1 1 HUDSON COUNTY PLANNING BOARD 2 3 RE: : 4 MONTHLY MEETING : TRANSCRIPT OF : PROCEEDINGS 5 : : 6 - - - - - - - - - - - Hudson County 7 Administration Building, Freeholders Chambers 8 567 Pavonia Avenue Third Floor 9 Jersey City, New Jersey Wednesday, June 21, 2006 10 6:30 p.m. 11 BEFORE: 12 RENEE BETTINGER, Chairwoman DANIEL CHOFFO, Vice-Chair 13 DEMETRIO ARENCIBA, Commissioner HON. JEFFREY DUBLIN, Freeholder 14 JUDE FITZGIBBONS, Commissioner MICHAEL A. HOLLOWAY, Commissioner 15 RUSHABH MEHTA, Commissioner KENNEDY NG, Commissioner 16 17 ALSO PRESENT: 18 THOMAS CALVANICO, ESQ., Board Attorney 19 STEPHEN MARKS, Board Secretary 20 Reported By: 21 Shari Cathey 22 23 Reporting Services Arranged Through: Veritext/New Jersey Reporting Company 24 25B Vreeland Road, Suite 301 Florham Park, New Jersey 07932 25 Tel: (973) 410-4040 Fax: (973) 410-1313 2 1 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Good evening. 2 I would like to call to order the meeting of the 3 Hudson County Planning Board. 4 Counsel, has the meeting been properly 5 advertised? 6 MR. CALVANICO: This meeting has been 7 properly advertised in accordance with the New 8 Jersey Open Public Meetings Act, posted on the board 9 of the County, as well as on the board with the 10 Board of Chosen Freeholders. 11 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Mr. Secretary, 12 may we have a roll call? 13 MR. MARKS: Commisioner Arenciba. 14 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: Present. 15 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Avagliano, 16 not present. Commissioner Choffo. 17 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: Here. 18 MR. MARKS: Commissioner DiDomenico 19 is not present. Commissioner Dublin. 20 COMMISSIONER DUBLIN: Present. 21 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Fitzsimmons. 22 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: 23 Fitzgibbons, present. 24 MR. MARKS: I'm sorry, Commissioner 25 Fitzgibbons. Commissioner Holloway. 3 1 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Present. 2 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Mehta, not 3 present. Commissioner Ng. 4 COMMISSIONER NG: I'm here. 5 MR. MARKS: Chairwoman Bettinger. 6 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Here. Please 7 rise to salute the flag. 8 (Flag Salute.) 9 Commissioners should have all received the 10 minutes of the last meeting. Do I have a motion to 11 accept the minutes? 12 MR. MARKS: Motion for the adoption 13 of the minutes, motion by Commissioner Choffo. 14 Second by Commissioner Holloway. 15 Commisioner Arenciba. 16 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: Aye. 17 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Choffo. 18 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: Aye. 19 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Dublin. 20 COMMISSIONER DUBLIN: Aye. 21 MR. MARKS: Commissioner 22 Fitzsimmons -- Fitzgibbons. 23 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 24 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Holloway. 25 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Aye. 4 1 MR. MARKS: Chairwoman Bettinger. 2 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Aye. Motion 3 passed. Does anyone have a comment on the agenda 4 this evening? 5 The first item on the agenda is the 6 memorialization of resolutions approved at the last 7 meeting. 8 MR. MARKS: Memorialization of 9 resolutions approved at the last meeting: 10 SP-109-05, Cinelli Iron & Metal, 310 Secaucus Road, 11 Secaucus, New Jersey; SP-24-06, SDS Developers, LLC, 12 1718-1722 Kennedy Boulevard, Jersey City; SP-29-06, 13 K. Hovnanian at Port Imperial, Avenue at Port 14 Imperial, West New York; and SP-30-06, K. Hovnanian 15 at Port Imperial, Avenue at Port Imperial, West New 16 York; SP-43-06, Michael Morgase, 296 Palisades 17 Avenue in Jersey City; SP-44-06, 2,4,6 Paterson 18 Avenue, LLC, 2-6 Paterson Avenue, Hoboken; SP-46-06, 19 River Park at Harrison I, Warren, First, Bergen and 20 Dey Streets, Harrison, New Jersey; SD-52-06, Grand 21 LHN Urban Renewal, LLC, Luis Munoz Marin Boulevard, 22 Jersey City. 23 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Can we have a 24 motion? 25 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: On the 5 1 motion, can we submit SP-29-06 together? 2 MR. MARKS: SP-29-06, K. Hovnanian at 3 Port Imperial, Avenue at Port Imperial, West New 4 York, New Jersey. 5 MR. CALVANICO: Those are two, 29 and 6 30. Those are companion resolutions. 7 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Make a 8 motion to approved. 9 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: Second. 10 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Fitzgibbons 11 made the motion. Second by Commissioner Choffo. 12 Commisioner Arenciba. 13 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: Aye. 14 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Choffo. 15 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: Aye. 16 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Dublin. 17 COMMISSIONER DUBLIN: Aye. 18 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Fitzgibbons. 19 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 20 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Holloway. 21 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Aye. 22 MR. MARKS: Chairwoman Bettinger. 23 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Aye. 24 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Ng. 25 COMMISSIONER NG: Aye. 6 1 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Next item, 2 applications declared to be exempt. 3 MR. MARKS: Applications to be 4 declared exempt: SD-54-06, Harmon Plaza Corp., 45 5 Meadowlands Parkway, Secaucus; SD-56-06, Broadway 6 Commons, LLC, 149-153 71st Street, Guttenberg; 7 SD-57-06, Nams Developers, Incorporated, 3 Vreeland 8 Terrace, Jersey City. 9 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Do I have a 10 motion? 11 MR. MARKS: Introduced by 12 Commissioner Ng. Seconded by Commissioner Holloway. 13 Commisioner Arenciba. 14 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: Aye. 15 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Choffo. 