February 6, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 9 Franklin Lakes Planners approve business district parking lot by Frank J. McMahon The Franklin Lakes Planning Board has approved variances and a site plan to allow Gabrellian Associates construct a parking lot south of Court Place. That unofficial (“paper”) street is located at the rear of the retail stores Gabrellian Associates owns at the intersection of Franklin Avenue and Colonial Road. The approval included variances for insufficient buffer areas and deficient driveway setbacks and dimensions, all of which were described by board member Joseph Pullaro as necessary or minor in nature. Joseph Basralian, the attorney for Gabrellian Associates, explained that his client wants to redevelop the property, which includes four of the five stores located at that site, since sewers are being installed in that business area. As a first step, Basralian said a permit from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection was obtained to fill in some wetlands on his client’s property to provide a parking lot in an area that currently contains a four-car garage, a gravel driveway, and a parking area used by businesses located on adjacent property that is not owned by Gabrellian. The site plan calls for the removal of the garage and the relocation of several sheds where a new parking lot would be constructed. According to Basralian, the lot would be used only by the tenants of the stores on his client’s property on Franklin Avenue, and the visitors to those stores. At the initial public hearing in November 2012, Daniel LaMothe, a professional engineer who developed the plan, was asked to make revisions to improve traffic circulation on Court Place and to make that paper street more accessible to emergency vehicles and safer for pedestrians. The revised site plan was prepared after a field trip to the site with Eileen Boland, a professional engineer with the borough’s engineering firm, and Steve Linz, the borough’s fire prevention chief and a member of the planning board. During that field trip, officials reviewed the traffic and pedestrian circulation on Court Place, the topography of the site, and to ensure there would be no drainage impact on neighboring properties. LaMothe explained that, as a result of that field trip, additional parking spaces were added and the proposed location of the dumpster was revised to be farther away from the building for fire safety reasons. He also advised that Court Place was wide enough to permit two-way traffic, but he left that decision up to the board. A landscaping and lighting plan was added, and the revised site plan called for no-parking fire lanes along Court Place to eliminate congestion. The new plan also addressed a potential easement for a septic tank that belongs to a neighboring property owner and a new driveway at the front of a lot whose owner currently uses the Gabrellian site for parking. Craig Bossong, an attorney for neighbors of the Gabrellian property, asked LaMothe about the new plan and told the board his clients would like to continue using a parking space that is partly on the Gabrellian property as they have for 50 to 60 years. John Spizziri, the board’s attorney, advised Bossong that the board did not have the authority to make that a condition of approval and that a private agreement would have to be reached with Gabrellian. Before approving the site plan, LaMothe agreed to add more signage and striping on Court Place to make sure motorists know parking is not allowed there. The board also discussed at length with Basralian the need for the number of parking spaces proposed on the new plan and ultimately agreed to use grass paver blocks for seven of the parking spaces instead of paving them. In addition, the board included in its approval the caveat that a determination would be made by the Bergen County Planning Board as to whether one- or two-way traffic would be permitted on Court Place. On Jan. 8, Franklin Lakes police arrested a 32-year-old Edgewater woman following a motor vehicle stop on Route 208. The driver was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of marijuana, possession of a controlled dangerous substance in a motor vehicle, speeding, failure to exhibit a driver’s license, and driving a vehicle with tinted windows. Bail was set at $25,000 by Judge Francis Leddy. The woman posted 10 percent and was released. As a result of a Jan. 10 motor vehicle stop on Franklin Avenue, a 23-year-old Oakland man was arrested and charged with possession of Xanax, possession of Suboxone, possession of heroin, possession of an unmarked prescription container, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of marijuana under 50 grams, and possession of controlled dangerous substances in a motor vehicle. He was further Borough police log drug arrests, ID theft, DWI cases charged with failure to stop at a red light before making a right turn and following too closely. The driver was released on his own recognizance. Officers Jon Rynander and Nicholas Klein investigated. On Jan. 15, a Franklin Avenue resident reported that on Jan. 13, unknown persons made a fraudulent transaction in the amount of $760 at an ATM in Englewood using his personal account information. He believes that a counterfeit ATM card was used containing his account information as he never lost possession of his own ATM card. Detective Jeffrey Jost investigated this incident. An Allendale woman, 22, was arrested on Jan. 27 following a motor vehicle stop on Franklin Avenue. She was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated and reckless driving. Sergeant William Cook and Officers William Zangara, Donald Wilson, and Frank O’Brien investigated.