The Livingston Planning Board, at its September 19 meeting, approved Anthony and Lisa Yu’s application to renew a minor subdivision approval with variances at 60 Chestnut Street.
Additionally, the Board heard arguments from Pulte Homes about moving trash inclosures on Jubilee Court before approving that request.
60 Chestnut Street
According to attorney Matthew Posada, Mr. and Mrs. Yu previously received minor subdivision approval for 60 Chestnut Street in 2013, along with minimum variance relief for minimal lot size. This approval, however, required meeting multiple conditions, such as the development of a key lot and permission to demolish an existing home. However, because those conditions did not occur within the required 190-day time frame, the Yu’s are now requesting permission to renew the subdivision using a new application.
Posada then called up engineer Paul Anderson as his witness. Anderson, who drafted the home’s original plans, compared the subdivision’s existing conditions to its proposed layout, the latter being 26,016 square feet vs. the former’s 26,085 square feet. He also compared these lot dimensions to 60 Chestnut Street’s adjacent properties, noting that when the subdivision was first approved, there was a long house to the property’s right side that no longer exists. The Yu’s, he said, wanted to subdivide the parcel lots and initially received approval, allowing them to stay in one house while they built the other house.
Now, they wish to construct the proposed lot in a way that meets all setback requirements, withAnderson claiming the plan promotes elements of the Municipal Land Use Law due to its appropriate population density and appropriately sized house. Anderson also claimed the project made for an efficient use of land and a welcoming environment, thus satisfying multiple Livingston Master Plan objectives.
After the Board questionedAnderson and Posada, Board member Peter Klein recognized the subdivision plan as the same presentation they approved in 2013, with the exception of a house no longer existing on one neighborhood lot. A motion to approve the plan passed.
Jubilee Court
Pulte Homes received approval to reduce and relocate the number of trash enclosures previously approved within the site of Jubilee Court’s existing affordable apartments.
In his opening statement, attorney James Mullen provided a brief history of the affordable housing units’ development as a subsidiary of Joseph Kushner HebrewAcademy.The goal, he added, is to eliminate one trash enclosure on the property and relocate another, ultimately creating a single dumpster location for two buildings to share.
Mullen then called up Pulte-Group’s director of land development, Joel Lipman, and engineer Eric Keller as witnesses.
Lipman talked about the unit homeowners’ proximity to the dumpsters and how, by making these changes, they felt obligated to “do right by the residents and fix any negative living conditions.” He also noted the new dumpster’s enclosure would remain the same as the ones already built on-site.
Keller, meanwhile, discussed the R5-G Zone’s layout and location of both dumpsters in relation to buildings 2 and 3. Placing the new dumpster by building 3 would require tenants to walk across Jubilee Court’s upper sidewalks to reach it with little vehicular conflict, making it easier for both building residents. Keller also said there will be eightto- ten-foot high evergreen plantings behind the dumpster on the school and affordable housing property, lending it additional buffering.
After Lipman and Keller presented, Klein questioned them and Mullen over what would happen to building one’s trash. In response, they confirmed that the unit’s dumpster would stay in the same location.
The Board also expressed concern about whether residents of a certain height or age would be able to put garbage into the new containers, as well as whether the bin could handle an excessive trash volume. Keller also claimed fill-up will be monitored by a property manager and adjusted accordingly, depending on the state of the bins and frequency of garbage overflow.
Following the Board’s questions, Keller answered a query by Livingston resident Hong Yuan regarding how garbage trucks would move through Jubilee Court while collecting trash. Additionally, Board members who were concerned about this proposed dumpster’s distance to the affordable units wanted assurance that the property managers would help oversee waste disposal and that the height issue wouldn’t be a problem.
Nevertheless, a motion to approve the application passed.
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