West Windsor rezoning brings 5,000 homes into compliance

By Kristine Snodgrass, Staff Writer
   WEST WINDSOR — The lots of nearly 5,000 homes in the township have been brought into compliance with zoning, thanks to 12 new ordinances passed by Township Council Monday night.
   The update of the township’s Master Plan and zoning ordinance was part of a two-year effort to improve zoning conformity, said township land use manager Sam Surtees, who explained the ordinances to council at the meeting.
   The ordinances were drafted to make current zoning as close as possible to the configuration of properties as they are today, he said, with consideration of the appearance of their respective neighborhoods.
   Before the properties were rezoned, residents whose homes were in compliance were advantaged over those whose homes were not, Planning Board Attorney Gerald Muller said. Those whose homes were not in compliance with zoning were burdened with the cost and time to request a zoning variance when seeking to make changes to their houses that would otherwise have no need to go to the zoning board, he said.
   Last year, the zoning board heard about 700 requests that it would not have needed to hear if the properties were in compliance, Mr. Surtees said.
   ”It’s not good planning to have 5,000 lots nonconforming in your township,” he said.
   Nine new zoning districts were established, while three others were expanded, affecting areas throughout the township.
   One proposed ordinance did not pass, however, after a resident expressed concern that he would lose the ability to add on to his house.
   The area proposed is 80 acres and consists of 134 lots, mostly in the Hunters Run subdivision. When it was built, the developer was given permission for the homes to take up more space on the lot than is standard in other parts of the township, Mr. Surtees said.
   At the request of council, township professionals will re-examine the properties in the subdivision, and the ordinance may be sent back to the Planning Board for further review, he said.
   The remaining properties that are not in the subdivision, of which there are about a dozen, may be put forward separately for rezoning at the Nov. 10 council meeting, he said. This way, they will not be delayed in coming into compliance while the other area is reworked, a process that may take months, he said.
   All other proposed ordinances passed unanimously, with the exception of one. Councilman Will Anklowitz voted against an ordinance to add an additional zoning district of 1,365 acres, which includes 1,927 homes.
   He said he opposed the ordinance on the basis of the inclusion of one neighborhood, Benford Estates, maintaining that reducing the minimum side-yard requirement under zoning would “change the character of the neighborhood.”
   In other business, Council President Charles Morgan dropped a resolution from the meeting’s agenda that called for the adoption of a redevelopment plan for a portion of the train station redevelopment area for parking garages. The resolution, which Mr. Morgan had proposed, would have asked the West Windsor Parking Authority to take action to construct parking garages for West Windsor at the station.
   At last week’s meeting where the new draft redevelopment plan was presented, Mr. Morgan had suggested that the plan was too large, and suggested it be “broken down into chunks,” beginning with parking, a top priority.
   The idea did not receive the support he had anticipated, he said.
   ”As great an idea as I thought the parking was … clearly the community didn’t understand,” he said.
   He was advised to refer the idea to the township parking authority and finance committee, he said.
   Council Vice President Heidi Kleinman thanked Mr. Morgan for withdrawing the resolution to avoid “a whole big discussion about it.”
   Councilwoman Linda Geevers said the council should “stay the course” on redevelopment.
   ”I am worried that if we try to break off a piece, we’ll never get it done to have a comprehensive plan,” she said.
   Also at the meeting, the council passed a resolution approving a request to provide Eden Institute with a matching grant of up to $142,500.
   The nonprofit organization is in the process of acquiring a foreclosed house on Woodhollow Road in order to turn it into a group home for medically fragile autistic adults. Four bedrooms of the home are part of the township’s plan to meet its affordable housing requirement.