Bloomfield Township Design Review Board Meeting October 15, 2025

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Transcript

Click any timestamp to jump the video to that moment. Auto-transcribed; expect occasional errors on proper nouns.

1. 0:00

   Welcome to the Wednesday, October 15th Design Review Board. Everybody's here in attendance. Welcome. Any public comment on any issue in front of us today, you can come up to the microphone. And we ask you to stay within a three-minute time limit. Okay. Okay, we'll close public comment and ask for approval of the minutes from our October 1st, 2025 meeting. So moved. Support? Support. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Aye. Passes three to nothing. Thank you. New item signed, 883 Long Lake Road, Keiku Sushi. Corey, aye. Hello. Thank you. So our first case is a sign at 883 Long Lake Road. This is where the property sits within our zoning map. It's part of the Kroger Complex right across the street. I'm sure you're all very well familiar with it. Looking at our zoning map, it sits within a larger area of higher intensity use within the township, commercial, office, even some higher intensity residential to the south. And here's an aerial. You can see the township hall here. And we're talking specifically about a unit up here. Yeah, they just moved over a couple of spots. That's basically my presentation. So one thing I want to emphasize. Sorry, I didn't mean to. No worries. Give it away. So this sign has already been reviewed and approved by this body. And it was reviewed and approved for that location. All they're actually proposing is to relocate it to replace the super cuts. But of course, we reviewed it again for compliance with the zoning ordinance. It's the same sign they had before. It's the same sign. And it meets all the requirements of the ordinance. There's no illustrations. There's no illustrations. yeah it's highly appropriate that's a great spot yeah okay okay and I'll make a motion that we approve a submitted support all in favor say aye aye they post passes three nothing Cory four three two oh five Woodward Avenue bloom pediatrics Oh Tom mm-hmm all right all right nice nice mm-hmm I like the ties gentlemen today we'll be looking at a sign request for bloom pediatrics it's located in Kingswood Plaza on Woodward Avenue here's an aerial of property I'll just note it's in the b2 community business district and it's surrounded by various office and commercial properties an aerial and previously the site was occupied by Bloomfield pediatric care different pediatric establishment is going to occupy the building the sign mostly complies with the townships ordinances it projects 10 inches from the building

2. 1:15

   So this sign has already been reviewed and approved by this body. And it was reviewed and approved for that location. All they're actually proposing is to relocate it to replace the super cuts. But of course, we reviewed it again for compliance with the zoning ordinance. It's the same sign they had before. It's the same sign. And it meets all the requirements of the ordinance. There's no illustrations. There's no illustrations. yeah it's highly appropriate that's a great spot yeah okay okay and I'll make a motion that we approve a submitted support all in favor say aye aye they post passes three nothing Cory four three two oh five Woodward Avenue bloom pediatrics Oh Tom mm-hmm all right all right nice nice mm-hmm I like the ties gentlemen today we'll be looking at a sign request for bloom pediatrics it's located in Kingswood Plaza on Woodward Avenue here's an aerial of property I'll just note it's in the b2 community business district and it's surrounded by various office and commercial properties an aerial and previously the site was occupied by Bloomfield pediatric care different pediatric establishment is going to occupy the building the sign mostly complies with the townships ordinances it projects 10 inches from the building it's allowed to project 12 inches it's internally illuminated there's no exposed neon lighting and this is the only sign for the address when it comes to the square footage of the sign the property is allowed 37.5 square feet but it will come out to be 44.8 as proposed then when it comes to the illustrations they are allowed 1.87 square feet and they're proposing 4.31 with the bumblebee and then the leaves on the D it will come out to be I to the applicant about this and they are interested in going to the zba for variances you can answer any questions that illumination we've talked about that right andrea and this is just the back lighting from each letter it's a little different than the other kind of illuminating we've seen correct absolutely this is how the site looks right now yeah it may not bring a lot of people in okay how does the sign look in comparison to others that in that strip mall it's very size i did not do a comparison of the other signs it's almost similar there was other sign there

