1 1 HUDSON COUNTY PLANNING BOARD 2 RE: ) ) 3 MONTHLY MEETING ) ) 4 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _) Hudson County Administration 5 Building, Freeholders Chambers 567 Pavonia Avenue, Third Floor 6 Jersey City, New Jersey Wednesday, December 21, 2005 7 6:35 p.m. 8 BEFORE: 9 RENEE BETTINGER, VICE-CHAIRWOMAN 10 MARY AVAGLIANO, COMMISSIONER 11 JUDE FITZGIBBONS, COMMISSIONER 12 DANIEL CHOFFO, COMMISSIONER 13 BORIVOJ JASEK, COMMISSIONER 14 ALSO PRESENT: 15 THOMAS CALVANICO, ESQ., Board Attorney 16 STEPHEN MARKS, Board Secretary 17 18 Reported By: 19 Michelle Gruendel, C.S.R. 20 21 REPORTING SERVICES ARRANGED THROUGH: 22 VERITEXT/NEW JERSEY REPORTING COMPANY, LLC Kabot Battaglia & Hammer, Suburban Shorthand 23 Waga and Spinelli, Arthur J. Frannicola, CSR 25B Vreeland Road 24 Florham Park, New Jersey 07932 Tel: 973-410-4040 Fax: 973-410-1313 25 2 1 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: I'd like to 2 call to order the meeting of the Hudson County 3 Planning Board. 4 MR. CALVANICO: Madam Chairlady, 5 the notice of the meeting has been forwarded to 6 the Jersey Journal, forwarded to the Clerk of the 7 Board of Chosen Freeholders and posted on the 8 board, and the notices are in compliance with the 9 Open Public Meetings Act. 10 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Mr. 11 Secretary, do we have a quorum? 12 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, let me 13 call the roll, and I believe we do. 14 Commissioner Avagliano? 15 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Here. 16 MR. MARKS: Commissioner 17 Bettinger? 18 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Here. 19 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Choffo? 20 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: Present. 21 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Dublin is 22 not present. 23 Commissioner Fitzgibbons? 24 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Present. 25 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Jasek? 3 1 COMMISSIONER JASEK: Here. 2 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Liggio? 3 Not present. 4 Commissioner Mehta? He's not 5 present, and Chairman Holloway is not present. 6 Madam Chair, we have a quorum. 7 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Okay. 8 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: We have a 9 quorum? 10 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Okay. I'd 11 like to stand to Salute the Flag. 12 (Flag Salute takes place.) 13 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Have all the 14 Commissioners received the minutes? 15 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Yes. 16 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Yes. 17 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Okay. Do I 18 have a motion? 19 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: I make a 20 motion to accept the minutes of the last meeting. 21 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: I'll second 22 it. 23 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, on a 24 motion to accept the meeting minutes of November 25 14th, 2005 made by Commissioner Avagliano and 4 1 seconded by Commissioner Choffo: 2 Commissioner Fitzgibbons? 3 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 4 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Jasek? 5 COMMISSIONER JASEK: Aye. 6 MR. MARKS: And Chairwoman 7 Bettinger? 8 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Aye. 9 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, the 10 minutes were accepted. 11 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Okay. 12 Anyone need a copy of the Agenda? 13 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Do you 14 have a copy? 15 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Umm-hum. 16 If anyone has any comments for the 17 public portion of the meeting, if they'd like to 18 make a statement -- 19 Okay. 20 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Do the 21 memorialization. 22 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, for 23 Section 6A on the Agenda, memorialization of 24 resolutions approved at last meeting: For 25 application SP-73-05, PNC Bank, located at 2 East 5 1 77th Street and River Road in North Bergen; 2 application SP-94-05, Alan Fischer, applicant, 3 located at 89-91 Willow Avenue, also known as 4 260-264 Newark Street in Hoboken; SP-99-05, Global 5 Weehawken Acquisition, located at 300 Kennedy 6 Boulevard East in Weehawken; and application 7 SP-101-05, Trinity Faith Community Development 8 Corporation, located at 1944-1946 Kennedy 9 Boulevard in Jersey City. 10 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: I'll make a 11 motion. 12 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: I'll 13 second. 14 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, on a 15 motion made by Commissioner Choffo and seconded by 16 Commissioner Avagliano: 17 Commissioner Fitzgibbons? 18 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 19 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Jasek? 20 COMMISSIONER JASEK: Aye. 21 MR. MARKS: Chairwoman Bettinger? 22 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Aye. 23 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, the motion 24 passed. 25 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Applications 6 1 declared to be exempt. 2 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, for 3 application SP-103-05, Sprint Spectrum, LLC, 4 located at 430 Danforth Avenue in Jersey City; 5 application SP-104-05 New Cingular Wireless PCS, 6 LLC, located at 101 Linden Avenue East in Jersey 7 City; SP-105-05, Hartz Mountain Development Corp., 8 located at 400 Mill Creek Drive in Secaucus; 9 application SD-107-05, 327 Fifth Street Corp., 10 located at 377-383 Fourth Street in Jersey City; 11 and SP-108-05, New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC, 12 located at 487 Bramhall Avenue, Jersey City. 13 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Do I have a 14 motion? 15 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Motion to 16 accept. 17 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I 18 second. 19 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, on a 20 motion to accept, made by Commissioner Avagliano 21 and seconded by Commissioner Fitzgibbons: 22 Commissioner Choffo? 