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Hopatcong board approves living-room extension and balcony with septic, drainage conditions
Summary
The Hopatcong Planning Board approved a single-story living-room extension and a small balcony at a Lakeside property, imposing conditions on septic maintenance, plan revisions, and drainage controls.
The Hopatcong Planning Board voted to approve a single-story living-room extension and a balcony for a Lakeside property owned by Isaac Maradi, subject to conditions on septic system maintenance, plan corrections and drainage measures.
The board approved the application during its public meeting after hearing testimony from Daniel Maradi, who said he was representing his father Isaac, and Michael Yanozzo, the project's licensed architect. Yanozzo described the proposal as “an extension of the living room” by about 7 feet and a roughly 4-foot balcony off the living room; the work would be constructed above the existing footprint and include a flat roof over the extension to become a bedroom roofline above.
The board said the house sits in a nonconforming setback and asked the applicant to correct plan labeling and the bulk table. Board staff and reviewers required documentation showing that roof leaders and guttering would be routed to existing discharge points and that post-construction drainage would not increase runoff to neighboring properties. As Yanozzo said, “It’s all gonna go the same direction, and we’ll just gutter it down to the same location.”
The board also discussed structural and code concerns about the existing cantilevered deck framing. Board members asked the applicant to confirm how far the balcony would extend from the basement wall; the applicant said the existing cantilever measured about 4 feet 8 inches and the approved condition would leave the balcony roughly 4 feet from the basement wall.
On sanitary issues, the board required a copy of a maintenance agreement for the property’s existing alternative treatment system (septic). County health review was discussed: board staff said Sussex County Health must receive and review a maintenance contract for the system. The applicant said there would be no change to bedroom count or to the septic system itself.
The board listed explicit technical items for the applicant to address before final sign-off: revise the cover sheet and bulk table to reflect the correct zone and variances, provide elevations and exterior materials, submit testimony on existing and proposed roof leader locations and confirm that the proposed work would maintain existing on-site drainage patterns, and supply any required soil erosion controls for construction. The board also noted that the project may be subject to the Flood Hazard Area Control Act rules per NJAC 7:13 and that the Delaware soil conservation exemption for disturbances under 5,000 square feet applies to this work.
The application passed on a roll-call vote with all present voting in favor. The board’s approval included the conditions above; the applicant will return revised plans and required documents for administrative review.
