0 BOROUGH OF FAIR LAWN ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT THURSDAY, DECEMBER, 0 COMMENCING AT :0 P.M.... IN THE MATTER OF : TRANSCRIPT : OF APPLICATION #0-0 : PROCEEDING COREMARK FAIR LAWN, LLC : -00 River Road : Block, Lot.0, Zone: B- :... B E F O R E: BOROUGH OF FAIR LAWN ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT THERE BEING PRESENT: RICHARD SEIBEL, CHAIRMAN YELENA PERCHUK, MEMBER BRIAN BLECHER, MEMBER ALEXANDER LAZAREV, ALTERNATE II PAMELA COLES, ALTERNATE III JUDY MILLER, ALTERNATE IV 0 CERTIFIED COURT REPORTERS P.O. BOX 0 SADDLE BROOK, NJ 0-00 0-- (0) -0 FAX LauraACarucciLLC@gmail.com 0--
A P P E A R A N C E S: BRUCE R. ROSENBERG, ESQUIRE Counsel to the Board BEATTIE, PADOVANO, LLC BY: ANTIMO A. DEL VECCHIO, ESQUIRE 0 Chestnut Ridge Road Montvale, New Jersey 0 Counsel to the Applicant 0 A L S O P R E S E N T: ANN PECK Assistant Zoning Officer PAUL AZZOLINA, P.E. Board Engineer FRANK MISKOVICH Board Traffic Engineer SEAN MORONSKI, P.P., AICP Board Planner 0 0--
0 0 I N D E X W I T N E S S SWORN PAGE CHARLES OLIVO Direct Examination by Mr. Del Vecchio 0 Board Questions PAUL AZZOLINA, FRANK MISKOVICH SEAN MORONSKI ANN PECK Public Questions Kathy Bogina -0 Bergen Avenue Cary Lebauer - Campbell Road Tonya Nehrebecki - th Street Taina Stremler 00 00-0 Legion Place Myriam Ramirez 0 0, -0 Fifth Street Nick Sinatra 0 0 - Bergen Avenue Aniello Scelzo 0 0 - th Street Lisa Welsh - Bergen Ave Joseph Pellegrini - Legion Place Kathy Wilder Bichler 0- Morlot Avenue Michael Zand 0-0 Campbell Road Bonnie Redcia -0 th Street Jaime Manjarrez - Campbell Road Jorge Gomez Wei -0 East River Road John Rosko Lamring Drive 0--
I N D E X (continued) 0 E X H I B T S NO. DESCRIPTION ID EVID A-0 Aerial, dated November 0, 0 A- Colorized architectural elevation views A- Letter, dated September, 0 0 0 0--
0 0 CHAIRMAN SEIBEL: Okay. Before we get started, I just want to welcome everybody to the Borough of Fair Lawn Zoning Board of Adjustment special meeting. Tonight we're going to hear an application with regard to Coremark Fair Lawn, LLC, -00 River Road. As chairman, I would like to give a little background on the ground rules. The applicant's attorney will present his case. He will call experts to testify about the proposed project. The board will ask questions. Our experts will ask questions. And the public will have the opportunity to ask questions. Anyone who speaks will be sworn in prior to asking questions. Please, when you are sworn in, state your name, spell it for the record and state your address or place of business. Please speak clearly and into the microphone. To the public, it is imperative that you keep your questions relevant to the expert testimony, which you just heard at that time. Only questions of that witness will be permitted at that time. No statements will be permitted during the time that you're asking questions of that witness. We will allow individuals to offer statements at the 0--
0 0 very end of the hearing process. So you will be able to make statements. Please feel free to take notes and pay very close attention. Try not to be redundant with your questions. There may be things said or testified to which you do not agree with. Order in the quorum is expected at all times. To the applicant's team, please face all exhibits outward so the public and the board may see it. And please everyone understand that there is a hard curfew at 0 p.m. Whenever you're ready, please proceed. MR. DEL VECCHIO: Thank you. Good evening, everybody. Andy Del Vecchio, member of the firm of Beattie Padovano on behalf of the applicant, Coremark Fair Lawn, LLC. We are here on a continued public hearing from the November th date. I believe when we last appeared, you had heard the operations testimony of Mr. Valerio from QuickChek. He was available and did answer the board and public's questions and at this point I am prepared to proceed with our next witness. Just so the board kind of has a road map as to where intend to head this evening, my next 0--
0 0 witness is, in fact, Mr. Chuck Olivo. Chuck wears two hats for us on this project. He is both our project engineer and our traffic engineer. I intend to cut Chuck in two tonight, because otherwise his testimony becomes very long without opportunity for questions. So what I intend to so is first go through his engineering testimony. I can pause if the board likes so that the board can ask their questions. If you choose and want to open it to the public at that time for engineering, that's your prerogative. I'll make him available for your discretion to do that and then once we're done with the engineering, then I'll have Mr. Olivo continue and delve into the traffic and proceed accordingly with the same -- you know, the same order, if that's acceptable, Mr. Chairman. CHAIRMAN SEIBEL: Okay. So just to set this up, he's going to first testify as an engineer? MR. DEL VECCHIO: Correct, a civil engineer. CHAIRMAN SEIBEL: And then when that testimony is done, we'll ask our questions. There may be questions during his testimony and the public will have a chance to question him regarding the 0--
0 0 engineering portion of the project. Then he will go onto traffic. MR. DEL VECCHIO: Right. CHAIRMAN SEIBEL: And then we'll just follow that same procedure. MR. DEL VECCHIO: That's my suggestion. Obviously, it's your hearing. I'll follow your rules as you see fit. CHAIRMAN SEIBEL: Right. No, that's fine. I don't want to mix the two together, because the traffic is pretty specific and keep it simple. MR. DEL VECCHIO: With that said, I ask Mr. Olivo to be sworn. CHAIRMAN SEIBEL: Please state your name and your address for the record. MR. OLIVO: Certainly. Good evening, Mr. Chairman, Members of the Board. My name is Charles Olivo, O-L-I-V as in Victor-O. CHAIRMAN SEIBEL: Please raise your right hand. Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? MR. OLIVO: I do. C H A R L E S O L I V O, having been duly sworn, testifies as follows: 0--
