Four ordinances that would rezone various properties around West Windsor and make them conforming with township code are up for discussion and review on Wednesday, January 23, at 7 p.m. at Grover Middle School.
Because of a township-wide rezoning in 1997, about 80 percent of residential lots in the township are not conforming. The four ordinances up for discussion on January 23 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, Township Division of Land Use manager Sam Surtees said.
There are four ordinances on the agenda for the January 23 meeting. The first would extend the E, or Educational District, which encompasses some properties the Mercer County Community College and Mercer County Votech has acquired, and making it part of the education district.
The second ordinance would expand the existing R-2 single-family residential zone to include six lots along Village Road West near the intersection with Quakerbridge Road to make those lots conforming. Current zoning is 1 and 2/3 acres, and they would become 2 acre-lots. Only one of those lots would be nonconforming.
The last two ordinances would affect a large number of residents in town if they become law. One of those ordinances, the R-20 zone, would affect 3,”041 lots, many of which are currently a half-acre each. “Basically, what we’re doing is the lots in the community that are half acre in size, we are actually going to zone them half-acre,” Surtees said. Currently, they are in a zone where 1 2/3 acre-lots are currently permitted, deeming them nonconforming. Along with the rezoning, the permitted floor-area ratios on these properties will rise 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) will increase from 17 to 18 percent.
The last ordinance would rezone the R-32 zone, to make it 3/4 acre-zoning, which will affect 2,”029 township lots. 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 increase from 13 to 15 percent, meaning a person can have an addition of about 640 square feet. The maximum improvement coverage will change from 17 percent to 20 percent.
“What we did was we took a look at Zoning Board grants, and typically they’ve been granting 2- to 3-percent floor-area increases,” Surtees said. “It would be good planning practice to incorporate that into new zoning code.”
Many of the lots in town were rezoned in 1997 to either 1 2/3-acres or 1 1/3-acre zoning, making most of them nonconforming. Surtees emphasized, however, that none of the proposed ordinances are set in stone and that they may change before they make it through the planning board and township council. Right now, the ordinances are in their draft phase, he said.
In addition, he said he sent notices out this week to 5,”200 residents who would be affected by the ordinances and said they can call or meet with him to ask questions about how their properties would be affected (see page 2 for a letter to the editor on this subject).
Under the current zoning, there have been an increased amount of residents applying for permits or having to go to the zoning boards to put additions on their houses, Surtees said. And due to the “apparent need in the community and apparent willingness of variances to be granted,” what township officials thought to do was to include the increased percentages for floor-area ratios and maximum improvements in the ordinances.
Residents also faced some hardships with nonconforming lots, he said. “Typically, if the house burned down or something, all they would be allowed to do was rebuild to the exact same footprint the existing house was,” he said.
