1 1 HUDSON COUNTY PLANNING BOARD 2 RE: ) 3 MONTHLY MEETING ) TRANSCRIPT OF ) PROCEEDINGS: 4 - - - - - - - - - - - - - ) 5 County Annex Building 567 Pavonia Avenue 6 Third Floor Freeholders Chambers Jersey City, New Jersey 07306 7 Wednesday, December 19, 2007 6:30 p.m. 8 BEFORE: 9 DANIEL CHOFFO, Chairman 10 JUDE FITZGIBBONS, Vice-Chair 11 MARY E. AVAGLIANO, Secretary 12 DEMETRIO ARENCIBIA, Commissioner 13 HON. DOREEN DiDOMENICO, Freeholder 14 KENNEDY NG, Commissioner 15 MICHAEL A. HOLLOWAY, Commissioner 16 ALSO PRESENT: 17 JACK COLLINS, ESQ., Board Attorney 18 MASSIEL M. FERRARA, Principal Planner 19 EDWIN REIMON, Medina Consultants 20 21 Reported by: 22 Mark Weinberg 23 24 25 2 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Good evening, 3 everyone. I'd like to call to order the 4 meeting of the Hudson County Planning Board 5 for this evening, December 19th, 2007. 6 Counselor, has this meeting been properly 7 advertised? 8 MR. COLLINS: Mr. Chairman, it has. 9 I believe -- do you have the publications that 10 it was in? I don't have the list of 11 publications. The publications this was 12 published in? 13 MS. FERARA: Yes. This meeting was 14 published in the New Jersey Journal as well as 15 on our website. 16 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Sure. Thank you, 17 Massiel. Ms. Secretary, may I please have a 18 roll call, please? 19 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 20 Arencibia? 21 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBIA: Here. 22 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 23 Avagliano? Commissioner Bettinger? 24 COMMISSIONER BETTINGER: Here. 25 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 3 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 DiDomenico? Not present. Commissioner 3 Dublin? Is not present. Commissioner 4 Fitzgibbons? 5 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Here. 6 MS. FERRARA: Present. Commissioner 7 Jasek? Not present. Commissioner Holloway? 8 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Here. 9 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner Mehta? 10 Commissioner NG? Chairman Choffo? 11 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Here. 12 MR. MARKS: Mr. Chairman, we have a 13 quorum. 14 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Did you announce 15 Commissioner Arencibia? 16 MS. FERRARA: I'm sorry. 17 Commissioner Arencibia? 18 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBIA: Yeah, you 19 did. 20 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Oh, she did? I'm 21 sorry. 22 MS. FERRARA: Oh. 23 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Will everyone 24 please rise to salute the flag? 25 (Pledge of Allegiance) 4 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Did all the 3 commissioners have a chance to review the 4 minutes of the last meeting? 5 ALL: Yes. 6 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Any questions? 7 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: I'll make a 8 motion to accept the minutes from the last 9 meeting. 10 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: I second it. 11 MS. FERRARA: A motion presented by 12 Commissioner Avagliano and second by 13 Commissioner Holloway to review and adopt -- 14 the adoption the meeting minutes of November 15 19th, 2007, Commissioner Arencibia? 16 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBIA: Aye. 17 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 18 Avagliano? 19 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Aye. 20 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 21 Bettinger? 22 COMMISSIONER BETTINGER: I'll 23 abstain. 24 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 25 Fitzgibbons? 5 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 3 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner Holloway? 4 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Aye. 5 MS. FERRARA: Chairman Choffo? 6 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: I vote aye. 7 MS. FERRARA: The motion has passed. 8 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Thank you. At 9 this time, if there is anyone in the public, 10 would they like to address the board on any 11 issue? 12 MR. MATULE: Good evening, Mr. 13 Chairman. Robert Matule, M-A-T-U-L-E. I'm an 14 attorney. I'm appearing on behalf of several 15 parties tonight but specifically, we had filed 16 an application for property at 1414-1416 17 Willow Avenue, Brian Battalia was the name. 18 When I last spoke with Mr. Calvanico on 19 Monday, he indicated they were trying to get 20 it on the agenda for tonight. I don't see it 21 on there and I'm just wondering if it is on 22 there and if the board is going to be able to 23 hear it. It's a minor site plan application. 24 It's one of the Hoboken projects that has a 25 stop work order on it. 6 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: I understand. The 3 reason it's not on the agenda was I understand 4 there was a couple issues. One was the open 5 public meeting notification and I think you 6 advertised -- was it advertised today? 7 MR. MATULE: It was advertised in 8 the Jersey Journal. Right -- when Mr. 9 Calvanico contacted me, we immediately 10 contacted the Jersey Journal. The earliest 11 they could put it in was today. Mr. Calvanico 12 said he was going to see if you could hear it 13 on an emergent basis. But I haven't heard 14 more from him. 15 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: The other issue, I 16 believe, is the engineering department. I 17 don't know when they received any sets of 18 plans and if they've had time to review it. 19 And usually we have a site plan meeting the 20 first Wednesday of the month and that usually 21 comes ahead of us. And I wasn't at this 22 month's site plan meeting but I don't know if 23 it was on that agenda. 