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Board of Adjustment approves Wilson's pool variance with landscaping, fence and stormwater conditions
Summary
The Morris Township Board of Adjustment on April 28 approved a variance allowing Evan Wilson to build an in-ground pool that encroaches on the 50-foot rear-yard setback, subject to landscaping, a 48-inch pool fence, stormwater controls and conditions tying tree maintenance to the life of the pool.
Evan Wilson received approval from the Morris Township Board of Adjustment on April 28 to install an in-ground pool that will sit 26.5 feet from the rear property line where the township requires 50 feet.
The variance matters to nearby homeowners because the property backs onto neighboring yards and residents raised privacy and tree-removal concerns at the hearing. The board approved the request after the applicant agreed to a set of conditions intended to mitigate drainage, privacy and safety impacts.
Wilson, the applicant and property owner, told the board he has provided a colorized landscape plan and renderings and said he will plant a row of evergreen arborvitae to screen neighbors. "We will replace them if they die, obviously," Wilson said during testimony. He also agreed to install a 48-inch (4-foot) pool safety fence and to place that fence about 1.5 feet inside the existing stockade fence where necessary.
Neighbors pressed the board on durability and ownership of the existing rear fence. Susan Donnell, a nearby resident who identified herself and gave her address for the record, said, "We do own the fence behind Wilsons, and it does face them." David Budd, another neighbor, asked whether there was any other location on the lot that would avoid a variance; Wilson testified the chosen location was the only place he could both see children in the pool from the house and stay within the usable yard.
Town staff and board members emphasized stormwater and grading controls. The board carried forward conditions from the township engineering review: the applicant must obtain a grading permit, submit grading/ drainage plans and install dry wells or other infiltration devices as required by the engineering department to offset any increase in impervious coverage. The board also required that the plot plan be revised to match the landscaping exhibit (Exhibit A‑1) and that lot-coverage calculations be updated accordingly.
The board enumerated other conditions in the motion approving the application: install landscaping substantially consistent with the exhibit, install a continuous 48-inch pool fence enclosing the rear yard (with the pool-compliant fence located approximately 1.5 feet inside the existing stockade where applicable), construct the patio per the approved landscape depiction, replace any planted trees that die, comply with Morris Township's tree ordinance and maintain the approved screen plantings "for the life of the pool." The board also recorded that approval of the pool variance does not validate or relieve any outstanding issues related to an existing detached accessory structure on the lot; that structure must be addressed separately with the building department.
After the board reviewed testimony from the applicant, the township engineer, and multiple neighbors, a motion to approve the requested variance with the conditions listed above passed on a roll-call vote.
The applicant must return to the engineering department for final grading and stormwater approvals and submit the revised plans required by zoning and engineering staff. Enforcement of the landscaping and replacement obligations rests with the township's enforcement channels if neighbors or staff report noncompliance.