0 0 CHAIRMAN SEIBEL: And let me just qualify you. You're an engineer and a traffic engineer in the State of New Jersey? MR. OLIVO: Yes. I have a bachelor of science in the field of civil engineering from the University of Notre Dame. I'm a licensed professional engineer in the State of New Jersey. I hold licensure throughout the east coast from Maine to Florida. I'm also a certified professional traffic operations engineer. I'm certified by the Institute of Transportation Engineers in that regard. I've been qualified before over 00 municipalities in the State of New Jersey. And I would say somewhere on the order of 0 of those in the field of civil engineering and over 00 in the field of traffic engineering. CHAIRMAN SEIBEL: Very good. Anyone have -- yes. MR. LAZAREV: Question. Mr. Olivo, do you feel comfortable signing landscape engineer -- landscape architectural drawings and lighting engineering drawings? In other words, do you feel it's in conflict with New Jersey code of engineering ethics to sign these kind of drawings? 0--
0 0 0 MR. OLIVO: I do not believe it is in conflict. I've prepared number -- numerous plans that include both lighting analysis, as well as landscaping. We have many times worked with landscape architects, but we're certainly willing to work with experts at all times. CHAIRMAN SEIBEL: And you're familiar with the Fair Lawn Borough code and the master plan? MR. OLIVO: Yes. CHAIRMAN SEIBEL: Anybody have any questions? I'll accept him as an expert. And please proceed. THE WITNESS: MR. OLIVO: DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. DEL VECCHIO: Q. Mr. Olivo, you have been retained for the this project in the capacity of both a civil engineer and a traffic engineer? A. That is correct, yes. Q. And the drawings that we marked during the meeting on the th and some of the ancillary documents, such as the EIS report, stormwater management report, obviously the site plan drawings, they were prepared by you or under your supervision? A. That is correct, yes. 0--
0 0 Q. You've had an opportunity to visit the site, which is the subject of this application? A. Yes, I have. Q. You've had an opportunity to visit the neighborhood in which this is? A. That is correct, yes. Q. And you've made yourself familiar with both the neighborhood, the site from any physical features that may exist out there, as well as any roadway improvements that exist out there? A. Yes. Q. As the chairman had asked you, you are familiar with the Borough of Fair Lawn code as it may impact the development of this site? A. Yes. Q. Let's start with, I guess, some basic information in terms of the general layout of where the site is and it's existing conditions. A. Yes. What I'd like to do is mark a knew exhibit. I'm not sure which one we're up to. MR. ROSENBERG: A-0, Mr. Del Vecchio; is that correct? MR. DEL VECCHIO: That is correct and I'm just making sure we didn't mark the aerial previously, which I don't think we did. 0--
0 0 (Whereupon, aerial, dated November 0, 0 is received and marked as Exhibit A-0 for identification.) THE WITNESS: For the record, Exhibit A-0, the date of preparation is November 0, 0 and this is an aerial exhibit and for descriptive purposes, as you're looking at the exhibit towards the top is the cardinal direction north. Centrally located on the aerial exhibit and highlighted yellow is the site, the subject application before the board. So we're located in Block. We are comprised of three parcels, Lot.0,.0 and and that is moving from east to west. And as the board and the public is very aware, we are located at the northwest corner of the intersection of River Road and Bergen Avenue. River Road being your county arterial roadway and this roadway and the area provides for mobility and accessibility throughout the area. It effectively runs between Route 0 and 0 running in a north/south direction and providing mobility throughout this region and county with various connection points. We are located at an un-signalized 0--
0 0 intersection that is just to the north of the signalized intersection of Fair Lawn Avenue and River Road. Now, in terms of the site and the features of the site today, as everyone is aware the site is developed today with two residential structures on lots farthest to the west and then also you have the commercial building or the bank with drive-thru that is now vacant. All of these structures would be demolished as part of the proposed redevelopment plan. Now, in terms of the zoning, we are located within the River Road business zone. We are also located within the R- residential zone by virtue of those two parcels to the west. To the west of us is the Board of Education building, Bus Depot. Approximately 0 vehicles stored on the property. There's parking available there for employees as well and as the neighborhood knows public parking is permitted along Bergen Avenue, so you have parking that's used throughout the course of the day. Many of those are employees of the Board of Education. In terms of the corridor itself and just where we are in the context, as you go to the 0--
0 0 north you have a number of commercial types of the operations. You have Tanis, ShopRite, you have Walgreens, CVS. There's a number of different types of commercial retail uses. Some of different types, restaurants, regular dry retail and grocer that I mentioned as well. And as you travel to the south, you have a mix of residential and retail and as you travel south of Fair Lawn Avenue, that's where you would have, I would call it more of your traditional retail areas where you have your buildings up closer to the road, the road narrows to one lane in each direction and you have on-street parking in those areas. What is being proposed as part of the subject application is to raise all of the buildings on the site and the various features and construct -- and I'll go to the site plan exhibit. BY MR. DEL VECCHIO: Q. Chuck, for your reference the site plan was originally marked as A- and the colorized version is that C- on the easel was marked as A- at the last meeting. A. That is correct. This is a colorized version of the site 0--
