Planning Board Public Meeting Minutes June 21, 2016

The following minutes are a summary of the Planning Board meeting of June 21, 2016. Interested parties may request an audio recording of the meeting from the Board Secretary for a fee.

Call to Order & Statement of Compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act: Chairman Nalbantian called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. The following members were present: Mayor Aronsohn, Ms. Bigos, Chairman Nalbantian, Councilwoman Knudsen, Mr. Joel, Mr. Abdalla, Mr. Reilly, and Ms. Peters. Also present were: Gail Price, Esq., Board Attorney; Christopher Rutishauser, Village Engineer; Blais Brancheau, Village Planner, and Michael Cafarelli, Board Secretary. Mr. Thurston, Ms. Dockray, and Ms. Altano was not present.

Public Comments on Topics not Pending Before the Board – No one came forward.

Correspondence received by the Board – Mr. Cafarelli said there was none.

World Mission Society, Church of God – Mr. Brancheau reports on the status of compliance with the Resolution, outstanding issues and next steps. The Board discussed a July 31, 2016 as a new deadline for everything to be completed except the landscaping, September 30 for the landscaping, and 14 days of approval to complete the fire lane. The application was continued to the July reorganization meeting and applicant will need to appear and report on status.

Public Hearing on Housing Element of the Village Master Plan – Mr. Brancheau provided an overview of the Housing Element to the Board. He said the Village need to comply now by the court order. Mr. Brancheau discussed the court's opinion and municipality obligations to provide housing. He reviewed the Affordable Housing estimates by the E-Council and said that Fair Share established an estimate of 1,000 units.

He discussed the vacant land adjustment, the Village statistics, higher income, population flat, lack of vacant land, the Village is relatively affluent, and there are more elderly and fewer millennials than the County and State.

Mr. Brancheau reported on the four key elements, and discussed the charts he sent to the Board in detail. He said the AH3 Zone maximum number of units would be eight. The Board said only three units could be developed.

Board members questioned the ordinance and asked if it could be tweaked, could the type of zoning increase density to encourage developers to create six to eight units per acre? Mr. Brancheau said it could be cost prohibitive. Members asked about the size of lots, the buffer area, and the units would be closer together to resemble single-family lots.

Public Questions

Charles Nowinski asked about the developer requirements for the entrance and exits of the building. Mr. Brancheau said access would be from Route 17.

Nancy Friedman, 526 W. Saddle River Road, asked is Mr. Brancheau could be specific about the buffer to protect the residents on the West side of the road and if it could be changed at a later date. Mr. Brancheau said it could be changed in the ordinance but not in the Master Plan.

Donald Henke, 524 W. Saddle River Road, asked how utilities and sewage would be routed to the lot. He said that years ago the State of New Jersey disapproved of a building on the premises because of the egress from Route 17. Mr. Brancheau said if the State will not allow utilities then it would not be build. He said eventually something would have to be built there and that changes could be made to the zoning. However, if the State will not allow utilities then nothing can be build.

Dylan Flamn, 22 Carriage Lane asked if the setback would be applied to the side of Carriage Lane, and if development would be in the middle of the park walkway would the developer build around it. Mr. Brancheau said they would.

Public Comment – Ms. Nancy Friedman, 526 W. Saddle River Road, expressed concern about the Schedler property, deforestation, and enforcement of the code.

Board Deliberations – Board members had concerns about the density of B-3-R and the AH-2 zones. Members were generally favorable towards the report and recognized it was a difficult issue.

Mr. Joel motioned to approve the report, Councilwoman Knudsen seconded and all voted in favor.

Adoption of Minutes – July 7, 2015 were adopted as drafted.

Executive Session – Executive Session was not held.

                                                                        Respectfully submitted,

                                                                        Michael Cafarelli

                                                                        Board Secretary

Date approved: May 2, 2017