By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
A proposal to build 30 townhouse units at the rear of the Lawrenceville Gardens rental apartment complex at 180 Franklin Corner Road tops the agenda for the Zoning Board of Adjustment’s monthly meeting next week.
The board, which will meet Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the lower level conference room at the Municipal Building, will consider a use variance application submitted by Berk-Cohen Associates at Lawrenceville Garden Apartments LLC.
The application requires a use variance because the density exceeds the maximum of 10 units per acre allowed under the township’s Land Use Ordinance.
The present 166-unit apartment complex, located on a 12.3-acre parcel, has a density of 13.5 units per acre. The addition of 30 units would increase the density to 15.9 units per acre.
The Lawrenceville Gardens apartment complex was built in 1960. The current ordinance, which sets the maximum density at 10 units per acre in the Apartment Townhouse zone, was adopted in 1997.
The rental complex is made up of one- and two-bedroom apartments in 12 buildings. The proposed 30-unit expansion would contain 14 one-bedroom units and 16 two-bedroom units, spread among four new buildings located at the rear of the complex. All the units would be for rent.
Two of the new buildings would contain seven one-bedroom apartments each, and two buildings would contain eight two-bedroom units. Parking is proposed within individual garages below the new buildings and in a new parking lot.
The application calls for the construction of a fitness trail around the perimeter of the property. The fitness trail would be extended to the property line and provide access to the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park and nearby commercial uses.
The proposed trail would offer some recreational benefit, according to a report prepared by township planning consultant Brian Slaugh, but the limited landscaping around the perimeter would likely have very little visual appeal. There would be no buffer between the trail and the apartment units.
The plan also calls for removing two abandoned tennis courts and an outdoor swimming pool. A dog park is proposed for the site of the former swimming pool.
Mr. Slaugh also noted in his report that the dog park likely would not be used by residents who do not own dogs. He recommended that an alternative recreational facility be constructed in its place, although he did not specify the nature of that recreational facility.
Several variances would be needed in addition to the use variance, Mr. Slaugh wrote. A variance would be needed for the width of the townhouse units. The ordinance requires a minimum width of 20 feet, but the plan shows 16 feet.
The ordinance also requires each townhouse to have a private rear yard of 200 square feet. Mr. Slaugh noted in his report that the plan shows fenced rear yards of 150 square feet for townhouse units in three of the four buildings, but no rear yard for the fourth building.
Earlier in 2008, the zoning board considered an application by Berk-Cohen Associates that called for demolishing the 166-unit rental apartment complex and replacing it with a 166-unit condominium development. All of the units would have been for sale.
Berk-Cohen Associates withdrew the application and submitted the revised plan in its place.

