20230117 - Planning Board Reorganization & Public Meeting Minutes

 Ridgewood Planning Board

Reorganization and Regular Public Meeting

January 17, 2023

 

The following minutes are a summary of the Planning Board meeting of January 17, 2023. 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: Mayor Vagianos called the meeting to order at 7:43 p.m.

 

Reorganization of Planning Board

 

Administration of Oaths of Office to New Members and/or Reappointments – Mayor Vagianos administered the Oath of Office to Rob Willis, Class I Member; John Young, Class II Member; Councilwoman Perron, Class III Member; Richard Joel, Class IV Member; Michael Stern, Class IV Member; Sergio Alegre, Alt. 1 Member and David Refkin, Alt. 2 Member.

 

Roll Call – The following members were present: Rob Willis, John Young, Councilwoman Perron, Richard Joel, Dianne O’Brien, Fran Barto, Jim Van Goor, Darlene Johnson, Michael Stern, Sergio Alegre and David Refkin.

 

Election of Officers

 

Chairman – Richard Joel was nominated and elected as Chairman.

 

Mayor Vagianos left the meeting.

 

Vice Chairman – Dianne O’Brien was nominated and elected as Vice Chairman.

 

Board Attorney – Appointment and Resolution of Stephen Wellinghorst, Esq., of Harwood Lloyd, LLC, for the year January 17, 2023 through December 31, 2023 was adopted.

 

Planner – Appointment and resolution of John Barree and A. McKinley Mertz, of Heyer Gruel and Associates, as Planners for the Planning Board for the year January 17, 2023 through December 31, 2023 was adopted.

 

Conflict Planner – Appointment and resolution of Elizabeth McManus, of Kyle + McManus Associates, as Conflict Planner for the Planning Board for the year January 17, 2023 through December 31, 2023 was adopted.

 

Engineer – Appointment of Christopher Rutishauser as Village Engineer for the year January 17, 2023 through December 31, 2023.

 

Site Plan/Subdivision Review Committee –  Ms. Johnson, Mr. Alegre and Mr. Stern were appointed to this committee.

 

Site Plan Exemption Committee – John Young was appointed to this committee.

 

Master Plan Reexamination Committee – Ms. O’Brien, Mr. Joel, Councilwoman Perron and Rob Willis were appointed to this committee.

 

Historic Preservation Commission –  Ms. O’Brien was appointed to this committee.

 

Open Space Committee – Ms. Barto was appointed to this committee.

 

Resolution re: Compliance with the Requirements of the Open Public Meetings Act and the Schedule of Meetings. The resolution was adopted.

 

Reorganization portion of the meeting was closed. Regular Meeting was called to order at 7:50 p.m.

 

Roll Call – The following members were present: Rob Willis, John Young, Councilwoman Perron, Richard Joel, Dianne O’Brien, Fran Barto, Jim Van Goor, Darlene Johnson, Michael Stern, Sergio Alegre and David Refkin. Also present were Stephen Wellinghorst, Esq., Board Attorney; John Barree, Village Planner; and Jane Wondergem, Board Secretary.

 

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

 

Committee/Commission/Professional Updates for Non Agenda Topics – Councilwoman Perron explained the Attendance Ordinance and what is expected from Board members.

 

Discussion re: Zoning Board of Adjustment Annual Report – Mr. Joel explained that the Zoning Board of Adjustment prepares an annual report for the Village Council and Planning Board, based upon its review of its decisions on applications and appeals for variances over the previous year.

 

One of the comments the Zoning Board addressed in the report is enforcement and compliance issues. Mr. Barree explained that enforcement is out of the purview of the either the Zoning Board or the Planning Board. Enforcement would be done by the Construction Official, the Zoning Officer, inspectors or the Village Engineer, depending on the issues and direction from the Council.

 

Another suggestion from the Annual report is to permanently extend variance approval to 2 years.

 

Mr. Barree said that many applications to the Zoning Board are for front yard setback variances to put a front porch on a house. The Zoning Board suggests that due to the general character of Ridgewood homes, if the home is compliant in all other aspects, the front porch should be permitted.

 

Other issues in the Annual Report included existing setback rules with minimum/maximum calculations in relation to neighboring properties and clarification regarding driveway widths and circular driveways.

 

Mr. Alegre said he had been a Zoning Board member and Chairman of the Zoning Board and in regards to enforcement, he said applicants who come to the Board are sometimes at a disadvantage because they see residents who do non-compliant improvements on their property without approval or permission and when they are told by the Village that they need to submit an application, the Board is supposed to treat it as if the work had not been done, which is difficult.

 

Public comment:

 

Greg Brown, 444 Linwood Avenue, Zoning Board Chairman, thanked the Planning Board for addressing the issues, and commented on other issues, such as incomplete applications, the length of time applicants need to wait due to the volume of applications, and further explained the ambiguity regarding driveways.

 

Diana Ruhl, 322 Crest Road, a current Zoning Board member, explained the maximum/minimum setback concept and how it impacts the streetscape and how it may be preferable to have a minimum/maximum where you need to be within a certain amount of feet of your neighbors’ house and not necessarily 40 feet from the street.

 

Board members asked how prevalent are the issues of people doing work without Board approval. Mr. Brown said he doesn’t know many residents do it, but that a big issue is applicants asking for coverage variances when they are already over the maximum improved and no one can say how they got there. Mr. Brown said that issue may come up as often as every other meeting.

 

Discussion re: Implementation of Master Plan – Mr. Joel said the Master Plan Committee will meet, review the Master Plan and discuss how to move forward, find out what the Council considers priority, look at the action matrix in the Master Plan and come back to the Board to discuss. Mr. Barree said that a lot of the items will be up to the Council to implement and fund and the Planning Board’s role is more advisory at this point.

 

Ms. Perron asked if the zoning ordinances needed to be reviewed for compliance with the Master Plan. Mr. Barree said that there are recommendations in the Master Plan to look at modifications to the zoning ordinance and anytime an ordinance is amended it should be reviewed for consistency with the Master Plan, which is the policy guide.

 

Ms. O’Brien asked about the proposed demolition delay ordinance for historic sites. Councilwoman Perron said that ordinance was not passed.

 

Board members reported on the various committees that are looking at the action items in the Master Plan and how they can work towards implementing the Master Plan.

 

Adoption of Minutes:  The minutes from December 6, 2022 were adopted as drafted.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

                                                                                      Jane Wondergem

                                                                                      Board Secretary

 

Date Approved:            February 7, 2023