Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Stormwater Mitigation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Neighbor who installed patio at 147 New Lane told to provide stormwater mitigation; variance hearing carried to Dec. 17
Summary
Applicant Steven Schwarz testified he installed a patio at 147 New Lane and presented engineers' letters and a topography; the board said the township engineer requires mitigation calculations and carried the variance application to Dec. 17 for additional evidence.
SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP — Steven Schwarz told the Board of Adjustment on Nov. 10 that a patio he installed at 147 New Lane in 2022 increased his property’s impervious coverage and that he had hired engineers and a surveyor to show the change would not increase runoff to neighbors.
Schwarz said he obtained an engineer’s opinion and a site topography and submitted a neighbors’ signed statement asserting that surrounding properties had not experienced flooding since the patio was installed. “They signed this,” Schwarz said. He acknowledged, however, that the neighbors were not present to testify.
Board members and counsel explained that unsigned or unsworn neighbor statements are not admissible without testimony subject to cross-examination, and the board must rely on the township engineer’s technical review. The township engineer, Michael Disco, told the board the ordinance requires drainage design and calculations be submitted for review, and that an impervious-coverage increase of roughly 766 square feet (from patio and steps) triggered mitigation requirements under the township standard. Disco described common mitigation approaches, citing dry wells, seepage trenches and perimeter drains, and explained the calculation is based on the additional impervious area and a design storm adjusted for future rainfall expectations.
Schwarz said he had opinion letters from engineers but that none would attend the hearing to testify. The board told him that in the absence of engineer testimony the applicant must either provide an acceptable mitigation design reviewed and approved by the town engineer or remove coverage to meet the ordinance. The board offered options including tabling without date or carrying the application; Schwarz asked that the item be carried to Dec. 17 rather than repeating mailed notice requirements.
A motion to carry application 2025-15 to the Dec. 17 meeting passed on a recorded vote. The board guided Schwarz to consult with the town engineer on feasible mitigation measures, or to return with a demonstrable reduction in impervious coverage and supporting drainage calculations.
The board’s action was procedural: no variance was granted or denied on Nov. 10; the application remains pending and is scheduled for Dec. 17.