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   with the townships ordinances it projects 10 inches from the building it's allowed to project 12 inches it's internally illuminated there's no exposed neon lighting and this is the only sign for the address when it comes to the square footage of the sign the property is allowed 37.5 square feet but it will come out to be 44.8 as proposed then when it comes to the illustrations they are allowed 1.87 square feet and they're proposing 4.31 with the bumblebee and then the leaves on the D it will come out to be I to the applicant about this and they are interested in going to the zba for variances you can answer any questions that illumination we've talked about that right andrea and this is just the back lighting from each letter it's a little different than the other kind of illuminating we've seen correct absolutely this is how the site looks right now yeah it may not bring a lot of people in okay how does the sign look in comparison to others that in that strip mall it's very size i did not do a comparison of the other signs it's almost similar there was other sign there because it's been a doctor's office before i believe it was another pg at yeah and there were some pardon me there were no illustrations on that sign and i think i can sign but it didn't have the butterfly and whatnot is that what you meant yes i think i can say that traditionally there haven't been a lot of variances that have ever been granted kingswood plaza for size you guys have always complied with the size requirement in terms of coloring and graphics i think there's a series of different colors that are in there um so i think that this is very consistent um i know that there was a resale kid's store that was in there that also had a different coloration of their signage so i don't think that this is anything different than what would be consistent across the plaza in my opinion you you you you all right i'm i'm okay with it uh the zba is okay with it so i'll make a motion that we approve uh as submitted and submit to the zba for uh their review all support all in favor say aye aye and opposed passes three nothing thank you 43207 woodward avenue the bunker golf lounge all right so this is our second of three cases tonight that are going to be at the kingswood plaza site so this is another sign proposed for the same location so i won't go over this again

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   i did not do a comparison of the other signs it's almost similar there was other sign there because it's been a doctor's office before i believe it was another pg at yeah and there were some pardon me there were no illustrations on that sign and i think i can sign but it didn't have the butterfly and whatnot is that what you meant yes i think i can say that traditionally there haven't been a lot of variances that have ever been granted kingswood plaza for size you guys have always complied with the size requirement in terms of coloring and graphics i think there's a series of different colors that are in there um so i think that this is very consistent um i know that there was a resale kid's store that was in there that also had a different coloration of their signage so i don't think that this is anything different than what would be consistent across the plaza in my opinion you you you you all right i'm i'm okay with it uh the zba is okay with it so i'll make a motion that we approve uh as submitted and submit to the zba for uh their review all support all in favor say aye aye and opposed passes three nothing thank you 43207 woodward avenue the bunker golf lounge all right so this is our second of three cases tonight that are going to be at the kingswood plaza site so this is another sign proposed for the same location so i won't go over this again this time it's for the bunker golf lounge this indicates there's demonstrating for you how far back it is from the road over 450 feet where the sign will actually appear this is the sign as proposed in terms of compliance with the zoning ordinance it meets all our requirements so they're proposing one sign for this address they're permitted up to 26.4 square feet and there's their sign is proposed to be 15 square feet illustrations so the golf flag and putting area we consider that a logo illustration it comes out to 4.9 percent of the sign area just under the threshold um it's gonna be woodward facing and it's gonna have a very small projection only six and a quarter inches so it's gonna be kind of flush with the facade um it's gonna be internally lit and it meets all our requirements what is the uh use of the business so the use is going to be golf simulators you you you another place with gloves this one has been vetted out and they haven't they have stated that there will be no alcohol or any food service this is solely going to be just um golf simulators so it's not really much of a lounge right correct and we did have a discussion

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   so this is another sign proposed for the same location so i won't go over this again this time it's for the bunker golf lounge this indicates there's demonstrating for you how far back it is from the road over 450 feet where the sign will actually appear this is the sign as proposed in terms of compliance with the zoning ordinance it meets all our requirements so they're proposing one sign for this address they're permitted up to 26.4 square feet and there's their sign is proposed to be 15 square feet illustrations so the golf flag and putting area we consider that a logo illustration it comes out to 4.9 percent of the sign area just under the threshold um it's gonna be woodward facing and it's gonna have a very small projection only six and a quarter inches so it's gonna be kind of flush with the facade um it's gonna be internally lit and it meets all our requirements what is the uh use of the business so the use is going to be golf simulators you you you another place with gloves this one has been vetted out and they haven't they have stated that there will be no alcohol or any food service this is solely going to be just um golf simulators so it's not really much of a lounge right correct and we did have a discussion about the terminology on the sign that is part of their branding because i i felt the same way i felt that lounge elicited the idea that there was some sort of uh are they allowing outside food and beverages um maybe scott wants to come and talk regards the tenant good afternoon scott lebowitz with the kingswood plaza um so i don't believe that they're planning on having food brought in but i've not had you know ask that question in particular they're it's very clear in their lease agreement they're not permitted to sell any food or alcohol but i can't tell you one way or the other for sure if someone's going to order pizza or door dash food into the space i don't have that answer for you okay okay thank you um i just wonder why the sign isn't a little larger given the distance from the street i mean there's a lot of space there between what's it's up there and what's permitted yeah they're permitted an additional 10 square feet you