16 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: Aye. 17 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Dublin. 18 COMMISSIONER DUBLIN: Aye. 19 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Fitzgibbons. 20 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 21 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Holloway. 22 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Aye. 23 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Ng. 24 COMMISSIONER NG: Aye. 25 MR. MARKS: Chairwoman Bettinger. 7 1 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Aye. First 2 application this evening is SP-42-06, Kearny Auto 3 Spa, 946 Passaic Avenue, Kearny, New Jersey. 4 MR. BUONO: Good evening, Paul Buono, 5 B-u-o-n-o, from the law firm of Koch, Koch & Bennett 6 on behalf of the application, Kearny Auto Spa. At 7 this time I'd like to call up one of the managing 8 members of Kearny Auto Spa, Christopher Cole, to be 9 sworn in to give testimony. 10 MR. CALVANICO: Please state your 11 name and affiliation for the record. 12 MR. COLE: Chris Cole, managing 13 member of Kearny Auto Spa, LLC. 14 MR. CALVANICO: What's the address? 15 MR. COLE: 946 Passaic Avenue, 16 Kearny, New Jersey. 17 (The witness is sworn.) 18 MR. BUONO: This stems from an 19 application which approval was made from the town of 20 Kearny on February 2nd, 2006. Also, approval was 21 made by the Department of Transportation on 22 October 5th, 2005. Approval from the town was given 23 on this matter. Also, the Board is here today, 24 we're asking for approval regarding the County's 25 application, and we would like to address any 8 1 questions. 2 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: I have some 3 questions. Previously, in a memo, there were some 4 comments, and have those comments been adequately 5 addressed? Perhaps we will have additional 6 testimony, and one is, Passaic Avenue is a County 7 road, and improvements will be made along Passaic 8 Avenue for this site; is that correct? 9 MR. COLE: Yes, anything, any 10 sidewalks or curbing that's defective or is not in 11 good shape, we're going to fix that and repair it 12 just as a matter of course to enhanced our property. 13 That's also on the plan. 14 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: It wasn't 15 that clear on the plan as to how much of the 16 sidewalk you were currently planning to replace. 17 Could you show me that on the plan? 18 MR. COLE: Do you want me to set up 19 the easel? I have a copy of the site plan. 20 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: You can set 21 up closer. 22 MR. COLE: We have a notation on the 23 plans that says, any curb or sidewalk in 24 deteriorating condition along Passaic Avenue or 25 Belleville Turnpike must be replaced. In the front, 9 1 I don't know if the County did the road work or the 2 town, it's in relatively good shape. It looks like 3 a new sidewalk has been already been put in there. 4 There's some curbing. I don't think there's that 5 much that's been deteriorated there. Whatever it 6 is, we'll probably make it all brand new. 7 One of the things that I could see on the 8 letter, and I don't know if it's a misunderstanding 9 or if we didn't communicate it properly, we're not 10 seeking any kind of an opening on the County road. 11 As a matter of fact, this property has multiple curb 12 cuts that makes it a dicey situation. We called the 13 State DOT. They were more than happy to incorporate 14 our changes because it mitigates a potentially, not 15 only annoying, but a hazardous condition. You have 16 multi cuts here, here, here, very close to the curb. 17 That's all being closed up on Passaic Avenue. There 18 will not be any opening onto the County Road. We 19 have an opening on the State highway, and the New 20 Jersey DOT gave us a permit on October 5th for that 21 opening. 22 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: That's kind 23 of what I thought. I'd like your engineer to show 24 that on the plan, the extent of the curbing and the 25 sidewalks on the plan. 10 1 MR. COLE: Okay. 2 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: Also, if 3 there's an entrance onto that road. 4 MR. COLE: Those will be closed and 5 there wouldn't be any. I'm just going to make a 6 notation, better differentiate sidewalk and curbing. 7 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: To show 8 sidewalks. Ones of the things that may be more of a 9 concern later is the buffer between the auto spa and 10 the sidewalk. What is it that you're putting in? 11 MR. COLE: There's going to be a 12 small retaining wall, a decorative wall that blends 13 in with the landscaping and the architecture and 14 give you a streetscape where, people walking there 15 now, it's -- you know, they're walking onto a -- let 16 me show you. I didn't bring a picture. 17 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: Do you 18 account for that wall on the plans? 19 MR. COLE: What's there is broken 20 pavement and stone and grass and it's... 21 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: I don't see 22 that there. It just kind of looks like a curb, and 23 my concern is the sidewalk is a pedestrian area, and 24 this car wash is right next to the sidewalk area. I 25 see you have a landscaping plan which shows 11 1 landscaping on the side of the property too on 2 Passaic Avenue. 3 MR. COLE: What we're going to do, we 4 made an agreement with the town. The town 5 engineering firm has a specialty division that's 6 only landscaping design. One of the notations in 7 the resolution is we're going to work out a plan 8 together and follow their advice on what they want 9 done. The town beautification committee will also 10 be a part of that meeting, and they'll give us their 11 thoughts. 12 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: You're going 13 to put a decorative wall. Is that a physical 14 barrier between the sidewalk? 