Florence Township Planning Board met June 26.
Here is the minutes provided by the Board:
The regular meeting of the Florence Township Planning Board was held on the above date at the Municipal Complex, 711 Broad Street, Florence, NJ. Vice Chairperson Molimock called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. followed by a salute to the flag.
Vice Chairperson Molimock then read the following statement: “I would like to announce that this meeting is being held in accordance with the provisions of the Open Public Meetings Act. Adequate notice has been provided to the official newspapers and posted in the main hall of the Municipal Complex.”
UUpon roll call the following members were found to be present:J
ames Molimock; Ray Montgomery; Wayne Morris; Thomas McCue; Mayor Craig Wilkie; Council Representative Ted Lovenduski; John Pagano; Carl Mattson
ABSENT: Mildred Hamilton-Wood
ALSO PRESENT: Solicitor David Frank; Engineer Dougherty; Planner Barbara Fegley
RESOLUTIONS
A. Resolution PB-2018-15: Finding Proposed Redevelopment Plan for Kampack Inc. (Block 139, Lots 1 & 1.01) Substantially Consistent with the Township’s Master Plan and Recommending Adoption of the Plan Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-7(e).
It was the Motion of Mayor Wilkie, seconded by Mr. Morris to approve Resolution No. PB- 2018-15.
Upon roll call, the Board voted as follows:
YEAS: Wilkie, Morris, McCue, Pagano, Lovenduski, Molimock
NOES: None
ABSTAIN: Montgomery
Motion carried
B. Resolution PB-2018-16: Adopting 2018 Master Plan Reexamination Report
It was the Motion of Mr. Pagano, seconded by Councilman Lovenduski to approve Resolution
No. PB-2018-16.
Upon roll call, the Board voted as follows:
YEAS: Pagano, Lovenduski, Morris, McCue, Wilkie, Molimock
NOES: None
ABSTAIN: Montgomery
Motion carried
It was the Motion of Councilman Lovenduski, seconded by Mr. McCue to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of May 22, 2018 as submitted. Motion unanimously approved by all those present.
CORRESPONDENCE
A. Letter from Solicitor Frank to Florence Township Mayor and Council dated 5/23/18.
B. Memo to Mayor and Council from Tom Sahol regarding his visit to US Corrugated (Kampack Inc.) in Covington, Georgia.
C. Letter from Burlington County Planning Board regarding Lennar dated 6/13/18.
It was the Motion of Councilman Lovenduski, seconded by Mr. Montgomery to receive and file correspondence A through C. Motion unanimously approved by all those present.
APPLICATIONS
A. Application PB#2018-04: Application for Primestone Properties, LLC, for Preliminary & Final Major Site Plan for the construction of a hotel on property located on Hunt Circus Dive, Florence Township. Block 163.02, Lot 13.02 – This application is being heard for completeness only.
John Gillespie of Parker McCay introduced himself on behalf of the applicant Primestone Properties, LLC. He explained they are here tonight for completeness only for a Preliminary & Final Site Plan application for a 4-story, 82-room hotel with associated amenities. With Mr. Gillespie was one witness, Robert Stout of the engineering firm Stout & Caldwell.
Solicitor Frank swore in Mr. Stout and declared him an expert witness in the field of site and civil engineering.
Mr. Stout addressed the Board and presented several exhibits. The first exhibit, Exhibit A-1, was an aerial view of the subject site and surrounding properties along Hunt Circus Drive. The subject site is a 1.74-acre piece of property. Burger King sits directly in front of it, Wawa is to the west and the Route 130 exit ramp to the jughandle and gas station are across the street. This site was subject to a prior application with partial development done and was part of a condominium association that involves 4 properties: Wawa, Burger King, the subject site and a property to the rear. All are on a combined basin so there is a detention basin in the rear. Mr. Stout explained a site plan has been created for the subject site and they are here before the Board tonight for a completeness only determination.
