MINUTES OF THE
TOWNSHIP
OF
MENDHAM
PLANNING BOARD
REGULAR MEETING HELD JUNE 5, 2006
Vice Chairman Tolley called the meeting to order at 7:35
p.m. and asked for roll call. Upon
roll call:
PRESENT:
Mr. Tolley, Mayor Krieg, Mr. Pierson, Mrs. Link, Mr. D’Emidio, Mr.
Johnson
ABSENT:
Mr. Mountain, Chairman Giordano
Others present:
John Aubin, Environmentalist, Edward J. Buzak, Esq., Duggan Kimball,
P.P., Tom Lemanowicz, P.E.
The Vice
Chairman led the flag salute and announced that adequate notice of the meeting
had been given.
MINUTES
Motion
to approve the Minutes of April 19, 2006, Regular meeting made by Mr. D’Emidio,
seconded by Mrs. Link; all eligible to vote agreed.
DISCUSSION
Schiff and Brookrace Homeowners Association (“BHA”)
Issues; referred to
the Planning Board by the Township Committee.
Mr. Buzak reviewed the Open Space Management Plan and the Conservation
Easement for references to additional infrastructure improvements, access
driveways, roads, paths, trails, etc., and found three issues that the Board
would need to determine: paving; the
access and its egress onto
Brookrace Drive
; and dawn to dusk usage and what is allowable.
If it was determined that the road physically existed, Schiff would have
the right to improve and maintain it. He
said the two documents contradicted each other in some areas and found that the
easement holder must have written approval to pave.
The original documentation referenced
Brookrace Drive
as private and prohibited Schiff’s egress onto it, since that time it was
turned over to the Township and changed to a public street.
It was determined that the discussions between Steve Mountain, Township
Administrator and Roger Clapp, Township Attorney, involved the paving of the
road only and not the directional change, nor the stop sign that was placed at
the bottom of the drive. In the
issue of paving, it was Mr. Clapp’s opinion that Schiff’s actions were
acceptable and did not require Planning Board or site plan approval.
Mr. Buzak said the egress matter was a material change, which would need
approval from the Board.
Nancy
Gage, Attorney for BHA, referenced pages 13 through 14, which listed Schiff’s
existing roads at the point of creation.
Nadine Pechmann,
12 Brookrace Drive
, distributed Ex R-1, a calendar package of the programs at Schiff; she was
concerned about the variety of programs offered and the traffic it created.
The road’s purpose was for emergency access and not to be used as a
road, it was a nuisance. She said
the driveway was located directly in back of her home and the headlights pointed
straight at her house day and night, people park along the driveway, she can
hear car doors slam, people laughing, was concerned about hunters and felt it
had a negative effect on her property value; planting a shield of trees would
not help.
Chris Pechmann, was sworn, was
concerned about the rear access, the impact additional programs would have on
his property, and felt there was not enough parking.
He said the gates were not closed and felt the original documents were
not being followed because a pad, adjacent to the lodge, and a water containment
structure were built.
Michael Catania, President of
Schiff, objected since these matters were not before the board.
Rich Gombrick, 4 Brookrace, 2nd
house closest to the road, was concerned about the steady stream of headlights,
felt strangers were looking into his house, and said there was no buffer between
the house and the activities going on.
Andy Spathakis, 6 Brookrace, Vice
President of BHA, said the new access road interfered with the enjoyment of his
home, the market value paid, it created a nuisance, was concerned about safety,
the silt build up from drainage from the road, and increased traffic as programs
grow. He said Mr. Mountain and
Mr. Clapp were not aware of the documents, which he felt Schiff disregarded, and
said a driveway permit was required.
Jim
Julian
, BHA, presented Ex A-2, a map, and said Schiff could
not adopt rules that constitute a nuisance to neighbors.
Vice Chairman Tolley requested a
listing of existing roads. The road
was not identified and was not on the map in the Open Space Management Plans.
Discussion regarding paving continued, the Board needed to determine if
the road was previously paved along with the process and requirements of
obtaining a paving permit. It was
determined that the Board did not have jurisdiction once a road was created.
Mr. Buzak presented Ex. B-1, a
Chronology of Mr. Mountain’s interchanges between Mr. Clapp and Mr.