15 MR. COLE: Yes, sir, that's the plan. 16 As far as we are concerned, we don't want to put the 17 typical block, asphalt, macadam car wash. We want 18 to put up something that not only fits the area, but 19 you drive up to and say, wow, that can't be a car 20 wash. So any landscaping or stonework would only 21 enhance our property. We're not looking to put an 22 ugly block wall out front and have it next to that 23 building. Two and two wouldn't add up. We're going 24 to look to enhance that whole corner. It's kind of 25 the gateway into Kearny and Hudson, and we have some 12 1 ideas how we want it for the people driving over 2 that Belleville Turnpike Bridge. We want a nice 3 impact. It's up on a hill. It will look nice. 4 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: That's going 5 to be right along, it is your property? 6 MR. COLE: Yes, it's all on our 7 property. Nothing went over the edge. 8 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: If you can 9 show the detail of the sidewalk and that particular 10 wall, if you draw and show that on the plan. 11 MR. COLE: Excuse me, I'm writing. I 12 wanted to get it right. 13 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: Another thing 14 if you show on the plans the existing features. 15 Show some of the lot. I think you're missing some 16 signs that are out there. Show on the plans what 17 the sign says. 18 MR. COLE: The current sign? 19 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: Yeah, the 20 current signs. The contract is going to be for the 21 sidewalk, where construction is going to be, 22 existing signs that you want to put it who knows 23 where. 24 MR. COLE: You want it marked so we 25 can put it back? 13 1 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: Yeah. Also 2 the contract is, it is illegal to make a left-hand 3 turn? 4 MR. COLE: For Route 7? 5 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: For Passaic 6 Avenue. I noticed on the permit for the State, the 7 access permit, that you have about 84 cars per hour. 8 MR. COLE: We had multiple impact 9 studies, traffic studies provided by us, and the 10 town hired a traffic engineer that concurred with 11 all that we have. He was documented as an expert. 12 They hired a separate planner and traffic expert and 13 everyone else to comment on it. 14 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: And those 15 drawings, those are elevations? 16 MR. COLE: Yes. This is what we 17 started out at. Some of the things had changed, but 18 in case anybody wanted to see what's going there, I 19 don't know if anyone here is familiar with what's 20 there now. It's a mess. 21 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: It's, yes, 22 complicated. 23 MR. COLE: We've already removed -- 24 we have a pretty good working relationship with the 25 town because we were intimately involved for the 14 1 last two and a half years. One of the conditions 2 that really was applied were the billboards on top 3 of the buildings. They're a non-conforming use. In 4 good faith we took those down ahead of time. We're 5 looking to get this going. 6 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: When do you 7 expect this to be completed? 8 MR. COLE: I'm going to estimate nine 9 months from the day that we start construction, I 10 hope. Hopefully, I don't think -- you plan, you can 11 only plan so much. We're hoping to start it, you 12 know, depending on you guys, in the next six weeks 13 or so and just if we can get it on that schedule. 14 Once the cold weather comes, we're going to be doing 15 detail work on the inside, and the spring will be 16 here and finish it up and have a nice look. 17 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Is this an 18 old gas station? 19 MR. COLE: Very, very old, we have a 20 no-further-action letter from the State of New 21 Jersey. 22 COMMISSIONER DUBLIN: Are you 23 planning on knocking the building down? 24 MR. COLE: Yes. 25 COMMISSIONER DUBLIN: That was the 15 1 route that I had when I was driving for the County. 2 MR. COLE: So you know that area? 3 COMMISSIONER DUBLIN: I know that 4 area. There used to be an old car dealership there, 5 an old car dealership. I used to make that U-turn. 6 I was driving a truck for the County. We used to 7 make that U-turn. It's an eyesore. 8 MR. COLE: It is, and I agree with 9 you. I agree with you. 10 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: The egress onto 11 Route 7 on Belleville Turnpike, that's a right-turn 12 only? 13 MR. COLE: Yes. If I could just read 14 the resolution, the town's traffic expert, who was 15 certified by the Board as an expert, was most 16 concerned about the left-hand turn as they exited 17 the site. He felt that the left-hand turn into the 18 property could be accomplished without problems due 19 to the site distance from the existing intersection. 20 We also have the DOT permit that puts no limitations 21 on the in-and-out of it, and it's part of the 22 resolution that I can read to you. We'd be more 23 comfortable with a right-in and right-out just to 24 minimize any -- it helps our traffic flow on the 25 site. I don't want somebody waiting to exit the 16 1 site and making a left and backing up our 2 production. They can make that right turn only. 3 We committed to the town that we're going 4 to put up signage and cones. In the beginning we'll 5 stand out and educate the customer. It's going to 6 be a new site. Educating the customer, we're 7 willing to do that. The signage is going to go up. 8 As a matter of fact, it should be on the plan. If 9 it's not, we've already committed to that in the 10 town resolution. 11 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: I have a 12 question. The residents of North Arlington in 13 Bergen County, did they have any concerns about it? 14 MR. COLE: There was, in the 15 beginning, there was one resident as I can recall 16 that there was a concern. There's a crew house on 17 Passaic Avenue. He was concerned about traffic 18 there with the crew coming in and out. We've 19 addressed that. We don't even have an opening 20 there, so it won't have any impact. 21 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Do you have 22 any other questions? I'd like to note for the 23 record that Commissioner Mehta is present. 