0 0 plan, which has been provided within the application set that the board has before them. So if you'd like to follow along, we're looking at Sheet C-, which is the site plan sheet and shows the various features of the property. In terms of the property itself and how it would be redeveloped, we are proposing a,-square-foot QuickChek convenience store building. Between that building and River Road is the proposal to have gasoline fueling service, which would allow for five islands. And, again, north is towards the top of the exhibit. So from north to south you have five separate islands that would allow for 0 vehicles to fuel at one time. So on each side of the islands, you would have two vehicle positions. There are parking stalls proposed on the site to accommodate those vehicles that may not be using the gasoline fueling service. But if you were to look at the positions at the canopy itself and the parking stalls, you effectively have a total of locations where vehicles can stage on the site. This is the modern convenience offering. Our office, myself professionally, have worked on somewhere on the order of 0 to 0 types of development projects that involved both the 0--
0 0 convenience store and the gasoline fueling service. Certainly of old, and I know there's a number of older gas stations within the borough and within the area, but what has happened over the last 0 years or so is the convenience store element has been integrated with the gasoline fueling service and you're starting to see this more and more. In terms of what is being proposed here and Mr. Valerio spoke to this as well, the fueling area is essentially in a line of sight of the store operations. The building itself in front of the building facing the fueling canopy and facing River Road, the most -- most majority of that building faces glass, so there's good visibility between the store and the gasoline fueling canopy. In terms of accessibility to the site in the proposed condition, the two driveways to the residential parcels would be removed and what you would have proposed along Bergen Avenue, which is running along the bottom of the page is a full-movement driveway located to the westerly extent of the property. A full-movement driveway somewhat centrally located, that is between the convenience store and the fueling canopy. And a full-movement driveway is proposed on River Road as well. 0--
0 0 We've had the opportunity to meet with the county recently and during traffic testimony, I'll speak in more detail about the proposed driveway on River Road. The driveway on River Road, the intersection proper of Bergen Avenue and River Road are both under the jurisdiction of Bergen County. The Bergen Avenue driveways, the two that are proposed are under the jurisdiction of the local municipality. In terms of the circulation of the site, you would be able to enter or exit on River Road and you'd be able to do the same at the two driveways that are located on Bergen Avenue. From a topography perspective, the terrain that you have here is generally flat. In terms of the grading of the site after the buildings are demolished, it would essentially be returned to grade and the building and the canopy and the parking would be constructed as you see. Towards the northerly portion of the site and to the west of the River Road driveway, you will have one of our stormwater management techniques on site and that is surface detention. So there will 0--
0 0 be a small portion of storm water that is collected underneath the parking field and there will also be a portion of the site that would be dedicated to stormwater management planted as needed as part of requirements. Now, in terms of drainage, we have designed this site to be compliant with the state and municipal requirements. We meet the reduction criteria in terms of rate reduction, infiltration into the ground, as well as water quality. So there will be a water quality unit on site as well. What we have on site is a system of inlets and underground pipes that would collect the storm water, convey it into a basin, either the underground or the surface detention system and then would hold that water and release it at a slower rate then it does today into the county system along River Road. So that would be under the jurisdiction of Bergen County to review. We have received a review letter and that is something that we will address as part of the ongoing application. In terms of the utilities, majority of the utilities to this site, gas, sanitary, electric will be provided via connection to Bergen Avenue. We have had the opportunity to coordinate with some of 0--
0 0 the professionals and staff of the borough with regard to sanitary sewer capacity in terms of the site and the amount of flow that it would generate and we have received letters and correspondence back from both the borough's staff, as well as PSE&G that there is adequate capacity within the system to accommodate the flows that would be generated by the subject site. Now, in addition to the utilities in terms of lighting and landscaping as we talked about briefly before, the site would effectively be wrapped in landscaping along the perimeter of the site with the exception of the various driveways and access points that you have to the property. So those are your curb cut openings give the ability for vehicles to drive in and out. What we are proposing in terms of the landscaping, we have a mix of native deciduous and evergreen trees, as well as native grasses and shrubs. Now, in terms of where we're located, we understand the sensitivity along River Road. There is curvature in the roadway and that does create sight distance challenge -- sight distance challenges. In fact, if you come to this 0--
0 0 0 intersection today, as I'm sure a number of people here do, you'll know that it is challenging to look back towards River Road when you're at the intersection of Bergen and River and what's contributing to that, are the higher shrubs that are located and wrap the frontage of River Road. So we can certainly work with the board engineer, the board's professionals to make sure that we keep lower growing vegetation in that area, but we wanted to provide a variety of plantings within the site to compliment the neighborhood and obviously to provide buffering as well. In terms of the lighting of the site, we would be proposing lights around the perimeter. We are compliant in terms of the underlying zoning for lighting. You would have aerial lights that are -feet high and you would also have lights that would be located flush-mounted under the canopy. These are LED lights. They produce a very clean luminance coming from the light itself. And the way that the lights are designed and housed, you do not see an exposure of the lamp or the bulb, but need the shielding for the housing. In some of the older style fixtures, older gas stations, you would see the underside of a 0--
