i aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all perfect okay could we have a sunshine announcement please Kim yes chairman good evening everyone today is Tuesday April 22nd in the year 2025 and this is a Jersey City Planning Board meeting with a scheduled 5:30 p.m start time and in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act notice of this meeting has been given to the editor of the Bergen Record LSPito and posted with the city clerk on Thursday April 17th of this year this meeting was also posted on the Jersey City Division of City Planning web page and all distribution materials made available to the board were published and made available to the public thank you could we have a roll call please yes uh vice chair Dr gonzalez here commissioner Gangadan Commissioner Lipsky here commissioner Patel here and Chairman Langston here okay we have five commissioners present we have a quorum and we do want to welcome our newest commissioner Commissioner Patel it's going to do great things all right i'm expecting a lot welcome welcome thank you um okay could we swear in the staff please Mike i see Joseph Matt Sophia Matt Eric Cameron you guys the whole truth yes thank you all right thank you do we have any correspondence Cam um no chairman um just uh for the record we've marked into the uh evidence the sunshine announcement as B1 okay thank you um there are two items that I want to move up that are in new business uh they'll be brief uh I want to call item nine is the review and discussion of certified artist Mel D cole Emma Louise uh Nabuki Takaman and Norman Kirby formal action may be taken okay chairman so the artist certification board has um reviewed the applications for the artists before us tonight and they have certified that they met criteria 1 2 3 four and five and they are recommending them to be certified artists to be eligible for the artist housing and planning staff recommends approval okay thank you Cam does anybody have any questions we have planning's recommendation okay okay is there anybody here from public that wants to comment anyone from public no public i move to close the public second okay motion is made and seconded public is closed could we have a roll call please i'm sorry i'll wait for a motion mr chair I'd like to make a motion at this time to approve the review and discussion of the certified artists Malik Cole Emma Louise Ibuki Takaman and Norman Kirby and send over to city council for formal adoption second all right we have a motion and a second for approval vice Chair Dr gonzalez here i I Commissioner Gangadan I Commissioner Lipsky I Commissioner Patel I and Chairman Langston I motion carries all in favor thank you all right we're going to call item 15 is case P2025-00006 is a minor site plan for 15 Marian Place Council good evening good evening kevin Jones from Zublatin Jones on behalf of the applicant dish Wireless uh Dish is an FCC licensed telecommunications carrier who's proposing to install three panel antennas on the existing residential building at 15 Marion Place uh the antennas will be at a centerline height of 48 ft on the rooftop which has a top height of around 41 ft 4 in uh the proposed use is a permitted use uh in the R1 zone and the applicant has reviewed the staff review letter uh by Junu and will meet uh agrees to meet all of the conditions including painting the proposed antennas matte gray excellent thank you sir anybody any questions no sir steve any questions nope okay um All right is there anybody here from public that wants to comment on this application no public i move to close the public portion okay motion is made and seconded public is closed general anything you want to add no staff recommend approval okay thank you Mr chair i'd like to make a motion to approve case P205-00006 as presented to our board tonight second okay motion is made and seconded for approval vice Chair Dan Garzillis i commissioner Genghan i commissioner Lipsky i commissioner Patel i chairman Lston i motion carries so in favor okay thank you thank you councel all right let's get into old business item A is a one-year extension of approval for case P20 071 uh address is 58 to 60 Center Street York Street York Street that's odd and 214 Bright Street good evening good evening commissioners uh before I begin uh I have item 17 uh and I'd like to request adjournment with uh uh notice of uh with our notices carried to a date certain please okay Cam do we have a date um this would be May 27th okay so we'll carry case P2024-02000 is a preliminary and final major site plan for 146 Summit A to a date certain i'm sorry Cam I forgot already may 27th 7th okay to May 27th thank you council okay thank you uh returning to case P20250036 for the record my name is Tom Lean of the law firm of Connell Foley uh this is a request for a one-year extension just to give the board a little bit of background uh the board approved uh case P2071 on 420 of 2021 to uh develop a five-story 100 unit building ground floor retail and 25 uh parking spaces uh at the listed property uh it is within the Bait Street redevelopment plan area uh we did come before this board uh previously and we requested two uh year extensions that was under case P23042 uh that took us to um uh April 20th of this year which obviously just passed uh we are requesting that the final one-year extension uh be granted to uh to bring us into 2025 to 2026 excuse me um the reason being is twofold uh one we are continuing to work with the JCMUA on some uh pretty significant improvements uh that will enable the act the property to actually be developed they're they're currently doing some sign significant work over there in the bait street redevelopment area and we're also working with planning right now uh on some amendments to the bait street redevelopment plan that will affect this development we do anticipate coming back to uh this board to take advantage of those amendments and comply with them but until that time we are just requesting that the board extend this for one more year okay thank you thank you council any questions anyone no no okay is there anybody here from the public that wants to comment seeing the public I move to close the public second all right motion is made and seconded publiclix is closed um Cam anything you want planning is only going to ask that the conditions from the original approval remain effect uh and we could accept that okay planning staff recommends approval thank you Mr chair i'd like to make a motion to approve case P205-0036 as presented to our board tonight second okay motion is made and seconded for approval vice Chair Dr gonzalez i commissioner Gangadan i commissioner Lipsky hi Commissioner Patel hi and Chairman Langston hi motion carries all in favor thank you thank you thank you Council all right let's move on to item B is a site plan extension for 165 Newark Avenue uh case P2025-000046 good evening council uh good evening everybody james McCann from the law firm of Connell Foley in Jersey City appearing on behalf of the applicant this is indeed an application for a one-year extension if granted the extension would carry uh to January 8th 2026 little background on the project this was originally approved in approved in 2019 it is a combination uh renovation and new construction project uh at 163 165 Newark Avenue uh it's mixed use 51 units and 11,900 square ft of retail uh one of the holdups has been that there's a tenant in the property Barcade uh they're finally getting out on April 30th which is in a few days um my client has already filed for a demolition permit for the part of the project that it can demolish and it's working with historic for the part of the project that it is preserving pursuant to its approval and it has building plans all ready to be filed once those two previous approvals that I mentioned are granted so I think this is probably the last time I'll be before you for an extension for this project okay thank you council any questions anyone no okay is there anybody here from public that wants to comment seeing no public I move to close the public second all right motion is made and seconded public is closed uh who is this joe anything you want to add uh Mr mccann I would just like to confirm with you that the applicant agrees to the original conditions from the original approval that's confirmed then uh staff recommends approval okay thank you Mr chair i'd like to make a motion to approve case P205-0046 is presented to our board tonight second all right motion is made and seconded for approval vice Chair Dr gonzalez i um Commissioner Gangadan hi Commissioner Lipsky i Commissioner Patel hi Chairman Langston i motion carry all in favor okay thank you thank you thank you good evening let's move on to item C is case P2024-0149 is a preliminary and final major site plan and conditional use for 523 Tunnel A uh this was carried from March 25th with preservation of notice and testimony taken good evening good evening uh for the record Joe Papero from Porzio Bramberg and Newman on behalf of the applicant Grass House LLC as noted this is an application for preliminary and final site plan approval and conditional use approval uh for a class 5 uh retail cannabis facility at 523 Tunnel Avenue block 3203 lots 78 and 9 on the uh city uh tax map uh just for some background uh this is uh this site is located in the HC highway commercial zone uh which conditionally permits cannabis retail uses uh the operator of Grasshouse is Michael Price a lifelong Jersey City resident uh who resides in the Heights area he's very active in the Heights community that information was supplied as part of our community impact statement also noteworthy is Mr price as a social equity applicant which uh the Jersey New Jersey cannabis legislation was based around um this application uh presentation was be uh was presented before you initially at the February 25 planning board meeting uh we introduced information and testimony from our project engineer um because we're seeking site plan approval for some upgrades and uh improvements to the site we started with our civil engineer during the course of his testimony uh there was a discussion regarding comments from the JCMUA um at that time we decided to adjourn to give us an ample opportunity excuse me to um address those comments um thankfully over the interim period uh we've successfully addressed all of the JCMUA comments we received an approval letter uh dated April 17th 2025 which has been uploaded uh through the Jersey City portal and should be part of your official record mr award was also provided with a courtesy copy uh thankfully we've uh satisfied the JCMUA on the technical storm water drainage and engineering issues and what we'd like to do uh this evening is just to pick up the presentation with the project architect he'll now take you inside the site uh inside the building rather uh moving away from the site improvements now into the building to talk about the renovations to this existing structure to make it appropriate for the cannabis retail use um Mr elkins will also talk about operations uh as I've noted uh Mr price the operator is here if there's any specific questions uh but let's begin if we may uh chairman with the uh project architect and uh just for the record Commissioner Patel you weren't at that meeting um there was testimony taken we've carried it tonight including the testimony that was taken did you have a chance to read the record yes okay thank you so you are allowed to vote on the application tonight and the board has quum thank you Council Chairman chairman I also wasn't at that meeting and I have read the transcript i apologize i thought you were here i assume you're always here Steve i I was here spiritually but not physically excellent is there a video cable that I can connect yes cam can handle that for you thanks or mic usually there's one here and I didn't see it today all right the whole truth i do uh Ronald Elkins r O N A L D elkins e L K I Ns and Mr elkins for the benefit of the board and the public can you provide your education area of expertise and the licenses you hold sir council that's okay we've qualified Mr elkins before your license is current tonight sir it is okay thank you you're qualified thank you chairman great well thank you uh well as Mr paparro mentioned this is uh 523 Tunnel Avenue also known as block 3203 lots 7 8 and 9 um again highway commercial zone which does allow for class 5 cannabis retail use the existing property is um is an existing kind of mixeduse building retail ground floor um apartment above with a masonry edition for a mechanic garage on the rear of the building um it's existed currently it's a woodframed building um as far as the scope of work is we intend to demolish the let's see if I can point here demolish the one-story uh masonry garage at the north end of the property and then basically remove all of the existing vinyl sighting on the exterior of the building and replace that with um an updated sighting which I'll get into more uh in the presentation we also intend to demolish the majority of the interior u of both floors and the crawl space is only about four 4 and 1/2 ft uh ceiling height down there so it's not really a habitable floor i'll get into that a little bit more on the the new plan presentation on the site work from the civil testimony um that was given at the last hearing we are essentially taking the the site which is 100% impervious and removing a lot of that asphalt opening up landscape areas for additional rainwater runoff uh and then also reconfiguring the parking lot with the removal of the existing mechanics garage in the front as well as new landscaping and new beautifification efforts um throughout the property the interior of the building the uh first floor is off to the right or I'm sorry the first floor is in the middle of the page um the customers will enter on the south end of the building where they'll have their identification checked make sure they are at least of legal age once that's approved they basically have access just to the retail area where they will make their selections make their purchases and then uh go to the point of sale or cash registers here at the front where they will um complete the transaction with the the purchase the upstairs is essentially the storage vault uh that's secured through multiple means through secure doors um secure wall construction floor construction ceiling construction no one should be able to access that uh that area as well as an office for the the business staff once an order is placed uh a staff member that works predominantly in the vault will gather the order and then send it down a spiral chute which will end up behind the um behind the the bud tenders who would then pass the order over to complete the purchase once the purchase is complete then the exit uh customers exit to the west of the of the property directly to the parking lot which is obviously not shown on this plan um as I mentioned before the crawl space basically is just a couple electric panels and just open space uh currently the