The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
A township homeowners’ association was given permission by the Zoning Board of Adjustment on February 6 to not build a part of its development included in its 2019 approval.
The permission came in the form of a use variance, which relieved the Grove at Somerset HOA from the requirement to construct a community garden to satisfy a zoning obligation for recreation areas.
The Board was told that homeowners didn’t want the garden because it would be too close to some backyards.
Aditya Mokkapati, a Grove at Somerset HOA board member, enumerated the reasons the residents did not want to install the community garden.
“One, the homeowners feel the proximity of that garden to the specific building there … building number five it is called, there is a sense of lack of privacy when homeowners, other homeowners go there at odd hours on their own to potentially do activity in there,” he said. “And secondly, once the community garden is put in, the maintenance activity that needs to go in there to upkeep the community garden, that we either need volunteers or we need to hire new vendors to keep it up and tidy.”
“And thirdly and most importantly, the community wanted that space to be open so they can conduct activities during summer, which we have conducted several times,” he said. “Games and events, bringing the entire community together. It could be playing catch, playing some volleyball out there. So we have demonstrated multiple activities over the past few summers.”
Paul Schneier, a principal with Fleet Franklin – the developer that took over the development – told the Board that the community garden was part of a three-tier plan to meet the Township’s recreation requirement.
“Nothing was contemplated other than this passive open space, which is delineated with some fencing and some landscaping and benches, and the gazebo, which was constructed, and the third element to satisfy the town’s recreation requirement was to be this community garden,” he said. “But you know these amenities are to serve the homeowners, and if the homeowners don’t want something you know, far be it for me to force them.”
Mark Healey, the Township’s Principal Planner, told the Board that the Township’s zoning ordinance regarding townhouse developments requires 400 feet of recreational space for every unit in the development. He said that some recreational space has been provided, but it was not enough to satisfy the requirement without the garden.
“That usually comes in the form of actual improvements; pools, clubhouses, dog parks, barbecue areas, actual improvements, … and that’s the way that we’ve applied that requirement over the decades,” he said. “To meet that requirement, the original developer proposes community gardens and the board accepted that as a reasonable proposal, as an actual physical improvement to meet that requirement.”
“My only clarification is to say if it’s just lawn, it technically doesn’t comply, and I just want to make sure to put that on the record because I don’t want the next developer to come in and try to say that all of their open lawn areas are active recreation going towards those requirements,” Healey said.
“I’m not saying to be critical of this application, I just want to make sure that the next developer comes down the road, doesn’t say, yep, we need it because we have two areas of lawn; we don’t count that towards that requirement,” he said.
Board member Cheryl Bethea asked if the variance is approved, how the Board in the future would defend against developers claiming that open lawn should qualify as recreational space.
“The whole purpose of the variance is so there is some type of recreational feature,” she said. “The definition of a lawn is not really … any lawn could be considered recreational feature if we treat it that way.”
“I think what makes this different than a developer coming in for their original approval is that this is a community that is in place,” Healey said. “I feel comfortable that you’re not setting a precedent for the next one. If we have a townhouse development and that developer says, oh, I’ve got these lawn areas between buildings seven and eight, that’s recreation, it’s lawn. I feel comfortable saying no.”
The variance was unanimously approved.
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