23 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: Aye. 24 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Jasek? 25 COMMISSIONER JASEK: Aye. 7 1 MR. MARKS: Chairwoman Bettinger? 2 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Aye. 3 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, the motion 4 passed. 5 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: First 6 application, SP -- 7 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, the first 8 application scheduled for public hearing this 9 evening is application SP-83-05, Michael P. 10 Gorman, applicant, located at 451-457 14th Street 11 in Hoboken. 12 MR. VENINO: Good evening, ladies 13 and gentlemen. My name is Richard P. Venino. I'm 14 here representing Michael Gorman on a site plan 15 application at 451-457 14th Street in Hoboken. 16 This is a one-story strip commercial retail 17 center, 13,592 square feet with 40 parking 18 spaces. We have received -- it's in the northwest 19 redevelopment section of Hoboken, zone three, a 20 permitted use. We've received site plan 21 application from Hoboken approximately two weeks 22 ago, and we are looking for your approval for site 23 plan, as well. 24 We have our engineer from Lapatka 25 Associates, Mr. Andrew Missey, to address the 8 1 Board's comments. 2 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Counsel, 3 would you like to swear him in? 4 MR. CALVANICO: Please state your 5 name and affiliation, for the record. 6 MR. MISSEY: My name is Andrew H. 7 Missey, M-I-S-S-E-Y. I'm a Licensed Professional 8 Engineer employed by Lapatka Associates, and I'm 9 the Project Engineer for the Gorman site plan. 10 ANDREW H. MISSEY, P.E., having been first duly 11 sworn according to law, testified as follows: 12 MR. MISSEY: Very briefly, this is 13 a 200 foot by 150 foot lot in the northwest corner 14 of Hoboken, in its northwest redevelopment 15 district. It's currently a gravel surface parking 16 lot and it is fenced and gated. Immediately to 17 the north of this site is the 14th Street viaduct, 18 which goes up to Union City and Jersey City 19 Heights, and at the surface level, immediately to 20 the north of this site are the marginal roads 21 below that viaduct. We're bounded to the west by 22 Jefferson Street, and to the east, by Adams 23 Street. 24 As Mr. Venino explained to you, Mr. 25 Gorman's proposing to construct a one-story, 9 1 13,592 square foot commercial retail building. We 2 will have storefronts on all three sides of the, 3 of the building; that is, to the west, to the east 4 and to the north. Our parking lot is located to 5 the north of the building. Access to the parking 6 lot will be from either Jefferson Street or from 7 Adams Street. There will be no direct connection 8 from the 14th Street marginal road. The loading 9 and refuse will face Jefferson Street, and all 10 around the site, as you can see from the exhibit, 11 will be new landscaping treatment, around the 12 perimeter of the site, around the perimeter of the 13 parking lot, along the street frontages. In 14 total, there are proposed about, almost 40 new 15 trees proposed, as well as the decorative lighting 16 and the street scape features that Hoboken's 17 incorporated into it, its design requirements in 18 its redevelopment district. 19 We have received the report from 20 Mr. Marks dated December 15th of this year and we 21 will comply with all the terms and conditions of 22 that report. Specifically, we will obtain road 23 opening permits from the Office of the County 24 Engineer in advance of any work. We will connect 25 the storm drain systems directly to the municipal 10 1 storm drain systems rather than into the county 2 inlets. We will provide the additional elevation 3 information that's been requested by the County 4 Engineer. With respect to the marginal road 5 itself, and some of us may be aware, in this 6 vicinity the marginal road is, in some portions, 7 cobblestone still and in other portions it's been 8 paved or resurfaced with asphalt. That is also 9 the case in front of this site. Between the 10 center line of Jefferson Street to the west and 11 the center line of Adams Street to the east, over 12 50, over 50 percent of that paved area, of that 13 travelled way is right now asphalt surfaced, and 14 that does make some sense, because immediately to 15 the north of this site is the Academy Bus Yard, 16 and this is where -- I'll point to the exhibit. 17 This is where they turn out of the Academy Bus 18 Yard to make the movement back to, back to go 19 toward the Lincoln Tunnel and The Port Authority. 20 We will resurface our half of the 14th Street 21 marginal road with a new asphalt surface to match 22 the half of this area that's already surfaced in 23 asphalt, and we will add details to the plan so 24 indicating so that that can be reviewed and 25 commented upon by the County Engineer's Office. 11 1 Be happy to discuss any of what 2 I've just talked about with you, if you have any 3 questions. 4 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Has this 5 been approved by the Hoboken Planning Board? 6 MR. MISSEY: Yes, it has. 7 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Mr. Jasek? 8 COMMISSIONER JASEK: Madam 9 Chairman, there's a little bit of a problem with 10 the cobblestones. 11 Hoboken Historic Committee is very 12 keen on keeping all the cobblestones on the 13 street -- not cover them, but keeping them 14 exposed, and the ones which are covered, they try 15 to uncover them, so I understand the engineer for 16 the applicant, that they think it would improve 17 the access, which is probably true, but this would 18 have to be approved by the Hoboken Historic 19 Committee, definitely, and I would like to include 20 in the resolution from this Board that it 21 shouldn't be covered with asphalt, and what's 22 covered with asphalt should be removed, pending 23 some other instructions from the Hoboken Historic 24 Committee. 25 MR. VENINO: You're asking the 12 1 applicant that, in the case of cobblestones which 2 are presently covered by asphalt, to uncover them 3 and restore that section of 14th Street marginal 4 road? 5 COMMISSIONER JASEK: That would be 6 my intention, yes. 7 MR. VENINO: Our position is, 8 that's really not the proper off site improvement 9 for this applicant, where that's not an area, I 10 guess, as I understand it, that's likely to be 11 disturbed by the applicant. It's a relatively 12 small commercial center. I'm not sure that the 13 cost of, you know, the feasibility, I don't know 14 the extent of the work that would be involved, but 15 it seems to me to be excessive, especially in 16 terms of the scope of this project. I think, 17 perhaps, a contribution to a project of that, that 18 magnitude might be in order, but I don't know if 19 this, this project really can handle that type of 20 expenditure. 