24 MR. MATULE: No, I'm sure it wasn't 25 because this was -- we were only in court the 7 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 Friday before last and basically, you know, 3 what the Court had ordered is that they be 4 heard within thirty-five days. So if we 5 couldn't get it on a regular -- we were trying 6 to get it on a regular meeting agenda so we 7 wouldn't have to have a special meeting. But 8 it would appear now they're going to have to 9 have a special meeting. 10 MS. FERRARA: Mr. Chairman, we 11 received complete site plans on Monday 12 afternoon. 13 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: The engineering 14 department also? Or -- 15 MS. FERRARA: No. We have them here 16 but they were submitted Monday at 3 p.m. So 17 that was the earliest we got the completed 18 site plans. 19 MR. MATULE: Yeah, those were the 20 revised plans -- 21 MS. FERRARA: Yes. 22 MR. MATULE: -- that -- 23 MS. FERRARA: Previous -- 24 MR. MATULE: Yeah. 25 MS. FERRARA: Previously, the 8 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 applicant had only submitted architectural 3 plans in which we were unable to base any 4 reviews on that. 5 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: All right. Any 6 commissioners have any comments? 7 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: The 8 problem here is we have -- you have to give 9 public notice -- 10 MR. MATULE: No, I understand. 11 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: And we as 12 the board, we will not bend that rule. I 13 mean, we will not, you know -- we have a 14 policy that we want to things the right way 15 for the county. And the proper procedure is 16 to give proper notice to the public. And 17 that's where we are now. And our county 18 engineer didn't receive any kind of plans. 19 MR. MATULE: No, they were all -- 20 well, they were all submitted to the county 21 planning department. 22 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Yeah, but 23 they have to review them. And we, you know -- 24 we're stuck in a dilemma over here and we're 25 not going to approve -- I will not approve 9 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 anything that my county engineer doesn't look 3 at. 4 MR. MATULE: I understand your 5 position. I'll follow up with Mr. Calvanico 6 and see when he wants to schedule a special 7 meeting because, as I said, the court order 8 that's out there says it has to be heard 9 within thirty-five days. 10 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Mr. 11 Chairman, I have a question. Even with the 12 emergency review, it says forty-eight hours. 13 You didn't even meet the forty-eight hours. 14 So it's really -- you didn't even meet the 15 Sunshine Law. 16 MR. MATULE: Well, I understand, the 17 Sunshine Law requires forty-eight hours. The 18 emergent review is the exception to the 19 Sunshine Law. 20 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: But it still 21 states forty-eight hours even on the 22 emergency. 23 MR. MATULE: That's not my 24 understanding but, you know, I'm not going to 25 debate the point. I understand the board's 10 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 position. Thank you. 3 COMMISSIONER BETTINGER: I have one 4 question. What is the emergency that it needs 5 to come on -- 6 MR. MATULE: The emergent review is 7 that the store is about to get it's CO and 8 open for the holiday season and it's now been 9 shut down for a month. You know, basically, 10 over replacing the sidewalk. But, you know, 11 we'll deal with the merits of the application 12 when it comes up. 13 COMMISSIONER BETTINGER: I know 14 but -- 15 MS. FERRARA: Mr. Chairman -- 16 COMMISSIONER BETTINGER: -- why did 17 they shut it down? What was the purpose of -- 18 MR. MATULE: They replaced the 19 sidewalk without getting county site plan 20 approval. The sidewalk was broken. But in 21 any event, we'll deal with the merits of the 22 application when the board hears it. Thank 23 you. 24 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Thank you, Mr. 25 Matule. 11 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 MS. FERRARA: Mr. Chairman, I think 3 what Mr. Matule was talking about was that if 4 the board would like to convene before the 5 next planning board -- scheduled planning 6 board hearing in January. If that's the 7 emergency meeting, that can be done at the 8 board's willingness. 9 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Do you want to 10 talk about that now? 11 MS. FERRARA: Well, we would have to 12 schedule it and we'd have to make sure that we 13 have a quorum so that would be -- we probably 14 would have to do that back in the office. But 15 that could be something if the board is 16 willing to do before the next -- so we'd have 17 a special meeting to hear the application. 18 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Well, let Mr. 19 Matule contact Tom Calvanico and we'll go from 20 there. 21 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: I have no 22 problem with that. I could be here and have 23 another meeting just for this later on, yes. 24 MS. FERRARA: I'm going to move on 25 to the -- 12 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: What? 3 MS. FERRARA: I'm going to move on 4 to the next agenda? Okay. Mr. Chairman, the 5 next thing on the agenda is the adoption of 6 the 2008 meeting calendar. 7 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Oh, that was in 8 everybody's packets. 9 MS. FERRARA: Yeah, I'm sorry. That 10 should have been in your packet. 11 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Is everybody okay 12 with the calendar? 13 ALL: Yes. 14 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Dates, meeting 15 times? Do I have a motion to accept that? 16 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I make a 17 motion to accept. 18 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Second. 19 MS. FERRARA: Okay. In a motion to 20 adopt the 2008 meeting calendar introduced by 21 Commissioner Fitzgibbons, seconded by 22 Commissioner Avagliano, Commissioner 23 Arencibia? 