probably in the '70s, but that's why 8 we're here to correct this situation. 9 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: And as you know, 10 under the new ordinance, just two families are 11 permitted to be constructed. 12 MR. PEREIRAS: We totally understand 13 that. That's why we massaged the building to be 14 small like a two-family and just legalizing the 15 existing aspects of it. 16 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: One thing that I 17 see here is an opportunity to create more parking 18 space and use the entire ground floor for parking 19 and do like two-family building. 20 MR. PEREIRAS: In order to do that -- 21 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Is that something 22 that you -- 23 MR. PEREIRAS: We would have to demolish 24 the whole building in order to do that to create 25 parking. So the ground floor is about four and a  66 1 half feet or the basement is like four and a half 2 feet below the grade. The first floor is, you 3 know, two and a half feet over grade. So we can't 4 have anything for parking there, it would be 5 impossible. We will be ripping out the whole 6 first floor and rebuilding this house. 7 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: I know it's been 8 used illegally, probably you had residents living 9 there and all that and maybe they don't even have 10 a car. But putting new units there, now we have 11 an area where we have really issue with parking, 12 you know really issues with parking. I would like 13 to -- you know, for you to talk to your client, 14 see if you can come back with a two-family and 15 provide more parking. 16 If you want to adjourn this now, you 17 know, that way you can have that discussion with 18 your client. If not, we proceed to hear the 19 comments from the others and hear the public. 20 MR. PEREIRAS: I appreciate your 21 comments. I'd love to take the opportunity to 22 talk to our client. But I do want to make just 23 one more point before we go is that we are 24 providing two parking spaces. And that's why 25 we're cutting the building back in order to  67 1 provide two parking spaces. 2 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: What would be the 3 requirement for this? 4 MR. PEREIRAS: It would be six. 5 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: For two units? 6 MR. PEREIRAS: For two, four would be 7 required. 8 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Yes, yes. 9 MR. PEREIRAS: Okay. 10 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: You would have a 11 beautiful house there, if you talk to your client 12 and try to convince him to do the right thing, 13 support Union City, and bring the type of units 14 that we are looking to have in our neighborhoods 15 because of the parking situation, because of the 16 demand of better quality housing. 17 You know, if you wanted to add anything 18 else to your testimony? 19 MR. PEREIRAS: No, except that the board 20 understands that we would have to demolish in 21 order to make that happen. 22 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Yes. We are aware 23 of that. Any members of the board have any other 24 comments or questions? Hearing none. 25 MS. PEREIRAS: Mr. Chairman, our client  68 1 is here, if we could take a few minutes to discuss 2 with him. 3 CHAIRMAN GRULLON: You want to take a 4 few minutes break, two minute break? 5 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 6 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Off the record. 7 8 (Discussion held off the record.) 9 10 MR. PANEQUE: Back on the record. 11 Ms. Pereiras? 12 MS. PEREIRAS: If the board would be so 13 kind as to carry this matter to the June 9th 14 meeting date, during that time, we're trying to 15 see if we can reevaluate our design the way it is. 16 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Okay. With that, 17 I make a motion to adjourn this hearing to the 18 June 9th meeting. 19 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Second it. 20 MR. PANEQUE: Motion to adjourn to the 21 June 9th meeting made by Chairman Grullon, 22 seconded by Margarita Gutierrez. Roll call on the 23 motion. Victor Grullon. 24 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Yes. 25 MR. PANEQUE: Margarita Gutierrez.  