21 COMMISSIONER JASEK: Well, you 22 propose new curb in front of the parking lot. Do 23 you propose the sidewalk there? 24 MR. VENINO: The sidewalk, yes. 25 COMMISSIONER JASEK: Yes, so if you 13 1 do the curb, you will disturb probably a good 2 portion of those virgin rocks, because as we know 3 it, the roadway is not level, nor straight, so in 4 order to build a curb, you will have to rebuild 5 adjacent portion of the roadway to a certain 6 point. 7 Do you follow what I'm talking 8 about? 9 MR. VENINO: Yes, I do. I do, and 10 we certainly would be willing to restore that. I 11 think what you're asking may go beyond that. 12 I'm not sure if we have an exhibit 13 which shows accurately the extent of the 14 cobblestones and how much of it has been covered 15 over by asphalt already. 16 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Yeah. 17 Right here. 18 MR. VENINO: We have -- that shows 19 a portion. Maybe explain that. 20 MR. MISSEY: What I've mounted to 21 the, to the exhibit, in the orange, in this north, 22 northwesterly section along Adams and along 23 Jefferson is what's presently surfaced in, in 24 macadam. It has macadam resurfacing. What's in 25 yellow is what is presently cobblestone. The 14 1 existing macadam is 7,300 square feet of the 2 travelled way or 51 percent of what exists as 3 travelled way between the center line of Adams -- 4 of Jefferson. Most of this macadam, as you can 5 see, is located in the vicinity of where Academy 6 buses turn out to make the movement back to the, 7 to the east and then ultimately to the, to the 8 north to get to the Lincoln Tunnel. 9 MR. VENINO: Is the entire length 10 of 14th Street in front of this site, I guess that 11 would be the eastbound marginal road, is that 12 entirely cobblestone? 13 MR. MISSEY: Yes, it is, at the 14 present time. 15 MR. VENINO: Okay. Commission, is 16 the Commissioner proposing that the portion of 17 14th Street that is disturbed be restored as we -- 18 as it exists now or do you -- are you asking the 19 applicant to go beyond that? 20 COMMISSIONER JASEK: Well, it's up 21 to the Commissioners, really, to establish the 22 extent of that, but the way I see that from the, 23 from the photo I have in front of me, you will 24 have to go something like eight to 10 feet outside 25 of the curb to restore the road in order to 15 1 establish the proper elevation of the curb and the 2 proper gutter next to the curb, so it would be my 3 recommendation you go that eight to 10 feet 4 outside of the curb with the restoration of the 5 cobblestone. 6 MR. VENINO: You agree with that? 7 I mean, as far as the -- 8 MR. MISSEY: Yeah. In this 9 section, because of the bus traffic -- 10 MR. VENINO: In order to get the 11 proper drainage -- 12 MR. CALVANICO: Gentlemen, can you 13 just identify the drawings that you're 14 referencing, so that the record is clear? We'll 15 need a copy of them. I'm assuming we have the 16 others, right? 17 MR. MISSEY: Yes. The large 18 exhibit is entitled Preliminary Site Plan for 19 Michael P. Gorman. It is sheet one of six of the 20 plans with an initial issue date of December 28th 21 of last year and most recent revision of October 22 19th of this year. The exhibit I prepared in 23 preparation for this, this hearing this evening 24 and it's entitled Exhibit, 12-20-05, 25 Gorman/Hoboken, and it's an 11-by-17 excerpt from 16 1 the site plan itself. 2 MR. CALVANICO: Thank you. 3 MR. VENINO: Is there no other 4 county project or other properties which are 5 planned to be improved that could be a part of 6 this project or this portion of it? 7 COMMISSIONER JASEK: Well, the way 8 I remember it, you are the only one working on 9 that, on the portion of the 14th Street and 10 marginal road. 11 MR. VENINO: And you've had the 12 same requirements imposed on the properties to the 13 east, along 14th Street? 14 COMMISSIONER JASEK: What property 15 are you referring to? 16 MR. VENINO: My understanding is 17 that just east of this property, along 14th 18 Street, has also been either developed or approved 19 for commercial development. It's been 20 constructed, I'm told. 21 COMMISSIONER JASEK: Yes. There's, 22 there's a building, I do recall that. I'm not 23 familiar -- I don't recall the conditions for 24 that. 25 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: Chair, I have 17 1 a question. 2 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Yes. 3 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: Did you have 4 to go in front of the Hoboken Historic Committee 5 to do this? 6 MR. VENINO: There was no hearing 7 before the Historic Committee, no. I don't know 8 if they -- we haven't even seen a report, either, 9 of the Committee to the Hoboken Planning Board, so 10 I don't know if they were consulted on this. 11 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I got a 12 question for -- is that part of Hoboken's 13 Historical District? 14 MR. CALVANICO: I don't know, 15 Commissioner. I can't answer the question. 16 Mr. Venino, do you know, is that a 17 historic designated area in town? 18 MR. VENINO: Not as far as I know, 19 though I can't say whether it is or isn't, but I 20 know we've been before the Planning Board and they 21 have not mentioned that and it's not imposed as a 22 condition of their approval. 23 My concern is obviously one of 24 relative cost, and also of even treatment among 25 property owners along both sides of 14th Street, 18 1 because we happen to have a section which is 2 cobblestone and this would be an, I think an 3 extraordinary expense to restore. I don't know 4 what's been done in the past, or if this is 5 something that's uniformly imposed. It seems like 6 an extraordinary off site improvement. 7 MR. CALVANICO: If I might, I don't 8 know what your client's timetable is for the 9 project, but maybe it might be worth it, if it 10 doesn't -- to put this off for a month and let us 11 confer with Hoboken, we can both confer with the 12 Historic Committee to find out what their 13 requirements are, and then we'll have a better or 14 more definitive answer with respect to how that, 15 how it should be treated. 