we will also be providing new u mechanical ventilation with carbon filtration on a dedicated exhaust system on the roof uh as well as new heating cooling ventilation systems uh throughout the building once um deliveries are received they will be received in the rear of the of the building um where they will be unboxed put into the digital inventory and then taken directly up the stairs to the to the vault for secure storage the this is the secure access plan basically the you can see from the legend here the the totally white areas are basically areas where customers have access before their identific identification is checked which is basically immediately inside the front door up to the ATMs and that's it once their IDs are checked then they have access just to the retail area the double hatched areas are staff only and that includes the the crawl space below and Mr alkins that space is uh keycoded for employees only there's access uh codes that need to be entered exactly and so the security plan has been redacted just because this is a public hearing but essentially there will be cameras in security cameras in every room uh except the restrooms of course and uh secure key fob locks on every door any uh let me backtrack one uh you can see that there's also a couple of waste bins here that is basically to store or to stage any cannabis laden waste whether that's boxes or um bags or any kind of material that might have a cannabis residue on it we will securely store that in these uh these bins inside the building and then pulled out for a uh scheduled waste hauler uh pickup and that cannabis waste is picked up by a vendor specifically for that purpose not general waste exactly a dedicated licensed uh cannabis waste hauler again the security cameras will also be added and uh additional lighting into the the crawl space area the exterior of the building um as you can see looks completely different than it did before or than it currently does essentially the structure is the same all we're doing is peeling off the residential scale vinyl sighting adding a um a metal panel sighting uh to the facility and enclosing some of the windows mainly for security and any windows that are visible will be will have a um uh an obscured film to limit any visibility into the space signage is um kind of uniquely located close to the ground level mainly because in the highway commercial zone uh there's a limitation on the height of um height of signage relative to the height of the building and since this is an older building that predates the current regulations um those same regulations still apply but the fact that the building is only two stories versus much higher the the signage is relatively low to grade and that's the uh you can see the red revision clouds on that that was a the only revision we had to the to the design of the building from the initial submittal and these drawings have been uploaded to the portal so what you're seeing here is everything that's already on the portal these are just some other black and white views from around the site and then this again is what the the current site looks like so this masonry building here would be demolished cleaned up fence removed and then um reconfigured with landscaping and additional parking and I believe that was the end of my testimony mr ala just a few followup so you've talked about deliveries in consultation with the uh operator it's my understanding that all deliveries will be by van and unmarked van is that correct yes and uh do you have an idea of frequency uh was that discussed in your consultation that was not discussed but um that should be something we should address with the owner and the um building materials you've identified um there will be uh compliance site lighting uh as well with the code yes let me return back to the site plan we do have sight ballard lighting i'm sorry not ballarded lighting just sight lighting parking lot lighting throughout the site as well as on the north and west facades of the building so there will be ample lighting on the site but still complying with the lighting regulations in terms of um minimizing overflow to adjacent sites and it's my understanding there was a lighting plan submitted with the engineering materials mhm yeah a phototric study was provided and uh this application complies with all the conditions of the conditional use is that correct and the signage you've oriented it to comply with the code and not require any variance relief is that correct exactly yes mr alkins in your opinion is this a fully conforming cannabis application i believe it is um is there any other details uh you talked a bit about the ventilation that's required by ordinance for odor mitigation that will all be uh resolved with the building department to be ensure that it complies with their requirements yes it will once we pass this uh approval process then full engineering calculations will be provided and that's part of the construction department that will be part of Yes part of the uh uh building department review the applicant will comply with the ordinance requirements for hours of operation yes and trash removal you've talked about the cannabis specific refues however there is a dumpster for typical office refues that has not you know been tainted with any kind of cannabis exactly that'll just be for general um waste paper um lunch lunch leftovers things like that so okay and that'll be handled by a typical waste hauler not a vendor cannabis vendor chairman that's uh the extent of our presentation happy to answer any questions we do again have Mr price the operator here if there's any additional testimony you'd like to hear this evening okay thank you council does anybody have any questions on architecture okay what about the MUA that's we're going to get there next um so council we have a new letter from the MUA i just want to make sure that everything is complied with that's in that letter let me just one second let me just pull that and also I do want to um talk about the transportation comments from traffic and engineering i don't think there's been any testimony on that yet is there a report that I'm aware of unaware of chairman for this it's from October 28th 2024 from Michael Manzel Lindseay Scoffield Division of Transportation Planning Jennifer Wong Division of Traffic Engineering we do have I believe our traffic consultant is here we can call him next to address those uh comments i appreciate the opportunity to do that um if you if we want to address the MUA I'm happy to to to do that now as well that's the April 17th 2025 letter yes okay uh yes as I mentioned I'm happy to to to to speak further on it um this was a result of the latest plans that were submitted by the project engineer um we did receive this by email uh from the MUA and it says there's no further review comments there are two uh I guess items that need to be uh acknowledged and followed as part of construction and there's no objection to that that's the last comment so council for purposes of the record it looks like in December there was the MUA letter correct that raised the issues we spoke about last time yes sir there were revisions submitted uh trying to address those comments perhaps some conversations in I believe it's April 1st the MUA put out a comment letter that there needed to be some revisions on the plans that were submitted correct and then ultimately we ended up that is April 17th the MUA says they have no further comments presumably that whatever was requested in that April 1st letter was addressed to satisfaction yes correct council and if you notice that they in that April 17th letter they do re reference the latest revision date of the day before April 16th so that shows the progression from December all the way up to this final approval letter and those plans have been submitted to planning correct both hard copies and uh the uploaded versions to the to the portal with that April April 16th revision date we don't have any testimony on the new plans those revisions at all no council do you have a civil engineer that's going to give presentation on the new plans tonight uh he's here um if if you feel it's necessary we thought that you know in the interest of time since we have a letter that shows that he's addressed all those comments we didn't know if it was necessary but we're happy to recall him if you'd like yeah I think we should definitely have testimony on the new plans being that they're they've been submitted since the last hearing and haven't been presented to the board okay we can certainly do that did you want to I I can call him next or move into the traffic i know there was a traffic comment i'll leave that up to you sure whatever works okay let me um Should I leave this up as an example or just prove yeah folks uh please take conversations out to the hallway if uh if you must oh okay great i just need this okay where was it before before you begin yep okay hold on let me just begin with you get tonight's going to be the truth the whole truth nothing but truth i do guy Logger Marcino l A G O M A R S I N O mr logger Marcino good evening you're the uh civil engineer of record on this project you were qualified at the last time uh the last meeting we heard this your license is current tonight yes it is okay thank you sir you're qualified if you could just walk us through the the updates on the plan so I went back and forth with JCMA on this um they were not too happy about doing the pump the additional pump there is an existing uh sanitary that they've already approved years ago which are in and that can't be changed because they already paid for all their fees and that's in right now we're going to reuse that for the new establishment so what in the last conversation that we've had it before here when I was giving my presentation was that we we we had uh pipes then we went we can do half pipes which would be seepage in the end uh JCMA went back and forth with our meetings that's why this is really current as of last week uh that we discussed that they decided they were not happy with any of the runoffs and not to want to do any pumps and they didn't want the county to be uh uh involved since the county road and they would have to go there for their approval so they felt best decision would be to do three bio retentions so that's what you see the one at uh I don't know if I have this this one here which is the first one and then we have a second one and a third one and in the bio retentions there's uh plantations uh plants shrubs and trees smaller trees than what I've already had for on the street side uh and those shrubs will give coverage and se uh allow a lot of the seage of the runoff for the building to go there I maximize the amount of it since we do have most of the presentations I've done here before we don't typically have a lot of square footage but this this case we do and we're able to use three bio retentions uh systems which would also have like a a grid mesh system at the base of it and they will allow the uh the water that's coming in the runoff go there so of course anything greater than 100year flood event there would be possible overrun to the street but they have allowed that and JCM agreed that it's Okay so that's one of the big changes that we have there so we eliminated completely anything related to uh pipes or or storm tech half pipes for sele retention bio retention completely based upon the square footage that we have that we can so it's a strange event in in Jersey cities most people don't have a lot of parking lot space so we of course um what's the the print that's in front of us the drawing that is What sheet is that i just want to reference that to the MUA's letter cs C3302 and in that she bio retentions with the amount of landscaping that we put into it and and the amount of details okay and your revision date on that is the 16th or the 17th april 16th yes okay yeah i just want to Okay match up drawings with the MUA's report that's all um anybody any questions chairman uh for Mr lagamsino so in the first paragraph of that letter to you it ends the ending sentence says "Prior to starting construction an MUA sewer application permit must be submitted uh to issue an MA MUA sew permit." So is it your understanding that you've met all the conditions that would enable you to submit an application without incident yes that's we 100% okay satisfied steve I'm good okay if the MUA is good I'm good okay anybody else anything all right thank you sir we appreciate your time no you can take that one yeah yeah do you have I don't Yeah uh chairman we do have our traffic engineering consultant we It doesn't It appears that no one on our team has that report but we're happy to to address it um I think there's you know you're working diligently with the DOT this is on a state highway obviously um but let's maybe we can walk through these few comments well council let me ask this question part of the portal there's a report from a traffic engineer dated June 27th of last year was that done by this gentleman yes that's our circulation department oh yeah the whole truth yes sir uh Connor Hughes c O N O R last name Hughes h U G H E S and Mr hughes before you testify your education area of expertise and the licenses you hold certainly i'm a professional engineer in the state of New Jersey license is incurred in good standing i've prepared hundreds of different traffic impact studies across the state and I've been accepted as an expert witness at numerous municipalities uh throughout northern New Jersey okay thank you Mr hughes you're qualified thank you so Commissioner Lipsky I believe the traffic memo that their professional is not in possession of is the October 28 2024 memo from Transportation and Traffic so there's three items in that uh council so that's on the portal council yes yes it's identified as the 523 tunnel transportation comments I believe but for efficiency and to expedite this the memo states the division of transportation planning division of traffic engineering reviewed the site plans and traffic impact study submitted by optimized twopoint perspective and dynamic traffic respectively number one driveways please keep a continuous sidewalk accurate across the site driveways with the apron beginning in the furnishing zone in line with proposed tree pits as per Jersey City standards 1b please note that the new driveway along route 1 and nine PN tunnel a PN requires NJ dot driveway access permit application number two sidewalks 2A please update the site plan to indicate sidewalk widths and the width of unobstructed pedestrian access route on the sidewalk between the edge of the proposed tree pits and the property an absolute minimum of 48 in is required to meet Prag however Jersey City standards call for five to six feet jersey City Division of Forestry standards can be consulted for more narrow tree pit options 2b please include sidewalk reconstruction along the entire site frontage as the existing sidewalk is in disrepair and does not conform to Jersey City standards three electric vehicles 3A please