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Planning board approves Knoll Manor maintenance yard with buffer and operational conditions
Summary
The board approved a minor site plan with C-variance for a maintenance/storage yard serving a 1,100‑unit apartment complex, permitting a small shed and a 30x60 concrete pad for roll-off containers while requiring landscaping, reduced containers and compliance with planner/engineer recommendations.
The Troy Hills Planning Board approved a minor site plan with C‑variance on March 3 for Knoll Manor Associates to formalize and improve a maintenance yard on North Beverwyck Road that serves a roughly 1,100‑unit rental complex.
The approval permits a consolidated maintenance/storage yard on a 49‑acre parcel (Block 490.7, Lot 2) and includes several site changes described at the hearing: a concrete pad for roll‑off containers measuring approximately 30 by 60 feet, a 6-by-12 foot shed (about 72–75 square feet) for limited storage of maintenance fluids or small equipment, a reduction of roll‑off containers to five, and new evergreen screening (including Leland cypress and arborvitae) in a 12‑foot landscaping buffer adjacent to a residential parcel. The applicant said material stockpiles would be limited and temporary, and the yard is for the owner’s use only, not public disposal.
Planner Alexander Dougherty, retained by the applicant, recommended approval under the C‑2 variance standard, saying the proposal "advances many purposes of the Municipal Land Use Law" and that "I don't see any substantial detriments here." Dougherty testified the plan reduces visual impacts compared with existing conditions, and the township forester participated in a field review that informed the proposed planting and retaining‑wall layout.
The board and its professionals discussed a handful of technical and operational points: limiting night activity and deliveries (testimony characterized routine work as daytime only), locking the maintenance-yard gate, and minimizing excavation near a large, mature tree to preserve its root structure. Board engineer and planner review letters dated Jan. 10 and Feb. 26, 2025, were cited as the basis for final conditions. The applicant agreed to comply with the board planner and engineer recommendations and other township reports (forester, fire, sewer).
Variances and impacts noted in testimony: the site will slightly increase existing nonconformities — a small increase in building coverage (the 6x12 shed) and roughly 2,000 square feet of additional impervious surface from the pad. The site already exceeds typical impervious limits in some metrics; the applicant and planner described the increases as de minimis at the project scale and mitigated by screening and operational controls.
A motion to approve the application (24:510, Knoll Manor Associates, Minor site plan with C variance for maintenance yard) was made and seconded; the board approved on a roll-call vote. The motion was made by Dedich and seconded by Hernandez. Roll-call votes recorded affirmative votes by Diddich (Didich), DiPiero, Hernandez, Meeley, "Matt," Napolitano, Shaw, Smith and Dinsmore.
Why it matters: Formalizing the maintenance yard is intended to improve site appearance and operations at an aging, large rental complex. The approval allows limited increases in impervious and building coverage in exchange for added landscaping, reduced exposed stockpiles, and conditions limiting hours and access.
Follow-up: The approval includes conditions of compliance with the February 26, 2025 engineering memorandum and the board planner’s recommendations; the applicant must implement the agreed fencing, shed placement, dumpster pad construction and screening, and maintain the yard as owner-only with secure access.