24 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: According to 25 your plans, it's taken a lot of time to go through 17 1 the Planning Board. 2 MR. COLE: Yes, and that's not on our 3 part. Kearny is very, very backed up. So we had 4 our plans there, I guess, they were in there for a 5 very long, long time. His office is very backed up. 6 We have a very good relationship with them, but it 7 was a complicated application. We presented a 8 planner. We presented the architect, the engineer. 9 We also presented a traffic engineer, and the town 10 also put on their experts, so it went over a couple 11 of meetings. A couple meetings started a little 12 late. The Chairman felt it would be better to 13 continue us over into the next meeting to get the 14 whole block in of it to be more of a continuous 15 testimony. 16 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: As long as you 17 didn't have any planning issues with the town. 18 MR. COLE: No, the town was very 19 happy because, as I said, you're going into that 20 town, that's the first thing you see. As a matter 21 of fact, the Councilwoman that in district was very 22 involved. She's the chairwoman of the town 23 beautification committee. She called me the other 24 day and said, where are you, what are you doing. 25 They want it. They've been great. They followed 18 1 the procedure. Commissioner, I would have liked one 2 meeting and out. 3 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Do you agree 4 that the height of the wall is a concern? 5 MR. COLE: It's going to be a 6 four-foot wall. We're going to layout that detail. 7 If it's going to be a higher wall, we'll lay that 8 out, and then I'll have my engineer get into contact 9 with you. 10 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Will the 11 existing wall stay there? 12 MR. COLE: There's no wall there now. 13 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: That's the 14 neighboring property line? 15 MR. COLE: That's on Stuart, right. 16 He's talking about -- they have a retaining wall on 17 their piece of property. They have a chain-link 18 fence there. 19 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Thank you. 20 MR. CALVANICO: I'd just like to 21 suggest that you have the drawings identified. 22 Could you just tell us who submitted them? The 23 other one, the date on the lower right corner, sheet 24 number. 25 MR. COLE: The date on this is 19 1 6/28/05, the revised proposed configurations. I put 2 this up because it's a little easier for you to see. 3 The proper one has been revised as of 5/31/06, 4 Bergen County Engineer's letter dated 5/5/06. 5 MR. CALVANICO: I wanted the record 6 to reflect what we were referring to. 7 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Any other 8 questions? Do we have a motion to approve? 9 MR. MARKS: Motion introduced by 10 Commissioner Choffo. A second by Commissioner 11 Mehta. 12 Commissioner Arenciba. 13 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: I'm going to 14 say aye with the conditions we just mentioned. You 15 need to submit revised plans showing curbs, 16 sidewalks, signs and also the permits. 17 MR. COLE: Could I have my engineer 18 directly contact you for that? That's much better 19 for me. 20 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Choffo. 21 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: Aye. 22 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Dublin. 23 COMMISSIONER DUBLIN: Aye. 24 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Fitzgibbons. 25 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 20 1 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Holloway. 2 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Aye. 3 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Ng. 4 COMMISSIONER NG: Aye. 5 MR. MARKS: Chairwoman Bettinger. 6 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: It looks like 7 it's going to be a major improvement to the area. I 8 vote aye. Good luck. 9 MR. COLE: Thanks. I appreciate your 10 time. 11 MR. BUONO: Thank you. 12 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Next 13 application. 14 MR. MARKS: SD-55-06, Mushroom 15 Development, LLC, 321-323 First Street, Jersey City. 16 MR. DeVOE: William DeVoe with 17 Connell Foley on behalf of Mushroom Development, 18 LLC, the applicant, who applied for a minor 19 subdivision for 321-323 First Street in Jersey City. 20 Approvals were granted by the Jersey City Planning 21 Board on February 28, 2006, and memorialized on 22 March 14th, 2006. 23 Basically, I'm here tonight because we 24 feel that there was -- there should have been an 25 exemption. It's a minor subdivision, two lots being 21 1 subdivided into three. The project does not front 2 on County roads or any kind of drainage. It's part 3 of the Village Redevelopment Plan, and basically, 4 the Planning Board of Jersey City believed that it 5 was consistent with the redevelopment plan and the 6 other parcels on the neighboring streets and 7 actually enables more density to subdivide it. We 8 can get more dwelling units per lot now rather than 9 when we had two lots and would have been made it 1.8 10 dwelling units per lot, and it went down to one. 11 MR. CALVANICO: Just for the record, 12 the reason this is before us is because it's 13 technically on the subdivision for three lots. We 14 reviewed it on the Planning Board review. There's 15 no County roads. 16 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Do you have 17 any questions? 18 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I think 19 it's technically that any subdivisions have to be 20 approved by this committee, even though it does not 21 affect any County roads or any other things. It's 22 just a formality. 23 MR. DeVOE: Correct, I would -- 24 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: You stated 25 that you should have been exempt. Really, it's 22 1 almost like an exemption but it's not. It's really 2 we still have to approve these subdivisions. 