provide testimony about the site's compliance with the electric vehicle ordinance published by DCA on September 1 2021 in regards to electric vehicles and make ready parking spaces all righty um so I think I got most of that but so as far as the sidewalk construction we'll make sure that we are in compliance with all those comments um obviously any construction within the DOT right away is also going to have to be um in conformance with New Jersey DOT standards um but we will be submitting for that access permit of course for the new driveway along Route 109 um as far as the electric vehicle spaces um I don't believe we are proposing any and that's because when you're less than 25 uh retail for any commercial uses if there's less than 25 spaces proposed there's no electric vehicle uh spaces required so we're in compliance with that that statute um so if there's any additional input that's needed for addressing that that letter I'm happy to um and so council I don't know if the revised drawings addressed any of these comments did they not with respect to sidewalks and tree pits the sidewalk i just spoke with the civil engineer and he can accommodate the width they It hasn't been addressed on the drawing i don't believe the current plans do the current Let me just recall guy since he Let's have the engineer come back to see if the 4ft wide sidewalk is reflected uh the sidewalk sorry the sidewalk's rather narrow there on T Avenue so we've already tried to present this to the tot which they might have some issues with but again this is a pre-existing condition we're trying to be in compliance we have about 7 feet or so of sidewalk width and the tree pits based upon um Jersey City standards it will be cringe upon it but for sure you're going to have at least 3 ft access so this is requiring a minimum of four and up to Jersey City standards for five to six they want reconstruction along the entire frontage so so I understand that you got to go to the county and you got to go to DOT not go to them they have jurisdiction and if it's in their right of way they get to decide that unfortunately or fortunately so we can certainly make the request but if the DOT only allows a certain width in their in their right of way the city would have to you know acknowledge that they have jurisdiction over anything that's in their right of way but if it's anything on the property you know that's a different story but I just want to be clear and I think our traffic consultant acknowledged that he's working through the DOT for the for the permit and the other road is a county road so we've got two other agencies that are going to speak to what's in their right of way so we we're happy to work with the traffic department on that i think we can find a compromise assuming assuming every agency is satisfied i think yeah I think well since this was last hour uh in regards to the bio retention and we're putting a lot more plantations and plantings inside there's a way that we can even get an exemption on the foresting which we have not thought that we can still try to get away with and see what the DOT stated that's why we left it on that on that fringe so I guess my question is did we submit to the county and to the DOT i understand there's been conversations with the DOT were those applications filed and have they commented at all regarding that or are we waiting for this process to take place because as far as I know I'm part of that the DOT as well with the traffic guys and we have not submitted only because we want to make sure we have approvals obviously because the permit fees and the county fees are rather hefty so that's why we we want to see get through here first before that we can make a contingency on that if we need to come back so we would what we would do is we can certainly revise we could discuss it with the traffic agency for the city and and if we can incorporate a sidewalk that meets their specifications as well as doesn't infringe upon the DOT's rightway or the county that would be what that would be the plan that would go into both of those agencies so we're happy to do that as a condition of approval chairman I agree with council that obviously the county and DOT are going to have uh jurisdiction over different components of this specifically within the right of way and you know uh they're going to have their say DOT is probably going to take longer than the county absolutely but what we'll do though to to be sure that we're honoring the city's request we'll be sure to incorporate those recommendations to in that application so what the DOT sees and what the county sees is what's being asked of us from this body so we're happy to do that at the very least the the condition where they have to replace all the sidewalks can be met right regardless of jurisdiction and regardless of size that'll all be replaced correct so okay okay i'm satisfied with that so with regard to the uh electric vehicle um so I'm looking at the the state law chapter 220 and it says uh for public it was amended 2023 it says notwithstanding provisions of subsections A and B of the section retailer that provides 25 or fewer off- streetet parking spaces or the developer of a owner of a single family shall not be required to provide provide or install any electrical vehicles how many uh vehicles are going to be there 17 right 17 so it's uh moot point right okay okay any uh any other questions anyone okay thank you Mr use thank you chairman that's the conclusion of our presentation okay thank you is there anybody here from public that wants to comment on this application anyone from public chair see no one from public i would like to close the public portion second okay motion is made and seconded public is closed uh Matt you're stepping in for uh Francisco francisco yeah so I I I looked at the the application materials submitted prior to me taking over the application and have uh ushered through the the reviews of the application or application materials that have come in thereafter um there is a memorandum that Francisco authored that I've reviewed dated December 19th 2024 uh further revision hasn't been done uh but the the main facts and findings in in the in the memo still stand this application does uh sit at a location where there are other concurrent applicants that are conditional uh retailers um and looking at the the time of application they they're not there's no issue here with the with the devariance so they meet the condition of separation because none none officially existed none pulled permits uh at the time that this application was made uh this is a preliminary and final major site plan with that conditional use uh we've heard architectural and engineering testimony um there's also a map attached to the memo that shows those other locations uh but as I I just stated those were concurrent applications and not yet uh officially uh accepted locations um there are some memos um some some conditions that are recommended by staff uh we just ask that the applicant uh agree to those conditions as well as any that we've just put on the record regarding uh or further clarified on the regarding the transportation costs thank you agreed okay thank you council uh with that staff recommends approval all right thank you so I'll entertain a motion chair I'd like to make a motion to approve case P204-0149 as presented to the board this evening with staff recommendation and conditions second okay we have a motion made and seconded for approval commissioner Genanon I uh vice chair Dr gonzalez abstain commissioner Lipsky it's good to see a hometown boy uh getting involved in business so can best wishes i vote I commissioner Pel I chairman Langston I motion carries with 44 and one assumption okay thank you thank you very much for your time and your consideration have a good night all right let's call case P2024-0241 this is an administrative amendment for 332 Whiten Street um it's Whiten whiten whiten i say Whiten some say Whitten it's Whiten we covered is my vase covered it last time and um I don't know right just for the record uh again um I was here you were here on this you were here video you were here I was not but I looked at the um the video okay so Commissioner Gangadan has reviewed the video and is allowed to vote on the application tonight Commissioner Patel yes I am okay thank you sir so uh this application is before the board with quorum tonight good evening council good evening um Stephen Joseph for the applicant so just to pick up where we left off I believe we completed our direct testimony um there was a a neighbor here that uh raised some concerns i believe that neighbor has since retained counsel i also believe there was a site visit that occurred by Yes um by the chairman by neighbors council by um our architects went back out to the property as well so um if there's any questions anything that we can address at this point we're we're happy to to do that um so why don't we do this let's bring up the neighbors council good evening council good evening chairman good evening commissioners gerard Pizzillo from Genova Burns on behalf of uh Elma Coleman owner of 334 Whiten okay so I did do a site visit on the uh property um what I did find is I I don't think it's terrible um and George if you back me up on what the uh neighbor wants the Coleman's want and claim that you know was done to their property and I'll just address everything one by one as we go so chairman I think before we do that I think you know for for clarification purposes there were some legal issues that uh had existed in terms of uh some of the things that Miss Coleman had mentioned that I don't believe are of the moment at this point based on everything that was submitted by Mr joseph uh with respect to the property line and if there was an issue with the property line and then the remaining issues had to do with any type of damage done to Mrs coleman's property uh and if there were any issues left unresolved i went back and reread the transcript and there was a question what I believed was a question regarding the fence that uh turned out not to be a question is my recollection and confirmed by the the transcript so council I think if there's anything that that you care to add uh I think it's best to maybe proceed that way sure so my clients have objections across the board to this project um to council's point not necessarily to the items or in addition to the items that you're considering this evening uh their objections go back to the development as a whole or the project as a whole um so they are still in opposition to the project um they are opposing the amendments this evening um as it relates to the damage question uh as Mr joseph he did indicate at the trans or the the hearing the last time uh and I did was able to confirm that with my clients the items that were damaged during the construction have been remediated um you know so the only outstanding item that was discussed at the last hearing that remains outstanding this evening is the power washing um now without getting into the specifics the concern is with the larger objection and the lack of trust uh excuse me the lack the the lack of support of the project the objection to the project um and the lack of trust generally with regards to how everything rolled out here between the two owners my client is she wants the power washing done but that's insignificant to the issues that really remain um and without watering down or you know uh affecting her potential legal positions later on down the road uh you know it's almost as if the power washing could be done it could not be done it it doesn't really matter uh from my client's perspective i mean look they made her house dirty right they they did all this yes um would she like her house cleaned yes um you know but she's not going to want her house cleaned you know and it you know in exchange for giving up any potential legal rights that she may have with the project as a whole so I'm reluctant to agree or have her agree to accept that with the understanding that it could later on come back to bite her so chairman I think the proper way to proceed with that respect is to accept council's position uh the board hears you i appreciate it from a legal standpoint council i think it would behoove you to continue to try to work and be the good neighbor uh with respect to the legal points council as you know this application is back as a uh amendment to a prior approval um I know that you are more than learned in the area uh we're at where we're at and I'm not going backwards that being said uh the thing that gave me the most pause as chairman and I I believe for the board at the time was a question regarding a property line and if there was an encroachment and I have not seen anything that evidences that there is a dispute about the property line or that there is an encroachment everything that has been submitted by the applicant that I have seen chairman is that there is a party wall uh between the two properties so council I I don't know if you have anything and when I say you obviously if your client was able to produce any kind of a a survey to dispute any of that we haven't seen it i suspect they haven't provided it to you because knowing you you would have provided it to Mr joseph and and brought it to this board so I absolutely would have and and to that point I I I have not submitted or I have not received any sort of you know disputing survey or disputed survey or opposing survey really is probably the proper term uh to show any encroachment onto my client's property line with the new building that's been constructed that's correct so we are relying at this point the most current survey documents we have is the I guess it's Mr schmidt survey from some point earlier this year which is Mr joseph's client survey that's correct and you just you can preserve all of your clients rights absolutely but you don't have anything that puts that survey in dispute and chairman that survey is what the board has sure that's correct we do I do not and we have not submitted that that's true okay so the board will make its decision based on that survey that's available to us that's in our record and we'll move on from there um so one question for council is knowing that this survey came up on February 14th and it may be in question why isn't it that your uh client didn't seek to get a second opinion i I think she's exploring that um you know the surveyors uh that's her decision to make i you know uh I I can't really answer as to that um but it's it's something that she's looking into doing but you yourself representing your client and not saying that the survey we have from U Schmidt surveying submitted to the portal on 214 of this year is in uh dispute no I I I can't come to this board and and say that's in dispute at this point because I have nothing to say otherwise fair enough right you don't have anything to back up to dispute it and this board doesn't have anything to question it so for this board's purposes we have to assume that the survey is correct uh if it turns out that the