Zoning Board Grants Approval for Additions, Decks

The New Providence Zoning Board of Adjustment approved five applications for various additions Monday night, while tabling two applications until more details could be provided.

None of the applications received any comments during the public hearing portions of the meeting held in the Municipal Center. A formal vote memorializing last night's verbal votes will come at the board's Sept. 7 meeting.

Board members gave unanimous approval for the following:

• Construction of a deck at 58 Whitman Dr., (Block 171/Lot 48), with a proposed rear yard setback of 31 feet where 40 feet is normally the minimum required. An existing patio would be removed and grass planted in its place. The area is unusable in the spring because of drainage issues. One condition of approval was for lattice work or landscaping to screen the bottom of the deck.

• Construction of an addition and a ramp at 977 Central Ave., (Block 30/Lot 35). Variances included front yard setback along Evergreen Avenue (19.4 feet where minimum 40 feet required); side yard setback to the ramp is 4.1 feet where a minimum of 12 is required; and the existing driveway is 0.5 feet from the property line, which normally requires a minimum of 6 feet.

• Construction of an addition at 451 Charnwood Rd., (Block 25/Lot 7), with a proposed side yard setback of 9.11 feet where a minimum of 12 feet normally is required.

• Construction of an addition and portico at 284 Runnymede Pkwy., (Block 31/Lot 4). The proposed front yard setback of 35.58 feet, short of the minimum 40 feet required; side yard setback of 7.5 feet where 12 feet is required; proposed air conditioning condenser units are 5 feet from the property line, 1 foot short of the required 6-foot minimum. The proposed floor area ratio of 0.252 is more than the maximum 0.248 permitted. The board placed three conditions on its approval: landscaping around the air conditioning condensers, which could be as many as three; protect a tree on the property; and do not enclose the portico.

• Construction of an addition at 195 Union Ave., (Block 204/Lot 8), with a proposed front yard setback of 27.6 feet, short of the 40-foot minimum; side yard setback of 10 feet where 12 feet is required. The property also does not have a garage and a one-car garage is required (a variance that had been granted to the previous owner years ago).

• Construction of a deck at 12 W. Third St., (Block 162/Lot 8), with a rear yard setback of 38.6 feet, short of the minimum required 40 feet.

The Zoning Board tabled two applications until its Sept. 19 meeting:

1. Permission to enclose the underside of an existing, second-story deck at 25 Seven Oaks Dr., (Block 262/Lot 22). The rear yard setback would be 38 feet, short of the minimum required 40 feet. The existing deck received a variance in 1986 and alterations to the area would require an amendment to the previously approved resolution. 

Board members were not opposed to granting a variance. However, several expressed concerns about whether the enclosure would be consistent with the existing architecture. They requested that the applicant get more detailed plans and photos of what the enclosed deck might eventually look like, to which the applicant was amenable.

2. Permission to erect a fence at 31 Osborne Dr., (Block 70/Lot 11), proposed to be 6 feet high along Vista Lane, where 2.5 feet is the maximum height allowed. Board members asked the applicant to erect stakes in an effort to visualize the location and size of the fence around the property. Some portions of the fence could be 4 feet high.