24 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBIA: Aye. 25 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 13 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 Avagliano? 3 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Aye. 4 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 5 Bettinger? 6 COMMISSIONER BETTINGER: Aye. 7 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 8 Fitzgibbons? 9 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 10 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner Holloway? 11 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Aye. 12 MS. FERRARA: Chairman Choffo? 13 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: I vote aye. 14 MS. FERRARA: The second item -- oh, 15 I'm sorry, 5B on the agenda, memorialization 16 of resolutions approved, conditionally 17 approved or denied at the last meeting, 18 starting with SP-43-07, Avalon-Alfran North 19 Bergen, LLC, 5601-5607 Kennedy Boulevard, 20 Block 195, Lots 61-67 in North Bergen, New 21 Jersey; second, SD-70-07, Block 114 22 Development, LLC, 1316-1330 Grand Street, 1325 23 Adams Street, 409-415 14th Street, 1321-1323 24 Adams Street, Block 114, Lots 11-25 in 25 Hoboken, New Jersey. 14 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Do I have a 3 motion? 4 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Motion to 5 accept SP-43-07, SD-70-07. 6 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I second. 7 MS. FERRARA: I'm sorry. It is SD- 8 70-07. Okay, a motion introduced by 9 Commissioner Avagliano, seconded by 10 Commissioner Fitzgibbons, Commissioner 11 Arencibia? 12 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBIA: Aye. 13 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 14 Avagliano? 15 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Aye. 16 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 17 Bettinger? 18 COMMISSIONER BETTINGER: I'll 19 abstain. 20 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 21 Fitzgibbons? 22 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 23 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner Holloway? 24 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Aye. 25 MS. FERRARA: Chairman Choffo? 15 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Aye. 3 MS. FERRARA: Next on the agenda, 4 applications to be declared exempt, SP-77-07, 5 New York SMSA Limited Partnership d/b/a 6 Verizon Wireless, at 410 8th Street, Block 91, 7 Lot 1.01, Hoboken, New Jersey; SP-79-07, 8 Joseph Verzi, 823 West Side Avenue, Block 9 1638, Lots 1 & 2, Jersey City; SP-80-07, 10 Willowbend Development, LLC, 99 Caven Point 11 Road, Block 1494, Lot 15, Jersey City, New 12 Jersey. 13 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Do I have a motion 14 to declare these applications -- 15 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Motion to 16 accept SP-77-07, SP-70-07 (sic), SP-80-07. 17 COMMISSIONER BETTINGER: I'll second 18 the motion. 19 MS. FERRARA: In a motion introduced 20 by Commissioner Avagliano and seconded by 21 Commissioner Bettinger, Commissioner 22 Arencibia? 23 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBIA: Aye. 24 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 25 Avagliano? 16 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Aye. 3 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 4 Bettinger? 5 COMMISSIONER BETTINGER: Aye. 6 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 7 Fitzgibbons? 8 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 9 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner Holloway? 10 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Aye. 11 MS. FERRARA: Chairman Choffo? 12 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Aye. 13 MS. FERRARA: The next section, 5D, 14 site plans and subdivisions scheduled for 15 hearing, starting with SP-59-07, 158 14th 16 Street, LLC at 158 14th Street, Block 255, Lot 17 1, Hoboken, New Jersey. 18 MR. ZIMMERMAN: Good evening, Mr. 19 Chairman. My name is Neal Zimmerman. I'm a 20 lawyer with the law firm of Waters, McPherson 21 & McNeill in Secaucus and I'm here 22 representing 158 14th Street. This is a site 23 plan approval for a thirty-unit apartment 24 building with retail on the ground floor. 25 It's one of the cases that's part of the 17 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 litigation that Mr. Matule was referencing 3 earlier. I think we can be very brief 4 tonight. I have one witness, Bruce Stieve, 5 who is an architect with Dean Marchetto 6 Associates who will briefly explain the plan 7 to you. And then we'd like to go through the 8 comments letter of Mr. Marks and Medina 9 Associates to show that we've made all the 10 necessary revisions. 11 MR. COLLINS: With your permission, 12 we'll swear in Mr. Stieve. 13 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Could you say your 14 name and spell it for the reporter? 15 MR. STIEVE: Bruce A. Stieve, S-T-I- 16 E-V-E. 17 B R U C E S T I E V E, having been first 18 duly sworn according to law, testified as 19 follows: 20 MR. ZIMMERMAN: Bruce, you're a 21 licensed architect in New Jersey? 22 MR. STIEVE: That's correct. 23 MR. ZIMMERMAN: And how long have 24 you been licensed? 25 MR. STIEVE: Since 1996. 18 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 MR. ZIMMERMAN: And have you 3 appeared before this board before and been 4 accepted as an expert? 5 MR. STIEVE: Yes, I have. 6 MR. ZIMMERMAN: I offer him as an 7 expert. Bruce, would you explain the proposed 8 development to the board? 9 MR. STIEVE: Yes. 10 MR. ZIMMERMAN: Briefly. 11 MR. STIEVE: We have an exhibit. 12 The first exhibit is the drawing submission 13 that you have. And then we also brought a 14 rendering that depicts the building. 15 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Could you just 16 mark that, please? And would you be able to 17 just slide it up a little bit so the board 18 could see it a little better? Thank you. 19 MR. STIEVE: A-1. 