0 0 canopy and then you would see the lamp itself hanging down underneath that actual flush-mount. So you could see that portion of the light equipment. Everything here is modern. It's directed downwards to create a very direct type of radiance from the various lights. Now, in addition to that, we are using house-side shields in the areas that wrap around the site proximate to residential as well. And what that means is that those light fixtures and the way the housing is built, the light is directed forward and down and there is not loss or spray behind the light itself. And if you were to look at the lighting intensity, the footcandle intensity, which is the measurement that we use for the lights themselves along the property line to the west and the north, we are at zero in those areas. In terms of the circulation, I've spoken about generally how the parking, the number of parking stalls and the canopy works, but just to go through the site in a bit more detail, we have two-way circulation aisles throughout the site. That gives you the ability to circumnavigate both the building itself, as well as the fueling canopy. Generally speaking, we're looking at 0--
0 0 -foot aisles, which is in compliance with industry standards for circulation aisles within a site such as this. We have 0 by stalls and also 0 by 0 stalls in the various areas of the site. So a bit more width than you might typically see, which allows for more convenience entering and exiting the parking stalls for this type of site to operate effectively, it has to be able to foster and encourage convenience. Not going to go to a convenience store, gasoline fueling station if that is not provided on the site. Gas stations of old, you didn't necessarily have the ability to circumnavigate the pumps with full aisles around and we are at approximately feet around the pumps to be able to circulate. The width of a single lane on a typical roadway is about feet. So that gives you a sense of your ability to circulate the site safely and efficiently during not only off-peak times, but also peak times on the property. In terms of the parking and where it's situated, generally speaking three sides of the building are provided with parking. There are bollards at the end of those parking stalls to 0--
0 0 protect both the motorist and the building, as well as the pedestrian area around the building itself with the westerly side of the building for loading. There's a loading zone provided in that area towards the west of the building itself. There is a row of parking behind that. You have your dumpster enclosure. So the dumpster is held in an enclosed block decorative area so that it's not just in the middle of the parking lot. There are gates on the enclosure. And that would be held in the northwest portion of the lower side of the site. In terms of the area of the gas fueling, what you see in the shaded gray box closest to River Road are the underground tanks. There are two 0,000 gallon tanks and two,000 gallon tanks that are proposed to be under the ground. Now, in terms of what QuickChek does in installing tanks, as part of making sure that there are safety measures in place and redundant measures in place, these are double-wall fiberglass tanks that meet and exceed all state requirements in all regards. The product piping is double-wall as well. And what that means is that there's an interstitial layer, there's a layer between the walls that provides for monitoring of any type of penetration, 0--
0 0 either from the outside in or from the inside out and so there's not just one layer of wall, but there's a second layer. That is monitored locally within the store at the pumps and that is also monitored at White House Station in headquarters. That is monitored electronically, hydrostatically, and it's also done now statistically through the amount of connections in terms of the fueling service that occurs. They know how much each pump in the fueling canopy area is pumping at what velocity, whether it's too high, too low, all of that is measured and operated on a daily basis every day. And so there are redundant measures built in to how these products are both installed by contractors and monitored. I believe QuickChek is now at approximately of these types of locations with a convenience store and gas fueling and I'm aware of no incidents that have occurred at this time with these types of features being installed as QuickChek has entered into the gasoline fueling service business. This is the program in terms of what they build as part of the convenience offering. It cannot exist, the store cannot exist without the gasoline fueling service and knowing that, QuickChek has basically turned everything on, every bell and 0--
0 0 whistle, monitoring device that could be added are put into the facilities are installed into the facilities in addition to the training that's required to operate them. You heard about the employee base and how the fueling is operated on a daily basis. During the peak conditions you may have two to three attendants that are operating that area. Your transactional time at the actual gas pump area during peak hours for fueling only is somewhere on the order of three to four minutes. Those using the convenience store only is slightly longer at about five minutes. And those using both, which can occur at any of these sites or facilities is slightly longer than that. So in terms of the operations that are proposed here, this is a very well-executed plan. This has been done a number of times. We've worked on a number of facilities and it is extremely effective and well-monitored every day. Now, in terms of the way that the fueling vehicles and the truck deliveries occur, Mr. Valerio spoke about the frequency of those delivery vehicles, and as part of preparing this plan, we've looked at a number of different options. We have 0--