16 MR. VENINO: That's fine. I think 17 that's a good idea. I think we probably should. 18 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Can I have a 19 motion to table this application? 20 COMMISSIONER JASEK: I make the 21 motion to continue hearing the application at the 22 next meeting, in January, 2006. 23 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I second 24 it. 25 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, on a 19 1 motion to table application SP-83-05 made by 2 Commissioner Jasek and seconded by Commissioner 3 Fitzgibbons: 4 Commissioner Avagliano? 5 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: I vote 6 aye. 7 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Choffo? 8 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: Aye. 9 MR. MARKS: Commissioner 10 Fitzgibbons? 11 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 12 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Jasek? 13 COMMISSIONER JASEK: Aye. 14 MR. MARKS: Chairwoman Bettinger? 15 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Aye. 16 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, the next 17 application for hearing is SD-98-05, Hartz 18 Mountain Industries, Inc., located at Harbor 19 Boulevard in Weehawken. 20 MR. FRENZEL: Good evening. 21 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Good 22 evening. 23 MR. FRENZEL: My name is Perry 24 Frenzel, F-R-E-N-Z-E-L. I am the Vice-President 25 of Development Engineering for Hartz Mountain 20 1 Industries and I'm also a Licensed Professional 2 Engineer and Planner in the State of New Jersey. 3 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Can you 4 swear him in? 5 PERRY E. FRENZEL, P.E., P.P., having been first 6 duly sworn according to law, testified as 7 follows: 8 MR. FRENZEL: The application that 9 is before you tonight is for further subdivision 10 of properties within Lincoln Harbor in Weehawken. 11 In August of this year, August 12 17th, we appeared before this Board for two 13 applications, one for site plan approval and one 14 for subdivision approval. The Board granted both 15 of those applications to allow us, under the site 16 plan approval, to construct basically four 17 elements within the totality of Lincoln Harbor. 18 The primary focus of the application was this 19 particular complex at the north end, 430 20 residential units within three buildings with 21 attached parking in parking decks beneath the 22 residential structures. Immediately adjacent 23 there was a set aside of approximately an acre of 24 property that would be used for the town's 25 purposes. There was the reconstruction of the 21 1 surface parking lot which lies immediately north 2 of the food court and the existing buildings in 3 Lincoln Harbor and the construction of a parking 4 structure in this particular location. The 5 exhibit that I'm referring to was used at that 6 particular hearing. It is the site location plan 7 prepared by AFR Group signed by Michael P. 8 Richie. That's dated 4-25-05 and last revised 9 6-3-05. That was the extent of the site plan 10 application, and again, you approved that 11 application. As I said, there was a subdivision 12 application that was also associated with it. As 13 Lincoln Harbor developed over the years, we've 14 basically subdivided off individual lots for each 15 of the structures as they have been developed, 16 primarily for financing and tax purposes. In 17 conjunction with the site plan that was approved 18 for the residential development on the north end, 19 we subdivided what is Lot 421, a parcel that was 20 approximately 39 acres. That parcel includes the 21 water parcels, the roads, and it included 22 everything to the north of the buildings that were 23 developed. That area, that was primarily surface 24 parking lot prior to this application. The 25 subdivision application that was presented in 22 1 August, completed in September and then 2 memorialized in October allowed us to subdivide 3 two parcels out of Lot 421, in this location shown 4 in blue, a 6.3 acre lot for the residential 5 complex, and the one acre lot that I spoke of, 6 that will be set aside for the town's purposes. 7 We come back to you tonight and we 8 simply ask you to allow us to subdivide off two 9 more parcels in this location here. The larger 10 parcel, approximately 6.2 -- excuse me, 6.287 11 acres, primarily surface parking lot, and the 12 smaller parcel for the parking garage, which is 13 under construction, approximately .9 acres, and 14 that's really the extent of the application that 15 is before you tonight. 16 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Mr. Jasek, 17 do you have any comments? 18 COMMISSIONER JASEK: Could you 19 enlighten us on the circulation, how you get in 20 and out, into the site? 21 MR. FRENZEL: From what point? 22 COMMISSIONER JASEK: From both 23 directions, north and south. 24 MR. FRENZEL: The primary point of 25 access from the north would be Baldwin Avenue and 23 1 the primary point of access from the south would 2 be 19th Street. In the subdivision application 3 and the site plan application heard back in 4 August, there were discussions about the 19th 5 Street access and there were conditions in both 6 the site plan and the subdivision resolution 7 concerning the widening of Kennedy Boulevard in 8 this particular area here, at the intersection of 9 Kennedy and 19th Street. It's my understanding 10 that those conditions carry forth with any 11 subsequent approvals. 12 COMMISSIONER JASEK: I just want to 13 hear it again. 14 MR. FRENZEL: That's what I thought 15 you wanted. 16 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Do any other 17 Commissioners have any questions? No comments? 18 Do I have a motion? 19 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: I make a 20 motion. 21 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Do I have a 22 second? 23 COMMISSIONER JASEK: I second. 24 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, on a 25 motion to approve SD-98-05 made by Commissioner 24 1 Choffo and seconded by Commission Jasek: 2 Commissioner Avagliano? 3 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: I vote 4 aye. 5 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Choffo? 6 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: Aye. 7 MR. MARKS: Commissioner 8 Fitzgibbons? 9 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 10 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Jasek? 