20220823 - Zoning Board of Adjustment Minutes

VILLAGE OF RIDGEWOOD

BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT

Meeting Minutes

August 23, 2022

 

Opening:

 

The public meeting of the Zoning Board of Adjustment of the Village of Ridgewood was called to order at 7:45 p.m.

 

Present:  Greg Brown, Matthew Bandelt, Gary Negrycz, Isaac Lebow, Jonathan Papietro, Jason Curreri and Harold Maxwell. Also present were Bruce Whitaker, Esq., Board Attorney; Chris Piersa, Village Engineer; John Barree, Village Planner and Jane Wondergem, Board Secretary.

 

Absent:            Diana Ruhl, Michael Pickholz

 

Minutes:          The minutes from July 26, 2022 and August 9, 2022 were adopted.

 

Non-agenda items:

 

            Board member comments: There were no comments at this time.

 

Members of the public comments: There were no comments at this time.

 

Public hearings

 

New Business:

 

Mark and Lila Goldberg – An application to construct an in-ground pool and accompanying paver patio, landscape buffer, and landscape lighting to the rear of the principal dwelling, which will result in placement of a pool within the front yard, a front yard setback of 25.8 feet, and improvements in a riparian zone at 320 Brookmere Court, Block 1913, Lot 3.01, n an R-2 Zone.

 

Mr. Papietro recused himself from this hearing.

 

Sophy Sedarat, Esq. entered her appearance and made opening remarks, describing the property and the variances being requested.

 

Marc Goldberg, homeowner, was sworn and described the project. Mr. Goldberg showed a map printout, marked as Exhibit A-1, of the neighborhood and Cameron Lane.

 

Tibor Latincsics was sworn and his credentials as an engineer accepted. Mr. Latincsics testified regarding the plot plan that he prepared. Mr. Latincsics described the lot, the waterway and the existing trees. Mr. Latincsics stated that approval has been received by NJDEP and received certification from Bergen County Soil Conservation.

 

Board members asked if there was ever flooding in the area. Mr. Goldberg said it has never flooded, Mr. Latincsics stated the water diverts upstream from the property. Board members asked who controlled the waterway. Mr. Goldberg stated that he maintained his portion of it.

 

There were no questions from the public.

 

William Moore was sworn and his credentials as a landscape designer accepted. Mr. Moore described the proposed landscaping on the property.

 

Board members asked if other locations had been considered for the pool. Board members asked if they would stipulate to maintaining the buffer to Cameron Lane. Mr. Whitaker asked about the fence and Mr. Moore described the proposed fence.

 

There were no questions from the public.

 

Public comment:

 

Jennie Galvin, 88 Cameron Lane, was sworn and spoke in support of the application.

 

Amy Killeen, 404 North Maple Avenue, was sworn and spoke in support of the application.

 

Mariko Aoki, 336 Brookmere Court, was sworn and spoke in support of the application.

 

Ms. Sedarat made closing remarks.

 

Following Board deliberation, Mr. Brown made a motion to approve with the conditions discussed, Mr. Bandelt seconded and the application was approved.

 

Mr. Papietro returned to the meeting.

 

Outfront Media LLC – An application for preliminary and final major site plan approval for the construction and operation of a single pole, double faced, digital multimessage advertising sign which is a prohibited use and will result in a second principal use; expansion of an existing non-conforming use and bulk variance relief at 500 Route 17 South, Block 4703, Lot 10, in the OB-2 Zone. (Continued from June 28, 2022 without further notice).

 

Mr. Pickholz recused himself from this hearing and left the meeting.

 

Louis D’Arminio, Esq., was present on behalf of the applicant. Douglas Standriff, Esq., was present on behalf of the objector, AK Realty, LLC. Robert Inglima, Esq., was present on behalf of Bergen Convenience Flagship, Inc.

 

Mr. D’Arminio gave a recap of the previous meetings and the witnesses that have testified.

 

Tiago Duarte, engineer, was previously sworn, and testified regarding Exhibit A-15, an aerial map, dated August 23, 2022, with updated zoning and view of the area. Mr. Duarte testified regarding the breakdown of the impervious coverage on the site and stated that the billboard would not increase the impervious coverage.