survey is incorrect quite frankly that's a property dispute between neighbors that would have to be litigated in the superior court anyway so uh I just wanted to make sure that everybody understood we have a survey it presents as a party wall and there's nothing out there that's saying that it it's anything other than that uh which obviously we deal with this all the time around the city this is not uncommon uh the board is is very familiar with party wall so I just wanted to make sure and we got it all out on the record uh that that that's the facts of this particular matter so chairman what we're going to do is the testimony has been concluded and it is now time for council i don't know if you have anything further i don't want to cut you off and not give you the opportunity i don't have anything further just you know of course uh my clients will continue to agree to powerwash um the adjacent building once all the contractors are out of their property so um that's regardless of whatever legal rights they're preserving my client has already agreed to do that and will continue to agree to do that okay so council there's there's more work to be done on the property correct i I think there's just some finishing work going on now but they didn't want to powerwash it in in the middle of anything going on okay um there's finishing work going on on your client's property on the inside yeah interior mr lewis jumped up real quick probably because there's going to be some proposing to change the windows as part of this approval yes so there would be which would have to be done correct correct based on this approval so chairman what's before the board is Mr lewis's modifications to the building as previously testified by Mr lewis uh and then obviously if the board were to uh grant those changes and everything that goes with it that work would then happen because that work with respect to the windows and such is being proposed and again some of the work had already been done which is how we landed here in the first place correct and the and the work being proposed modifications being proposed some of it is somewhat substantial changing the the windows okay all right thank you council uh there is one other thing that I want to address on the property the side door that's in the sideyard okay uh is not secured it's you know I was there on a windy day that door is just blowing open and closed and it's obviously loud i couldn't imagine what that's like in the middle of the night and I believe that is the uh room that contains the backflows for the sprinkler system okay i didn't see any heat in there Mr lewis so number one the doors should be secured number two you know from my angle I couldn't see a heater i'm hoping there's a heater in there but obviously there should i'm sorry we We will secure the door okay sure okay so with that being said um chairman one other question to Miss Joseph is so then am I to understand you accept Mr pizarello's representation that the um remediation being sought except for the power washing has been done yes yes and that was our position the the last time and and uh I believe the last time on the record we also offered to do and and anything else that the neighbor wanted us to do but we haven't we haven't heard anything else yet so the the power washing is the only outstanding item okay thank you okay um Cam do you have anything you want to add before we go into a motion um just to guide the board's decision um so the alterations that were made here obviously were of the historic fabric and the historic preservation staff have issued a new staff memo and all of these changes have to be done in uh working with the historic preservation staff and um you know as far as the planning um specific designs of the building the lock coverage the rear yard the bulk of the building has remained the same so it still meets the objectives and goals of the redevelopment plan and it is bringing the site into closer conformity with what the plan envisioned for this lot so from the planning perspective um planning staff still recommends approval um you know uh again all the changes here were because of the historic fabric of the site and what the board has worked out and designed is going to bring this closer to that historic uh design so with what the board has um worked tirelessly here at doing um planning staff is recommending approval okay thank you Kim um council I am going to put on the record uh I would like a condition of approval that the uh neighboring property is made whole by any damage that was caused during construction of your applicant's uh project um and that's with satisfaction of the neighbor and that can be worked out between you and their council uh specifically related to the that's too much damage not to the project it itself yes to any damage that was made to the neighboring property during construction not got it um yes so the the the applicant has no objection to um any of the conditions the applicant agrees to the conditions okay thank you all right motion well sorry i I have to um ask uh and you agree to the conditions in the January 2nd memo of this year yes absolutely okay thank you okay thank you Cam thank you motion Mr j like to make a motion at this time to approve case P204-0241 uh as presented to the board tonight with the conditions outlaid second okay motion is made and seconded for approval okay vice chair Dr gonzalez I commissioner Gangadan Commissioner Lipsky vote I commissioner Patel I and Chairman Langston so my vote is I uh but I do want to put on record I did the site visit and I you know I I'm appalled by damage that occurs to another property a neighboring property we always talk about being good neighbors um and that you know there's obvious concrete that was splattered on the neighboring property and I don't know how long before I was at the site that that concrete was poured but it's still there so you know I I can't believe that it it has to come to this board and for the neighbors to have an attorney for this to get cleaned up so you know that aside please clean the property up that's all we ask um and my vote is I and that's all I have to say about it the motion carries four in favor one abstaining thank you council thank you i think this is going to be Okay so um we're going to take a break right now but uh let's uh get set up for 87 Bright Street in the meantime and let's uh move on to item eight is case P2024-000088 uh for 87 Bright Street before we do that though Cam I think we have a few attorneys that want to carry their applications for tonight yes chairman thank you so I I received correspondence from the applicant on case Uh item 16 on the agenda applicant is T-Mobile Northeast LLC and they have requested a carry uh with preservation of notice to May 27th okay so case P2025-000034 is carried to a date certain May 27th with preservation of notice anything else and then Eric received correspondence as well yeah um I'm the review planner for item 19 under new business 24 Bright Street um they're requesting to carry to a date uncertain um so they're required to renotice okay so we'll be Are we calling that adjourning or just carrying to a date uncertain okay so we're going to adjourn case P2024-017 24 Bright Street to a date uncertain that's adjourned anything else Kim that's all for now okay and uh just for everyone's notice we do have a hard 10:00 cut off tonight we've gotten an extra half hour out of the security in the front so no new testimony after 10 p.m tonight okay go ahead council all right joseph uh for the applicant um I don't recall if everybody was here at the last hearing um you're going to check that right now Cam i don't have it in front of me do you have it i was not here but I review the recordings and the transcripts okay so we have Commissioner Gang is allowed to vote on the application tonight i'm looking in the wrong email it Mr lipsky Commissioner Lipsky was in attendance yourself and Dr gonzalez and Dr gonzalez was in as well correct so uh Commissioner Patel did you have a chance to look over the testimony yes okay so we do have quorum everybody present has read the testimony and uh wonderful okay so we we did enter uh notices at the last hearing um we're just going to pick up where we left off uh there was uh some confusion with the presentation so um we we do have uh James Cornell here this evening we also have George Weiner here this evening we're going to start with James he's going to walk through uh the changes to the plans this is a previously approved project with with amendments so he's going to walk through those changes um we have George here that could offer some testimony on specifically on the fire escape and then we do have Sam Bellamy here for some uh brief planning testimony okay so council I would just suggest after having reviewed the transcripts in preparation for tonight that uh the witness essentially start from the beginning of the testimony only because seemed like we didn't get that far into the testimony correct so I think and there was there was a revised presentation set uploaded to the portal as well so that's where we're going to be um working off of so James if you want to come up here uh Yep share your screen and then we'll just start from the beginning i do james Cornell J A M S O R N E L L and Mr cornell we qualified you at the last meeting uh your license is current tonight correct okay thank you you're qualified again okay so um so James Sorry uh I'll just walk you through uh the changes uh as discussed with the historic preservation uh officer so So uh James yeah you if you could just read maybe the date on your letter we did submit a change memo listing all of the changes from the previously approved project um just so you so everyone knows July 16th 2024 great and that's a summary of of the changes to the project and James is going to walk through the the presentation set showing the uh the changes okay so um in the uh on the upper roof which I have uh shown here um uh we previously were looking at trying to reuse um this existing skylight structure there were two of them um but both of them were unrepable um they would had been totally rebuilt so in discussions with uh historic we uh did away with that and there were a few different iterations of um the skylights layout uh skylay layouts on the roof um and this is the one that we ended up with uh based on the interior layouts um so down here you see um all these particular skylights that were added um so [Music] um uh in addition uh the uh heating and air conditioning type changed so originally we had these um condensers up at the top um uh up here wrong one uh up here in this location uh and then they ended up switching it so that there were two left up on the uh roof and then the other two were moved to other various locations uh on the um the lower roof which I'll show you um next um in addition to um uh the skylight changes um when we go back down to look at the interior layout changes um the headroom had to change so there's a little bump out here um that's unvisible uh from the front um uh that allowed the staircase to move up in this direction uh none of these issues were uh visible from the public right away any of these changes so um just to finish up with the um the mechanical units uh for the other location I'll move down to um where is it here so on the third floor in the back area uh the mechanical units were three of those for uh the compressors for the air conditioning um for the other units were moved down to that location um let's just stop for one second sure what's being shown is this a slide presentation of the documents that were submitted or is this that set this is a document that was submitted and so maybe it's just two were uploaded screen hold on James okay can you just tell me what sheet you're on okay um this is uh believe it's five of 12 let's back out five thank you sir okay so Mr cornell um yes i if if it's okay I'd like to No absolutely get a couple questions as you're going through the the uh the application so the sheet you're on now the uh condenser units that were moved down are they shielded currently is there any shielding around them yes there's a the parapit wall is 3 and 1/2 ft wide uh high in that location so comes above um the uh condensers on that that section okay and how long are the condensers i'm sorry how tall are the condensers um about 30 in okay and they're on a pad as well or they're mounted directly to the roof no on a pad about So 30 in overall including the pad um no I guess probably the the pad is another 2 in okay but they're below the height of the the wall itself i think we just lost your presentation and I don't see anything you just have to Did I It's showing on my screen oh no yeah just try the the cable it appears as though the cable became There it is we got it i don't want that to happen again no okay so um this uh wall along this side um this is a a neighboring building so uh there's a brick wall right in this location so that's shielded by the neighboring building this side is open to the ne the other neighbor's back wall but this parapit wall here is um 3 and 1/2 ft high okay so where does the neighboring building end does it end before the unit beyond our building it go This is This is the um uh the neighboring building okay sir we're using a lot of pronouns can you give me some direction for purposes this is east so on the east side the east building um is much taller than ours and uh and and full lot coverage okay so are there windows on that side of the building overlook those units no okay okay if we could go back to the bulkhead drawing please yes okay so the skylight your testimony is the skylight was too damaged yes to be repaired yes so how many skylights exactly were added to replace the one that was damaged that couldn't be repaired uh well there were lots of iterations right um but in this version um there are uh seven okay and they they are they are this smaller one this one this one and these four okay and we couldn't just construct a new skylight to fit the opening that was currently there uh there was no opening this was being moved up from uh the second floor and being reused in a total different location okay understood but why wasn't a similar skylight constructed um you know I I think it was probably owner preference at the time okay you know um that would be my you know this was uh quite a few years ago so um I I don't remember the exact conversations but I had um few different uh layouts um over the years based on uh conversations with historic planning uh preservation office and um and the owner okay and these changes were reviewed by historic preservation yes yes okay and they reviewed the new skylights that were added um yes yep um they were in the uh construction documents i I I believe that were submitted james just for just for clarity for the board right they they were reviewed by the historic pres preservation officer after they were already installed or before um no you know um That's a key question that is a a a question I believe um if my