Page 8 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • August 15, 2012 Mahwah Applicant donates land to provide river access by Frank J. McMahon The Mahwah Planning Board has approved the consolidation of a two-lot property in the Ramapo Hunt and Polo Club Association residential zone on Halifax Road next to the Ramapo River. The application will result in the creation of a new property that will be donated to the township to provide river access to the public. One existing lot is 4.84 acres and contains a home with four bedrooms and six bathrooms. The other existing lot is a 6.55-acre vacant parcel. Both lots front on Halifax Road and back up to the Ramapo River. The parcels are contiguous with property currently owned by the township and used for conservation and utility purposes. Property owners Craig and Patricia Clifford appeared before the board in July. Craig Clifford advised the board that they had purchased the property in 2005, and the previous owner had received site plan approval for single family houses on both lots. All environmental permits were received, he said, but then there was an issue with the association. He said an agreement in June 2011 permitted the homes to be built as designed, but the alternate plan to build a barn on the larger lot with a garage for family use and no animals was also acceptable to the association. The plan presented to the board consolidated two of the lots and showed the construction of a barn that required a height variance. That accessory structure will be 24 feet high, where a maximum of 20 feet is permitted by the township’s zoning ordinance. Another variance was requested for the area of the barn, which will be 1,244 square feet, plus a covered porch of 679 square feet. In a residential area, the maximum square footage of any accessory structure, except a storage shed, is 1,000 square feet. The Cliffords also requested a subdivision of a piece of land from the main portion of the currently vacant lot that is located on the opposite side of the Ramapo River. This new lot will be 0.7 acres and irregular in shape and will not have access to a public roadway. The Cliffords said they propose to donate this subdivided parcel to the township in order to provide river Group offers appliance replacement incentive The Sustainable Mahwah Team reminds residents of its Large Appliance Early Retirement Program for refrigerators and freezers. This program is advocated by Sustainable Jersey, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, and New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program. In an effort to encourage residents to upgrade to energy efficient refrigerators and freezers, the program pays the owner $50 and provides for free removal and pickup of unwanted working units. Replacing outdated refrigerators and freezers with newer, more energy efficient models can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and household energy costs. Refrigerators and freezers consume the most energy of all household appliances and outdated models can consume three to four times more energy than newer models. Recycling large appliances is important because refrigerators and freezers include harmful components that are not appropriate for landfill disposal. The program facilitates the proper disposal of older units with 98 percent of the parts diverted from landfills. For assistance with the Sustainable Mahwah Team program, contact Karin La Greca at (201) 669-8267. The Sustainable Mahwah team encourages residents to sign up for its news and discussion group at http://groups.google. com/group/sustainable-mahwah or contact Sustainable Mahwah at sustainablemahwah@mahwahtwp.org. access to the public, since this parcel adjoins existing municipally owned property. That parcel of land does not meet any of the township’s zoning standards. Variances were also requested in order to facilitate the subdivision so that land may be transferred to the township. The board heard also heard testimony from Peter Kirch, a land surveyor and planner, and Thomas Ashbahian, a professional architect. Kirch showed aerial photos of the property to describe the proposed subdivision and advised the board that a subdivision of the property was approved 10 or 12 years ago for a house with a 3,500 square foot footprint and 3,900 square foot building coverage with a driveway of 3,200 square feet. The Cliffords’ proposal included a barn structure totaling 1,923 square feet, including the porch, and a driveway of 2,900 square feet. Ashbahian described the design of the barn structure, which he said would fit in with the character of the area. He pointed out that the powder room originally planned for the structure had been removed from the plan and there are no bedrooms planned for the structure so no expansion of the septic system would be required. Township Planner David Roberts advised the board that the application presented a unique situation. He reminded the board that two houses could have been built on the subdivided property with two accessory buildings, so this subdivision solves a problem for the Cliffords and for the township. In addition, he confirmed that the proposed barn would be outside the flood plain area. There were no comments from the public on the application and, after the board unanimously approved the proposal, Mayor William Laforet, who is a member of the planning board, thanked the Cliffords for the donation of property to the township. “We really appreciate what you have done,” he told the Cliffords, “Uou have made all the fishermen (who) fish in that area legal.”