20 (Applicant SP-59-07's Exhibit A-1, rendering 21 of building, was hereby marked as for 22 identification as of this date.) 23 MR. STIEVE: As was mentioned, this 24 is a mixed use building. It's six floors of 25 residential over one floor of retail. It's a 19 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 rehab of a historic warehouse building in 3 Hoboken. It's on the corner of 14th and 4 Garden, the north corner of 14th and Garden. 5 The rendering depicts the building in its 6 completed build-out. The restoration portion 7 is this historic yellow brick warehouse 8 building with an addition that comes down the 9 side and up over the top of the building in a 10 more contemporary style. The building is 11 being designed again with thirty residential 12 units and 10,800 square feet of retail. 13 There's no parking. Off site, there's public 14 parking adjacent to the properties. There's 15 going to be a lead accredited building which 16 is basically is that it meets current green 17 standards in engineering and architectural 18 practice. It's a -- again, it introduces no 19 curb cuts or anything of that nature. There's 20 some sidewalk repair and replacement and it 21 has received approval and variances from the 22 city of Hoboken. That's a brief overview of 23 the project. 24 We have been working with the 25 consultants for the county and have received 20 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 and reviewed their letters and made 3 adjustments to the plans. I can go through 4 those or I can just basically say that we have 5 complied with all of the requests and the 6 requirements of the review agency. I also 7 spoke with Mr. Reimon at Medina this morning 8 regarding the conditions of some existing 9 crosswalks and we've agreed to repaint the 10 existing crosswalks on Garden Street because 11 they've been impaired because of road 12 construction in that area based on this new 13 building. So we agreed to repaint those and 14 we put those on our drawings now. 15 And that's about it. Again, I can 16 walk through each individual item if you'd 17 like or -- 18 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Actually, I want 19 to see if Edwin has any comments first before 20 the board. 21 MR. REIMON: Edwin Reimon from 22 Medina Consultants. We had two rounds of 23 reviews of his application. In the first 24 round, we stated in our first letter of 25 November 12, 2007 a series of comments 21 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 regarding details that are the standards by 3 the county. We -- and the county use NJDOT 4 standard details. There were not presented to 5 us in the first round of reviews. 6 We also requested from the applicant 7 to provide the detectible warning surfaces at 8 the corners. And also we requested from them 9 to provide a landscaping plan with details. 10 They also provided a new site plan with all 11 these revisions to us. They also provided the 12 detail for utility connections, trenches and 13 also for the painted crosswalks. 14 The issue that we had at the second 15 round of reviews was that because of the way 16 they presented the drawings, some of the 17 dimensions for the detectible warning surfaces 18 were not shown on the plan. And we've 19 requested this morning that the plan will be 20 revised to show dimensions for the detectible 21 warning surface and also to show that the 22 crosswalk on one of the side streets be 23 repainted due to us -- he mentioned due to the 24 construction they did -- that is happening at 25 this time. 22 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 So all the comment has been 3 addressed. We are waiting for the revised 4 plan that shows the dimensions on the 5 detectible warning and surfaces and the 6 crosswalk painting. 7 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: When do you expect 8 to get that? 9 MR. STIEVE: I was going to bring 10 them tonight but there was an issue with 11 printing. I can have them first thing in the 12 morning and I can have them delivered to 13 whoever needs to get them. I can also leave 14 this one set of drawings with -- 15 MR. REIMON: I'd rather have that 16 mailed to me so I can log it in as a date when 17 I get it. 18 MR. STIEVE: So I can mail them 19 FedEx tomorrow. 20 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Can we mark that? 21 MR. REIMON: I have no more 22 comments. 23 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Mr. 24 Chairman, I have a question. There's supposed 25 to be a forty-six curb cut that's supposed to 23 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 be taken out on 14th Street? 3 MR. REIMON: Let me explain that. 4 There is an existing depressed curb on 14th 5 Street. Because the building is not going to 6 provide parking, that is considered section of 7 curb and sidewalk -- is going to be replaced 8 with a full height curb and new sidewalk. 9 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Thank you. 10 MR. REIMON: And that is shown on 11 the revised plans. And they also show, just 12 for the general information, they also show 13 some trees after measure off stormwater 14 management. 15 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Demetrio, you have 16 any questions? 17 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBIA: Yes. Only 18 the sidewalk and curb work -- it was completed 19 already or the new sidewalk or it still needs 20 to be done? 21 MR. REIMON: No, no. That has to be 22 done. 23 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBIA: Okay. So 24 you have to get a road opening permit from the 25 county engineer's office before you proceed 24 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 with that. You're aware that we have a six- 3 inch face on our curb? 4 MR. REIMON: Yes. They have the new 5 NJDOT standard detail. And in the letter we 6 say that they have to provide us with -- 7 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBIA: Right. 8 MR. REIMON: -- that request for 9 permit through the county engineer's office 10 for the opening. 