REGULAR MEETING
Municipal Bldg
530 West Hill Road Glen
The 792nd Regular
Meeting of the Lebanon Township Planning Board was called to order at
Notice of this meeting was
provided for in the “Annual Meeting Notice Schedule” adopted by this board on
PRESENTATION OF MINUTES:
Chairman MacQueen asked Ms.
Glashoff if she was bored because there was a lot of minutes. Ms. Glashoff stated that the minutes
depending on the meeting are normally this length. Motion by Ms. Schriver and seconded by Ms.
Bleck to approve the minutes as presented.
Unanimously approved.
RESOLUTION:
Mohawk Oil Block
#25
Extension of Time on Final Corner of
Bunnvale Road & Route 513 B1
Site Plan Approval
w/conditions
Being no discussion, motion
by Ms. Bleck and seconded by Ms. Schriver to approve the resolution for Mohawk
Oil as presented.
ROLL CALL Yes: Mr. Weeks Ms. Bleck No: None Abstain: Mr. Piasecki
Mr. Schmidt Mr. Spatz Mr. Gerlich
Mr. Rich Ms. Schriver
Mr. MacQueen Mr. Weiler
FYI: NJDEP Highlands
Update
Budget/Reorganization Date &
Board Terms Expire will be on
REMINDER:
Next Planning Board Meeting is
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION:
a.
Planner Bolan passed out to
the board copies of aerial maps of the Sliker property and Diamond
property. The Sliker property is
approximately 32-35 acres and the Diamond property 45 acres. The aerial photographs are from 2002. Shown are streams and 300’ buffer for the
Regarding a site for the
public works facility, what we were keeping in mind was the 3% impervious. The Sliker property would give you about an
acre of property to make impervious. In
previous discussions the board was looking at 1.5 acres of impervious coverage
that we would need. With the Diamond
property there is enough acreage but we would not know what type of review we
would have with the DEP. Chairman
MacQueen questioned the status of the Diamond property. Planner Bolan said the biggest issue was the
status of the property as a contaminated site.
If the site was clean, then there would be the permitting by the DEP to
reconstruct on the site and staying within the 300’ buffer. Chairman MacQueen asked about the impervious
coverage on the site now. Planner Bolan
estimated about 2 acres. Mr. Spatz asked
about staying within the same foot print.
Planner Bolan felt it would still be the same issue with DEP. Planner Bolan stated that the coverage on the
site now is about 5% impervious. The
board discussed this issue at length. During the discussion, Planner Bolan felt
that the
Mr. Spatz suggested asking
Warren Newman, Chair of the Environmental Commission for his input. Mr. Newman suggested that the board be very
careful with a site like the Diamond property.
Once construction starts on the site, you can unearth some other problem
that the Township would now inherit.
Regarding the Brownfields to get direct
funding for cleanup would never happen per Mr. Newman. During the
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discussion, it was noted that
in order to have 2 acres of impervious coverage we would need 66 2/3
acres. It was also noted that there are
too many houses surrounding the Sliker property. Chairman MacQueen
suggested having Mr. Newman
work with Planner Bolan regarding the Diamond property and also have Mr. Newman
look into the environmental portion of the property. The
board briefly discussed the Sliker property again. At the conclusion of the board’s discussion,
Planner Bolan and Mr. Newman will report back to the Planning Board at the next
meeting.
b. Amend
Conditional Use Section of Ordinance
– Planner Bolan
Per the board’s discussion at
the last meeting Planner Bolan stated we now have two changes to the ordinance,
(f) lot shall have frontage and access
on a public road and under Item (c) we
discussed having parking not less than 100’ from any property line. Mr. Rich noted the other item discussed was
safety issues which could be added to paragraph (e). During
the discussion, Attorney Gallina suggested adding “adversely affecting
surrounding areas” and Planner Bolan agreed.
The board decided not to include acreage size. At the conclusion of the board’s discussion,
motion by Mr. Spatz and seconded by Ms. Schriver to have Planner Bolan finalize
the draft of the ordinance amendments as discussed and forward on to the
Township Committee.
ROLL CALL Yes: Mr. Weeks Mr.
