Rt. 35 business makes best of 'bad situation' Responds to residents' concerns of garbage, urination, truck noise BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer SAYREVILLE- Alocal business owner plans to improve his property in response to complaints from neighboring residents. Cardosa Enterprises, a concrete company at the corner of Route 35 and Stevens Avenue, is adjacent to a number of residential homes whose owners are concerned about the business's storage of equipment outside, the prevalence of garbage at the site, traffic flow, and alleged public urination by employees. The attorney for the company, James Clarkin, told the Sayreville Planning Board Feb. 6 that the problems cited by residents during a contentious hearing last year are being addressed in Cardosa's current plan. The board would ultimately grant final site plan approval to the company later in the meeting, after determining that the plan would improve the current conditions at the site. Clarkin said the situation has already improved since the owner and operator, Manuel Cardosa, heard testimony fromresidential neighbors of the business last year. He saidmembers of the public should focus on how the site will be after the project is completed. "The case is about what it's going to be," Clarkin said. The business, which sells specialty stamped concrete, shares the site with a cabinet-making business owned by the applicant's son, as well as a deli, Clarkin said. The old, irregularly shaped lot, like many other properties along Route 35, does not conform to the current standards for frontyard setbacks and buffering, he noted. Resident Anna H. Mizak said she has lived near the corner of StevensAvenue and Route 35 for 45 years. She said she never had a problem until the concrete business moved in to that location. "I live directly across from this pigsty," Mizak said. Cardosa agreed to keep the work done at the business indoors, and to keep all of the equipment inside a proposed garage, in the interests of preserving the quality of life for the neighbors. Also, the plan includes space for the construction of a bathroomfor employees. Planning Board Chairman Dr. John Misiewicz said that while he understands that Mizak's home borders a commercial zone, the plan to improve the site will only help the concerned neighbors. "This project vastly improves what's there now," Misiewicz said. Clarkin said the plan calls for the elimination of parking spaces in front of Route 35, describing it as an unsafe situation at present. The plan includes 22 parking spaces, exceeding the 19 spaces required for the site, in order to address parking concerns raised by residents who say that employees park their cars on Stevens Avenue. He said the loading zone will be as far from neighboring residences as possible. The plan also includes the construction of a new two-story accessory structure, wheremore equipment can be stored out of the sight of neighbors, Clarkin said.Among the other additions in the plan is a 6-foothigh white PVC fence and an attached garage to store vehicles and Bobcat equipment indoors. Cardosa told the board that the purpose of the plan is to provide, not onlymore storage space for equipment, but also additional office space, since he described the current office as cramped, at approximately 600 square feet. Tractor-trailers will still have to use Stevens Avenue to enter the lot, Cardosa said, noting that this is safer, since turning directly into the parking lot from the highway would be dangerous. Planner Victor E. Vinegra also testified before the board, saying that he designed a widening of the driveway entrance from Stevens Avenue, in order to allow trucks easier access. When drafting the plan, he said he was aware of various factors, including the turning radius of trucks and the fact that vehicles are parked on both sides of Stevens Avenue. "I am familiar with this type of operation," Vinegra said. The planned additional lighting will not produce a glare that would adversely impact neighbors, he said. The businesses needed several variances from borough zoning, including a rear buffer variance that will provide additional flexibility to visually enhance the aesthetics of the site and make it safer, Vinegra said. Clarkin noted that the majority of the variances being requested were granted to the prior owner, who operated a bar there. "There are only four new variances," Clarkin said. Glenn Selover, a former resident of Stevens Avenue, addressed the board on behalf of his parents, who still live near the business. He said his family never had problems with the bar that was at that location when he was growing up. The concrete business that moved in, he said, has had poor housekeeping practices. Selover said the owner currently uses a trash bin that is too small for the business' purposes, since he has seen garbage piled up near the container from his parents' house. He said his family has seen employees of the business urinating due to a lack of sanitary facilities there. Selover also said that trucks could not turn into the parking lot from Stevens Avenue, since parked cars along the side of the road limit the range of motion of trucks. He said this results in loud disturbances for residents, who hear truck drivers maneuver in reverse in order to adjust the direction of the truck in order to enter the site. Borough Engineer Jay Cornell said that the while the plan to have trucks turn right onto Stevens Avenue and then left into the parking lot is not ideal, it is better than the alternative of having trucks enter from Route 35 and exit by way of a residential road like Stevens Avenue. "It is the lesser of two evils," Cornell said. Vinegra said the widening of the parking lot's entrance to about the width of a city street, 30 feet, will help truckers execute the turn into the site from Stevens Avenue. Planning Board Attorney James P. Hoebich said that if neighbors see the business not conforming to the conditions set about in this site plan, they should contact the code enforcement office, so that violations and fines can be issued. Board Vice Chairman Thomas Tighe described this as a difficult situation for both the business and neighboring residents. He said the plan would ultimately benefit the neighborhood, since it calls for a larger garbage bin to be used to improve the appearance of the business. He added that Cardosa is making the best of a bad situation through this plan. "He's addressed a lot of the problems," Tighe said.