0 0 been at previous meetings with the -- at the American Legion where we discussed the plan with some of the members of the public before coming to the public hearing and we have looked at alternate options for the routing of vehicles to and from this site. And what we've been able to do and confirm is that both the store deliveries which would occur behind the QuickChek building and the fuel deliveries which would occur to the east of the fueling canopy can all be facilitated at River Road via left turn in and a left turn out. Initially, we have looked at the potential of a vehicle to enter into the site and potentially leave onto Bergen Avenue. We understand there is on-street parking, there's buses that utilize that area and what we're proposing is to keep the delivery and service vehicles to River Road, which today if you were to look at the complexion of traffic that you have on River Road, you have dump trucks, cement mixers, school buses, tractor trailers, very different types of vehicles that travel throughout the corridor on a daily basis and we are proposing to keep those types of vehicles on River Road to and from the property. They are infrequent in terms of a 0--
0 0 larger wheel-based vehicles. The actual delivery schedule is set when the store is open, but we work very closely with the QuickChek team before they even open the doors of the store to look at how the truck can circulate in and out of the property. We provide them with truck turning plans so that they're able to review those and when the store opens, they're able to get into the habit of travel patterns to and from the property. So from a truck circulation perspective and QuickChek has the ability to control the deliveries. You've heard about the times from Mr. Valerio and also the routing and typically trucks look to stay on the major functional arterial roadways and in this particular location, that's what River Road is. And we are proposing to keep that traffic localized to River Road as part of the development plan. In terms of signage being proposed -- BY MR. DEL VECCHIO: Q. If I can interrupt for a minute -- A. Sure. Q. -- before we dump into signage. Just a few follow-up questions, if I can. First, the landscaping that is being 0--
0 0 proposed for this site is meant to replace the number of trees that are coming down to permit this development and will far exceed what is coming down, correct? A. Yes, that is correct. Q. And the landscaping is all intended to be irrigated so that there's not need to hand water and it will ensure its long-term survivability? A. That is correct, yes. Q. And the landscape plan does, in fact, meet the design requirements of the River Road improvement area in terms of sidewalk and hardscape features, as well as street trees that are required, because we're located within that improvement district? A. Correct, yes. Q. Now, with regard to the site, is there an emergency generator proposed for this site to be permanently installed? A. My understanding having worked with QuickChek on a number of locations is that they are generator ready and they can be delivered. Connections can be made at the rear of the building to allow for a generator to be installed. Q. But there is no generator permanently 0--
0 0 installed on this site being proposed? A. No. Q. It is merely an emergency readiness configuration on the store that allows a hookup of a portable one to be brought in should an emergency arise? A. What QuickChek has found historically is that typically when an emergency does strike, power is lost or there's a storm that may tend to be a destination during those times for people to be able to fuel up, because they do have contractual agreements with generator companies to have those delivered on an as-needed basis. Q. And that avoids -- that arrangement avoids the need to have these permanently installed on-site and to have the regular running and maintenance of them occur on-site where noise could be an issue? A. That is correct, yes. Q. Now, with regard to the fueling operations, you talked about the extensive precautions that are taken for the components that are located in the ground. Can we also just briefly talk about what happens when a tanker truck arrives on-site and delivers? There's always concerns and 0--
0 0 0 issues raised about vapors and the potential impact of the vapors on nearby patrons, residents or other properties. Can you speak to that? A. Yes. There are certain executive orders within the state that must be met by a modern fueling facility and as I've mentioned QuickChek meets or exceeds all of those requirements as part of installing their equipment and operating their equipment. When a fuel truck comes into the site, what they do is they circulate into the area of the tank field and the fuel ports themselves, there's a -foot hose that then comes off the side of the truck, the truck is turned off and that hose is connected to the fill port. That allows for the dispensing of fuel from the fuel truck into the tanks that are underneath the ground. There is a recovery system, Stage Recovery, which is required by the State in terms of the vapors, the ventilation, that has to be met. And, again, as I've mentioned, that is met as part of the installation techniques utilized by QuickChek. Q. Without hopefully oversimplifying it, the liquid petroleum that is pushed into the tank displaces the empty air that's in that tank at the 0--
0 0 time it's filled and that air is pushed out of the tank and recovered by that hose that is delivering the fuel product and is then contained back in the tanker truck itself. A. That is correct. Q. Is that essentially how it works? A. That is correct. Q. And that same system, all be it on a much smaller level, is also taking place when you fuel a vehicle at the -- literally at the nozzle that is placed into the vehicle that's being fueled? A. That is correct. Q. So not only when the tanker delivery happens, but also when a car, an individual car or truck or vehicle is being fueled, similarly that vapor recovery happens at that location as well? A. That is correct. That is referring to a Stage Vapor Recovery and most vehicles, most modern vehicles have that capability. Q. And that essentially is a relatively modern feature or safety mechanism that is now required both for filling tanks on a gas stations, but also filling tanks on vehicles? A. Correct. Q. So the old issues and concerns that we 0--