3 MR. DeVOE: Right, I understand. I 4 think there's a difference between the Jersey 5 City -- City of Jersey City Planning Board, their 6 minor, as compared to Hudson County. 7 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Do I have a 8 motion to accept the application? 9 MR. MARKS: Motion introduced by 10 Commissioner Holloway. Seconded by Commissioner 11 Dublin. 12 Commissioner Arenciba. 13 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: Aye. 14 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Choffo. 15 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: Aye. 16 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Dublin. 17 COMMISSIONER DUBLIN: Aye. 18 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Fitzgibbons. 19 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 20 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Holloway. 21 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Aye. 22 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Mehta. 23 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: Aye. 24 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Ng. 25 COMMISSIONER NG: Aye. 23 1 MR. MARKS: Chairwoman Bettinger. 2 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Aye. 3 MR. DeVOE: Thank you. 4 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: The next 5 application this evening. 6 MR. MARKS: The next application is 7 SD/SP-58-06. The applicant, I believe, wasn't able 8 to contact his architect. He asked us to table. 9 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Do I have a 10 motion to table this application? 11 MR. MARKS: Motion to table 12 introduced by Commissioner Fitzgibbons. Second by 13 Commission Mehta. 14 Commissioner Arenciba. 15 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: Aye. 16 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Choffo. 17 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: Aye. 18 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Dublin. 19 COMMISSIONER DUBLIN: Aye. 20 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Fitzgibbons. 21 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 22 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Holloway. 23 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Aye. 24 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Mehta. 25 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: Aye. 24 1 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Ng. 2 COMMISSIONER NG: Aye. 3 MR. MARKS: Chairwoman Bettinger. 4 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Aye. Next 5 application, SP-59-06. 6 MR. MARKS: New Cingular Wireless 7 PCS, LLC, 5414-16 Park Avenue, West New York. 8 MS. ALLYN: Good evening. I'm Gail 9 Allyn, A-l-l-y-n, from the law firm, Pitney Hardin, 10 on behalf of the applicant, Cingular Wireless. This 11 relates to our application that's before the zoning 12 Board of West New York for installation of 16 13 telecommunication antennas on the rooftop of an 14 existing building. The building is located 15 5414-5416 Park Avenue in West New York. That's 16 Block 72 and Lot 7 on that tax map. In addition to 17 having telecommunication antennas to be installed on 18 the rooftop, there would also be additional 19 supporting equipment installed on the rooftop and a 20 federally-mandated E911 antenna also installed on 21 the rooftop. 22 So there would be essentially no impact at 23 all on impervious coverage in the area and the 24 impact on the -- there is a County highway adjacent 25 to the property. We would have vehicle impact which 25 1 would be one service vehicle per month. I have our 2 engineer here who will briefly describe in more 3 detail and answer any questions the Board has. This 4 is Colleen Connolly from the Malick & Scherer firm. 5 (The witness is sworn.) 6 MS. CONNOLLY: The installation as 7 she noted is for 16 wireless antennas on the rooftop 8 of an existing building as well as twelve equipment 9 cabinets which would also be a rooftop installation. 10 The antennas will be attached to a plate which will 11 then be mounted to the existing cabinet. The 12 equipment cabinets themselves will be sitting on a 13 steel grid which will be supported by the existing 14 building. There will be no changes to the roof area 15 and no changes in the coverage. Do you have any 16 questions? 17 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: These 18 antennas, will they be located adjacent to the 19 foundation the building? 20 MS. CONNOLLY: Yes, there will be two 21 sectors of antennas that will be attached to the 22 inside of the parapet, and they will not be 23 flush-mounted to the face of the building or hanging 24 over the side. 25 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Let me see on 26 1 the plans. 2 MS. CONNOLLY: (The witness 3 complies.) 4 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Are there 5 any other antennas in that building? 6 MS. CONNOLLY: Currently, there are 7 not. We still have to go before the Board. 8 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: So there's no 9 approval on it? 10 MS. ALLYN: No, the application was 11 filed and is pending. They are backlogged with 12 their applications. We haven't had a hearing on it 13 yet. 14 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: This is a 15 multiple dwellings? 16 MS. ALLYN: It's an apartment 17 building. 18 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Is it a 19 condo or a rental? 20 MS. ALLYN: I don't know. I think 21 it's -- well, we have owner -- permission from the 22 owner. I don't think it's a condo situation. I 23 think it's owned by one owner. 24 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: The building 25 is what year, do you know how old the building is? 27 1 MS. ALLYN: I do not. I don't know 2 if I have any information like that in my file. 3 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: It looks like 4 an old building. I don't know if it's listed as a 5 historical with the State, or you can check that and 6 see if you need approval from the State. 7 MS. ALLYN: You know, I don't know. 8 I think that because we go through the process of 9 getting all the necessary approvals, it's usually 10 brought to our attention if it's a historic building 11 designation that requires anything special. 