MANALAPAN – An ordinance that will, if adopted by the Township Committee, place restrictions on the height of homes to be constructed or renovated in Manalapan was reintroduced on Nov. 28.
After conducting a public hearing on a previous version of the home height ordinance on Oct. 10 and taking no action, the committee members decided to reintroduce a different version of the proposed law.
Township planner Richard Cramer favored tabling the matter in order to finetune the proposed ordinance, deeming it the fair thing to do.
A public hearing and possible adoption of the revised ordinance is scheduled for a special meeting of the Township Committee to be held at 2 p.m. Dec. 19.
The ordinance seeks to establish parameters regarding an allowable height for residential renovations and new home construction. The parameters will apply throughout Manalapan regardless of the lot size that is required in a particular zone.
According to municipal officials, although Manalapan already has an established maximum building height of 35 feet, complaints have been brought to the attention of officials due to situations in which fill dirt was placed in a mound so that a finished home ended up being 10 or more feet higher than the original grading of the building lot and neighboring lots.
Mayor Andrew Lucas said that under the retooled ordinance, the owner of a lot that measures 80,000 square feet (2 acres) or more will not face any fill dirt restrictions as long as the construction adheres to the grading and 35-foot height restriction already mandated in the ordinance.
The ordinance was proposed in order to eliminate the increased height of a home from providing a viewing vantage point into the yards and interiors of neighboring homes.
According to the ordinance in its present form, the law intends to establish that soil grading cannot include “mounding, terracing or other devices designed to allow increased building height.”
The ordinance was structured to meet the statutory requirements detailed in the state’s Conservation of Natural Topography, which dictates that grading for any project “shall not alter the natural contour of the land by more than 3 feet unless it is needed for management of stormwater runoff.”
Also, the foundation of any structure will not be allowed to be exposed by more than 4 feet on all sides.