MINUTES
OF THE BOROUGH OF CAPE MAY POINT
ZONING
BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT
December
15, 2009
OPENING:
The meeting was held at the Fire Hall
Meeting Room and was called to order by Chairperson Linda Adams at 4:30
PM. Salute to the flag was recited. Secretary Nietubicz read the Open Public
Meetings Act.
ROLL CALL: Members:
Jim Dippel present
Joan
Fraser present
Ernie
Heegard present
Nancy
Henderson present
Lucinda
Inskeep present
Dominic
Miranda present
Linda
Adams present
Alternates:
Mick
Humbarger absent
Joe
Keller present
Jill
Lambeck present
John
McGeehan present
Solicitor:
Stewart
F. Kay present
Secretary:
Francine
Nietubicz present
MINUTES:
Chairperson Adams asked if there were any changes to the minutes of the
meeting on September 23, 2009. Ernie
Heegard made a motion to suspend public reading and approve the minutes as
presented. Nancy Henderson seconded the
motion and it was approved as follows: Jim Dippel-abstain; Joan Fraser-yes;
Nancy Henderson-yes; Cindy Inskeep-abstain; Dominic Miranda-yes; Joe
Keller-yes; Jill Lambeck-abstain; John McGeehan-yes; Ernie Heegard-yes; Linda
Adams-yes.
BUSINESS:
1. Resolution 2009-09; Block 49, Lot 12; 103
Harvard Ave; refund unused escrow
Secretary Nietubicz explained that the drafted Resolution is
to refund unused escrow monies in the amount of $27.80. Joe Keller made a motion to adopt Resolution
2009-09. Ernie Heegard seconded the
motion. The Secretary took a roll call
vote as follows: Jim Dippel-yes; Joan Fraser-yes; Nancy Henderson-yes; Cindy
Inskeep-yes; Dominic Miranda-yes; Joe Keller-yes; Ernie Heegard-yes; Linda
Adams-yes.
2. 2009 Annual Report
Linda Adams explained that only members of the current
Zoning Board, who will be discussing the Annual Report tonight, would be able
to vote on the adopting Resolution at the January 2010 reorganization
meeting. Newly appointed members will not
be able to participate in the vote.
Ms. Adams then went on to describe the Policy
Issues/Recommendations as drafted by the subcommittee that discussed these two
issues:
o Inconsistency between definition of
Gross Floor Area in Code Book Section 150-3 and Code Book Section 150-13,
specifically dealing with the exterior stairs to the second floor in the
Schuster case. John McGeehan noted that
there is a current process underway to rewrite Code Book Section 150 and asked
if we should not refer to the new definition.
Several members and Secretary Nietubicz noted that our Annual Report has
to reflect the situation that existed at the time of the hearing. Ms. Adams discussed the other issue in the
Schuster case, that being whether or not to count interior stairway space on
each floor but, as the Board had been split on this issue, it was thought that
it should not be included in Recommendations to the Commissioners. After various aspects of the discussion were
aired, Nancy Henderson made a motion to amend the first bullet item to
recommend that the Commissioners review the inconsistency between the
definition and regulation of Floor Area, specifically regarding interior and
exterior steps as described in the first and third elements of the Gross Floor
Area definition. Ernie Heegard seconded
the motion. The Secretary took a roll
call vote as follows: Jim Dippel-yes; Joan Fraser-yes; Nancy Henderson-yes;
Cindy Inskeep-yes; Dominic Miranda-yes; Ernie Heegard-yes; Linda
Adams-yes.
o After a short discussion of the second
bullet item, Ernie Heegard made a motion to remove the “General Store” citation
from the item, as it actually pertains to both cases heard this year. Nancy Henderson seconded. The Secretary took a roll call vote as
follows: Jim Dippel-yes; Joan Fraser-yes; Nancy Henderson-yes; Cindy
Inskeep-yes; Dominic Miranda-yes; Ernie Heegard-yes; Linda Adams-yes.
In the Administration section of the drafted Annual Report,
Ms. Adams proposed a change to the Board’s Rules and Regulations for when a
complicated case could result in many conditions being attached to the approval
of an application. Her proposal is that,
in deliberation and before the Board votes on approval or denial of the
application, the Board consider whether or not it requires a revised plan to be
submitted that would show all changes required to satisfy the conditions; in
the instance of the Board wanting to see a revised plan, the case would be
continued with no need to re-notify and the applicant would be asked to submit
such a revised plan at the next month’s meeting. This would be an option open to the Board
whenever necessary. Ernie Heegard asked
what would happen if the applicant wanted a decision at the original
hearing. Stewart Kay responded that the
Municipal Land Use Act requires that plans be submitted 10 days before a
hearing and that this rule could be used when a significant change prompts the
Board to want a revised plan. Jim Dippel
asked why this would be necessary since the applicants must meet the conditions
as set down by the Board. Ms. Adams
responded that, once the Board approves an application, even with conditions,
it no longer has control over when the applicant follows through. With this change, the Board would not be
voting to approve until the applicant demonstrates through a revised plan that
the conditions have been met. In
response to Joe Keller’s question, Ms. Adams stated that if the revised plan
does not meet the conditions, then the Board could vote to deny the application
rather than issue recurring continuances.
Nancy Henderson made a motion to add this provision to the Board’s Rules
and Regulations. Ernie Heegard
seconded. The Secretary took a roll call
vote as follows: Jim Dippel-yes; Joan Fraser-yes; Nancy Henderson-yes; Cindy
Inskeep-yes; Dominic Miranda-yes; Ernie Heegard-yes; Linda Adams-yes.
Ernie Heegard made a motion to send the amended drafted
Annual Report to the Board for approval in January. Jim Dippel seconded. The Secretary took a roll call vote as
follows: Jim Dippel-yes; Joan Fraser-yes; Nancy Henderson-yes; Cindy
Inskeep-yes; Dominic Miranda-yes; Ernie Heegard-yes; Linda Adams-yes.
OTHER BUSINESS:
Chairperson Adams noted that the “General Store” case is
still ongoing. Board Engineer Bruce
Graham is involved in reviewing any revisions to that plan. She made clear that Board Members who are new
to the Board next year would not be able to participate in reviewing and/or
approving revised plans for this case.
Secretary Nietubicz reported that
she has a copy of the current Master Plan to distribute to each ongoing and
prospective Board Member as well as some other documents for the prospective
members.
Mayor Carl Schupp then came forward to thank those Board
Members who are retiring from the board (Linda Adams, Ernie Heegard, Joan
Fraser, Cindy Inskeep, Mick Humbarger) as well as Secretary Nietubicz, who is
also retiring.
The Mayor then introduced the prospective Board Members
(Judi Bernard, Skip Stanger, Kathy Mottola, Lu Ann Daniels, Marie Rice).
Commissioner Anita van Heeswyk spoke up to say that, as
Commissioner with land use oversight, her door is always open and that NJPO
training classes will be held in March.
PUBLIC COMMENTS:
Megane Smith noted that in the past there was a mechanism to
continue meetings and did not know why there needed to be a new procedure put
into place to do so.
Skip Stagner asked if there could be a meeting set up to
elect new Board leadership. Secretary
Nietubicz responded that the already scheduled meeting will be held on January
27, 2010 and that if any existing or prospective Board Members have questions
before then they are free to contact her.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Hearing no other
business, Chairperson Adams accepted a motion from Jim Dippel and a second from
Cindy Inskeep to adjourn. The meeting
adjourned at 5:50 PM.
Respectfully
submitted,
Francine
Nietubicz, Secretary
Approval Date and Signature