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   golf simulators so it's not really much of a lounge right correct and we did have a discussion about the terminology on the sign that is part of their branding because i i felt the same way i felt that lounge elicited the idea that there was some sort of uh are they allowing outside food and beverages um maybe scott wants to come and talk regards the tenant good afternoon scott lebowitz with the kingswood plaza um so i don't believe that they're planning on having food brought in but i've not had you know ask that question in particular they're it's very clear in their lease agreement they're not permitted to sell any food or alcohol but i can't tell you one way or the other for sure if someone's going to order pizza or door dash food into the space i don't have that answer for you okay okay thank you um i just wonder why the sign isn't a little larger given the distance from the street i mean there's a lot of space there between what's it's up there and what's permitted yeah they're permitted an additional 10 square feet you I don't think we've ever asked for a sign right now yeah we did I'm happy to approve it as presented all right I'll support that all in favor say aye aye any opposed pass three nothing thank you good luck thanks all right site improvements four three two three nine Woodward Avenue Kingswood Plaza Tom got the rotating planners going on here so for these slight improvements at the plaza this is gonna be focused at four three two three nine Woodward Avenue the property in question used to be occupied by Golden Crown Chinese restaurants it's my understanding that they have left that part of the plaza and the plaza is looking to reinstall a series of windows that were taken out previously and then they're also looking to install a few more windows on the south side and then these windows will match the other windows that are at the plaza just cleaning it up a little bit that was part of the past design review board request for the painting yeah we've completed the repainting which you're

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   I don't think we've ever asked for a sign right now yeah we did I'm happy to approve it as presented all right I'll support that all in favor say aye aye any opposed pass three nothing thank you good luck thanks all right site improvements four three two three nine Woodward Avenue Kingswood Plaza Tom got the rotating planners going on here so for these slight improvements at the plaza this is gonna be focused at four three two three nine Woodward Avenue the property in question used to be occupied by Golden Crown Chinese restaurants it's my understanding that they have left that part of the plaza and the plaza is looking to reinstall a series of windows that were taken out previously and then they're also looking to install a few more windows on the south side and then these windows will match the other windows that are at the plaza just cleaning it up a little bit that was part of the past design review board request for the painting yeah we've completed the repainting which you're seeing the images we're very pleased with it I have a user who is looking at this location so it's part of our plan to update the center we're going to put the storefront in and looking to possibly cut in some windows on that south side elevation also just for clarity since it was golden crown it was bastion gaming who was there which is a recreational type of use and that's who was the last occupant but that's what we're looking to get approval on for today and some feedback on the zoning with the little gym as well oh yes yes i know i had that yeah i talked to your associate yesterday yeah all right it looks nice i'll approve it as i'll write a move that we approve it as submitted i'll support all in favor say aye aye any opposed passes three to nothing uh 1751 south telegraph road detail express this is another site improvement for detail i take care guys okay that's 1751 south telegraph road in the b3 district surrounded by other commercial properties