0 0 always used to hear about, vapor and the like, emanating from the gas station had been addressed through the modern regulations that are -- that have been imposed statewide and we comply with? A. That is correct. There are also a number of other measures that are in place. Shear valves at both the pump islands, as well as the nozzles themselves. If somewhere were to attempt to drive off with the nozzle actually in the gas tank of their car, there are shear valves that immediately close upon any detaching of something like that. So, again, there's all of these redundant measures that are in place. I know as part of the meeting that we had at the American Legion there was some discussion about a leaking tank, Board of Education site for years. That is not something that can happen with the way that these tanks are installed. Q. Now, this site once upon a time before its redevelopment for its current bank branch was, in fact, a gas station, correct? A. Yes. Q. And as part of the acquisition of this site due diligence was done to ensure that there are no environmental conditions that remain on-site that 0--
0 0 would preclude us from redeveloping it? A. That is correct, yes. Q. And results of that due diligence, if you would just for the record provide the board with the results. A. My understanding is that the site, when it was developed as a TD Bank was brought up to DEP standards. We fully recognize that as part of the redevelopment of this site, we are held to the same DEP standards. Q. And this plan intends to comply with it, correct? A. It does, yes. Q. Now, before we proceed just a little further, you made several mentions that -- mention during the course of your testimony to appearances at the American Legion hall. That was, in fact, a meeting that was arranged by the River Road Improvement District for this project, which gave us and opportunity to meet with our neighbors to hear their concerns in a less formal setting. Is that the meeting you're referring to? A. That is the meeting I'm referring to, yes. 0--
0 0 Q. And as a precursor to the meeting with the public that was arranged by the River Road Improvement Committee, there were several appearances before the committee themselves to sit down with them and review the project and understand whether it was a project they could endorse or one they would require changes to, correct? A. Yes. Q. And, in fact, the plans that are on the board tonight are not the same plans that we first presented to the River Road Improvement Committee? A. This is a fully engineered set of plans. This is a set of plans that could be given to a contractor and constructed. We did start with conceptual level plans and this is where we've refined them to. Q. The original concept plans did not include the two residential homes to the rear of the store as depicted on the site, correct? A. Correct. Q. And the reason those additional properties were picked up was in response to concerns raised by the River Road Improvement Committee about the impact that this use might have on those residential homes directly to the rear of the 0--
0 0 station? A. Yes, that's correct. Q. And now this station with the additional property acquired immediately now abuts the Board of Ed Bus Depot to the rear property line of this site as now proposed? A. That is correct, yes. Q. And one of the other items that the River Road Improvement Committee had issue with were the number of fueling positions or pumps that were initially presented as part of the application to them, correct? A. Yes. Q. That original layout, if I recall correctly, had eight pumps and sixteen fueling positions? A. Yes, that is a typical prototype of a QuickChek project. The early concepts start with an eight pump, a by canopy, that would provide for sixteen fueling positions. Q. In response to their concerns and requests, this site plan was further reduced to the five pumps and 0 fueling positions that are currently depicted on the plan that we're discussing this evening? 0--
0 0 A. That is correct. We now have one row, as I mentioned. Typically that canopy would be a wider area providing for more capacity for fueling vehicles and requires a larger footprint. So what we did on this site to try to bring everything closer to River Road is to narrow that area, but provide enough the be able to accommodate the fueling vehicles. Q. Now, you know, it's somewhat unusual to want to be bringing the improvements closer to River Road, but, in fact, that is one of the ordinance standards that dictates and pushes us to be closer to the roadway, as opposed to pushing the improvements further away from the roadway. That's the design of this current ordinance, is it not? A. It is. And that's what we've effectively done here with the siting of the building and the siting of the fueling canopy, the fuel tank area as well is we've attempted to take the elements that are related to what I'll call the most commercial element, the gasoline fueling and bring those to your arterial roadway, your roadway that carries somewhere around,000 vehicles on a daily basis. Q. I'm sorry I interrupted you. One other area I do want to touch on before I allow you to 0--
0 0 resume your testimony is the lighting. So the LED lighting that is being provided is, in fact, the state-of-the-art lighting that's available? A. It is, yes. Q. And unlike traditional incandescent lights, the lighting can be essentially fine-tuned in the field, because it is an LED product? A. It can. Q. And that when we talk about fine-tuning, that allows us to pull light in, push it out in order to keep the light levels at the design levels for the property line and avoid spillage onto adjacent properties? A. That's correct. As I mentioned, it's a cleaner more directed light and when you drive by older gas stations compared to newer ones that have installed LED lighting, you can tell the difference just by visual acuity, just by looking at it you will see a difference in the lighting. Q. Now, I don't think anybody would confuse the QuickChek application that is in front of us this evening with a traditional gas station. Let's just be clear for the record, there's no 0--