11 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBIA: Any street 12 openings for gas or water service, you'll have 13 to get permits from our -- 14 MR. ZIMMERMAN: And we'd be glad to 15 take a condition that (indiscernible). 16 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBIA: Right. 17 Okay. 18 MR. REIMON: Actually, the -- just 19 to clarify the street repair is not only for 20 the utilities. It's also for the replacement 21 of a sidewalk and curb. 22 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: How far along is 23 this building in terms of being built to a 24 converted -- 25 MR. STIEVE: It's under construction 25 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 now. A structural steel frame is in place and 3 some of the interior partitions are beginning 4 to go up. 5 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Any other 6 questions. 7 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBIA: One more. 8 How many units is -- 9 MR. STIEVE: It's thirty residential 10 units and the retail can be divided into one 11 or two units. 12 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBIA: Well, what 13 kind of retail are you proposing here? 14 MR. STIEVE: I don't believe that 15 there's a tenant in place yet. 16 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBIA: Okay. And 17 no parking at all for the tenants, right? 18 MR. STIEVE: That's correct. But, 19 again, I think that there's public parking 20 immediately adjacent to this. There's a 21 parking garage (indiscernible). 22 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBIA: They don't 23 need bus stops or anything around there? 24 MR. STIEVE: There's a bus stop 25 that's actually further up from the site. 26 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 This site I'm pointing to, A-1, this is the 3 site building here and there's a bus stop in 4 front of the adjacent property. 5 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBIA: Okay. 6 MR. STIEVE: Not directly in front 7 of this building. One of the comments that, 8 again, came from the review was that we also 9 include a bike rack on the sidewalk which 10 we've done as well and that will be in front 11 of the building. 12 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBIA: Okay. 13 MR. STIEVE: There's also bicycle 14 storage in the building. That's part of the 15 lead accreditation for the building. 16 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Any other 17 questions? 18 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: No. 19 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Do I have a 20 motion? 21 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I make a 22 motion to approve this on recommendations that 23 you get the proper permits to open up the 24 roads. Okay? If you do -- you give them 25 your -- Medina's -- you give Medina the plans 27 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 and then that'll be it. 3 MS. FERRARA: Mr. Chairman -- 4 COMMISSIONER BETTINGER: I'll second 5 the motion. 6 MS. FERRARA: -- we have to go 7 through this -- we have to set the conditions 8 based on our voice -- and enter a voice 9 approval just so it's on the record as well as 10 we're going to have a written form as per 11 Judge Gallipoli's decision. So if we can -- 12 I'm not sure what would be the best way. 13 Maybe between Demetrio and -- Commissioner 14 Arencibia and Edwin to list their specific 15 conditions. 16 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBIA: Well, it 17 was the conditions that were in the letter and 18 as what we stated at this meeting will be 19 referred to in the minutes of the meeting. 20 And -- 21 MR. COLLINS: However, they need to 22 be discussed openly on the record for the 23 voice record as well as to be approved and 24 then will be put in writing so it will 25 actually have to be recited into the record. 28 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 MR. ZIMMERMAN: I don't think that 3 there's a letter from the most recent 4 comments -- 5 MR. REIMON: Yes. There are no 6 outstanding comments truly that could stop 7 from approving the application. Actually, 8 it's just that we need to have as a record the 9 revised plan with dimensions. Everything has 10 been shown already on the drawings. 11 The conditions should be that the 12 applicant should obtain permits for the street 13 openings through the county engineer's office 14 prior to construction and to submit to the 15 engineers, the county engineers, the Hudson 16 County Planning Board, the Division of 17 Planning and Medina Consultants a set of plans 18 with the latest revisions as per conversations 19 on December 19, 2007. And the conversation 20 was in relation to the detectible warning 21 surface on the site plan details and 22 repainting crosswalks on the side street. 23 MR. ZIMMERMAN: Mr. Chairman, if I 24 might make a suggestion. I think perhaps what 25 we really mean here is get the street opening 29 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 permits prior to construction within the 3 street walk -- sidewalk. That shouldn't be 4 interpreted to mean that you have to get the 5 street opening permit before we work on the 6 building. I don't think that's your 7 intention. 8 MR. REIMON: No. My intention is 9 anything that goes in the public 10 right-of-way -- 11 MR. ZIMMERMAN: Public right-of-way, 12 we have to get a county permit -- 13 MR. REIMON: You have to -- yes. 14 MR. ZIMMERMAN: -- before we do 15 construction in the right-of-way. 16 MR. REIMON: Absolutely. 17 MR. ZIMMERMAN: That's got nothing 18 to do with construction of the building. 19 MR. REIMON: Oh, we have nothing to 20 do with the building itself -- with the public 21 right-of-way, you're right. 22 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Okay. With that, 23 Commissioner Arencibia? 24 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBIA: Yes. 25 MS. FERRARA: And, Mr. Chairman, and 30 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 the only thing I'd like to add would be the 3 bike racks. 