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   request for the painting yeah we've completed the repainting which you're seeing the images we're very pleased with it I have a user who is looking at this location so it's part of our plan to update the center we're going to put the storefront in and looking to possibly cut in some windows on that south side elevation also just for clarity since it was golden crown it was bastion gaming who was there which is a recreational type of use and that's who was the last occupant but that's what we're looking to get approval on for today and some feedback on the zoning with the little gym as well oh yes yes i know i had that yeah i talked to your associate yesterday yeah all right it looks nice i'll approve it as i'll write a move that we approve it as submitted i'll support all in favor say aye aye any opposed passes three to nothing uh 1751 south telegraph road detail express this is another site improvement for detail i take care guys okay that's 1751 south telegraph road in the b3 district surrounded by other commercial properties here is an aerial of the sites and then the sole request is that they're going to change the awning color so it used to be this tan color and now it's going to be black that look nice yeah here are some photos of the currents that's great is the owner of the detail express here well what's changing the awning the awning color from the white to the black Everything's gray, I just want to break out a little bit. Oh, okay, we don't have that picture, do we? Yeah, I know where you're at. Yeah, good for you. We've got to come visit you. Yeah, yeah. Okay, all right. I don't have any questions, it looks great. I mean, I think the color, actually, we talked a lot about the wall and the pillars when you originally came back, I don't know how long ago, two years ago or so, when we talked about all this stuff, and adding the black awning makes it even look better. So, if there's any other questions, I'm happy to make a motion and prove it as presented. Does it need to go, does not need to go ZBA or anything, so. All right, I'll support that. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Passes three, nothing. Good luck. Just one question. Yes, sir. Because of the weather, it's not good. Do you mind coming up to the podium? Oh, sorry. Sure.

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   okay that's 1751 south telegraph road in the b3 district surrounded by other commercial properties here is an aerial of the sites and then the sole request is that they're going to change the awning color so it used to be this tan color and now it's going to be black that look nice yeah here are some photos of the currents that's great is the owner of the detail express here well what's changing the awning the awning color from the white to the black Everything's gray, I just want to break out a little bit. Oh, okay, we don't have that picture, do we? Yeah, I know where you're at. Yeah, good for you. We've got to come visit you. Yeah, yeah. Okay, all right. I don't have any questions, it looks great. I mean, I think the color, actually, we talked a lot about the wall and the pillars when you originally came back, I don't know how long ago, two years ago or so, when we talked about all this stuff, and adding the black awning makes it even look better. So, if there's any other questions, I'm happy to make a motion and prove it as presented. Does it need to go, does not need to go ZBA or anything, so. All right, I'll support that. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Passes three, nothing. Good luck. Just one question. Yes, sir. Because of the weather, it's not good. Do you mind coming up to the podium? Oh, sorry. Sure. Just with the weather and whatnot coming, trying to get somebody lined up, make sure that it's warm enough to get it done, it may go to next year if I can't find someone to get it done. I think you get a year, yeah. Is it a year? Yeah, DRB. Yeah, you have plenty of time. That's it. Thank you for clarifying that. Take care. Hope to come visit you, sir. Thanks. Yep. Okay, 6536 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Plaza. Thank you. So, you look down, and you look up, and it's another planner. That's okay. Yeah. Or is it the same planner? All right. You should get a swivel chair. Ready? All right. So our final case for tonight is for the, sorry, it's for enclosures. So this is... where the property sits within our zoning map at the intersection of maple road and telegraph road so it's part of this shopping center with nino salvaggio trader joe's there used to be a movie theater as i'm sure you're all aware that was behind the structure located here that was since demolished exposing the alleyway which then resulted in some calls people concerned about things being stored out there in the alley so we've been working with the property owner over the last few months to come up with a plan to enclose everything and i think we finally arrived

