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Planning board approves minor subdivision for Sussex Avenue parcel with deed restrictions, tree replacement and monitoring-well condition
Summary
The Morris Township Planning Board on June 16 granted preliminary and final minor-subdivision approval for a corner Sussex Avenue property (Block 2702, Lot 6), authorizing a one-lot-to-two-lot split subject to conditions including a recorded deed restriction, an easement for a Gaston Road driveway, a 26-tree replacement requirement and coordination on four on-site monitoring wells.
The Morris Township Planning Board on June 16 approved a minor subdivision (application PBO525) that splits Block 2702, Lot 6 — a 48,445-square-foot corner property on Sussex Avenue (County Road 617) and Gaston Road — into two conforming single-family lots, subject to conditions the board read into the record.
The board’s approval, moved and seconded at the meeting, grants preliminary and final minor-subdivision approval on the plans dated April 4, 2025. The applicant described the proposal as a two-lot subdivision that yields Lot 6.00 (22,530 square feet) and the remaining parent lot (25,915 square feet). The applicant said both lots meet the RA-15 single-family zone bulk standards and that the conceptual house shown on the proposed lot fits required setbacks.
Key conditions and clarifications listed by the board and applicant include: recording a deed restriction that memorializes the approval and designates front, side and rear yards for each newly created lot; an easement to permit a driveway encroachment onto the parent lot where it abuts Gaston Road; a tree-replacement plan to plant 26 replacement trees dispersed between the two lots (the applicant agreed to have 12 of those trees placed on the existing dwelling lot); and coordination with a Licensed Site Remediation Professional (LSRP) regarding four monitoring wells on the property tied to a 1999 gasoline spill on the property across the street.
Engineer Harrison Barany testified the plan shows proposed grading, a conceptual driveway off Gaston Road positioned more than the 50-foot intersection setback required by ordinance, potential retaining-wall locations for increased impervious coverage, and stormwater storage sized per the ordinance (250 cubic feet of storage per 1,000 square feet of additional impervious area, equivalent to three inches of rainfall). Barany said the plan identifies 43 trees within the limit of disturbance and that tree-replacement obligations under the township code require 26 new trees based on caliper-size formulas; the landscaping plan included arborvitae, Serbian spruce and juniper and proposes dispersing replacement plantings between both lots.
On environmental matters, counsel and the applicant said four monitoring wells were discovered on the site during survey work. The wells were installed as part of remedial work tied to a 1999 gas-station spill across the street. The applicant agreed to provide the board’s engineer with the remediation report and subsequent communications and to coordinate with the site’s LSRP to determine whether the on-site wells are sentinel wells or may be decommissioned; the applicant also agreed to pursue decommissioning only after confirmation from the LSRP and the responsible party. The board directed that report review be a condition of approval.
Board members asked how tree replacement would be enforced if lots have different owners in the future. Board counsel and the applicant agreed that the conditions of approval would be recorded as deed restrictions that run with both lots and be reviewed during resolution compliance, and that occupancy and lot-grading permits will require compliance with the recorded conditions.
The board also noted receipt of a county letter saying the county had no objection to the proposed driveway on the county road and a TCC (technical review) memorandum dated April 16, 2025, that documented additional required changes and conditions. After additional clarifications on enforcement and deed-recordation language, a board member moved to approve the application with the conditions described in the record; the board carried the motion by roll-call vote, with all members present voting to approve.
The approval allows the applicants, Mark Beston and Suzanne Feston, to proceed to recordation and subsequent lot-grading and building-permit reviews subject to the resolution-compliance process, deed restriction recording and LSRP coordination specified in the approval.