4 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBIA: I think 5 that's already on the plan. So I think it is 6 on the plans. 7 MS. FERRARA: Yes. After the 8 comment letter. 9 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: All right, we now 10 have a motion that's been on the floor 11 introduced by Commissioner Fitzgibbons and 12 seconded by Commissioner Bettinger. 13 COMMISSIONER BETTINGER: Yes. 14 MS. FERRARA: On a motion introduced 15 by Commissioner Fitzgibbons, seconded by 16 Commissioner Bettinger, Commissioner 17 Arencibia? 18 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBIA: Aye. 19 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 20 Avagliano? 21 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Aye. 22 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 23 Bettinger? 24 COMMISSIONER BETTINGER: Aye. 25 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 31 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 Fitzgibbons? 3 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 4 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner Holloway? 5 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Aye. 6 MS. FERRARA: Chairman Choffo? 7 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: I vote aye. 8 MR. ZIMMERMAN: Thank you very much. 9 If possible, we'd like to wait around and get 10 the letter so we can take it with us and get 11 the stop work removed. 12 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: That will take 13 some time because we have to continue the 14 meeting. I have to actually fill it in. If 15 you'd like, we could fill it in and have it 16 signed and it could be forwarded to your 17 office later. Or you could wait but that will 18 be at the end of the meeting because we have 19 another one we have to do as well as continue 20 the meeting itself. 21 MR. ZIMMERMAN: I think maybe 22 what'll happen is somebody from our team will 23 wait, if that's okay. 24 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Okay. Not a 25 problem. Absolutely. 32 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 MR. ZIMMERMAN: All right. Thank 3 you. 4 MS. FERRARA: Mr. Chairman, the next 5 site plan scheduled for hearing is SP-72-07, 6 Mayflower 603, LLC, 603 Willow Avenue, Block 7 168, Lot 1.2, Hoboken, New Jersey. 8 MR. MATULE: Good evening, Mr. 9 Chairman, board members. Robert Matule 10 appearing on behalf of the applicant, 11 Mayflower 603, LLC. We have the project 12 architect, James McNeight, here. We can have 13 sworn and I'll have him qualified. 14 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: I'm sorry. Can 15 you just state your name and spell it for 16 the -- 17 MR. COLLINS: Can you state your 18 name and spell your last name into the 19 microphone, please, sir? 20 MR. MCNEIGHT: My name is James 21 McNeight, M-C-N-E-I-G-H-T. 22 J A M E S M C N E I G H T, having been first 23 duly sworn according to law, testified as 24 follows: 25 MR. COLLINS: Please state your 33 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 qualifications. 3 MR. MCNEIGHT: I'm a registered 4 architect in the state of New Jersey and New 5 York and I'm also a planner in the state of 6 New Jersey. 7 MR. COLLINS: Thank you. 8 MR. MATULE: Now, Mr. McNeight, 9 you've appeared before this board previously 10 and have been accepted as an expert witness in 11 the field of architecture. 12 MR. MCNEIGHT: Yes, I have. 13 MR. MATULE: Thank you. Could you 14 just briefly present the board members the 15 site plan for the building that's being built 16 at 603 Willow Avenue? 17 MR. MCNEIGHT: Yes, sir. 603 Willow 18 is the second building on the east side of 19 Willow above 6th Street. It's a typical lot 20 in Hoboken that's twenty-five feet wide, 100 21 feet deep. Before we did this project, there 22 was a one-story hardware store on the site. 23 We've had approvals from the zoning board in 24 Hoboken to keep the hardware store on the 25 first floor and build a three-unit residential 34 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 building on top of that, which is sixty feet 3 deep on the 100-foot site. There's no parking 4 on the site. The only impact on the right-of- 5 way as far as the county is concerned is we're 6 going to put in a new sidewalk, a new street 7 tree and new sewer, water and sprinkling 8 connection to the underground utilities under 9 the -- Willow Avenue. 10 MR. MATULE: And, Mr. McNeight, 11 you've received copies of Medina Consultant's 12 letter of December 3rd and the county planning 13 division's letter of December 10th concerning 14 their review of the plan? 15 MR. MCNEIGHT: Yes, I have. So I 16 will revise these drawings so that we have 17 county planning board approval, signature 18 block on the front and that will comply with 19 all the specifications as far as the sidewalk, 20 street tree and the utility connections. 21 MR. MATULE: Yeah, the street tree 22 that -- you're already showing a street tree 23 in front of the building, correct? 24 MR. MCNEIGHT: Correct. 25 MR. MATULE: And they wanted a 35 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 minimum of three and a half inch caliber? 3 MR. MCNEIGHT: Correct. 4 MR. MATULE: And you can make that 5 notation on the plan? 6 MR. MCNEIGHT: Correct. 7 MR. MATULE: Fine. That's really 8 it. It's a pretty straightforward project. 9 If the board members have any specific 10 questions or if your engineer has additional 11 comments, we'll be happy to answer them. 12 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Ms. Ferrara sent a 13 letter on December 10th with ten items on it? 14 MR. MCNEIGHT: Correct. 15 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: All those items 16 were addressed? 