10. 11:15

    Just with the weather and whatnot coming, trying to get somebody lined up, make sure that it's warm enough to get it done, it may go to next year if I can't find someone to get it done. I think you get a year, yeah. Is it a year? Yeah, DRB. Yeah, you have plenty of time. That's it. Thank you for clarifying that. Take care. Hope to come visit you, sir. Thanks. Yep. Okay, 6536 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Plaza. Thank you. So, you look down, and you look up, and it's another planner. That's okay. Yeah. Or is it the same planner? All right. You should get a swivel chair. Ready? All right. So our final case for tonight is for the, sorry, it's for enclosures. So this is... where the property sits within our zoning map at the intersection of maple road and telegraph road so it's part of this shopping center with nino salvaggio trader joe's there used to be a movie theater as i'm sure you're all aware that was behind the structure located here that was since demolished exposing the alleyway which then resulted in some calls people concerned about things being stored out there in the alley so we've been working with the property owner over the last few months to come up with a plan to enclose everything and i think we finally arrived at one that works for everyone so this is the plan as presented it's for four new enclosures to be placed in the back alley let's see the primary concern and the reason it took kind of several months to work out this plan was because the fire department was very concerned about truck access in the alleyway trying to make sure that when the doors are open to the enclosures things like that that there's not any blockage to traffic or any safety concerns and so we went back and forth with a few plans and i think this one now has satisfied all the concerns from the fire department all the concerns from engineering they're proposing a width for the alley of 17 feet and four inches which should satisfy truck traffic and then the enclosures they have rotated kind of angled them in so that they're less obstructive to the alleyway and so when the doors open they're less likely to impede traffic furthermore and then the element that really secured fire's approval was that the applicant has agreed to spring load the doors so that even if an employee walks away thoughtlessly without closing it, it'll shut on its own. And so for that reason, staff feels that this proposal is consistent with our ordinance requirements and public safety. Furthermore, materials, the applicants

11. 12:30

    the last few months to come up with a plan to enclose everything and i think we finally arrived at one that works for everyone so this is the plan as presented it's for four new enclosures to be placed in the back alley let's see the primary concern and the reason it took kind of several months to work out this plan was because the fire department was very concerned about truck access in the alleyway trying to make sure that when the doors are open to the enclosures things like that that there's not any blockage to traffic or any safety concerns and so we went back and forth with a few plans and i think this one now has satisfied all the concerns from the fire department all the concerns from engineering they're proposing a width for the alley of 17 feet and four inches which should satisfy truck traffic and then the enclosures they have rotated kind of angled them in so that they're less obstructive to the alleyway and so when the doors open they're less likely to impede traffic furthermore and then the element that really secured fire's approval was that the applicant has agreed to spring load the doors so that even if an employee walks away thoughtlessly without closing it, it'll shut on its own. And so for that reason, staff feels that this proposal is consistent with our ordinance requirements and public safety. Furthermore, materials, the applicants are proposing two styles of enclosure, four total, two of each. The first style is going to be 10 feet by 10 feet, the second will be 12 feet by 24 feet, and then they will be, the doors will be cedar. That's it for my presentation. Are they going to remove the other shipping containers from that site? So there is some concerns about dumpsters being stored where there used to be that movie theater and other concerns. That is, Andrea may want to speak more to this, but it is in process to take care of that. I just had the same exact conversation when I went over the restaurant, you know, those, and I did have a follow-up with Chris Myers. Chris Myers has had an email from the property manager reaching out to the contractor that was doing the work at CVS. So there is, there has been conversations from the property owner to that contractor to have that dumpster removed. So we are definitely working on it and we'd also like to have it out of there. Are those dumpsters? I mean they look more like shipping containers, like storage units, like metal pods kind of thing. I think she can speak to that because I think those might be gone because when I drove by there yesterday, I think I only saw the big yellow. I want to have to say hello.

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    ordinance requirements and public safety. Furthermore, materials, the applicants are proposing two styles of enclosure, four total, two of each. The first style is going to be 10 feet by 10 feet, the second will be 12 feet by 24 feet, and then they will be, the doors will be cedar. That's it for my presentation. Are they going to remove the other shipping containers from that site? So there is some concerns about dumpsters being stored where there used to be that movie theater and other concerns. That is, Andrea may want to speak more to this, but it is in process to take care of that. I just had the same exact conversation when I went over the restaurant, you know, those, and I did have a follow-up with Chris Myers. Chris Myers has had an email from the property manager reaching out to the contractor that was doing the work at CVS. So there is, there has been conversations from the property owner to that contractor to have that dumpster removed. So we are definitely working on it and we'd also like to have it out of there. Are those dumpsters? I mean they look more like shipping containers, like storage units, like metal pods kind of thing. I think she can speak to that because I think those might be gone because when I drove by there yesterday, I think I only saw the big yellow. I want to have to say hello. shipping containers were part of the construction but correct me if i'm wrong hi i'm jaclyn garrett i'm with the plaza um so the shipping containers are temporary those were just for the cvs remodel um what will go in the enclosures that we're proposing are the two eight yard trash compactors that the tenants use daily for waste removal and then outdoor storage for trader joe's for pallets broken carts returnables all of those items so the dumpster that remains on site that's the yellow the big yellow dumpster is part of the cvs remodel that's going away all right how long will it take to get this done the include to build the enclosures i need to get an update from the fence contractor we haven't had a recent conversation about it um because we've been finalizing the plans um our hope was to get it done before the end of the year i'm not sure if that's going to be possible or not i need to see what their schedule looks like and jacqueline just on another subject you where that property where the theater is yes you have plans for that so there's several proposed plans out there we do have an loi

