December 3, 2025 Regular Meeting Minutes

Councilperson Scarpa asked if pine trees could be planted so it would be a buffer between the residential and the deli. Mr. Moran said they could create some additional landscape areas. Ms. Kapferer asked if they have contacted New Jersey American Water regarding a will serve letter. Mr. Moran said right now there's a fire line coming into the building, and a domestic line, so either the property owner or the applicant will have to coordinate with them. Ms. Kapferer asked if there have been existing issues on the site with drainage, and if they are planning to do any cleaning of the existing system. Mr. Moran said he is not sure if there's any drainage issues there. Chairman Bagoff asked if they’re resurfacing the entire parking lot, re-grading it, and re-striping it. Mr. Moran said yes. PROFESSIONAL COMMENTS Ms. Apte said in regards to the parking, the way they calculated the parking spaces required for this entire site would be 37. The difference is the two-bedroom parking spaces; Mr. Moran is counting them as 6, but it's actually just 3 that they need, because the RSI standard is 1.5 spaces per unit. Having said that, there are ways to improve the parking and circulation that is on the site. Ms. Apte thinks one of the concerns is that they already have one parking spot coming off of Ashland Avenue, which is of concern, as seen in the ordinance. Ms. asked if there is a way of removing that and making it 9 feet so that they have 8 parking spaces. Mr. Moran said they can restripe it. Ms. Apte said, looking at the Blue Violet side, the compact spot with the dimensions of 8x16 and the 10 spots that are 9x18, there can be a bit of concern as to when cars are backing out, especially because the structure of the building is right there. Ms. said they might have to look at eliminating some of the spots there in order to improve circulation. Ms. Apte recommended that a circulation diagram be provided in the plans. PROFESSIONAL QUESTIONS Ms. Apte asked, will the reduction of 310 square feet change the percentage of impervious surface or will it still remain 99. Mr. Moran said it’ll drop it down even more if they went to a couple trees. Ms. Apte asked if all the fencing is going to be 6 feet high. Mr. Moran said it is an 8- foot fence. Ms. Apte asked if there is fencing along Ashland Ave. Mr. Moran said yes, there's an existing one and they will be

f all the fencing is going to be 6 feet high. Mr. Moran said it is an 8- foot fence. Ms. Apte asked if there is fencing along Ashland Ave. Mr. Moran said yes, there's an existing one and they will be installing a new gate. Ms. Apte asked if the variance for lighting is going to be eliminated. Mr. Sullivan said he thinks they should ask for the variance, because he doesn’t know whether they’ Il be able to comply with everything. Ms. Apte asked if they need a variance for 2 loading spaces, where 3 loading spaces are required for the entire site by the ordinance. Mr. Moran said yes. Mr. Savage recommended adding the aisle widths to the plan due to the tight turns. Mr. Savage asked Mr. Moran to explain why there is no need for any proposed stormwater. Mr. Moran said they're reducing the amount of impervious surface, maintaining the existing drainage patterns, and doing inspection work on the existing facilities to make sure they're functional. PRESENTATION