12 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: I was asking 13 for the applicant to check on that historic 14 preservation with the town. Go to them, okay? 15 There could be a process, an extra process. 16 The other thing is the antennas, how will 17 they be brought in construction-wise? Would they -- 18 a lot of times they need a crane to get up eight 19 stories. Is that the intention to get a crane? 20 MS. CONNOLLY: The antennas 21 themselves are small. They wouldn't need to be 22 craned up there, and they will probably have a crane 23 in place to put in the equipment platforms to be 24 used. 25 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: Do you know 28 1 what size cranes? Do the cranes exceed weight 2 limits on the roadways? 3 MS. ALLYN: This is a five-story 4 building, but I do not believe that cranes will be 5 used. 6 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: My concern is 7 cranes that come in, they should be adhering to 8 weight limits. 9 MS. ALLYN: I'll make a note of that. 10 That's all I have. 11 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Do you have 12 any questions? Do you have a motion? 13 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I will 14 make a motion, but on the motion I will suggest that 15 we will approve it, but on the premise that the 16 municipality approves it too. If they don't 17 approve, it's null and void. 18 MS. ALLYN: Yes, that's fine. We 19 understand that. 20 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Do you have a 21 second? 22 MR. MARKS: Motion introduced by 23 Commissioner Fitzgibbons. Second by Commissioner 24 Mehta. 25 Commissioner Arenciba. 29 1 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: Aye. 2 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Choffo. 3 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: Aye. 4 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Dublin. 5 COMMISSIONER DUBLIN: Aye. 6 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Fitzgibbons. 7 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 8 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Holloway. 9 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Aye. 10 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Mehta. 11 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: Aye. 12 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Ng. 13 COMMISSIONER NG: Aye. 14 MR. MARKS: Chairwoman Bettinger. 15 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Aye. Thank 16 you. 17 MS. ALLYN: Thank you very much. 18 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Next 19 application. 20 MR. MARKS: Next application, 21 SP-62-06 Ace Bergen Turnpike, LLC, 4201-4203 Bergen 22 Turnpike, North Bergen. 23 MR. MULKAY: Good evening. My name 24 is Alain Mulkay on behalf the applicant, Ace Bergen 25 Turnpike. We're here before the Board on a ten-unit 30 1 project with 17 parking spaces -- 2 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Could you 3 speak into the mike? 4 MR. MULKAY: I'm sorry, on a project 5 that was approved before the township of North 6 Bergen. Resolution was executed on May 3rd. We 7 prepared the application. The architect was 8 prepared to respond to the comments and the issues 9 raised in the letter from the Board on June 14th. I 10 believe we went through the Board because the 11 project is on Bergen Turnpike which is a County 12 road. I'd like to present Anthony Vandermark, who 13 is our architect. 14 MR. VANDERMARK: Good evening, 15 everyone. My name is Anthony Vandermark. I am the 16 principal of the architectural firm of 17 Minervini-Vandermark. 18 (The witness is sworn.) 19 MR. CALVANICO: I will just ask you 20 that when you refer to the drawings, just identify 21 by sheet number and the date of the sheet. 22 MR. VANDERMARK: Sure. We received a 23 comments from the Planning Director here at the 24 Hudson County Planning Board. I have revised 25 drawings based on the comments that I received late 31 1 last week. They have not yet been resubmitted. I 2 will be going over each comment and addressing them 3 line item by line item. We will be resubmitting 4 drawings. We ask tonight that your approval be 5 subject to the re-submission and review of the 6 drawings. 7 The project is, as Mr. Mulkay had 8 mentioned, is a ten-unit project located at the 9 southwest corner of Bergen Turnpike and Grand Avenue 10 in North Bergen. Our proposed -- I am pointing at 11 drawing Z-0, our proposed 14-foot curb cut, 12 vehicular entry and exit is located on the Grand 13 Avenue side, not on the Bergen Turnpike side which 14 is the County road. 15 We had a few comments that we had to 16 address, that the applicant had to install new curbs 17 and sidewalks to the satisfaction of the City 18 Engineer. We will fully comply. We will be 19 replacing both of the sidewalks on Bergen Turnpike 20 and Grand Avenue, also the curbing all the way 21 around the property. In addition, the City Planner 22 had asked for handicapped ramp access to be here on 23 the corner of Bergen and Grand. We are proposing 24 two, both with truncated domes approved by NJDOT, 25 one on the Grand Avenue side and one on the Bergen 32 1 Turnpike side. The existing handicapped access are 2 in the corner. Currently, we have steal and metal 3 on the corner, and really it is not the proper place 4 for the ramp access. So we are proposing two, as we 5 do feel that that's a problem as well. 6 The third comment would be that each tree 7 break would be NJDOT approved also for barrier 8 freedom. We will comply with that and supply the 9 details on Z-O and Sheet Z-1 of the revised set. We 10 also have provided details for the trench drains, 11 storm water system. We have also now provided the 12 revised utilities information and invert elevations 13 on the existing maps, and Mr. Mulkay will testify 14 that the applicant will obtain all necessary State 15 and Municipal permits and County road requirements. 16 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Do 17 Commissioners have any questions? 