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Board grants pool variances for 33 Highland Avenue; two other applications continued for amended notice
Summary
Springfield Township Board of Adjustment approved variances to allow a pool installation at 33 Highland Avenue with a condition to comply with a submitted drainage/mitigation plan. Two later applicants (Hawthorne Ave and 176 Hillside Ave) were told to amend their applications and re-notice neighbors because the board found the original notices incomplete or unclear.
The Springfield Township Board of Adjustment voted to grant lot-coverage and rear-yard setback variances for a pool at 33 Highland Avenue on Dec. 17, 2025, requiring the applicants to comply with a submitted mitigation and drainage plan as a condition of approval.
Applicants Andrea Praau and property owner John Bernardo were sworn, presented a revised site plan and supplied an older land survey that showed the original pool location. The board accepted the revised alignment and the applicants’ repositioning of the pool equipment farther from neighboring homes. A board member said, "I'm in favor of granting the relief. I'm satisfied with this," and the board recorded an affirmative roll call.
Two subsequent applications were not heard to completion because the board identified defects in how the applicants described the scope of their requests in the application materials and the public notices. For application 2025-2360 (Hawthorne Avenue), Nicholas and Sheila Dejidio asked for front-yard setback relief to enclose a portico and also sought lot-coverage relief for a backyard patio built in 2020. Board counsel and members concluded the posted notice and the application did not make the backyard work clear to neighbors; the board advised the applicants to amend the application, re-notify affected property owners and return at the next available meeting after renotification.
Similarly, the board reviewed application 2025-13 (176 Hillside Avenue), where the property owner, Raphael Bau, sought to legalize an installed patio, partially sunk above-ground pool, a proposed shed and a higher fence. Professionals noted that the application packet and notice emphasized the fence but lacked clear disclosure about the pool, patio and shed work that created multiple variances; council indicated a jurisdictional deficiency and recommended the applicant amend and re-notice.
The two cases will return after the applicants submit revised, complete applications and re-issue notice to affected neighbors. The pool approval for 33 Highland Avenue was recorded with roll-call votes in favor by board members present; the board’s administrative file will include the drainage/mitigation plan as a condition of approval.