recollection is correct uh this one over the bathroom um was after install okay so Historic Preservation knew about every skylight change except that one correct uh that's the testimony that is what I am uh if you don't recall you can say you don't recall i don't recall 100% but that is I'm pretty sure you know um Okay so and this was Jersey City's historic Yes reservation the only thing that went to Hoboken were the um about mid in the beginning of the project it was shifted to um the building department was shifted to Hoboken okay so at no time did anybody from historic preservation direct you the applicant the owner anyone of any authority with this project that they had to come back to the planning board for approvals on these no it w you know it was a time of uh co and uh the billing department was moving up here and we were being uh directed to a different jurisdiction um so it was a lot of you know weird back and forth stuff going on you know okay chair if I may just turn your mic on if you could if I may i think during COVID only one meeting we missed all our meetings yeah i think we missed the first meeting just the first meeting yeah after lockdown we missed one meeting and went virtual after we were zoom meeting all Yeah yeah but uh you know no not that that I can recall yeah i think the the question was whether we were d whether the applicant was directed to come back to this board or to HPC at any point during the process and the answer to that no until we're back here this evening but I I just want to be clear there was a lot of work the reason why we're here is because work was was done without without going back to staff as well right i don't I don't want to misrepresent anything in front of the board about that yeah i'm not trying to throw historic preservation under the bus here i'm not blaming anyone i'm just trying to get down to the the brass tax of who knew what happened why did it slip through the cracks and why were so many changes not presented to this board yeah with the risk of sounding like I'm making excuses for my client right it it they're on the third contractor now um their original contractor died during CO had the original plans with them jurisdiction was over in Hoboken and there was a lot of confusion back and forth about who was supposed to review what um things weren't easy to get done at that time so there what happened was wrong uh but there were some mitigating factors I I think that makes this a little bit a little bit different okay one question to that chairman so in the I mean there's two u uploads of these architectural drawings one with the as approved of 8 930 20 and then uh and then as built so at what point did the as approved diagram appear i mean at what point was that the uh the guide for governing the project the construction so was it So the original contractor had at that time we still used original stamps plans and the original contractor had those plans and after he passed away those original plans got lost somewhere so what we what I was able to find in my records which is what was uploaded to the portal um the only thing that we could find that was stamped was from HPC uh which is which is what that that date was this application was originally approved by this board in uh the resolution was memorialized in March of 2019 okay right so a after that happened there was a set of a zoning level set of drawings and then um and and then the construction drawings went to historic to get signed and stamped as well and after we after the plans couldn't be located we did contact city planning about that and uh they had instructed us to send over the most recent construction drawings to be to be resigned and that I believe was around September 2020 i have an email uh from Lindsay somewhere and that's the rendition that was built the one no so so that's why we're here right we're here because the the approved plans weren't followed there was changes that weren't approved by by staff or by by this board okay so the the plans that that were the plans that are approved and that were uh uh shown to be approved are the plans at the top of the pages of this document we're looking at correct i'm sorry yeah i'm just trying to be as Yeah okay so those those plans that were approved by historic in September of 2020 th So those were stamped by historic staff uh and I believe also by by this board so those were the ones that got that got approved here there were construction drawings that got approved at this board hpc had denied the application but there was a con a condition to work with historic staff continue to work with them on the historic elements and anytime we have to work with historic staff the construction drawings need to be reviewed by historic staff and signed off on sure and and those are the ones that are on the portal that are actually signed by by the city okay and but that's at the top of the page that those are at the top of the page yes dated September 30th 2020 correct and and the pictures of those actual plans are on the portal this side by side is depicting depicting those plans at the top of the page but but photos of that with the signature so here's the question council yes after September 30th 2020 changes are made during construction mhm it sounded like historic became aware that changes had happened after September of 2020 and may or may not have had some input is that correct or incorrect it it it is um correct because there were lots of iterations that went back and forth between myself and historic um with uh respect to the skylights or other minor details that we were trying to work out the whole time you know um such as the uh um the fire escape um issue in the back uh was never seen that in particular uh and the skylights because there was a version when there were four skylights that historic looked at you know that were squares and these two squares um that's not writing i apologize uh the these these uh but there was there was no separate approval for any of those those changes these are all discussions and and when the inspection came to happen for the final CO that's that's how we ended up back here tonight okay so council and believe me there there is a point to all this so the the drawings that were signed by historic and signed by this board at that point correct correct are signed on September 30th or thereabout there thereabout i I can pull the exact date if you need me to but there there september 30th 2020 correct so there's two notable things about September 30th of 2020 for me number one that was my 50th birthday all right number two I spent that birthday at home because we were still in CO mhm but somehow these plans got signed during CO i I can So the fact that CO happened this department and this board were more than suitable at handling any kind of application absolutely so let's not say that it was CO that caused the planning department not to hear this application or to bring it to this board that is that is because we were more than up and running on September 30th of 2020 absolutely i 100% agree i've had many applications before this board during that time um I think Jersey City and Jersey City's planning board did a better job than any other municipality in the entire state i I I say that and I appreciate that of course but we we did not in mean we were not trying to say that any of this is the fault of planning staff or or this this board or co for that matter at at all um with the contractor and and everything that was happening again I I don't want to make excuses i'm just trying to provide some context and and I'm I'm just trying to get at you know changes were made and let's get to why they were made and who knew about it and why they were made and why they were never brought up okay that's where I'm trying to go with this so understood let's focus on that okay god Mr cornell please um and I'm sorry while you're on this sheet is there screening around those units on the the on the top roof uh not towards the front there is not um the bulkhead um screens this side and the building screens this side but uh there is no screening in these two directions but there was not before in the original four units that were up there so Mr cornell for just continue to use direction as opposed to where you're drawing just so Okay so um uh east mhm um this is the the long uh neighboring building uh to the east so that building uh shields those two and and also the the bulkhead on this side but it does not uh shield in these two directions neither it did for the original ones that were there before okay so the original units what were the height on those units um they were about 50 in tall 50 okay so yeah they were taller taller than the other for the mini split systems okay okay so these units are considerably shorter they're the same 30 in they are the traditional ones you see from um in residential uh suburban residential houses okay so are there many there many splits in the units no no that was part of the the changes that happened they they went with a ducted system so there's duct through the building now okay okay um and then the reason I chose this particular one was to talk about that skylight change that I had listed here um but in in all um reality it probably was changed before uh the in the construction documents to a different skylight layout um so um let me the skylights were changed as the as a preference or because of the plan not being followed through no the um during this time period um they would change in the mechanical system and then the interior layouts changed for ducks and the mechanical system and then that changed the layout where the the skylights would be placed okay so so there's mechanical changes with the duct work on the the top floor on all floors but I'm I'm focusing on why the skylights were changed now um so there's mechanical changes duct work is now run through the ceilings instead of there being a mini split system on the wall so to accommodate the duct that had to be added more skylights were added rather than just one single skylight in the middle no no um I'm sure that some of these were preferences of the owner um at the time when he made the ch the layout changes to the uh the rooms okay all right understood um and and Mr cornell were you the architect of record for these drawings or did you provide the asbuilts afterwards or both no I I was the architect of record originally okay understood thank you um so uh then I guess I'll go back to the ground floor and go through um the layout changes um so uh uh by the way none none of the skylight changes or mechanical changes to the roof are seen by the public right away um so I'm sorry i I last interruption I promise um Oh no worries so you were the architect that changed the skylights at the owner's request yes okay um with the exception of the bathroom one um I believe that was one that was just added in there okay so so it was at the skylights were at the owner's request not that a contractor changed it that they were drawn before they were installed correct uh I'm going to say if you don't if you don't recall you can say you don't recall james I I actually I don't recall all of those um I think we lost your cable again again maybe it's down there you know we [Music] uh is going to be mine there we go okay so I can't be a 100% on that i apologize it's okay so as as the owner is requesting changes you don't advise him either that these are significant changes and that he should go back to the planning board um these changes I didn't specifically mention the planning board but I I have mentioned the historic uh with all of them because that's who I was dealing with um with all the changes you know okay all right thank you sir go ahead um so um in the uh start with the seller um uh the top drawing is uh the the approval one and this is the one asbuilt is down below um uh there were storage cages they they were not um ever discussed with anybody uh with me um but these these storage uh cages were put in for storage for the units um at some point towards the end of the process okay and they're cages they're not separated rooms at all correct right they are wire cages okay um and then they had moved the uh mechanical unit uh uh from uh up above on the floor above there there was a taller ceiling so it used to have a mechanical above the washer and dryer but when they switched the unit type they had moved one and hung it from the ceiling down here I believe and they added a couple little heat runs electric baseboard heats heating and then as part of their layout changes they uh changed the configuration of the stairwell in the back uh inside so on the first floor uh the stair used to be this uh back and forth um and they changed it to an L shape to go down now you mentioned the ceiling heights changed on the first floor am I correct um no i uh if we go to um the third page um it shows the loft area cuz this was a double height space in the back um and there used to be these um storage rooms above since the floor had more than ample space uh for another uh spot up there to put stuff they they got rid of that um and they so these little rooms above the the first floor rooms are gone uh and they had um left them either full height or they dropped them and left them empty okay but that change moved the water heater to the basement um that is the uh forced air unit um that um that was a water heater you showed me in the basement the cellar or is it also the water heater i can't be sure on that i know that it is definitely the forced air unit in the the cellar that you just showed us where there was baseboard heating so the circle on the bottom yes now I understand what you're talking about that that's the forced air unit oh yes okay so um I apologize i see it now the uh the water heater is moved over here um um man why is it doing that to me to this location in that cage in the back in the cellar okay and is that accessible those cages are locked uh there is an access panel from this unit to their their own uh cage underneath the stair okay so that unit on the west wall I guess in the cellar east so the west wall uh this side yes uh right by the word asbuilt what is that this is the forair hot air unit and you'd have to come down in the cellar and and access it that way okay and that's the for air for what the first floor yes yes right correct okay correct okay understood so their their heating and air conditioning was moved below [Music] um uh it used to be above the washer and dryer okay um so within the common area I used to have a janitor's closet and um the uh recyclables and garbage out in the lobby itself and they relocated those to uh inside the garage so that's that change there and then and how how how big are those spaces compared to the the original approved that I mean just by eyeball they look smaller um yes there they're two less um so there's how many units in the building four units okay so four units and there's two garbage cans and two recycling cans um you know I I I couldn't tell you the answer to that question okay go ahead sir um