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    shipping containers were part of the construction but correct me if i'm wrong hi i'm jaclyn garrett i'm with the plaza um so the shipping containers are temporary those were just for the cvs remodel um what will go in the enclosures that we're proposing are the two eight yard trash compactors that the tenants use daily for waste removal and then outdoor storage for trader joe's for pallets broken carts returnables all of those items so the dumpster that remains on site that's the yellow the big yellow dumpster is part of the cvs remodel that's going away all right how long will it take to get this done the include to build the enclosures i need to get an update from the fence contractor we haven't had a recent conversation about it um because we've been finalizing the plans um our hope was to get it done before the end of the year i'm not sure if that's going to be possible or not i need to see what their schedule looks like and jacqueline just on another subject you where that property where the theater is yes you have plans for that so there's several proposed plans out there we do have an loi nationwide circulating um if and when that gets approved and we start redeveloping that then we would build permanent enclosures with masonry walls that would meet all of the current codes and ordinances okay could you reach out to me i'd like to talk to you about that piece of property yeah absolutely okay andrea has my contact information okay thank you or my or michael okay okay anything else for me thank you all right uh i think this is definitely uh improvement so uh i'll move that we approve the plan as submitted in support all in favor say aye aye any opposed passes three to nothing thank you appreciate it thank you look forward to hearing from you yep thanks uh general uh business recent design review board approvals anything no recent approvals we will have we have cases in the queue for our next meeting on november 5th i know and we're looking at your situation for the signage oh it's quite a story yeah we're working through it yeah there's a series of issues a series of things that occurred so i wanted to make sure that i had a very clear picture before they brought it back and presented it to you so probably next meeting okay and i did we all

14. 16:15

    theater is yes you have plans for that so there's several proposed plans out there we do have an loi nationwide circulating um if and when that gets approved and we start redeveloping that then we would build permanent enclosures with masonry walls that would meet all of the current codes and ordinances okay could you reach out to me i'd like to talk to you about that piece of property yeah absolutely okay andrea has my contact information okay thank you or my or michael okay okay anything else for me thank you all right uh i think this is definitely uh improvement so uh i'll move that we approve the plan as submitted in support all in favor say aye aye any opposed passes three to nothing thank you appreciate it thank you look forward to hearing from you yep thanks uh general uh business recent design review board approvals anything no recent approvals we will have we have cases in the queue for our next meeting on november 5th i know and we're looking at your situation for the signage oh it's quite a story yeah we're working through it yeah there's a series of issues a series of things that occurred so i wanted to make sure that i had a very clear picture before they brought it back and presented it to you so probably next meeting okay and i did we all drove by to look at the sign again too we were talking about it earlier so we'll get something hopefully worked out here what's the status of the flag yeah that yeah yeah well my directive to my staff is that we're not going to be bringing back to the design review board until that flag's removed so i would imagine that that conversation if you want to carry that back to your um weren't that's going to be expected to be gone before the next before it's presented the drv how far back is the sign that you made and installed from telegraph road on this side yeah come on up here if you can you come up to the podium do you have any idea because it is set back i think under our regulations but i couldn't i was trying to guess the footage yeah i don't remember the exact number off top of my head okay it would just be yeah me trying to estimate numbers okay fine thank you i can go measure if you want no that's okay i'll provide it yeah that's fine i think it's within our regulation but it seems like it's set back pretty good distance that's all okay cory anything else that's all i got all right our next meeting is scheduled for november 5th at 2 p.m and i'll move to adjourn move we adjourn okay all in favor say aye aye thank you