Planning board approves 6-foot perimeter fencing, with landscaping conditions, for Spectrum 360 school

The Livingston Planning Board on a motion approved an amended site plan and granted a flexible C-2 variance to allow 6-foot decorative fencing and additional gates at Spectrum 360’s new school at 630 West Mount Pleasant Avenue.

The board heard testimony from John Wychiscala, attorney for the applicant, and Brian Conway, the project’s landscape architect and planner, who said the change seeks to replace previously approved 4‑ and 5‑foot fences with a consistent 6‑foot aluminum picket fence around play and parking areas to improve student safety. Conway described gates that would be open during drop-off and manually or automatically operated by staff or security and emergency access for fire and EMS.

The school’s executive director, Ken Berger, described instances since the prior hearing in which students had eloped from the building and run toward Bloomfield Avenue, saying the school has added cameras and plans to station security to slow or contain eloping students. “We have had children run all the way down from where we are now down to Bloomfield Avenue and have crossed the road,” Berger said, arguing this experience motivated the taller fence plan.

Board members questioned sightlines from Route 10 and visibility of building signage. Conway presented renderings and a planting plan that uses a mix of upright junipers, boxwoods and columnar Sargent cherry trees (boxwoods at planting 30–36 inches; junipers ~6–7 feet; cherries ~12–14 feet at planting) placed to buffer the fence while preserving views to signs and the building. Conway said JCP&L pole relocations required selecting trees that would grow beneath utility lines.

Planning testimony cited the Municipal Land Use Law standard for a flexible C-2 variance and argued the proposed decorative, >50% open fence plus enhanced landscaping advances safety and municipal planning purposes without substantial detriment. The board added conditions in the resolution, including specifying fence color (black), that visible fences be greater than 50% open, a signature block for the board on the site plan sheet, and that any landscaping that dies within one year must be replaced in like condition.

After discussion, a member moved to approve the amended site plan and grant the requested variance; another member seconded. The chair called the vote and the clerk announced, “Motion carries.” The board closed the evidentiary record and approved the application with the noted conditions.

The approval allows Spectrum 360 to install the taller decorative fencing accompanied by the approved planting scheme and operational gate controls; the resolution will reflect the agreed conditions and plan notes.