so as you can see on this this area is where we start to see uh the fire escape landing which I'll leave till the end so in a loft area um the looking at the top of the drawing on page three uh on the east side uh this continuation of that first floor unit yes yes um you could see that the stairwell and landing configuration was all changed uh in this area and then they had eliminated uh this closet and this doesn't become a bedroom anymore it's an office space um and the the lower one more or less stays the same so what changes that into an office space instead of a bedroom is there a size issue um no they wanted more light to come in uh to the kitchen area uh if we go back to the floor below uh the kitchen is in this location and they wanted more light to come in from the back uh wall up above so they put a wall of um clear view windows here instead so that you could see through the light would come through so you decided to eliminate a bedroom uh for that okay and this building is fully fire sprinkled correct yes fully sprinkled and uh 2hour separations okay so there's a water curtain around that glass wall now that window does that glass go all the way to the ceiling um yes i believe it does yeah okay so it requires a water curtain right right and is there one there is there one depicted on any drawings uh I wasn't involved in the sprinkler system so I'm imagining that they would have had to to pass the building code so I'm going to say yes but you know I'm I'm not I couldn't tell you the answer to that okay so Jersey City did the fire inspection or Hoboken did the fire um Hoboken did um uh and I I know that I had plenty of reviews with both municipalities so um it was view essentially reviewed by two i had to meet with uh Jersey City and with Hoboken because even after Hoboken passed um the construction documents for the final sign off not these changes of course um I had to come back to Jersey City and and go through reviews with them as well okay so Jersey City did the final I would imagine yeah I guess I would say that would be the final final okay but Hoboken did the the rough in inspections oh yeah no well um no I believe Hoboken did all the inspections that's Hoboken building department had jurisdiction over the entire project they did all the inspections okay jersey City zoning still had jurisdiction over the CO so my understanding is to get a CO in Jersey City the final set of drawings has to go to the zoning department and then the building department actually issues the CO from their office that's that's my understanding so even though the building department in Hoboken reviewed everything did all the inspections it still had to come back to Jersey City for the for the CL okay so the glass wall that separates the office space from the kitchen was that installed when the fire sub code officials did their roughin inspection i I wasn't part of the the installation of the clear glass wall at all so I couldn't tell you james was the was that change on the construction drawings no no okay chair I just have a quick question if Hoboken reviewed and passed the inspection which plans did they review well that's that's the next question is so here's a glass wall that changes changes calculations for the fire suppression system because you know as an architect I would think you know about a water curtain where it's you know heads on both side of the glass that are six feet apart exactly 6 ft apart okay so if that glass wall wasn't on any construction drawings or installed prior to these inspections there's no record of this there's no building department that would know that that was there so as far as No I'm sure they they've come out to inspect it a number of times so um they would have had to seen the glass wall there was a separate fire inspection they inspected fire twice so as yes part of this proceeding it was requested that someone go back out to the property and do a another inspection with regard to fire egress so so somebody was out there after this application was was filed and there's a sticker I believe on the portal okay so the application that's in front of us as drawn in front of us tonight is what fire officials saw yes right correct okay as constructed yes but council that sticker specific to the fire escape it's they were asked to go out there and inspect fire egress and the sticker says fire escape on it so they went I know they went back out to the to the property after this application was filed after all this stuff was built okay so this isn't fire egress that we're talking about though this is internal to the units i I would I'm not sure what goes into the fire inspections um I I would think they would so the stickers on the portal mhm well um one other question to that uh when are you representing that fire officials went out and gave it its seal of approval approximately um it the dates on this sticker it was after this application was filed um it it was one of the board of ed requests well the board of ed letters dated December 10th of 2024 so after there's no question it happens in February of 2025 there's no question that the reason the February of 2025 inspection takes place is because the board of ed in connection with the fire escape wanted the fire escape inspected and proof that the fire escape was constructed properly and that's why the sticker says what it says which is fire escape inspected i think the chairman's point is that may be true as to the fire escape but we can assume and nobody should assume that that means the fire inspector went back into the building and checked anything internal to the building well in addition to that council nor are fire officials um deemed responsible to establishing whether there is an encroachment on the easement which that's what the purportance of the uh December 10th letter uh requires sure that's that's not a fire subcode officials no no I get that area of expertise or jurisdiction that's exactly my point is saying is is saying that we got the seal of approval by a doctor doesn't mean that you know the car is good to go right that they didn't get from a mechanic great so maybe I got my heart fixed by a cardiologist but maybe the car I'm getting in is going to crack crack me up to die so we don't know step up there at the end you really stepped that up so we don't know there's nothing here saying that the encroachment has been mitigated sure so so um we didn't even get there yeah we're not even close to that it's going to be a long night it's going to be a long night it's going to be I will say that these rooms are not bigger than 12 ft so even if it was in the center of these two areas it's not more than 6 ft on the on the fire curtain yes okay so the fire curtain is so I'm sure that's lengthwise along the wall in the center on the spacing not away from the wall it's actually less than it's from 6 to 12 in off of the glass and then along the glass six foot on center is a fire curtain how do you know i just odd things that I've picked up over my lifetime uh I I I understand the board's point and I I take the the board's point about the in the inspection uh about the inspection and what was on the construction drawings and what the situation was um at the time of actual inspection council there's obviously a pattern there's a pattern where you know approved drawings were approve or drawings were approved they weren't built according to drawing what was submitted for inspection what was inspected and you know now with the with the change in jurisdiction from Jersey City to Hoboken you know I've dealt with Jersey City's fire inspectors for over 20 years and I know that when they walk into a building if that print isn't stamped and sealed by the city of Jersey City and it's initialed by the department head on the other side they will walk off the job they will not perform an inspection now I've also dealt with Hoboken's building department and their fire sub code officials and they're fine gentlemen i don't know if they have the same procedure that Jersey City does if they set foot in a different jurisdiction so you know there's there's some open questions here is what I'm saying understood james that was not my request to have them move it to another jar james um understood i'm not saying that when the glass was in installed did they was the building was that section of the building constructed the way it was originally supposed to be constructed and then deconstructed to then add that glass no okay so I I mean but was the glass there at the time i'm not saying it was deconstructed but was the glass there when they I I I wasn't there for the inspection so I I couldn't answer that question okay but you can say definitely that that there wasn't a wall there that was taken down and the glass added later yes yes okay the only Well let me back up on that word of mouth from the owner when they were talking about it i will say yes so you didn't personally observe it no let's put put it that way yeah i didn't actually go and see it right so you don't know we just lost your iPad again i'm being jinxed which one it is down there i'm guessing it has something to do with that i think it's more of a timeout kind of i think it times out and then it's I'm trying to get to the bottom line of it i'll try to move it along like this um Okay so forget what I was doing um but I think I I don't really have a clear answer for that okay so let's move on to the next let's move on one second chairman regard to uh Mr connell Cornell Cornell's comment about change of venue in a letter dated September 19th of 2024 from the Vanvor community association says however I I won't it's in it i won't specify which paragraph it says in September of 2020 the owner requested the remainder of the permits be reviewed in Hoboken because of possible conflict of interest incorrect okay well that's on the portal or no that's what I'm looking at i didn't get a secret email it's 100% so where were you um so it's on a portal it's 87 document uh letter from community group cover lots of false statements from those people anyway well so let's on the port it's on the portal right and this is a free country right so uh what paragraph it is um it says upload it uses uh bright street documents PDF so it's one two three four five six seven eighth paragraph down and then it was that Jersey City obliged in the building mechanical plumbing and sprinkler permits were transferred to Hoboken so what was the reason that it was transferred transfer of venue council so our understanding is that complaints from the objectors made the building department transfer jurisdiction to Hoboken it was not requested by the applicant for what okay do we really have to well to go into this well yeah i mean because so my wife position in the city government uh was seen as a conflict of interest so then things were shifted and that's another and that's the appropriate move that's fine that's what I thought absolutely at least it's out there right and it's on record no well it's been on record lots of times so well the only thing is I wasn't on the board in September of 2020 and so when I read this in a document I don't see your wife's or your you know rebuttal to it then I have to ask for transparency sake and for my understanding why would this have to be changed to Hoboken understand i think it's fair question and I don't want to take any I was just trying to avoid of a lot of crap but so again that's that's the appropriate move for a change of venue and that's fine that's why that exists why why jurisdictions can move those approvals and inspections back and forth so that's believe me that's not in question in front of the board tonight what the intentions were on moving it that's not where the questioning is going that's a completely appropriate response to the situation i understand um so if there's nothing else right now let's continue on with the presentation and believe me we have a lot to get through tonight and council probably the next time yep so um moving to the the floor just above that on the second floor on page number four um uh there were a number of what I would call minor interior layout changes and they're all circled here um with uh slight shifts to the closet layout and the bathrooms the kitchen layout um the mechanical um area shifts over a little bit um this entryway vestibule area changes uh I mean these were all kind of minor items so the kitchen layout changes from what it was previously uh the closets aren't back to back anymore um a closet that was down here originally it moves up here um so all those small interior changes happen there's two units on this floor there are that that did not change or the size of the units did not change so there is um let me highlight this for you so the one thing that you didn't change on this floor it looks like there there's I I understand site conditions and you know moving something here and there there's a lot of changes there yeah no a lot of this is not there was a lot of iterations sure okay um Okay so um I was going to highlight the units so uh this front unit uh why now it's doing that again let's go back to red maybe uh enters here um you enter towards the front of the building and this unit I will outline in red is this unit here um this is the um h my god lo uh it's just it's an not a onebedroom what's the word I'm looking for uh studio apartment sorry I got off track so and then the the uh rear unit enters here and this is the um unit itself it's a onebedroom a two-bedroom unit um with an office area in this area what's this other bubble sir in the back that other bubble that's the fire escape yes I was going to talk about that last um when I talk about the fire escape in general yeah let's handle the interior and Yeah and then move out that's that's really early on the line item so yeah um so on the third floor um they decided not to have the stairwell go up from the front the way it was before they did a switch back stair here and then that drove um the shifting of the kitchen um which is not not totally different you know it's a elongated um island now um the pantry was still in the same location they just swapped around where the stove and refrigerator were the refrigerator used to be up here and then moved down to one long linear wall um that that's pretty much the third floor and then on the top floor um which the layout change drove a lot of the uh uh the changes around with the roof um they they when they eliminated this they wanted to put the bathroom there um and this this smaller bathroom here now turns and becomes that in that location the closet uh is eliminated and the stairs to the um bulkhead go up this way now so sir this is the the top top of the second the second floor of the top unit um it's a double double say that again top floor of the third and fourth floor are a single unit so on the first floor you've got one unit that also has a loft space correct then the second floor that's a studio apartment and a two-bedroom but it's really the third floor so um cuz I haven't seen the elevations yet um is it really the third