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Board approves Icon Electric pole barn in rural zone with conditions on screening, lighting and documentation
Summary
The Planning Board approved a use variance permitting a 3,200-square-foot pole barn for Icon Electric at 31 Hoffman Road, subject to conditions including landscaping buffer, lighting plan, architectural details and compliance with prior resolution items.
The Monroe Township Planning Board approved a use variance allowing Icon Electric LLC to place a roughly 40-by-80-foot pole barn on its property at 31 Hoffman Road, along with conditions to limit visual and operational impacts in the rural residential zone.
Applicant principal Louis Duarte testified Icon Electric operates from the site with roughly 10–12 employees and a fleet of about 15 company vehicles and trailers; most employees use company vehicles and travel directly to job sites. Duarte said the pole barn will store excess materials, equipment and occasional vehicles, and that deliveries will be standard trade deliveries (box trucks) handled to the project’s schedule.
Engineer Sharif Ali described the 3,200-square-foot structure and said it would be placed on existing gravel area without tree removal. Architectural details shown at the hearing indicate a two-level interior (clearance of 13 feet on the first floor and about 8 feet on the second floor) and a total height of roughly 21–24 feet under the proposed roof. Ali said the site has historically been used as a light-industrial contractor property since the 1960s and that many variances on the property are preexisting from earlier approvals.
Planner Mark Remsa and board planner Mika discussed variances triggered by the new barn: building coverage increases (from about 4.94% to about 8.34%), impervious coverage (from about 30.7% to 32.4%), and a potential one-space parking variance related to the second floor. The applicant’s plan shows 17 parking spaces on-site; with the EV-credit method noted in township practice the plan meets the 18-space requirement when credits are applied. The applicant also proposed five spaces for overnight parking of commercial vehicles, which the board treated as part of the overall use variance discussion.
Board members asked about staffing hours, charging infrastructure, refuse collection, lighting, and fence screening. Duarte said normal hours are weekdays, roughly 7 a.m. to 3–4:30 p.m., with no regular weekend operations, no on-site fueling or welding activity planned, and limited occasional after-hours emergency retrievals. He said he would provide a detailed inventory of vehicles and trailers and supply architectural elevations and lighting cut-sheets for resolution compliance.
The engineer and planner asked for additional perimeter buffering along the western property line, a lighting plan showing illumination levels, final architectural plans for the barn, confirmation of the existing fence height, and clarification of the trash enclosure location and collection schedule. The applicant agreed to provide the requested documentation and to work with township staff on landscaping and lighting details.
Board member Joseph Lupo moved to approve the use variance subject to the professionals’ conditions; the motion was seconded and passed on roll call with all members present voting yes. The board’s resolution will list required submission items—architectural plans and elevations, lighting and photometric plan, vehicle and trailer inventory, final parking/EV details, and any recorded maintenance or other conditions required in resolution compliance.