18 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: Just add to 19 the plan the existing signage that's out there. 20 MR. VANDERMARK: Sure. I know here 21 on the corner on Grand and Bergen Turnpike, there's 22 a stop sign here. That's really all we have, the 23 signage within the building. 24 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: And finally 25 you need to submit that revised plan to the County 33 1 Engineer. 2 MR. VANDERMARK: Sure. It looks like 3 we're all set. 4 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: You said your 5 application has 17 parking spaces? 6 MR. VANDERMARK: That's correct. 7 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: There's only 15 8 on the plan. 9 MR. VANDERMARK: This was a later 10 revision that was approved by the Board on 6/21/06. 11 What the Board had asked us was to separate the 12 parking spaces because we had eight-foot spaces, 13 thus giving the 17. The City Planner had mentioned 14 that space may be actually difficult, especially 15 with where they're located in, so he asked us to 16 open them up to nine feet. By doing so, we lost two 17 parking spaces. That revision was approved by the 18 City. 19 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: What date 20 was it? 21 MR. VANDERMARK: Drawings were 22 submitted 6/21/06. Final approval was granted May 23 3rd, 2006. We appeared before the Board on May 3rd, 24 2006, with revised drawings that reduced the number 25 of parking spaces based on the comments from the 34 1 Town Planner. These drawings were revised today 2 based on the comments of the letter. They were not 3 submitted. The drawings that's being referred to 4 are the drawings that he revised today based on the 5 comments that this Board made, not the comments of 6 North Bergen. 7 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Any other 8 questions? Do I have a motion to approve this 9 application. 10 MR. MARKS: Motion introduced by 11 Commissioner Dublin. Second by Commissioner 12 Holloway. 13 Commissioner Arenciba. 14 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: Aye. 15 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Choffo. 16 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: Aye. 17 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Dublin. 18 COMMISSIONER DUBLIN: Aye. 19 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Fitzgibbons. 20 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 21 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Holloway. 22 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Aye. 23 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Mehta. 24 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: Aye. 25 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Ng. 35 1 COMMISSIONER NG: Aye. 2 MR. MARKS: Chairwoman Bettinger. 3 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: I vote aye. 4 Good luck. Thank you very much. 5 MR. MULKAY: Thank you very much. 6 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Next 7 application. 8 MR. MARKS: Next application is 9 SP-64-06, Roland Cribeiro, 217-17 Manhattan Avenue, 10 Union City, New Jersey. 11 MR. ARENCIBA: Hello, my name is 12 Albert Arenciba. I'm the actual architect for the 13 project. Apparently, the attorney is not here. I 14 was wondering if I could make a presentation and 15 maybe answer any questions that the Board might 16 have. I believe we're here because the project is 17 overlooking the bluffs, so I think across the street 18 is actually a County road, however, it's in Union 19 City, and it's basically a very short street. 20 There's only eight structures on the whole street. 21 However, it is overlooking Hoboken. I believe the 22 corner cliff side is like on the County. 23 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Counsel, would 24 you like to swear him? 25 MR. CALVANICO: State your name and 36 1 affiliation and address, please. 2 MR. ARENCIBA: It's Albert Arenciba. 3 I'm the registered architect for the project, and my 4 business address is 224 21st Street, West New York, 5 New Jersey. 6 (The witness is sworn.) 7 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Go ahead, 8 please. 9 MR. ARENCIBA: I think, basically, I 10 wasn't privy to some of the comments that were given 11 to the attorney. I heard about this earlier. I 12 spoke to Mr. Arenciba outside, no relation, and I 13 believe there's certain issues with regard to that 14 parking they're proposing across the street of the 15 actual structure that we're building, and I believe 16 there's some fencing that will be required to be 17 provided, and we will be able to provide that 18 permanent fencing in order to screen the parking at 19 that location. 20 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: I have a 21 question. The drainage towards the Jersey City side 22 up those cliffs, do you plan on having any problems 23 there? 24 MR. ARENCIBA: Well, right now it's 25 just a driveway, pavement, and it slopes toward the 37 1 street so there wouldn't be drainage going over the 2 cliff. There's quite a bit of setback between the 3 cliff and any structures down below in Hoboken. 4 Right now, the drainage will be going into the curb, 5 and into the existing. 6 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: Right now 7 that fence has been approved? 8 MR. ARENCIBA: Right. 9 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: The fence 10 that you put up there now is a temporary fence. 11 It's not going to hold up that much longer. Your 12 applicant has to put up the new fence as soon as 13 possible because it is a high distance from the top 14 of the road. That temporary fence, again, it's 15 dirty. It should be replaced with a permanent, 16 sturdy fence. The fence should be a chain-link 17 fence. I believe it's eight feet high, and we have 18 details for that. I supposed you can check on the 19 DOT standards for that? 20 MR. ARENCIBA: I think I have a copy. 21 I'm sure the applicant will have no problem with 22 that. 23 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: The other 24 thing is, you're installing wheel stops? 