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Zoning board approves pool at 33 Wind Ridge Drive with limits on impervious area and blasting notifications
Summary
The board approved a pool and site improvements at 33 Wind Ridge Drive after applicants agreed to reduce pool size and relocate it slightly; approval included conditions on tree protection, drainage calculations, neighbor notification if blasting is needed, and generator size limits.
On March 18 the North Caldwell Zoning Board of Adjustment granted variances to Ricky and Jennifer Tichman for a backyard pool and related site work at 33 Wind Ridge Drive, subject to several mitigation conditions and engineering review.
Attorney Richard Schkolnick and planner Michael Tobia presented the application for an in-ground pool (planner Tobia described "the pool dimensions as 18-feet by 39.11 feet and 5-1/2 feet deep"), an equipment pad, a generator and expanded patio. The application required variances for side and rear yard setbacks and increased impervious coverage; Tobia and civil engineer Derek Ranger proposed three seepage pits/drywells and grading to capture excess runoff and direct overflow to existing street drains.
Neighbors raised construction and privacy concerns. Kristina Sarti of 35 Wind Ridge Drive asked whether any digging, excavating or blasting was expected; applicants said blasting was not anticipated but could be avoided or limited to jackhammering, and agreed to neighbor notifications if blasting ultimately proved necessary. After a recess to consider revisions, the applicants reduced the pool by two feet, shifted it two feet to the south, removed a jagged walkway feature and committed to remove some patio pavers — changes they said would lower impervious coverage to about 39.0%.
The board’s approval carried multiple conditions: preserve the existing evergreen trees and install tree-protection fencing; provide revised impervious-coverage calculations to Boswell Engineering for review; notify neighbors if blasting is required; push drainage basins back to avoid disturbing the five-foot flared end of the borough drain; and limit the generator to 20 kW with a pad no larger than 12 square feet. As stated in the board motion, the generator "must not be larger than 20kw and the pad must not be larger than 12 square feet." The motion passed with four affirmative votes and one nay from Chairman Augustitus.
