The West Windsor Planning Board has taken a new approach when it comes to the mass rezoning of 80 percent of the township’s residential lots. Now 10 newly drafted ordinances replacing the two the board’s professionals had originally created will be up for discussion at the board’s meeting on Wednesday, May 14.##M:[more]##
The move is in response to residents’ concerns and opposition springing from the board’s January 23 meeting, in which well over 100 residents adamantly opposed new floor-area-ratios and setbacks on two ordinances that would have affected more than 5,”000 residents.
Because of a township-wide rezoning in 1997, about 80 percent of residential lots in the township are not conforming. The ordinances are the next in a series of ordinances that have been coming before planning officials and the council since September to correct this, and to create zoning that actually reflects the lotting patterns in the community, as called for in the 2002 Master Plan, officials said.
Originally, the board was considering rezoning the R-20 zone, which would turn the 1 2/3 acre zoning for lots in those areas to half-acre lots, to make those lots conforming to township code. Along with the rezoning, the permitted floor-area ratios on these properties would have risen from 13 percent to 17 percent, meaning that the owner of an average sized home could add an 800-square-foot addition. The maximum improvement coverage (or the amount of impervious coverage a property is allowed) would have increased from 17 to 18 percent. The minimum lot frontage would have gone from 85 feet to 75 feet, and the minimum lot width would have gone from 75 feet to 100 feet. The ordinance also called for a rear yard setback of 30 feet, up from 20 feet, and a decrease in the side-yard setback from 20 to 15 feet.
The second ordinance would have rezoned the R-32 zone, to make it 3/4 acre-zoning. The zoning on the lots is currently for 1 2/3 acre-zoning, but the lots are typically all 3/4-acres in size. With this ordinance, the floor-area ratio would have increased from 13 to 15 percent, meaning a person can have an addition of about 640 square feet. The maximum improvement coverage would have changed from 17 percent to 20 percent.
However, at the January 23 meeting, residents expressed a number of concerns, particularly pertaining to the proposed R-20 changes, including concerns that someone could buy two lots, take down the houses, and re-subdivide to create three lots; that their side-yard setbacks would decrease; and most prominently, that their neighbors would build huge additions to their houses without coming before the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
The board reconvened March 12, where a chart depicting various lot areas and widths, and various front, side, and rear yard setbacks, new floor-area ratios and new numbers of maximum improvement coverages was handed out to residents.
“We recognized that there were certain lots and certain geographical areas where there is a uniqueness to them, and they have special characteristics that need to be addressed,” Planning Board Chairman Marvin Gardner said. “We attempted to establish standards that would be fair and equitable to all the residents.”
In the new ordinances, residents living in Jefferson Park, Golfview Manor, LeParc 1 and 2, Charter Club, Stonybrook, Wellington Estates, Benford Estates, Windsor Estates, Sunrise 1 and 2, Windsor Chase, Mill View Manor, Nassau Colonial, Johill Estates, Princeton Ivy Estates, and Battista Estates would all fall under the R-20 zone. That zone will have a lot area of 20,”000 square feet, a lot width of 100 feet, a font yard setback of 40 feet, a side-yard setback of 15 feet, and a rear yard setback of 30 feet. The floor-area-ratio would increase to 13 percent, up from the average floor-area-ratio of 10 percent. The maximum improvement coverage would be 20 percent.
Then, there are two subsets of that ordinance, which deal with specific developments. They are R-20A, which covers Hunters Run, and R-20B, which covers Sherbrook Estates. In the R-20A zone, the only difference from the R-20 zone is that the front yard setback is at 30 feet, as opposed to 40 feet. In the R-20B zone, the only difference is that the side yard setback is proposed to be at 20 feet, as opposed to 15.
Then, the board and its professionals drafted an R24 zone specifically for Colonial Park. There, the lot area would be set at 24,”000 square feet, the lot width would be set at 125 feet, the front, side, and rear yard setbacks would be set at 50, 25, and 30 feet, respectively. The floor-area ratio would increase from 8 to 12 percent, and the maximum improvement coverage would be at 19 percent.
Then, there is the R-30 zone, which also carries four subsets — the R-30A, R-30B, R-30C, and R-30D zones.
The R-30 zone would cover Dutch Neck Estates, Windsor Hunt, Windsor Park Estates, Heatherfield, West, Windsor Crossing, Crown Pointe, Millbrook, Waterford Estates, Princeton Ivy East, Brookshyre 1 and 2, Kings Pointe, Princeton View, West Windsor Estates 1 and 2, Princeton Oaks, and Windsor Ridge. Here, the proposal calls for 30,”000 square feet of lot area, 150 feet of lot width, a 40-foot front yard setback, and 30-foot setbacks for both the side and rear yards. The floor-area ratio would increase from 10 to 12 percent, and the maximum improvement coverage would be 18 percent.
The R-30A zone, which would cover Wood Hollow, Princeton Manor, Windsor Green, Forest Lane, Princeton Ivy East, Princeton Oaks, Princeton Ivy Estates, Heatherly Estates, and Bucci Estates, differs from the R-30 zone in its front and side yard setbacks, which would be 50 feet and 25 feet, respectively. The R-30B zone — which would cover Wellington Estates West, part of Birchwood Estates, and Westwinds — would differ in that its side yard setback would be at 20 feet.
In the R-30C zone, which covers Princeton Chase, the lot width would be set at 100 feet, and the front and side yard setbacks would be set at 50 and 20 feet, respectively. And in the R-30D zone, which covers Old Mill Farms, Joanne Street, and Stobbe Lane, the two differences include the front-yard setback, which would be 50 feet, and the side-yard setback, which would be 20 feet.
The proposed ordinances would change the residential lots in these areas to conforming, so that if residents are looking to sell their property, or if there is a fire, nonconformity won’t be an issue, Gardner said. “And we’re also making things a little easier. If they want to expand, they don’t necessarily, in every instance, have to go to the zoning board,” unless what those residents want to do is very far from what the zoning calls for.
In addition to those ordinances, the board is looking to establish as many as six historical districts within Berrien City and adjacent communities. Gardner said he is hopeful that the language will be available for consideration by the public and board in time for the May 14 meeting.
The board has already passed an ordinance that would prevent developers from trying to subdivide and build on already-existing common-use open space (like tennis courts or walking areas in particular developments) around the town — attempts that could have come as a result of the rezoning.
