PENNINGTON PLANNING BOARD UPDATE
By Marianne Hooker
At its July 13 meeting, the Pennington Planning Board gave Tom Blackwell the go-ahead to build a carport on his property at 79 Green St.
Members also discussed recent changes to the state affordable housing regulations, and what the borough will need to do to meet its Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) obligations.
Request for interpretation for a carport Mr. Blackwell, who requested an interpretation of the zoning ordinance is it applies to carports, wanted permission to build a carport on a 10-by 30-foot concrete slab that was once a dog run. His property is in the MU-2 zone.
John Flemming, the borough zoning officer, said the ordinance allows some flexibility with regard to accessory structures. It provides no clear direction concerning carports. He wanted to bring this particular request before the board for its opinion. There are six or seven existing carports in the borough, many of them attached to houses. Mr. Flemming said he was not sure that the carport concept was in keeping with the overall character of the community.
The proposed carport would be in Mr. Blackwell’s rear yard, about 20 or 30 feet from the house. The house is on a large lot, and Mr. Flemming said the carport would not be very visible from the street. If the applicant were proposing a garage at that location, he would not need a variance to build one.
The property in question was formerly used as a lumberyard, and there are still a few barns on the lot. Mr. Blackwell said he had done much to improve the back property. He planned to put a brown shingled roof on the carport, which would match the roofs of the other buildings.
Mr. Blackwell said he planned to use the carport to shelter his boat. He did not want to have an enclosed structure, because he wanted to be able to see his children playing in the back yard.
There were no comments on this matter from any members of the public. The board seemed unwilling to make an overall policy decision about the desirability of carports. However, they found that the proposed carport could be interpreted as an accessory use in this zone, and that it would not require a variance. Someone suggested that it could be viewed as a garage without walls.
Affordable housing plans The board heard a brief presentation by Cindy Coppola, borough planner. She outlined some recent changes in the affordable housing regulations promulgated by COAH.
The borough submitted an affordable housing plan that met its previous COAH obligations. COAH granted substantive certification to this plan in 2002. However, there is now a new set of requirements based on the "growth share" concept.
The previous affordable housing obligation was based upon the amount of vacant land in the borough where housing could be built. Under the growth share approach, the affordable housing obligation will increase in parallel with increases in residential or commercial development. One affordable housing unit must be provided for every eight units of new market-rate housing built between Jan. 1, 2004 and Jan. 1, 2014. Likewise, one affordable housing unit must be provided for every 25 jobs that are created in the borough during this time period. The number of new jobs will be calculated based on the square footage of new nonresidential construction.
As part of Pennington’s previous plan for COAH compliance, the borough agreed to adopt an overlay zone that would allow affordable housing units to be built on the former municipal landfill site. Ms. Coppola prepared a draft ordinance for the proposed overlay zone. However, at the time of the meeting she was still awaiting some input on the draft from borough staff, so it was not yet ready for discussion by the board.
In other business, the board passed resolutions of memorialization to formalize its approval last month of applications by Mark O’Dea and Craig and Caroline Sieber.