REGULAR MEETING
Municipal Bldg 530 West Hill Road Glen Gardner, N.J.
The 819th Regular
Meeting of the Lebanon Township Planning Board was called to order at 7:05 p.m.
by Chairman Gary MacQueen. Present were:
Mr. Schmidt, Mr. Gerlich, Mr. Piasecki, Mr. Rich, Ms. Bleck, Mr. Weiler, Ms.
Schriver, Attorney Gallina, Planner Bolan and Engineer Risse. Mr. Weeks arrived at 7:15 p.m.
Notice of this meeting was
provided for in the “Annual Meeting Notice Schedule” adopted by this board on
January 13, 2009, mailed to the Hunterdon Review, Hunterdon County Democrat,
Express Times, Courier News, Star Ledger and posted on
the bulletin in the
PRESENTATION OF MINUTES: May 5, 2009
Regular Meeting
Motion by Mr. Rich and
seconded by Ms. Schriver to approve the minutes as presented. Unanimously approved.
RESOLUTIONS:
a. Steve
Nicholson Block
#49 Lots #78 & 89
Lot Line Adjustment w/conditions
Motion by Ms. Bleck and
seconded by Mr. Piasecki to adopt the resolution of Steve Nicholson for a Lot
Line Adjustment with conditions. Unanimously approved.
b. Helen & Clifford Kendrick Block
#59
1 Lot Minor Subdivision/remaining lands Hollow Road R 1½ & RC 7½ zones
with conditions
Motion by Ms. Bleck and
seconded by Ms. Schriver to adopt the resolution of Helen & Clifford
Kendrick for a 1 Lot Minor subdivision with conditions. Unanimously approved.
NEW BUSINESS:
Thomas Borden, Esq
(
Chairman MacQueen introduced
Attorney Tom Borden to the board and the public present. Attorney Borden is the Chief Counsel and
Deputy Executive Director for the Highlands Council. Chairman MacQueen stated the Township
Committee asked that the board have Attorney Borden come to the board to give
his presentation. Also present this evening were members from the Township Committee, Board
of Adjustment and Environmental Commission.
Chairman MacQueen turned the meeting over to Attorney Borden.
Attorney Borden reviewed for
the board and public on the formation of the
The Highlands Act required
the Council to prepare a Land Use Capability Map. The following are the maps involved: Land Use Capability Zone, Land Use Capability
Water Availability, Land Use Capability Public Community Water Systems, Land
Use Capability Domestic Sewerage Facilities and Land Use Capability Septic
System Yield. There are three Primary
Zones: The Protection Zone which
consists of high resource value lands with land acquisition a priority in the
Protection Zone with development being extremely limited. The Conservation Zone consists of areas with
significant agricultural use lands including woodlands and environmental
features and the Existing Community Zone consists of areas with regionally
significant concentrated development with existing communities. There are four sub-zones which consists of a)
Conservation Zone, b) Existing Community Zone, both of these zones are
Environmental Constrained sub-zones, c)
Lake Community Sub-Zone and d) Wildlife Management Sub-Zone.
June 2, 2009
Page 2
Attorney Borden reviewed Plan
Conformance and what it consists of.
Conformance is mandatory for lands in the Preservation Area and
voluntary for lands in the Planning Area.
The Master Plan and the regulations for the Preservation Area have until
December 8, 2009 to conform to the Regional Master Plan. Municipalities that are in the Planning Area
can opt into the Conformance at any time.
Seventy-four of the eighty-eight municipalities in the
At this point, Attorney
Borden directed his presentation on
Attorney Borden reviewed the
Equity Provisions in the Act that address concerns including: 1) 17 Exemptions including those for
construction of a single family home on a lot in existence on or before August
10, 2004, or expansion of a single family dwelling already in existence on or
before August 10th , 2) Waivers for public health and safety,
development in Brownfield sites and areas with at least 70% impervious surface
to avoid a takings, 3) Dual Appraisal Method to be used by either Green Acres
or SADC for willing landowners using pre-Highlands Act value, 4) for TDR’s
program, development credits also use pre-Highlands Act value. In conclusion, the final version of the RMP
was approved at the 74th public meeting of the Highlands Water
Protection and Planning Council. On the
website are the Highlands Interactive Map and the Property Search Tool to
enable users to see how the RMP will affect development in their communities
also there are audio recordings and minutes from each meeting, technical
documents and supporting materials used to create the Regional Master Plan.
At the conclusion of the
power point presentation, Chairman MacQueen opened the meeting to the board and
public for questions. There were a lot
of well thought out questions by the board and the public. At the conclusion of the questions, Chairman
MacQueen and the board thanked Attorney Borden for his
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION:
a. Alternative Energy Ordinance
a. Website information on Skylands
b. Ltr from NJ Clean Energy
Chairman MacQueen asked if
there was anything new on this ordinance.
Planner Bolan said no and wanted to know if the subcommittee was going
to meet again. It was decided the
subcommittee did not need to meet again.
Ms. Glashoff said that since Mr. Dixson was unavailable for tonight’s
meeting she will invite him to attend the next meeting.
b. Amend Home Occupation Ordinance
c. Minor Site Plan Ordinance – distributed at May 5th meeting
Planner Bolan said he wanted
to discuss the Minor Site Plan standards because the Home Occupation amendment
depends on the standards for the Minor Site Plan. The Home Occupation amendments have a three
tier approach. The first tier was
equivalent to the Exempt Home Occupation Ordinance that’s in effect now, the
second tier would be a zoning permit but no site plan approval and the third
tier was ones that needed site plan approval.
Planner Bolan stated we do not have a minor site plan provision in the
zoning ordinances currently. Mr. Rich
said we have waived those items in the past.
Planner Bolan noted the time and fees.
Planner Bolan said the main thing that a minor site plan does is that it
doesn’t have to be prepared by a professional.
Everything else has to be prepared by a professional. Planner Bolan said that he can work with Ms.
Glashoff regarding the checklist items and fees and come back to the board with
a proposal for the board’s consideration.
Chairman MacQueen said that the purpose of this was to make it easier but
to have everything we need. Planner
Bolan went over some of the items that will be needed on the application and
checklist. Chairman MacQueen asked to
have this ready for the next meeting.
Planner Bolan noted that this will also apply to any commercial use. Also once the fees are established then we
will need to amend the Fee Schedule. Ms.
Glashoff said at present the site plan fees are based a flat fee then on land
and square footage of the building.
These figures can be condensed with a minor site. Ms. Glashoff stated she and Planner Bolan can
put together a proposal to present to the board for the next meeting.
June 2, 2009
Page 3
At this point, the board
discussed up coming meeting dates.
During the discussion,
Ms. Glashoff said she will be taking some vacation time the first
week in July and asked if the board wanted to hold the July meeting on the 3rd
Tuesday. Mr. Gerlich suggested
cancelling the July 7th meeting and having the meeting on the 3rd
Tuesday and cancelling the August 4th meeting. The board agreed. The next meeting will be July 21st
with the following meeting on September 1st.
PRESENTATION OF BILLS & REPORT:
a. John Gallina, Esq. $1,155.00
Motion by Mr. Gerlich and
seconded by Mr. Rich to approve the bills as presented. Unanimously approved.
CORRESPONDENCE:
Being no further business to
come before the board, nor comments from the public,
motion by Ms. Bleck and seconded by Ms. Schriver to adjourn the meeting at 9:15
p.m. Unanimously
approved.
___________________________________________
CHAIRMAN
GARY MACQUEEN
_________________________________________________
GAIL W. GLASHOFF, PLANNING BOARD CLERK