Catania, which demonstrated that Schiff did not decide to pave the road on their
own, but had first spoken to the Township. Mr.
Mountain was aware of the paving and creating a safer egress, but Mr. Clapp’s
opinion related only to the paving.
Mr. Julian presented Ex. R-2, a map
from Town Hall, said Schiff and Brookrace were created from the same documents,
the road was not shown on the map nor was it listed in the document.
Mr. Buzak said there were no
submissions to review because there was no application.
The Board had to rely on the presentation and operative documents to
determine if a material change was needed to address the impacts in the Open
Space Management Plan. The
professionals had only reviewed documentation submitted, but felt resolutions of
approval, construction plans, and preliminary subdivision approval plans would
note trails, etc. Mr. Buzak’s
initial review was the residential portion of the development, which did not
refer to Schiff. Mr. D’Emidio, who
chaired the original creation of the subdivision, did not recall specifics about
the main driveway or the emergency road and said the documents were to control
the developer. Vice Chairman Tolley
believed there would be information about the future use of the roadway.
Mr. Catania, and John Wagar, resident steward of Schiff,
said the documents were created when Brookrace was a private road and were
before the Board voluntarily to request approval.
He said he went to neighbors and Mr. Julian and was not aware that
homeowners had not been notified of the paving.
He presented exhibits that showed the road and the sections that were
already paved, after contacting the Township, he was told an application was not
required and did not think it was a material change; he presented Ex. A-3,
Schiff Reservation MCPC; Ex. A-4 Open Space Management Plan, Colored Map; Ex.
A-5 map 1998 April 20; Ex. A-6, an 11”x17” map of Schiff nature preserve;
and Ex A-7, a CD video of the property, which was viewed by the Board.
He said it was a preexisting driveway, which gave them the right to use
the road and said he had notified neighbors that burns would be conducted during
the month of March and possibly through April 15.
He then presented several real estate listings that referenced Schiff as
a positive aspect for purchase. He
referred to the 1993 maps showing existing roads, the main entrance to the Boy
Scout camp, and p. 11, Roads and Parking section, which referenced a road not a
trail, and showed that it was referred to as an improved road in 1998 that was
previously paved. The Board viewed
the video that showed the roads, and were presented with Ex A-8, a survey by
Jackson Developers, that showed the road close to the boundaries, which did not
encroach.
Ralph Rhodes,
Roxiticus Road
, had reviewed the conditions of pavement and sections of road.
He said it was a preexisting road that was graded with storm drainage,
breaks in curbs, had former streetlights. He
said the back driveway was previously paved but there were some breaks.
Tanya Bisignano, Schiff resident
steward, testified that children are dropped off, the parents would stay or
carpooling was used lowering the number of estimated cars from participants.
Residents were informed of the programs through the newsletter and on the
website. She had notified the
participants and staff of the new traffic pattern.
Mr. Catania said the exit gate was
left open so visitors would not get locked in, but the entrance could be closed.
Before the stewards were on the property kids would hang out on the
property. Ms. Bisignano said
headlights would shine into the houses of
Sawmill
Park
from the hairpin turn and 13 of the 71 programs were held at night where a
whole family would stay for its duration. Mr.
Catania said: vehicle tracks in
unauthorized areas could have been caused by their security vehicles; the police
had never contacted them regarding any complaints or problems on the property;
they kept the area clean and had no idea about the reference to beer cans.
He said he had spoken to BHA about screening and did not receive a
response.
Paul Cleass,
Pleasant Valley Road
, trustee of Sawmill and caretaker, had resided on the property since April
1998, said he had never received complaints about cars headlights.
Further discussion regarding where headlights would shine on homes
continued.
Mr. Catania said the Schiff
driveway was 78 feet away from their homes and when
Brookrace Drive
was made a public road they could legally access it and wanted to work with the
BHA for screening, speed bumps, and police protection on the drive to enforce
the stop sign.
Mr. Julian said financial
arrangements were never discussed and was told “we don’t have money we have
shovels.”
Mr. Johnson asked about reversing
the traffic pattern to go up the hill. Vice
Chairman Tolley wanted to review the construction plans before deciding and felt
Schiff should have appeared before the Board first.