11 COMMISSIONER JASEK: Aye. 12 MR. MARKS: Chairwoman Bettinger? 13 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Aye. 14 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, the motion 15 passes. 16 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Thank you. 17 MR. FRENZEL: As always, thank you 18 for your kindness and courtesies, and the best of 19 holidays to everybody. 20 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Same to you. 21 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Thank you. 22 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: Same to you. 23 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, the next 24 application scheduled for public hearing is 25 SP-112-05, Omnipoint Communications, located at 25 1 2672 Kennedy Boulevard in Jersey City. 2 MR. STAMOS: Yes. Good evening, 3 Madam Chair, Members of the Board. My name is 4 Constantine Stamos of the Law Firm of Price, 5 Meese, Shulman & D'Arminio on behalf of the 6 applicant, Omnipoint Communications. 7 Again, as stated, the proposed 8 facility for Omnipoint, which is T-Mobile as a 9 service, is 2672 Kennedy Boulevard. It's Block 10 1835, Lot 25C. We're proposing a rooftop wireless 11 communications facility, which was approved by the 12 Jersey City Planning Board via its wireless 13 subcommittee on September 27th, 2005. 14 I have an engineer here who can 15 describe what we're proposing. 16 MR. CALVANICO: State your name and 17 your affiliation, for the record. 18 MR. KROEPER: Sean Kroeper. I'm 19 employed by French & Parello Associates. 20 SEAN KROEPER, P.E., having been first duly sworn 21 according to law, testified as follows: 22 MR. KROEPER: Omnipoint 23 Communications is proposing a facility at 2672 24 Kennedy Boulevard. It's a rooftop application. 25 It will consist of three equipment cabinets 26 1 mounted to two new steel beams located in the 2 center of the building. With that, we'll also be 3 proposing six antennas. They'll be two per 4 sector, so they'll be three sectors total. Sector 5 A is located in the north part of the building on 6 the side, Sector C is located on the southeast 7 part of the building towards the corner of 8 Glenwood Ave. and Kennedy Boulevard, those two 9 sectors will be flush-mounted with the top of the 10 antennas being at the top of the building height, 11 which will be 62.3, and then the third sector, 12 we're going to span a beam kitty-corner and we'll 13 mount two antennas to the beam, which will be an 14 elevation of 70 feet above grade, eight feet above 15 the top of the building. 16 MR. STAMOS: Does what Omnipoint's 17 proposing, does it require any potable water or 18 sewer or drainage surfaces? 19 MR. KROEPER: It's an unmanned 20 facility. They'll be visited on an average of 21 once a month, just for a technician to make sure 22 the maintenance, any due diligence they need to do 23 for it, so all that is non-applicable for this 24 application. 25 MR. STAMOS: So there will be no 27 1 affect on any of the county systems? 2 MR. KROEPER: Correct. 3 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: A 4 question. Did the municipality approve it? 5 MR. KROEPER: Correct. 6 MR. STAMOS: Yes. On September 7 27th. 8 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: You get 9 permits and approvals from the Construction 10 Official? 11 MR. STAMOS: Yes. 12 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Commissioner 13 Jasek? 14 COMMISSIONER JASEK: Are there any 15 other antennas or facility on this roof, to your 16 knowledge, on this building? 17 MR. KROEPER: On this building, 18 no. Omnipoint will be the first carrier to go on. 19 COMMISSIONER JASEK: I'm looking at 20 the -- at a picture of the building and there's 21 something which looks like an antenna of some 22 kind. If you, if you can look at it. 23 MR. KROEPER: It's just a stack 24 pipe. I mean -- 25 COMMISSIONER JASEK: All right. So 28 1 there's apparently no other antennas or facility 2 on this building. 3 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Can you 4 tell me what the ladder figure is? This, what is 5 that? 6 MR. KROEPER: It's a cable tray. 7 Once the cables are routed within that and go into 8 the three sectors, it will be enclosed with the 9 top. 10 MR. CALVANICO: Just let me, I just 11 want the record to be clear. 12 Commissioners are looking at 13 photographs which were taken by a staff person. 14 You're indicating that these 15 photographs represent the construction that's 16 already begun for your application? 17 MR. KROEPER: Yup. 18 MR. STAMOS: Well, if I may, and I 19 apologize to the Board, our contractor mistakenly 20 thought that they can commence certain work and 21 that this approval basically related to what would 22 affect the county, i.e., the crane permit, and 23 there was a change in the plans which delayed our 24 filing, so they mistakenly thought they could 25 commence on the roof and they were properly told 29 1 to cease construction, which they did at the time. 2 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Who 3 instructed them to -- municipality told them to 4 stop? 5 MR. STAMOS: No. I believe it was 6 a county representative who went there. 7 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Yeah. 8 You're supposed to get permits from the 9 municipality before you even start this type of 10 work. 11 Do you know that? 12 MR. STAMOS: They did. 13 Unfortunately, just to clarify, I, I believe it 14 was just a miscommunication, and they mistakenly 15 thought they could proceed, and as I said, they 16 were properly told to cease, which they did. 17 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Are the 18 residents in the building aware of this antenna 19 that's being placed on their building? 20 MR. STAMOS: Well, the ordinance in 21 Jersey City, I don't know if you're aware of it, 22 basically has, it's a permitted use at the site so 23 long as it meets certain conditions of approval. 24 One is that the building be at least 45 feet in 25 height for antennas to be located on the roof and 30 1 the other one is that the building be at least 60 2 feet in height if you're going to put equipment 3 cabinets on the roof, and we meet both of their 4 conditions. Procedurally, their process is that 5 you go to a wireless subcommittee, because it's 6 such a large municipality, that they are, they're 7 inundated by these facilities, and it's so densely 8 populated, I mean, there's one every block or so, 9 so they committed this process to it. We have 10 other applications where we don't meet those 11 conditions and we have to serve notices and 12 they're aware of it, but this was, I believe these 13 are condos, it's a homeowners association that 14 owns it, so they had signed a lease, so they would 15 have had to vote to approve of it. 16 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Right. 