Mr. Stout displayed Exhibit A-2, a colored rendered landscape plan showing Hunt Circus Drive with Burger King and the subject site at the top of the rendering. Exhibit A-3 was a colored rendered 3-D model of the proposed 82-room Tru Hotel. Mr. Stout stated parking will surround the hotel with a full circulation traffic pattern provided. There will be a trash enclosure, a stormwater management area that will meet the new DEP regulations and a series of landscaping that will be worked around through the site itself. The NJ Turnpike is approximately 40 feet above the site and to the rear of the hotel. Mr. Stout explained this is a new model hotel by Hilton. The view displayed to the Board was the anticipated view one would see if standing at the back corner of the Wawa property looking into the site. The Tru Hotel is geared towards a more modern look with more open space into the center and more common areas.
Engineer Dougherty stated he did prepare a letter dated June 21, 2018. The first part of his letter, starting on page 2, is the completeness checklist. On the top of page 2 is an overview of the completeness requirements which is consistent with the testimony given tonight. Under the Major Site Plan Application Checklist, there were 5 completion items that were not provided; therefore, the application was deemed incomplete. At this time, with the testimony, Engineer Dougherty felt we could move through that tonight.
Completion Item #1 was the applicant requested a waiver from providing all political boundaries. Engineer Dougherty explained that basically, that is if other municipalities are involved, as well as the Pennsylvania and NJ Turnpike right-of-ways. He felt there is adequate information on the plans, and with the testimony submitted and the recent receipt from the NJ Turnpike Authority exercising some sort of jurisdiction, this item could be waived at this point.
Completion Item #2 was architectural elevations shall be provided. Engineer Dougherty stated the rendering presented tonight was good for now for completeness but felt this should be deferred to as part of the application, and as part of the testimony, we should see architectural elevations. Mr. Stout stated they agree to provide that and stated that part of their new submission will be to add the architectural elevations and floor plans. Engineer Dougherty confirmed that shall be provided as part of the hearing because it would be better to view them before a decision is made rather than as a condition of approval. Mr. Stout agreed with Engineer Dougherty.
Completion Item #3 was a written description of the proposed use and operations of the building including the number of employees, etc. was needed. Engineer Dougherty stated he was looking for a written narrative but had spoken with Mr. Stout prior to the meeting and on the actual cover sheet, under ‘site data’, there is information included with regard to total number of employees; day shift, evening shift and night shift. That is now actually a complete item at this point. Engineer Dougherty would still like to solicit additional testimony at the hearing stage on their actual operations.
Completion Item #4 was expected truck trailer traffic shall be provided. A waiver is required for this since no narrative was provided. Engineer Dougherty stated he has discussed this with Mr. Stout and he has no problem deferring this to the public hearing testimony. As he understands it, there really are no big tractor trailers that will be on this site.
Completion Item #5 was an executed sewer and water agreement shall be provided. Engineer Dougherty stated this would be a condition of approval, so rather than holding this application up at checklist stage, he thinks that should be deferred and it would be a condition of approval.
Engineer Dougherty stated that we are not waiving any items, just deferring them, and with the aforementioned deferrals, he would recommend that the application can be declared complete this evening.
Vice Chair Molimock asked Planner Fegley if she had anything for tonight. She stated that Engineer Dougherty usually does the completeness review. She did, however, already provide her review letter for the public hearing. Engineer Dougherty stated that the 2nd portion of his letter, which he didn’t get into tonight, really has to do with the public hearing portion of this application. That is more for the applicant at this stage in the process to make them aware that there are some technical issues that should be addressed prior to coming back for the public hearing. The Board Professionals did receive revised plans this evening in answer to the comments in the Engineer’s and Planner’s review letters.
Vice Chair Molimock asked if there were any questions from the Board. Mr. Pagano did ask that with the existing condominium association that is in place and the existing stormwater management that is in place, is that why we are looking at the pre-2004 stormwater management? Mr. Stout stated that yes, this development was built pre-2004. After 2004,
there were new regulations adopted with the new water quality measures into it. What has to be done because of that is quantity is taken into account with the size of the basin, but quality (the cleaning of the water) is not. In the back section of the site, there will be an additional basin that will address all of the new DEP requirements.
It was the Motion of Councilman Lovenduski, seconded by Mr. Montgomery to open the meeting for public comment. Motion unanimously approved by all those present.
Seeing no one wishing to be heard, it was the Motion of Councilman Lovenduski, seconded by Mr. McCue to close public comment. Motion unanimously approved by all those present.