25 MR. ARENCIBA: Absolutely, the 38 1 concrete not the rubber type. 2 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: That's all 3 the comments I have. 4 MR. CALVANICO: Are you expecting 5 your attorney here? 6 MR. ARENCIBA: I was told that he was 7 coming. I was told a while back to just come in and 8 speak in case anything comes up. He may be at 9 another meeting. 10 MR. CALVANICO: Are you authorized by 11 the owner of the property to speak on his behalf? 12 You made commitments for him to put up a fence or 13 make changes. 14 MR. ARENCIBA: I believe I am, yes. 15 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Madam Chair, 16 I have a suggestion. We may want to table this, 17 with all due respect, so the attorney can properly 18 represent this. 19 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Absolutely. 20 Do I have a motion? 21 MR. MARKS: Motion to table 22 introduced by Commissioner Holloway. Second by 23 Commissioner Dublin. 24 Commissioner Arenciba. 25 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: Aye. 39 1 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Choffo. 2 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: Aye. 3 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Dublin. 4 COMMISSIONER DUBLIN: Aye. 5 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Fitzgibbons. 6 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 7 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Holloway. 8 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Aye. 9 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Mehta. 10 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: Aye. 11 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Ng. 12 COMMISSIONER NG: Aye. 13 MR. MARKS: Chairwoman Bettinger. 14 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: I vote aye. 15 MR. ARENCIBA: Thank you. I'll make 16 sure I get his hourly rate. 17 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Next item is 18 old business. Old business? 19 MR. CALVANICO: Madam Chair, I don't 20 know if the Interlocal Agreement was distributed to 21 the Board Members. No, it's not on the agenda. It 22 was on the agenda. This is the matter that we 23 discussed several months ago. We sent it to the 24 Improvement Authority for their review. I believe 25 they're adopting it tonight. 40 1 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Yes, it's on 2 the Improvement agenda tonight. 3 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Okay. But, 4 Counsel, how does that work? It's on the agenda. 5 MR. CALVANICO: I don't know what 6 changes they'll make to the agreement. When I spoke 7 to them, they indicated there were minor changes 8 they were making. That's it. I don't know exactly 9 what they're doing. 10 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: When they 11 approve it, we need to approve it? 12 MR. CALVANICO: We both need to 13 approve the agreement. I'm just a little 14 uncomfortable doing this without the Board having 15 seen the copy. I can make a recommendation to the 16 Board. 17 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: I can see 18 you're not comfortable. I guess we table that as 19 well? 20 MR. CALVANICO: I suggest we table it 21 and adopt it when the copies are distributed. Once 22 we get copies of what they adopted, we can 23 distribute it to the Board. 24 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Do we need to 25 make a motion? 41 1 MR. CALVANICO: Yeah. 2 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Do I have a 3 motion to table the Interlocal Agreement with the 4 Hudson County Improvement Authority? 5 MR. MARKS: Motion introduced by 6 Commissioner Ng. Second by Commissioner Mehta. 7 Commissioner Arenciba. 8 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBA: Aye. 9 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Choffo. 10 COMMISSIONER CHOFFO: Aye. 11 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Dublin. 12 COMMISSIONER DUBLIN: Aye. 13 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Fitzgibbons. 14 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 15 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Holloway. 16 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Aye. 17 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Mehta. 18 COMMISSIONER MEHTA: Aye. 19 MR. MARKS: Commissioner Ng. 20 COMMISSIONER NG: Aye. 21 MR. MARKS: Chairwoman Bettinger. 22 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Aye. Motion 23 passed. Do we have any new business? 24 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Yeah, I 25 have new business. Next I come here, I'll be a 42 1 married man. 2 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: 3 Congratulations. 4 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: It's a 5 shotgun wedding. 6 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: For the 7 record. 8 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: No more 9 excuses, I had to get off the pot. 10 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: How many years 11 were you dating? 12 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Fifteen, 13 it's been a long engagement. 14 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Do I have a 15 motion to adjourn? 16 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: It's my 17 first time too. 18 CHAIRWOMAN BETTINGER: Next meeting 19 scheduled for July 19th. 20 (There being no further matters 21 before the Board, the Chairwoman adjourns the 22 meeting, and the proceeding is then concluded at 23 7:38 p.m.) 24 25 43 1 C E R T I F I C A T I O N 2 3 4 5 6 7 I, SHARI CATHEY, a Notary Public and 8 Shorthand Reporter of the State of New Jersey, 9 hereby certify that the proceedings herein are from 10 the notes taken by me of a Regular Meeting of the 11 Hudson County Planning Board, held on Wednesday, 12 June 21, 2006; and that this is a correct transcript 13 of the same. 14 15 16 ___________________________ 17 SHARI CATHEY, S.R. A NOTARY PUBLIC of the 18 State of New Jersey I.D. No. 2283786 19 Commission Expires 2/4/07 20 21 22 23 24 25