The Livingston Zoning Board, at its March 25 meeting, revisited Prashant Kumar and Meenakshi Sahay’s application to build a first and second floor addition to their home at 3 Hearthstone Terrace. The Board then heard two cases initially adjourned from previous meetings alongside several new applications, approving all of them.
3 Hearthstone Terrace
Kumar and Sahay asked the Board to grant them two variances for their home at 3 Hearthstone Terrace: an extra 329 square feet for the habitable floor area, and a 2.47 percent habitable floor ratio. According to architect William Gentile, this revised site plan would reduce their home’s previous bulk and create 12-foot high walls with a vaulted ceiling, losing 795 square feet. The rest of the building will remain as it is.
Gentile also confirmed this plan stays within the footprint of the existing house, despite adding new features like a third bedroom over the garage.
After including a condition that an extra space in the home will not be used as rental space or an apartment, the Board approved Kumar and Sahay’s variances. 7 Locust Place Eyal Alon sought a first-floor addition and covered deck for 7 Locust Place, asking the Board to grant arear yard setback and aggregate side yard setback variance. The current home, per architect Ruchi Dhar, is a singlefamily detached home in an R2 zone with three bedrooms, four bathrooms, an office, and a one-car garage.
With this proposed site addition, the house will be working around two key constraints: the property’s large shape and its topography. Dhar also believed this home’s aesthetics would match the neighborhood with no detriment to the public good and, when questioned about what Alon will do with the one-car garage, said it will stay but be expanded into a three-car garage.
A motion to approve the plan passed.
4 Maplewood Drive
Rodak Builders LLC requested a front yard setback andhabitable floor area variance to build a new singlefamily residence at 4 Maplewood Drive. According to architect Ayman Sedra, this house will have living spaces on the first floor with a guest bedroom, a basement with another bedroom, and primary bedrooms on the second floor with bathrooms and closets.
Planner Nicholas Graviano also revealed that the applicant is proposing 33 feet because that is within the (Continued on Page A-6) zoning ordinance allowance for a reduced front yard setback variance; at 3,129 square feet of habitable floor area, it is over 100 less than what is required. The new dwelling will meet all applicable yard setback standards and adhere to modern construction and engineering codes, providing sufficient space and appropriate location for a variety of residential uses.
A motion to approve the plan passed.
53 North Livingston Avenue Fnu Mohammed Saleem requested variances for a side yard setback and habitable floor ratio to build an addition on his home. Architect Afshan Vandal walked the Board through the design of this expansion, noting how, in its current design, the house lacks a proper family room, powder room, and a big enough kitchen.
Additionally, Saleem wishes to build a new bedroom for family members in case they come to visit. A laundry room located in the basement will be relocated next to the kitchen and dining area and, while the side yard is notably skewed on an angle – making this property narrow on the side street and wider in the back – its front side will not be impacted.
Amotion to approve the variances passed.
12 Orchard Lane
Luis and Susie Fernandes requested three variances for a firstfloor addition: a 9.99-foot front yard setback, a 134 square foot habitable floor area, and a two percent habitable floor ratio. The house in question is a split-level home, with its lowest level containing the garage and laundry room and the upper levels holding the bathrooms, bedrooms, living room, and kitchen. Other additions included a proposed walk-in pantry and dining room, and while they have the required feet for the front setback, they are staying within the property line.
A motion to approve it passed.
15 Cornerstone Way
Haotian Huang and Zhizhou Wang asked for a 20-foot rear yard setback variance to build a 20-by-20-foot deck. According to Huang, this location meets the required minimum by code but needs more space to accommodate their family. Since the backyard has a slope, which will make it harder to use that space, he felt making a deck would better cover the back area. Huang also assured the Board that the deck wil not stick any further out into the backyard than his neighbors’ properties.
The Board approved Huang’s variance request.
98 Amelia Avenue
Kathleen Ataide, speaking on behalf of her husband Ricardo, asked the Board for a front yard setback to build a second-floor addition at 98 AmeliaAvenue. Her witness, builder Anthony Perotta, explained that the existing front setback is 37 feet and the zone is 40 feet, so it is already non-conforming.
Perotta also proposed a two-footsix- inch cantilever over the first story, which will increase the front setback to 35 feet, while insisting that its second-story cantilever won’t go past the portico roof.
The Board approved Ataide’s setback request.
115 Hillside Avenue
Robert Gianduso requested approval to build a second floor, requiring a front yard setback and converting his den into a garage. As he explained, this is a pre-existing condition in a non-conforming lot, so the development won’t change the setback.
A motion to grant Gianduso’s request passed.
60 Hobart Gap Road
60 Harbor Gap Rd LLC asked for three variances – a 15-foot rear yard setback, a 194 square foot habitable floor area, and a 5.98 percent habitable floor ratio – to build a new single-family home. With the current house’s front and right yard being non-conforming, architect Jon Babula described this new residence as a two-story home whose first floor consisted of features including a two-story foyer, guest bedroom, powder room, and two-car garage. Its top floor, meanwhile, would include several bedrooms and accompanying bathrooms, insisting that newer homes on the neighborhood’s side streets are aligned with this one.
Additionally, planner Peter Steck showed the Board various photographs detailing the conditions of this home and its neighborhood. He explained that the property is an interior lot with substandard square footage and an open-space property to the rear, with variances applying to the rear yard and the Board’s definition of floor area ratio. These reflected how the property was larger in square footage than what was permitted, though Steck believed it still advanced several purposes of the municipal land use law. He also pointed out how, due to the unique circumstances of this home’s location, it was insulated by open space.
Several Board members, however, expressed concern over the property’s maximum limit and, while 60 Harbor Gap Rd LLC’s lawyer proposed sliding the house further east, they turned down this idea. The Board also appreciated them correcting bulk standards by moving the house back, though some were not convinced this new house had to be so large. The lawyer, however, believed that this house would not look bigger from the outside and, due to its surrounding woods, no one would be able to perceive any deviations.
Amotion to approve 60 Harbor Gap Rd LLC’s application with conditions passed.
In 1765, Samo’s Tavern, the site of the first Township meeting in 1813, was built by William Ely, Jr. on the southwest corner of the intersection of what are now Livingston and Mt. Pleasant Avenues.
