Clifton zoning board approves front-porch setback variance amid neighbors' drainage complaints

The Clifton Zoning Board of Adjustment on May 21 approved a variance allowing a front porch at 15 Priscilla Street to extend about 4 feet into the 30-foot front-yard setback, leaving approximately 26 feet between the porch and the street, the board decided after hearing neighbors' concerns about stormwater runoff.

The decision matters because neighbors said the property’s outdoor improvements — including a pool and paving — have increased water flowing into adjacent yards and are causing periodic flooding; the board approved the porch with a stipulation that leaders/downspouts for the new structure be extended toward the street and that the plumbing/stormwater routing for the new work be reflected in the resolution.

Applicant Moe Salman, who identified himself as the homeowner at 15 Priscilla Street, told the board he was requesting a variance “to allow construction of a front porch” that would extend about 4 feet beyond the setback and cover roughly 13–14 feet in width, or about 50 square feet of additional coverage. Salman said the porch is a nondwelling, open structure intended to let him supervise his 11-year-old son while…