Board of Adjustment approves variances for Wheeler Place house after owner agrees to remove gravel and plant trees

The Franklin Township Board of Adjustment on March 6 approved zoning variances for work already completed at 435 Wheeler Place, subject to the owner removing roughly 3,000 square feet of gravel from a back driveway and submitting final calculations and updated plans.

The action authorizes variances tied to rear-yard and side-yard setbacks and an increase in impervious coverage after the applicant agreed to reduce the graveled area that caused the overall impervious coverage to rise to 46.5 percent. The board recorded unanimous affirmative votes.

The matter came before the board after the owner, Jean Estefan, and the applicant’s engineer, Frank Antisel, testified about site conditions and the work that was done. Antisel said the property sits in the R‑15 residential zone and that the addition built on the house reduced the rear-yard setback from a previously existing 18.7 feet to 17.6 feet and changed side-yard dimensions for a detached garage. He told the board the project originally had about 31.8 percent impervious coverage, that it rose to 46.5 percent after construction, and that the applicant was prepared to remove the gravel area behind the house to reduce that figure.

Board members pressed for specifics. The owner testified he obtained building permits and hired a contractor; he also said construction took place around 2019 and completed later, delayed by the COVID pandemic. The owner confirmed the attached garage shown on the permits and said the detached rear garage is not used to store vehicles.

After a brief recess to consult the owner, the applicant’s engineer told the board the owner would remove the gravel from the side of the attached garage and all gravel behind the house, an area the engineer estimated at roughly 3,000 square feet. That removal, the engineer said, would reduce total impervious coverage to the low‑30s — roughly 32 percent — essentially returning the site to its pre‑construction impervious condition of about 31.8 percent as reported in the record.

The board also addressed trees removed during construction. The applicant’s consultant calculated 27 replacement trees would be required and the owner agreed to plant those trees on the property, including within areas that will be revegetated after the gravel removal.

The board’s motion approved the variances needed to authenticate the work already constructed, conditioned on removing the gravel area described at the hearing, the submission of updated calculations and a revised plan showing the area to be removed, and a planting plan to satisfy the tree‑replacement requirement. The board recorded affirmative votes from Cheryl Bethea, Richard Prokhanick, Allen Rich, Gary Rosenthal, Robert Shepherd, Michael Daugherty and Kunal Latia. The motion carried.

Board counsel and the applicant’s engineer agreed that any further technical submissions — updated calculations and plan details that show the exact area to be removed — would be addressed as post‑approval submissions and reviewed by staff.

The board recorded the approval on the condition the applicant file the post‑approval documentation and implement the gravel removal and tree planting described at the hearing.