floor um no no because the the space in the back on the first floor unit is is double height for most of the unit itself how high is the whole first floor unit 20 ft um yes right so then in the front area it goes down and uh includes the where the seller would have been and that is got to be 20 ft yeah and then the rest was about 14 i'm going to guess at 12 to 14 so what you're identifying as the second floor that has two units on it starts at elevation 20 or so um when uh this is uh the third floor so um this is third or third and fourth this is third and fourth yeah so it's not not the second floor so this second floor Yeah I see what you're saying so the second floor of the top unit not the second floor of the building so the second floor of the top unit is the fourth floor if that's what you were getting at I apologize that's what I was just trying to understand so the fourth floor I I'll I'll describe it that way then um they they um you call fourth floor made these two walk-in closets they didn't like uh the original design of the linear one um so then during that time period they decided they wanted me to move the bathrooms around um and then it became after a number of iterations the the um as Bill drawn so that so that was a bedroom where the original skylight was yes so the bedroom moved uh towards the front they wanted to have um the the roof slope roof here in the front um has um like say 25 skylights and they wanted to include these three inside the bedroom and not inside the bathroom the way I had it where's the bedroom this is the bedroom okay so they moved the bedroom to take advantage of those three skylights yeah but again had a skylight already approved for the middle of the bedroom yes that was the um one that I showed that uh was ended up being unusable because they put the closets there i'm I'm sorry I didn't hear you became unusable because that's where they put their walk-in closets no no the the skylight changed uh long before this layout um so that was earlier on when it was removed during the first approvals okay so just so everyone's clear the skylight that we're referring to was an original skylight that was part of the historic building correct yes there were two of them they were not in this location they were two floors below in the original roof yes okay so that skylight was supposed to be moved up to the That that was my idea yeah i thought it would be nice it was you know a greenhouse looking kind of historic skylight and I was going you know I had them redo all the barrel vaults on the first floor and I you know was going with that aesthetic so I thought it would be nice to keep the skylight as well but unfortunately did not work out um it was not something that was requested if that's what we're we're looking at no no I'm just trying to get you know I was on the board for the original approval i don't recall the exact details of it i remember it being a nice project and and thank you you know something like that a skylight that is pulled from a historic building and moved to the roof of the new building i think that's a nice touch and I you know it's a shame to see that not there um but you mentioned there were two original skylights there were two yeah so we thought maybe So you couldn't piece them together nothing like that right yeah no they were uh rotted away the the metal was rotted away too far and then it was going to be making a new one that looked like that okay they opted not to do that okay understood hm um so if we we move to the roof I think we discussed this um already so um let me see where I am uh the proposed rear exposed steel so this was um I'll move to the elevations for this the rear elevation so another item that I had in the rear was I had and we spent a lot of money on this um this exposed steel that worked out in a grid um that you would see in the rear um and in these five windows uh were of equal size and and proportion um unfortunately during construction at some point one of the contractors shifted over uh the upper window and then uh at some point I don't know when it happened because I was unaware of it they filled in uh all the steel with brick um so so let me just ask one question about that because I want to be clear the steel's behind the brick um I don't know i wasn't part of that i'm guessing it must be the steel they didn't remove the steel but whether or not they put it but you saw the steel you used to see in my You saw it yes yeah it was there oh yeah yeah no it's part of the structural system we We came up with it to brace the building from going from side to side supposed to be exposed yes and then the next time you were there it was covered with brick is what you could see a couple of years later yeah yep okay um so the um third floor front balcony um now I had we there was a discussion about this during um the planning board meeting um sorry let me get to it and it became a non-issue when um it was brought up that this wall in the front uh was um above your uh your sight line I believe was it i Well I'm not 100% on that sight line thing so I'm going to back up from that but I believe these front walls were above your sight line at the time uh and and maybe now um in my head I can't picture it but uh there there's a slider here in the middle um so access to this front roof was for uh green roof and stuff and not to be used for entertainment right but there was still approved access there and these two side things um were doors at one time in my drawings uh and they were switched to windows instead um and but they are full length windows and they look like the doors that were there so it really didn't change the access to the front and you can't see it from the front of the building anyway okay so the Ozils have one sliding glass door mhm and then which was there originally and then there's two fulllength windows on either side okay instead of what would have been five the same door in the middle yes right the door hasn't changed the sliding door hasn't changed right okay and the two side accesses windows doors that became windows and do those windows open do they They open yep okay they open up or they open out um I believe there's a a fixed panel and an awning okay way down at the bottom um okay so this uh I think is where we ended off the last time with the exposed brick on the side of the building um so the the approved version of the building um th this top above this line I'm going to say uh on on this top area is the addition that you see from the side of the building and this whole part here um was originally supposed to be brick and they built a building in the meantime on the on this uh west side of the building um so that area now was left um with just waterproofing membrane on it and then the side next building was built against it so you can't see it anymore the neighboring building uh to the covers that entire side mhm okay um let's see where are my uh let's go okay the front exterior lighting um if we go back to the front facade on page number nine um I originally had lighting uh in in the drawing and they eliminated it all together which uh I think uh Historic was more than happy to eliminate any lighting anyway and uh the stand pipe was a brass uh single the odds belt uh we lost we lost it again lost again and I was drawing on it at the time so they added let me No they removed lighting they removed lighting [Music] i guess we just have to unplug it and replplug it okay okay so that's a light i'm going to That's That's a different um That's the fire light the for the fire sprinkler system okay and then what's right above that um that's a horn strobe light yeah so um Oh no that's the water meter remote right so I I'm sorry i was going to get to those i can I um So the the stand pipe was originally a brass one that I had proposed uh and they ended up putting a uh just a galvanized steel one um and also uh they added uh an intercom system over in this location and some security cameras okay where are those cameras security cameras they're they're not on this image but they're under the sign box so the the sign um the sign box originally was closer to the building which is this this piece here um but the PSG would not move the electrical service underground which runs up the side of the building here um as I originally uh had requested in my drawings I had it behind this wall so you couldn't see it and came up in that little uh balcony on the the floor above and so um and the original one that was on this building was in this location so then um in discussion with the historic preservation office we moved this um this sign out a few more inches so that it covered the um the pipes on this side so it would be in front of it instead of ending the side of it okay but the original approval from this board had that conduit inside a chase inside the brick wall that came up correct so um if I go back to [Music] uh the plan um page number five up in this corner uh the original condom was coming up in this corner on the inside of the building okay but it was exposed on the second floor correct um it's above the second floor why don't you go back to the the front elevation to the Okay i don't see it on that front elevation that you just showed us right so you wouldn't see it from the street that was the point of me putting it back there so it would have been But I'm not on the street right now i'm looking at the drawing no I mean you wouldn't see it from the front elevation of the building is my my uh what I'm trying to say okay so it goes up yeah it would have come up here in this first and second floor yeah all All the way up and then um and uh exits on that balcony yeah yeah and where does it go where should it have gone from then it goes back across the street okay understood but I was trying to hide the conduit uh but PSAG gave them issues with running it under the street and um and under there so they uh wanted the conduit in this location but they didn't have a problem with it in a chase inside the wall correct like it was originally approved um I believe that had to do with running the wire underground to get it there they didn't like they didn't want to do that originally it wasn't there if that maybe I'm messing that up originally the pipe was on the outside of the building and the wire runs across the street and connects to the front of the building just like the neighboring building um but I was trying to eliminate that in the design to to not see the conduit running up the front of the building okay I understand um but I I didn't realize that you were proposing that the No yeah conduit go underground there um and then uh these windows above uh in in the storefront were operable uh in my first proposal and they become fixed um the owner did not have them operable and um because of the the change in the grade here for the garage um door going in the bottom panels that you see here on this original that were submitted um ended up being elongated a little bit more to come down so these two panels used to be the same size as these and and now they elongated the door and then they made the panels a little bit longer i I don't mean to go back to the electric again there's just there's something I'm not seeing okay so the the conduits that are on the outside of the building now yes and I'm actually terrified of electric i don't know a thing about electric um so where does that conduit go when it gets to the ground right now uh into the cellar into the cellar goes back into the building okay so the wire comes in from the street yes comes down the front of the building goes down the conduit um Oh my god goes down this conduit and then into the cellar of the building okay so what I'm not understanding is your original design had the conduit built into the wall yes and came down inside the wall mhm to the seller yes yep power was always coming off the pole it was always coming off the pole yeah up to the roof down the conduit into the cellar yes so I don't understand couldn't be seen on the front facade but PSENG said "No we have to see it on the front facade." Uh you know I I don't know about that part um uh I could because we're still running it off the pole yes now well to the roof i apologize for that i guess this is to 3/4 of the way up the building i I apologize for that little bit of confusion so between this iteration and this one I I requested to see if they could run it underground and that's what I was talking about um but just to be clear the original approval didn't propose running it underground correct correct i I Well that's why you know it's been so many years i I I apologize for that okay but I still don't understand how it ended up on the outside of the building that's where it had nothing to do with me it had to do with PSEG and the electrician we don't know that sir yes i don't know the answer yeah we don't know that it was PS all we know is it's on the outside it's on the outside of the building yes okay okay let's continue um as it was originally unfortunately um but when you say originally you mean the historic building yeah the historic building had it running on the outside a smaller service than what's there now only had a single pole and now has two well I'm sure there were less lights yeah no right back in the history days yeah too less a brewery imagine would need a lot of power but I guess not um but the again the approved drawings had it buried inside the wall yes okay which I think is a great look yep yep okay and I believe um so the uh the storefront itself um was a dark uh carbon color and they ended up painting it black so it's a few shades different but probably not as noticeable okay where where exactly are we talking so this this sign itself okay and the uh the inserted uh new storefront facade the wood okay so the shade of the color of black was changed all right so the wood surrounding the windows and the doors okay but not the sign itself correct the sign the sign itself too yeah so the whole sign is is black instead of black lettering or is the letter No white white lettering white lettering yeah okay um uh so the security cameras that you you you can't see were added under the little extra space um I should probably erase this to try to help out you know what if we could hold up one second I don't want Commissioner Lipsky to miss anything i I don't know yeah i don't know if you're Does it i don't know what's going on over there i'm just looking out thank you okay go ahead please okay that's the reason why everyone sits on the other side the Wi-Fi stronger requests so in the in the space underneath the sign um security cameras were added and then the same thing happens on the rear facade um they added several um uh lighting elements and um security camera and ventilation penetrations so all of these items that are pulled out on the facade are those changes [Music] um and um yeah so I spoke about the the terminations of the vents uh originally a lot of them went to the roof but um the [Music] uh I guess the people the installers and the owners decided they were coming out the rear facade