69 1 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Yes. 2 MR. PANEQUE: Miguel Ortiz. 3 MR. ORTIZ: Yes. 4 MR. PANEQUE: Rosio Pena. 5 MS. PENA: Yes. 6 MR. PANEQUE: Geraldine Perez. 7 MS. PEREZ: Yes. 8 MR. PANEQUE: Five votes affirmative, 9 motion carries. 10 MS. PEREIRAS: Thank you, everyone. See 11 you next month. 12 MR. PANEQUE: Thank you. Have a good 13 night. 14 15 * * * * 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  70 1 ADOPTION OF RESOLUTIONS: 2 3 (1.) SSA Development II, LLC. 202 Bergenline 4 Avenue. Block 8, Lot 24. The applicant proposes 5 to demolish an existing building and construct a 2 6 unit/4 story residential structures. Approved. 7 Revised plans received on 04-28-2022. 8 9 (2.) Juliana Flores. 4116-4120 Bergenline 10 Avenue. Block 240, Lot 17, 18. Legalization of 11 existing catering hall. Approved. 12 13 (3.) Kevin Fernandez, 201 New York Avenue. Block 14 8, Lot 1. New tow (2) family house. Approved. 15 16 (4.) Lilian Leon & Alberto Santana, 311 45th 17 Street. Block 257, Lot 25. New two (2) family 18 home. Approved. 19 20 (5.) 815 13th Street, LLC, 1218 Kennedy 21 Boulevard, Block 57, Lots 22, 23, 24 & 27. The 22 applicant proposes to construct an elevated 23 outdoor covered terrace in the front and an at 24 grade terrace in the rear of an existing mixed use 25 building that contains a restaurant on the first  71 1 and second floor. Approved. 2 3 MR. PANEQUE: Next are the adoption of 4 resolutions. Resolution number one, SSA 5 Development II, LLC, 202 Bergenline Avenue, block 6 8, Lot 24. The applicant proposes to demolish an 7 existing building and construct a two unit/4 story 8 residential structure. Approved at the last 9 meeting, revised plans received on April 28, 2022. 10 Resolution number two, Juliana Flores. 11 4116-4120 Bergenline Avenue. Block 240, Lot 17, 12 18, legalization of a catering hall. Approved by 13 the board at the last meeting. 14 Resolution number three, Kevin 15 Fernandez, 201 New York Avenue, Block 8, Lot 1, 16 new two family house, approved at the last 17 meeting. 18 Resolution number four, Lillian Leon & 19 Alberto Santana, 311 45th Street, Block 257, Lot 20 25, new two family home approved at the last 21 meeting. 22 Resolution number five, 815 13th Street 23 LLC, 1218 Kennedy Boulevard, Block 57, Lot 22, 23, 24 24 and 27. The applicant proposes to construct an 25 elevated outdoor covered terrace in the front and  72 1 an at grade terrace in the rear of an existing 2 mixed use building that contains a restaurant on 3 the first and second floor. Approved by the board 4 at the last meeting. 5 Do I have a motion to approve these 6 resolutions? 7 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Motion. 8 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Second. 9 MR. PANEQUE: Motion made be Chairman 10 Grullon, seconded by Margarita Gutierrez. Roll 11 call on the motion. Victor Grullon. 12 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Yes. 13 MR. PANEQUE: Margarita Gutierrez. 14 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Yes. 15 MR. PANEQUE: Miguel Ortiz. 16 MR. ORTIZ: Yes. 17 MR. PANEQUE: Rosio Pena. 18 MS. PENA: Yes. 19 MR. PANEQUE: Geraldine Perez. 20 MS. PEREZ: Yes, except for number one. 21 MR. PANEQUE: You're recusing yourself 22 on number one. 23 Motion carried four on the first one, 24 five on the rest, motion carries. 25 * * * *  73 1 ADJOURNMENT: 2 3 MR. PANEQUE: There being no other 4 applications on tonight's agenda, can I have a 5 motion to close tonight's meeting? 6 MR. ORTIZ: Motion. 7 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Motion. 8 MR. PANEQUE: Motion by Margarita 9 Gutierrez. Seconded by? 10 MR. ORTIZ: Second. 11 MR. PANEQUE: Miguel Ortiz. Roll call 12 on the motion. Chairman Grullon. 13 CHAIRPERSON GRULLON: Yes. 14 MR. PANEQUE: Margarita Gutierrez. 15 VICE CHAIRPERSON GUTIERREZ: Yes. 16 MR. PANEQUE: Miguel Ortiz. 17 MR. ORTIZ: Yes. 18 MR. PANEQUE: Rosio Pena. 19 MS. PENA: Yes. 20 MR. PANEQUE: Geraldine Perez. 21 MS. PEREZ: Yes. 22 MR. PANEQUE: Motion to close the 23 meeting carries five, affirmative votes. Let the 24 record show that the meeting has ended. 25 (The meeting was adjourned at 7:40 p.m.)  74 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