JACKSON — A pair of resolutions that outline the operations JR Custom Landscaping is permitted to conduct on its two properties in Jackson are now in the hands of the state Superior Court for further deliberation.
More than 30 interpretations of previous resolutions and variances that had been provided to the business were recently approved by the Zoning Board of Adjustment and submitted to the court, which has retained jurisdiction on the matter and has the authority to make a final determination.
Almost a year ago, municipal officials asked the zoning board to determine what activities are permitted at the company’s properties at 141 East Veterans Highway and 34 Bennetts Mills Road.
Residents who live near the properties have claimed the company has not adhered to certain restrictions that were placed on it by the zoning board and a Superior Court order in 2011.
The board eventually limited the way JR Custom Landscaping may conduct business on the sites and how products may be handled at those locations.
Residents who live near the properties alleged that the company’s screening of topsoil and compost at those locations violated the restrictions and negatively impacted their quality of life.
In an effort to assuage the residents’ complaints, the board limited the hours during which JR Custom Landscaping may operate heavy vehicles at the Bennetts Mills Road property to 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. No vehicle that requires the use of a back-up beeper may be operated after 2 p.m. Saturday, nor at any time Sunday.
The resolution states that the business is only permitted to sell flowers, plants, trees and other items that were grown elsewhere on the property. The company is not permitted to sell products in bulk, produce products for sale on-site or to screen organic material at the property.
The board determined JR Custom Landscaping is not permitted to recycle, produce or manufacture items such as compost, mulch and topsoil. The company is permitted to rent landscaping equipment to customers, but only with an employee operator.
The resolution prohibits JR Custom Landscaping from operating a snow plowing business on the premises. The company is not allowed to purchase, sell or store bulk loose rock salt.
JR Custom Landscaping is also no longer allowed to provide landscaping equipment rental as a service, as it “was beyond the scope of the business granted a variance.”
In addition to the operational limits imposed upon the business, the board ordered that a detention/retention basin be constructed at the Bennetts Mills Road property within 180 days of the resolution’s final approval and that a survey be conducted to determine the geographic boundaries of the property.
As to 141 East Veterans Highway (also known as Conselina Farms), the board concluded that the company had been storing topsoil and mulch in piles that were 75 feet wide, 100 to 150 feet long, and 15 feet high, in violation of zoning regulations.
The board also stated that a number of farming activities that had been alleged to have taken place on the property, such as the planting and cultivation of crops and the breeding of animals, had either never taken place or had not taken place at the property for a number of years.
Due to the fact that nonconforming activities such as the further sifting, production and manufacture of materials like compost and top soil were found at the site, the board said the company violated a 2011 Superior Court order.
The zoning board’s findings have been sent to a state Superior Court judge for review. Officials said the matter will continue in Superior Court, where additional determinations will need to be made about the farm site, since it was never a subject of the zoning board application.