Motion made by Mayor Krieg,
seconded by Mr. Pierson to open the meeting to the public; all agreed.
Brian Boden,
Walsingham Road
, felt both parties should work together toward an agreement since only a few
cars are using the driveway, compared to the problems in Drakewick with the new
development. He said the two-way
traffic was a hazard and they had few alternatives, since widening the road on
steep slope would not be good. He
felt the Planning Board should approve the change and to allow the evening
programs, subject to mitigating the residents objections by use of plantings,
berms etc.
Stan Putman,
73 Ironia Road
, a Schiff Board member, had participated on other Boards during his life, said
not to build a spaceship when a small engine plane would do.
He said Schiff wants to be a good neighbor.
Michael Merritt, 73 Mountainside
Road, active with the Boy Scouts, has been to Schiff, said it was a wonderful
asset to the community and most of the Township did not have the opportunity to
walk to Schiff, they must drive the narrow winding road.
Feels the roadway needs to be examined for safe access and group access
has always been a nightmare. He said
service projects could provide labor to support any of the changes that need to
be made to serve the broader community.
Christine Veleber,
10 Ironia Road
, was drawn to the open space when she moved here.
Terrill Doyle, 5 Crossway, said her
children attended programs at Schiff and carpooled, she said a prayer each time
she took the children through the driveway and saw people backing through the
hairpin turn and decided to never register her children for another program
until they changed the driveway.
Pam Richmond,
3 Hilltop Circle
, participated in the Schiff programs, said the driveway was unsafe and had to
pull over to get through the driveway.
Dennis Raffensperger, 7 West Main
Street, member of the Schiff Board and its Executive Committee, said the Board
was kept apprised of the discussions with Steve Mountain, thought it was ashamed
that the BHA lawyer advised the BHA to stop talking to them, felt all this would
not have been necessary, and felt they should work together, Schiff was an asset
to the community.
Beth Hemmer,
Morristown
, member of Schiff, said it was an asset to the community and felt the residents
of Brookrace didn’t realize that it added value to their home.
Cathy Kimber, Brookrace, said she
was a member of the Schiff Board and was not sure if she was still a member of
the BHA, which she had been since its inception.
She said when she did not agree, she was not included and was not
notified of meetings, it was an awkward position.
She said she walked in Schiff since 1991, which has always been paved and
saw the vandalism of the buildings. She
said it was a great open space that she could walk to Schiff from her home and
her children ride their bikes to the camp. She
said every neighbor had planted trees to shield themselves from their neighbors,
takes care when she goes up
Brookrace Drive
that her high beams are not on because they shine into a lot of homes, she had
not shielded her home from her neighbors. She
said Brookrace is not always a good neighbor to Schiff, paintballs are all over
trails off Lindsley Court, she had found liquor bottles and cigarettes butts,
she saw the teenagers of Brookrace walking into the preserve, she encountered
five teenagers that had been drinking while walking her dog that had parked on
her neighbor’s curb and went in, and felt having the stewards on premise gave
protection. She said the hunters
present during the controlled hunting were respective and friendly, felt the
whole neighbor issue needed to be taken into perspective and to find some middle
ground and felt it had been blown out of proportion.
She said it was not a homeowners association issue and said individual
homeowners had issues with the driveway with Schiff, and felt the dues of the
association should not be used for this without the full knowledge of the
homeowners.
Motion to close the meeting to the
public made by Mr. Pierson, seconded by Mayor Krieg; all agreed.
Mr. Catania said Schiff would abide
by the Board’s decision, and felt the problem was not foreseen originally when
the drive was private. Vice Chairman
Tolley wanted to discuss the dawn to dusk usage further.
Mr. Pierson said the documents were written to protect the homeowner from
the excesses of the developer and was not focused on Schiff.
Mr. Julian said the curb cut always
existed but the fire sub-code official asked for a hydrant to be placed behind
the last house to fight forest fires, the road was there so a fire truck could
get in.
The discussion of issues between
Schiff and Brookrace Homeowners Association would continue at the July 5, 2006,
meeting.
Motion made by Mayor Krieg, seconded by Mr. Pierson to
adjourn the meeting at 11:19 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
MaryAnne Gruszecki
Board Secretary
|