um so the last thing is this fire escape which I will give to somebody else to talk about because I was not involved in this but um I will just point it out in the plan uh before we jump into that there just a couple of uh at the bottom of your your memo there's there's a few things there that we we have some updates on I think so the um the as of the date of your your letter the street tree was not installed that that has since been installed though the weather's better now um the front signage do you know how that's identified on the portal i got so many uh it's under the label cover letter I believe i just saw from July of July of 2024 we introduce legislation um Stephen do you want me to to talk about the uh the fire escape at all touch briefly on it okay um before we we go to George but I do want to adjust to these three things okay good yeah so uh street tree has since been installed the uh the signage I know there were a couple meetings with the historic preservation uh officer um that signage has since been remanufactured and installed on the building there hasn't been an inspection yet but that was done with approved uh shop drawings um and I know I think Matt did a site visit today the green roof is is on order the weather is warm enough now to install it so that will be uh that will be installed there's no changes that are being requested to the to the green roof that is being installed it just hasn't been installed yet um so James if you just want to touch briefly on the fire escape and then we'll bring George up to talk about that okay so um the original uh idea with the fire escape was that um well one of the ideas that needed to be discussed uh during this this process was that all the buildings fully sprinkled and that the units all end uh the upper unit entrances on the second floor so um there were discussions about the possibility of not having it or um the a Johnny ladder system which um was I was looking for something that would make it um very minimal in the rear facade so um I had this uh ladder that expanded out of a gutter it look like a gutter on the side of the building um and you pull the lever and the ladder comes out and you climb down a ladder it's got an an extra pole for you to clip on a safety harness um but uh at some point um that was changed uh in discussions with the the building department by others uh to this fire escape system um so on the first floor it starts off in a landing uh uh steps that go up to a landing and then there from above that there's a drop down ladder to that landing um from from uh on page number four from uh the second floor um of this little balcony area so above that um there's a a ladder that is fastened to the the wall I believe that drops down from this this roof in the rear on the third floor so you go through this area you drop down and I'll let George talk about that chairman has a question just um Mr cornell were you involved in the new fire escape design i was not okay so there's council is there testimony from somebody else okay so let's another architect here yeah let's not get in let's not have you give that testimony if there's someone else sure um but I do have I do have a question on what was supposed to be there originally so if we could let's back up for a second there was a swing out ladder that was originally Yes approved um well it was never denied i'll put it that way by by either building department until some point in the future okay so what was presented to this board was the well it was discussed it wasn't fully flushed out at the time this was presented to the board but it was the the um pull out ladder system looked like a gutter going up the back just a single line and there's a lever at the top of the roof and you pull it out um Okay but you have to be on the top of the roof to pull that lever yes yeah well not I mean on each floor each level i mean it came from the top roof down to uh the third floor floor deck area in the back and then there was another one that brought you down the floor below but they were all in this back corner is there a rear elevation or a floor plan that we should go to yep so the the the elevation I chose does not have it in it but it ran here um and I chose this elevation because this was the ones one of the ones that were looked at along with those drawings uh the plants okay so it wasn't in there at the time but it was in there in one of the other iterations okay but the that would have been the necessary spot to have that it would be it would be a ladder from the bulkhead the rooftop down to that third floor landing correct and then you cross the landing yes and then go down to the ground from there yes and I you know I I wasn't involved in the changes but I know there was some uh some issues with whether or not it was acceptable we could have jurisd so one second don't run away yet um so I'm just trying to get to what was approved originally and and that's an approved life safety device or that was Yeah according to their their literature okay and um so that's FL listed correct is the the listing agency that would determine that that was use its proper use is for fire escapes yes that's what it's for correct yeah okay so I I'm not going to get into who changed it who you know I know that's out of your scope right now um okay i'm just trying to wrap my head around what was originally approved there okay um and I think that's you know the least right um obtrusive I should say design that could have possibly gone there yeah I was looking for something minimal um I came across this system it said it was uh you know an approved fire escape system uh it's used in Colorado a few other places i it probably needed some literature sent to the building department but at that time I was not involved and Sure i get it i don't know what happened i get it um okay so thank you does Does anybody else have any questions no at this time um so council here's what I'd like to do i'd like to give our court reporter a break right now because he's killing it down there for us i haven't seen him stop once i think you are also acting as it helping with the cables so maybe we could take a look at a cable here there to see what's going on with the cables uh but we're going to take a break let him get a break um we do have to offer cross before your witness leaves so okay council we're going to take a break and as soon as we come back from a break you're allotted whatever time you need and feel is appropriate to do your cross okay thank you all right we'll be back chairman I think it is fair to let everybody know the current time of 8:40 and uh the location of where we are in the proceeding i believe Mr joseph has another four witnesses and then I believe the opposition has four witnesses as well just so everybody understands where we're at mr mccann we're not locking you down to anything right now we're just trying to say that's where we are not for you council yeah here's everybody else in the room yeah here's where we are if anybody else is in the room for another application I think we can see what's happening here tonight maybe you want to carry your applications to August at this point I don't know where we're going to land with this after the break I would love to see you carry after the break so you can go home i don't want to keep you all i would love it just to be approved and then I could go home after the Yeah you feel more comfortable yeah you want me to do it i'll do it no I'll do it it's my responsibility so we have a quorum issue that's going to come up i apologize we're going to lose one of our commissioners um who has an emergency that's as far into that as we're going to get but we are going to lose quorum um council I don't think we get your cross done in 10 minutes oh well you know I might council you guys there is an emergency we have a commissioner that needs to leave that causes us to lose quorum so we're going to handle some business we're going to carry applications and then we'll give you a date and we will pick up where we left off i don't want to bel labor it because it is an emergency and I just need to do what we need to do legally to be able to get out of here and I want to give you enough time as humanly possible okay okay so we'll conclude it here then for the for this application okay so we're going to break here once again this is an open application for the board there's no discussions on anything that happened tonight those discussions will always happen in public in front of this body um where are we going may 27th Cam may 27th may 27th um and Tom can't be here they're my principal witnesses okay june 10th we were already talking about dates council uh that that works for for me did you do we want to do some cross-examination on on the 27th and try to get something done um I I'll defer to you then I have to come right i don't live in Jersey City so Okay that's fine yeah you should it's lovely then I can move and my husband's like "But I have to die for just trying to move some things along." Okay june 10th june 10th appreciate that okay june 10th okay um so this matters carried to June 10th there'll be no further notice this is your notice we will see you on June 10th same place same bat channel and obviously the applicant consents to the tolling of time uh for the record okay thank you council thank you thank you councel okay so let's go down the list we have a number of items to carry now uh let's start with item number 10 uh the review and discussion of fire Broadway redevelopment plan amendment case P2024-0178 cam uh that'll be May 27th may 27th council that's yours or no yes okay oh oh actually this could go to May 6th go to May 6th yeah this can go to May 6th we're going to May 10th on this uh May 6th is that our next meeting may 6th that is the next meeting yes correct okay council you're okay with May 6th what's available i'll take it i don't blame you that's a good move okay so we're going to carry that to a date certain May 6th uh was there notice on that council or no is notice required okay so a date certain right now May 6th all right thank you council thanks for hanging out uh okay item 11 case P204-0126 final major site plan for 843 Jersey Avenue who's here on behalf of that one take care Mike come on up come on up so that the the YouTube algorithm can see your face sorry Mr chairman um it looks like May 27th were not available so that the next available would be June 10th I believe yes correct june 10th cam right okay and was there notice with that as well yes council okay so we're going to carry that with preservation of notice thank you so much appreciate your time thank you council okay so item 12 case P2024-000035 preliminary and final major site plan with C variances for 135 Garfield Avenue mr joseph take whatever you got may 27th okay so we're carrying that to May 27th with preservation of notice council do we have anything else on here for you sure we do we have uh 4246 Van Norand subdivision P2023-000093 Cam uh that would be May 27th council you're okay with that yep and that's with preservation of notice yes and uh number 20 P2024-0184 0184 conditional use cam um well it'll be May 27th maybe uh and the applicants on all of those of course consent to the tolling time okay thank you thank you council and that's with preservation of notice for P2024-0184 thank you thank you council all right going back look we got 15 done um 13 Mr burke yeah 13 Mr burke good evening good evening how are you i'm fine Mr chairman and board case P2024-0158 minor site plan for 3053rd Street cam do we have a date for Mr burke it would be May May 27th yeah I'm a in Europe on that week so um it would have to either go if we take the date I'm gonna have to get someone to substitute for me i I hate to kick it to June 10th you know because this obviously the money clock's ticking for the property obviously so you're canceling your trip council no no no no no no i mean more hot water than you would believe if I did that we're not going to We're not going to put you in that position we're giving vacation we're giving residential suggestions culinary what else do you think we can get May 6th um I I know we have a heavy one on May 6th already yeah it's all the journal i don't want to put you in the same position as we are tonight where you're here and I don't want to say you know simple matters can turn out to be not simple i mean there's no variances it's just you know minor site plan but you just never know so up up to you Cam i don't know what's on the agenda i don't know what's coming up we could do it we'll have We'll talk We'll figure it out later we'll have to optimize the location of it but yeah okay so we'll carry it to May 6th right now and council will be in touch all right thank you chairman um council I do have the original notice with me do you want to take this and that's and we'll carry that portal as well okay and we'll carry that with preservation of notice all right and we'll extend the time for decision to June 1st for the Thank you council we appreciate that uh all right i think Mr mccann you're the last one the loans last man standing so case P2025- Z0016 for 190 Chapel we would have to do May 27th will you be yaching in Europe excuse me will you be yaching in Europe on May 27th i I I guess i'm last i'm I'm getting the May 27th date i don't even have a shot at the 6th do I no it's a blowout it's an absolute all right uh applicant agrees to carry the case to May 27th with preservation of notice it is a notice case council okay so we're carried with preservation of notice thank you council so let's get to memorialization of resolution good night everybody thank you good night Mr chair i'd like to make a motion to memorialize the following resolutions hello oh it's not on okay resolution of the planning board of the city of Jersey City applicant Hamid Hassan for final major site plan approval with C variances at 119 Merit Street Jersey City New Jersey block 30202 lot one case number P203-0106 second resolution of the planning board of the city of Jersey City applicant is 650 Grove LLC for a preliminary and final major site plan approval block 6101 lot 2650 Grove Street is the address jersey City New Jersey case under P203-000017 third resolution of the planning board of the city of Jersey City Grove Street Partners LLC for an amended final major site plan approval block 60002 lot 8 659 Grove Street Jersey City New Jersey case P203-000018 fourth resolution of the planning board of the city of Jersey City is an applicant 22-24 Bergenav LLC for a minor subdivision approval at 2224 Bergen Avenue New Jersey City New Jersey block 24902 lot 2.01 case number P205-0013 do we have a second second okay can we have a roll call please Cam on resolutions vice Chair Dr gonzalez commissioner Gangaden hi commissioner Lipsky hi commissioner Patel i and Chairman Langston hi motion carries all in favor to memorialize resolutions all right do we need uh executive session no okay thank you could we have a motion to adjourn second all right thank you guys we're adjourned have a good night tonight