17 Do we have any other questions from 18 the Commissioners? 19 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: No. 20 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Do I have a 21 motion? 22 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I make a 23 motion to approve. 24 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: I'll second. 25 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: And a 31 1 second. 2 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, on a 3 motion to approve application SP-112-05 made by 4 Commissioner Fitzgibbons and seconded by 5 Commissioner Choffo: 6 Commissioner Avagliano? 7 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: I vote 8 aye. 9 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Choffo? 10 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: Aye. 11 MR. MARKS: Commissioner 12 Fitzgibbons? 13 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 14 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Jasek? 15 COMMISSIONER JASEK: Aye. 16 MR. MARKS: Chairwoman Bettinger? 17 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Aye. 18 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, the 19 application was approved. 20 MR. STAMOS: Thank you. Thank you 21 for your consideration and time. Happy Holidays 22 to all of you. 23 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Any Old 24 Business? Any Old Business? 25 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Mr. Jasek, 32 1 hasn't the Coach House in North Bergen recently -- 2 do you recall they came and we had the meeting on 3 the Coach House and they were supposed to correct 4 the curbs? 5 COMMISSIONER JASEK: Yes. 6 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Well, I 7 was there. Several weeks ago I was there and it's 8 not completed yet. I understand there's a lot of 9 friction going on up there, and it's really a 10 total mess. I looked around, curbs are still not 11 up. 12 COMMISSIONER JASEK: I see. 13 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: But Mr. 14 Popace wasn't there. I was curious on what was 15 going on and the waitress said there was a little 16 problem within themselves. He's busy now 17 purchasing another restaurant in Jersey City. I 18 think that's what's holding them up. 19 Did we give them a specific time to 20 complete that project? 21 COMMISSIONER JASEK: We don't 22 establish a time and we don't get any guarantee 23 from, from any applicant that they will do 24 actually what we tell them to do. 25 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: There's a 33 1 lot of work to be done there. 2 COMMISSIONER JASEK: It's something 3 for discussion. We briefly discussed that at one 4 of the meetings, that we should get a bond or 5 something like that that the municipality gets 6 which will guarantee that the work will be done 7 and will be done on time and according to the 8 approved plans, so -- 9 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: I will go 10 back again on Friday, just curious, to see if 11 anything has been done. There's friction between 12 the brothers, Mr. Popace and the group there, and 13 they've been holding something up, which I think 14 is unfair to the people in Union City to see this. 15 COMMISSIONER JASEK: I agree with 16 that. 17 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Plus, 18 they're centralized in the middle of the 19 Boulevard. 20 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: It's a 21 dangerous area. 22 COMMISSIONER JASEK: I will ask my 23 inspector to look at it. 24 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Back 25 parking lot is horrible. 34 1 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: It really 2 is. 3 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Back 4 there there's a parking lot. 5 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: I know. I 6 had to park in there. It's not that easy, it was 7 all stones all over the place, but I know when we 8 met they said they were gonna' start immediately 9 and straighten it up. In fact, they -- just for 10 the record, they just purchased Cosa Dante', so 11 now they're holding that up, I think, Mr. Popace. 12 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: Really, they 13 purchased it? 14 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: You see. 15 Ha-ha. Do I do my work? I know where all the 16 good restaurants are to go. 17 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I got 18 some, maybe under Old Business, with these 19 antennas, excuse me, with these antennas. A lot 20 of these antennas on county roads may be going up 21 illegally. I mentioned one that was right across 22 from City Hall, the old Fabian Lounge, the old 23 Fabian Bar. I don't know what it's called now. 24 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Which 25 municipality? 35 1 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Hoboken. 2 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Hoboken, I 3 should have known. 4 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: On First 5 Street, the corner bar, they put an antenna up 6 there. Never came before this Board. You know 7 that? First Street. 8 COMMISSIONER JASEK: First Street 9 is a county road. 10 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I don't 11 know if they ever got permits from the City of 12 Hoboken, so there's a couple of county -- I got a 13 suspicion in Hoboken that these guys are coming in 14 and putting these antennas up, which I totally, as 15 a Code Official, disagree with, the way some of 16 them are going up, because they obstruct any fire 17 or activities on the roof. You know, if the 18 firemen want to get up there and vent a roof in 19 case of emergency, they're gonna' run into a lot 20 of problems, and I know there's a couple on 21 Washington Street. I don't know if they're legal. 