Franklin Lakes November 7, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 9 Business owner seeks parking lot approval by Frank J. McMahon Gabrellian Associates, the owner of a strip of stores at the intersection of Franklin Avenue and Colonial Road, is seeking variances from the Franklin Lakes Planning Board to build a 19-space parking lot at the rear of those stores south of the paper street known as Court Place. Joseph Basralian, the attorney for Gabrellian Associates, presented his client’s application at a recent public hearing. He advised that his client wants to redevelop his property, which includes four of the five stores located at that site, since it has been announced that sewers would be installed in that business area. The first step, Basralian told the board, was to obtain a permit from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to fill in some wetlands on the property and provide a 69,725 square foot parking lot in an area that currently contains a four-car garage, a gravel driveway, and a parking area that is used by businesses located on adjacent property not owned by Gabrellian. The new parking lot, according to Basralian, would be for the tenants of the stores on Franklin Avenue and the visitors to those stores. Gabrellian proposes to remove the garage and relocate several existing sheds where a new parking lot would be constructed, add a new four-foot wide sidewalk along the eastern side of the parking area and access road, and construct a pedestrian crosswalk in the area of Court Place. Basralian said there would be no change to the stores, but a loading dock would be added behind the stores and striping would be added to Court Place to prevent parking on that street, which is owned by Gabrellian Associates but has not been dedicated to, or accepted by, the municipality as a borough street. He added that the parking lot would not affect Court Place or the adjacent property owners, and his client would decide later how to develop the property. Several variances from the borough’s zoning code will be required, including one for the loading dock and one for the width of the Court Place drive area. Daniel LaMothe, a professional engineer who developed the plan for the new parking lot, advised that the new parking lot would be accessed by a two-way curbed driveway from Court Place, which is accessed from Colonial Road northbound, and the plan includes pedestrian walkways and crossroads leading to the front of the stores on Franklin Avenue. He added that a six-foot high stockade fence would be installed around the perimeter of the parking lot and no parking would be permitted on Court Place. The drainage for the new parking lot would be contained by a detention system that would collect the water from the parking lot and contain plants and sandy soil to filter the water before it seeps into the ground. LaMothe said this is the way the NJDEP prefers the drainage be handled. LaMothe said 59 evergreen trees would be planted as part of the plan, and they would be six to 10 feet high when they are planted. Asked by Borough Engineer James Kelly how people using the parking lot would access the stores on Franklin Avenue, LaMothe said they would use a sidewalk behind the building that would connect with the existing sidewalk in front of the stores. Kelly also questioned the proposed width of the sidewalks and the resulting width of Court Place for two-way traffic. The lighting plan for the site, according to LaMothe, would be of a shoebox style and 16 feet high with 150 watt halogen fixtures that would not be too bright for the adjacent neighbors and would comply with the borough ordinance. Board member Joseph Pullaro asked Basralian why his client is seeking approval for a parking lot before submitting plans for the redevelopment of the site. Basralian responded that no redevelopment of the site can occur without filling in the wetlands. Once that is done, Gabrellian would determine how to redevelop the site. He also said the county would not approve the parking for the redevelopment of the site if the parking lot were not created. Basralian further advised the board that the NJDEP permit to fill in the wetlands will expire in two years and if it expires before the wetlands are filled in, the permit would not be removed, and, since it is not known when the sewer system would be installed in the area, his client wants to construct the parking lot before the NJDEP permit expires. The public hearing will continue at the Nov. 7 planning board meeting.