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Board approves Muslim Foundation major subdivision and D3 variance for Cedar Grove Lane campus expansion
Summary
The Franklin Park Board of Adjustment approved a major subdivision and a d(3) conditional-use variance allowing the Muslim Foundation to redraw lot lines at 45 and 47 Cedar Grove Lane, expanding the foundation's campus by roughly two acres and relying on existing woodland for required buffering.
The Franklin Park Board of Adjustment granted the Muslim Foundation major subdivision approval and a d(3) variance to redraw lot lines at 45 and 47 Cedar Grove Lane, allowing the foundation to add roughly two acres of adjacent wooded land to its existing campus.
Attorney John DeLuca and engineer-planner Michael Ford presented the application. Ford said the acquisition increases the foundation’s campus to about 9.6 acres and substantially enlarges the vegetated buffer between the institutional buildings and neighboring residences. Ford told the board the plan includes relocating an existing security fence (already on the foundation’s property) to the new property line and removing an earlier proposed planting strip that is now unnecessary because the wooded area will remain intact.
The board’s approval included a d(3) variance because the town’s conditional-use standards for schools and houses of worship require a staggered planting buffer that the applicant is not proposing to install in the newly added area. The applicant argued the existing mature trees provide effective screening and there are no immediate plans to develop the newly acquired land. The foundation’s chairman, Iqbal Jafri, testified the additional land has no current development plans and that operations at the mosque and school will not change.
The board imposed three primary conditions: the applicant must provide the zoning and planning office with a copy of the deed showing the property transfer; any proposed change to the wooded buffer (other than removal of hazard trees in accordance with the town’s tree ordinance) will require a return visit to the board; and any future material change to the property or its use will require board review. Ford also said a storage container cited in the Technical Review Committee comments will be removed; the foundation agreed to take down or revise an existing sign that advertised daycare rental space.
Board members asked detailed questions about setbacks, remaining lot sizes, impervious coverage and potential future uses. Ford confirmed the newly configured leftover residential lot (proposed Lot 3603) will meet R-40 area requirements (just over the 40,000-square-foot threshold) and that its existing impervious coverage is about 12.6 percent (20 percent allowed), leaving capacity for future improvements. After deliberation, the board voted to approve the major subdivision, the d(3) variance and preliminary/final technical site-plan matters subject to the stated conditions; roll-call votes recorded approval by board members present.
The board stressed that any future development or clearing of the wooded area that forms the buffer would require board review and that hazard-tree removal would follow the township’s tree ordinance process.
