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Planning board grants variance for residential addition after neighbors and applicants agree to planting screening
Summary
Bernards Township Planning Board granted a C2 variance June 2 allowing an addition that encroached into a 50-foot setback after applicants and nearby residents signed a written mitigation (Exhibit A1) requiring arborvitae screening to be planted by Nov. 15, 2026.
Bernards Township's Planning Board on June 2 approved a C2 benefits-versus-detriments variance for an addition at the property co-owned by Michael Vicaro and William Karns, after the applicants and two neighboring residents reached a written agreement to install screening along a 120-foot stretch of the lot.
The board was told the structure's as-built measurements showed an encroachment beyond the required 50-foot front-yard setback (the record cites both "approximately 2.8 feet" and "38.5 inches" in different statements). Applicants said the discrepancy resulted from a builder or surveyor error; board counsel told the board that case law precludes granting a C1 hardship variance for a construction mistake and that the petition therefore required C2 proof. The planner and counsel also confirmed the board retained jurisdiction because the apartment within the single-family dwelling remained a permitted conditional use if its conditions were still met.
Neighbors Heidi Emily Landry (161 South Maple Ave.) and a second resident who identified himself in the record testified they had not opposed the original 2024 conditional-use approval but, upon receiving notice of the encroachment, asked the applicants to install plantings to increase privacy. "We would come here and ask the property owner to plant some trees if possible to shield or give some additional privacy to the neighbors," Landry said during sworn testimony.
During a short recess the parties produced a signed exhibit (A1) showing a planting plan. Planner Dave Schlly summarized A1 as showing roughly 120 feet of screening and recommended planting Green Giant variety arborvitae at a minimum height of 6 feet, spaced six feet on center. The board incorporated Exhibit A1 as a condition of approval and ordered the plantings to be completed by November 15, 2026.
After brief deliberation the board moved to grant the C2 variance with the planting condition. The motion passed on a recorded vote with members voting in favor, identified in the transcript as Miss Bannon, Miss Manduk, Mr. Schaefer and Chairman Seville. The board's action means the applicants will not be required to remove the addition, provided they satisfy the planting condition and any other conditions memorialized in the board's resolution.
Board counsel and the planner emphasized that the hearing focused on whether the proposed relief met the C2 standard and that denial could have forced the applicants to remove part of the addition, creating an unsightly triangular cut into the house. The board closed public comment before deliberating and issuing the decision.
Next steps: the applicants must complete the planting per Exhibit A1 by November 15, 2026, and provide any required certification or inspection evidence the zoning/construction office requires to demonstrate compliance.
