A Tale of Two Site Plans

After the Zoning Board agreed that it had jurisdiction to hear the Gospel Fellowship Church's site plan application, Elliot Urdang, the attorney for the Church, called Michael Hubschman, the church's engineering expert, to testify.

Hubschman, a professional engineer whose office is located in Bergenfield, was also the engineer for Riverview Racquetball Club that successfully submitted an almost identical site plan to the planning board in 2008. 

The church, currently located in Bergenfield, wants to move into the Riverview Racquetball Club facility on Henley Ave., but was in December. The board cited increased flooding,  and the number of congregants as reasons for denial. 

"The Church is using essentially same site plan that Riverview got approval on, with slight changes," Urdang told the zoning board during the June meeting. "So, if it was approved by the planning board, why are we here?" 

The original site plan prepared by Hubschman and approved by the planning board for Riverview Racquetball Club was put on display beside the site plan for Gospel Fellowship Church. 

Hubschman said that the two plans are "substantially the same" with the exception of the addition of a small maintenance shed, four parking spaces removed due to fire department comments and the addition of notes listing conditional use and D variances required. 

Urdang said that the variances originally sought by Riverview were C variances for existing use. The church is now seeking D variances because a house of worship is a conditional use, not a permitted or existing use, and only the zoning board has jurisdiction over D variances.  

He added that parking variances were approved for the Riverview Racquetball Club and three permits were obtained from the DEP--all dealing with the flood plain and wetlands waivers. These DEP permits are valid through March 2013.  

Hubschman said that the drainage report submitted with the church's site plan is the same one that was approved by the planning board for Riverview. Hubschman added that the borough engineer, Margita Batistic, had made additional recommendations regarding drainage that the church has no problem complying with.

Urdang questioned Hubschman about whether this development will adversely affect flooding in the residential area. Hubschman said, "No."

He explained that 72,000 acres drain into the Hackensack; the church is only two acres. However, he said that flood storage will be increased by approximately 300 cubic yards of storage on site which will help, concluding that there will be no adverse impact of this development on flooding