June 13, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 5 Waldwick A senior executive with K. Hovnanian told the Waldwick Planning Board last week that townhouses with basements are worth as much as $50,000 more that homes built on a slab, even as the developer is proposing completing the 31 remaining units on the former DiPippo Farm on Crescent Avenue without basements. He also told the board that, contrary to popular belief, there are actually additional costs associated with the construction of the proposed basement-less units. Jonathan Fisher, senior vice president of land development for K. Hovnanian, said a fire suppression system alone costs $4,000 per unit. The sprinkler system is needed for the three-story buildings now being proposed to replace the two and a half story units with basements. Fisher said his company’s policy of building no lower than 2 feet above the seasonal high water level had forced the elimination of the basements the board had approved in the original application. The water table at the site is 7 ft. Fisher said other options had been considered, including building English basements, but had been discarded as impractical and “tougher to sell.” He said an English basement, which he described as 4 ft. above Water table, not price affects basement decision grade and 4 ft. below, would result in too many grade differences, including steps from the garage into the house, and would still not eliminate the need for a height variance. The proposal calls for the buildings to be on slabs two feet above grade, for a total height at the peak of 38.43 ft. Borough ordinances have a 35-ft. height limit. Board Attorney Cliff Singer said that if a half basement were provided, “it would take 4 ½ feet off the height, and you’d be back to 2 ½ stories.” Member Ray Schmidt said that the applicant could reduce the building height by 9 ft. by putting in basements. Fisher said the target market for the new homes, expected to sell in the high $400,000, would be young single professionals or couples or single parents with children attracted to the school system. He said the project would be completed in about two years. Site Engineer Robert Weisman, who had designed the original site plan for the project, said that the decision to provide basements is a builder’s choice, and that the original developer, Robert Gallo Jr., had decided to go down the seven to eight feet below grade. Weisman said the new proposal has kept the slope of the roof down to minimize the height of the buildings, particularly because there is a 13-ft. differential in elevation from the front of the property on Crescent Avenue to the new construction at the western end near Pineview Drive and Durante Road. He said substantial screening around the rear perimeter of the property would be added to the existing shrubbery to protect the neighbors’ privacy. He noted these changes were as a result of discussions with the neighbors and correspondence from the borough engineering firm, Stantec. Each unit in Hovnanian’s proposal will have a two-car garage and a wider driveway to accommodate two cars. This feature will increase the off-street parking to 200 cars for the entire site, well above the required 132 parking spaces. Weisman said that even if the storage space behind the garage in each unit is turned into living space, there would be no impact on parking. Resident Gene Sullivan questioned the water runoff control, noting that there seemed to be ice buildup. Weisman said some areas still need to be stabilized, and once seeding is completed, it should eliminate surface runoff. He said the surface water collection system had also been upgraded eliminate runoff problems. The dual system collects the storm water, which is then filtered before connecting into the storm drain. Hovnanian will build the four remaining townhouse buildings on the 3-acre westerly section of the 9.7 acre site. Three of the buildings will contain eight units, and the fourth will have seven units. Each unit would have about 2,150 sq. ft. of living space. The first level would include a twocar garage with a 18 ft. by 21 ft. storage area at the rear which can be converted to a family room. The second level would house the living room, dining room, a half bath and kitchen with access to a 10-ft. by 12 ft. outdoor deck. The master bedroom with walk-in closet and private bath, two additional bedrooms, a laundry room and another full bath would be provided on the top floor. The hearing on the application will continue at the board’s next meeting on Monday, June 25.