By jeanette M. eng
Staff Writer
MARLBORO — Plans for a warehouse/office building have been approved by the Planning Board for a location near Vanderburg Road and Meridian Plaza.
The approval was granted at the board’s Feb. 5 meeting.
The applicant, S&D Landscaping Inc., requested approval to construct a 4,832-square-foot warehouse, six parking spaces and a detention basin on a 0.83-acre tract approximately 300 feet northeast of the intersection of Vanderburg Road and Meridian Plaza.
S&D Landscaping is owned by brothers Scott Carbone and Danny Carbone, who plan to operate the facility between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
To the west of the site are several residences and to the east is a 750-foot light industrial (LI) building. The S&D Landscaping site is in the LI zone, under which the uses requested by the applicant are all permitted. The existing use of the site is for woodland and open space.
In presenting the application to the board, project planner Lorali Totten outlined the variances being requested by the applicant. According to Totten, the applicant’s requests included a variance to build on a lot area of 0.83 acres where a minimum of 3 acres is required.
Because of the small size of the site, Totten said, requests also included a variance to have a 4-foot wide sidewalk where a 6-foot wide sidewalk is required and to have a 4-foot space between a parking space and a structure where 30 feet is required. To mediate this, however, Totten said plans include having blocks in front of each space.
The size of the site also did not allow for the required 150-foot buffer, Totten said, as a buffer of that size would "be halfway into the property." Thus, a variance was requested.
Other requested variances pertained to lot frontage, lot width, the minimum side setback and the minimum rear setback. In order to have a sign, the applicant also needed a variance to do so on a lot containing less than 200 feet of frontage.
According to Totten, a 50-foot landscaping buffer would be provided between the site and the residences.
Project attorney Salvatore Alfieri later proposed that evergreen trees would be incorporated within the existing buffer to accomplish this.
Upon board member Stanley Young’s inquiry as to how far the detention basin would be from the residences, Totten said the basin would be underground, on the north corner of the parking lot and would be 200 feet from the homes.
The planner also assured board members that the lighted sign would be designed so as not to affect neighboring residences.
Following the presentation from the applicant’s representatives, board Chairman Mario Giudice said he believed that all of the requests for variances had been addressed to his satisfaction.
Recommendations from the board’s traffic engineer Michael Chasin included that an 18-inch painted white stop bar and a double yellow center line be added in the vicinity of the entry/exit reverse curve.
A letter from Marlboro Police Chief Robert C. Holmes Sr. and Sgt. Joseph M. Lenge stated that they had reviewed the revised site plan and "there appears to be no traffic safety concerns at this time."
The board’s environmental consultant, Jim Vasslides, requested to have a copy of the letter of interpretation which stated that no wetlands exist on the site.
The board’s planner, Joe Layton, requested that an inconsistency in paperwork be corrected to read that the sign will be 20 feet wide.
No members of the public spoke against the proposal.
Board members voted unanimously in favor of the application.