22 Washington Street a county road? 23 COMMISSIONER JASEK: No. 24 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: No, but 25 I'll make you aware that there may be some ill -- 36 1 not only in Hoboken's municipality, but maybe -- 2 God knows what's going on. 3 COMMISSIONER JASEK: Well, 4 Commissioner, could you find out who's facility it 5 is, so we can -- 6 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I don't 7 know. I'm not, I'm not an expertise on the 8 communications. 9 COMMISSIONER JASEK: Maybe from the 10 City Hall. 11 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Well, I 12 went down to the Construction Official and told 13 him there was no -- was there a permit. I don't 14 know. It's right on the corner. I think it's, 15 there might be a couple, you know, Clinton Street. 16 COMMISSIONER JASEK: Well, the 17 Construction Official should be able to find out. 18 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: They 19 still got to come before this Board, right? 20 COMMISSIONER JASEK: Yes. That's 21 correct. 22 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair -- 23 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Yes. 24 MR. MARKS: -- we do -- this did 25 come up with two recent applications, the last 37 1 one, this evening, SP-112-05, and another 2 application. We do have, the county does have Lou 3 D'Amico, who is an inspector who works with the 4 Division of Engineering out along county roads, 5 and also, the Engineering Office, before they 6 grant any road opening permits by either 7 developers or by utilities, they check to see 8 whether there are approvals, so that's something 9 that, it's an internal check that we have. 10 In addition to that, there's an 11 application that was examined by the Site Plan and 12 Subdivision Review Committee back in the summer, I 13 believe in the vicinity of First Street, and there 14 was some additional information that we were 15 looking for. We declared the application to be 16 incomplete and we sent a letter to the attorney, 17 Judy Babinski, for that application requesting 18 additional information. We never heard back from 19 the applicant on that application. I'm just 20 wondering if that was -- if they went ahead and 21 put up the antennas even though it was declared to 22 be incomplete, the application, if it is, indeed, 23 that, you know, that address and that applicant. 24 We will cross-reference it and check it. 25 In addition, as part of the 38 1 inter-local agreement that we're looking to 2 establish with the Improvement Authority, we have 3 Mr. Tarente here from the Hudson County 4 Improvement Authority, who took the photos of all 5 the applications which you were able to examine 6 this evening, and we were hoping to establish an 7 even better relationship with the Improvement 8 Authority, since their inspectors do have 9 enforcement authority, and I think Mr. Tarente was 10 able to use his finesse to get in and actually 11 take pictures of the rooftop on the one 12 application and is actually making contact with, 13 in a spirit of cooperation, with the 14 municipalities, actually talking to Construction 15 Code Officials in each of the towns that he's 16 dealing with, so I'd like to thank Mr. Tarente for 17 being here this evening and for going out and 18 checking the sites, especially when it's -- 19 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: In the snow. 20 MR. MARKS: In the snow, but it's 21 one thing to take a picture of the building from 22 outside, across the street, it's a totally 23 different manner to actually get up there, and I 24 commend Mr. Tarente for doing -- 25 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Yes. It's 39 1 very helpful, too. 2 MR. MARKS: -- you know, for getting 3 on the roof, talking to the Building Association 4 or the property owners and actually getting up 5 there and taking a look, actually on site where 6 the antennas will be, so I commend Mr. Tarente. 7 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: It's very 8 helpful to the Commission. Thank you. 9 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Thank 10 you, Mario. 11 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Thank you, 12 Mario. We needed you a long time ago. 13 MR. CALVANICO: Along those lines, 14 if you come across a situation like this, 15 Commissioner Fitzgibbons, if you can just get the 16 address to us, we'll have Mr. Tarente follow-up. 17 Same thing, Mary. 18 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: It's 110 19 First Street. 20 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Your phone 21 number? Oh, you're with the ACIA? 22 MR. TARENTE: Yes. 23 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Your 24 number there? 25 MR. TARENTE: I have a business 40 1 card. 2 MR. CALVANICO: 795-4555. 3 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: 4555. You 4 have a direct number or is this the main -- 5 MR. TARENTE: Extension 329. 6 MR. CALVANICO: Extension 329. 7 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: 29? 8 MR. CALVANICO: 329. 9 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I 10 believe it's 110 First Street. 11 MR. MARKS: 110 First Street. 12 Commissioner Avagliano? 13 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: I spent at 14 least a half hour making -- remember the meeting 15 we had? Everything was fine, let's get it over 16 with. We're here, get it over with. One, two, 17 three, it was over with and nothing's been done. 18 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Do we 19 have to get sworn in? 20 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: I parked 21 my car on top of the hill, on top of the stones. 22 Excuse me. What was that? 23 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: One person 24 at a time. 25 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Oh, 41 1 okay. 2 MR. MARKS: Under New Business. 3 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Do we 4 have to get sworn in? 5 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Well, that's 6 New Business. We're still on Old Business. 7 Any other Old Business? 8 MR. CALVANICO: I do have one item. 9 I had communicated with the 10 attorney for FDP about the reports that we sent 11 them. This is the big project on Secaucus Road in 12 Secaucus. They indicated that they sent you a 13 drainage report, Bob, of some kind. 14 COMMISSIONER JASEK: No. I don't 15 remember getting anything except a fax today, 16 which I didn't even read. It came late. 17 MR. CALVANICO: Okay. Actually, 18 the way the attorney put it was that it was his 19 understanding that the FDP's engineer had sent the 20 drainage report of some kind to us. I, I hadn't 21 seen anything and Steve hadn't. 22 COMMISSIONER JASEK: We'll ask 23 them, they send everything through you and this 24 way they'll be no problem. 