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Zoning board approves home addition variance with required stormwater trench and ban on rental use
Summary
Lower Makefield’s Zoning Hearing Board approved a variance to allow a small increase in impervious surface for a home addition on June 16, conditioned on an infiltration pit that reduces new runoff to the equivalent of 24% coverage, tying in existing drains, no setback encroachment, and a prohibition on using the new room as a rental.
The Lower Makefield Township Zoning Hearing Board on June 16 approved a variance allowing a homeowner to add living space that raises impervious surface slightly but must be mitigated to meet township performance standards.
Neighbors testified at length about persistent erosion and basement flooding tied to local runoff. "The erosion is getting so bad it's starting to creep up into our property," said David Applegate, a neighbor who provided photos of an exposed culvert and a deepening channel behind his lot. Several other neighbors described repeated basement flooding events and a long‑standing low area they called a swamp.
Board members pressed the applicants on mitigation options. The board's motion—approved 3–1—requires the applicant to install an infiltration control sized to provide at least 160.5 cubic feet of control volume (the board discussed an example pit roughly 3 ft by 6 ft by 23 ft), tie two new and two existing downspouts into the pit, and incorporate the existing French drain into the new system. The approval is conditioned on there being no encroachment on required setbacks, the township engineer’s signoff on final designs, and a condition that the new room not be used as a rental accessory dwelling. The board recorded the motion and voted in favor; the motion passed by voice vote with three in favor and one opposed.
Township counsel Moren Carlton said the township would participate in the hearing but was not opposing the application; she recommended the rental‑use prohibition as an extra safeguard because a variance runs with the land. Dan from code enforcement confirmed the pit and mitigation details must appear on the building permit and be inspected during construction.
The board also encouraged the homeowner to coordinate with neighbors and township public works on broader drainage issues in the street but emphasized its authority only covers the property before it. The variance was approved with the requirement that mitigation reduce the net effect of this addition's new runoff to the functional equivalent of returning the lot to 24% impervious coverage and subject to township engineer approval.
The board set the next hearing date for July 7 and entered the neighbors' written submissions into the record.
