Township to pursue tear-down ordinance

The township is seeking to balance the needs of residents who want to maintain the character of their neighborhoods and the needs of builders who want to construct larger houses.

By:Lea Kahn Staff Writer
Seeking a balance between the needs of existing neighborhoods and the needs of builders who want to construct large houses that could dwarf the existing houses, township officials are drafting an ordinance that would control the size of new houses.
   Township planning consultant Philip Caton has been asked to craft the ordinance, which could be presented to Township Council next month, Municipal Manager Richard Krawczun said. The ordinance would put a limit on the size of new houses built on scattered lots throughout the township, he said.
   Lawrence is on the threshold of being built out, Mr. Krawczun said. There is little land left on which to develop new subdivisions, so builders have begun to eye small lots in various neighborhoods as possible sites for new houses, he said.
   Since 2003, 13 applications have been approved by the Planning Board. Many of those applications involved seeking approval to subdivide a larger piece of land into two or three smaller lots, and then building new houses on subdivded lots.
   There have been a handful of applications that called for demolishing existing houses on the land, and then subdividing the parcel into smaller lots. For example, six new houses have been built on the east and west corners of Darrah Lane and Birchwood Knoll. Two houses — one on Darrah Lane and one on Birchwood Knoll — were leveled to make room for the six new houses.
   In some neighborhoods, residents have turned out to oppose a builder’s plan for a lot in that neighborhood. Earlier this month, residents made it clear that they did not like a builder’s plan to tear down a 1,200-square-foot house on the corner of Brearley Avenue and Drexel Avenue and create two new building lots. The proposed houses are twice the size of the one that is slated to be torn down.

‘We want to make sure we are within our legal limits to manage the desire by a property owner to come in and subdivide a lot and build houses that are not necessarily of the same size or character of the existing houses.’


Richard Krawczun


   Builders are eyeing isolated lots — and even older houses — in existing neighborhoods because of the lack of developable land and the desire to meet homebuyers’ needs, Realtor Buz Donnelly said. Some buyers do not want to live in a subdivision, so they seek out custom home-builders, he said.
   People want to move to Lawrence, but they can’t find the amenities they are seeking in the existing houses, said Mr. Donnelly, a West Church Road resident. They want a house with a new kitchen with granite or marble countertops, bigger bathrooms and hardwood floors, for example, he said.
   "It’s just a personal thing," he said of buyers’ desire for amenities. "This is a fairly affluent area and people can afford it. There are people who prefer a new house to an old house. Psychologically, they think a new house will last longer."
   Mr. Donnelly said people like Lawrence and "the demand is there" for new houses. He said that every single new house that he can think of that has been built on one of the scattered in-fill lots in Lawrence has sold quickly.
   Meanwhile, Mr. Caton is reviewing ordinances in other communities that restrict the size of new houses, Mr. Krawczun said. There are a limited number of those ordinances, and they have not been challenged thus far, he said.
   "We want to make sure we are within our legal limits to manage the desire by a property owner to come in and subdivide a lot and build houses that are not necessarily of the same size or character of the existing houses," Mr. Krawczun said.
   Township officials want to be certain that such an ordinance would withstand a legal challenge by a property owner who claims the township is infringing on his or her rights, Mr. Krawczun said. Property owners want the opportunity to maximize their investment, he said.
   Mr. Krawczun said he does not know whether the ordinance would address the issue of tear-downs — the demolition of an existing house so it can be replaced with another one.
   "I don’t know if that will have a clear-cut answer," he said. "The condition of the property would be a consideration. This takes us into the area of being equitable to the property owner and what they can do with their property. Short of having a historic designation (on a property), I don’t think we can prohibit demolition."
   Mayor Pam Mount, who sits on the Planning Board, agreed that township officials do have some control over construction in a historic district. Perhaps that approach could be extended to other neighborhoods, she said.
   "It would cut back on people who have a small house and who want to sell it to people who want to put on a big addition," she said. "It is hard to tell people they can’t tear down a house, (but) it is hard to refit a house. Sometimes, it’s cheaper to tear it down."
   Nevertheless, the issue of limiting the size of a new house is an issue that township officials may be willing to tackle, Mayor Mount said. It may be possible to prevent a builder from constructing a large house next to a small cottage, she said.
   Councilman Michael Powers, who also sits on the Planning Board, said that when determining the size of the house, the developer has an interest in maximizing his profit and will likely build a large house. The so-called McMansions are large expansions and rebuilds on small or subdivided lots that can stick out like sore thumbs in modestly sized neighborhoods.
   "McMansions are not in conformity (with the rest of Lawrence) and it should be a concern of Township Council," Mr. Powers said. "A new house should not dwarf what surrounds it. It’s a quality of life issue. It would look out of character to have a large monster house sitting next door to a smaller one."
   Mr. Powers favors an ordinance that would restrict the size of a house — perhaps to 125 percent of the size of the average home in a neighborhood. A house that is only slightly larger than the average size in the neighborhood would not be out of scale, he said.
   "As it stands now, an applicant who does not need variance relief can get (Planning Board) approval," he said. "It’s frustrating when someone can build something that is out of scale and township officials say there is nothing they can do. It seems unfair."
   But Mr. Donnelly questioned the wisdom of an ordinance that would regulate the size of a house that could be built. He compared it to spot-zoning, which means the zoning is changed on one lot or in one area.
   "People have the right to do what they want with their property — live on it or sell it," he said. "It may be their retirement nest egg. They bought it 20 years ago (as an investment) and then the town comes along and rezones it to keep the number of buildings down."
   Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Mr. Donnelly said. People should be free to build a house in the style and size that they want, as long as it does not violate the setbacks and other regulations under the current Land Use Ordinance, he said.
   "I don’t see how the township can pass an ordinance that says you can’t build a contemporary style house in between two colonials," Mr. Donnelly said. "I’m just a good old patriot."