The West Windsor Township Council approved its 2007 municipal audit and the corrective action report prepared in conjunction with the audit on October 27.##M:[more]##
There were only three findings in this year’s audit, which Chief Financial Officer Joanne Louth said are minor clerical errors.
The first finding was that the police and community development departments had not always deposited funds within 48 hours. As part of the corrective action plan, the police department has agreed to make deposits on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The community development department will be using the Outlook calendar to remind them to make their deposits.
The second finding involved a contract with Ground Force Corporation, which was awarded by council in 2006 for cul-de-sac and street tree maintenance and replacement. The bid allowed for two one-year extensions, and the first one-year extension was never brought before the council to formalize it, Louth said.
The last finding relates to the public assistance program. There was an underclaim of $289 for reimbursement of assistance submitted to the state. What had happened was that the check was cashed by the client, and somehow showed up as voided on township computers, which use state software, when, in fact, the check was actually issued and cashed.
The township was required to report the deficiencies because of the nature of municipal law, but “they’re not serious in nature,” says Louth. “As a triple-A community, our financial operations are managed well,” she said. “This is unusual that we had three.”
Senior Center Change Order. In other business during the October 27 meeting, the Township Council approved the first change order for the senior center expansion project.
The change order allows for the contractor to relocate existing underground electric and telephone utilities and perform additional soil erosion and sediment control. The change order increases the amount of the contract by $7,”839, and the funds were included in the capital budget, said Business Administrator Chris Marion.
The council awarded a $1,”185,”000 contract for the first phase of the expansion project to Tri-Form Construction Inc. of Metuchen in June. Construction on the first phase — which includes renovations to the existing building, five additional classroom or meeting rooms, bathrooms, and more storage space — broke ground in August. Officials say they are also hoping the township will see the second phase of construction begin in 2010.
Parvesse Contract Extended. Also during the meeting, the council approved an extension of the contract for engineering consultant services with former township engineer James Parvesse, who left the township last December to work as the engineer in Lawrence. Marion explained that the contract is being extended from November 1 to December 31, as Parvesse continues to consult the township with regard to ongoing litigation and other transition-related issues.
Marion said that two recruits had been interviewed for the open township engineer position since February, and that one may be hired in the near future. Currently, Rob Korkuch is serving as the acting engineer. His consulting contract was also extended to December 31 during the meeting.
Council Approves Nearly All Rezoning
The West Windsor Township Council has adopted 12 of 13 ordinances that rezone 80 percent of residential lots in the township, all of which were nonconforming. The last ordinance was postponed to Monday, November 10, so professionals could look into an issue raised during the council’s October 27 meeting.
The ordinances are have been discussed at length at both the Planning Board and council level, as officials have cited the need to create zoning that actually reflects the lotting patterns in the community, as called for in the 2002 Master Plan. Officials also said they tried to balance property owners’ rights when weighing the options for creating the new zones in town.
Under the ordinances, the R-20 districts (R-20, R-20A, and R-20B) have a minimum lot size of 20,”000 square feet, the R-24 district a minimum lot size of 24,”000 square feet, and the R-30 districts (R-30, R-30A, R-30B, R-30C, and R-30D) a minimum lot size of 30,”000 square feet. The R-20 and R-30 districts have been broken down into subdistricts with different front and side yard standards, explained a memo from Gerald Muller posted on the township’s web site. In all of the districts other than the Westwinds district, the floor-area ration (FAR) of 13 percent in the R-1A district was retained, and the R-1A district’s 17 percent maximum improvement coverage has been increased to 20 percent in the R-20 districts, 19 percent in the R-24 districts, and 18 percent in the R-30 districts, the memo stated. The Westwinds district, R-3.5, has a 60 percent FAR and other bulk standards reflecting the actual conditions in the built development.
The ordinance that drew concern was the R-20A zone, which covers Hunters Run. In the R-20A zone, a subset of the R-20 zone that covers the Hunters Run development, the only difference from the R-20 zone is that the front yard setback is at 30 feet, and not 40 feet.
However, what drew concern from residents and Councilwoman Heidi Kleinman, in this case, was that the floor-area-ratio (FAR) would be limited to 13 percent in the neighborhood, which was specifically designed to fit larger houses on smaller lots. The concern was that the new zoning would take away property owners’ rights and also change the character of the neighborhood, which was developed in accordance with cluster zoning to save open space in other parts of town.
“People bought under that scenario, which created a character to the neighborhood, and that’s why certain houses are larger than other houses,” said Kleinman. “And when you’re talking about trying to make things conform, we’re talking about conforming to the way that they were built, and this doesn’t make sense to me.”
She said that in most other areas where the residential lots average 20,”000 square feet, they had 13 percent FARs because they were designed that way. But, “this one was 13 percent on 3/4 of an acre. This is the way the neighborhood was designed,” Kleinman said.
Sam Surtees, manager of the division of land use, said that “in one way, we are taking away what the property owners have the right to do now, and what they had a right to do when they bought the home. What we are taking away is their ability to have a larger home on a smaller lot than what other 1/2 acre lots have in town. It is a change in what we are proposing in the other districts, but what we felt we wanted to do was limit it to 13 percent of the actual lot area, not 13 percent of an imaginary 3/4 acre lot.”
In reality, most of the homes have a 19.5 percent FAR, and under the cluster zoning, the existing setback is 12 feet, but the proposal is to increase it to a 15-foot setback, so some of the homes would be nonconforming in setback, Surtees added.
“They’re very large houses on small lots, but that’s the character of that neighborhood,” Kleinman added.
In response, Surtees said that council could change the zone to allow a 19.5 percent FAR on half-acre lots in the subdivision, rather than the 13 percent, to allow residents to do what they are allowed to do under current zoning, or the township could rezone the property into one of the R-30 classifications.
Harry Kramer, a resident of the neighborhood, said he felt residents living in the development who have not expanded as their neighbors had, under current zoning, should be allowed to add on at least to the extent as to what their neighbors have already done. “It should be 15 or 16 percent (FAR), or whatever would fit the character of what’s there now.”
Kleinman agreed, saying that the development contains very large homes, and that one would be hard pressed to find a home that encompasses only 2,”600 square feet now. “Those houses are generous.”
Surtees said the staff could pull the property record cards for each of the last 100 homes and see what the square footage reads, and then the staff can do the calculations for every single lot and get back to the council with a recommendation for the FAR. The matter is up for public hearing on Monday, November 10.
