Parsippany board legalizes backyard additions for homeowner who built without permits

The Parsippany-Troy Hills Board of Adjustment on May 7 granted a c-variance to legalize a three-season room, gazebo, paver patio, retaining wall and related concrete work at 100 Hillside Terrace, after the property owner told the board he began the work without permits and agreed to follow engineering recommendations.

The decision matters because the board approved an after-the-fact variance that exceeds the township's maximum lot coverage and imposes drainage-mitigation conditions recommended by the township engineer.

Property owner Sudarshan Vaddy told the board he installed pavers, a fence and a kit gazebo to make his backyard usable for visiting elderly relatives and to address chronic wet ground and basement dampness. "Ignorance of the law is not an excuse," Vaddy said to the board, adding he had lived at the property about 15 years. He said he had since engaged with zoning, building and engineering staff and would follow their recommendations, including installing a seepage pit (drywell).

The board's motion to grant the c-variance legalized a three-season room addition, a gazebo, paver patio, a retaining wall and related concrete areas and found the work contrary to several sections of the municipal code cited in the board's motion. The motion included explicit compliance with the engineering report and the applicant's agreement to implement the engineer's recommendations. The application record states the house is about 1,220 square feet on roughly 0.4 acres and that the lot coverage reached about 34.2 percent where the ordinance limit is 30 percent; the board's motion listed a 4.5-foot wall among the items being legalized.

Board members asked whether neighbors had been notified and whether the applicant had spoken with engineering; Vaddy said neighbors were notified and that an engineer had visited the site. When asked about mitigation, Vaddy said the engineer recommended a single drywell to address drainage. Board members also confirmed some of the work (the prebuilt gazebo kit and pavers) had already been installed and that the applicant would obtain the proper permits now that the variance had been granted.

On the vote the board approved the application with five affirmative votes and one abstention; the board's chair said the applicant would receive the resolution at the next meeting and then could pick up permits from the zoning office.

The board's action regularizes existing structures and requires the property owner to follow the township engineer's mitigation steps before obtaining final building approvals.