The Planning Board spent two hours Tuesday brainstorming ways to prevent the construction of oversized houses that would dwarf neighboring dwellings.
By: Lea Kahn
Township Planning Consultant Philip Caton was given his marching orders to return to the Planning Board with a proposal to rein in the size of houses that can be built on vacant lots.
The Planning Board spent two hours Tuesday brainstorming ways to prevent the construction of oversized houses that would dwarf neighboring dwellings. The board targeted the R-4 residential zone in the southern portion of the township.
Municipal Engineer Christopher Budzinski prepared a list of applications to build houses on vacant lots that the Planning Board has approved since 2003. Of 27 applications, 16 were located in the R-4 zone.
Mr. Caton said the issue is that "in-fill housing" houses that are built on scattered vacant lots in the township are often out of scale and out of design compatibility with surrounding homes. The new houses are larger and do not resemble the architectural style of the existing houses, he said.
Mr. Caton pointed out that, while new houses have been built on vacant lots in Lawrence, developers have begun to utilize the "tear-down" method in other communities, purchasing existing houses and demolishing them to make way for larger, more expensive houses.
"Tear-downs are an affluent community, (Jersey) shore community problem," he said. "It has not affected Lawrence so much. Whatever we do here will help prevent that trend."
The township’s Land Use Ordinance regulations regarding the R-4 zone would permit construction of a house as large as 4,800 square feet on a 7,500-square-foot building lot, Mr. Caton said. Most of the houses in the R-4 zone, however, are less than 2,000 square feet.
Planning Board member Nathan Moorman said the problem looming over Lawrence is the possibility of the construction of a 5,000-square-foot house next door to a 983-square-foot house that is next door to another 5,000-square-foot house, putting the character of the community out of whack.
Mr. Moorman suggested amending the LUO to allow for new houses to be incrementally larger than existing ones in a neighborhood. Over time, the character of a neighborhood might change, but it would not happen all at once, he said.
Planning Board attorney David Roskos urged board members to let Mr. Caton know what they want to see in a proposed LUO amendment dealing with the R-4 zone, and what they "hate the most" about in-fill housing.
"The aesthetics of a property, I know, is tough to regulate," board member Marcy Kleiner said. "But if the style of a house is so out-of-character, maybe there is something we can do. A house with an atrium that is built next to a Cape Cod-style house ruins the street. That bothers me a lot."
Planning Board member Sarah Crowley said that while she agreed with Ms. Kleiner’s comments about architectural styles, "what is ugly to you is not ugly to someone else."
Pointing to the Eldridge Park neighborhood, Mr. Caton said a review of architectural styles reveals "every style known to American architecture," but he did not think it would be possible to regulate architectural style in the LUO.
Planning Board member Pam Mount, who also sits on Township Council, suggested addressing the issue of attached and detached garages. She said she does not like to see two garage doors along the front of a house, which is what may occur if the garage is part of the house.
"I hope we are not trying to be compatible with houses that were built in the 1950s (which typically had detached garages)," responded Mr. Roskos. "We have come a long way since then."
Birchwood Knoll resident Charles Carmalt, a former Planning Board member, said he was pleased the Planning Board was discussing the issue of in-fill housing.
"I have a tear-down next to me. It will be (either) two monstrosities or two nice houses," he said. "I encourage you to explore the garage (issue). More than anything, the garage drives the rest of the design of the house."
Mr. Carmalt said people buy a house, regardless of whether the garage is attached to the house or if it is located next to the house. If the garages in a neighborhood are detached, "let’s respect that character" of the neighborhood, he said.