It was the Motion of Councilman Lovenduski, seconded by Mr. Pagano to deem application PB#2018-04 complete subject to the recommendations of the Board Engineer.
Upon roll call, the Board voted as follows:
YEAS: Lovenduski, Pagano, Morris, McCue, Wilkie, Montgomery, Molimock
NOES: None
ABSTAIN: None
Motion carried
OTHER BUSINESS
A. Florence Township Council Resolution No. 2018-156 referring a proposed amendment to the Weiss Properties Redevelopment Plan for parcels within the Route 130 Redevelopment Area (2013) to the Township of Florence Planning Board for the Board to take certain actions pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-7(e); specifically Block 160.01, Lots 4, 11.01, 11.02, and 24 and a parcel located adjacent to Block 160.01, Lot 4 located at Route 130 and Cedar Lane.
Mayor Wilkie stated there is a minor adjustment to the already approved Redevelopment Plan for Weiss Properties.
Planner Fegley added that the minor change is to page 8, Number 3 – Project Phasing. On the original Redevelopment Plan, it states “The redeveloper agrees that construction of the hotel structure must be started and underway before the Township issues any permits for the residential buildings 6 through 10 on the site. This condition does not apply to any other structures on the property.”
Planner Fegley stated the developer is concerned about having that statement in the Redevelopment Plan in light of the other proposed hotel application that was deemed complete this evening and being able to get all the approvals together at the same time. The amendment to the Redevelopment Plan being proposed tonight is to delete these 2 sentences from the Redevelopment Plan and so it would not apply to this redevelopment plan anymore.
Mayor Wilkie explained that Mr. Stout is also the engineer for the Weiss project and asked him at what point they are at with moving this project forward. Mr. Stout stated that the developer has signed off on the site plan portion and they will be starting that in about two weeks. He stated the architect is currently working on all the floor plans. The developer is in negotiations with the hotel and there is also interest in the restaurant pad site. Mr. Stout felt the application would be ready to be submitted within the next two months.
Mayor Wilkie stated the developer is working with NJDOT and the NJ Turnpike in regards to the slip lane as you’re coming north on Route 130. This property is stilled owned by the NJ Turnpike. He stated the last he heard was that the NJ Turnpike will not turn it over to the township or county and will only turn it over to NJDOT. NJDOT will then turn it over to the developer. Mr. Stout confirmed that to be correct and also added that the NJDOT process is quite time consuming. Mr. Stout explained the developer is proposing to take the slip lane out and create a roundabout at Hunt Circus Drive, Cedar Lane and the intersection of the new center.
Solicitor Frank stated that the Board’s charge is to determine whether the Redevelopment Plan would continue to be consistent with the Master Plan in light of the proposed amendment.
Mr. Pagano stated that before a vote is taken, he was unsure if he should recuse himself from this particular vote because of a potential conflict of interest between the developer/applicant and the relationship with Mr. Pagano’s employer. Solicitor Frank advised Mr. Pagano to step down on this application. Mr. Pagano recused himself.
It was the Motion of Mr. Mattson, seconded by Mr. McCue to find the proposed amendment to the Weiss Properties Redevelopment Plan still consistent with the Master Plan and recommending the Governing Body adopt this plan.
Upon roll call, the Board voted as follows:
YEAS: Mattson, McCue, Morris, Montgomery, Lovenduski, Wilkie, Molimock
NOES: None
ABSTAIN: None
Motion carried
PUBLIC COMMENT
It was the Motion of Mr. Montgomery, seconded by Mr. McCue to open the meeting for public comment. Motion unanimously approved by all those present.
Seeing no one wishing to be heard, it was the Motion of Councilman Lovenduski, seconded by Mr. Morris to close public comment. Motion unanimously approved by all those present.
MASTER PLAN DISCUSSION
No Master Plan discussion took place.
ADJOURNMENT
It was the Motion of Councilman Lovenduski, seconded by Mr. Pagano to adjourn the meeting at 7:58 p.m. Motion unanimously approved by all those present.
http://www.florence-nj.gov/plan_agendas_minutes/2018/PB-minutes062618.pdf
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