17 MR. MATULE: Well, as Mr. McNeight 18 testified, he will submit a corrected set of 19 plans which will have the signature block for 20 the county on it. He will -- there's already 21 a number 5 in that letter requires a three and 22 a half inch caliber street tree. There is a 23 street tree shown on the plan. I don't 24 believe the caliber is indicated so we'll 25 clarify that point on the revised drawings 36 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 that you're going to get. And they're asking 3 for the -- or the engineer is asking in his 4 letter for the typical county approved details 5 for the sidewalk/utility/trench/road 6 opening/curbs, the normal things that they 7 want to see on the plan which Mr. McNeight has 8 indicated he'll -- if they're -- to the extent 9 that they're not on there, he will add them. 10 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Okay, Massiel? 11 MS. FERRARA: Mr. Chairman, just let 12 the record reflect that Commission DiDomenico 13 has joined the meeting. 14 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Okay. Any 15 questions. 16 MR. REIMON: Regarding the tree that 17 is going to be -- 18 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Just state your 19 name for the record, Edwin. 20 MR. REIMON: Edwin Reimon from 21 Medina Consultants. Regarding the tree that 22 is going to be installed in front of property, 23 I would like to point out that the minimum 24 distance from the closest intersection 25 guideline should be thirty-five feet. I 37 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 haven't seen the plans so I cannot really make 3 any comments. 4 MR. MCNEIGHT: Where it shows the 5 thirty-five feet -- second lot over -- twenty- 6 five foot line. 7 MR. MATULE: Just for the record, 8 what I'll do is I'll have Mr. McNeight 9 dimension that when he submits the revised 10 drawing. 11 MR. REIMON: I also need to see the 12 detail for the tree -- feet on the tree 13 grades -- show on the plan. 14 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Any other 15 commissioners have any questions? 16 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: I have one, 17 if I may? The sidewalks and curbs, are they 18 up to county standards? 19 MR. MCNEIGHT: They haven't been 20 installed yet but they will be. 21 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: They will 22 be? Okay. 23 MR. MCNEIGHT: Yes. 24 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Is there any 25 encroachments with this project or not. 38 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 MR. MCNEIGHT: There's bay windows 3 that encroach on the right-of-way -- 4 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Is that on the -- 5 MR. MCNEIGHT: -- that are allowed 6 by the city of Hoboken. They're cantilever 7 and I'm going to just touch the ground. From 8 the second story up, we have cantilever bays. 9 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Any other 10 questions? 11 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBIA: No. I only 12 add the condition for the road opening permit 13 for all the work you do within Willow Avenue 14 including the curb, sidewalks and utility 15 openings. 16 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Okay, Mr. Reimon? 17 MR. REIMON: Yes. Just want to say 18 again going back to the tree here. I want to 19 make sure that the tree is away from where the 20 utility service is going to come from the 21 building to the street and to people at 22 least -- yeah, at least five -- 23 MR. MCNEIGHT: I'm north as I can. 24 MR. REIMON: At least five foot 25 distance from the closest -- 39 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 MR. MCNEIGHT: Okay. 3 MR. MCNEIGHT: -- utility. 4 MR. MCNEIGHT: That's fine. 5 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I have a 6 question. Are you going to have -- there's 7 going to be a hardware store underneath? 8 MR. MCNEIGHT: Yes. 9 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Yeah. I 10 frequently use that hardware store. 11 MR. MCNEIGHT: You and I have been 12 missing it. 13 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I've been 14 missing it. 15 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Do we have to do 16 a -- the same scenario with this resolution? 17 MR. COLLINS: Yes, I have the -- do 18 you have the form of letter -- 19 MS. FERRARA: Yes. 20 MR. COLLINS: -- from counsel? 21 MS. FERRARA: Yes. We have to -- 22 Mr. Chairman, we have to just voice the 23 different conditions for approval and then Mr. 24 Collins will put in the writing of the form 25 and then you can sign it afterwards. 40 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Edwin, would you 3 be kind enough to do that again for us? 4 MR. REIMON: Yes. 5 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Thank you. 6 MR. REIMON: Yes, Mr. Chairman. The 7 first condition of approval would be to 8 install a tree at least thirty-five feet away 9 from the closest intersection curb line. That 10 tree should be at least five feet from the 11 closest utility connection from the public 12 right-of-way to the building. 13 The second condition is to provide 14 the county with all the details which are a 15 standard NJDOT detail for sidewalk and curbs. 16 Also detail for tree peat, also detail for 17 trenches and the detail for the sidewalk 18 joints against the building. 19 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBIA: And obtain 20 a road open permit. 21 MR. REIMON: And obtain a road 22 permit, yes. 23 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Thank you, Edwin. 24 Do I now have a motion? 25 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I make a 41 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 motion to approve on those conditions. 3 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Second. 4 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: I'm sorry. Before 5 you start that vote, can you acknowledge that 6 Kennedy -- Commissioner NG -- 7 MS. FERRARA: Yes. 8 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: -- arrived? 9 MS. FERRARA: Let the record show 10 that Commissioner NG has joined the meeting. 11 On a motion introduced by Commissioner 12 Fitzgibbons and seconded by Commissioner 13 Avagliano, Commissioner Arencibia? 14 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBIA: Aye. 15 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 16 Avagliano? 