0 0 servicing of any vehicles that are proposed as part of this application? A. That is correct. This is not like the Exxon, Dunkin Donuts in town where you have service garages, other more historic gasoline stations that have service bays, that is not proposed here. There are no servicing of automobiles here. Q. There are no storage of automobiles on an overnight basis at this location? A. Correct. Q. There are no rental car features or agencies provided as part of this proposed application? A. That is correct. That is not proposed as part of this application. Q. The two uses that are proposed and the only two uses are the retail convenience store and the fueling of vehicles? A. That is correct. Q. Is there a location on-site that provides air and vacuum facilities as a convenience on the property? A. There is, yes. Q. Can you point out where those exist or where they're proposed? 0--
0 0 A. That is also located -- I just want to confirm. Generally speaking, those are located in the area that is closest to the River Road corridor. Q. And there's a bank of parking provided right along that River Road corridor, which would facilitate the use of that equipment? A. Correct. Q. And that location is distant enough from any of the residential uses that might be nearby to avoid that particular use the air hose or the vacuum hose providing any kind of noise issues? A. Yes. They are tucked in the southeast corner of that bank of parking stalls. Q. Now, in terms of the building location and layout, there is a significant number of parking spaces located on three side of the building? A. Yes. Q. What is the width of the sidewalk between those parking spaces and the building elevations? A. Along the building we have a -foot sidewalk, so it's a rather wide sidewalk to accommodate the pedestrian movements from their vehicles and then into the front door of the building. 0--
0 0 0 Q. And generally speaking, what's is the proposed height of this building? A. Generally, the building is about foot inches. At it's tallest point, which is parapet, which essentially shields the rooftop units, there are two rooftops units and one refrigerator condenser. Those are all completely shielded by the parapet and that brings you to -and-a-half feet. Q. And that is well within the limits of the code for this zone? A. It is, yes. Q. All right. If you would continue. A. Yes. Well, I was about to get into the signage. And what I'd like to do is just refer to the freestanding sign first. And this sign is actually within your site plan set. It is part of the detail sheets of the plans. There's also a detailed canopy provided. And that is sheet -- for the record, Sheet C-. Towards the upper right-hand side of the exhibit, you will see the freestanding QuickChek sign, which is proposed to be -feet tall. The top panel would be the QuickChek and then below that would be the regular and the diesel LED signs. We have proposed a pylon-style sign, 0--
0 0 which allows for an under clearance of visibility, foot inches and the intent there is to allow for motorists to stage at Bergen Avenue and not be impeded in any way by the actual sign panels themselves. So the driver's eye in a typical vehicle is at about -and-a-half feet. Generally speaking, we try to keep between and 0 feet clear and we're keeping from ground level up to the underside of the diesel panel just about 0 feet. So you have that visible area underneath the sign. There are also directional signs proposed and this allows for better way finding into the site. What you'll see along the bottom of the detail sheet is the canopy detail. The columns are brick veneer and then you come into a metal seam QuickChek -- there's a QuickChek canopy sign that's facing River Road. The only sign on the canopy is not wrapped like some of the gas stations you might see. It has the green coloring of QuickChek and then on the River Road side facing River Road, that's where you would see the illuminated QuickChek sign. And that is located as you're looking at the site from River Road to the left-hand side. Q. Chuck, before you turn that sheet, because the sign happens to say "Diesel" on it, I 0--
0 0 want to reconfirm Mr. Valerio's testimony, when you talked about diesel, what is you fueling with diesel at that location? A. This is denoted as low flow diesel and that means that the diesel comes out of the pump and into the car at about seven gallons a minute. And that is not something that a trucker on route would be accustomed to. Typically, truck stops have two methods of fueling, both a master and a slave, one at 0 gallons a minute and one at 0 gallons a minute. So they're receiving fuel at about 0 gallons a minute. The low flow diesel dispenses fuel at seven and that is for pickup vehicles, as well as some other vehicles that utilize diesel fuel. It is a low flow system. Q. And QuickChek has no intention and does not allow tractor trailers to be fueled on this site? A. That is correct. QuickChek is not a truck stop location. There are no showers. There's no equipment, no parts for trucks. They do not have that type of issue with any of the facilities that they operate in terms of trucks stopping, fueling, idling for extended periods of time, because in the industry, they are not known as a fuel provider or a truck stop type operation. 0--
0 0 Just by word of mouth and branding, they're not in keeping with what you would typically look for in you're a freight hauler or someone who operates a truck. Q. There is a kiosk under the canopy for the attendants that service the vehicles needing fuel? A. That is correct, yes. Q. And there are two -- A. Yes. Q. -- two kiosks? And those, again, are located fully under the canopy within the footprint of that canopy? A. Yes. Q. If you will continue with the balance of the signage. A. In terms of the building signs themselves, what I'll do is refer to the architectural plans that were prepared. I do not know if it was previously -- it's not showing a notation. Q. The color version was not marked. The entire set of architectural plans were marked as A- at the last meeting, but let's mark that colored one separately as A -- 0--
