Devon-Lawrenceville LLC wants to add 10 one-story buildings to the former Grossman’s site on Route 1.
By: Lea Kahn
A self-service storage company’s request to expand a non-conforming use will be considered by the Zoning Board of Adjustment at its regular meeting Wednesday.
Devon-Lawrenceville LLC will outline its application at the zoning board meeting, which begins at 7:30 p.m. The meeting will be held in the Lower Level Conference Room at the municipal building.
The applicant was granted a use variance to convert the former Grossman’s building supply company warehouse into a self-service storage facility in 1997. The 11.6-acre property is located on Route 1 at Carnegie Road.
Now, Devon-Lawrenceville LLC wants to add to the existing 110,19 square feet of storage space that it has established. The applicant wants to construct ten one-story buildings totalling 39,250 square feet, plus a 4,250-square-foot addition to the Grossman’s building.
Self-storage facilities are not permitted in the Highway Commercial zone. Since a use variance application was granted in 1997 allowing for the business, the proposal would be an expansion of a non-conforming use if approved.
In other business, the zoning board will consider a request from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 269’s request for permission to erect two solar walls, containing photovoltaic solar panels, in front of four existing buildings on its property at 658-676 Whitehead Road.
The IBEW has indicated that the proposed solar wall installation has been awarded a Renewal Energy Grant from the state Board of Public Utilities, according to the zoning board’s planning consultant’s report. Installation of the solar wall is intended to demonstrate support of renewable energy technologies and the training of electricians in the field.
A front yard setback is required. The applicant is proposing a 52-foot, 10-inch setback for the solar wall, but 100 feet is required in the office zone. The solar panels are proposed to be 21 feet, 6 inches tall. They will be placed in front of the four existing buildings.
In another matter, the zoning board will continue a public hearing on a use variance application filed by David Crane and Isabella Delahoussaye for construction of an accessory apartment in a new building that would be located behind their home at 3071 Lawrenceville Road.
The zoning board heard testimony on the application at its June 13 meeting. The accessory building proposed by the couple would include a living room, two loft areas overlooking the living room, a bedroom, a kitchen, a full basement and a two-car garage. An outbuilding on the site would be demolished to make way for the new building.
A use variance is needed because the proposed accessory building does not meet the definition for one in the Land Use Ordinance. The application calls the building an accessory apartment, but the ordinance says an accessory apartment is one "created within an existing residence or by an addition to an existing residence or accessory building."