 

Mr. Duarte testified with regard to an ambient analysis of similar signs that have been done, which was requested by Board members. He stated that they looked at the results of pre- and post-conditions of previous sites and they looked at the Maywood sign and obtained ambient light levels in the area of the sign. Mr. Duarte said the ambient light levels did not change significantly with the sign in operation.

 

There were no questions from the Board.

 

Mr. Standriff asked about the updated aerial map and the area where vegetation had been cleared away and if the sign would be more visible to someone standing on that site. Mr. Standriff asked how the ambient light readings were taken at the other sites and if the readings would be different depending on the angle. Mr. Duarte went into greater detail regarding how and where the measurements were taken.

 

Board members asked for confirmation that the testing was for ambient light and not the visible light in the distance that one perceives.

 

There were no questions from the public.

 

Justin Taylor was sworn and his credentials as professional traffic operations engineer accepted.

 

Mr. Taylor testified regarding the surrounding roadways and the proposed location of the billboard, describing that area of Route 17. Mr. Taylor said he heard the concerns from the public and the Board regarding how people view the billboard, and how the billboard would affect the drivers, and if there are safety concerns regarding a digital billboard. Mr. Duarte testified regarding how drivers process what they see while driving and studies that have been done on the subject. The studies done found that the average ‘dwell time’ on a digital billboard was around 1 second, if they were interested in it.

 

Mr. Taylor stated that there have been national studies done on the implementation of billboards and the conversion of static billboards to digital billboards. Crash records were collected from local municipalities and the state troopers around these billboards, from before the billboard was there and after it was installed and it was determined that there is no significant relationship between the installation of the billboard and any type of crash history. Mr. Taylor talked specifically about the low crash rate in this area of Route 17 and determined that the proposed sign could operate in this location within reasonable parameters of public safety.

 

Mr. Whitaker asked about the distance considered on Route 17 in the crash study. Mr. Taylor said they looked at 1,000 feet to either side of the proposed billboard and explained that was because a driver recognizes that there is something there at 1,000 feet. Board members asked for clarification about when the billboard becomes visible.

 

Board members asked about the crash study and Mr. Taylor explained the process. Board members asked if the time one focuses on the billboard changes if the image changes. Mr. Taylor stated that there is no correlation between safety and the flip time of the images.

 

Mr. Barree asked if the study was done only for the conversion of a static billboard to a digital billboard or also for the introduction of a billboard where there was none. Mr. Taylor stated that all those situations were studied. Mr. Barree asked if there was an analysis of different traffic situations. Mr. Taylor said the studies were done at different times of the day and night and during peak traffic times.

 

Mr. Piersa asked if the applicant considered having the utility poles and transformers relocated. Mr. D’Arminio said that had not been considered at this time but would explore that.

Mr. Standriff asked if Mr. Taylor was familiar with traveling in this area and asked for more detail on the crash study and the areas studied. Mr. Standriff asked if they realized the difference between traveling on a highway that has fewer exits spaced further apart than this particular area of Route 17 which has several exits and entrances in a short stretch.

 

Mr. Standriff asked about the ‘dwell time’ and how the billboard may distract drivers.

 

Public questions:

 

Matthew Rossi, 516 West Saddle River Road, asked if the study included any roads beyond Route 17. Mr. Taylor said it did not. Mr. Rossi asked if he was aware that portions of West Saddle River Road are within the 1,000 feet of the sign. Mr. Taylor clarified that the sign would not be oriented towards those sections. Mr. Rossi asked if there would be visibility. Mr. Taylor didn’t know if there would be direct visibility.

 

Rohan DeSilva, 521 West Saddle River Road, asked if any studies have been done since 2006 and since smart phones have been introduced. Mr. Taylor said the Federal Highway Administration conducted their study in 2012. Mr. DeSilva asked why Mr. D’Arminio objects to the term ‘distraction’. Mr. D’Arminio said that Mr. Taylor’s testimony showed that it has been determined that digital billboards are not a distraction.

 

The hearing was carried to October 11, 2022 without further notice.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 11:00 p.m.

 

 

 

Minutes submitted by:  Jane Wondergem, Board Secretary

 

Date Approved:           September 27, 2022