Pool Placement, a Treehouse that Straddles Two Lots and Renovation Plans Reviewed by Zoning Board

It sounds like the beginning of a riddle, or maybe one of those math problems you could never figure out in grade school; if two houses are facing each other on a cul de sac, and their backyards curve around the circle and meet back to back, where can you build a pool?

The question is just one of many addressed by the Bernards Township Board of Adjustment through applications seeking relief from land use ordinances. With the pool situations, the current law states that in situation where two houses' rear yards wrap around and meet on the sides of the house, homeowners cannot build a pool without seeking a variance.

The purpose is to prevent homeowners from building in plain view of their neighbor's yard without first proving that they will provide adequate screening. The problem is, some homeowners want to build pools on the portion of their backyard directly behind the house, and therefore out of site of the neighbors, but still have to seek a variance from the Zoning Board.

According to Assistant Township Planner David Schley, the township is drafting a new ordinance to better define where a homeowner can and cannot build in such a situation.

The board heard a similar case at their meeting on Wednesday night, where a homeowner, Brendan Dougher of Belmont Court, did not have a home on a cul de sac, but the house in question was rotated so the rear yard could be seen by the front yard of a neighboring home.

The board ultimately ruled unanimously in favor of the applicant with conditions of approval governing the placement of adequate screening.

The board also heard two other completeness and public hearing cases. A bulk variance request from Michael Gallo of Grist Mill Drive was complicated by a treehouse on the property, that by legal definition, straddled two property lots. The application was carried to the March 3 meeting of the Board of Adjustment so the applicant could take photos of the lot to submit with his application.

Paul Antogiovanni of Woodstone Road presented the third application heard at the meeting. The homeowner is renovating his house, and wanted to build a portico beyond the front wall setback limitations set forth in the land use ordinance for the lot.

The board unanimously approved the application because the new construction would match the character of the neighborhood and there were no objections from nearby residents.

Before approving the application, the board heard testimony about the amount of renovations that would be done on the home.

"They have undersized lot," explained Zoning Board chair Kevin Orr. "If they ran into a scenario where they had to take down the whole thing, you are left with a building lot that is undersized, so technically you can't build on it unless you come back to the Zoning Board."

The undersized lot issue is similar to the swimming pool scenario in that it affects a lot of homeowners in the township. In the past, some homeowners have obtained construction permits for a renovation, and then proceeded to completely rebuild the house. The Zoning Board added a condition of approval to have township engineers review the Antogiovanni's building plan to make sure that situation does not repeat itself.