Planner proposes footprint caps, lower coverage to curb oversized homes in Glen Rock

At a Sept. 2, 2025 work session of the Glen Rock Planning Board, planning consultant Fred Hire outlined a proposal to change how the borough controls the size of single‑family homes in the A1 and A2 residential zones. Hire said the changes aim to reduce the outward volume of new houses — what neighbors call “McMansions” — while allowing homeowners to keep interior usable floor area.

Hire told the board his firm, Hire Grul Associates, has worked in about 50 New Jersey communities and that floor‑area‑ratio (FAR) standards are cumbersome and legally fraught in single‑family neighborhoods. “FAR is sometimes like duck hunting with a bazooka,” Hire said, arguing it often fails to limit visible mass because attic, basement and partial‑story rules create administration headaches and incentives to reshape interior space after permits are issued.

His recommended package would keep Glen Rock’s 32‑foot height limit but measure height from preconstruction grade, lower principal building coverage to about 16% in the A1 district and 20% in A2, and add explicit caps on first‑floor footprint (Hire used 2,200‑2,750 square‑foot examples as upper limits depending on zone). He also proposed a defined cap for accessory buildings (he mentioned a 4% example), and said the borough’s current caps on total floor area (5,500 sq ft A1, 4,400 sq ft A2) could be retained so interior living area is not arbitrarily reduced.

“We wanted to be sure we were not arbitrarily limiting the floor area,” Hire said. “What we’re trying to control is the scale of the building from the outside. What happens on the inside is up to the homeowner.” He showed theoretical massing diagrams that, he said, illustrated how modest changes in allowed coverage can reduce building volume by roughly 19–32% in sample scenarios.

Board members pressed Hire on precedents and administration. Hire said several towns have moved away from FAR for single‑family zones because it is difficult for zoning officers to calculate what counts as finished attic or basement space, and because exceeding FAR can create a use‑variance burden in court that is disproportionate to the outward change in mass.

Public commenters offered mixed reactions. Rich Peterson, a resident since 1973, urged the board to explain how past projects that reportedly exceeded permitted square footage were approved and to strengthen internal controls and oversight. Board staff responded that construction code officials and disciplinary authority over them fall under the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, and that the board’s current role is limited to recommending prospective ordinance changes.

Local architect Scott Bella said the proposed footprint‑based approach is easier to apply and — for standard lots — will not materially change the total volume permitted today, while others, including John Sweeney and several neighbors, warned the draft must preserve protections for narrow, deep lots (Glen Rock has many 60‑foot‑wide by 140–175‑foot‑deep parcels) so that tall, narrow houses do not dominate adjacent properties.

Opponents such as Sanji Fory asked the board to avoid overly aggressive reductions in A2 (which covers roughly 93% of the borough’s lots), arguing a steep cut could disadvantage average homeowners. Realtor Roy Clipper cautioned that making the borough harder to build in could reduce buyer demand and raise taxes.

Board members agreed the existing EGFAR (effective gross floor area) approach has produced disputes and that the planning board’s charge from the mayor and council is to recommend prospective changes. The subcommittee will draft a recommendation and the board expects to review it again at a regular October meeting before forwarding a report to the mayor and council, which would hold its own public hearings on any ordinance amendment.

What happens next: the subcommittee will refine numeric recommendations (coverage percentages and caps), consider whether additional height/setback rules are needed to protect narrow lots, and schedule further public input before sending a formal report to the mayor and council.