Township Committee Votes on Parkside Zoning Map Tonight

Tonight, the Maplewood Township Committee will vote on a map of properties for the newly designated Parkside Zone. The zone has met with opposition from some residents who feel that it encourages development that is too large in scale for the area. In addition, the Planning Board only to recommend three western lots along Dunnell Road for inclusion and not four northern lots.

However, township elected officials have said that the new map and zoning are a concerted effort to control development in the area before a change in state rules takes effect in April.

On Jan. 5, the Township Committee designating properties to be included in the map of the new Parkside Zone. The properties include three lots west of Memorial Park and four lots north of Memorial Park.

Deputy Mayor Fred R. Profeta, Jr. was the lone dissenting voice, saying that the four northern lots should be left out of the zone map. Profeta argued, "My problem is not the use. It's with the bulk. For the northern area, it's just too much."

Also at the Dec. 7 meeting, Vice Mayor Kathleen Leventhal countered that the new zoning designation was an attempt to control potential development in the area, referring to the state's change regarding the "time of decision" rule. Next spring, the state will begin enforcing a "time of application" rule for zoning and development, meaning that municipalities are not allowed to amend zoning in response to an application for development. According to Leventhal, the time of application rule has pushed the Township Committee to move quickly on the zoning change.

While one member dissented on the properties to be included, the Township Commitee did unanimously adopt the new .

The previous NB or Neighborhood Business zoning—which applied to properties along Dunnell Road stretching from the train station to the fire house—allowed for all commercial uses, including automotive, and allowed for properties to be developed without setbacks and to a maximum height of 50 feet. The NB zone did not prescribe density.

The new Parkside Zoning allows for residential and commercial development—though not automotive. It does not reduce the 50-foot height limit but does prescribe setbacks of 25' front, 10' side and 50' backyard, and it sets the number of residential units per acre at 60 maximum.

A number of residents spoke against adopting the new zoning at the Dec. 7 public hearing on the ordinance — whether for the western or the northern lots. They expressed displeasure with the proposed zoning, feeling that it allowed for too much bulk, height and density and that a planning expert should be hired to perform what one resident termed "due diligence." The residents were also concerned with the lack of a map at that time showing which properties were included in the new zone.

By a vote of 6-3, the Planning Board decided to make the recommendation to the Township Committee that the immediate application of the Parkside Zone be limited to properties along Dunnell Road that are currently in the Neighborhood Business Zone and that the inclusion of other properties in the Parkside Zone at this time would be premature. (Three of the lots are currently zoned R-2-4, which is actually more restrictive than the proposed Parkside Zoning; the fourth lot — a gas station — is zoned OB, a business zoning designation.)

The board also suggested that the Township retain an expert planner to conduct a planning study of the area in question to provide guidance as to whether additional properties should be included in the Parkside Zone.

Property owners in the affected lots — and owners withing 200 feet of those properties — were sent notifications of the public hearing.

- Kelly Feeney contributed to this report.