0 0 MR. ROSENBERG: A-. MR. DEL VECCHIO: A-. (Whereupon, colorized architectural elevation views are received and marked as Exhibit A- for identification.) THE WITNESS: And this is an architectural elevation view of the building from the various elevations. So starting at the top, what we're looking at is the east elevation and this is the elevation that's facing River Road. MS. COLES: What's the number, please? THE WITNESS: This is within the architectural set. MR. DEL VECCHIO: Sheet -- it's going to be a combination of Sheets A- and A-. MS. COLES: Thank you. THE WITNESS: The first sheet should be a floor plan of that set, it should be after that. Exhibit A- is a combination of the elevation views that had been previously submitted and provided by the architect and colorized so that the board and the public can get a sense of the materials. So from the ground level, up to 0--
0 0 approximately 0 feet, generally speaking, on the front of the building facing River Road, you have brick veneer, a combination of brown and reddish colors. And, also, you have the area of the store front windows themselves. So you have the decorative elements certain durable as well with the brick facade. Then you have an approximately -foot band of metal seam roof that is above that area of glass and brick. Then you come to an efface area with decorative cornice at the top. And you have the QuickChek sign, which is located centrally for identification purposes. So the next row down on the rendering shows what I'll refer to as the side elevation, but the south elevation facing Bergen Avenue, the north elevation to the right of that, which faces towards the north, that portion of River Road that bends around. And then at the very bottom you have your west elevation, which is the rear side of the site facing the Bus Depot, Board of Education. So I mentioned the parapet and what you can see is that the parapet is completely shielding. There is ladder access through the back and a gate is completely shielding the rooftop units, both visually and for sound attenuation purposes. 0--
0 0 As I mentioned, there are two rooftop units, one condensing unit and those are all fully shielded by this parapet wall. We are seeking the two building signs, the wall signs facing River Road in both cases. BY MR. DEL VECCHIO: Q. I'll just ask you to take us through a couple of follow-up questions, if I can. Now, I had alluded to my earlier questions of you that we have picked up the two residential properties to the rear of this site. When we picked up those two additional residential properties, in fact, we now have a curb cut that is located not within 0 feet of the residential zone, but in the residential zone because of the change designed and our picking up of those additional lots as part of this application; is that not correct? A. It is correct, yes. Q. And that puts us into conflict with one of the conditional use standards for this zone? A. It does, yes. Q. And, again, just so the record and the board are all focused on the same thing, the conditional use requirement is really applicable to the fueling component of the operation, the 0--
0 0 convenience store as a retail use if it were to lie solely within the B- zone, would be a permitted use in this location? A. It would, yes. Q. Again, because of the additional lots that we picked up and the reorienting of the approvals in light of that, we now have a portion of the retail store that's also located in that residential zone, correct? A. That is correct, yes. Q. And the residential zone are those two houses that are part of the application abut directly now to the Bus Depot operated by the Board of Ed to the rear of the site? A. That is correct. Q. Now, the -- one of the other items of the conditional use standards that are applicable, the fueling operations is a distance proximity to schools and playgrounds. Have you had a chance to review that component of the conditional use requirements? A. Yes. The conditional use requirements do look at -- one of them does look at the proximity to a number of different types of uses, including school and so we've looked at the proximity to 0--
0 0 Westmoreland School, which is located across, down Campbell, effectively on the other side of River Road and is measured from the property line to the property line of the closest property line or boundary point to us at the school. Q. Is that visible on the aerial by any chance? A. It is well off the page to the east. But what we've measured -- we haven't measured from building to building. We measured from line to line and where the conditional use standard is,000 feet as a crow flies, again, this is not measured through driving the roadway system. Point to point we are at 0 feet to where we get to the edge of the ball field. The school is set to the east of that area. Q. Now, you raised an interesting point. You measured that as the crow flies, not as the car driver's sort to speak, correct? A. Yes. If you were to drive door to door, it's well over that thousand. Q. Is there anything in the ordinance when you were preparing your calculation that guides you or dictates that you should measure that distance as the crow flies, as opposed to how the car drives? A. No. We took the worst case scenario, 0--
0 0 which was the closest. Q. Now, one of the other items of the conditional use standards that you were asked to analyze for purposes of listing on your plans was the location of this site along the River Road corridor, the conditional use standard suggests that no such use shall be permitted in the business zone abutting the following streets, River Road from a point 00 feet south of Berdan northerly to Campbell Road. And did you take a very conservative view when you were reviewing that standard against whether this application complies? A. I believe that we have. That particular section of the code, again, it goes through the uses that are conditionally allowed for within this zone and it speaks of there's a narrative in terms of where that conditional use criteria would apply and, again, to be conservative in the reading of that language we have stated within the zoning table that we do not comply. Q. In terms of the number of off-street parking spaces, this application complies and provides significant additional spaces above and beyond what is required by the code? A. Yes. We are at parking spaces. 0 0--