MacQueen No: Mr. Schmidt
Mr. Gerlich Ms. Bleck
Mr. Piasecki Mr.
Spatz
Mr. Rich Ms. Schriver
Mr. Newman asked to address
the board. Mr. Newman stated regarding
the Diamond property he checked and found that the property is not on the
current NJDEP contaminated site list as of spring 2006.
Mr. Newman will request an OPRA request for DEP files to see if anything
else exist. Ms. Glashoff asked if the
Diamond property was still listed on the Superfund Site List. Mr. Newman felt it would likely be on that
list. Ms. Glashoff noted that the
property was listed on the Superfund Site as of the end of August 2006. Mr. Newman will check on the status for that
site.
c. Tree
Ordinance
Chairman MacQueen asked Mr.
Gerlich and Mr. Piasecki if they had any comments since they were not present
for the discussion at the last meeting. Mr. Gerlich suggested eliminating the
exemption from lot size. Every lot
should be protected the same. The
smaller lots may need more protection then the larger lots. Also the size of the trees, bringing it down
to 6” from 10”. The board discussed the
comments made including the lack of enforcement of the ordinance. At the conclusion of the board’s discussion,
motion by Mr. Rich and seconded by Mr. Schmidt to table the tree ordinance for
now.
ROLL CALL Yes: Mr. Weeks Mr.
MacQueen No:
Mr. Gerlich
Mr. Schmidt Ms. Bleck (would
not like to see the ordinance
Mr. Piasecki Mr. Spatz tabled
indefinitely)
Mr. Rich Mr. Schriver
d. Fence,
Monuments & Pillars on Residential Properties:
Planner Bolan noted that at
this time there is no fence ordinance and does not know how fencing on residential lots
are enfored. Mr. Schmidt referred to Section
18-3.6c1. Attorney Gallina read the
ordinance. Attorney Gallina informed the
board of an application that was recently before the Zoning Board regarding
monuments/pillars. The applicant had
applied to the Zoning Board for an Interpretation of the Ordinance and the
board found in favor of the applicant.
The board discussed these items at length. During the discussion, Mr. Piasecki made some
comments, including the time the Planning Board spent on the Master Plan back
in 2002 and all the controversies that the board had to deal with at that time
and concluded that the Master Plan was well thought out and very comprehensive
and the board decided at that time to maintain the rural character of the
Township. Mr. Piasecki went on to say
that you can put up any type of fence, block the vistas and the views and
change the character of the Township.
The plastic fence on Hoffmans Crossing is so out of character for the
Township. When people move here they
should not end up in a Township where there are monuments, pillars and walls
and giant plastic fences and would like to see something done about it. Mr. Rich stated that he does not see a
problem in the Township with fences. He
felt we would be infringing on private rights and if we don’t have a problem
why make one. People should be allowed
to do what they want on their property and hasn’t seen any abuse yet. Mr. Schmidt stated that even though he does
not like those fences, he doesn’t think we should dictate taste. Mr. Piasecki said we need to go back to the
Master Plan and what it says about the character of this Township. Mr. Weeks stated he agreed with Mr.
Rich. Ms. Bleck said that this is a
very hard issue. Mr. Spatz felt we have
enough regulations. Ms. Schriver stated
at this time she agrees with Mr. Piasecki, but doesn’t want more regulations. The board continued with their discussion on
these issues. Chairman MacQueen opened
the meeting to the public. Nancy Darios
stated her opinion on the subject.
Chairman MacQueen noted that we have had some problems with fences
regarding height, also with pillars. He
also stated that he doesn’t like the fence in question, but is also not
interested in more regulations. The
board seems to be split on the issue.
Chairman MacQueen noted the board seems to be split on this issue and suggested
November 7, 2006
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having Planner Bolan look at
a couple of things that we could put into an ordinance. Planner Bolan stated that all you can
regulate is size, setbacks and openness of the fence. Chairman MacQueen asked for a
motion to have Planner Bolan
look into putting something together.