17 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Aye. 18 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 19 Bettinger? 20 COMMISSIONER BETTINGER: Aye. 21 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 22 DiDomenico? 23 COMMISSIONER DiDOMENICO: Abstain. 24 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 25 Fitzgibbons? 42 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 3 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner Holloway? 4 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Aye. 5 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner NG? 6 COMMISSIONER NG: Abstain. 7 MS. FERRARA: Chairman Choffo? 8 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: I vote aye. 9 MS. FERRARA: Mr. Chairman, the 10 motion's passed. 11 MR. MATULE: Thank you. 12 MS. FERRARA: The next item is the 13 applications to be administratively approved 14 starting with SP-76-07, Metro PCS New York, 15 LLC, 1201 Hudson Street, Block 262.6, Lot 1, 16 Hoboken, New Jersey; second, SP-82-07, Metro 17 PCS New York, LLC, 4500 Kennedy Boulevard, 18 Block 263, Lots 16-18, Union City, New Jersey; 19 SP-83-07, Metro PCS New York, LLC, 2474 20 Kennedy Boulevard, Block 1816, Lot 1 in Jersey 21 City; lastly, SP-84-07, Metro PCS New York, 22 LLC, 1855 Kennedy Boulevard, Block 178.05, Lot 23 8, Jersey City, New Jersey. 24 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Do I have a 25 motion? 43 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I make a 3 motion to approve. 4 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Second. 5 MS. FERRARA: In a motion introduced 6 by Commissioner Fitzgibbons and seconded by 7 Commissioner Avagliano, Commissioner 8 Arencibia? 9 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBIA: Aye. 10 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 11 Avagliano? 12 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Aye. 13 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 14 Bettinger? 15 COMMISSIONER BETTINGER: Aye. 16 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 17 DiDomenico? 18 COMMISSIONER DiDOMENICO: Aye. 19 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 20 Fitzgibbons? 21 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 22 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner Holloway? 23 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Aye. 24 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner NG? 25 COMMISSIONER NG: Aye. 44 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 MS. FERRARA: Chairman Choffo? 3 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: I vote aye. 4 MS. FERRARA: The motion has passed. 5 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Any old business? 6 MS. FERRARA: I don't have any old 7 business. 8 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Any new business? 9 MS. FERRARA: We don't have any new 10 business either. 11 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: Do I have a motion 12 to adjourn? 13 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Motion to 14 adjourn. 15 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Make a 16 motion to adjourn. I second. 17 MS. FERRARA: I'm sorry. I missed 18 the second. 19 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: I second. 20 MS. FERRARA: On a motion to adjourn 21 introduced by Commissioner Avagliano seconded 22 by Commissioner Fitzgibbons, Commissioner 23 Arencibia? 24 COMMISSIONER ARENCIBIA: Aye. 25 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 45 - 45 - 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 Avagliano? 3 COMMISSIONER AVAGLIANO: Aye. 4 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 5 Bettinger? 6 COMMISSIONER BETTINGER: Aye. 7 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 8 DiDomenico? 9 COMMISSIONER DiDOMENICO: Aye. 10 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner 11 Fitzgibbons? 12 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Aye. 13 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner Holloway? 14 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY: Aye. 15 MS. FERRARA: Commissioner NG? 16 COMMISSIONER NG: Aye. 17 MS. FERRARA: Chairman Choffo? 18 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: I vote aye. 19 MS. FERRARA: The meeting has been 20 adjourned. 21 CHAIRMAN CHOFFO: I just want to 22 wish everyone a happy holiday and thank them 23 for a great year 2007 and hopefully have a 24 productive 2008. 25 COMMISSIONER FITZGIBBONS: Everybody 46 1 Hudson County Planning Board - 12/19/07 2 have a happy. 3 (Meeting was adjourned at 7:23 p.m.) 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 47 1 2 I N D E X 3 4 E X H I B I T S 5 APPLICANT NO. DESCRIPTION PAGE 6 SP-59-07 A-1 Rendering of 18 7 building 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 48 1 2 C E R T I F I C A T I O N 3 4 I, Mark Weinberg, Electronic Court 5 Reporter and Notary Public, do hereby certify 6 that: 7 8 I was present during the entirety of the 9 foregoing proceedings, and that I caused to be 10 recorded a true, complete and verbatim 11 recording of the proceedings via digital 12 means, in the matter of the: 13 HUDSON COUNTY PLANNING BOARD MONTHLY MEETING. 14 15 I further certify that I am not employed 16 by nor related to any party to this action. 17 18 In witness whereof, I hereby sign this 19 date: 20 January 2, 2008. 21 22 _________________________________ 23 Mark Weinberg 24 25 49 1 2 C E R T I F I C A T I O N 3 4 I, Lisa Bar-Leib, hereby certify that the 5 foregoing is a true and correct transcription, 6 to the best of my ability, of the sound 7 recorded proceedings submitted for 8 transcription in the matter of the: 9 HUDSON COUNTY PLANNING BOARD MONTHLY MEETING. 10 11 I further certify that I am not employed 12 by nor related to any party to this action. 13 14 In witness whereof, I hereby sign this 15 date: 16 January 2, 2008. 17 18 _________________________________ 19 Lisa Bar-Leib 20 21 22 23 24 25