Board of Adjustment — December 2, 2025

The Board of Adjustment’s minutes of this regular meeting, approved with corrections at its January 6, 2026 meeting, are on the Township’s Documents-On-Demand portal, linked from its Agendas/Minutes page, in the Board of Adjustment minutes folder. Vice-Chair Walch called the meeting to order at 7:31 p.m. Present were Vice-Chair Walch, Mr. Cuttitta, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Fox, Mr. Albanese, Mr. Quade, Mr. Iselin, Mr. Verbeke and Mr. McCartney; Chairman Andersen and Mr. Pappas were absent. Also present were Township Engineer Douglas Ball, Board Planner Jim Kyle and Board Attorney Christopher Sobieski. The minutes record that no members of the public attended.

Self-storage facility at Route 202 and Imclone Drive

Case No. 2025-002AUV PFSP, Sempre Property Group, Block 68.06, Lot 1, at the corner of Imclone Drive and Route 202 North, represented by Michael K. Ligorano, Esq. Mr. Ligorano said the applicant sought a use variance for a self-storage facility, which is not a permitted use in the I-2 zone, along with bulk variances and design waivers.

In Mr. Sobieski’s summation, the applicant sought preliminary and final major site plan approval; a D1 use variance for self-storage in the I-2 zone; bulk variances for four stories where 3.5 are permitted and a lot width of 326.5 feet where 350 are required; variances for the lack of an intervening building to screen the truck access drives and the refuse enclosure, for a retaining wall and a water-service “hot box” in the front yard, and for a sanitary sewer connection within the transition buffer at the rear; and design waivers for parking in the front yard and for steep-slope disturbance — 2,436 square feet of slopes of 25% or more, where none is permitted, and 13,787 square feet of slopes of 15 to 25%.

The applicant’s witnesses testified, as the minutes summarize:

• Architect Stephen Overcash (ODA Architecture): the building is climate controlled, with a covered drive-through tunnel at the rear for unloading in bad weather, sized for 44-foot rental trucks but not tractor-trailers (entrance 30 feet wide by 14 feet tall). The building sign will be lowered to the 15-foot maximum. He estimated about 10 visitors a day once leased up, 12–15 before. An office will be staffed during the day, mostly 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with 24-hour coded access for customers; the building will be sprinklered and monitored by cameras; units have no plumbing or electricity beyond a sensor light; lighting will be shielded downward and not cross property lines. He said the entrance would be gated if the Board made it a condition.
• Engineer Michael Ford (Van Cleef Engineering): Holland Brook crosses the rear of the property, with a residential zone to the south beyond it. An application was made to NJDEP on the flood hazard area and wetlands; he said NJDEP’s Mark Harris had communicated verbally that the delineated wetlands would be approved. That area will stay undisturbed except for a sewer lateral to the existing trunk line along the brook, and the applicant understands it needs NJDEP and DOT approvals. The sign, originally proposed at 40 feet high, is now on the building with no height variance. There will be no perimeter fencing; gates will be installed on the driveways; more plantings will be added and the Environmental Commission’s December 1, 2025 recommendations followed.
• Board members raised concerns about the residential lots to the southwest (Lots 5.01 and 6, LD zone). The minutes record that those owners were noticed, that the applicant limited site disturbance to the west up to Holland Brook, and that the applicant has approvals from the Somerset Union Soil Conservation District and the Somerset County Planning Board.
• Traffic engineer Gary Dean (Dolan & Dean Consulting Engineers): the applicant will add a “Do Not Enter” sign and pavement arrow, as the Board’s traffic engineer asked, and supplies 14 parking spaces where 10 are required for just over 100,000 square feet. He said traffic volume on Imclone Drive is small and a left turn out of the driveway would be safe.
• Planner John Taikina (All Things Planning & Development): he said the site has good access and natural buffers, is more than 600 feet from the nearest home (another is 750 feet away), stays below the 50-foot height limit, and that the use fits the I-2 district’s shift away from heavy industrial uses under the 2023 Master Plan.

Conditions of approval, as Mr. Sobieski listed them: compliance with all review memoranda of the Board and Township professionals; no light spillage over property lines, with LED motion-sensor security lighting; all DEP approvals; fire-truck access, with revised plans showing a 100-foot Pierce fire truck can pass through the tunnel; a reoriented trash enclosure, subject to the engineer’s approval; the “Do Not Enter” sign and pavement markings; access gates and motion-sensor driveway lighting as the Board Engineer deems appropriate.

No one from the public was present to question or comment. The application was approved with conditions on motion of Mr. Iselin, seconded by Mr. Verbeke. Recorded vote: 7–0 (Aye: Vice-Chair Walch, Mr. Cuttitta, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Fox, Mr. Albanese, Mr. Quade, Mr. Iselin; not eligible: Mr. Verbeke, Mr. McCartney; absent: Chairman Andersen, Mr. Pappas). The Board adopted the written resolution, No. BOA 2025-019, at its January 6, 2026 meeting.

Other business

The minutes of the July 16 and September 17, 2025 regular meetings were approved by the members eligible to vote. There were no resolutions or other business. The Board accepted the September/October 2025 NJ Planner as communications and approved two claims totaling $1,985.00, 9–0, on motion of Mr. Cuttitta, seconded by Mr. Fox. The board professionals and members had no comment. The meeting adjourned at 9:33 p.m.

See land-use board applications.

Records

• Minutes and agenda: Agendas/Minutes page of the Township’s website, which links its Documents-On-Demand portal (Board of Adjustment folder)
• Meeting video on the Township’s Granicus archive