Planner Bolan went over the suggestions and stated we don’t have to go
overboard on the regulations and the only three things that would need to be
addressed are height, setback and in front yards and you don’t want solid
fences. Chairman MacQueen asked for a
motion. Motion by Mr. Piasecki and
seconded by Ms. Schriver to look into a fence ordinance to purpose to the
board. It was noted that we do have control over
commercial properties regarding fences.
This item will be back on the agenda for December 12th.
ROLL CALL Yes: Mr. Gerlich No:
Mr. Weeks
Mr. Piasecki Mr. Schmidt
Mr. MacQueen
Mr. Rich
Ms. Bleck Mr. Spatz
Ms. Schriver
e. Amend Fee
Schedule Ordinance regarding Escrow Fees
– Ms. Glashoff
After a brief discussion,
Attorney Gallina will draft the amendment to the Fee Schedule Ordinance to
change Escrow on Conditional Uses from $250.00 to $500.00 and Variances from
150% to 200% of application fee. Motion
by Ms. Bleck and seconded by Ms. Schriver to have Attorney Gallina draft the
amendments to the Fee Schedule Ordinance.
ROLL CALL Yes: Mr. Weeks Mr. MacQueen No: None
Mr. Schmidt Ms. Bleck
Mr. Gerlich Mr. Spatz
Mr. Piasecki Ms. Schriver
Mr. Rich
The draft to amend the
ordinance will be on the agenda for December 12th.
f. Road
Standards for Class III Common Driveways
– Engineer Risse
Engineer Risse stated that
this was briefly discussed at the last meeting.
Engineer Risse spoke with Road Supervisor Paul Jones regarding the
percentage of grade (slope) on a Class III Driveway would be within
reason. They concluded that 6% or
greater would be a reasonable number before erosion starts and becoming a
problem. On Class III Common Driveways
now which are gravel, the gravel from heavy rains empties out on to Township
roads which causes problems. We would be
able to have better control if these roads had pavement with asphalt. This would be proposed as an amendment to the
Class III Common Driveway Ordinance. Now
we have the applicant pave 25’ back for the edge of the public road. During the discussion, it was suggested that
anything 6% or greater would be entirely paved.
Mr. Rich asked how do you calculate the 6%? Engineer Risse stated that he will look at
other ordinances for the correct language and report back to the board.
g. Letter to
State Planning Commission
Ms. Glashoff reminded Planner
Bolan this was discussed at the last meeting.
Planner Bolan will prepare a response to the County letter and send to
Ms. Glashoff to put on Township Letterhead paper for Chairman MacQueen to sign.
PRESENTATION OF BILLS & REPORT:
a. John Gallina, Esq. $ 357.50
b. Banisch Associates $3,273.40
Total: $3,630.90
Ms. Glashoff asked to add two
bills of Bayer/Risse Engrs. to the bill list and
reviewed both bills for the Board with one bill for $202.00, the other for
$404.00 totally $606.00 with a grand
total of $4,236.90. Motion by Mr. Spatz and seconded by Ms. Bleck
to approve the bills as amended.
Unanimously approved.
CORRESPONDENCE
Chairman MacQueen asked about
how many meetings does the board have to have during the year. Planner Bolan read from the MLUL the
definition for meetings held during the year.
Chairman MacQueen asked Ms.
Glashoff what was scheduled for the December meeting. Ms. Glashoff stated besides the Items for
Discussion, we will have an application for completeness and to schedule a
public hearing. The application is for a
November 7, 2006
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would also be on the agenda. Ms. Glashoff reviewed the Items that were
discussed this evening for upcoming agendas.
Road Standards will be placed on the January agenda. Ms. Glashoff reminded
everyone that the booklet
that she handed out this evening along with a memo from the Township Clerk, the
board needs to review it and decide at the next meeting whether they want to invite
Bob O’Neil to a meeting to discuss the contents. This booklet was referred to the Planning
Board by the Township Committee at their last meeting.
Being no further business to
come before the board, nor comments from the public, motion by Mr. Piasecki and
seconded by Ms. Bleck to adjourn the meeting at
___________________________________________
CHAIRMAN GARY MACQUEEN
________________________________________________
GAIL W. GLASHOFF, PLANNING BOARD CLERK