JACKSON — The Zoning Board of Adjustment is expected to decide an issue that involves Jackson Township and JR Custom Landscaping at its March 18 meeting, according to the board’s attorney, Sean Gertner.
Hearings concerning the JR Landscaping matter have taken place over six months. The board members are trying to determine what activities are permitted at the company’s properties at 141 East Veterans Highway and 34 Bennetts Mills Road.
Testimony concluded on Feb. 4 when Township Engineer Dan Burke was called as a witness by attorney Timothy DeHaut, representing JR Landscaping.
As a starting point, Burke acknowledged that he and his brother have worked as snow plowing subcontractors for JR Landscaping.
He estimated that he was paid between $200 and $250 for a snow-plow shift he worked about four years ago. He said he saw no reason why he could not provide unbiased testimony in the matter before the zoning board.
Speaking on the issue at hand, Burke said the engineering office faced a challenging task of investigating the business’s properties because of unclear resolutions from the zoning board.
“Over the course of various resolutions, the board left us in a position to interpret things that we would have rather not had to interpret,” he said. “Had there been more specificity to every one of those resolutions and a clear site plan, we might not be here.”
Residents who live near the properties claim the landscaping company has not adhered to certain restrictions that were placed on it by the zoning board and a Superior Court order in 2011.
In previous testimony, residents have alleged that the company’s screening of topsoil and compost at its two sites violates the restrictions.
However, Burke testified that the sifting process he observed when he visited the firm was not considered as producing or manufacturing new materials.
“It was my finding that the screening of the material was within the bounds of a landscaping operation,” he said. “I can also make note that I see similar activities where there is screening equipment on landscaping properties.”
Burke testified that he did not witness the conditions cited in a June 2014 state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) report when he visited the Bennetts Mills Road site with state and local officials in July 2014.
In that report, the DEP said the Bennetts Mills Road location was not in compliance with the Solid Waste Management Act.
Conditions found at the site included stagnant water pooling in various areas and alleged evidence that the business was disposing of solid waste without obtaining a solid waste facility permit, and collecting solid waste and liquid waste.
Gertner said the attorneys representing JR Landscaping and Jackson will submit their final points to the board by March 10. Board members will review the material and previous testimony prior to the March 18 meeting.
Gertner said the board’s decision will be forwarded to state Superior Court for review.