25 MR. CALVANICO: I'll just 42 1 follow-up. 2 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: They're 3 giving the amjay (phonetic) on the amjay 4 (phonetic). That's what they're doing to you. 5 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Okay. Any 6 Old Business? 7 Okay. New Business. 8 MR. MARKS: Under New Business, 9 Madam Chair, I'd just like to congratulate you and 10 Commissioner Fitzgibbons for both being recently 11 reappointed to the Planning Board by the County 12 Executive and the Freeholders at the last meeting, 13 so congratulations. 14 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Thank you. 15 MR. MARKS: Perhaps at the January 16 meeting we'll have the oath of office, for you to 17 be -- 18 MR. CALVANICO: We'll have you 19 sworn in. 20 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Also get 21 an increase. 22 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Thank you. 23 MR. CALVANICO: You get 100 percent 24 pay increase. 25 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: It was 43 1 approved by our Director, who's doing a great job. 2 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Going to 3 adopt the schedule, the 2006 Schedule, or we'll 4 wait until -- 5 MR. MARKS: Well, Madam Chair, if 6 we could introduce it tonight and then memorialize 7 it at the next meeting, and we'll put it on the 8 Hudson County Internet Website. If I could 9 encourage you to, and all the Commissioners, to 10 visit the internet website. We've actually posted 11 the agendas and the meeting minutes from the past 12 year-and-a-half on to the County's Internet 13 Website, so applicants and members of the general 14 public could actually look at the minutes, they 15 don't have to request it through my office, it's 16 public information, they don't have to submit any 17 formal request, it's there, and these are things 18 which have already been approved as minutes and 19 transcripts of the Planning Board, so it's 20 available instantaneously, once you click on the 21 button. 22 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: Excuse me, 23 Steve. What's the website? 24 MR. MARKS: It's 25 www.HudsonCountyNJ.org, and it's forward/planning. 44 1 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: It's 2 forward/? 3 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: 4 Forward/planning. 5 MR. MARKS: The resolutions are not 6 up there, but it's something we can consider. 7 That takes additional time, but it's something we 8 can possibly consider, but the -- you could 9 actually cross-reference the agendas and if 10 there's an item or a matter that you'd like to see 11 through further discussions on, you could then 12 click on to the minutes or the transcripts and see 13 what the attorneys had been saying at the time, or 14 the applicant or County Engineer or the 15 Commissioners, you know, what the back and forth 16 exchange was, which is helpful for any number of 17 purposes. There's also a picture of the Planning 18 Board there, as well as the bylaws, the site plan 19 and subdivision review resolution. The meeting 20 calendar, I'll put the -- once it's introduced and 21 adopted, I'll put the 2006 calendar, and that's in 22 addition to actually publishing it in the Jersey 23 Journal and posting it on the board. 24 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: All 25 right. 45 1 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Ready for 2 the -- you're going to introduce the schedule? 3 MR. MARKS: Madam Chair, for the 4 introduction and adoption of the 2006 Schedule and 5 Meeting Calendar. 6 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Should we 7 have a motion on it? 8 Motion. We accept the dates on the 9 calendar for the year 2006. Let's make it a good 10 year, have more fun. 11 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: A second? 12 Do we have a second? 13 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: Go ahead. 14 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Second. 15 MR. MARKS: Okay. Madam Chair, a 16 motion to accept the 2006 Planning Board Meeting 17 Calendar made by Commissioner Avagliano -- 18 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: I vote 19 aye. 20 MR. MARKS: -- and seconded by 21 Commissioner Fitzgibbons: 22 Mary votes aye. 23 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Aye. 24 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Choffo? 25 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: Aye. 46 1 MR. MARKS: Commissioner 2 Fitzgibbons? 3 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 4 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Jasek? 5 COMMISSIONER JASEK: Aye. 6 MR. MARKS: Chairwoman Bettinger? 7 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Aye. 8 Steve, you're doing a wonderful job 9 on the Planning Board. 10 MR. MARKS: Thank you. 11 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Any other 12 New Business? 13 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I make a 14 motion to adjourn. 15 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Second. 16 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Is that 17 all right with you? 18 MR. MARKS: I make a motion that 19 everybody has a happy and healthy holiday. 20 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Thank you, 21 and same to you. 22 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Same to 23 everyone. 24 (At 7:30 p.m., proceedings were 25 concluded.) 47 1 2 CERTIFICATION 3 I, MICHELLE GRUENDEL, CSR, do 4 hereby certify that the above proceedings were 5 recorded stenographically by me and reduced to 6 typewriting by me. 7 I FURTHER CERTIFY that the 8 foregoing transcript of the said deposition is a 9 true and correct transcript of the testimony given 10 by the said witness at the time and place 11 specified hereinbefore. 12 I FURTHER CERTIFY that I am not a 13 relative or employee or attorney or counsel of any 14 of the parties, nor a relative or employee of such 15 attorney or counsel, or financially interested 16 directly or indirectly in this action. 17 18 19 20 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 21 MICHELLE GRUENDEL 22 23 24 25